Resigning on the 1st of November, 1852, Mr. Burnside, aided by the capital of friends, established a factory for the manufacture of his breech-loading rifle at the pleasant town of Bristol, which he made his home. The "Bristol Rifle Works" were very completely equipped with the most improved machinery for manufacturing locks, barrels, and finished arms. When inspected by a board of United States army officers it met their approval as possessing facilities for manufacturing arms of the best quality, both as regarded material and workmanship. Mr. Burnside was the life of the establishment, ever on the alert to suggest some improvement in the machinery, and encouraging the workmen by commendation of their skill. At home, after the occupations of the day, his mind was constantly busy, and he read a great deal, carefully studying all available works on ordnance projectiles. It was not strange that he became very popular among his neighbors, and that he was a general favorite in the social circle of the quaint old town of Bristol.

The volunteer militia of Rhode Island recognized his military ability and his ardent attachment to the profession of arms, by which he was qualified for usefulness when preparing for war in times of peace, and in 1855 he was, at their request, placed in command of them as majorgeneral of the volunteer militia of the State. He at once began such reforms and reorganizations as would promote the efficiency of the force, but met with obstacles in the jealousies of the local corps, some of which, regarding themselves as independent, were unwilling to submit to his authority.

In 1856 he ordered a court-martial for the trial of the commander of a Providence corps, who had refused to occupy a place assigned to him in a Fourth of July pro

cession, alleging as an excuse for non-appearance that the weather was rainy, and that the new uniforms of the corps would be damaged. The governor of the State interfered, as commander-in-chief, and dissolved the court, whereupon General Burnside resigned his commission, and the officer who was to have been tried was elected by the Legislature as his successor.

Appointed by President Pierce one of the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy in 1856, General Burnside met his associates there on the second day of June, and remained in session with them until the seventeenth. He was a member of the committee on discipline, police, quarters and mess arrangements, and his practical. suggestions, based upon his personal experience, were adopted by the committee, and subsequently by the Board of Visitors. The course of studies was that which he had followed a few years previous, and was theoretically that as organized by Colonel Thayer as the best fitted for an American military education - a course calculated to cultivate the powers of thought rather than crowd the memory with a general smattering of many branches of knowledge. He rightly believed, it has been said by his associates, that a military education must be founded on a mathematical training and knowledge,-hence he gave, in the course, that prominence which they have ever since retained, to mathematics, natural and experimental philosophy and engineering. An attempt made by a member of the board to suggest a change of this course of studies met with decided opposition from General Burnside, and failed.

The Board of Visitors, in their annual report, expressed in conclusion the high satisfaction which their visit had given them, saying: "Representing, as they do, fourteen dis

tinct states of this great confederacy, coming together as strangers to each other to consult over the interests of an important national institution, they part with sentiments of profound and honest pride-sentiments which they are sure are responded to by their constituents that their country has established so noble an institution as the United States Military Academy. While differences of opinion have occasionally existed in their consideration of the various questions of public policy which relate to the conduct of this great school, their session has been one of the greatest harmony and satisfaction; and the views which they beg leave now to present are the result of their united and concurrent labors."

General Burnside was at this time acting with the Democratic party, and on the 4th of March, 1857, he was nominated on the second ballot, as the Democratic candidate for Congress from the Eastern district of Rhode Island. The Bristol Phoenix, a newspaper politically opposed to him, said of this nomination: "Our distinguished townsman, Gen. A. E. Burnside, has been honored by the Democratic convention with the nomination to the next Congress from this district. If it were possible for the General to be elected, he would fill the office with honor to the State, the town, and to himself."

General Burnside accepted the nomination, and intended to have stumped" the district. His business preventing this, he addressed the following letter to the voters of the Eastern district, prior to the election. The Providence Post, which was the recognized organ of the Democracy of Rhode Island at the time, said editorially: "All will recognize in this letter the manly frankness of an honest and earnest man a man who can be relied upon under all circumstances, and who deals more in action than in words."

BRISTOL, March 27, 1857.

Fellow-Citizens of the Eastern Congressional District of Rhode Island: I have been kept from the State by urgent business; otherwise I should, before this, have fulfilled my promise made to you in the letter of acceptance of my nomination to Congress by the Democrats of our district. I shall not be able to meet you, as I hoped, and therefore take this method of briefly expressing my views upon some of the most important political topics of the day, that those who choose to honor me with their votes may know for what they are voting.

I am in favor of a tariff that will incidentally protect home industry, home capital, and home interests, and that will enable our manufacturers to compete successfully with foreign manufacturers, without interference with the constitutional basis of our revenue laws.

I am opposed to the hasty legislation which rushed through Congress the tariff measure of the last session, and induced members to vote for a bill, the contents of which they did not know, and which may prove to be the source of great injustice to our manufacturers.

I am opposed to the wholesale giving away of the public lands to railroad corporations, and other like institutions; at the same time, I believe that the government can encourage by gifts, great national enterprises which are for the common weal, and are so placed that they cannot properly expect local support. Such works, in my opinion, are the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraphs, and the Pacific Railroad.

I am in favor of a foreign policy that will cultivate relations of peace with all nations, and I will never give my influence, either as a private citizen or a public servant, for war, so long as it can be honorably avoided. I am in favor of the present independent treasury system.

I am in favor of admitting any territory into the Union of States as soon as it has fulfilled the requirements of the Constitution, and shall petition for admission. A taint of injustice, bribery, outside influence or force attached to the petition, would secure for it my unconditional opposition.

The most important requirement, in my opinion, is, that the Constitution should express the unrestrained and unbiased wishes of the people. The next in importance is that the territory should have the proper number of inhabitants.

I believe that the principle of allowing the people of the states and territories to arrange their own local institutions is right, and that the general government should only interfere when it finds that the people of a territory are checked in that privilege by improper influences: and when it does interfere it should be without prejudice, and with energy. Whether I remain a private citizen, or am made by you a public servant.

I shall give to James Buchanan's administration my humble support, so long as he is governed by the great principles laid down in his inaugural address, but I owe no allegiance to any party that will compel me to support his administration, should he depart from those principles.

Fellow-citizens, I have been in your State but five years, and am comparatively unknown. It is but just that you should know my political opinions, and this is my excuse for trespassing even thus briefly upon your patience.

The Native American, or Know Nothing excitement then prevailed, and but little regard was paid to the qualifications of candidates. The American candidate, Nathaniel B. Durfee, was re-elected, receiving 5,442 votes against 1,971 for General Burnside. Personally, he did not regret the defeat, and his friends felt confident that, sooner or later, the people of Rhode Island would recognize his merits and reward his services.