Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/773

Rh E V E 11 E T T 737 Lyceum, the earliest in the series of college journals pub lished at the American Cambridge. His verses and his prose essays then show some of the facility and grace which appear in his later writings, and much of the humour which in later times he was always trying to repress. His earlier predilections were for the study of law, but the advice of Joseph Stevens Buckminster, a distinguished preacher in Boston, led him to prepare for the pulpit, and iu this calling he at once distinguished himself. He was called to the ministry of one of the largest Boston churches before lie was twenty years old. His sermons and his theological writings attracted wide attention in that com munity. But his tastes were then, as always, those of a scholar; and in 1814, after a service of little more than a year in the pulpit, he resigned his charge to accept a pro fessorship of Greek literature in Harvard College. After nearly five years spent in Europe in preparation, he entered with alacrity on his duties, and, for five years more, gave a vigorous impulse, not simply to the study of Greek, but to all the work of the college. About the same time he assumed the charge of the North American Review, which now became a quarterly; and he was indefatigable in con tributing on a great variety of subjects, with a spirit like Sydney Smith s in the earlier days of the Edinburgh Review. He vigorously defended American institutions against the sneers of English travellers, and had reason to congratulate himself on the success of a series of articles written to bring about a better mutual understanding between Englishmen and Americans. The success of his lectures in Cambridge, and the enthusiasm aroused by the rebellion in Greece, led him to deliver a series of popular lectures on Greek antiquities in Boston. They were the first lectures on purely literary or historical subjects ever delivered in America, and were the first steps toward a system of popular entertainment and education which now has very wide sweep in the United States. He was eagerly engaged in the measures taken in the United States for the relief of Greece in her struggle. In 1824 he was chosen a member of Congress, and held a seat for ten years, supporting generally the administration of Adams, and in opposition to that of Jackson, which succeeded it. As a member of the house of representatives he appears to have devoted himself mainly to the discharge of that part of the public business which devolved upon him. He took the floor less frequently than might perhaps have been expected from a person accustomed to public speaking, and able to command the ear of tlie house. It will be found, however, on looking back to the transac tions of the ten years sessions during which he was a member, that he bore a part in almost every important debate. He was on the committee of foreign affairs during the whole time of his service in Congress. Of all the most important select committees, such as those on the Indian relations of the State of Georgia, the Apportionment Bill, and the Bank of the United States, Everett was a member, and drew the report either of the majority or the minority. The report on the congress of Panama, the leading measure of the first session of the nineteenth Congress, was drawn by Everett, although the youngest member of the com mittee, and just entered Congress. He led the opposition to the Indian policy of General Jackson (the removal of the Indians, without their consent, from lands guaranteed to them by treaty). In the winter of 1835 he was nomi nated as governor of Massachusetts, and was chosen in the autumn of the same year. He brought to the duties of the office the untiring diligence which is the characteristic of his public life. We can only allude to a few of the mea sures which received his efficient support, e.g., the estab lishment of the board of education, the first of such boards in the United States, the scientific surveys of the State, the first of such public surveys, the criminal law commis sion, and the preservation of a sound currency under the panic of 1837. Everett filled the office of governor for four years. The political parties in Massachusetts were at this time very nearly balanced, and divisions of opinion on local questions (the militia and temperance laws) caused his defeat at the election in November 1839. Judge Morton, the opposing candidate, succeeded by a single vote, out of more than a hundred thousand. Everett availed him self of this opportunity, the following spring, to make a visit with his family to Europe. In 1841, while residing in Florence, he was named United States minister to England, and arrived in London to enter upon the duties of his mission at the close of that year. Great questions were at that time open between the two countries, the north-eastern boundary, the affair of M Leod, the seizure of American vessels on the coast of Africa, in the course of a few months the affair of the &quot; Creole,&quot; to which were soon added Oregon and Texas. His position was more difficult by the frequent changes that took place in the department at home, which, in the course of two years, was occupied successively by Messrs Webster, Legare&quot;, Upshur, Calhoun, and Buchanan. From all these gentle men Everett received marks of approbation and confi dence. By the institution of the special mission of Lord Ashbur- ton, the direct negotiations between the two Governments were, about the time of Everett s arrival in London, trans ferred to Washington. It appears, however, from docu ments that have from, time to time been communicated to Congress, that various topics connected with all the sub jects in dispute were incidentally treated in the correspon dence of the American minister at London both with his own and the British Government. Many elaborate notes to Lord Aberdeen and despatches to the American secretary of state have in this way come before the public, forming, however, it is believed, but a small part of the documents of both classes prepared by Everett during his mission. It appears, indeed, that, from the concurrence of a variety of causes, the amount of business transacted at the American legation from 1841 to 1845 was more than double that of any former period of equal duration. i Immediately after the accession of Polk to the presidency Everett was recalled. Shortly before his return the presi dency of Harvard College was vacated by the resignation of Hon. Josiah Qnincy, and Everett was strongly urged by the friends and governors of the institution to accept this office, which he did in the month of January 1846. He filled this place of equal distinction and usefulness for about three years. It was a position congenial with his tastes, in harmony with the early associations of his life, and one which seemed to promise large opportunity of applying for the benefit of the rising generation the fruit of his maturer studies and varied experience in life. His health unfortu nately soon began to suffer, and before long became seriously impaired under the burdens and cares of the office, and he was compelled at the close of the year 1848 to tender his resignation. Relieved of this charge, he supposed that at last he was to enjoy literary or scholarly leisure, and was already preparing for a treatise on the law of nations. But, on the death of his friend Webster, to whom he had always been closely attached, and of whom he was always a confidential adviser, he was named by President Fillmore secretary of state, and he held that post for the remaining months of Fillmore s administration, leaving it to go into the senate as the representative of Massachusetts. Under the work of the long session of 1853-54, in which that &quot; Kansas-Nebraska &quot; question first appeared in form which ripened into the American civil war, his health gave way. VIII. 93