ates.
But both of these were of English-speaking races. No foreigner of any
other race ever obtained such distinction in American politics as Mr.
Gallatin, and he only because he was the choice of a constituency, to
every member of which he was personally known. It is questionable
whether in any other condition of society he could have secured
advancement by election--the true source of political power in all
democracies. John Marshall, afterwards Chief Justice, recognized
Gallatin's talent soon after his arrival in Richmond, offered him a
place in his office without a fee, and assured him of future distinction
in the profession of the law; but Patrick Henry was the more sagacious
counselor; he advised Gallatin to go to the West, and predicted his
success as a statesman. Modest as the beginning seemed in the country he
had chosen, it was nevertheless a start in the right direction, as the
future showed. It was in no sense a mistake.

Neither did the affairs of the wilderness wholly debar intercourse with
the civilized world. Visiting Richmond every winter, he gradually
extended the circle of his acquaintance, and increased his personal
influence; he also occasionally passed a few weeks at Philadelphia. Two
visits to Maine are recorded in his diary, but whether they were of
pleasure merely does not appear. One was in 1788, in midwinter, by stage
and sleigh. On this excursion he descended the Androscoggin and crossed
Merrymeeting Bay on the ice, returning by the same route in a snowstorm,
which concealed the banks on either side of the river, so that he
governed his course by the direction of the wind. With the intellect of
a prime minister he had the constitution of a pioneer. On one of these
occasions he intended to visit his old friends and hosts, the
Lesderniers, but the difficulty of finding a conveyance, and the rumor
that the old gentleman was away from home, interfered with his purpose.
He remembered their kindness, and later attempted to obtain pensions for
them from the United States government.

But the time now arrived when the current of his domestic life was
permanently diverted, and set in other channels. In May, 1789, he
married Sophie Allegre, the daughter of William Allegre of a French
Protestant family living at Richmond. The father was dead, and the
mother took lodgers, of whom Gallatin was one. For more than a year he
had addressed her and secured her affections. Her mother now refused her
consent,