Evening journal., 1915-03-17
New News Of Yesterday
The Career Of a DiStin-
guiShed American
BY Holland.

Sometimes what appears to be a !
cal tragedy of the kind which ends the
career of an ambitious man by his de-
feat when a candidate for Office turns
out to be the beginning of very sue
cessful career This statement was
made to me by Asa A. Potter, for many
years a banker of Boston, and now liv~
ing in happy retirement from active
business life in New York.
81 often think of that when / recall
the career of Anson Burlingame,' con-
tinued Mr.. Potter. 81 knew Mr.. Bur
lingame well. | was young man
when he was making his vigorous can
vases for election to the House of
Representative at Washington. Nova
days none but those who were living
| i'm the mid-fifties can lave any idea Of
/ the tremendous national sensation
which followed Burlingames accep-
tance of a challenge by Preston S.
/ Brooks. OF South Carolina, 20 fight
duel. Burlingame accepted the chal-
/ lenge. named rifles as the weapon, and
az island near Niagara Falls as the
place.
"A good mny people thought that
Burlingame named rifles because he
felt certain that Mr.. Brooks would in
sist that rifles were not proper duelling
weapons. Those of us who knew Bur
lingame well were confident that he
would have appeared on the duelling
ground with his rife had not prudent
council and conferences prevented the
meeting.
"Burlingame was, curiously enough,
defeated for reel .ction to Congress in
the national election of 1860. He was
bitterly disappointed and made up his
mind to retire to private life. In fact
he said to a friend of mine that his
career in public life had been very
short, that his defeat for reelection 10
Congress was a Sufficient intimation
that the people had had enough of him
and while, of course, he felt somewhat
humiliated at his defeat, nevertheless
it gave him an opportunity to resums
his law practice He thought that hC
could earn enough from his practice al
the bar to make him, in the course d
few years, financially independent
"Then there happened another po
: litical accident of which he was ap
parently the victim. All of Burlin
= games friends in Boston we're great.
5 pleased when the newspapers reported
= that President Lincoln had nominate'
him as Minister to Austria. Within
' dav or two their qualification wa
changed TO dismay. Word came fron
/, Washington that the Austrian govern
ment would not accept Mr.. Burlin
D game as minister, giving as reason tina
| Burlingame had been good friend o
Louis Kossuth at the time when he wa
attempting to lead 4 revolution of tn
Hungarians against Austria.
; again BurlingamC contemplate
taking up his profession as lawye
when suddenly. without mis- preVlou
knowledge that Lincoln had ani thlni
of the kind i'm mind, the President ap
y pointed him minister TO China. Ther
y was no difficulty about getting that ap
p pointment confirmed, and within a ley
e weeks Burlingame started to CHINA
j. carving with him formal and iniOr
nal expressions Of friendship by n
u most everybody in Boston.
j. "He was lust The man FOR chat mis-
u sion. He was extraordinarily gitte
e with the capacity to make himsel
personally very charming. He had nc
e been in China a year before III wa
If cordially welcome in all high place
s and he at last was able to negotia'
? those treaties which az last opene
IN China to intercourse with the Cnlte
+ States and the world. China's new d'
i velopment began with the ralihcatlo
J. of the Burlingame treaties.
Suppose Burlingame had been r.
III elected to Congress in 1860, OT snpp0f
Al he had been able to go to Austria
American minister his career woul
s; have been good one, but not conspi'
"a uous. The political accidents and ini
al fortunes which he met with made
~ possible for him 90 perform a serNi'
I with which his name Will always
associated"
" Copyright, 1915. by E. ]. Edward
rd All rights reserved)
el Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell
y "The Man Who Made Friends wi
S China"
II. ,------>~---~~~-~~-~-~~--~ --~~~~~~~~~~-~~~~~~--
i: s. / Just A M0meDl
We DAIIy STRENGTH AND CHEER