The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-07-30
ALBERT GALLATIN.

There can be no hesitation in declaring
that this is one Of the most important and
reliable contributions to American and
even to general history that has appeared
since, nearly fifty years ago, Jared Sparks
devoted himself to collecting. cditino
and publishing the writings Of George
Washington, the diplomatic correspond
ence Of the Revolution, and the biogra-
phies OF the leading men, whether soldiers
or statesmen, who, by labor of head or
baud, worked out by the aid of Divine
providence, the independence of the
United States. From the same publish
ers we had, few years ago, in many
volumes, edited by his son, portions OF
the Diary of John Quincy Adams, highly
interesting in many respects, but rather
showing the unfortunate snappish dispo-
sltlon and bad temper Of that able states
man, than calculating the causes and the
details OF the public events in which he
was concerned.
in the volumes before US, we have AL
bert Gallatln, great man among the
giants OF our young republic, with a
good deal OF his correspondence with the
leaders of that time. He held sthe pen
OF ready writer" and expressed his
views with clearness and candor. His
collected writings would fill many vol
umes, but the most important of them.
nearly all Of which have hitherto
been unpublished, are presented in the
present work, edited by Mr.. Henry Adams.
1t is to be borne in mind that Mr.. Gallat-
IN, who died in 1849, in his S9th year,
was an honored and useful publicist, in
this his adopted country, for over sixty
years. Mr.. Adams has judiciously given
net alone Mr.. Galatians correspondence
upon public affairs with distinguished
contemporaries here and in Europe, but
also many letters from them to himself.
The series, extensive and important, in
cludes the Presidents under whom he
held high office, at home and abroad.
Too often have we had to complain of
the issue OF important works without that
indispensable key to their contents
good index. The collective edition of
Charles Summers compositions errs, by
being needlessly, even absurdly minute.
These Gallatin volumes, how ever, are
properly completed in this respect, There
are several indexes: l., letters Written oy
h1m from September, 1894, to May 1s4s,
!1.,of Gallatin's writings, published dur
ing his lifetime, including his speeches
In Congress; ILL.,, letters written to him :;
w., miscellaneous letters and papers; ;
from 1814sto 1908, and v, very GOOD
general index. To show the richness of
this epistolary collection we may mention
that here, written by Gallatin, are 155
letters to Thomas Jefferson, 81 to James
Madison, "a to James Monroe, A. to John
Quincy Adams, and hundreds of others
to various persons of note, with replies
from most of them. In fact, through an
unusually long life Albert Gallatin was
very much consulted and relied upon by
leading men, here and abroad. Let us
see what manner of man was this foreign
er, naturalized citizen of Pennsylvania.
Albert Gallatin, was born in Geneva,
In January, 1861, belonging to respect
able family which had been settled in
Switzerland early in the fourteenth CEN
fury. He was nearly related to NJ. Neck
er, finance minister to Louis XVI. Of
France and to Madame de Stael, his
more distinguished daughter At the
age Of Is the lad entered the Uni
versity of Geneva, where he grad
uated in 1779 He was offered a
commission as lieutenant colonel
by one Of the then numerous
petty sovereigns of Germany, but being
very pronounced republican, came to
America, then waging he1 ar for indie
pendencc. This was in $780, When he
was 10 years old, and Immediately after
his arrival, he accepted the defensive
command of small fort in Maine. but
as he never had occasion to draw his
sword in that capacity, modestly declined
to accept the title, in after years, of
"Soldier of the Revolution" The pa
triot force in that remote part of the
country being out Of fluids, Gallatin lent
5000 to Captain Allen, who commanded
that small force, taking an order on the
United States treasury for that sum; but
on presentation at Boston the authorities
there were out of cash. and Gallatin, fin
ally, had to sell his draft for one-third OF
it's face value. Remaining in Boston, he
became French teacher in Harvard
College until 1854. Having received the
proceeds of his patrimony in Switzerland,
he went to Virginia, where he made
favorable impression on Washington, who
desired to employ him as land agent for
his estates. Following the advice of Pat
rick Henry, he purchased 400 acres of
land on the banks of the Monongahela,
in Pennsylvania. In 1898 he wrote to a
friend, ~ am bad farmer, and have
been unfortunate in some mercantile pur-
suits had embraced. I have just made
out to live independent, and am neither
richer nor poorer than was twelve years
ago; the fact is, lam not we'll calculated
to make money, as Icare but little about
1t, tor want but little for myself, and
my mind pursues other objects with more
pleasure than mere business
In 1889, Gallatin was member of the
convention to revise the Constitution of
PENNSYLVANIA, and during the next nine
years was either a member Of the State
Legislature or Of Congress; indeed, in
1898, he was elected to the Senate of the
United States, but was excluded from