"By indirections find directions out,"
clearly appears from his cunning expression of faith in the pretended
revelation of the patriarch Hiram. The effect of this speech
was far-reaching. It turned the entire Mormon vote to Hoge, thereby
securing his election to Congress, and at once placed the Whigs in
the ranks of the implacable anti-Mormon party then in process of
rapid formation. The crusade that now began for the expulsion
of the Mormons from the State, was greatly augmented by acts of
unparalleled folly upon their own part. In order to protect their
leaders from arrest, it was decreed by the City Council of Nauvoo
that no writ unless issued and approved by its Mayor should be
executed within the sacred city, and that any officer attempting
to execute a writ otherwise issued, within the city, should be
subject to imprisonment for life, and that the pardoning power
of the Governor of the State was in such case suspended. This
ordinance when published created great astonishment and indignation.
The belief became general that the Mormons were about to set up
for themselves a separate Government wholly independent of that of
the State. This belief was strengthened by the presentation of
a petition to Congress praying for the establishment of a
Territorial Government for Nauvoo and vicinity.
Apparently oblivious of the gathering storm, Joseph Smith early in
1844 committed his crowning act of folly by announcing himself a
candidate for the high office of President of the United States.
Not only this, but as stated by Governor Ford,
"Smith now conceived the idea of making himself a temporal Prince as
well as the spiritual leader of his people. He instituted a new
and select order of the priesthood, the members of which were to
be priests and kings, temporal and spiritual. These were to be
the nobility, the upholders of his throne. He caused himself to
be crowned and anointed king and priest far above all others.
To uphold his pretensions to royalty, he deduced his descent by an
unbroken chain from Joseph, the son of Jacob, and that of his wife
from some other renowned personage of Old Testament history.
The Mormons openly denounced the Government of the United States, as
being utterly corrupt, and about to pass away and be replaced by
the government of God, to be administered by his servant Joseph.
It is at this day certain, also, that about this time, the prophet
instituted an order in the Church called the Danite Band. This
was to be a body-guard about the person of their sovereign, sworn to
obey his commands as those of God himself."
During late years a war of words has been waged within the
Mormon church over the question of the responsibility of the prophet
Joseph for the introduction of polygamy as a cardinal tenet of its
creed. The son of the prophet, it will be remembered, led a revolt
against Brigham Young, soon after the succession of the latter
to the presidency of the Church, and is now at the head of the
Mormon establishment at Plano, Illinois. This branch of the Church
rejects the dogma of polygamy, declaring it to be utterly repugnant
to the divine revelation to Joseph, and to early Mormon belief and
practice.
Upon the contrary, the main body in Utah--of which Joseph F. Smith
the nephew of the prophet and son of Hiram the patriarch is now
the president--found their belief in the divine character of their
peculiar institution upon alleged revelations direct from God to
the founder of the Church. The statement of Governor Ford, written
nearly sixty years ago, sheds some light upon this controversy:
"A doctrine was now revealed that no woman could get to heaven
except as the wife of a Mormon elder. The elders were allowed
to have as many of these wives as they could maintain; and it was
a doctrine of the Church that any female could be 'sealed up to
eternal life' by uniting herself as wife to the elder of her choice.
This doctrine was maintained by appeal to the Old Testament scriptures
and by the example of Abraham and Jacob and Daniel and Solomon,
the favorites of God in a former age of the world."
As the necessary result of the causes mentioned, the followers
of the prophet soon found themselves bitterly antagonized by almost
the whole anti-Mormon population of the "Military Tract." Charges
and counter-charges were made, the arrest of the leaders of the
opposing parties followed in rapid succession, and outrages and
riots were of daily occurrence. Public meetings were held; all
the crimes known to the calendar were charged against the Mormons,
and resolutions passed demanding their immediate expulsion from the
State. What is known in Illinois history as the "Mormon war"
followed closely in the wake of the events just mentioned. Innocent
persons were, in many instances, the victims of the folly and of
the crimes of unprincipled and brutal leaders.
The events of this period constitute a dark chapter in the history
of the State--one that can be recalled only with feelings of horror.
The great body of citizens, it is needless to say, favored the
rigid maintenance of order and the protection of life and property;
but it was the very heyday for the lawless and vicious element
of all parties.
That this condition of affairs could not long continue was manifest.
The bloody termination, however, came in a manner unexpected to
all. Two of the Mormon leaders, William and Wilson Law, were,
at the time mentioned, in open revolt against the newly-assumed
powers and the alleged practices of the prophet. To strengthen
their opposition they procured a printing-press and equipment, and
issued from their office in Nauvoo one number of a small weekly,
"The Expositor." By order of the Mayor, Smith, and decree of
the Council, the press was seized and destroyed, and the Law brothers
and their few adherents compelled to flee the Holy City. Immediately
upon their arrival at Carthage, they caused warrants to be issued for
the arrest of Joseph and Hiram Smith, John Taylor, and others, for
the destruction of the printing-press. The almost sovereign powers
previously conferred upon the city of Nauvoo now play an important
part in this drama. The persons arrested, as above mentioned, were
at once brought by writs of _habeas corpus,_ issued by the Mayor
of Nauvoo, before the Municipal Court and there promptly discharged.
Governor Ford, whose righteous soul had been vexed to the limit of
endurance by unmerited abuse from Mormon and Gentile alike from
the beginning of this controversy, here indulges in a few expressions
of justifiable irony. Of these proceedings he says:
"It clearly appeared both from the complaints of the citizens
and the admissions of the Mormons, that the whole proceedings of
the Mayor, Council, and Municipal Court were illegal and not to be
endured in a free country; but some apology might be made for
the court, as it had been repeatedly assured by some of the ablest
lawyers in the State of both political parties, when candidates
before that people, that it had full and complete power to issue
writs of _habeas corpus_ in all cases whatever."
"In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil."
The incidents mentioned added quickly fuel to the flame. A new
warrant was issued by a magistrate in Carthage for the arrest of
the Mormon leaders and placed in the hands of an officer of the
State for execution. The latter at once summoned the citizens
of the county, as a _posse comitatus,_ to aid in the arrests.
At this critical moment Governor Ford, in the interest of peace,
reached Carthage, the county seat. Upon his arrival he found
the situation truly alarming. Several hundred armed men from
the country around had hastily assembled and were encamped upon
the public square. By order of the Governor, this force was
organized into companies and placed under the immediate command of
officers of his appointment. At the conclusion of a speech by the
Governor, the officers and men pledged themselves to aid him in
upholding the laws, and in protecting the Mormon prisoners when
brought to Carthage for trial.
Meanwhile, Smith as lieutenant-general had called out the Nauvoo
Legion and proclaimed martial law in that city. The Mormons from the
country promptly obeyed the call of their leader and marched to
his assistance, and Nauvoo became at once a vast military camp.
Governor Ford now demanded of the Mormon leaders the return of the
State arms furnished at the time of the organization of the Legion,
this demand, if not promptly complied with, to be enforced by an
immediate attack upon Nauvoo by the assembled forces encamped at
Carthage.
Appreciating now for the first time the hopelessness of a conflict
with State authorities, a number of the weapons were surrendered
and the Smiths, accompanied by Taylor and Richards, two other Mormon
leaders, went to Carthage and surrendered themselves to the officer
holding the warrant for their arrest. Upon giving bond for their
appearance, they were at once released on charge of riot. A new
complaint, charging them with treason--in levying war against
the State, declaring martial law in Nauvoo, and ordering out the
Legion to resist the execution of lawful process--was immediately lodged
against them, a warrant duly issued, the prisoners rearrested
and committed to the common jail of the county. On the evening
following this arrest, the guards stationed at the jail for the
protection of the prisoners were attacked and overpowered by a mob
of several hundred persons. Governor Ford states:
"An attempt was now made to break open the door; but Joseph Smith,
being armed with a six-barrel pistol furnished by his friends,
fired several times as the door was burst open and wounded three
of the assailants. At the same time, several shots were fired into
the room, wounding John Taylor and killing Hiram Smith. Joseph
Smith now attempted to escape by jumping out of the second-story
window; but the fall so stunned him that he was unable to rise,
and being placed by the conspirators in a sitting posture, they
despatched him by four balls shot through his body."
Thus perished, at the age of thirty-nine, the founder and prophet of
the Mormon Church. Contradictory statements as to his real character
have come down to the present generation. The estimate of Governor
Ford, who knew him well, is as follows:
"He was the most successful impostor in modern times; a man who,
though ignorant and coarse, had some great natural parts which
fitted him for temporary success, but which were so obscured and
counteracted by the inherent corruptness of his nature that he
never could succeed in establishing a system of policy which looked
to permanent success in the future. It must not be supposed that the
pretended prophet practised the tricks of a common impostor; that he
was a dark and gloomy person with a long beard, a grave and severe
aspect, and a reserved and saintly carriage of his person. On the
contrary, he was full of levity, even to boyish romping; dressed
like a dandy, and at times drank like a sailor and swore like a
pirate. He could, as occasion required, be exceedingly meek in
his deportment, and then, again, be as rough and boisterous as a
highway robber; being always able to prove to his followers the
propriety of his conduct. He always quailed before power, and was
arrogant to weakness. At times he could put on an air of a penitent,
as if feeling the deepest humility for his sins, and suffering
unutterable anguish, and indulging in the most gloomy foreboding of
eternal woe. At such times he would call for the prayers of the
brethren in his behalf with a wild and fearful anxiety and
earnestness. He was six feet high, strongly built, and uncommonly
full muscled. No doubt he was as much indebted for his influence
over an ignorant people to the superiority of his physical vigor as
to his great cunning and intellect."
Of a wholly different tenor is the tribute of Parley P. Pratt, the
poet and historian of the Mormon Church:
"President Smith was in person tall and well built, strong and
active; of a light complexion, light hair, blue eyes, and of an
expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye naturally rested with
interest and was never weary of beholding. His countenance was
very mild, affable, and beaming with intelligence and benevolence mingled
with a look of interest and an unconscious smile of cheerfulness, and
entirely free from all restraint or affectation of gravity; and
there was something connected with the serene and steady penetrating
glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of
the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and
comprehend all worlds. He possessed a noble boldness and independence
of character; his manner was easy and familiar, his rebuke terrible
as the lion, his benevolence unbounded as the ocean, his
intelligence universal, and his language abounding in original
eloquence peculiar to himself."
For a brief period following the assassination of the Smiths,
comparative quiet prevailed in the Mormon country. The selection of
a successor to their murdered prophet, was now the absorbing question
among the Mormon people. Revelations were published that the
prophet, in imitation of the Saviour, was to rise from the dead,
and some even reported that they had seen him attended by a celestial
army coursing the air on a great white horse.
Sydney Rigdon now aspired to be the head of the Church as the
successor to the martyred prophet. His claims were verified by
a pretended revelation direct from heaven. He was, however, at
once antagonized by the "quorum of the Twelve," and after a bitter
struggle, Apostle Brigham Young was chosen, and Rigdon expelled
from the Church and "given over to the buffetings of Satan."
The quiet immediately succeeding the tragedy was of short duration.
It was only the calm which precedes the storm. While his followers
were invoking the vengeance of the law upon the murderers of the
prophet, the anti-Mormons were quietly organizing a crusade for
the expulsion of the entire Mormon population from the State. The
trial of the assassins of the Smiths resulted in their acquittal, as
was to have been expected when the intense anti-Mormon feeling
existing throughout the immediate country is taken into account.
The result is even less surprising when it is remembered that
the principal witness for the prosecution supplemented his testimony
of having seen the crime committed, by the remarkable declaration that
immediately upon the death of Joseph, "a bright and shining
light descended upon his head, that several of the conspirators
were stricken with total blindness, and that he heard supernatural
voices in the air confirming the divine mission of the murdered
prophet."
In the narration of these exciting events, the names of men who at
a later day achieved national distinction frequently occur. The
Hon. O. H. Browning, since Senator and member of the Cabinet,
was chief counsel for the alleged murderers of the Smiths. He was
at the time a distinguished Whig leader, and one of the most eloquent
men in the State. The disorder and outrages that followed the
acquittal just mentioned called Governor Ford again to the seat of
war. He says:
"When informed of these proceedings, I hastened to Jacksonville,
where in a conference with General Hardin, Judge Douglas, and
Mr. McDougal the Attorney-General of the State, it was agreed that
these gentlemen should proceed to Hancock County in all haste with
whatever force had been raised, and put an end to these disorders.
It was also agreed that they should unite their influence with mine
to induce the Mormons to leave the State. The twelve apostles had
now become satisfied that the Mormons could not remain, or, if they
did, that the leaders would be compelled to abandon the sway
they exercised over them. Through the intervention of General
Hardin, acting on instructions from me, an agreement was made
between the hostile parties for the voluntary removal of the greater
part of the Mormons across the Mississippi in the spring of 1846."
Of the advisors of the Governor in the adjustment mentioned, Douglas
and McDougall were at a later day distinguished Senators, respectively
from Illinois and California, and Hardin was killed while gallantly
leading his regiment at the battle of Buena Vista.
To the peaceable accomplishment of the purposes mentioned, a small
force under a competent officer was stationed for a time in Hancock
County. The Governor justly felicitates himself that thereby "the
greater part of the Military Tract was saved from the horrors of
civil war in the winter time, when much misery would have followed
by the dispersion of families and the destruction of property."
The Mormon exodus from Illinois, once the "land of promise," now
began in terrible earnest. Many farms and homes and large quantities
of personal effects were hastily disposed of at a great sacrifice.
The speeding was far different from the welcome but a few years
before so heartily extended to the incoming "saints." The "Holy
City" and sacred temple soon to be destroyed were abandoned for
perilous journeyings in the wilderness. The chapter that
immediately follows in the history of this people is indeed pathetic.
The terrible sufferings of the aged and infirm, of helpless women
and children, as the shadows of the long night of winter gathered about
them on their journey, can never be adequately told. But, inspired
with the thought that they were the Israel of God, that Brigham
Young was their divinely appointed leader, that the pillar of cloud
by day and of fire by night ever went before them on their journeyings,
they patiently endured all dangers and hardships.
High upon the western slope of the Wasatch hard by the old wagon
trail which led down into the valley stands a huge rock around
whose base the Mormon leader assembled his followers just as the
last rays of a summer sun were falling upon the mountains. In
stirring words he recalled their persecutions and trials, told them
that their long pilgrimage, the weary march by day and lonely vigil
by night, were now ended, and their Canaan the great valley
which stretched out before them.
Upon a visit to Salt Lake City nearly a third of a century ago,
I attended service in the great Tabernacle when it was filled to
overflowing, and yet so excellent were its acoustic arrangements
that every word of the speaker and every note of the organ could
be heard distinctly. The surroundings were indeed imposing. Upon
the great platform sat the President and his Council, the twelve
apostles, the seventy elders, with an innumerable army of bishops,
teachers, deacons, and other functionaries constituting the
lower order of the Mormon hierarchy. The sermon was delivered
by the famous Orson Pratt, the Saint Paul of the Mormon Church,
a venerable patriarch of four score years, and yet, withal, a man of
wonderful power.
As our little party passed in front of the speaker's platform to
reach the door, he halted in his discourse, and stated to the
audience that the strangers within their gates were leaving because
of the near departure of their train and not because of any disrespect
to the service. Then, bowing his aged head, he invoked the blessing
of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, upon the Gentile
strangers, and prayed "that their long journey might be ended in
safety, and that in the fulness of time, having witnessed the
manifestations of Almighty Power, they might return again, not
as sojourners, but as fellow-citizens with the saints, to dwell in
the Holy City."
XIV
A KENTUCKY COLONEL
COL. WINTERSMITH'S GREAT POPULARITY--HIS ADMIRATION FOR MR. CLAY
--HIS MARVELLOUS MEMORY--HIS WIT AND HUMOR.
Few men were better known in Washington, a quarter of a century
and more ago, than Colonel Dick Wintersmith of Kentucky. He had
creditably filled important positions of public trust in his native
State. His integrity was beyond question, and his popularity knew
no bounds. Without the formality of party nomination, and with
hardly the shadow of opposition at the polls, he had held the office
of State Treasurer for nearly a score of years. An ardent Whig in
early life, he was a devout worshipper at the shrine of Henry Clay.
In the later years of his life, he would often with the deepest
emotion refer to himself as "the last of the old guard." He never
tired of relating interesting incidents of Mr. Clay. It was his
glory that he had accompanied "the great pacificator" to Washington,
when, with the fond hope of being able by his historic "compromise"
to pour oil on the troubled waters, he returned to the Senate
for the last time.
Wintersmith was the close friend of Theodore O'Hara, and stood
beside him when at the unveiling of the monument to the Kentuckians
who had fallen at Buena Vista he pronounced his now historic lines
beginning--
"On fame's eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread."
Colonel Wintersmith knew, as he knew his children, two generations
of the public men of Kentucky. His memory was a marvel to all who
knew him. He could repeat till the dawn, extracts from famous
speeches he had heard from the lips of Clay, Grundy, Marshall, and
Menifee. More than once, I have heard him declaim the wonderful
speech of Sargent S. Prentiss delivered almost a half-century
before, in the old Harrodsburg Court-house, in defence of Wilkinson
for killing three men at the Galt House.
It is hardly necessary to say that the Colonel was the soul of
generosity. It was a part of his living faith that--
"Kind hearts are more than coronets."
That he was possessed in no stinted measure of wit and its kindred
quality, humor, will appear from an incident or two to be related.
The Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, member of Congress from Minnesota, had
written a book to prove that Lord Bacon was the veritable author
of the plays usually accredited to Shakespeare. Soon after the
appearance of Donnelly's book, he met Colonel Wintersmith on
Pennsylvania Avenue.
After a cordial greeting, the Colonel remarked, "I have been reading
your book, Donnelly, and I don't believe a word of it."
"What?" inquired Donnelly, with great surprise.
"Oh, that book of yours," said the Colonel, "in which you tried to
prove that Shakespeare never wrote 'Hamlet' and 'Macbeth' and 'Lear'
and all those other plays."
"My dear sir," replied Donnelly with great earnestness, "I can
prove beyond all peradventure that Shakespeare never wrote those
plays."
"He did," replied Wintersmith, "he did write them, Donnelly, _I
saw him write three or four of them, myself."_
"Impossible!" replied Donnelly, who was as guiltless of anything
that savored of humor as the monument recently erected to the memory
of Hon. John Sherman, "impossible, Colonel, that you could have
seen Shakespeare write those plays; they were written three hundred
years ago."
"Three hundred years, three hundred years," slowly murmured the
Colonel in pathetic tone, "is it possible that is has been so long?
_Lord, how time does fly!"_
The Colonel often told the following with a gravity that gave it
at least the semblance of truth. Many years ago, his State was
represented in part in the Upper House by a statesman who rarely, when
in good form, spoke less than an entire day. His speeches, in
large measure, usually consisted of dull financial details,
statistics, etc. He became in time the terror of his associates, and
the nightmare of visitors in the galleries. His "Mr. President," was
usually the signal for a general clearing out of both Senate Chamber
and galleries.
"Upon one occasion," said Colonel Dick, "I was seated in the
last tier in the public gallery, when my Senator with books and
documents piled high about him solemnly addressed the Chair. As
was the wont, the visitors in the gallery as one man arose to make
their exit. With a revolver in each hand, I promptly planted myself
in front of the door, and in no uncertain tone ordered the crowd to
resume their seats, and remain quietly until the Senator from
Kentucky had concluded his remarks. They did so and no word of
complaint reached my ears. Hour after hour during the long summer
day the speech drew itself along. At length as the shadows were
lengthening and the crickets began to chirp, the speech ended
and the Senator took his seat. I promptly replaced my pistols and
motioned the visitors to move out. They did so on excellent time.
As the last man was passing out, he quietly remarked to me, 'Mister,
that was all right, no fault to find, but _if it was to do over
again, you might shoot.'"_
XV
FORGOTTEN EVENTS OF THE LONG AGO
THE WRITER MEETS MISS GRAHAM, SISTER-IN-LAW OF MR. GILES, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN THE DAYS OF WASHINGTON--HIS MEETING WITH THE
DAUGHTER OF THOMAS W. GILMER, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY UNDER PRESIDENT
TYLER--THE SECRETARY KILLED, AND THE PRESIDENT ENDANGERED BY AN
EXPLOSION--SPECULATION AS TO POSSIBLE POLITICAL CHANGES HAD THE
PRESIDENT BEEN KILLED.
During my sojourn in Washington I visited the "Louise Home," one
of the splendid charities of the late W. W. Corcoran. Two of
the ladies I there met were Miss Graham and Miss Gilmer. The turn
of Fortune's wheel had brought each of them from once elegant
Virginia homes to spend the evening of life in the Home which
Mr. Corcoran had so kindly and thoughtfully provided. It was in
very truth the welcome retreat to representatives of old Southern
families who had known better days. Here in quiet and something
of elegant leisure, the years sped by, the chief pastime recalling
events and telling over again and again the social triumphs of the
long ago. Thus lingering in the shadows of the past, sadly
reflecting, it may be, in the silent watches, that--
"The tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me,"
these venerable ladies were in sad reality "only waiting till the
shadows had a little longer grown."
There was something pathetically remindful of the good old Virginia
days in the manner in which Miss Graham handed me her card and
invited me to be seated. Looking me earnestly in the face, she
said, "Mr. Vice-President, you must have known my brother-in-law, Governor
Giles."
"Do you mean Senator William B. Giles of Virginia?" I inquired.
"Yes, yes," she said, "did you know him?"
"No, madam," I replied, "I did not; he was a member of Congress
when Washington was President; that was a little before my day.
But is it possible that you are a sister-in-law of Governor Giles?"
"Yes, sir," she answered, "he married my eldest sister and I was
in hope that you knew him."
I assured her that I had never known him personally, but that I
knew something of his history: that he was a soldier of the
Revolution; that he began his public career with the passing of
the old Confederation and the establishment of the National Union;
that as Representative or Senator he was in Congress almost
continuously from the administration of Washington to that of
Jackson. I then repeated to her the words Mr. Benton, his long-time
associate in the Senate, had spoken of her brother-in-law: "Macon
was wise, Randolph brilliant, Gallatin and Madison able in argument,
but Giles was the ready champion, always ripe for the combat." And
I told her that John Randolph, for many years his colleague, had
said: "Giles was to our House of Representatives what Charles
James Fox was to the British House of Commons--the most accomplished
debater our country has known."
I might have said to Miss Graham, but did not, that her brother-in-law,
then a member of the House, had voted against the farewell address
of that body to President Washington upon his retirement from
the great office. Strange indeed to our ears sound the words that
even mildly reflect upon the Father of his Country. Of this,
however, we may be assured, that the Golden Age of our history
is but a dream; "the era of absolute good feeling,"--the era that has
not been.
"Past and to come seem best;
Things present, worst."
Before condemning Mr. Giles too severely the words of Edmund Burke
may well be recalled: "Party divisions, whether upon the whole
operating for the best, are things inseparable from free Government."
Party divisions came in with our Constitution; partisan feeling
almost with our first garments.
In this connection it will be remembered that this country has
known no period of more intense and bitter party feeling than during
the administration of the immediate successor of Washington, the
period which witnessed the downfall of the Federal party, and
the rise of the party of Jefferson. It was after the election but
before the inauguration of John Adams, that the following words
were spoken of President Washington by the brother-in-law of the
little old lady to whom I have referred:
"I must object to those parts of the address which speak of the
wisdom and firmness of the President. I may be singular in my
ideas, but I believe his administration has neither been firm
nor wise. I must acknowledge that I am one of those who do not
think so much of the President as some others do. I wish that this
was the moment of his retirement. I think that the Government
of the United States can go on without him. What calamities would
attend the United States, and how short the duration of its
independence, if but one man could be found fitted to conduct
its administration! Much had been said and by many people about
the President's intended retirement. For my own part, I feel no
uncomfortable sensations about it."
As I thus recalled the man whose public life began with that of
Washington, his kinswoman at my side seemed indeed the one living bond
of connection between the present and the long past, that past
which had witnessed the Declaration of Independence, the War of
the Revolution, and the establishment of the Federal Government.
The younger, by many years, of the two ladies, was the daughter of
the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, a distinguished member of Congress during
the third decade of the century, later the Governor of Virginia,
and at the time of his death the Secretary of the Navy. The mention
of his name recalls a tragic event that cast a pall over the nation
and shrouded more than one hearthstone in deepest gloom. During
later years, the horrors of an internecine struggle that knows no
parallel, the assassination of three Presidents of the United
States, and the thousand casualties that have crowded in rapid
succession, have almost wiped from memory the incident now to be
mentioned.
The pride of the American Navy, the man-of-war _Princeton,_ Commodore
Stockton in command, was lying in the Potomac just below Washington,
on the morning of February 28, 1843. The day was beautiful, and the
distinguished commander, who had known much of gallant service,
had invited more than one hundred guests to accompany him on a sail
to a point a few miles below Mount Vernon. Among the guests
were President Tyler and two members of his Cabinet; Mr. Upshur,
Secretary of State, and Mr. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy; the
widow of Ex-President Madison; Mr. Gardner, a prominent citizen of
New York, and his accomplished daughter; Commodore Kennan; and a
number of Senators and Representatives. Commodore Stockton was
anxious to have his guests witness the working of the machinery of
his vessel and to observe the fire of his great gun, his especial pride.
Mr. Gardner and his daughter were guests at the Executive Mansion;
and to the latter, the President--then for many years a widower
--was especially attentive. Officers and guests were all in the
best of sprits, and nothing seemed wanting to make the occasion
one of unalloyed pleasure. Upon the return, and when almost directly
opposite Mount Vernon, the company were summoned by the Commodore from
the dinner table to witness the testing of the gun. Preceded by
an officer, the guests were soon assembled in proximity to the gun.
A place at the front was reserved for the President, but just as
he was advancing, his attention was directed by his fair guest
to some object on the shore. This for a moment arrested his
progress, and prevented his instant death, for at this critical
moment the gun exploded, causing the immediate death of more
than twenty persons, and serious injuries to many others. Among
the injured were Senator Benton and Commodore Stockton. The list
of the dead included Secretary of State Upshur, Secretary of the
Navy Gilmer, Commodore Kennan--one of the heroes of the second war
with Great Britain,--and Mr. Gardner, the father of the lady whose
timely interposition had caused the moment's delay which had saved
the President from the terrible fate of his associates. Upon
the return of the _Princeton_ to Washington the dead were removed to
the Executive Mansion, and the day, so auspicious in the beginning,
ended in gloom.
Something in the way of romance is the sequel to that sad event.
A few months later Miss Gardner, the fair guest of the President
upon the ill-fated _Princeton,_ became his bride, and during the
remainder of his term of office did the honors of the Executive
Mansion.
The thousands of visitors who have, during the past sixty years,
passed through the spacious rooms of that Mansion, have paused
before a full-length portrait of one of the most beautiful of women.
Possibly the interest of no one who gazed upon her lovely features
was lessened when told that the portrait was that of the wife of
President Tyler, the once charming and accomplished Miss Gardner, whose
name is so closely associated with the long-ago chapter of sorrow and
of romance.
A thought pertaining to the domain of the real rather than of
the romantic is suggested by the sad accident upon the _Princeton._
But for the trifling incident which detained President Tyler from the
side of his Cabinet officers at the awful moment, the administration
of the Government would have passed to other hands. As the law
then stood, the Speaker of the House of Representatives would have
succeeded to the Presidency; and how this might have changed the
current of our political history is a matter of at least curious
speculation.