Looking further into the circumstances, it seems likely that this eager young mind, this youth whom Miss Blackman describes as possessing "a love of reading which craved greater indulgence than his own limited store of books provided," may have been affected-lastingly impressed-by the personality of the lender, as well as by the volumes lent. There were but a few hundred of these-"Greek and Roman classics, most of them in the original text. There were, however, some translations, grammars and dictionaries. There were a large number of religious tracts, Whole Duty of a Christian, etc.; the lives of William Penn, George Fox, and Elizabeth Fry. I also remember a few volumes of mineralogy, agriculture and poetry, and a copy of the Wealth of Nations." Reflections of this youthful reading of Adam Smith may easily be detected in some of Wilmot's earlier speeches in the House of Representatives. But to return to the personality of the man who opened and presided over this treasury: Enoch Walker "was a Quaker, a very benevolent but rather eccentric character who went to Susquehanna County, in 1820, first to Friendsville, and afterwards, in 1822, to Woodbourne. He was active in the antislavery movement, and Montrose was, before the Civil War, a station on the 'Underground Railroad.' The old man used to go around the country in his buggy holding meetings and preaching Universal Christian Benevolence, and 'to abstain from coffee, tea and tobacco.' On this last count Wilmot remained obdurately unconverted, and he was too consistent a lawyer and constitutionalist to espouse abolitionism. But his opposition to slavery extension and to the "institution" itself, on moral, political and economic grounds, must have taken deeper roots and gained energy of growth from contact with such a temperament at such a time. he stored up a knowledge of our political institutions which was of great value to him in his public service." Letter from George W. Norris, M. D., of Philadelphia, into whose possession much of this original library eventually came. 10 Letter from Mrs. Elizabeth S. Cope, Woodbourne, Dimock P. O., Pa. CHAPTER II APPRENTICESHIP IN LAW AND POLITICS WITH the month of August, 1834, as already noted, came the event which opened the second chapter of David Wilmot's life. It is thus described in the official language of the records: Admission of David Wilmot 361 an attorney at law Aug. 4, 1834. Upon the presentation and filing of the necessary certificates G. W. Woodward esqr moves for the appointment of a committee to examine David Willmot, an applicant for admission to this Court as Attorney at Law whereupon Court appoint Messrs. Conyngham Collins and Sturdevant. Aug. 5, 1834, on report of said Committee David Willmott is admitted and sworn as an Attorney of this Court.1 It might have been expected that the young lawyer would choose to begin his work where he could have the support of family companionship and sympathy, or of the professional favor and occasional suggestion or help of one of his preceptors; that he would select Montrose, Bethany or WilkesBarre as his starting point. But with a promptness that indicates plans thought out and settled in advance, he struck out for himself at once in new surroundings. On September 8, 1834, scarcely a month after his admission at Wilkes-Barre, upon motion of D. F. Barstow, he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Two 1 Continuance Docket, Vol. II, page 279, Common Pleas Court, Luzerne Co., Pa. months later the newspapers of Towanda, the county seat of that county, carried the following card: D. Wilmot, having established himself in the profes- He may be found at the office of Simon Kinney Esq. Simon Kinney was at that time, both in age and professional standing, the leader of the Bradford County bar. Evidently his young associate's talents, and the use he made of them, made a favorable impression upon the older practitioner; for, five weeks later, the original card was superseded by another under the heading "Law Partnership," which announced that Simon Kinney and David Wilmot having associated Dec. 13, 1834. S. KINNEY The circuit system of holding court was then in full swing, members of the bar who had causes to try riding with the judge through the district of his jurisdiction-in this case, the counties of Susquehanna, Bradford and Tioga. The president judge at the time of Wilmot's admission (Edward Herrick) was succeeded, in 1839, by John N. Conyngham, one of his examiners when he was presented for the bar at WilkesBarre. Contemporary comments on Wilmot's career published a few years later, when he had begun to attract national attention, express the conjecture that his greatest interest was in politics, and not in the law. If "politics" be taken in the broad sense of participation in public affairs-the control of local or general government for the purpose of carrying out political convictions and principles, rather than the special sense of the strategy and tactics of capturing nominations and electionsthis was probably true from the very beginning. The choice of location in Towanda, in the county of Bradford in the "Northern Tier," very probably was dictated by a belief that the opportunities for political activity were better there than elsewhere in the State. At least, Wilmot is said to have expressed, in writing to a friend some time afterwards, a very poor opinion of the possibilities of the mere practice of the law in his adopted residence; the causes were petty, and most of them on the criminal side of the courts. But he plunged immediately and actively into the work of the democratic party in his county and district, with every evidence of engrossing interest in its pursuit. There is a suggestion of the thought of preparation for his intended career in the activity he displayed in the local literary and debating society-witness a card of November 22, 1834, announcing over the signature of D. Wilmot, secretary, that "the Towanda Fenestella will meet at the Fire Proof, upstairs, next Tuesday evening, at six o'clock. The ladies and gentlemen of the village are respectfully invited to attend. Question for discussion: 'Ought Arnold to have been executed?'" The democratic party was then-as indeed it was alwaysdeeply racked and shaken by internal conflicts. One convention, at Harrisburg, favored George Wolf for the governor ship; another, meeting at Lewiston, put forward Henry S. Muhlenberg for the same office. The democrats of the State were divided with equal bitterness, though along a different line of cleavage, for or against Martin Van Buren for the presidency. Wilmot enlisted with the pro-Van Buren-Wolf wing, and his first recorded participation in a political campaign was in the spring following his arrival at Towanda, at a convention of democratic citizens held at the courthouse in that place, May 12, 1835, when he was appointed one of a committee of nine to draft resolutions expressing the views of the meeting on the men and measures at issue. These resolutions, after the expected indorsement of their favored candidates and conventions, declared generally that the system of regular nominations, according to the usage of the democratic party, presented the only effectual preservation against faction and misrule; that the delegate system was an ancient landmark of democracy, and the undertaking to set up rival tickets and obliterate the motto of "principles, not men," if successfully carried out, would lead to anarchy, despotism and tyranny. Two of the paragraphs especially bear so strong a stamp of Wilmot's mind and hand that they at least must have been his contribution, if he did not draft the whole address. The first is to the effect that, "as principles outlive men, we will have something to rally upon, even in case of temporary defeat, after the man we have supported has passed into oblivion." The second "recognizes in Martin Van Buren a firm and unwavering democrat; the slanders heaped upon him by his enemies have served only to endear him to the democratic party, and we will give him our cordial and unwavering support for the next presidency, if nominated at the National Convention." Wilmot's veneration for Van Buren now seems out of proportion to anything his idol ever said or did for the causes to which his young admirer was devoted; but the feeling was there from the very first, and it never faltered. It is natural, therefore, to find the name of D. Wilmot again in the list of "friends of Martin Van Buren" who met, on June 2nd, to issue a call |