The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-12-29
BOOK REVIEW

tReprinted from the Chicago Even
ing Post
The Diary Of Gideon WeIies. Three
volumes lIoughton Mifiiin Com
pany.b
Strange are the DEGREES o. history.
Fifty Years ago all the world re-
garded William II. Seward as the
great man OF the repHoli great
enough to patronize Lincoln. TO play
with the rampant South and II bull
doze England; even twelve years ago
the sage Of Auburn WAS scarcely less
important or less beloved by the peo-
pie OF the North than Lincoln. Ana
stanton the great war secretary. VINO
issued orders 10 "A million men In
the red and who thought himself
greater far than any of his gem
erals. was till recent years nat an
popular with the masses ana with
students But since 1900. when Ban
croft's biography OF Seward came
out and especially since Rhodes
Great history was completed, the
stars OF these two masters Of Lin
coln's cabinet have been sinking. Not
that Seward and Stanton Will not he
| remembered by the republic, but that
| their importance Is constantly De-
| Ginning.
And nothing has done 50 Anueh 10
! lure the regulations Of these great
! figures Of past epoch as the APP
| pearance last autumn OF Gideon
Welles diary, II the presidents OF
our day. or the masters OF great DUST
ness enterprises. do not hesire 10
appear to their intimates, they must
beware Of diarists who seem always
TO be present when important trans
/ actions are under way John Quincy
! Adams kept diary for thirty years
! and chronicled all the roibles OF his
I cc-workers. all the wrangles o. angry
| and schaming politicians; IL IL aot
! what Clay was or what Calhoun com
/ tempIated but what the grabbed Pu-
/ rt,an OF Massec husetts said they were
/ that we read In history today. ihus
/ the diarist becomes the despot OF
! history; ha makes and he unmaKes
I historical regulations
! Such a despot Of histoty was Gid
/ son Welles, the Connecticut Puritan
| IN Ltncoln's cabinet When Lincoln
I took his station In Stanton's war Of
/ fee and issued the orders OF the
| President with the pen or the sec
| retary of War, or when Seward gave
| secret orders 70 men in the Navy
| Department not to do what the gov
| eminent commanded, Gideon Welies
! always found way to make reg
! ord OF the fact. And thus we nave
/ a record OF most that was good az
| we'll as of much that was bad ana
| unworthy that happened between
! 1862 and 1899, and the historian
roust rejoice In this fact, though the
natriot cannot fail to blush for ms
| country when he turns these teh-
| 4ale pages.
| cideon Welles was a descendant
| If that Gideon Welles who ruled Con
necticut 80 acceptably In the seven
teenth century. he was one OK the
! first prominent men OF his comm on
| waalth to espouse the cause or An
arsw Jackson. he long edited a news
paper In Hartford, and he received
the reward Of the faithful party edl-
/ tor in the form Of a lucrative once
| under President Polk. But he was
| not 40 good a Democrat AZ TO es-
il! pouse the interests at the proslaVeIs
element of the South. and hence ne
"holted' In 1854. became Rephn-
uean in 1855, and candidate OF the'
! Vigorous organization for the Cover
norship of his State IN 1905. re
T did ali he could for Lincolns eiec
ton in 1850. and to the surprise
Of sumner and others OF that way
| If thinking he was invited to the
national council board as Secretary
| ~ the Navy in 1861 and as repre-
sentative OF New England In the new
and revolutionary administration OF
| ina third Western President. Wellet
was a patriot, as may be inferreo
| from his "bolting" his party IN 1922
or from his defense OF Andrew JACK
son at a time when to take such
stand meant ostracism and commune
" in New England.
And a patriot in the cabinets OF LIN
coin and johnson was quite as rare
az patriot in the cabinet OF JeHer'
son Davis, strange as this may seen
tn him who views history from thf
angle of the tradttionhlist. Wsliei
tolls us how the speculators and the
customs officers Of Boston. New forf
and Philadelphia stole thousanas
even millions, from the public anf
vet found Stanton and Seward ready
10 shield them; how politicians ike
Thurlcw Weed and Henry Raymond
OF the New York Times, levied blood
money from the various underem.
ployes: and how Seward threatened
and bullied poor Japan into paying
several hundred thousand dollars fol
! certain old ships which Weeds friends
had built, only too badly. and whicf
II was known would only rebound tt
the profit OF these scoundrels. Once
| when welles had brought the Smitf
brothers to Justice for the most out
rageous frauds. the whole Massa
chusetts delegation went to the Presi'
dent and besought him to interfere OF