Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/251

FRANKLIN PIERCE 197 government against the southern Confederacy. From that time until his death he lived in retire ment at Concord. To the last he retained his hold upon the hearts of his personal friends, and the exquisite urbanity of his earlier days. His wife and his three children had preceded him to the tomb. Some years after Pierce s death the legislature of New Hampshire, in behalf of the state, placed his portrait beside the speaker s desk in the hall of the house of representatives at Concord. Time has softened the harsh judgment that his political foes passed upon him in the heat of party strife and civil war. His generosity and kindness of heart are gratefully remembered by those who knew him, and particularly by the younger mem bers of his profession, whom he was always ready to aid and advise. It is remembered that in his professional career he was ever willing, at what ever risk to his fortune or popularity, to shield the poor and obscure from oppression and injustice. It is remembered, too, that he sought in public life no opportunities for personal gain. His integrity was above suspicion. After nine years service in congress and in the senate of the United States, after a brilliant and successful professional career and four years in the presidency, his estate hardly amounted to $72,000. In his whole political career he always stood for a strict construction of the con-