UNITED STATES. 



745 



to throw a religious question as a firebrand 

 into the presidential contest of 1876. 



Not long after, the following letter, in some 

 unaccountable manner, appeared in the public 

 press. It is addressed to ex-Speaker Elaine, 

 a member of Congress from Maine : 



OFFICE OF EVENING COURIER, ) 

 NEWARK, N. J., November 9, 1875. J 

 Hon. J. G. ELAINE. 



MY DEAR SIR : Eighteen months ago I told you 

 that you could have New Jersey in 1876. 1 wish 

 now to emphasize that statement. All our people 

 are for you, and we can carry the State beyond per- 

 adventure. 



Our danger is that the "West will demand the 

 nomination. This can also be averted, of course, by 

 a union of New England, the Middle States, and 

 stray votes from the South. A potent factor in our 

 next convention will be the secret anti-Catholic 

 order. Grant is a member, and it has a good deal of 

 strength in Congress. I think you ought to go in. 

 It can be arranged so that you can be initiated any- 

 where by one person. The order is spreading 

 widely. My obligations do not permit me to say 

 more than this, except that Grant, no doubt, relies 

 upon it to promote his aims. 



With wisdom at Washington and with the States 

 we have carried, we can surely hold the country. 

 But to hold it for a hap-hazard candidate is hardly 

 worth the candle. For one of a vast multitude I 

 want to hold it for you. Excuse this scrawl, and 

 believe me, yours very truly, 



JOHN Y. FOSTER. 



The eagerness of the opposition press was 

 now greatly stimulated. The letter of ex- 

 Speaker Elaine on public schools, after the 

 election in Ohio in 1874, was reproduced (see 

 ELAINE, J. G.), and the secret order was final- 

 ly smoked out. 



On December 28th the Executive Committee 

 of the " O. A. U.," or Order of the American 

 Union, issued the following address relative to 

 the character and object of their union: 



NEW YORK, December 28, 1875. 



The National Executive Committee of the Order 

 of the American Union deem it advisable to promul- 

 gate a summary of the principles which underlie and 

 energize their actions as citizens and as members of 

 the order. They do not here advance arguments in 

 defense of these principles, nor offer apology for 

 holding them : they simply state them, leaving the 

 question of their acceptance or rejection to every 

 man's judgment and discretion. The issues raised, 

 by this enunciation of principles, are neither new 

 nor extraordinary; nor will their announcement 

 raise either new advocates or new antagonists. The 

 issues presented are as old as the Reformation ; the 

 interests involved are identical. 



1. We accept the Bible as the basis of all moral, 

 religious, governmental, and educational untertak- 

 ings. 



2. We yield an unhesitating support to the Con- 

 stitution and Government of the United States and 

 of the several States. 



3. We urge that the present system of our general 

 unsectarian free-school organization shall be main- 

 tained inviolate. 



4.- We claim that no part of the public funds shall 

 ever be used for the support or maintenance of any 

 sectarian school or institution whatever. 



5. We are opposed to any interference in political 

 affairs by any man or body of men acting in behalf, 

 or by direction of, any ecclesiastical body or powers ; 

 yet we make no war upon any man's religious creed. 



The objects and purposes of our order are few and 



simple, and we give them publicity. The ways 

 and means of conducting our business matters, tFio 

 methods by which wo propose to secure the desired 

 results, are peculiarly our own, and we intend to 

 keep them to ourselves. u Third term or one term," 

 "Democracy or Republicanism," "Hard money or 

 soft money," "Crooked whiskey or straight," are en- 

 tirely outside of our aims and plans, and receive no 

 attention whatever. To sustain and advance the 

 ideas above summarized, we propose to use all law- 

 ful and suitable measures at all times, that to us 

 seem to be propitious, with all persons who labor for 

 their triumph against all agencies which seek their 

 overthrow and destruction. As in the past, so 

 for the future, we invite and expect to receive the 

 cooperation and aid of thousands upon thousands of 

 sturdy, stalwart, patriotic, thoughtful men, who love 

 their country with an ardor surpassing that of party, 

 sect, or clan. 



But the public attention was soon diverted 

 from these subjects by the development of vast 

 frauds upon the revenue of the Government by 

 Western manufacturers of whiskey (see PUB- 

 LIC DOCUMENTS and MISSOUKI). These frauds 

 became exposed in the criminal trials of some 

 of the manufacturers commenced by the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, BENJAMIN HELM BEISTOW. 

 To the brief biographical sketch of Mr. Bristow 

 in the last volume of this work the following 

 particulars are added: He was born in Elkton, 

 Todd County, Ky., in the month of July, 1832, 

 and was the second of a family of four children. 

 His father, Francis N. Bristow, was widely 

 known throughout the State as a lawyer of 

 ability. In 1860-'61 be represented the Third 

 District of Kentucky in the Congress of the 

 United States, and held offices of responsibility 

 and honor at various times. He was a member 

 of the Constitutional Convention in 1850 which 

 framed the State constitution. He died during 

 the war. His mother, who is now in Elkton, 

 was Emily Helm, daughter of Benjamin Helm, 

 of Elizabethto wn, Ky. His two sisters, Mrs. Pe- 

 tree and Mrs. Gill, and his brother, Frank Bris- 

 tow, also reside in Elkton. At an early age, Ben- 

 jamin entered Jefferson College at Canonsburg, 

 Pa., and went diligently through the course of 

 study there afforded. On leaving the college in 

 1848, he entered the law-office of his father at 

 Elkton, and continued the study and practice 

 of law with his father until 1857, when he re- 

 moved to Hopkinsville, Christian County, 

 where, in partnership with Judge R. L. Petree, 

 he pursued his profession with reasonable suc- 

 cess, until the breaking out of the war, very 

 soon after which he entered the United States 

 service as lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty- 

 fifth Kentucky Regiment, commanded by Colo- 

 nel Shackleford, and distinguished himself for 

 coolness and bravery at the battles of Fort 

 Henry, Fort Donaldson, and Pittsburg Land- 

 ing (Shiloh). Returning home in 1862, he was 

 active in raising the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry, 

 with which he again entered the service as 

 lieutenant-colonel, and was soon made colo- 

 neh This regiment was in many memorable 

 battles. In the fall of 1863 he was elected to 

 the State Senate from the Hopkinsville District 

 of Kentucky. He was on the Committee on 



