THE following letter of General Hull would have been in an appropriate position following the highly interesting article of Dr. Lossing, in the August number of POTTER'S MONTHLY (Vol. V., page 561). There are a feeling, a pathos in this letter, an apparent trust in the justice of his cause, which appeal to the most obdurate in behalf of the old hero. It will be seen that it was written at a most intensely interesting point in his trial by court-martial at Albany, New York. Notwithstanding his hopes and asserted confidence in his own integrity, the man who had gained unfading laurels as an officer during the entire War of the Revolution, was on the 26th of March, 1814, found guilty of cowardice in surrendering Detroit, August 15, 1812, and sentenced to be shot, but pardoned by the President on account of his Revolutionary services. The "Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General William Hull, Reprinted from his Manuscripts," was prepared for the press by his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell, of Augusta, Georgia. This letter was addressed to "Mrs. Maria Campbell, Savannah, Georgia," who subsequently attached to it the very interesting note signed "M. C."

ALBANY March 10th A.D. 1814

MY DEAR MRS CAMPBELL

Mrs Campbell and Caroline will consider, when I write to you, the same letter is designed for both of them.

I thank my God, I still remain in good health and spirits, notwithstanding the heavy clouds which hang over me. Every possible exertion has been made for my destruction. I have ap peared at the bar for sixty days and was obliged alone to manage my defence. All the evidence is finished and next Tuesday I shall commence my defence. It will at least be very voluminous, and I hope luminous. It will require three or four days to deliver it. There will be a vast concourse of people, both male and female. Mr Colden considers it conclusive in my favor and he likewise considers it a most important document.

The whole conduct of the Administration, as well as my own, will be displayed. I treat the Government with great delicacy, but state and prove every material fact and do not withhold the obvious inferences. The trial has excited vast

curiosity and the defence great expectations. If ever in the course of my life, firmness and resolution were necessary, it has been during this trial, and will be particularly so in making my defence. There are no dangers, I hope, which I can be called to meet, that I shall not have sufficient firmness to sustain in a manly and honorable manner. I really feel in fine spirits, because, I think I now have an opportunity of dissipating the clouds which have so long hung over me. When that is the case I hope we shall again meet in the possession of all our honours and in the enjoyment of every happiness, which conscious rectitude can bestow.

I cer

Perhaps however I am too sanguine. tainly have an immense pressure on me and I mean only to make this impressson on you, that it shall not bear me down. Abraham is still with me and a source of much comfort. Captain Romaine is here, He and A. are perfect friends and he visits me frequently-mentioned to me his affair with A. in a manner most honorable to A. A. will visit his mother in a few days. My dearest love to all of you and God grant you his richest blessings I am

"Most affectionately

1 June 30, 1812, James B. Romayne, of New York, was nominated as a captain of artillery, and confirmed July 2d. July 28, 1813, Samuel B. Romayne, of New York (as the name is printed in Executive Journals), was nominated as captain in the Forty-first United States Infantry, and confirmed August I. The name is indexed as James B.

2 Abraham F. Hull, of the State of New York, was nominated by President Madison as captain of infantry April 10, 1812, and his nomination was confirmed on the 14th of the same month. He was the oldest child and the son of General Hull referred to in the letter and note. He was killed at

the battle of Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814. In 1809 he resided in New York City, where he was just commencing the practice of the law. He had previously resided with his father at Detroit, and when he left Michigan Territory he was lieutenant-colonel in the militia.

Let me cite an illustrative incident, which I personally know to be the simple, unvarnished truth.

In a certain regiment, which I will not help my reader to identify, there had been some difficulties in connection with the officering-the first complement of officers having been appointed and commissioned by the Colonel of the regiment, who had enlisted the men under direct special authority from the Secretary of War; the Colonel had, however, the misfortune to be somewhat advanced in years, and the greater misfortune to base his judgment of the honor and worth of men upon his own correct principles; the latter led him into

serious errors in the choice of one of his field-officers and of some of the line officers, and a conspiracy was soon successfully carried to its end, the ousting of the Colonel. Among the officers who had b en selected by the Colonel was an humble Second Lieutenant, who had incurred the hatred of the field officer and his tools, and he, being no winebibber, and having no tastes in common with that clique, had no ready means of placating that hatred. The field-officer missed no opportunity of making his hatred felt by the lieutenant, his own low cunning suggesting opportunities; in time he found a technical pretext for placing the latter arrest, but dared go no farther; at last, wearied with the unequal conflict, the lieutenant sent in his resignation, which was approved at brigade, division and corps headquarters; and now the malignity of the field-officer made itself felt again-he made it appear to Major

General Franklin that the lieutenant was resigning "in face of the enemy," concealing the important circumstance that he was "in arrest," and thus not "in face of the enemy," the arrest having been temporarily removed to enable him to resign. General Franklin reversed the action of his subordinate commanders and issued an order "dismissing" the lieutenant in dishonor. The latter obtaining a pass, hastened to Washington to lay his case before the higher authorities. only a dismissed second lieutenant, and MajorGeneral Halleck or his staff could not, of course, listen to his statement; "Secretary Stanton is really too much occupied with weighty matters,'

SO

said one of his small men, 66 to attend to your case. I am truly sorry for you, but really you see" etc., etc., and so the dismissed lieutenant was bowed out. But one more hope remained, and that so faint that he almost despaired of securing justice. Still he determined to try to see the President; as the most likely method of obtaining a hearing, he wrote on a scrap of paper about three inches square a very short note to Mr. Lincoln, stating, in the fewest words possible, just what he sought, and naming an hour the next day at which he would call in quest of an interview. Suffice it to say, the interview was granted, and the dismissed second lieutenant received with as courtly, cordial a welcome as if he had been a foreign prince or ambassador, or an American of high degree; the President listened attentively to the simple story, and wrote a note of scarcely a dozen words to Secretary Stanton, a note which secured its bearer prompt access to the Secretary, a patient hearing from him, and a note to General Halleck; here, too, an attentive listener was now found in the General, who promised to have the case investigated. It was investigated, and the result was a report from General Burnside's headquarters that the story of the dismissed second lieutenant was true in every particular; and the final result was that the order of dismissal was revoked, the resignation accepted, and the second lieutenant honorably discharged.

The second lieutenant who thus obtained justice through the personal interposition of the noble President is the grateful writer of this tribute.

REMARKS. The above was no exceptional case; such instances mark almost the daily life of Mr. Lincoln, while in the Executive chair. His personal attention to all the details in the direct line of his official duty was so conscientiously given as to have been remarkable, and yet he could ever find time to bestow upon the individual soldier or civilian of the humblest or higher social degree; more especially when that soldier or civilian had experienced an injustice would he listen, weigh and redress. The lieutenant of the above incident was a gentleman by birth and in culture, but had he been otherwise, he would have been accorded the same courteous attention and the same prompt redress of his wrongs, which have called forth the foregoing tribute. One of the most delightful traits of Mr. Lincoln's character was the genial,

THE STATUE IN THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON, By Vinnic Ream,1

affable bearing, without lack of becoming dignity, which made you feel quite at ease in his presence, and yet did not permit you to forget that you were in the presence of a superior man; such a perfect blending of dignity with unassuming cordiality is seldom met with, especially in "self-made" men.

But there was one characteristic of the man which was often misunderstood, and often misconstrued into a pretext for ridicule, and even censure; we allude to the vein of humor which

1 See notice and portrait on page 144.

would from time to time bubble to the surface, sparkling gently, and cheering those within its influence. If occasionally slightly satirical, he was never unkind or unjust-even his sarcasm was gentle, and bore the impress of his heart.

We add to the above "Birthday Tribute" engravings of three monumental statues erected in honor of the lamented Abraham Lincoln, and of a testimonial medal presented to his widow in 1866, by forty thousand French Democrats..

The medal is of fine gold, about one-half larger than in the accompanying engraving, and has upon its obverse a strikingly exact portrait of Mr. Lincoln, with the following in French: Dedicated by the French Democracy to A. Lincoln, twice elected President of the United States." On the reverse is an altar, with a winged figure on one side representing Victory, her right hand resting on a sword, and in her left a civic wreath, on the other side two figures representing emancipated slaves, and upon its front the following words: "Lincoln, Honest Man, Abolished. Slavery, Re-established the Union, and Saved the Republic, without veiling the Statue of Liberty. He was assassinated the 14th of April, 1865." Below are the magic words: "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity."

Upon the first of the statues illustrated the inscriptions are: "To Abraham Lincoln, from a grateful people." "Let us here highly resolve that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within the States in rebellion are and henceforth shall be free." "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in." The last three are of course extracts from Mr. Lincoln's own utterances. The second statue was executed for the United States Congress by Miss Vinnie Ream, the talented young American sculptress, and stands in the Rotunda of the Capitol. The third stands at the southwest corner of Union Square, between Broadway and University Place, New York; it is in bronze, of heroic size, and stands on a plain, neat granite base; the statue was designed, we are told, by Brown, and presume Henry Kirke Brown, of Newburgh, is the sculptor meant.