Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-02-18

respondence are preserved and a card in
dex kept. so that the man who comes to
publish the correspondence of Taft or
a Roosevelt will find abundant material
from which to Gull.
Mckinley was not so much a man of
letters as many of the other presidents.
His published speeches constitute about
his only effort in the field of literature.
Few presidents have had more written
about them, however, than Mckinley.
His tragic death resulted in veritable
flood of ill-prepared biographies, most
of them published by the time his body
was laid in the tomb at Canton. They
were gotten out merely to catch the sub
scription book trade and with little view
to their permanent value.
Grover Cleveland paid little attention to
letters until after his second term as
president, but from the end of his career
In the White House to the date OF his
death he found ready sale for the articles
and books written by him. The royalties
from his published books are said to az
ford his family a comfortable income.
Benjamin Harrison wrote two excellent
books after leaving the White House.
Chester A. Arthur was little given to lit
of the library of congress there is not
a single card showing a printed docu-
ment from his hand. Aside from his
messages and routine papers he has left
nothing to literature. In James A. Gar
field the presidency had its only min
lister of the gospel. He was also col
lege president. While his utterances In
congress are a comprehensive resume OF
reconstruction times, he left little else to
the abiding literature of the country.
For profitable endeavor in literary work
first place will have to be accorded to
General Grant. Ground down to sheer
poverty by the Grant & Ward failure,
he was forced to write his memoirs In
order to provide for his family. He
had written but little before. but it de-
veloped that the fighter was also writer.
and his autobiography has had a sale
far above the half-million mark. Mrs
Grant received one check for 100000 and
another for S150,000, to say nothing of
many smaller ones. 1t is said that the
ROYALTIES on the memoirs of General
Grant represent the highest reward that
has ever come to the authorship of
single work.
Lincoln enjoyed few educational ad-
vantages, yet all the world recognizes
his Gettysburg address as one OF the
classics of American literature. His
writings have been collected into eight
good-sized volumes. and reveal the many
sides of this wonderful man. Aside
from Washington he is perhaps the most
written-about of all the presidents.
James Buchanan wrote a review and
defense of his administration before he
died. George Bancroft. the historian,
collected the letters and diaries of James
K. Polk. and intended to publish them.
They are now bound in % quarto vol
umes and are in the possession Of the
Lenox library. New York. William Hen
~ Harrison once wrote a pamphlet on
the aborigines of the Ohio Valley, and
Martin Van Buren, published an inquiry
into the origin and causes of political
parties John Quincy Adams was lit
erary man. and some of his poems and
essays have survived in the popular
mind His poem on Man wants but lit
tie here below. nor wants that little
long" has found an abiding place in
American literature.
Monroe, who lives in the popular mind
as the author of the Monroe doctrine
wrote an extended essay on the conduct
of the executive. and another on a tour
of observation he made. His state pa
pers are among the most interesting
written by any president. Madisons
Notes on the Constitution. and those on
the confederation. are documents refer
red to by constitutional writer's to this
day. Jefferson's Declaration of Inde-
pendence. his manual of parliamentary
practice. which still remains a general
code of rules for the senate and house
and his Notes on Virginia, are among
the most interesting productions from
the pen of any presidential man of let
tiers. John Adams wrote a number Of
essays. Washington's Maxims, and his
TRANSCRIPTS of Revolutionary Cores
pondence. constitute his literary pro-
duction. but his Farewell address takes
front rank as a state paper.
Taking the whole sweep OF American
history up to the time of Cleveland, it
is probable that the most notable docu-
ments that have come from occupants
of the White House are Washingtons
Farewell Address. Jefferson's Declare
ton of Independence. Monroe's Monroe
Doctrine. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
ID