Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1876-10-28
. REVIEW OF H0WELLS' "LIFE OF
HAYES.'s iF.t,i>iN tr'.t r
From the Congregationalist.

Mr. Hayes comes Of - good old stock, y
his first ancestor in this country having
emigrated from Scotland in 1852. HIS
grandfather was IA well-to-do vermont
farmer, and mis- grandmother steln
Puritan matrou. His father fOatea lron,
Vermont westward to Ohio In 1911 anu
i'm that state, i'm the town OF Delewa'e'
on the 4th Of October. 1922, this son Wa
horn. The father died three months
nrvious TO his birth. The mother was u
Rirchahl. With her and an only sister
the boy.s childhood Was spent. The Sis
fer was, but. two years the elder, nnd the
two had happy and profitable compan-
ionship.
They read Hume's and Smollett's Eng
lish history together the sister Of twelve
years interpreted Shakespeare to the
brother of ten; they read the poetry of
Mr.. Thomas Moore then SO much finer
and grander than now. and they paid
Sir Walter Scott the tribute of dramatic.
ing together hts 'sI.ady Of the Lake" and
were duly Sstonished and dismayed to
learn afterward that they were not the
sole inventors of the dramatizatlOn OF
poems: that even their admired lady
of the Lake. had long been upon the
stage. TIL -, -
In this childhood's garden we think we
can easily see the seed-plantings OF the
strong and fruitful growth presented III
these after years.
Young HAYES fitted for college partly
ut Norwalk. o.. and PARTLY at Middletown,
Conn. TAe temptation To enter Yale was
great. It was determined, however, that
the student should return to his native
state. and he catered AZ Kenyon college,
Gambler. in 1888. As early as this he
hsa formed the habit Of journal-keeping,
and the contents of his diaries at this pc
Rod are thus summarized by Mr: How
ellis:
What distinguishes them from other
collegian diaries, and gives them their
peculiar value i'm any study OF the nlail'
Is the evidence they afford OF MS iiie-i0nS
habit of rigid self-accountaDillty. anu Oh
close, shrewd study Of character Ill oth
ers, At the end of his third year he put
I'm writing his estimate of the traits. tai
ents and prospects Of his fellow students'
and in diary opened at the same time
he begins those searching examinations
of his own motives, purposes IDEAS, anu
aspirations without which no man can
know other men. These inquiries are
not made by the young fellow OF nineteen
I'm any spirit OF dreamy or fond intro
spection; himself interests him, OF course
but he Is not going to give himself any
quarter on that account; he has got tC
stand up before his own conscience. and
be Judged tor his suspected conceit, fol
his prOcraStinatiOns, for his neglect OF
severn! respectable but disagreeablt
branches of learning, for his own ten.
dency to make game of certain young
r.
look like Byron; for his fOndness. i'm fine
tor trying the edge of his Wit upon al
the people about him. Upon considera
ton. he reaches the conclusion that M
is not a person OF genius; and that if Ia
is 10 succeed, he must work hard. ait
make the very best of the fair ahilitie
with which he sccredits himself. He ha.
already chosen his future profession, an(
he is concerned about his slipshOd style
and his unreadiness of speech, which will
never do for an orator.
lt is frank. simple. generous record. TN
conscious even in its consciousness. ant
full of the most charming qualities o.
heart and mind Nowhere is the trace OF
any low ideal or sortlid motive; nowhere
the self-betrayal of an egotistic or narrow
spirit. There is uncOnmonly little OF
the rhetoric of youthfulness; q gooC
sense, as kindly hearted as it is hard
headed. characterizes tho boys specula
tons and aspirations ana criticisms
A very interesting and creditable pic
ture. certainly. THAT is Ruthertor
HAYES at nineteen" says Mr.. Howells. a
he concludes his analysis: land that
Rutherford Hayes at fifty-fOur."
In due course young Hayes graduate
at KENYON. the valedictorian of his clas
and began almost Immediately the stud
of the law in Cincinnati office. Tn
was i'm 1912. Tho following year b
transferred. himself to the Harvard la
school, carrying his diaries with hin
which his biographer continued to e.
anime with the same unsparing clos
ness. "Here at Cambridge" we Al
told, "he is i'm state of hopeful and 10.
Gus content with everybody and ever.
thing but himself His irresOlution. h
neglect OF opportunities, ought to grie'
him, but he is perfectly cheerful in spi
of his regrets" :.
In 1874 Mr.. Hayes graduated from I'll
law school, and commenced practice
what is now the town Of Fremont, Obi
then Lower Sandusky.
The making" Of Mr.. Hayes as la,
yer was his part in the celebrated Nam
Farrer case, of which Mr.. HOwells Civ
a brief account. Nancy Farrer, insan
poisoned two families, and the questit
which arose was whether her insanit
though it left her entirely sensible OF u
difference between right and wrong, ire
her also from moral responsibility fol
criminal act. Mr.. Hayes was appoints
by the court to conduct her defence, al
in it he was substantially successful. ID
part in the case, and the important pr
chile which it served to establish. ga
him at once an eminent position at &
bar. This was in 1854, at the end OF
first five years practice in rCincinna
Two years previous he had married NJ
Lucy Ware Webb of that city, lady
Chiilicothe birth, but or Kentucky fami
In the Fremont campaign of 1856 he to
an active part; and in 1888 he was chos
to his first public office, that Of City |
licitor. Then came the war, and
opening of another, and, as 1t prov
momentous chapter in his cause. of
The record of Mr.. Hayes military 9
vices occupies but four chapters, but il
as brilliant as it is brief. The Colont
commission, which President Lincoln 81
him at almost the very outbreak of h
tilities. he soberly declined, unwllli
in his utter inexperience to bear the
sponsibility attached to so high CO
mand. In June, 1861, however, he
accept the majorship of the 23d OF
His rise through the successive grade:
Ieutenant-colonel to that Of brigad
general, was steady and deserved
ought bravely and skilfuly. either at
head of his regiment or OF the brigade
division i'm which it moved, through
the early campaigning in West Virgin
at South Mountain, where he was sOr
wounded and afterwards at Winches