20 



INTRODUCTION 



Three 

 Presidents 



A Fine Char- 

 acterization 



dent of the earliest society for the emancipation of the 

 slaves, and signer of the treaty of peace which brought 

 the Revolutionary War to a successful close. Close be- 

 side Jay stands Alexander Hamilton, a Huguenot on his 

 mother's side. With his genius for organization, his 

 ability as a financier, and his abundant patriotism, he 

 carved a niche for himself on a level with the greatest 

 statesmen of his day. In the history of the American 

 navy appears no more heroic spirit than that of Stephen 

 Decatur. In the Mexican and Civil Wars the Huguenot 

 blood was represented by Admiral Dupont, General 

 John C. Fremont, and General John F. Reynolds, and in 

 the Spanish War by Admirals George Dewey and Win- 

 field Scott Schley. 



Descendants of the Huguenots have been prominent in 

 other walks of life. Among statesmen may be mentioned 

 Presidents Tyler, Garfield and Roosevelt ; John Sevier, 

 "the commonwealth builder" ; Thomas Francis Bayard, 

 and a host of others. In law and medicine their names 

 are of frequent occurrence. Stephen Girard, Christopher 

 Roberts, Matthew Vassar, James Bowdoin and Thomas 

 Hopkinson Gallaudet stand out as philanthropists and 

 promoters of education. The names of Maury, Dana 

 and Le Conte stand high in the list of American scien- 

 tists. Such men as William Heathcote De Laucey, Hosea 

 Ballon and William Hague were leaders in the church. 

 While in literature are to be counted such names as 

 Philip Freneau, Henry D. Thoreau, Henry W, Long- 

 fellow, and John G. Whittier. 



Of the Huguenots it has been well said : ' ' There have 

 been few people on earth so upright and single minded, 

 so faithful in the discharge of their duties towards God 

 and man, so elevated in aim, so dignified in character. 

 The enlightened, independent, firm, God-fearing spirit of 

 the French Protestants has blended its influence with 

 that of the Puritan to form our national character and to 

 establish those civil and religious institutions by which 



