Harrison, at Harrisburg, 1839, by the Whigs.
Polk, at Baltimore, 1844, by the Democrats.
Taylor, at Philadelphia, 1848, by the Whigs.
Pierce, at Baltimore, 1852, by the Democrats.
Buchanan, at Cincinnati, 1856, by the Democrats.
Lincoln (first term), at Chicago, 1800, by the Republicans.
Lincoln (second term), at Baltimore, 1864, by the Republicans.
Grant (first term), at Chicago, 1868, by the Republicans.
Grant (second term), at Philadelphia, 1872, by the Republicans.
Hayes, at Cincinnati, 1876, by the Republicans.
Garfield, at Chicago, 1880, by the Republicans.
Cleveland, at Chicago, 1884, by the Democrats.
194. When and by whom was the first national political platform adopted?
The first national political platform was adopted by the Democratic
convention at Baltimore, May 5, 1840.
195. Which is the “Blue Hen State”?
This is a popular name for the State of Delaware. This sobriquet is
said to have had its origin in a certain Captain Caldwell’s fondness
for the amusement of cock-fighting. Caldwell was, for a time, an
officer of the First Delaware Regiment, in the war of the Revolution,
and was greatly distinguished for his daring and undaunted spirit.
He was exceedingly popular in the regiment, and its high state of
discipline was generally conceded to be due to his exertions; so that
when officers were sent on a recruiting service, to enlist new men,
in order to fill vacancies caused by death or otherwise, it was a
saying, that they had gone home for more of Caldwell’s game-cocks;
but as Caldwell insisted that no cock could be truly game unless the
mother was a blue hen, the expression _Blue Hen’s Chickens_ was
substituted for game-cocks.
196. What State is called “The Dark and Bloody Ground”?
Kentucky, of which name the above is said to be the translation. The
phrase is an epitome of the early history of the State, of the dark
and bloody conflicts of the first white settlers with their savage
foes; but the name originated in the fact that this was the grand
battle-ground between the Northern and Southern Indians.
197. Who was the author of “Greenbacks”?
Salmon Portland Chase (1808–1873), President Lincoln’s Secretary of
the Treasury, and afterwards Chief Justice of the United States. The
financial policy which carried the nation through the civil war was
mainly the work of Mr. Chase. One of its essential features was the
issue of United States notes, known as “Greenbacks,” which bore no
interest, but were made legal tender.
198. What battle of the Rebellion was fought above the clouds?
This far-famed “battle above the clouds” took place on Lookout
Mountain, Tennessee, on the morning of the 23d of November, 1863. A
dense fog hung like a hood over the mountain, as the Federals under
Hooker charged the Rebel fortifications. His troops had been ordered to
stop on the high ground, but, taking advantage of the fog, and carried
away by the ardor of the attack, they sprang up the almost inaccessible
slopes of the mountain with resistless energy, and swept over the
crest, driving the enemy before them. The Union flag was carried to the
top; and before two o’clock in the afternoon, Lookout Mountain, with
its cloud-capped summit, was swarming with Federal soldiers. Grant is
reported to have declared the so-called “battle above the clouds” to
be “all poetry, there having been no action there worthy the name of
battle.”
199. Why was John Quincy Adams so named?
The origin of his name was thus stated by himself: “My
great-grandfather, John Quincy, was dying when I was baptized, and his
daughter, my grandmother, requested I might receive his name. This
fact, recorded by my father, has connected with my name a charm of
mingled sensibility and devotion. It was filial tenderness that gave
the name,--it was the name of one passing from earth to immortality.
These have been through life perpetual admonitions to do nothing
unworthy of it.”
200. What President was the oldest when elected?
William Henry Harrison, who was sixty-eight years of age when
inaugurated. The average age of Presidents, when elected, has been
fifty-seven years.
201. What colony was founded as a home for the poor?
Georgia, the thirteenth American colony, was founded in a spirit of
pure benevolence. The laws of England permitted imprisonment for debt.
Thousands of English laborers, who through misfortune and thoughtless
contracts had become indebted to the rich, were annually arrested and
thrown into jail. Whole families were destitute or starving. To provide
a refuge for these downtrodden poor of England, and the distressed
Protestants of other countries, James Oglethorpe, the philanthropist,
a member of Parliament, appealed to George II. for the privilege of
planting a colony in America. The petition was favorably heard, and
on the 9th of June, 1732, a royal charter was issued, by which the
territory between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers, and westward from
the upper fountains of those rivers to the Pacific, was organized and
granted to a corporation for twenty-one years, _to be held in trust
for the poor_. In honor of the king, the new province received the
name of Georgia.
202. Who was the “Colossus of American Independence”?
John Adams. By his energy and eloquence he did more than any other man
to crystallize the American sentiment in favor of independence. He was
a member of the celebrated committee appointed to draft the immortal
“Declaration.” In the debates on that instrument, he was its chief
defender; and it was he who persuaded Congress to adopt it. He was the
most distinguished signer. Jefferson himself said, that “he [Adams] was
the pillar of its support; its ablest advocate and defender.”
203. What were the last intelligible words of Benedict Arnold?
“Bring me, I beg you, the epaulets and sword-knots which Washington
gave me. Let me die in my old American uniform, the uniform in which I
fought my battles. God forgive me for ever putting on any other.”
204. What bird is an apt illustration of the proverb that “Pride will
have a fall”?
The pouter pigeon. It stands perpendicularly erect, and seems
exceedingly vain of the swollen crop which gives it the name of pouter.
It can inflate its crop with air, until the head is almost hidden
behind it. This inflation oftentimes causes the bird to lose its
balance, and to fall down chimneys, on which it is fond of standing,
thereby aptly illustrating the proverb, that “Pride will have a fall.”
205. What noted poet was so thin that he was said to wear lead in his
shoes to keep himself from being blown away by the wind?
Philetas, a distinguished poet and critic of the Alexandrian school,
who lived in the fourth and third centuries B. C., was so sickly and
so thin, that the comic poets stated that he used to wear lead in his
shoes to keep himself from being blown away. The story runs that he
died from the excessive assiduity with which he sought the answer to
the sophistical problem, called “The Liar,” viz.: If a man says he is
telling a lie, does he speak truly or falsely?
206. Was Adam created with a beard?
Scripture does not tell us, but the tradition that he was created with
one (which may be described as bushy rather than flowing) is recorded
on ancient monuments, and especially on an antique sarcophagus, which
is one of the ornaments of the Vatican. The Jews, with the Orientals
generally, seem to have accepted the tradition for a law. Among them
the beard was a cherished and sacred thing. The Scriptures abound with
examples of how the beard and its treatment interpreted the feelings,
the joy, the pride, the sorrow, or the despondency of the wearer.
207. Who was the wealthiest President?
Washington, who left an estate valued at $800,000. The next in order of
wealth was Van Buren, whose property was valued at $400,000.
208. Who were the original “Jersey Blues”?
They were a battalion of five hundred soldiers from New Jersey, during
King George’s War (1745–1748), and were so called from the color of
their uniform,--blue, faced with red, gray stockings, and buckskin
breeches. They were described at the time as “the likeliest well-set
men who ever entered upon a campaign.”
209. Who was “Tam O’Shanter”?
He was the hero of Burns’s poem of the same name, a farmer, who, riding
home very late and very drunk, from Ayr, in a stormy night, had to
pass by the kirk of Alloway, a place reputed to be a favorite haunt of
the devil and his friends and emissaries. On approaching the kirk,
he perceived a light gleaming through the windows; but having got
courageously drunk, he ventured on till he could look into the edifice,
when he saw a dance of witches merrily footing it round their master,
who was playing on the bagpipe to them. The dance grew so furious that
they all stripped themselves of their upper garments, and kept at it
in their shifts. One “winsome wench,” happening unluckily to have a
shift which was considerably too short to answer all the purposes of
that useful article of dress, Tam was so tickled that he involuntarily
roared out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!” (Well done, Short-smock);
whereupon, in an instant, all was dark, and Tam, recollecting himself,
turned and spurred his horse to the top of her speed, chased by the
whole fiendish crew. It is a current belief, that witches, or any evil
spirits, have no power to follow a poor wight any farther than the
middle of the next running stream. Fortunately for Tam, the river Doon
was near; for, notwithstanding the speed of his horse, by the time
he gained the middle of the arch of the bridge, and consequently the
middle of the stream, the pursuing vengeful hags were so close at his
heels, that one of them, “Cutty-sark,” actually sprang to seize him;
but it was too late,--nothing was on her side of the stream but the
horse’s tail, which immediately gave way at her infernal gripe, as if
blasted by a stroke of lightning; but the farmer was beyond her reach.
210. Who was “Old Public Functionary”?
This sobriquet, which was sometimes humorously abbreviated O. P. F.,
was sometimes given to James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the
United States. He was the first to apply the expression to himself, in
his annual message to Congress in 1859:--
“This advice proceeds from the heart of an _old public functionary_,
whose service commenced in the last generation, among the wise and
conservative statesmen of that day, now nearly all passed away, and
whose first and dearest earthly wish is to leave his country tranquil,
prosperous, united, and powerful.”
211. Who was “Light-Horse Harry”?
This sobriquet was popularly conferred upon General Henry Lee
(1756–1818), a gallant American cavalry officer in the war of the
Revolution, in allusion to his rapid and daring movements in battle,
particularly during the campaign in the Carolinas.
212. Who was the “French Game-cock”?
On account of his bravery, this name was given by the American soldiers
to Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
213. What was the “Albany Regency”?
It was a junto of astute Democratic politicians, having their
headquarters at Albany, who controlled the action of the Democratic
party for many years, and who had great weight in national politics.
The effort to elect William H. Crawford President, instead of John
Quincy Adams, was their first great struggle.
214. In what country are prayers said by wheels?
An important part of the duties of a pilgrim to Lassa, the centre of
Lamaism, is penance. Among the lighter forms of penance is turning a
wheel called _Tchu-Kor_, “revolving prayer.” This devotional
machine is usually a sort of barrel, moving upon an axis and inscribed
all over with Buddhistic petitions. The worshipper sets it going, and
it turns prayers for his benefit, while he pursues some more mundane
occupation.
215. What Presidents were born in Virginia?
Thus far seven of our Presidents have been natives of Virginia, viz.:--
Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Feb. 22, 1732; Jefferson, born
at Shadwell, Albemarle County, April 2, 1743; Madison, born at King
George, March 16, 1751; Monroe, born in Westmoreland County, April 28,
1758; Harrison, born at Berkeley, Charles City County, Feb. 9, 1773;
Tyler, born in Charles City County, March 29, 1790; Taylor, born in
Orange County, Sept. 24, 1784.
216. Which is the only monarchy on the Western Continent?
The government of Brazil is a mild form of a constitutional and
hereditary monarchy. The laws of succession are the same as in England.
The Emperor Dom Pedro II., of the house of Bragança, and the Empress,
a sister of the king of Naples, are universally beloved and respected
for their intellectual and moral endowments, and their affectionate
interest in the welfare of their subjects.
217. What becomes of all the greenbacks and banknotes after they have
served their few years of usefulness?
They go to the government. After about three years of service they
are pretty well worn, and are taken to the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, and placed in a machine containing immense knives, which chop
the notes into fragments. Three officers of the Treasury Department are
stationed to watch the destruction of the notes. No one else is allowed
to be present except the officials and the men who run the machine.
They are compelled to remain in the room until each separate note is
destroyed. They must account afterwards to the Redemption Bureau for
each note, and should one become lost or mislaid and afterwards find
its way into circulation, the result would be the immediate discharge
of the three who daily have in their custody millions of dollars of
notes and bonds. The shreds are reduced to pulp, and then moulded into
figures of birds and animals and sold as mementos to visitors. Often it
will happen that one little object will be composed of what was once
$1,000,000 worth of money.
218. What sort of mound has been raised to the memory of Kosciusko?
Near Cracow there is a mound of earth one hundred and fifty feet
high, which was raised to the memory of the Polish patriot, Thaddeus
Kosciusko, by the people, earth being brought for this purpose from
every great battlefield of Europe on which Polish blood had been shed.
From a fanciful resemblance in shape to this tumulus, the loftiest
known mountain in Australia has received the name of Mount Kosciusko.
219. In what country are the forests without shade?
With few exceptions, the Australian trees are evergreens, and they show
a peculiar reverted position of their leaves, which hang vertically,
turning their edges instead of their sides toward the sun, and giving
no shade. There are great shadeless forests of eucalypti and other
trees.
220. Which are the tallest trees in the world?
The loftiest product of the vegetable kingdom is the eucalypti-trees,
indigenous to Australia and Tasmania. They are sometimes called
“gum-trees,” because they abound in resinous exudations. The
_Eucalyptus gigantea_, called “Stringy bark,” sometimes attains a
height of four hundred and eighty feet, and a diameter of over eighty
feet; over one hundred feet higher than the highest specimen of the
mammoth trees of California (_Sequoia gigantea_), now standing.
These trees form a characteristic feature of the peculiar vegetation
of those islands, having entire leathery leaves, of which one edge is
directed toward the sky, so that both surfaces are equally exposed
to the light. They also have the peculiarity of shedding their bark
annually instead of their leaves.
221. Who was the most famous heroine of antiquity?
Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra. Her second husband, Septimius Odenathus,
prince of Palmyra, was assassinated in A. D. 266, by his nephew
Mæonius. Zenobia put the assassin to death, and assumed the vacant
Palmyrene throne. For five years she governed Palmyra, Syria, and
adjoining parts of the East with vigor and judgment, independent of
the Roman power. She assumed the title of “Queen of the East,” and
exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to Persian
monarchs. She maintained her power through the reigns of Gallienus and
Claudius, but was finally defeated and captured by Aurelian, 273 A. D.
Decked with splendid jewels, and almost fainting under the weight of
gold chains, she adorned the triumph of the emperor, but was presented
by him with large possessions near Tivoli, where she passed the rest
of her life in comfort and even splendor. Her daughters married into
noble Roman families, and her descendants were still living in the
fifth century. She was exceedingly beautiful, dark in complexion, with
large black, fiery eyes. She spoke Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian,
and wrote for her own use an epitome of Oriental history. She was a
passionate hunter, and thoroughly inured to fatigue, sometimes walking
on foot at the head of her troops.
222. What is dynamite?
This explosive, of which we hear so much, looks very much like moist
brown sugar. It is made of nitro-glycerine, a heavy, oily liquid which
explodes with great violence, mixed with an absorbent to make it safer
to handle. Nitro-glycerine is composed of nitric acid, sulphuric acid,
and that clear, sweet, soothing liquid called glycerine. The absorbent
material is a fine, white powder, composed of the remains of infusoria.
This takes up two or three times its weight of the nitro-glycerine
without becoming pasty; the ingredients are mixed in leaden vessels
with wooden spoons to avoid friction. If fire is applied to this mass,
it burns with a strong flame without any explosion; but the application
of a full sudden blow causes it to explode with tremendous force.
223. Who was the “Great American Commoner”?
Thaddeus Stevens (1793–1868), of Pennsylvania, an American statesman,
was so called on account of his opposition to slavery and secession. He
was elected representative in Congress in 1848 and re-elected in 1850.
He strongly opposed the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska
Bill. He was again elected to Congress in 1858, and held his seat till
his death.
224. What was the proper name of Columbus?
His Genoese name was Christoforo Colombo, which, according to the
custom of the time, he Latinized into Columbus. When he went into Spain
he adopted the Spanish form of it, Christobal Colon.
225. Who were the parents of Columbus?
Columbus was the eldest son of Domenico Colombo, a wool comber of
Genoa, and Susanna Fontanarossa. They had two other sons, Bartolommeo
(Bartholomew) and Giacomo (James, called in Spain Diego), and a
daughter who married a butcher.
226. Who was the wife of Columbus?
In the convent of All Saints, Lisbon, where Columbus was accustomed to
attend religious service, were certain ladies of rank, either resident
as boarders, or in some religious capacity. With one of these, Doña
Felipa Moñis de Perestrello, Columbus became acquainted. Her father,
Bartolommeo Moñis de Perestrello, an Italian cavalier, lately deceased,
had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry,
and had colonized and governed the island of Porto Santo. Columbus soon
fell in love with the lady, and married her. By her he had one son,
Diego, born about 1472. A few years afterward his wife died.
227. How many children had Columbus?
He had two sons. The eldest, Diego, was by his wife. His second son,
Fernando, born in 1487, was the illegitimate child of Doña Beatriz
Enriquez, a noble lady of Cordova, to whom Columbus became attached,
while waiting for an opportunity to appear at court. This son became
the historian of his father.
228. When did the line of Columbus become extinct?
Diego married Doña Maria de Toledo, daughter of the Duke of Alva. Their
eldest son, Luis, exchanged the hereditary dignity of admiral for a
pension and the title of Duke of Veragua, Marquis of Jamaica. Luis’s
eldest daughter married her cousin Diego, and died without issue,
the male line thus becoming extinct. Finally the property and titles
became, in 1608, merged by marriage through the female line in a branch
of the house of Bragança.
229. What were the last words of Columbus?
He died while repeating the following words in Latin: “Lord, into thy
hands I commit my spirit.”
230. Where do the remains of Columbus now repose?
The body of Columbus was deposited in the convent of San Francisco,
Valladolid, Spain. It was thence transported, 1513, to the Carthusian
Monastery of Seville, where a handsome monument was erected by command
of Ferdinand and Isabella, with the simple inscription, “To Castile and
Leon, Colon gave a new world.” In 1536, his body and that of his son
Diego were removed to the city of St. Domingo, Hayti, and interred in
the principal chapel. But, in 1796, the remains, as was supposed, were
taken to Havana with imposing ceremonies. The tomb in the cathedral is
marked by a slab elaborately carved, on which is inscribed,--
“Restos e Imagen del grande Colon!
Mil siglos durad guardades en la Urna
Y en la remembranza de nuestra Nacion,”
which is Spanish for,
“Oh, rest thou, image of the great Colon,
Thousand centuries remain, guarded in the urn,
And in the remembrance of our nation.”
In 1877, however, while excavating near the cathedral in St. Domingo,
the vault was opened and a leaden coffin found containing human bones,
and inscribed in Spanish, “Illustrious and renowned man, Christopher
Columbus.” It is therefore thought that the body carried to Havana was
not that of the great admiral.
231. What was the last writing of Columbus?
It is contained in a final codicil to the will of 1498, made at
Valladolid on the 19th of May, 1506. By this the old will is confirmed,
the mayorazgo is bequeathed to his son Diego and his male heirs,
failing these to Fernando, his second son, and failing these to the
male heirs of his brother Bartholomew: only in case of the extinction
of the male line, direct or collateral, is it to descend to the females
of the family; and those into whose hands it may fall are never to
diminish it, but always to increase and ennoble it by all means
possible. The head of the family is to sign himself “The Admiral.” A
tenth of the annual income is to be set aside yearly for distribution
among the poor relations of the house. A chapel is founded and endowed
for the saying of masses. Beatriz Enriquez is left to the care of the
young admiral in most graceful terms. Among other legacies is one of
“half a mark of silver to a Jew who used to live at the gate of Jewry,
in Lisbon.” The codicil was written and signed with the admiral’s own
hand. Next day (May 20, 1506) he died.
232. Which is the “Sucker State”? Why so named?
This is a cant name given to the State of Illinois, the inhabitants of
which are very generally called _suckers_ throughout the West. The
origin of this term is said to be as follows: The Western prairies are,
in many places, full of the holes made by the “crawfish” (a fresh-water
shell-fish, similar in form to the lobster), which descends to the
water beneath. In early times, when travellers wended their way over
these immense plains, they very prudently provided themselves with a
long, hollow reed, and, when thirsty, thrust it into these natural
artesians, and thus easily supplied their longings. The crawfish well
generally contains pure water, and the manner in which the traveller
drew forth the refreshing element gave him the name of “sucker.”
233. What was the “Bug” Bible?
What is known as the “Bug” Bible was printed in 1551, and contained a
prologue by Tyndall. Its name is derived from the peculiar rendering of
the fifth verse of the ninety-first Psalm, which is made to read, “So
that thou shalt not need to be afraid for any bugs by night.”
234. How is celluloid made?