The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-10-09
From Arthur's Home Gazette.
RECOLLECTIONs AND ANECDOTES
OF TIE o.. ~
PRESIDENTS Of The UNITED STATES.
BY ARTHUR JOS. sTANsBURY.

iscences Of our deceased Presidents: task at
once pleasing, yet sad Pleasing, certainly, for
their memory, as whole, is full OF honor and of
excellence; yet not without sntidening effect
upon the mind. That advanced period of life
which fits ne, in any degree, for such task,
casts over the past the tnts ofevenng; the lights
are of waning brlianCy; and even where they
linger brightest on the scene, owe much of their
effect to the shades which have stolen over all
around them. May it not be said that the task
OF retrospection is always pensivc one? Who
looks back on the course of long and varied
journey, how pleasant soever it's incidents may,
many of them, have been, without sigh?-a
sigh that they are past, and sigh of more espe-
cial sadness, when il is path that never can be
trodden again 1t is with the old man, called
to review n succession of the scenes Of his youth
and earlier days. The task you require at my
hands, if task it may be called, connects itself
with so many early associations, calls up the men,
ories Of so many eminent mon who have passed
from the stage Of human action, as well as of so
many others personally dear, now lost. that, how
ever welcome the employment Of ones pen OF,
such theme, it is ever colored with tinge of
melancholy.
1t has been my lot to have had some know
ledge Of all the Presidents Of the United States;
and though my opportunities Of observing them
have hecn much less in some cases than in others,
! have living recollection Of them all. The
! personal appearance of each is yividly drawn u
pom my memory; their figure, countenance,
voice, carriage and manner, never can forget.
If have right apprehension of what you de
sire, it is chiefly those nearer traits, those per-
sonal, individual, distinguishing 1eculiarities
= which mark ;le man, not the President that you
would have preserved, before they shall have pas,
sed from all living memory. If you would catch
these departing lights before they fade forever,
you must make haste. The men who personally
remember George Washington, are already
comparatively few; their locks are bleaching
with age and in few brief years they will all
be gathered in that silent house where he 'ssleeps
in glory" Such mon owe duty to posterity;
with them much will perish which, if saved to
history, would form one Of the most interesting
volumes that Americans can read There are,
is true, few laborers who are collecting these
evancsccnt rcmcmbrances, and fixing them be-
; fore they vanish. Would that there were more.
Would that they had begun earlier. What treas
ures of individual anecdote, Of personal descrp-
ton, of secret history, have been lost to the
world in the death, for instance, of such men as
John Quincy Adams and Albert Galatn!-
What fund Of instruction and delight was the
conversation oftheir latter days! Many shared
it: all who did, enjoyed it: but how few ever
thought of recording what they heard! They
are gone. and whatever treasures they may have
left in the shape Of letters, and private Jour
mails, one day to see the light, how much has
irrccovcrably passed away! And the regret ex-
percnced in this reflection is increased from the
fact that the period in which these men lived
was, in the history of our country, sort of gold
en- age. Not only can that age never return,
but none like it can ever revisit our land, or
world, The leading men who figured in 1t are
beginning to occupy place in the thoughts and
the vcneraton Of the American people like that
of the tabled heroes of antiquity; whatever re-
latcs to them has sort Of classic sacredness a.
bout it. The sparscness OF the historic records,
ESPECIALLY those Of personal and characteristic
kind, while it increases this feeling, increases, at
the same time, the value of such as remain, and
the wish for more
1t has been said, and said truly, that American
literature is peculiarly deficient in the depart
nont Of memoirs. We have much history, and
E not little biography but our biography is al
together too historical. 1t consists, too much, of
the public doiugs othistorical men; bald reci-
tai Of official acts, as connected with the great
events Of their day: hence much of it finds
place on the upper shelves Of the library, among
documents which it is proper to have, and which
; It may sometimes be necessary to consult, that
, we may fix date, or resolve historic doubt,
but they are not ready for delight they are not
E in the hands Of the people: they are not sought
by the young, and much Of them lies as dead
stock on the hands of the publisher. What we
want is living books: books that every body
wants to read, and will have: books that bring
the men before our eyes whose names are as
household words III the mouths of our school
, boys. This want has in many cases been sup.
f piled by felton, and the avidity with which even
| fiction is read when it touches the personal ap-
pearance, dress, bearing, and private manners of
distinguished men, is but much evidence Of
the want. So lar as this has gone, it has usurp-
: ed the place of history; superseded it; almost
, extlnguished it. How many read the historians
account of Richard, or OF Louis the Eleventh, in
, comparison to those who know these monarchs
, from the graphic pencil Of Shakespeare and of
Scott?
think, therefore, that you have done well to
r devote place in your paper to personal remi-
nIscenccs and anecdotes of distinguished men
Of our country, and have, with obvious
, proprety, begun with our Presinents. IF can
contribute any thing to further your design, it
f will give me sincere pleasure. 1t is but little
can do in this way: but if the many ADLER men
whose positions gave them far better means of
knowledge, will but contribute in the same pro-
, portion TO the opportunities they enjoyed, / am
confident that department of your journal will
possess an interest and value in which it will
, be without a rival.
You expect, Of course, nothing that is formal,
labored, or pretentious. a free, untrammelled,
conversational description is all have to offer,
and all, as l understand it, that you desire. -
The writer will feel himself entirely at home
with the reader, while they rambe together,
. like pressing antquarians, over country survey
ed indeed, for roads, and canals, and county
lines, and all great purposes of general utility,
but never searched over for half-effaced coins,
or forgotten tombstones, or nouldering records
that must soon be ilegible
a- WARRINGTON.
And first, of the first, George Washington ~
"Flrst in war, Grst in peace, first in the hearts
.. of his countrymen,o he was, is, and ever will
J remain. 1t is much, and it viii be more, even
f TO have seen him. Those who have, will say,
with one voice, that they never saw any thing
Il like him Probably there never was human
being who ever departed from hisp1esence With
out having this conviction deep upon hs mind.
A lady who lived opposite bis lodgings al the
time he resided in Fhiiadelphia, told friend
. that General Washington never came into ~
out ofhis house that she did not remain stlhd
q window, with her eyes fixed upon him - long q
he remained In sight. ltwas feeling that di1
is456s fEee 9TH f,a m.