Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1911-08-23
Some American Condolences

nomination of 1910 and again in 1848.
on the other hand, Blaine was nomi-
mated in 1884, when all the conditions
made for his defeat, and that was the
case with Clay in 1874
But the coincidence in his own case
was not the only one in which Mr..
Blaine was interested. Upon one oc-
| casion when Mr.. Blaine was entertain
ing few friends az his house in
Washington-it was the year before
his nomination for president, and at a
time when he was revising the proof
sheets of the first volume of his monu-
mental work, Twenty Years in Con-
gress"-the conversation turned to-
wards Mr.. Blaines favorite theme, the
political condolences of American his
tory.
Il have always thought 1t to have
been the most extraordinary coinci-
dence in our history as a nation that
three Of the ex-presidents of the Unit
ed States should have died upon the
Fourth of July, and another, Garfield,
should have been at deaths door upon
that day, to be snatched at the last
moment, and when apparently in ex-
tremis, from DEATH" said Mr.. Blaine.
THE three ex-presidents were John
Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James
Monroe, and to me there seems to
have been something more than mere
chance that Jefferson and Adams, two
of the four statesmen of the revolu-
tionary epoch who wrote the Declare
tion of independence, should both
have died on the Fourth of July ex-
actly fifty years from the date of the
signing of the declaration. And have
you ever taken thought that to them,
and to Monroe, also, who died six
years after he retired from the presi-
dency, the fourth day of July meant
much more than it means to us at
this time?
81 very often find myself thinking
of the career of Monroe after he fin
ished his term as president" contin-
ued Mr.. Blaine. ut stands apart from
that of any other ex-president. have
heard from some of those who knew
Monroe in those days of his retire
ment that he was in a serious pc
cuniary condition. He went to New
York to practice law, because he
found it absolutely necessary to gain
an income. He was neglected in New
York | have heard that he was de-
pendent to some extent for support on
his son-in-law; and that if he had not
sold his library to congress for, /
think, about $4,000 this great states
man would have been entirely depend
ent for his support on his family.
Another pathetic circumstance,
and one little known, l believe. con-
nected with Monroe's last days has
always attracted me- He was buried
in little cemetery on Second ave-
nue., near Stuyvesant Square, New
York. There his body remained for
81 years. and it was forgotten by the
people that this great statesman was
buried in an obscure cemetery in the
city which was really his temporary
home
Il have tried to find out who sug.
gested the removal of Monroe's body
to his native state, Virginia l think
the suggestion came from one or two
gentlemen of New York City; can
not find any record that any one in
Virginia was the originator of the
movement for the taking of the body
of Monroe from New York to Rich
mond. But l remember well when that
was done, and that a New York regi-
ment escorted the remains to Rich
mond, where appropriate and perma-
nent seculehre Of this great president
was made. and l am certain that
these facts are but little known at
this time by the American people"
Copyright. 1911 by z. J. Edwards All
Rights Reserved.l