of politics a small group of pro-slavery Democrats, by combining with the Whigs, managed to hold the balance of power for two months and prevented Mr. Hamlin's re-election as a party man. They offered him terms of compromise when he was within a few votes of election, but he refused to modify in the slightest degree his opposition to slavery, and was finally elected by the aid of some Free Soilers, who gave him a majority of one vote in the Senate and two in the House. This incident shows how real and besetting were the difficulties Mr. Hamlin had to contend with in fighting slavery as a party man and within constitutional lines, and also enables one to see the strength of his devotion to principle. William Cullen Bryant, who was a personal friend of Mr. Hamlin's and at the time editor of the New York "Evening Post, wrote of Mr. Hamlin's triumph: "With examples of treachery and faltering around him for the past three years, Mr. Hamlin has not swerved a hair's breadth from the rectitude of his course as an opponent of slavery extension in every shape in which the scheme has presented itself. He is a safe, comprehensive and rational statesman."

"

Mr. Hamlin's status in the Senate was secured by his appointment as chairman of the Committee on Commerce. This body was then Congress's most important business arm. The country's rapid growth and development called for the building of more postoffices, custom houses, and for a larger share than is necessary now of attention to rivers and harbors. The Committee on Commerce had to pass on these and other practical questions, and Mr. Hamlin's time as chairman was fully occupied. An interesting change was now worked in him. He became a man of action; he was impatient of talk; he grew taciturn and ultimately was known as a silent Senator. He said that Congress talked too much and did not work enough. Henceforth he rarely spoke himself, though occasionally he would rise to cut the knot of debate. Nevertheless, Senator Hamlin became a power in the inner circle of the Democratic party, for he was an acknowledged authority on Parliamentary procedure, and was intimately associated with Thomas H. Benton, Levi Woodbury, and their adher

ents. With Benton, in 1848, he strove to have the Democracy nominate Woodbury for President, against candidates like Cass, Buchanan, and Douglas, who were identified with the pro-slavery wing of their party. It was by this and similar action that Mr. Hamlin continued to fight against the deliverance of the party of Jefferson and Jackson into the hands of the slavery propagandists. He was not the man to give up the ship while there was hope of keeping it afloat.

But the machinery of the party was soon in the hands of the Calhoun wing, and they were bound to rule or ruin. When they struck down the Missouri Compromise, that time-honored bulwark against slavery, Senator Hamlin severed his allegiance with Democracy and in a notable speech in the Senate stated his reasons for doing so, at the same time resigning the chairmanship of the Committee of Commerce. A single reference to this speech may be made to note its incisive and patriotic character. nouncing the Calhoun doctrine, that "the National flag carries slavery wherever it floats," Mr. Hamlin said that Drake's national ode should be re-written to read :

"Forever float that standard sheet

De

Where breathes the foe who fall before us, With Slavery's soil beneath our feet,

And Slavery's banner streaming o'er us !'' Mr. Hamlin closed his memorable utterance by saying that "these events leave me only one unpleasant duty, which is to declare that I can maintain political associations with no party that insists upon such doctrines; that I can support no man for President who avows and recognizes them; and that the little power with which God has endowed me shall be employed to battle manfully, firmly and consistently for his defeat, demanded as it is by the highest interests of the country which owns all my allegiance."

The young Republican party of Maine nominated nominated Mr. Hamlin against his wishes as its candidate for Governor. Then followed a campaign which Thomas B. Reed has described as a "triumphal procession from one end of Maine to the other, the like of which the State never saw before nor has seen since." Up to this time Maine had been a rock-ribbed Democratic State. Mr. Hamlin was elected by a majority of about 20,000

votes. A revolution had been effected. This was a striking illustration of Hamlin's wonderful power as a speaker among the common people. His style was simple and direct. He never overshot the mark. The people both understood and believed in him. He was now returned to the United States Senate and held his seat until 1860, when he was elected Vice-President on the same ticket with Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Hamlin, it should be said, did not desire this high office; indeed, he was nominated without his knowledge or consent; though after he was nominated he accepted. He always affirmed that he would rather be Senator than President, and he did not want to be President.

Mr. Hamlin enjoyed exceedingly cordial relations with President Lincoln. It was said that no President and VicePresident since the days of Jackson and Van Buren were on closer or more friendly terms. Mr. Hamlin's own words in speaking of his relations with Mr. Lincoln prove this. A few of Mr. Lincoln's acts tell the same story in an interesting manner. The President often consulted Mr. Hamlin about official and personal affairs. For example, Mr. Lincoln showed Vice-President Hamlin the Proclamation of Emancipation before it had been seen by any other of his official or confidential advisers. At Mr. Lincoln's request, Mr. Hamlin made some suggestions about the wording of the instrument and Mr. Lincoln accepted the two emendations he offered. An illustration of Mr. Hamlin's sense of fairness and delicacy is the remark he made as to the authorship of the edict. "The Emancipation Proclamation," said he, "was Mr. Lincoln's own act, and no one else can claim any credit in connection with it." Mr. Hamlin urged the President to arm the colored men and received from him the order to the War Department to give effect to the call. In his turn Mr. Hamlin assisted Mr. Lincoln in his candidacy for renomination. At his suggestion Mr. Lincoln placed his interests in Maine in the hands of James G. Blaine, who was then coming forward as a political leader.

A stampede movement to nominate a Southern War Democrat for Vice-President in 1864 resulted in the choice of Andrew Johnson. Of all the gossip based merely on hearsay evidence, and

One

other contradictory statements regarding Mr. Lincoln's relations with Mr. Hamlin, two facts distinctively manifest his preference for Mr. Hamlin, while they are in harmony with his record of sincerity, honesty and loyalty to his friends. was his act in instructing the Illinois delegation to vote for Mr. Hamlin; another was his tender of the position of Secretary of the Treasury to Mr. Hamlin. Circumstances however prevented Mr. Hamlin from entering the Cabinet.

When Johnson became President, he, at the request of Charles Sumner and other Massachusetts Republicans, appointed Mr. Hamlin Collector of the Port of Boston. This was one of the most lucrative positions under the Government - the salary and emoluments aggregating $30,000 a year. But after Mr. Hamlin had held the position for a brief year, he resigned it because he could not see how with honor he could hold the office under a President who was endeavoring to enforce a national policy which he regarded as unpatriotic, if not positively dangerous. Mr. Hamlin, in his letter of resignation, arraigned Johnson sharply and spoke of the President's course in plain and terse English.

But Mr. Hamlin did not remain in private life, for in 1869 he was returned to the Senate, and again re-elected in 1875. During his last two terms in the Senate, Mr. Hamlin devoted himself to practical legislation on special lines of work, such as those relating to scientific, agricultural and educational subjects. For example, in the Legislature and the House he had worked to improve the United States postal service. As chairman of the Postoffice Committee in the Senate, he was able to accomplish larger results. As regent of the Smithsonian Institution and the intimate friend of Professor Joseph Henry, he was able to render him no little service in the interest of science. He also favored the giving of national aid to State colleges and took a lively interest in the growth of these institutions. A notable incident in Mr. Hamlin's closing years of service in the Senate was his opposition to the scheme of certain Republican leaders to abrogate the Burlingame treaty with China. He insisted that the nation's honor demanded that the treaty should be observed. Another incident that also attracted widespread interest

was Mr. Hamlin's opposition to the Southern policy of President R. B. Hayes. He denounced this as party dishonor.

Mr. Hamlin declined re-election to the Senate in 1881. He had served in that body for a quarter of a century, and had been at Washington for thirty-four years. President Garfield appointed Mr. Hamlin Minister to Spain and he accepted the position on condition that he might resign within a year. After Mr. Hamlin

returned from Spain, he retired to private life and spent the evening of his old age at his home in Bangor, Me. Occasionally he suffered his repose to be broken to make a speech. One such occasion was when he urged the Legislature of Maine, in 1887, to repeal the law which imposed capital punishment for murder. This was a matter he had argued for precisely a quarter of a century, insisting that the law of Moses was not the law of Christ, and the final repeal of the statute was his reward. Another interesting speech was one he delivered in 1891 before the Republican Club of New York City, advocating that Lincoln's birthday should be made a national holiday. This he first suggested in 1887. To-day the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Washington, observe Lincoln's birthday as a holiday by act of Legislature, as a result of this movement Mr. Hamlin originated. His argument was that Lincoln was the saviour of his country and should be honored equally with Washington, its father. This speech was made at Mr. Hamlin's last public appearance, and it was his last message to the people of his country. Like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Hannibal Hamlin died on the Fourth of July. The year of his death was 1891.

As a statesman Mr. Hamlin is to be ranked among the practical, clearsighted, and vigorous men of his day who dealt with events in a rapidly changing age. Mr. Hamlin's training was general rather than specific, and it may be said of him, as was said of Benton, while he is not named as the author of many great measures, yet he was of immense influence in shaping legislation during the country's formative period. The various positions Mr. Hamlin held while a member of Congress denote the confidence his colleagues had in him and show the influence he exerted. In the

In

House he was chairman of the Committee of Elections, and, during the twenty-five years he was in the Senate, he was chairman at different times of the Committees on Commerce, the Post Office and on Foreign Relations. the presidential campaigns of 1860 it was claimed by the Republican Press that Mr. Hamlin was the best man of affairs in the Senate. He certainly had a remarkable knowledge of the politics as well as of the general business of the country. The truth is, Mr. Hamlin's comprehensive knowledge of affairs and sound and practical statesmanship were somewhat obscured by his unique political record. The country saw the characteristic side of the man his rugged honesty, democratic temper, simplicity, faith in common humanitymore clearly than it perceived the importance of his legislative acts. It was the man it saw before it recognized and appreciated the statesman, yet the record of Mr. Hamlin's acts and attitude in Congress would comprise volumes.

dignity of

he never He loved

Many stories are told of Mr. Hamlin's personal traits, habits and peculiarities. At the close of his public career he remained as simple and unaffected as when he was an unknown lawyer at Hampden. He would not change even with the fashion, and to the end of his life he wore an old style dress coat. He owned a farm the larger part of his life and, like Coriolanus of old, worked on it himself until within a few years of his death. He also made his sons and grandsons help him in this work, that they might appreciate the manual labor. Moreover, failed to make his farm pay. the plain people and "the boys in blue" and his last appearances among the latter, when they realized that he was about to pass off the stage, were occasions of touching scenes. In his closing years, when at home and out of political harness, he softened and was reconciled to many former bitter opponents. Silent about himself and always modest, Mr. Hamlin refused to write a line in way of a memoir. He said: "My memory is uncertain and I fear I might do unintentional injustice to some. For myself, I shall be content with whatever estimate my countrymen place on my services. CHARLES E. HAMLIN.

BANGOR, ME.

to point on the planet, with dark spots at the points of meeting. It must be said that, owing to the extreme difficulty of detecting these canals, there is still some difference of opinion as to their exact nature. Quite possibly, under more perfect atmospheric conditions than astronomers have hitherto availed themselves of, the details would appear entirely different; indeed, the latest paper by Barnard indicates that with the finest seeing ever available at Mount Hamilton, and the great advantages of the 36-inch telescope, the surface of Mars appears entirely different from the drawings of Schiaparelli and others. What the latter describe as fine lines, he then saw as irregular, hazy streaks.

The question whether Mars has an atmosphere sufficiently dense to make its presence evident by the most delicate observation, is still an unsettled one. Both Huyghens and Janssen thought they had found evidences of aqueous vapor in the atmosphere of Mars. This evidence was afforded by those lines in the spectrum due to such vapor being better marked than they would have been were the light reflected from the planet itself. But Campbell, at the Lick Observatory, made a series of investigations with the spectroscope, under conditions more favorable than those enjoyed by any previous observer, owing to the height of his station and the serenity of the air. His observations were made by comparing the spectrum of Mars and of the moon, when the latter was in the immediate neighborhood of the planet. The moon is well known to have no visible atmosphere. If, then, Mars has an atmosphere sufficiently dense to make the spectral lines much stronger, or has sufficient watery vapor to produce that effect, there ought to be a difference between the spectrum of Mars and that of the moon. Mr. Campbell could find none. It does not follow from this that Mars has no atmosphere, but only that the atmosphere, if it does exist, is probably much rarer than that on the earth, and perhaps is without aqueous vapor.

parelli, and in southern France by Perrotin. For two centuries it has been supposed by some that Venus rotated on its axis in a period not differing much from 24 hours. At the same time the more cautious astronomers have always maintained that the time of rotation was altogether unknown, because the spots on Venus, if they existed at all, were so indistinct that no one could trace them out, and follow their motion from night to night, with entire certainty. It was therefore not surprising as it might have been, when Schiaparelli announced that Venus, like our moon, rotated on its axis in the same time that it revolves around the sun, and therefore always presented the same face to the sun. Quite recently, Perrotin has studied the planet from the summit of Mount Mounier, in southern France, with a view of testing Schiaparelli's conclusions, and has convinced himself of their correctness. But it is quite likely that most astronomers will still be somewhat sceptical. The fact is, that Venus, when seen through a telescope of high power, even the best, presents a glaring aspect, somewhat like that of burnished metal shining by the light of a strong fire, which prevents the observer from making out anything in the shape of fine details. It is true that different parts of the surface present very different degrees of brightness, according to the way the light is falling upon them, and appearances somewhat like bright spots are seen near the upper or lower limb. But it is still open to question whether there is anything to be outlined with such distinctness that an observer can positively identify spots or other markings on the planet.

The question as to the form and constitution of the satellites of Jupiter has given rise to much discussion. Barnard, while observing the transit of the first satellite over the disk of the planet, was surprised to see it look double. After long and careful discussion of this appearance, he concluded that the apparent duplicity was an illusion, produced by a dark belt across the body of the satellite. Prof. W. H. Pickering, who observed the satellites under exceptionally fine conditions at Arequipa, Peru, found them to exhibit irregular and anomalous forms at various times, showing a very great ellipticity of figure.