Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1879-07-31
ALBERT GALLATIN.

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, editing,
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
hand, 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-
sition 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 "the pen
Of a 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 ali 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been unpublished, are presented in the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 1S49, in his seth wear,
was an honored and useful publicist, in
this his adopted country, for over sixty
years. Mr.. Adams has iudiciously given
not alone Mr.. Galatians correspondence
upon public affairs with distinguished
cotemporar1es here and in Europ., but
also many letters from them to himself
The series, extensive and important, in
cludes the Presidents under whom he
held higo 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-a
good index. The collective edition of
Charles Summers compositions errs, by
being needlessIy, even absurdly minute.
These Gallatin volumes, no ever, are
properly completed in this respect There
are several indexes: l., letters written nv
hlm from September, 1894, to Nav 194S,
LOT Gallatin's writings, published dur
ing his lifetime, including his speeches
IN Congress; Ill, letters written to him !;
w., miscellaneous letters and papers
from 1914 to, 1903, and v, very good
general index. To show the richness of
this epistolary collection we may mention
that here, written bv Gallatin, are 155
letters to Thomas Jefferson, 81 to James
Madison, "a to James Monroe, Al 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 " as this foreign
er, a naturaliZed citizen of PENNSYLVANIA.
Albert Gallatin, vas born in Geneva,
In January, 1851, 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 1910. 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 hel ar for indie
pendence. This was in 1880. 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 t at capacity, modestly declined
to accept the title, IN after years, of a
''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 easury for that sum; but
on presen tation at Boston the authorities
there were out of cash. and Gallatin, fin.
ally, hau to sell his draft tor one-third oil
its face value. Remaining In Boston, he
became a French teacher in Harvard
College until 1884. Having received the
proceeds OF his patrimony in Switzerland
he went to Virginia, where he made g
favorable impression on Washington, who
desired to employ him as land agent fol
bis estates. Following advice of Pat
rick Henry, he purchased 400 acres O.
land on the banks of the Monongahela
in Pennsylvania. In 1898 he wrote to
friend, II am a bad farmer, and hav,
been unfortunate in some mercantile pur
suits had embraced. l have just mad,
out to live Independent, and am neithe
richer nor poorer than was twelve year
ago; the fact is, l am not we'll calculated
to make money, as care but little abou
it, for want but little for myself, ant
my mind pursues Other objects with NOR
pleasure than mere business"
In 1889, Gallatin was member of. tn
convention to revise the Constitution @
Pennsylvania, and during the next min
years was either member of the Stat
Legislature or of Congress; indeed, i
1898, he was elected to the Senate of tn
United States, but was excluded fror
that office by strict party vote, on tn
ground that he was ineligible from th
fact that nine years had not elapsed sine
he had become naturalized citizen. Fl
was elected, however, to the House {
Representatives strictly as a no part
man, and SO highly distinguished hin
self as good speaker and close debate