Evening star., 1926-10-17
j. S. Documents Turn Statesmen Into Living PersOnatie

knows him as the exponent OF the
early democracy, opposed to the Fed
eraltst doctrines of Hamilton. 1et
he was a connoisseur of art. loves
of nature, the founder of great unL
versity and a minute philosopher. Hig
letters apparently reveal man OF
fiber different from Washington's. but
jefferson never had to lead the ar
mics of his country against an invader.
wrangling meantime with DEBATING
societies designated as assemblies or
congresses for the wherewithal to
fight.
1t will be many years before the
Lincoln papers are gathered In one
place, if. indeed, they ever are. Ollver
r. Barrett of Chicago has a rich
store of Lincoln letters. portraits and
personal belongings. and there are
many other important collections, but
the most valuable historically, and
the largest, is the collection in the
Library of Congress. 1t was given
to the Nation by Robert T. Lincoln
lust before the Lincoln Memorial was
opened.
Much of the value of the collection
to historians lies in its support in the
Library of Congress by other collec-
tions-the voluminous Welles diaries,
the 13O volumes of Chase papers, the
Lyman Trumbull correspondence, the
Grant manuscripts Including the
Charles A. Dana dispatches from
Grants headquarters). the 100 vol
umes of Gen. Sherman papers. the
still larger collection of Senator Sher-
man papers. the records of the Con-
tederate Government and many other
collateral collections.
In making his gift to the Nation
Mr.. Lincoln stipulated at first that
the papers should remain sealed FOR
21 years after his death. his purpose
being to maintain the primacy of the
Nicolay and Hay Life of Lincoln,
in 10 volumes. and the two supple
mentary volumes of letters and pa
pers. That condition was modified
later by Mr.. Lincoln, however. and
while the papers are not accessible 10
the public at present. the seal upon
them is not inviolable for the term at
first mentioned.
X
THE first draft of Lincolns Gettys-
l. burg address, written partly In ink
at the Executive Mansion and partly
in pencil at Gettysburg. was given to
the Library of Congress by the chill.
dren of John Hay; also the second
draft. an amended and enlarged edl-
ton of the first and entirely In the
writing of Abraham Lincoln. The
library also has photographs OF the
three copies which Lincoln made
later. one for Edward Everett and two
for the Baltimore Fair.
The original manuscript OF Gen.
Grants memoirs, with his own era
sures and corrections. is in the H.
brary. The first half, approximately.
is in his own hand. The rest he die
tated to his son, Gen. Frederick Dent
Grant. There also is sketch OF an
Italian scene which was made by
Cen. Grant while he was at west
Point and was signed by him u. n.
ULYSSES Hiram) Grant"
Then there are the Henry Clay pa
pers. a collection of especial interest,
now that students are giving more
attention to that crucial period in the
history of the Nation. They cover MS
career in Congress and the develop
ment of his theory of protection OF
American industries. They deal also
with the period during which he was
Secretary of state and the new re-
publics Of South and Central America
were rising.
These papers had been inherited by
the nddaughter of Henry Clay.
who believed with a fervor almost
religious in intensity that she was the
person who should write the biog-
raphy of Henry Clay, and spent prac.
tically her entire life arranging and
docketing the papers and making ex-
tracts from them. Upon her death
the papers went to the Library of
Congress.
There are wastes of manuscripts
still unexplored which will yield rich
treasure. The Holker papers tell In
detail of the transfer of American
commerce from the British flag to the
French during the Revolution. of the
organization of French syndicates
which expected profits of 16 per cent
or more on their ventures and of the
traffic in bonds Of the new republic.
The Genet papers contain the report
of an eyewitness to the debate over
the condemnation of Louis XVI and
reports of the conferences relative to
the purposed escape of that monarch
to America, conferences in which
Thomas Paine took part.
The Reverdy Johnson papers in
clude letters of Robert E. Lee con-
cerning the confiscation of his Wlfe's
property and his own return to civil
rights. and letters which Mrs. Jener'
son Davis wrote while she and her
husband were prisoners in Fort Mon
roe.
Documents of similar importance
continually are coming to light, to the
mingled despair and qualification OF
historians. AS DIR. Worthington c.
Ford said on learning of the recent
discovery of evidence relating to the
| Conway cabal against Washington.
such a discovery makes one desire
to defer publication until ones rein
| carnation."
| Historians frequent the Library of
| Congress. Virtually no historical work
| is published now that has not drawn
7 upon it's rich stores of information.
| Students from so universities work
| in the library during the year. The
policy of DIR. Putnam during the 25
! years he has been librarian has
i changed the institution from a local.
/ provincial collection of books for a
| limited numb..r of readers into a
national library. vitality related to
every other library in the country.
and through. :hem with every student
| in the land, who may draw on the
central library for any desired book.
No other national library is so hos
pitable.