James Grant Wilson

“ The name and fame of Columbus are not local or limited; they do not belong to any single country or people. They are the proud possession of the whole civilized world. In all the transactions of history there is no act which for vastness and performance can be compared to the discovery of the continent of America, “the like of which was never done by any man in ancient or in later times.” ”

“ He was always ready to give up everything but conviction when once convinced. A single public act honestly and unflinchingly performed cost him his popularity. Posterity, looking from a distance, will perhaps be more just. All his acts, whether daily and common or deliberate and well considered, were marked with modesty, justice, and sincerity. What Speaker Onslow said of Sir Robert Walpole was equally true of President Fillmore: “He was the best man from the goodness of his heart, to live with and under, of any great man I ever knew.” ”

“ Like Shakespeare, the “Inventor de las Indias” has suffered a series of feeble and foolish attacks from those who would fain rob him of the glory of being the most successful of all navigators, as they would deprive “the myriad-minded” of the authorship of his own writings. The latest of these futile efforts to prove him to be an “inglorious Columbus,” was made in an address before the New York Historical Society, on the evening of 2 Nov., 1886 — Fernando, son of Christopher Columbus and Beatriz Enriquez, his second wife, b. in Spain in 1488 ”

“ After leaving Washington for the last time, Webster said to a friend that Fillmore's administration leaving out of the question his own share of its work was no doubt the ablest the country had possessed for many years. The same great statesman, in his speech at the laying of the corner-stone of the capitol extension, said: “President Fillmore, it is your singularly good fortune to perform an act such as that which the earliest of your predecessors performed fifty-eight years ago. You stand where he stood; you lay your hand on the cornerstone he laid. Changed, changed is everything around. ”

“ Kemble: “That is my friend of early life, always unchanged, always like a brother; one of the noblest beings that ever was created. His heart is pure gold.” Gen. Winfield Scott pronounced the glowing eulogium on Kemble that he was “the most perfect gentleman in the United States.” ”

“ Previous to 1804 each elector voted for two candidates for President. The one who received the largest number of votes was declared President, and the one who received the next largest number of votes was declared Vice-President. The electoral votes for the first President of the United States were: George Washington, 69; John Adams, of Massachusetts, 34 ”

“ To a scholarly love of literature he added a taste for art. For half a century he devoted the greater part of his time and talent to forming a library and gallery of paintings not surpassed in value by any private collection in the New World. ”

“ In 1853, while still in Washington, Mr. Fillmore made an arrangement with Henry E. Davies to renew, on retiring from the presidency, the practice of his profession in New York, in partnership with that gentleman, who, after occupying a judge's seat in the court of appeals, returned to the bar. Family afflictions, however, combined with other causes, induced the ex-president to abandon his purpose. There were doubtless at that time men of more genius and greater eloquence at the bar of the great city ”

“ The well-known writers of these model biographies of our chief magistrates are not responsible for the brief notices of the ladies of the White House, for the sketches of other persons connected with the families of the presidents, for the bibliographies accompanying their monographs, or for the selection of the many illustrations, which it is believed will enhance the interest and value of the work. ”

“ Some writers have claimed that it was on that beautiful spot where Columbus wished to be buried and where he slept for centuries — the island of Santo Domingo. According to the latest investigations, Columbus certainly landed on Cat, Samana, or Watlings islands. These investigations, pursued chiefly in the explorer's log-book, would seem to indicate that the admiral's landing-place was the last-mentioned island, now (1886) believed to be the true San Salvador. This is perhaps as near as the world will ever come to a certain knowledge of the “landfall” of Columbus on the American continent. ”

“ Four years later, while at Rome, he received the news of his nomination for the presidency by the American party. He accepted the nomination, but before the close of the campaign it became evident that the real struggle was between the Republicans and Democrats. Many, with whom Fillmore was the first choice for president, cast their votes for Gen. Frémont or James Buchanan, believing that there was no hope of his election, and, although he received the support of large numbers in all the states, Maryland alone gave him her electoral vote. ”

“ Taft Republican 1909 51 4 Unitarian 28. Wilson Democrat 1913 56 Presbyterian ↑ The Democratic party of to-day claims lineal descent from the first Republican party, and President Jefferson as its founder. ↑ Randall, the biographer of Jefferson, declares that he was a believer in Christianity, although not a sectarian. ↑ Political parties were disorganized at the time of the election of John Quincy Adams. He claimed to be a Republican, but his doctrines were decidedly Federalistic. The opposition to his Administration took the name of Democrats, and elected Jackson President. ”