Part 10 (1/2)
And again we find a letter written later.
”DEAR GENERAL:
”I deeply regret we are not to have our mountain excursion together, and especially grieved that the disappointment should be on account of Mrs. Pierce's ill health. As the greater part of my pleasure would have been your companions.h.i.+p I question whether I shall press the matter any farther, although I do not as yet decidedly give up the idea.
”Some spiteful abolitionist took trouble to send to me a compendium of abusive paragraphs from the newspapers in reference to you, and it seems to me that the best way of disappointing his malice was to lay them aside without reading one of them, which I accordingly did.
”With best regard to Mrs. Pierce and most earnest wishes for a speedy recovery,
”Faithfully yours, ”HATH.”
In addition to the Hawthorne letters are some written by Jefferson Davis, who was a close friend of President Pierce, and who was appointed by the latter Secretary of War during his administration. The friends.h.i.+p between Jefferson Davis and President Pierce commenced during the time when Pierce was a member of the Senate. Mr. Davis thus writes concerning him to one of his personal friends.
”Mr. Pierce, then a member of the Senate, sustained every cardinal principle a.s.serted by Mr. Calhoun, and there was not a member of the Senate who more uniformly voted to sustain them. As an auditor I heard the debate, watched the votes, and then commenced the affectionate esteem and high appreciation of Mr. Pierce which grew and strengthened with every succeeding year of his life. The position he then a.s.sumed clearly indicated the views subsequently expressed in the extract you have incorporated in your article.
”Like many other practical statesmen, he was not disposed to disturb the 'Missouri Compromise,' but I have little doubt that at any period of his political career he would have said that it should have never been adopted. When he saw by the legislation of 1850, with which he was no more connected than that of 1820, the manifestation of a purpose to a.s.sert sound political principles and follow more closely the Const.i.tution as it was written, he could but rejoice in this triumph of the creed he had so bravely defended in 1837-8.
”The situation made by you from his message of Dec. 1885, and especially the closing words of the extract, 'Existing or Incipient States,' proved undoubtedly that his understanding was that inst.i.tutions were to be ordained and established not by the first adventurers into a wilderness, but by organized, self-governing communities, such as the people of States, either of the Union or about to enter it.
”I send back one of the two copies received of the Granite Monthly and on the magazine you will find pencil marks opposite the pa.s.sages on which I have ventured freely to comment.
”Truly yours, ”JEFFERSON DAVIS.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jefferson Davis were two of his most intimate friends, men entirely different in standards, political ideas, and life.
The friends.h.i.+p between Hawthorne and Pierce lasted until the death of the former, May 19, 1864, Pierce being with him much of the time during his last illness and was by his side when he pa.s.sed away.
Hawthorne in his ”Life of Pierce” tells us: ”The administration of Franklin Pierce presents the only instance in our history of the continuance of a cabinet for four years without any change in personnel.
When it will be remembered that there was much dissimilarity, if not incongruity, of character among the members of the cabinet, some idea may be formed of the power over men that was possessed by Mr. Pierce.
Chivalrous, generous, amiable, true to his friends and faith, frank and bold in the declaration of his opinions, he never deceived any one, and if treachery ever came near him, it would have stood abashed in the presence of his truth, his manliness, and his confiding simplicity.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LV.--Library, Franklin Pierce House.]
The old Hillsboro house stands to-day unchanged. By its side is a small building formerly used by the ex-President as a library and it still contains a part of his books, many volumes of which have been transferred to the library of the main house.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LVI.--Sword given by the State of New Hamps.h.i.+re to President Pierce; Bowie Knife used at Barbecue given at Hillsboro for Pres. Pierce and Canes presented to him by Notable Personages; Sword presented by ladies of Concord, to President Pierce.]
This room is a perfect treasure trove, for on the walls hang pictures of historic value, many of them painted at the order of the late President.
The most valuable collection of all, however, are the autograph letters, the most important of which are written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jefferson Davis, letters that form a connecting link between the history of the Civil War and the life of men who made history.
CHAPTER XIV
THE SAVORY HOUSE
We turn to old houses as we turn to old books--for information--for inside old mansions is generally a wealth of furniture and china, the history of which has a never-dying charm to the collector and the lover of the antique. These houses are rapidly pa.s.sing away, and it is only now and then that we come across one where furniture may be found that covers the periods between the Chippendale and the Empire.
One of these old houses, in which there is an especially rich collection of antiques, is found at Groveland, Ma.s.sachusetts, and is known as the Savory house. Let us step over its threshold, and wander through its rooms, studying the furniture and the periods which they represent.