Dana's offence was merely
technical, and that it ought not to interfere with his confirmation.
At that moment there appeared a letter from Mr. Dana which contained
an attack upon General Cameron, then a member of the Senate, and Mr.
Dana's case was rendered hopeless. He secured his own defeat when his
enemies were powerless to accomplish it. He was, however, very
grateful to me for my effort in his behalf. The result was a heavy
blow to his ambition and he resolved to prepare a new work on
International Law. For that purpose he took his residence in Europe,
but death came too soon for the realization of his purpose.
Mr. Dana will be remembered by his tale of the sea, "Two Years Before
the Mast." He was a learned lawyer, an aristocrat by nature, and a man
of eminent power. He scorned the opinions of inferior men, and
therein was the cause of his failure. By a hair's breadth he failed
of success in all the public undertakings of his life, excepting only
his tale of the sea.
Mr. Burlingame was then an enthusiastic young man. He had had some
experience in public affairs, but it could not have been predicted that
he would attain the distinction which he achieved subsequently, in the
field of diplomacy. He made speeches in the Convention, but they
produced little or no effect upon the opinions of others.
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