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WASHBURNE, ELIHU BENJAMIN. 



usage, claiming that o, except between inti- 

 mates, was impolite, subversive, socialistic. In 

 the congress a warm debate took place, but 

 finally ons was abolished by a decisive vote, 

 making the second person singular always ol. 



The most important action of the congress 

 was the establishment of a General Society or 

 Federation of Clubs (Volapiikaklub Valemik) 

 and of an academy (Kadetn Volapiika). Father 

 Schleyer was made permanent head (cifal) of 

 both of these organizations. The academy be- 

 gins its functions with the year 1888. It con- 

 sists of the cifal, the dilekel, twenty kademals, 

 and of kademels and kademans. There are 

 twenty language groups, and twenty-five tech- 

 nical groups. A section is composed of the 

 specialists in one technical group, belonging to 

 the same language ; thus, the French geolog- 

 ical section, the Spanish mathematical section. 

 The twenty geological sections form the geo- 

 logical group; the French language-group is 

 made up of twenty-five technical sections. 

 Thus, there are in all 500 sections. Eacli sec- 

 tion is presided over by a kademel, and its 

 members are kademans. The director (dilekel) 

 is vice-chief and working head of the academy. 

 Seventeen kademals were elected, who were to 

 organize the academy and to choose its remain- 

 ing members. 



Bibliography. Over one hundred books had 

 been published in or upon Volapuk up to July, 

 1887, all in Europe. This was exclusive of 

 periodicals, leaflets, and contributions to peri- 

 odicals. These books were in the following 

 languages: Volapuk, German, French, Spanish, 

 Italian, English, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, 



Dutch, Russian, Hungarian, Croatian, Bohe- 

 mian, Roumanian. They consisted mostly of 

 text-books and translations. In Great Britain 

 the only book thus far published is W. A. 

 Seret's "Grammar and Vocabularies" (Glas- 

 gow), a translation very imperfectly made from 

 Schleyer's works. In America the follow- 

 ing books have appeared in 1887: "Volapuk 

 Grammar for Beginners," by O. J. Stilwell 

 (Alma, Mich.); " Hand-Book of Volapuk," by 

 Charles E. Sprague, kademal (New York) ; 

 " Volapuk," by Prof. J. Hanno Deiler, of Tu- 

 lane University (New Orleans); "Volapuk, a 

 Guide to the Universal Language," by Samuel 

 Hnebsch (New York); "Volapuk: an Easy 

 Method of Acquiring the Universal Language," 

 by Klas August Linderfelt (Milwaukee). The 

 following works are in preparation : " Prac- 

 tical Volapuk-English and English-Volapiik 

 Dictionary," by Dr. M. W. Wood, U. S. A. ; 

 " Essentials of Volapuk," by Prof. Henry Cohn ; 

 " Volapuk Reading-book," by Mrs. J. H. Bauer. 

 In periodical literature, Volapuk especially 

 abounds. The following periodicals are now 

 published : Weekly " Volapukisten " (Stock- 

 holm). Monthlies " Volapukabled Zenodik/' 

 official organ (Constance) ; " Le Volapuk " 

 (Paris) ; u Volapuk " (Guadalajara and Mad- 

 rid) ; " Volaptikaklubs " (Breslau) ; " Volaptik- 

 agased " (Vienna); "Cogabled Volapukelas," 

 humorous, illustrated (Munich) ; " Volapuk- 

 abled Danik" (Aabybro); " II Volapiik" (Mi- 

 lan) ; " Nogan Volapukik plo Beljan e Nedan " 

 (Antwerp). To these may be added, " Vola- 

 spodel, labled gaseda konodik The Office" 

 (New York). 



W 



WASIIBCRNE, ELIHF BENJAMIN, an American 

 lawyer, born in Livermore, Oxford County, 

 Me., Sept. 23, 1816; died in Chicago, 111., Oct. 

 22, 1887. He received a public-school educa- 

 tion, was a printer's apprentice in the office of 

 the " Christian Intelligencer," and assistant 

 editor of the " Kennebec Journal," Augusta, 

 studied law in Kent's Hill Seminary and the 

 office of John Otis, in Augusta, and in 1839 

 was graduated at the Cambridge Law-School, 

 and admitted to the bar. He settled in Ga- 

 lena, 111., in 1840, and slowly obtained prac- 

 tice. In 1844 he was a delegate to the Balti- 

 more Whig Convention, in 1852 to the con- 

 vention that nominated Gen. Scott for the 

 presidency, and the same year a Representative 

 in Congress, where he occupied a seat con- 

 tinuously tor sixteen years. He was the senior 

 member of the House during the civil war, 

 won the appellation of " watch-dog of the 

 Treasury " by his opposition to jobbery, intro- 

 duced the first postal-telegraph bill and the bill 

 to establish national cemeteries, was chairman 

 of the Committee on Commerce for ten years, 

 and chairman of the joint committee of the 



whole on the impeachment of President John- 

 son. He was the steadfast friend of Gen. 

 Grant during and after the civil war. In 1869 

 President Grant appointed him Secretary of 

 State, and, resigning a few days afterward, he 

 was appointed United States Minister to 

 France. On the declaration of the Franco- 

 Prussian War he was asked to protect with the 

 American flag the diplomatic headquarters of 

 the various German states in Paris and the 

 records they contained, as well as the persons 

 and property of German residents in the city. 

 He remained in Paris throughout the siege, 

 and was the only foreign minister that contin- 

 ued at his post during the terrible days of the 

 Commune, giving protection not only to the 

 Germans but to all other foreigners abandoned 

 by their ministers. At the close of the war he 

 was offered the decoration of the Order of the 

 Red Eagle by the German Emperor, which he 

 was obliged by law to decline ; but he subse- 

 quently accepted from his Majesty two large 

 oil-portraits, one of the Emperor, the other of 

 Prince Bismarck. He served as minister till 

 1877, and on his return to the United States 



