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 E437 .H82 1857 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032772158 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AM) PUELIC SERVICES 
 
 eJAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
m^. 
 
Wy^/c.,^ a- 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 PaESlDJ',"MT OP IHEtnnTBD STATES, 
 
_VTrE PHE3H3-EJTT OF TFE TTtTITBD STATES , 
 
AXTTHB N TI C EDITION. 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 OP 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, 
 
 PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES; 
 
 INOLTJDINO HIS 
 
 INAUQURAL AODRESS, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE MOST IMPORTANT 01' HIS STATE PAPERS. 
 BY E. G. HOETON. 
 la^ an ^ttnralt portrait on: Stel, 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 DERBY & JACKSON, 119 NASSAU ST. 
 1857. :« ( 
 
45 Y 
 I ?5T 
 
 D ueeordlnff to Aet of Coagi«i% In tk» 70H 18SI, ^ 
 DERBY & JACKSON, 
 • Clark'i OOm of tlu Dlitrlot Cout of Oa Dnlted SUtu, Six the SonUiom Diatriet of Now Talk. 
 
 /» f >v 
 
 . B. TnltaiBt^otnw Ombw Bnou & Co., Filiiton, 
 
 G- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The history of the Statesmen of America is one of 
 the most interesting and instructive studies that can 
 well employ the mind of a citizen of this free and 
 favored land. While nearly every other country pre- 
 sents, as far as political progress is concerned, little more 
 than the dead calm of despotism, onr own land, under 
 the glorious principles of its free Constitution, has given 
 every opportunity for that natural conflict between 
 truth and error, which seems to be the established sys- 
 tem of the moral universe, and the only means to insure 
 the progress of wise and benificent reforms. Such a 
 state of society has, we may say, almost created " a new 
 heaven and a new earth," and though its convulsions 
 are regarded with amazement by foreign nations, yet 
 we may reasonably suppose, it is because they are com- 
 paratively strangers to the travail and pains necessary 
 to the birth and establishment of new ideas. The pro- 
 minent part which Democratic statesmen have acted in 
 
VI PEEFACB. 
 
 all the leading questions of public policy, wliich have 
 for seventy years divided political parties, and the fact 
 that the doctrines they sustained, have without excep- 
 tion, now become the settled policy of our government, 
 lend an additional interest to their history and opinions. 
 Those who have preserved the purity of our republican 
 institutions, and resisted every effort to model our laws 
 after the example of foreign countries, deserve scarcely 
 less honor than those who first established them. "We 
 think it will be shown in the following pages, that the 
 distinguished individual whose life and public services 
 have been, we are conscious, but feebly portrayed, has 
 borne no humble or insignificant part in these patriotic 
 and praiseworthy labors. Let no one, however, expect 
 to find in them an elaborate work, or one even commen- 
 surate with the just importance of the subject. 
 
 The object of the volume is very simple and definite. 
 Wlien the Hon. James Buchanan was nominated on the 
 6th of June as a candidate for the Presidency, the 
 public of course became interested to receive a more 
 full and reliable account of his political opinions, than 
 is usually afforded them in the various newspapers of 
 the day. Immediately after his nomination, the writer 
 was applied to, to furnish such an account of his Life 
 iiro Public Services, as would promise to meet the 
 demands of the time. The limited period allowed for 
 the preparation of the volume, and the importance of 
 its presentation to the public at as early a day as possi- 
 ble, precluded anything like a studied or careful effort, 
 
PEEFAOE. Vlj 
 
 such, indeed, as its distinguished subject is eminently 
 worthy of. - The main point has therefore been to pre- 
 sent merely the facts of Mr. Buchanan's career as a 
 public man, and to show his position upon political 
 questions as they have come before him for his conside- 
 ration. As the limits of the volume did not admit of 
 giving anything like a fall report of his public speeches, 
 it was thought advisable to present two or three of his 
 prominent ones upon important public questions, and 
 to limit the extracts from the others mainly to such 
 matters as bear upon the issues now before the country. 
 As Mr. Buchanan has ever shunned publicity, and 
 always been averse to courting public favor through the 
 press, no account of his life and important public ser- 
 vices to his country, through so many years of active 
 and devoted labors, has been previously published. 
 The writer has, therefore, been compelled to rely 
 mostly upon the simple record of the Congressional 
 proceedings, and a few leading facts which Mr. B. and 
 some of his personal or political friends have been 
 kind enough to furnish. It is proper to say, however, 
 that while we are confident all the statements in this 
 volume, in regard to Mr. Buchanan's private, profes- 
 sional or public life, may be fully relied on as correct, 
 yet no one is responsible for a single line it contains 
 except the writer. 
 
 New York, Jvly 4<A, 1856. 
 
PKEFAOE TO SECOl^TD EDITION. 
 
 The election of Mr. Buchanan to the Presidency, and 
 the continued demand for this volume, has rendered 
 another edition necessary. The work has been care- 
 fully revised and brought down to the present time. 
 Although prepared for a particular exigency, yet the 
 author feels it has a standard value, and that it 
 gives a correct and impartial review of the principal 
 events of Mr. Buchanan's life. He has, also, the satis- 
 faction to know that it has received this commenda- 
 tion from all parties in politics. He, therefore, desires 
 that it may stand or fall upon its merits, whatever they 
 are, without being prejudiced by the fact that it first 
 appeared at a particular juncture. By avoiding exces- 
 sive laudation, as being equally offensive to its distin- 
 guished subject as to the principles of good taste, and 
 adhering strictly to the ofl&cial record of Mr. Buchan- 
 an's political career, it is believed the public have, in 
 the present volume, a faithful epitome of his most 
 important services to his country, and an impartial 
 history of the life of our new President. In this spirit 
 it is commended to the favorable consideration of the 
 sovereign American people. 
 
 Nbw York, March 18iA, ISSV. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPIEK I. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's Birthplace— His Father and Mother— His Early Education- His Ool- 
 lege Life— Sporting la the Backwoods- Studies Law— Admission to the Bar— Unpar- 
 ralleled Success 18 
 
 OHAPTEE n. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan as Volunteer in the War of 1312 — Election to the Legislature in 1814 
 — His Support of the Volunteer System — The Resolutions of the Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts Legislatures in Regard to Naturalized Citizens— Re-election to the 
 Legislature in 1815 — The Cliarge of Federalism, .......SO 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Military Appropriations — ^Bankrupt Bill — ^Internal lmproTementa—Tb£ Tariff Ques- 
 tions, 81 
 
 CHAPTER rV. 
 
 the Tariff Act'-Keceptlon of Lafayette— The Niagara Sufferers— The Election of John 
 Quincy Adams, .68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Judiciary System— Mission to Panama— SurrlTing Officers of the ReToIutlon, . 78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Retrenchment— Mr. Adams' Administration— Dress of Foreign Ministers— Natoraliiatlon 
 Laws — Retirement of Mr. Macon, . . . . . ^ 
 
 9 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER TD. 
 
 Hection of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency— The Impeachment of Judge Peck— Mr. 
 Buchanan's Celebrated Speech thereupon, . . ... .98 
 
 CHAPTER Tin. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's Ten Tears In Congress— New Issues— Opposition to Sectionalism — 
 Defence of the Freedom of the Press — Mission to Russia — ^Election to the United 
 States Senate, ... . . 186 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 French Reprisals — Executive Patronage — Mr. Clay and Mr. Buchanan — Conclusion of 
 Twenty-third Congress, . . .... ... 142 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 New Aspect of the Slavery Question — Incendiary Publications — Abolition of Slavery in 
 the District of Columbia — Affairs of Texas — Sufferers by Great Fire in New York, 150 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Twenty-fourth Congress continued — Relations with France — Specie Payments— Ad- 
 mission of Michigan and Arkansas, . . ... . . 163 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Second Session of Twenty-fourth Congress — Specie Circular — Expunging Resolutions — 
 Mr. Buchanan's Speech upon them, . . . ... 177 
 
 CHAPTER xni. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren's Administration — The Extra Session — Mr. Buchanan's Speech on the 
 Sub-Treasury Bill 213 
 
 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 Expunging Resolution — Relations with Mexico — A New National Bank — Mr. Bucha- 
 nan's Speech on Pre-emption Rights — ^The Slavery Question — Resurrection Notes — 
 The Independent Treasury, 2S6 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Twenty-fifth Congress — ^The Last Session — Interference of Federal Officers In Election. 
 — ^Mr, Buchanan's Speech, , . .... 261 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Twenty-sixth Congress — The Independent Treasury — Mr. Buchanan's great 
 Speech— His reply to Hon. John Davis, . 284 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 XI 
 
 An Extra Session o£ Congress called— Death of Gen. Harrison— Accession of John 
 Tyler— The Fiscal Bank— The Fiscal Corporation— Mr. Buchanan's Speeches on these 
 Measures— Mr. Clay's Reply- Mr. Buchanan's Riyoinder 810 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Second Session of the Twenty-seventh Congress— The Veto Power— Mr. Buchanan's 
 
 Speech in Reply to Mr. Clay— The Board of Exchequer— Mr. Buchanan's Speech— Mr. 
 
 Clay's Retirement from the Senate— Third Session of the Twenty-seventh Congress— 
 
 The VTebster Treaty, . . . 842 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Twenty-Eighth Congress— Territorial Government in Oregon— Annexation of Texas 
 — The Election of James K. Polk, . . ... 851 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan as Secretary of State — The War with Mexico — The Oregon Boundary 
 Negotiation — Treaty with Mexico — The Acquisition of California — The Irish Revolu- 
 tion of 1848 — Mr. Buchanan's Denial of British Demands, . 356 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Ten years In the Senate — A Review of Mr. Buchanan's Senatorial Life — His Position on 
 the Bank Question — As a Friend of Gen. Jackson — The true Test of Statesmanship — 
 The Slavery Question — The Proscription of Foreigners — Mr, Buchanan's Four Years 
 as Secretary of State, . . 865 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan in private life — Opposition to the Wilmot Proviso — Approval of the 
 Compromise Measures — Mr. Buchanan's position in 1852 — Mission to England — The 
 Enlistment Question — The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty— The Ostend Meeting — Mr. 
 Buchanan's return to the United States — Ills reception, BI2 
 
 CHAPTER XXm. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan brought forward for the Presidency — His Nomination at Cincinnati-- 
 The National Democratic Platform— Letter of the Committee officially announcing 
 the Nomination- Mr. Buchanan's Reply, . 4l)S 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Mr. Bnchanan at Home, . ... 419 
 
 CHAPTEI'. XXV. 
 
 ADDITIONAL. 
 
 The Progress of the Election— The Issues Involved— The Pinal Result— The Election of 
 Mr. Buchanan— The Rejoicings of the Democracy— The Inauguration Ceremonies— 
 The Inaugural Address— Sketches of the Cabinet Officers . . . *29 
 
THE 
 
 LEFE AND PUBLIC SERYICES 
 
 or 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN 
 
 CHAPIEE I. 
 
 Hr. Bwliiimii' a MiniiJ i n- HH Wx&ia and Kctlicr— His Enly Ednca&m— ^ (M- 
 lege Life— ^parting b tbe Badwooda— Studies lav— Adm^ien to Oe Bar— i^pac- 
 
 Jamss Bucbasas was bom at a place called Stonj Batter, 
 in Franklm Goonty, PeoBsjlYaiim, at tiie foot of the eastern 
 ridge (tf the ADe^baniea, on the SSddsy of April, ITOl. Fnuik- 
 lin CooHiy bordo^ on the State of Maiyl^id, and the greater 
 part of it eaaastB of a broad Hmestone TaHey, vatered witb 
 cc^ons and nnGuHng mountain springs, and haTing a sofl of 
 unsurpassed fertility. The innnense range of monntains known 
 as the An^faames, vhich commences in the northern part of 
 GeoTffA and Alahama^ and mns generany in uniform ridges to 
 Hbe nratiieastem part of New Yoric, is in Franklin Comriy 
 Prided into an irr^nlar series cX rocky, broken eminences: 
 The South Moontain, a contimiation of the Bine Bidge of 
 Yirgaaa, faans its boandioy on the east, and Tnscarora or 
 
14 LIFE A2JD SEKTIOKS OP" JAMES BXJOHAHAN. 
 
 Cove Mountain, on the northwest. The highest points of the 
 Cove Mountain are estimated at fifteen hundred feet above the 
 valley. The spot where Mr. Buchanan first saw the light of 
 day is situated in a wild and romantic gorge of this mountain. 
 The towering summits of the eternal hills surround it, and 
 slope down like the sides of an amphitheatre. A beautiful 
 stream of water, clear as the crystal fountain from which it 
 flows, meanders through what was once a cleared field, not far 
 from his humble birthplace. The remains of the old Buchanan 
 cabin are still to be seen, although little is left but the chim- 
 ney. They lie to the north of the Mercersburg and McCon- 
 nellsburg turnpike, but within sight, and about three miles 
 from the village of Mercersburg. It is a lovely spot, and the 
 scenery has all those elements of grandeur and sublimity which 
 serve to inspke in youthful minds noble aspirations and exalted 
 patriotism. Such places have been those where a majority of 
 our great men have been born and reared. The early struggles 
 necessary to contend with the rugged inequalities of nature, 
 have developed a hardy constitution, inspired them with honest 
 ambition, and taught them in early life those invaluable lessons 
 of self-denial which are the foundation of all true excellence 
 of character. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's father was James Buchanan, a native of the 
 County of Donegal, in the north of Ireland, who emigrated to 
 the United States in the year 1783. He was a poor man when 
 he came to America, but with a vigorous arm, an industrious 
 spirit, and untirmg perseverance, he acquired before his death 
 a handsome competency. Five years after his arrival he mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Speer, the daughter of a respectable farmer of 
 Adams County, Pennsylvania. At that time the broad and 
 beautiful valleys of Franklm County were comparatively a 
 wilderness, but Mr. Buchanan sought them, and with his young 
 wife became a pioneer in American civilization. Having 
 " staked his clann," and erected a rude log cabin, his own right 
 arm felled the trees that allowed the sunlight of heaven to fall 
 
HIS FATHER AND MOTHEE. 15 
 
 upon the little clearing that surrounded his humble home. In 
 this log-cabin was the present James Buchanan born, and there 
 he continued to reside untU he was eight years of age. No 
 one would haye suspected, had they then seen the log-cabin 
 boy wandering through the primeval forests, awe-struck at 
 the strange, weird scenes which met his gaze, that he would 
 one day hold listening Senates in attention, and stand among 
 the leading statesmen of America. What a commentary do 
 not such facts present upon our free and glorious institutions ! 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's father was a prominent man in the county 
 where he resided, and exercised a large share of influence. 
 He had an excellent English education, and so fully understood 
 the advantages to be derived from one of a more liberal char- 
 acter, that he early resolved that his son should receive it. 
 The mother of Mr. Buchanan was a woman of uncommon 
 intellect. Although she had not enjoyed the advantages of a 
 superior education, she was distinguished for her masculine 
 sense, and remarkable literary taste. It is a singular fact, that 
 although she had never read a criticism on any of the standard 
 poets, she had selected, and could repeat from memory all the 
 striking passages in Pope, Cowper, Milton, and other promi- 
 nent English poets. She was also a woman of the most exalted 
 and enlightened piety, and to her influence in forming his 
 character and implanting those fundamental principles of con- 
 duct which nnderhe all true greatness is her son, James Bu- 
 chanan, indebted for his present distinction. It is a common 
 remark, that all great men have superior mothers ; whether 
 such be the fact, or whether the idea has arisen from a pardon- 
 able partiality of all men for one who was their earliest protector 
 and most devoted friend, we cannot say. But surely in the 
 case of James Buchanan, the remark is strictly true, and no 
 unmeaning compliment. 
 
 In 1198, Mr. Buchanan's father removed with his family to 
 the village of Mercersburg, where his son received his early 
 education in English, Latin, and Greek. His progress in his 
 
16 LIFE AHD BEEVI0E8 OF JAMBS SVCBASAN. 
 
 studies was exceedingly rapid, and he early gave indicaitions 
 of a remarkably strong and comprehensive mind. At the age 
 of fourteen, he entered Dickinson CoUege at Carlisle, in Cumber- 
 land county, then under the presidency of Dr. Davidson. Here 
 he immediately took rank among th^ most indefatigable stu- 
 dents, and rapidly rose in the estimation of his teachers as well 
 as his feUow pupils. The acquisition of learning was to him 
 not at all difficult, and he mastered the most abstruse subjects 
 with the utmost facihty. The breadth and energy of his mind 
 seemed to grasp everything as if by iutnition, and to hold it 
 with great tenacity. It was often remarked of him, that he 
 never went to recitation unprepared. He did not merely learn 
 his lesson, but he conquered it, and so fully and completely 
 elaborated it, that it became his own. While, however, he was 
 a great student, his exuberant flow of animal spirits made hinn 
 enthusiastic ia all kinds of relaxation and amusement. He some- 
 times surprised the faculty by his practical jokes, and upon 
 one occasion was severely reprimanded for some youthful 
 prank that was considered contrary to the strict rules of col- 
 legiate propriety. There was nothing, however, in his amuse- 
 ments, but what was strictly the result of a desire for mere 
 fan ; the kindness of his disposition, and the evenness of his 
 temper precluding any thought of anger or malignity. 
 
 While in college, he was a member of the Union P. Society, 
 a literary body connected with the institution. All the mem- 
 bers of this society were particularly attached to him, and he 
 became its favorite, as, indeed, he was of the entire college. 
 He enjoyed all the honors conferred by this society, and at 
 Commencement was presented by its unanimous vote to the 
 faculty for the highest collegiate honors. He graduated in 
 1809, at the age of eighteen. 
 
 At this period of his life, Mr. Buchanan was tall, slender, 
 and graceful. He had been cradled m poverty, and at all 
 times inured to hardships and toil. He exercised much in the 
 open aar, and the forests of Pennsylvania often resounded with 
 
8TUDIEB LAW. 17 
 
 the crack of the rifle of the yoimg Bportsman, who, at an early 
 age, like nearly all Americans, learned how to use this sharp- 
 shooting weapon. So dexterous was he with his rifle, that 
 like a true back-woodsman, he considered it a disgrace to go 
 home with squirrels or siooilar game, unless the ball had been 
 sent with unerring precision directly through the head. His 
 studies had expanded his mind, while his labors and recrea- 
 tions had given strength to his body, and already laid the firm 
 foundation for a long life of uniform health. There can be no 
 doubt that his vigorous, early training has been the means of 
 giving him that wonderful endurance, which so remarkably 
 distinguished him in after-life as a public man. The amount of 
 labor he can perform is perfectly astonishing, and has always 
 been remarked by all who have known Mm, both while engaged 
 in his profession and in his duties in Congress. 
 
 In December, 1809, Mr. Buchanan commenced the study of 
 the law in the office of James Hopkins, Esq., of Lancaster 
 city, an eminent lawyer, and a prominent, valuable, and much- 
 respected citizen. He was admitted to the bar November 17th, 
 1812, when he was a little over twenty-one years of age. He 
 immediately rose rapidly in his profession. He came to the 
 bar of his native State when Pennsylvania was distinguished 
 far and wide for the superior abihty of her lawyers. She could 
 boast then of her Baldwins, her Gibsons, her Rosses, her Dun- 
 cans, her Breckinridges, her DaUases, and her Semples, who 
 shed not only honor upon their own State, but who added 
 materially to the legal reputation of the whole country. With 
 such men as these Mr. Buchanan was compelled to struggle for 
 that eminence in his profession which he subsequently attained, 
 and so firmly kept. Perhaps we do not go too far in saying, 
 that there never has been in our country an instance of so 
 rapid a rise in the legal profession as that afforded in his case. 
 From the day he was admitted until he finally retired from the 
 'egal profession, his was a series of successive triumphs. He was 
 poor, and necessity demanded that exertioiQ which soon made 
 
18 LIFE AND SEKVICKS OF JAMES BTJCHANAN. 
 
 iim the rival and equal of the best lawyers in his State. He 
 was engaged in all important causes tried in Dauphin, York, 
 and other neighboring counties, and his name appears in the 
 Pennsylvania Eeports more frequently than that of any other 
 lawyer of his day. 
 
 In the session of 1816-11 of the Pennsylvania Stafe Senate, 
 when he was only twenty-six years of age, he defended, unas- 
 sisted by senior counsel, a distinguished judge of his Stpte, who 
 was tried upon articles of impeachment, and was successful. 
 At the age of thirty he had risen to the highest class of legal 
 minds, and commanded a practice more enviable and more 
 extensive than that of any other lawyer in the State. At this 
 time, however, he yielded to the urgent and repeated solicita- 
 tions of his friends, and consented to become a candidate for 
 Congress. He was elected, and continued in the same position 
 for ten years, when he peremptorily declined a re-election. 
 He occasionally, during the vacations of Congress, tried some 
 important cause, which, from past associations, or other rea- 
 sons, he did not feel at liberty to decline. He retired, however, 
 from his profession altogether in 1831, having accumulated 
 a competence by his steady devotion to business and the supe- 
 riority in his profession, which his commanding talents had given 
 him. Avarice being no trait in Mr. Buchanan's character, he 
 gladly sought repose from business, when Providence had 
 blessed his labors with the realization of the sincere prayer of 
 Agar, " give me neither poverty nor riches." When he retired 
 he left more business than any one man could attend to. Thus 
 had the log-cabin-boy, bom in a wUd and rocky gorge of the 
 Alleghany Mountains, at the early age of forty years, been the 
 architect of his own fortune, and become the admiration and 
 pride of his native State. 
 
 Once only after he left his profession, could he be prevailed 
 upon to again appear at the bar. This was in the cause of an 
 aged widow, where he was appealed to by the most earnest 
 solicitations. It was an action of ejectment which involved 
 
trNPABAXLELED SUCCESS 19 
 
 all her little property. The case was a difBcnIt one, and 
 technically decidedly against the unfortunate woman. To the 
 surprise and astonishment of every one, he succeeded in estab- 
 lishing her title to the property in question. The poor woman 
 was intoxicated with joy, and overwhelmed her benefactor 
 with expressions of gratefulness, and offers of remuneration. 
 Mr. Buchanan, however, would accept nothing for hip ser- 
 vices. 
 
20 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUOHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 Ur. Buchanan as Volunteer In the War of 1^12 — Election to the Legislature In 1814 
 — Etis Support of the Volunteer System — The Resolutions of the Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts Legislatures in Regard to Naturalized Oitizens — ^Re-election to the 
 Legislature in 1816 — The Charge of Federalism. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan early signalized his devotion to his country 
 by acts as well as words. During the war of 1812 with Great 
 Britain, the English army, after having sacked the city of 
 Washington, threatened to attack Baltimore. The high-handed 
 and outrageous act of destroying the public buildings at 
 Washington lighted up a flame of indignant patriotism, which 
 overspread the whole country. A public meeting was called in 
 Lancaster in 1814, for the purpose of obtaining volunteers to 
 march to the defence of Baltimore. On that occasion Mr. 
 Buchanan addressed his fellow-citizens in a speech of great 
 ability, in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, which 
 he followed up by registering Ms name as a volunteer, the first 
 with a number of other young and patriotic hearts. His 
 country called for his services, and, throwing his law books 
 aside, the stripling lawyer thus enrolled himself as a private 
 soldier, willing to take any place if he could but defend the 
 interests of his native land. The company was commanded 
 by Judge Henry Shippen. They marched to Baltimore, and 
 served under the command of Major Charles Sterret Ridgeley 
 until they were honorably discharged This early stand of Mr. 
 Buchanan in favor of the war of 1812, will show his feelings 
 
THE HAETFOED CONVENTION OALUMNT. 21 
 
 at that day, and at a time when the country needed the strong 
 arms and stout hearts of its citizens. How senseless and 
 calmnnions, then, has been the story that Mr. Buchanan united 
 with the federalists in opposing the war, and who, about the 
 very time that he was shouldering his musket, and assisting to 
 defend the honor and interests of his country, were meeting iu' 
 a convention at Hartford to make peace with England without 
 the consent of the United States I The whole cause of this 
 calumny is noticed in a frank and manly letter written by Mr. 
 Buchanan in 1841, after taking a seat in Mr. Folk's cabinet, 
 as foUows : 
 
 WASBraaiOB, April 23, 1S4T. 
 
 " My deab sm : I have this moment received you letter of 
 the 15th inst., and hasten to return an answer. 
 
 " In one respect, I have been fortunate as a public man. My 
 political enemies are obliged to go back for more than thirty 
 years to find plausible charges against me. 
 
 " In 1814, when a very young man (being this day 56 years 
 of age), I made my first public speech before a meeting of my 
 fellow-citizens of Lancaster. The object of this speech was to 
 urge upon them the duty of volunteering their services in 
 defence of their invaded country. A volunteer company was 
 raised upon the spot, in which I was the first, I believe, to 
 enter my name as a private. We forthwith proceeded to Bal- 
 timore, and served until we were honorably discharged. 
 " In Optober, 1814, I was elected a member of the Pennsyl- 
 vania legislature ; and in that body gave my support to every 
 measure calculated, in my opinion, to aid the countiy against 
 the common enemy. • 
 
 "In 1815, after peace had been concluded, I did express 
 opinions in relation to the causes and conduct of the war, 
 which I very soon after regretted and recalled. Since that 
 period I have beea tea years a member of the House of Repre- 
 
22 LIFE A:SD 8BETI0ES OF JAMES BUOHASAU. 
 
 sentatives, and an eqnal time of the Senate, acting a part on 
 every great question. My political enemies, finding nothing 
 assailable throughout this long pubhc career, now resort back 
 to my youthful years, for expressions to injure my pohtical 
 character. The brave and generous citizens of Tennessee, to 
 whatever political party they may belong, wUl agree that this 
 is a hard measure of justice ; and it is still harder that, for 
 this reason, they should condemn the President for having 
 voluntarily offered me a seat in his cabinet. 
 
 " I never deemed it proper, at any period of my life, whilst 
 the country was actually engaged in a war with a foreign 
 enemy to utter a sentunent which could interfere with its suc- 
 cessful prosecution. WhUst the war with Great Britam was 
 raging, I should have deemed it little better than moral treason 
 to paralyze the arm of the government whilst dealing blows 
 against the enemy. After peace was concluded, the case was 
 then different. My enemies cannot point to an expression 
 uttered by me, during the continuance of the war, which was 
 not favorable to its vigorous prosecution. 
 
 " From your friend, very respectfully, 
 
 " James Buchanan." 
 Hon. George W. Jones. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's active Mendship in behalf of his country did 
 not stop with his volunteer campaign. He was elected, in 
 October, 1814, to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and there 
 assumed the same fearless and patriotic course which had 
 distinguished him throughout the war. An attack was threat- 
 ened against the city of Philadelphia. The general govern- 
 ment was reduced nearly to a state df bankruptcy, and could 
 scarcely raise sufficient money to maintain the regular troops on 
 the remote frontiers of the country. Pennsylvania was obhged to 
 rely upon her own resources for defence, and the people were ready 
 to do their utmost in the cause. Two plans were proposed in 
 
HE 8TJPPOET8 THE VOLUNTEER SYSTEM, 23 
 
 the Legislature ; the one was what was called the " conscrip- 
 tion bill," and similar to that which was rejected by Congress, 
 by which it was proposed to divide the white male mhabi- 
 tants of the State, above the age of eighteen, into classes of 
 twenty-two men each, and to designate one man from the 
 members of each class, who should serve one year, each class 
 being compelled to raise a sum of money not exceeding $200, 
 as a bounty to the conscript. During the discussion of these 
 two plans, Mr. Buchanan took an active and highly patriotic 
 stand. In the course of the debate, he said : 
 
 " Since, then, Congress has deserted us in our time of need, 
 there is no alternative but either to protect ourselves by some 
 efficient measures, or surrender up that independence which has 
 been purchased by the blood of our forefathers. No American 
 can hesitate which of these alternatives ought to be adopted. 
 The invading enemy must be expelled from our shores ; ho 
 must be taught to respect the rights of freemen. 
 
 "We need not be afraid- to trust to the patriotism or 
 courage of the people of this country when they are invaded. 
 Let them have good militia officers, and they wUl soon be 
 equal to any troops in the world. Have not our volun- 
 teers and militia under General Jackson covered themselves 
 with glory ? Have not our volunteers and militia on the 
 Niagara frontier fought in such a manner as to merit the 
 gratitude of the nation ? Is it to be supposed that the same 
 spirit of patriotism would animate the man who is dragged out 
 by a conscription law to defend his country, that the volunteer 
 or militia men would feel ?" 
 
 This noble stand, so early taken by Mr. Buchanan, displays 
 a patriotic love of country and shows, even at this early time, 
 his confidence in the people. 
 
24 LIFE Am) BEETICE8 OF JAMES BTTCHAJSAX. 
 
 Mr. Bnchanan assumed a position at this time, upon the 
 question of the proscription of naturalized citizens, a position 
 he Jias, through all the fluctuating changes of politics for forty 
 years since, consistently adhered to. The governors of Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut transmitted to the governor of Penn- 
 Bylvania, and by him sent to the legislature of his own State, 
 resolutions recommending certain amendments to the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, among which was the following : 
 
 " That no person who shall be hereafter naturalized shall be 
 eligible as a member of the Senate or the House of Eepresenta- 
 tives of the United States, nor capable of holding any civH 
 office under the authority of the United States." 
 
 A committee was appointed to report upon this, among their 
 other resolutions." They disapproved of every resolution sent ; 
 but we only give as much of their report as relates to the one 
 we have quoted. It is as follows : 
 
 " It may be fairly questioned whether the total exclusion 
 proposed is generous to others, or wise to ourselves. The 
 revolutions of Europe may hereafter drive, as they have 
 already driven, many an honorable and distinguished exile to 
 the shelter of our hospitality. The distance which separates 
 him from his native country is some guarantee that he has not 
 chosen his new residence from any motive of levity, but from 
 deUberate choice, and when he has abjured bis allegiance to 
 that country, when his fortunes and family are fixed among 
 us, when he has closed all the avenues to his return, when a 
 long probation has evinced his attachment to our institutions, 
 why should his mind contmue still in exile and why should the 
 natural and honorable ambition for political distmction be 
 extinguished for ever in his breast ? Why, too, should we 
 deprive ourselves of the choice of such a man, whose European 
 
THE NATUEALIZATION LAWS. 25 
 
 experience may be useful, if the deliberate voice of the com- 
 munity is in his favor ? Other nations do not indulge in so 
 jealous an exclusion. There is scarcely a nation in Europe 
 which does not habitually employ the talents of strangers, 
 wherever they can be most useful. 
 
 " Even in England, the most fastidious of all the nations of 
 Europe, with regard to strangers, naturalization is in many 
 respects more easy than in the United States. Many of the 
 restrictions on aliens may be at once removed by act of 
 parliament, or by the mere wish of the crown ; and we can 
 readily call to our recollection, even within the present reign, 
 several ofBcers of high rank, both civil and mihtary, employed 
 in important and confidential stations, by the government of that 
 country. In the United States, moreover, we enjoy a greater 
 security than other nations, from the deliberation with which the 
 choice of our country must be made ; the probationary term 
 of residence, and the certainty that no foreigner can rise to 
 power, but by the voluntary suffrage of the community. 
 
 " The number of foreigners now in office does not threaten 
 any inconvenience, and even that number will no doubt rapidly 
 diminish. Out of 182 representatives in Congress, there are, it 
 is believed, not more than four who were bom out of the limits 
 of the United States, and in the Senate, not one member. In 
 one respect, too, the operation of the amendment would be 
 injurious, by preventing the employment of American consuls, 
 natives of the countries in which they reside— a practice almost 
 universal among commercial nations. The natural and prudent 
 precautions against foreign influence wiU, therefore, probably 
 be satisfied, by requiring a long novitiate to wean a stranger 
 from foreign modes of thinking, and kisure his attachment to 
 our institutions, and after that ordeal is past, leaving him a 
 fair competition with native talents for poKtical advancement ; 
 a competition in which the natural bias in favor of our own 
 countrymen wiQ insure them at least an equal chance of sno- 
 
26 Lira AJTD SEETIOES OF JAMES BTJOHASAJSI. 
 
 cess. The committee therefore recommend a dissent from the 
 proposed amendment." 
 
 The novitiate required at that time was five years, the same 
 a_s at present, and yet this committee did not see fit to recom- 
 mend any alteration, bat even referred to five years as a long 
 novitiate ; for it will be remembered that during a portion of 
 Washington's administration the term had been but two years. 
 Mr. Buchanan concurred fuUy in this report, indeed it was 
 unanimously adopted in both houses. 
 
 In October, 1815, Mr. Buclianan was again elected to the 
 legislature, and again he distinguished himself by a patriotic 
 love of country, and by a devotion to its honor and interests 
 which won for Mm the universal applause of his constituents. 
 Tti is well known that no State has ever shown a more earnest 
 love for the Union than Pennsylvania. Instead of endeavoring 
 to embarrass the general government in its delicate and often 
 difficult duties, it has when necessity demanded it, come to its 
 assistance. At this session of the legislature a bUl was brought 
 in appropriating the sum of $300,000 as a loan "^o the United 
 States to pay the militia and the volunteers of that State, in 
 the United States service. The general government had been 
 on the verge of bankruptcy, and this patriotic action on the part 
 of Pennsylvania was as noble as its remembrance wiE ever be 
 grateful, to every lover of his country. This appropriation 
 received the warm support of Mr. Buchanan. 
 
 It was during this session that Mr. Buchanan became 
 impressed with the danger, the inexpediency, and the uncon- 
 stitutionality of a United States Bank, an opinion he has 
 adhered to ever since, and in the defence of which he has 
 rendered such lasting services to his country in the legislative 
 halls of the nation. 
 
 After the conclusion of that session Mr. Buchanan applied 
 himself to his profession with great assidnity, and accomplished 
 
HIB POLITICAL CONDUCT. 27 
 
 in five years what it would have taken many men of consider- 
 able rank in the law three or four times that period to have 
 achieved. We gave in the first chapter a very brief account 
 of his rapid progress. The prosperity of his career can scarcely 
 be exaggerated. In 1820 he yielded to the solicitations of hia 
 friends and became a candidate for Congress, to which position 
 he was elected. 
 
 Before commencing the •history of Mr. Buchanan's congres 
 sional career it may be well to notice some charges that have 
 been brought forward tending to impeach the consistency of 
 his political conduct. To pass them over in silence might give 
 rise to the suspicion that his acts and opinions are not suscep- 
 tible of defence, while we confidently assert that there is not 
 one, which does not admit of the most thorough vindication, 
 indeed which does not challenge the closest scrutiny and inves- 
 tigation. Prominent among the charges which have been 
 flippantly made and perseveringly persisted in, is that of 
 federalism. Now, we say most distinctly that had Mr. Bu- 
 chanan been a federalist, it has nothing whatever to do with 
 issues now before the public ; and if it could be shown that he 
 gave good reasons for changing his opinions upon public 
 questions it should not and would not militate against him in 
 the opinion of any sensible man. _ If therefore, it were a truth 
 that Mr. Buchanan had advocated any of the leading questions 
 of public policy which that once very respectable party sup- 
 ported, we should so set down the fact, and consider him none 
 the less worthy of support or confidence now, if he gave evi- 
 dence of honesty of intention and stood upon principles -essen- 
 tial to the safety and interests of his country. But as we have 
 failed after a careful study of Mr. Buchanan's public life, to 
 find any support for the charge brought against him by those 
 who seem to be bnt indifferently acquainted with our political 
 history, we have thought a notice of the matter in this place 
 demanded by the integrity of history. 
 
28 LIFE AND SEBVIOES OF JAMES BTTCHANAIT. 
 
 Originally, the name of federal was as honorable a desigaar 
 tion ^s any other. It took its rise from those who approved 
 of our federal Constitution, whilst those who felt that the gov- 
 ernment was too consolidated, called themselves anti-federalists 
 or republicans ; but after the Constitution was adopted, and it 
 was accepted as the fundamental, organic law of the land, as Jef- 
 ferson truly remarked, " We are all federalists, we are all republi- 
 cans." After the adoption of the Constitution, therefore, the^term 
 federal, so far as its primary signification was concerned, had 
 no meaning. But in a few years it was soon discovered that the 
 very men who had approved most earnestly of the Constitution, 
 began to claim for it doubtful powers, and to give it a liberal 
 construction. Mr. John Adams, the second President, was the 
 first who boldly inaugurated this pohcy, and by the passage of 
 the alien and sedition laws, overwhelmed himself and his party 
 in disgrace. This was the first stain on the otherwise fair name 
 of federal. Then came the war of 1812, when they completed 
 their ruin as a party, not by opposing the war in a reasonable 
 manner, but by an odious and unconstitional opposition, which 
 finally terminated in a traitorous convention in New England, 
 to make a separate peace with Great Britain. These two acts 
 destroyed the federal party, and brought upon the name an 
 odious reproach. It will not be pretended by any one that Mr. 
 Buchanan approved either of the measures to which we have 
 referred. The principles of the federal party were, however, 
 as we have before observed, in favor of claiming from Congress 
 the exercise of doubtful powers, in opposition to the doctrine 
 of State rights as embraced in the Kentucky and Virginia resolu- 
 tions of 1798. They also clauned the power in Congress to estab- 
 lish a United States bank. Yet, apon Mr. Buchanan's first appear- 
 ance in public life, we find him announcing himself as opposed 
 to a bank of this kind, and denying the power of Congress to 
 establish such an institution. Now, there is no sense or pro- 
 priety in calling any man a federalist, who has not advocated 
 
HIS POLITICAL CONSISTENCY. 29 
 
 or supported federal doctrines. Yet there is not an enemy of 
 Mr. Buchanan who can point to a single act of his life which is 
 contrary to the doctrine of State rights, or to a strict construc- 
 tion of the Constitution. From first to last, from beginning to 
 end, he has adhered steadily to this poUtical faith. In the 
 general disruption of parties after the war of 1812, he may 
 have technically»ranked with the federal party, but he cer- 
 tainly never supported a single one of its measures, as the reader 
 who peruses the remaining pages of this volume wUl be fully 
 conviuced. 
 
 But even had 'Mr. Buchanan seen reasons fbr changing his 
 opinions, and doubtless he has upon some pubhc questions, who 
 is there to reproach him for such a course ? Where is the man, 
 who in the period of forty years' experience in pubhc life, has 
 not changed ? To suppose men not susceptible of an honest 
 alteration of opinion, would be to expect that they come perfect 
 from the hand of their Maker ; or else that they were either so 
 dull, that the instruction which experience furnishes, is inca- 
 pable of making any impression upon them; or that they were so 
 obstinate and self-willed, as to adhere to opinions after they had 
 been convinced they were erroneous. FuU-fledged Minervas do 
 not, in these days, spring from Jupiter's head, any more than 
 fall-grown men, physically as well as mentally, enter the world 
 to astonish those who have been eixploring its mysteries, some- 
 times with only partial success, for years. All that the people 
 can justly demand of any public man, is, that his course has not 
 been erratic or irregular, and that, if upon any occasion 
 he has changed his opinions, it has the appearance of hon- 
 esty of purpose, and the excuse of public interest. But with 
 all our study of Mr. Buchanan's career, and we say it without 
 the least particle of anything like a partisan bias, we have 
 failed to discover any change of any of the fundamental princi- 
 ples of his poKtical action. In this respect he has not only been 
 consistent, but exceedingly fortunate, for there are few persona 
 
30 LIFE AliTD SEEVIOES OF JAMBS BUCHANAIT. 
 
 who do not imbibe some false principles, which more mature judg- 
 ment convinces them are erroneous. All" who peruse Mr. Bu-*- 
 chanan's congressional career of twenty years, will be fully con- 
 vinced that, for an exemplary devotion to great principles, and 
 a consistent and honorable bearing upon all qnestions, he is 
 not excelled by any living statesman. 
 
MILITABT APPEOPEIATIOSS. 31 
 
 CHAPTEE III, t 
 
 Uilitarj Ap] ropriationa — Bankrupt Bill — ^Internal ImproTementB — The Tariff Question. 
 
 The year 1820 was one of ^eat financial embarrassment. 
 The Bank of the United States, which had been chartered in 
 1816, had in less than four years proved how delusive were 
 the hopes and expectations of its friends. It had created one 
 of those vast expansions of paper currency which are only the 
 precursors of a calamity more wide-spread and destructive than 
 any prosperity it could produce was satisfactory or desirable. 
 The distress was universal, and pervaded public as well as 
 private affairs. Mr. Benton in his " Thirty Tears' View," 
 speaking of this disastrous period of our national history, says : 
 " No price for property or produce ; no sales but those of the 
 Sheriff and the Marshal ; no purchasers at the executive sales 
 but the creditor or some hoarder of money ; no employment 
 for industry, no demand for labor ; no sale for the product of 
 the farm ; no sound of the hammer but that of the auctioneer 
 knocking down property. Stop laws, property laws, replevin- 
 laws, stay laws, loan ofQce laws, the intervention of the legis- 
 lator between the creditor and the debtor — this was the busi- 
 ness of legislation in three-fourths of the States of the Union 
 of all south and west of New England. No medium of ex- 
 change but depreciated paper ; no change evei\, but little bits 
 of foul paper, marked so many cents, and signed by some trader, 
 barber, or inn-keeper. Exchanges deranged to the extent of 
 fifty or one hundred per cent. Distress the universal cry of the 
 
32 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHAlfAN. 
 
 people ;■ relief the universal demand thundered at the doors of 
 aU legislatures, State and Federal." 
 
 It was in such a social convulsion as this that the citizens of 
 Lancaster county turned their thoughts upon James Buchanan, 
 then only twenty-nine years of age, as their candidate for repre- 
 sentative in Congress. Serious, thoughtful, and considerate, 
 he was, wherever known, regarded as worthy of the utmost 
 confidence. The warm and ardent friend of Mr. Monroe's 
 administration, he contributed not a little in promoting that 
 universal popularity which elevated that distinguished indivi- 
 dual aliliost unanimously the second time to the presidential 
 chair. Mr. Buchanan was elected in the fall of 1820, and 
 took his seat in the seventeenth Congress, in December, 1821. 
 
 This was immediately succeeding the stormy session of'1820, 
 when the difficulties in regard to the admission of Missouri had 
 been adjusted, by the adoption of the first concession ever 
 made to the anti-slavery or abolition sentiment of the country. 
 The attempt was boldly made when Missouri applied for admis- 
 sion into the Union, to exclude her unless she would come in as 
 a State with laws refusing to recognise the right of property 
 interest in the labor and services of negroes. This unconsti- 
 tutional demand upon her was successfully resisted, and finally 
 only one clause in her Constitution was excepted to as consti- 
 tuting a ground of ultimate rejection. This was a section pro- 
 hibiting the emigration of free negroes into the State. It 
 was urged by the anti-slavery party of that day, that this was 
 in Contradiction to the clause of the Constitution of the United 
 States, which guarantees to any citizen of any of the States 
 of the Union equal privileges in aU the States, of which privi- 
 leges the right of emigration was one. It was held, that if 
 negroes were admitted to citizenship in some States, they would 
 be deprived of it by the terms of the Constitution of Missouri. 
 It was successfully replied to this, that the Constitution did not 
 regard persons of this race as citizens, and that the framers 
 of the government expressly stated that it was formed " for 
 
milit.a:bt appropeiations. 33 
 
 them and their posterity/' of whom negroes could form no part. 
 The objection, however, was a mere pretext, the real cause of 
 the opposition to the admission of Missouri being the existence 
 of negro seryitude in the State. This is abundantly proved 
 from the fact that the anti-slavery party have long since aban- 
 doned the ground then assumed, and many of the western 
 States now have stringent laws in regard to the admission of 
 free negroes, without any objection being raised as to the right 
 of a State to pass such acts in regard to the status of the 
 negro, as it may in its sovereign capacity think proper for its 
 own welfare. Even the " Free State Constitution of Kansas," 
 recently so earnestly advocated by the anti-slavery press of the 
 present day, contained an express prohibition to the immigration 
 of free negroes. The objectionable clause in the Constitution 
 of Missouri was finally so modified by the exertions of Mr. 
 Clay, that a resolution was reported iu favor of the admission of 
 the State, upon condition that the legislature should first 
 declare that the clause in her Constitution relative to free 
 colored immigration should never be construed to authorize the 
 passage of any act by which any citizen of any of the States 
 of the Union should be excluded from the enjoyment of every 
 privilege to which he may be entitled under the Constitution 
 of the United States. When this was done, the President was 
 to declare Missouri admitted, by proclamation. This resolution 
 passed the House of Eepresentatives by only four majority, 
 Mr. Eandolph and other southern members opposing it with 
 all their might. The Missouri restriction bill of 36° 30', some- 
 times called " the Missouri Compromise," was also acquiesced in 
 by the same Congress, upon the supposition that this conces- 
 sion to the demands of the anti-slavery sentiment would be a 
 quietus to the agitation of the matter. Subsequent events, 
 however, proved how delusive was this hope, and how danger- 
 ous it is to yield even the slightest constitutional right to the 
 demands of a delusion which is propagated mainly for the pur- 
 pose of acquiring poUtical power. The overthrow of one right 
 
 2* 
 
34: LIFE AND 8EEVI0ES OF JAMES BtTOHANAX. 
 
 only paves the^ way for the destruction of another still more 
 important ; and the party thus emboldened by success, will 
 continue its lawlessness untU it rides over every barrier of the 
 Constitution, and prostrates every right which is not sanctioned 
 by its own insane creed, or until it installs civil war in order 
 to carry out its exclusive doctrines. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's entrance to Congress was immediately sub- 
 sequent to these events. The proclamation of Mr. Monroe had 
 admitted Missouri as one of the States of the Confederacy dur- 
 ing the summer of 1821. The country had been agitated with 
 a long and fearful conflict, and all parties, after the settlement 
 made by the preceding Congress, were but too glad to turn their 
 attention from a subject which had threatened ia so imminent 
 a degree the safety of the Union, to others more practical in 
 their character. The depression of the times suggested many 
 of these, and the Congress of 1821 — 22 had therefore a great 
 deal of business upon its hands which in the excited state of 
 the public mind on the Missouri question, had been neglected. 
 
 The array of talent on the floor of Congress when Mr. Bucha- 
 nan arrived in Washington was impressive and commanding. 
 In the House were the ever memorable names of McDufBe, Joel 
 E. Poinsett, John Randolph, Philip P. Barbour, Andrew Ste- 
 venson, Louis McLane, and others equally distinguished. In 
 the Senate were Rufus King, Martin Van Buren, Mahlon Dick- 
 erson, Samuel L. Southard, Nathaniel Macon, and Richard M. 
 Johnson. Mr. Buchanan immediately took rank among the 
 most industrious and indefatigable members of the House. He 
 was always in his seat, and generally participated in every de- 
 bate upon any important public question. The first set speech 
 which Mr. Buchanan delivered in Congress was upon a biU mak- 
 ing appropriations to the military, for some deficiencies that 
 had occurred in the Indian department. He so ably defended 
 the course of Mr. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury, 
 that the "National Intelligencer" at the request of several 
 gentlemen departed from its usual course, and ffave a verbatim 
 
mLITAUT APPEOPEIATIONS. 55 
 
 report of Ms speech. As this was the first effort of Mr. 
 Buchanan on the floor of Congress, and as it gave an earnest of 
 the futnie distinction that awaited him, we give it entire, with 
 the exception of a small portion mostly taken up with statis- 
 tics. It was delivered on the 11th of January, 1822. Mr. 
 Buchanan rising said : — 
 
 " Mk. Chairman : On Friday last, when the House adjourned, 
 I did believe that the subject now before the Committee was 
 involved in doubt and in mystery. I thought that a dark cloud 
 hung Qirer the transaction, which ought to be cleared up before 
 the House could give its sanction to this appropriation. After a 
 careful examination the mystery has vanished — the cloud has 
 iteen dispelled, and to my view the subject appears clear as the 
 light of day. If it had not, my vote would be given against 
 the appropriation, because in a Kepublican government doubt 
 and mystery, in any measure proposed by the Executive depart- 
 ment, should always be sufficient to prevent it from receiving - 
 the support of the House. 
 
 " In the remarks which I propose to submit, it will be my 
 endeavor to communicate to the Committee the reasons upon 
 which I have come to the determination to give this appropria- 
 tion my unqaaUfied support. If I should be wrong, there are 
 many gentlemen in the House whose judgment and whose ex- 
 perience will enable them to correct my errors. 
 
 " Nice distinctions have been drawn between a just con- 
 fidence in the Executive departments, and an unreasonable 
 jealousy of their conduct, on the one side ; and on the other, 
 between that confidence and a belief in their infallibility. Ex- 
 tremes in such case are very dangerous. Whilst unreasonable 
 jealousy of men in power keeps the public mind in a state of 
 constant agitation and alarm, a blind reliance upon their infal- 
 Kbility, may enable them to destroy the hberties of the people 
 before they are aware of the existence of danger. At the same 
 time, therefore, that I trust 1 am one of the last men in the 
 
36 LIFE AND 8EEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 House who would consent to establish the ofSce of dictator in 
 the commonwealth, or to belicTe in the infallibility of mortals 
 in politics more than in religion — yet I should think it wrong to 
 withhold from a public ofBcer that degree, of confidence which 
 assumes that he has acted correctly, until the contrary appears. 
 It ought to be a maxim in politics, as well as in law, that an 
 officer of your goTcrnment, high in the confidence of the peo- 
 ple, shall be presumed to have done his duty, untU the reverse 
 of the proposition is proved. 
 
 " These observations are made, not because I believe they 
 have any bearing upon the present question, but simply in 
 answer to those used by gentlemen who have argued upon the 
 opposite side. The Secretary of War, upon the present occasion, 
 requires not the aid of presumptions in his favor, because, to my 
 mind at least, there is the most fuU, satisfactory, and self-evident 
 proof. 
 
 " Before I come to the principal question, Mr. Chairman, per- 
 mit me t(>answer onefbf the arguments which has been eloquently 
 and ingeniously urged by the gentlemen opposed to this appro- 
 priation. 
 
 " It has been said, with truth, that the Constitution provides 
 ' that no money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in con'se- 
 quence of appropriations made by law.' It is certain that this 
 provision is the best security for the liberties of the people in the 
 whole of the instrument. Once transfer this branch of power, 
 vested in Congress by the Constitution, to the Executive, and 
 your freedom is but an empty name. That department of the 
 government, having then the command of the purse, might very 
 soon assume the power of the sword. 
 
 " Has the Secretary of War violated this salutary provision ? 
 Has he drawn money out of the treasury without an appropria- 
 tion made by law for that purpose ? Unquestionably not. So 
 far from asking you to sanction such an unconstitutional measure, 
 he is now requesting you to malse an appropriation to supply a 
 deficiency in the means which you had provided to enable him to 
 
raLITAET APPE0PEIATI0N8. 37 
 
 discharge positive duties, enjoined upon him by your own 
 laws. 
 
 " Whether this deficiency shall be suppKed out of the public 
 purse, or the Secretary be made responsible in his priyate capa- 
 city to those with whom he has made contracts on the faith of 
 the government, is the only question now before the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 " Here let me ask gentlemen why they are so much alarmed at 
 the fact that the appropriation has proved deficient ? Deficien- 
 cies must and wiU occur so long as the men who wield the desti- 
 nies of this government are falHble. Nothing short of the spirit 
 of prophecy can prevent them from happening, unless Congress 
 should think proper to make such overwhelming appropriations 
 as would be sufficient to cover all contingencies, not only proba- 
 ble but possible. They existed even whUst the gentleman from 
 Virginia (Mr. Randolph) was chairman of the Committee of 
 Ways and Means. I speak the honest sentiments of my heart, 
 when I declare that, in my opinion, he possessed as much pene- 
 tration as any gentleman who ever occupied that distinguished 
 station. Calculate, with the nicest precision, the future probable 
 expenses of any department of the government, and in the course 
 of the year for which the estimate is made, suppose there should 
 be no events of extraordinary occurrence, still it will be a miracle, 
 if ever the appropriation shall be exactly equal to all the neces- 
 sary expenditures. 
 
 " At the instant of time when the sum appropriated is exj)ended 
 in executing your laws, would you have the wheels of govern- 
 ment to stop ? Would you declare that all your public agents 
 who had served you faithfully should receive no compensation, 
 merely because either you or your Secretary of War, in the 
 beginning of the year, could not foresee the expenses which 
 might be incurred before its end ? 
 
 "Take, for example, the army; admit, for the sake of argu- 
 ment, that which is unpossible even in times of the most profound 
 tranquillity — ^that you had estimated the future annual expense 
 
38 LIFE ASD SBEVIOES OF JAMES BUOHAH^AU. 
 
 to a fraction, and had made an appropriation accordingly. 
 Suppose, that during the recess of Congress, political storms 
 should enyelop your country, that treason at home, or war from 
 abroad, were about to disturb your peace, and that the point 
 of meditated attack was within the knowledge of your execu- 
 tive : under such circumstances, would the President of the 
 United States be justified, either to his conscience or to his con- 
 stituents, if he were not to march the army from all quarters of 
 the Union to the district in danger ? What would you then 
 think of his justification, if he informed you that he neglected to 
 provide for the common defence, because the army appropria- 
 tion was too small to enable him to embody the forces ? Such 
 conduct would be treason against the Eepubhc. 
 
 "Your security in all cases of this kind, arises from that 
 admirable provision of the Constitution, which declares that no 
 money shall be drawn from the treasury but under the authority 
 of the law. When any of&cer of the government appKes for 
 the passage of a bUl to supply a deficiency, you always inquire 
 into the reasons why it has occurred ; and if his. conduct upon 
 examination is found to be correct, you will, as you have always 
 hitherto done, supply the deficiency. 
 
 " This course of policy is not only necessary in itself, but it 
 gives you a much greater control over the pubUc purse, than if, 
 in the beginning of the year, you were to make your appropria- 
 tions sufficiently large to cover all contingencies. Such conduct 
 would be a powerful temptation to the officer to become extrava- 
 gant in the expenditure of public money. 
 
 " Let us then inquire, whether it was necessary that the sum 
 of $l*rO,000 should have been expended in the Indian department 
 during the year 1821, to carry into effect the spirit and inten- 
 tion of the different acts of Congress ? 
 
 " It has been urged, that as Congress appropriated but 
 $100,000 to defray the current expenses of that department 
 during the last year, the Secretary was bound to confine himself 
 within that amount. The necessary consequence would be. 
 
MILITAET APPEOPEIATIONS. 39 
 
 that the laws establishing that branch of our policy, were in 
 this manner, at least in part, repealed. 
 
 " This is, I confess, the first occasion on which I have ever 
 heard that a system of laws which had received a fixed construc- 
 tion by the practice of the nation for more than twenty years, 
 could be repealed, not by withdrawing the whole, but a part of 
 appropriation necessary to carry them into effect. If this were 
 the case, it would give to estimates, uncertain fn their very 
 nature, the effect of expunging from our statute-book the most 
 wholesome regulations. Nay, more, it would be delegating 
 legislative powers to the head of a department, and would intro- 
 duce the very evil against which gentlemen are so anxious to 
 guard. By this construction, if there be laws in existence 
 enjoining a variety of duties on any officer of the government, 
 and if, to enable him to discharge aU those duties, an annual 
 expenditure of $110,000 is necessary, your appropriation of but 
 $100,000 for that purpose would make him the legislator, 
 instead of yourselves. You thus necessarily vest in him the 
 power of deciding what parts of the system shall remain in 
 vigor, and what part shaU fall before his power. In order to 
 ascertain what laws are repealed, you would be obliged to 
 resort, not to your statute-book, but to the head of a depart- 
 ment. Even then they would be forever varying, because, 
 whilst he confined himself within his appropriation, he might at 
 his pleasure range through the whole system as it originally 
 stood, and select from it such parts as he thought proper to 
 carry into effect. This is not the manner in which Congress 
 ever will, or ever can, manifest their intention. If they desire 
 to reduce the expenses of any department of the government, 
 themselves wiU lop off every branch which they deem superflu- 
 ous, and not leave it to the discretion of any executive officer, 
 no matter how exalted his station. Whilst, however, certain 
 duties are enjoined on any department of the government, by 
 acts of Congress, or by treaties, we are bound to supply the 
 officer with the means neoegsary to the performance of thosa 
 
40 LIFE AND SEETICES OF JAMBS BVSMASAJS. 
 
 duties. If, in such a case, our appropriation, has been insuffi- 
 cient, we ought at once to supply the deficiency. 
 
 " This system, so eminently calculated to preserve tranquillity 
 around our borders, and to prevent the intrigues of another 
 nation from obtaining for them an undue ascendency over the 
 minds of the savages has been long established, and was as 
 much incorporated into your policy as that of sending ambas- 
 sadors to foreign courts. Did Congress express any disappro- 
 bation of thi's system. Did they destroy any part of it by 
 the bill which appropriated $100,000 for the current expenses 
 of the year ? Did they intend that the Secretary should destroy 
 the objects of ascertained or of contingent expense ? Both had 
 been equally provided for, by your laws, and by your treaties. 
 Did Congress mean either that the Indians should receive no 
 rations at your mUitary posts, or that no presents should be 
 given to them, or that they should be deprived of the benefit 
 of receiving agricultural instruments from your hands ? If they 
 did, they have expressed no such determination by any law. 
 The consequence of the construction contended for is, that if 
 they intended anything, by appropriatmg but $100,000, it was 
 to enable the Secretary to legislate in your behalf, and to repeal 
 so much of existing laws and existing treaties as would reduce 
 the expense to $100,000. This he had no power to do, and to 
 allow him to exercise it would establish a most dangefous pre- 
 cedent against the liberties of this people. It would be to aUow 
 an officer to stop the wheels of government and paralyze the 
 energies of the law the moment the appropriation which hstd 
 been made was expended. 
 
 " Could the Secretary have ever supposed that you mtended 
 to destroy any part of this establishment ? Certainly not, be- 
 cause the expenditui-es are most just as well as most politic. You 
 have driven that noble race of men from the huntmg grounds 
 which God and nature intended for their support. You have 
 caused intestine wars to rage continually among them, by driv- 
 ing remote tribes near together, and thus making it necessary 
 
julitakt appeopeiations. 41 
 
 to their existence that they should invade the hunting grounds 
 of each other. During the very last year, it appears from the 
 letter of the Secretary that the disbursements have been in- 
 creased by the emigration of the Indians from the States of 
 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, beyond the Mississippi. After thus 
 crowdmg them together, you make them waste their scanty 
 supply of game by inducing them to destroy it without neces- 
 sity, so that you may obtain -their fur to gratify your appetite 
 for luxury. In this situation, to which they have been reduced 
 by our policy, the laws have provided that, when the cravings 
 of hunger shall drive these children of the forest to your mCi- 
 tary posts, either on the frontier or in their own territory they 
 shall receive food ; that in order to preserve their existence and 
 enable them to live upon the circumscribed limits within which 
 they have been driven, they should be taught agriculture, and 
 receive the implements of husbandry ; that, when their chiefs 
 think proper to visit your metropolis, you will enable them to 
 do so by paying their exjfenses, and thus manifest to them the 
 extent of both your power and your friendship. In short, all 
 the other provisions, which our laws and our treaties have made 
 for them, and which I shall not detail, are founded, not only in 
 the strictest justice, but in the wisest policy. 
 
 " Did Congress intend, by the mere act of appropriating 
 $100,000 for the current expenses of the last year, that the 
 head of a department should alter the laws.of the land, and that 
 he might at his will declare what part of the Indian system 
 should be in force, and what part should be considered as 
 repealed? Was it, for example, their determination that no 
 treaties should be held with the Indians, however necessary they 
 might have been, because the Secretary had thought proper to 
 apply the whole of your appropriations to other objects ? This 
 never could have been their intention. Congress alone have 
 the power of changing this system of policy, whenever they 
 think proper to do so, by unequivocal legislative acts ; then,' 
 and not till then, does it become the duty of executive officers 
 
42 LIFE AUtV 8EEVI0ES OF JAMES BTSCSAJHAS. 
 
 to obey. They dare not sooner neglect to carry existing laws 
 and treaties into effect. 
 
 "Suppose the Secretary had thought proper materially to 
 alter our policy towards the Indians, and the first information 
 you had heard of the change was, as it probably would have 
 been, the howl of savage warfare around your borders, and the 
 shrieks of helpless women and children under the scalping-knife, 
 could you then have justified his conduct ? Would you then 
 have told him that he had the power of altering the whole sys- 
 tem, because a suf&cient appropriation had not been made to 
 keep it in motion till the end of the year ? And this, too, when 
 the ver/sentence before the appropriation of $100,000 provided 
 that $130,205 44 should be drawn from the treasury to cover 
 past arrearages in the Indian department? The legitimate 
 meaning of a reduction in the appropriation was not to destroy 
 any part of our pohcy towards the Indians, but to warn the Sec- 
 retary to use the strictest economy in carrying every part of it 
 into effect. It has produced that happy result. He has 
 informed you that the expenses of the present year wUl not 
 exceed $150,000. This sum is upwards of $85,000 less than, 
 upon an average, was appropriated to the same purpose, in each 
 year, from 1815 to 1820, both inclusive. It is but a few thou- 
 sand dollars more than was expended for the use of the same 
 department for each of the two last years of Mr. Jefferson. In 
 the meantime, our relations with the Indians have been greatly 
 extended with our extending frontier, and we have become 
 acquainted with tribes, of which before we had never even heard 
 the names. This great curtailment of expense places the char- 
 acter of the present Secretary, in this particular, upon an 
 exalted eminence ; and the more so, as it is well known that not 
 one cent more of money was expended, by the administration of 
 Mr. Jefferson than was necessary to accomplish its objects. 
 
 " But suppose, for the sake of argument, that the Secretary 
 ought to haTe inferred from your appropriation bill that you 
 intended he should change the Indian system, still we should 
 
MILITAET APPfiOPEIATIONS. 43 
 
 vote the $70,000 to snpply the deficit. If we do not, we 
 require that he should have performed miracles. 
 
 " This system has been in constant and in vigorous operation 
 smce 1802. For six years before the passage of the last appro- 
 priation bUl, its average annual expense had been more than 
 $235,000. That biU did not pass until the 3d of March. Be- 
 fore that time, it has not been alleged that there had been a 
 whisper of disapprobation against the former appropriations for 
 the Indian" Department. On the contrary, during that period, 
 $200,000 at least had been appropriated every year ; and, in 
 addition, large deficiencies had been supplied, without a mur- 
 mur. The Secretary, acting under a firm conviction that the 
 same system would he pursued, had taken the measures neces- 
 sary to continue its motion for another year, some time before 
 the passage of the bUl. The places at which the money was 
 principally to be expended, were agencies upon the borders of 
 your vast empire, far beyond the utniost limits of civilization. 
 The distance to many cf them is so remote, and the communi- 
 cation so precarious, that the Secretary has ioformed you they 
 cannot be heard from more than twice, and often but once, in 
 the whole course of the year. 
 
 " Cordd the motion of this vast machinery be at oifce sus- 
 pended ? In the beautiful language of the gentleman from 
 South Caroliua (Mr. Lowndes) it had received its impulse before 
 the passage of the bill, and the momentum could riot be with- 
 drawn from it in a shorter period of time than one year. To 
 require the Secretary, therefore to stop it immediately, would 
 have been asking him to do that which was utterly impossible. 
 
 These, Mr. Chairman, are the remarks which I conceived it 
 to be my duty to make on the subject now before the commit- 
 tee. I have, personally, no feeling of partiality for the Secre- 
 tary of War, nor of prejudice against him. I view him merely 
 as 'a public character, and in that capacity I conscientiously 
 believe that upon the present occasion he has done his duty, 
 and acted in the only manner in which he could constitutionally 
 
44 LIFE AND BEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHA2JA1I'. 
 
 act. In my opinioii, therefore, he deserves applause, instead of 
 censure. 
 
 " One other view of the subject, Mr. Chairman^ and I shall 
 have done. In whatever light the conduct of the secretary may 
 appear, still the deficit ought to be supplied. This case does 
 not require such an argument ; but suppose, for a moment he' 
 had acted improperly, is this one of those extreme cases — fori' 
 admit that such may possibly exist — ^in which the House should 
 withhold an appropriation to supply a deficiency?. Will any 
 gentleman say, that individuals who have fairly and honestly 
 entered into contracts with your Secretary of War on the faith 
 of the government shall suffer ? Surely, you would not impose 
 the task on every person who binds himself by agreement, to per- 
 form services for the government, to inquire whether the appro- 
 priation made by Congress justified his employment. If you 
 did, he then becomes responsible for what in the nature of things 
 cannot be within his knowledge. To enable him to ascertain 
 whether he might safely contract with the head of one your 
 executive departments, he should be informed, not only of the 
 amount of appropriations, but in what manner their expenditure 
 has proceeded, and is proceeding, in every part of the Union. It 
 would be crying injustice to inform the men who have aban- 
 doned civilized life, and undergone all the dangers, the hardships 
 and the privations of dwelling among savages in the wilderness, 
 for the purpose of promoting the interest and the glory of their 
 country, that theyvshall receive no compensation for their ser- 
 vices, because the secretary who employed them has exceeded 
 his appropriation. This would be making the innocent suffer 
 instead of the guilty ; if, therefore, there has been any impro- 
 priety in the conduct of the Secretary, as some gentlemen have 
 insinuated, but which I utterly deny, it is a question which 
 should be settled between you and him, and one in the decision 
 of which the rights of the persons employed under his authority 
 ought not to be involved. Indeed, no gentlemen has yet said 
 that these men ought not to be paid out of the public treas- 
 
BANKETTPT BILL. 45 
 
 nry. Why then, considering this question in every point of view, 
 in which it can be presented, is there any objection against 
 voting $10,000 to snpply the deficiency in the appropriation of 
 the last year ? I hope it will pass without further difficulty." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan seems to have been uncommonly active during 
 the whole period of the first session he was in Congress. Nothing 
 that affected the interests of his constituents was allowed to pass 
 unnoticed. Indeed Mr. B. seems to have entertained from the 
 start the idea that he was strictly the servant of the people who 
 had elected him, and that in his capacity of representative in Con- 
 gress, he was bound to attend, first of all, to the concerns of 
 his immediate district. While he was strict in the expenditure 
 of money he was liberal where patriotism made the demand. 
 When some members found fault with a bill authorizing the relief 
 of soldiers disabled in the revolutionary war, Mr. Buchanan met 
 the opposition with the remark that the amount the bill proposed 
 to appropriate " was a scanty pittance for the war-worn soldier," 
 and that he was altogether averse to opposing a matter of so 
 trifling a character, where the demands of patriotism were so 
 imperative. Among other things which engaged his attention, 
 and upon which he made speeches, were the Apportionment Bill, 
 Transactions in Flori&a, the Bankrupt Bill, Appropriation Bill, 
 and other matters of minor importance. Various charges had 
 been brought against Gen. Jackson's conduct in Florida, the 
 most prominent of which were that he had usurped authority 
 and actually violated the laws of his country. Mr. Buchanan, 
 then a warm friend of Gen. Jackson, was among the most ear- 
 nest to have them investigated. Speaking upon this subject, he 
 remarked, "that the most serious consequences might be 
 expected to result, if, after charges of this sort were made 
 against an individual, the House should avoid meeting the ques- 
 tion—should put them to sleep by permanently laying them on 
 the table. He, for one, was willing to meet the proper respon- 
 sibmty of declaring his opinion, either of the gmlt or innocence 
 
46 LIFE AND si:iivij::3 of jaiiks buchaijan'. 
 
 of this distiaguished individual." It is scarcely necessary to 
 remark that these charges trumped up agaiast Gen. Jackson by 
 tis enemies were not sustained. 
 
 The most important speech that Mr. Buchanan made at this 
 session of Congress was one on a Bankrupt Law, which was 
 powerfully advocated by several of. the most distinguished de- 
 baters on the floor of the House. There probably never has 
 been a time in the history of our country so opportune as the 
 one which the opponents of the democracy of that day took to 
 bring about " a uniform system of bankruptcy." The universal 
 prostration of commercial affairs, the general and wide spread 
 disasters which seemed' to be the inevitable fate of all classes, 
 and the constant cry for relief which was thundering at the 
 doors of every legislative body were enough to make the best 
 grounded in democratic principles waver. The bill was drawn 
 up in the most seductive form. Its operation was to continue 
 only three years, when it expired, unless aU branches of the gov- 
 ernment should concur in re-enacting it. It was shown by the 
 friends of the bill that there was an unexampled number of in-, 
 solvent debtors, and they contended that a large majority of 
 these individuals were really innocent, and merely unfortunate 
 men, reduced to their embarrassments by the unforeseen disasters 
 of the times. It was shown, that by a rapid transition the 
 country had passed from a state of unexampled prosperity to 
 a condition of commercial and financial ruin, to which no pre- 
 cedent could be shown in the history of the nation. England 
 and all the continental countries had Bankrupt laws, and why 
 should not the United States ? The law was held up as a benefit 
 to all classes, and one imperatively demanded by the peculiar, 
 condition of the times. Mr. Buchanan did not participate in 
 the debate, which was long and very animated, until l^te in the 
 session and just b'efore the bill came up for final reading. Then 
 he delivered one of the most powerful and eloquent speeches of 
 the session, taking decided ground against so unequal and unjust 
 a law — one intended merely to encourage the wildest specu- 
 
BAUKEUPT BIU,. 47 
 
 lations, and tending to destroy public as well as private credit. 
 The speech is quite a lengthy one, but it will amply repay 
 perusal, as well for the just sentiments it contains as for its elo- 
 quent and triumphant vindication of public and private honesty, 
 and the rights of the people. It was delivered on the 12th of 
 March, 1822. 
 
 " Mb. Speaker : Before the amendment proposed ' by the 
 gentleman from Kentucky had obtained the sanction of this 
 House, the question whether the bUl should be engrossed for a 
 third reading was one of very great importance. That question 
 has, however, dwindled into insignificance compared with the 
 one at present under consideration. We are now called upon 
 to decide the fate of a measure of awful importance. The most 
 dreadful responsibility rests upon us. We are not now to deter- 
 mine merely whether a bankrupt law shall be extended to the 
 trading classes of the community but whether it shall embrace 
 every citizen of this Union and spread its demoralizing influence 
 over the whole surface of society. 
 
 " The amendment which has been adopted to-day makes it 
 my imperative duty, even at this protracted period of the de- 
 bate, to trespass upon the patience of the House. I have the 
 honor in part of representing an honest, a wealthy, and a 
 respectable, agricultural community. I owe to them, to my 
 conscience and to my God not to suffer this bOl to pass, which 
 I conceive to be now fraught with destruction to their best 
 interests, both moral and poUtical, without entering my solemn 
 protest against its provisions. We have heard it repeated over 
 and over again by the friends of a bankrupt bill that it should 
 be confined by the mercantile classes. One of the principal 
 arguments urged in its favor by its eloquent supporters, was 
 that merchants from the nature of their pursuits were exposed 
 to the vicissitudes of fortune more than other men, and that, 
 therefore, their situation required a peculiar system of laws. 
 
 " That in this country their fortunes had not only been ex- 
 
48 LIFE AST) SEETICE8 OF JAMES BXTCHANAIT. 
 
 posed to the dangers commonly incident to their profession, but 
 that the commercial regulations of the government, the embar- 
 go, the non-intercourse laws, and, finally the war, had brought 
 ruin upon thousands. It was, therefore, inferred that Congress 
 were under a moral obligation to pass a bankrupt law for their 
 relief. The policy of all the modern commercial nations in the 
 world was presented before us for our imitation ; England, 
 Prance, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, and Spain, we had been 
 told, each extended a bankrupt law to the merchant, and 
 absolved >n"Tn from the payment of his debts upon certain con- 
 ditions. Indeed, a great portion of the argument consisted in 
 drawing a line of distinction between traders and the remain- 
 ing -classes of society. Judge then, Mr. Speaker, of my aston- 
 ishment when, to-day, I found these gentlemen voting in favor of 
 introducing an amendment extending the provisions of this 
 bUl to every individual in society who might ask to become its 
 object. Will you pass a bankrupt law for the farmer ? Will 
 you teach that vast body of your best citizens to disregard the 
 faith of contracts ? Are you prepared to sanction a principle 
 by which the whole mass of society will be in danger of being 
 demoralized ? and it will be left to an election by every man's 
 creditors, in which a majority of two-thirds in number and 
 value against the consent of the remainder, shall have the 
 power of discharging him from the obligation of all his con- 
 tracts. Surely the House of Eepresentatives are not prepared 
 to answer these questions in the aflBrmative. No nation in the 
 world, whether commercial or agricultural, whether civilized 
 or savage, has "ever for a moment entertained the idea of 
 extending the operation of their bankrupt laws beyond the 
 class of traders. Fortunately for our constitutents, we have 
 not the power of doing so. The Constitution correctly ex- 
 pounded has proclaimed, ' hitherto shalt thou go, but no fur- 
 ther.' 
 
 " Nothing but a desperate effort to revive this expiring bill 
 could havft ever induced its friends to have adopted the amend- 
 
BANKEtTPT BILL. 49 
 
 ment which has just now been carried. In the discussion of 
 this question, I can assure the House, it is not my intention to 
 travel over the ground which has been already occupied, or 
 repeat the argument which has been already urged. The 
 subject naturally divides itself into two questions — the one of 
 Constitutional power, the other of policy. On the first, as the 
 bill stood before the introduction of the last amendment, I had 
 not a single doubt. Much as I would have deprecated the 
 passage of the then bill, I should have been inianitely more 
 alarmed if this House had determined that the enactment of 
 such a law transcended the constitutional power of Congress. 
 Upon this branch of the subject, the ingenious arguments of the 
 gentleman from Virginia had not created a doubt in my mind. 
 
 " Where doubts before did exist, the argument of the gentle- 
 man from South Carolina (Mr. Lowndes), and of my honorable 
 colleague (Mr. Sergeant) were, in my opinion, caculated entirely 
 to remove them, and to carry conviction to every understand- 
 ing. A new question of constitutional power has now arisen 
 on the amendment. The Constitution declares that ' the Con- 
 gress shall have power to establish uniform laws on the subject 
 of bankruptcies throughout the United States.' To this pro- 
 vision I am w illin g to give a fair and a "liberal construction. 
 Congress have the power to discharge from their debts on the 
 terms prescribed by the bill, all persons upon whom a law ema- 
 nating from the clause of the Constitution may legitimately act. 
 
 But can Congress make a law extending the penalties and the 
 privileges of a bankrupt system to every individual in society ? 
 Can they embrace in its provision the farmer, the clergyman, 
 the physician, or the lawyer ? Such a proposition was never 
 seriously contended for before this day. 
 
 " By considering the meaning of the term bankrupt, we 
 shall be able at once to solve the difficulty. In adverting to its 
 origin, we find the literal signification of the word to be a 
 broken counter, which by a figure of speech has been applied 
 m our language to a broken merchant. In the, commercial laws 
 
 .3 
 
50 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BVOSASAN. 
 
 of all the nations of the continent of Europe, bankruptcy is 
 confined to merchants in the strictest sense of the word. The 
 operation of the bankrupt laws of England has been extended 
 by judicial construction somewhat farther, and they now embrace 
 within their grasp, not only_ the merchant properly so called, 
 but all persons who are traders, and are concerned in buying 
 and selling any kind of merchandise, unless they hate been 
 expressly excepted by some positive legislative provision. This 
 exposition of the law extends not only to those who sell any 
 commodity in the same state in which they purchase it, but 
 also to the manufacturer and the mechanic' who bestow npon it 
 their labor and their skill, and thus render it more valuable. 
 The bill, as it formerly stood, confined itself strictly within this 
 range. Indeed, it was more circumscribed as to the persons 
 on whom it would have operated than the bankrupt laws of 
 England. I am willing, then, to expound the powers of Con- 
 gress upon the subject liberally. 
 
 " In construing the Constitution, Congress ought not to be 
 fettered by nice technical rules. I admit that they have the 
 power, whenever they think proper to call it into exercise, 
 of establishing a system of bankruptcy which shall embrace all 
 persons who have ever been embraced even by the bankrupt laws 
 of England. Further than this they cannot proceed, without 
 extending the plain meaning of the word, bankruptcy, as it has 
 been received by every commercial nation of Europe, and vio- 
 lating both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. In 
 making this admission, I am sensible that many may suppose I 
 am giving a latitude of construction to the instrument which is 
 not warranted by its spirit. 
 
 " The authority to establish uniform laws on the subject of 
 bankruptcies throughout the United States, is contained in a 
 clause of the Constitution, which immediately follows, that to 
 regulate commerce with Foreign Nations, and among the sev- 
 eral States, and with the Indian t^ribes. The power over bank- 
 ruptcy evidently originated from, and is closely connected with 
 
BANKETJPT BILL. 5J[ 
 
 that oyer commerce. This commerce which Congress has the 
 power of regulating, is chiefly, if not exclusively, conducted by 
 merchants, in the strictest sense of the term, and principally by 
 that class of them denominated importers. They are the men most 
 exposed to the vicissitudes of trade, and, on that account, are 
 more properly the object of such a law than people of any other 
 description. It might, therefore, with much plausibility, be 
 contended, that the power of Congress over bankruptcy is 
 confined to that description of merchants. Another argument, 
 which would give additional strength to this construction, 
 arises from the general spirit of the Federal Institutions. They 
 do not propose to embrace the internal policy of the States. 
 The jurisdiction of the federal courts is confined by the Consti- 
 tution to controversies between citizens of the different States, 
 and between foreigners and citizens of the United States. To 
 such suits the men who carry on the intercourse with foreign 
 nations, and between the different States, are most generally 
 parties. 
 
 "'The object which I have in view in using these arguments, 
 is not to prove that the constitutional power of Congress is 
 confined to such merchants, but to show that it is contrary to 
 the nature and the spirit of our government to extend it to aU 
 classes of people in the community. The bill as it stood before 
 the amendment, went quite far enough. It would even then 
 have brought the operation of the law, and the jurisdiction of 
 the federal courts into the bosom of every community. The 
 • bill, however, as it now stands, if it should pass, wiU entirely 
 destrcyy the symmetry of our system, and make those courts the 
 arbiters, in almost every case of contract to which any member 
 of society, who thinks proper to become a bankrupt, may be a 
 party. It will at once be, in a great degree, a judicial consoli- 
 dation of the Union. This was never intended by the framers 
 of the Constitution. Some of the terrible evils which would 
 flow from such a system, I shall have reason to delineate, when 
 I come to speak of the policy of its adoption. 
 
 ********* 
 
52 LITE AND SKEVIOBS OF JAMBS BUOHAKAK. 
 
 " I sliall now proceed to lay before the House my objections 
 to the passage of this bill ; as it now stands, certain classes of 
 society are exposed to its adverse operations npon the commis- 
 sion of any of the acts of bankruptcy described in its first 
 section. Every individual in the community, including those 
 embraced by the bill previous to the late amendment, may 
 become voluntary bankrupts. It wiU be necessary here briefly 
 to inquire who may be declared bankrupts against their will. 
 The adverse operation of the law will not be confined to whole- 
 sale and retail merchants, strictly speaking, and to dealers in 
 exchange, bankers, brokers, factors, underwriters, and marine 
 insurers. By the construction which has been placed upon the 
 words, " other persons actually using the trade of merchandise, 
 by buying and selling in gross or by retail," not only every dealer 
 in any article, but every manufacturer or mechanic who pur- 
 chases any material, bestows his skUl and labor upon it, and 
 sells it in its improved state, falls within the compulsory branch 
 of this bill, unless expressly excepted by the proviso in its first 
 section. Thus, the distiller who purchases grain, converts it 
 into whisky and sells the whisky, would clearly be within its 
 operation. The miUer, also, who buys wheat and sells it 
 converted into flour, may be declared a bankrupt against his 
 will. These cases are cited only as examples to illustrate the 
 general rule. Each individual member can imagine many 
 others. 
 
 " I will now proceed to that which strikes my mind as a 
 radical objection to the existence of this or any other adversary 
 bankrupt bill in the United States. It arises from the nature 
 Df our free institutions, and is one that exists in no other 
 :onntry on the globe. It springs out of the best prmciples 
 of the Federal Constitution, and it cannot be removed without 
 expunging them from the instrument. In what manner is a 
 person to be declared a bankrupt by the bUl now before the 
 House ? On the petition of any creditor, accompanied by an 
 affidavit of the truth of his debt, the circuit or district judge 
 
BANKRUPT BILL. 53 
 
 of the United States is authorized to issue a commission of bank- 
 ruptcy. The alleged bankrupt may, however, appear before the 
 commissioners, deny that he has committed any act of bank- 
 ruptcy, and demand a trial by a jury of his country, before the 
 judge who issues the commission. This is a right of which he 
 canngt be deprived by the power of Congress. In the emphatic 
 language of the Constitution, ' he shall not be deprived of his 
 life, his Uberty, or his property, without due process of law.' 
 This trial before the circuit or district judge may and probably 
 wUl, in a majority of cases, be delayed for years before its final 
 ""termination. 
 
 " In free governments we cannot move with the celerity of 
 despotism. During its pendency, what becomes of the property 
 of the alleged bankrupt ? He cannot be dispossessed of it under 
 the Constitution of the country, or by the provisions of this bUl, 
 until the jury shall have convicted hiln of its first section. 
 But although it cannot be wrested from him until after the event, 
 yet the moment the commission issues, he, in effect, loses all 
 control over his estate. The reason of this is, that by the pro- 
 visions of- the bUl aU intermediate dispositions made by the 
 debtor of his property are absolutely void, should he finally be 
 declared a bankrupt. No person, therefore, would with safety 
 in the meantime enter into any contracts with him, or purchase 
 any part of his estate. From the very nature of an adverse 
 bankrupt system, this must necessarily be the case. If it were 
 not, every man charged with having committed an act of bank- 
 ruptcy would demand a trial by jury before the district or cir- 
 cuit judge of the United States, so that during its pendency he 
 might have an opportunity to dispose of his property as he 
 thought proper. What, then, is the situation in which the bill 
 places every man within its adverse provisions ? 
 
 "Any of his creditors or pretended creditors, by making an 
 ex parte af&davit of the truth of his debt, without ever proving 
 by his own oath or otherwise any act of bankruptcy against 
 him, may bring upon hun inevitable and overwhehnmg destrue- 
 
54 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 tion. If envy or malice against him rankles in the soul of any 
 enemy who either is his creditor, or who will swear that he is, 
 that enemy may wreak his Tengeance to the full extent of his 
 wishes, by having a commission of bankruptcy issued against 
 him. The commission itself would be the death-warrant of his 
 property, notwithstanding his property may have been sufficient 
 to discharge his debts, and he may have been guilty of no act 
 of bankruptcy. If he submits to the commission, his credit is 
 gone, and his power of exertion is at an end until he shall have 
 obtained his final discharge. If he does not, and demands a 
 trial, he is, during its pendency, in the situation of Tantalus in 
 the infernal regions. Although he may be surrounded by all 
 the comforts of life, and the means of extricating himself from 
 his difiSculties, he has not the power of using them. 
 
 " If he should be a merchant, his counting-house must be 
 closed, and his capital remain idle, awaiting the result of a 
 tedious lawsuit. If he be a farmer who has carried on a distil- 
 lery, or who has been a miller, or retail merchant, he cannot 
 dispose of an acre of his land, or any of his personal property, 
 until the controversy is determined. Whether, therefore, he 
 submits to the commission, or does not, if h^ be an honest man, 
 he is exposed to inevitable ruin. If he be a fraudulent debtor, 
 the delay of the trial will afford him ample time and opportu- 
 nity to secrete Ms property, and place it beyond the reach of 
 his creditors ; and in this situation he will have the strongest 
 temptation io be guilty of fraud. The bankrupt law of Eng- 
 land, the model from which the present bill has been drawn, 
 provides an effectual remedy for this evil. It is one, however, 
 which we have no constitutional power to adopt ; and if we 
 had, it would be repugnant to every feeling of the hearts of 
 freemen. In that country the bare issuing of the commission is 
 itself equivalent to an execution. 
 
 " The debtor is at once deprived of the possession of all his 
 property, and it is vested in the commissioners. Although he 
 may declarei he has never been guilty of an act of bankruptcy, 
 
BANKEUPT BILL. » 55 
 
 and petitions for a trial, he petitions in vain. Tlie iron liand of 
 the law is upon him, and no innocence can elude its grasp. Iii 
 that country the law declares that ' caveats against commissions 
 are not allowed, for they give too much time to a fraudulent 
 debtor.' The proceedings under it resemble those of the judges 
 in the infernal regions, who first condemn and afterwards, hear. 
 They first deprive a man of all his property by virtue of the com- 
 mission, and after the evU has been done, allow him to apply to 
 the chancellor to have it superseded. From the nature of 
 those governments on the continent of Europe, under whose 
 dominion bankrupt laws prevail, and from the peculiar char- 
 acter of these laws, and the commercial tribunals by whom 
 they are administered, the same evils do not exist. I wiU not 
 exhaust the patience of the House by detailing their different 
 provisions. 
 
 " It maybe said, as the biU provides, that the petitionary credi- 
 tor, before the commission can issue, shall give bond to be taken by 
 the circuit or district judge, in such penalty and with such security 
 as he may direct, conditioned that the obliger shall prove the 
 debtor to be a bankrupt, he will be enabled to recover damages 
 to the extent of any injury which he may sustain in case the con- 
 dition of the bond should be violated. The remedy, from its 
 nature, could be no compensation for an injury sustained. To 
 inform a man, after he had been arrested in the pursuit of his 
 business by a commission of bankruptcy, after his prospects in 
 life had been blasted, after his credit had been destroyed, and 
 after he had been pursued for years in a course of litigation 
 which had terminated in his favor, that he might then enter 
 upon another law-suit, and bring his action upon the bond, 
 would be laughing at his calamity. 
 
 " Tliis would present no prospect of indemnity, even if the 
 obligors should be solvent ; but from the ignorahce of the 
 judges, so far removed from the people, as those of the United 
 States necessarily are, respecting the solvency of the sureties ; 
 and from the lapse of time which must trauspire before any suit 
 
56 LffiE AUD SEEVICES OF JAMEB BUCHANAN. 
 
 could be sustained upon Ms bond, it would in most instances be 
 of little or no value. These, then, would be the effects of the 
 bin on the persons within its adverse operations. Let us next 
 inquire what would be the moral and practical effects of this bill, 
 with the amendment just adopted, of the gentleman from Ken- 
 tucky. Should it pass in its present shape, I should shudder 
 at the consequences. How will it affect the great agricultural 
 interests of the country ? 
 
 " I have the honor, in part, to represent a district chiefly com- 
 posed of farmers. They are honest, they are industrious, and 
 they esteem their contracts to be sacred and inviolable. The word 
 of each of them, could their existence be p6rpetuated, binds 
 them as forcibly as their bond. Have they, or have any other 
 agriculturists over the whole range of this extensive Union, 
 asked you to pass a bankrupt law in their favor ? Have they 
 even petitioned you to discharge them from the obligation of their 
 contracts, which they feel themselves as much bound in con- 
 science as in law to perform? It is certain that many honest 
 and respectable men of their valuable class of society have been 
 unfortunate, and I pity them from my inmost soul ; but I 
 beseech you, spare them from a law for w:hich they have never 
 asked, and which would tempt them to add guilt to misfortune. 
 
 " What then would be the necessary operation of such a law, 
 when brought home to those and every other member of socie- 
 ty ? Once declare that contracts shall be no longer sacred, 
 that any debtor, whether he has been a trader or not, by com- 
 plying with the provisions of the law, may have an election 
 held by his creditors, and if two-thirds of these in number 
 or value consent, may be relieved from all his debts against the 
 will of the remainder ; and you make a direct attack on the 
 very first principles of moral honesty, by which the great mass 
 of the people have been hitherto directed. Let a bankrupt be 
 presented to the view of society, who has become wealthy since 
 his discharge, and who, after having ruined a number of his 
 creditors, shields himself from the payment of Ma honest debts 
 
BANKETJPT BILL 6T 
 
 by his oertificate, and what effects would such a spectacle be 
 likely to produce ? Examples of this nature must at length 
 demoralize any people. The contagion introduced by the laws 
 of the country, would for that very reason, spread like a pesti- 
 lence, untn honesty, honor, and faith wiU at length be swept 
 from the intercourse of society. Leave the agricultural interest 
 pure and uncorrnpted, and they will forever form the basis on 
 which the Constitution and liberties of your country may safely 
 repose. Do not, I beseech you, teach them to think lightly of 
 the solemn obligations of contracts. No government in earth, 
 however corrupt, has ever enacted a bankrupt law for farmers ; 
 it would be a perfect monster in this country, where our institu- 
 tions depend altogether on the virtue of the people. We have 
 no constitutional power to pass the amendment proposed by the 
 gentleman from Kentucky ; and if we had we never should do 
 so, because such a provision would spread a moral taint through 
 society which would corrupt it to its very core. 
 
 " By the fifty-sixth section it is provided that any creditor of 
 a bankrupt, appearing before the commissioners, may, at hi! 
 election, have the validity of his claun determined in the circuit 
 court of the district in which the bankrupt resides. The same 
 privilege is extended to the assignee's objections to the validity 
 of any claim upon the bankrupt, presented before the commis- 
 sioners ; in this manner every lawsuit which could arise in the 
 settlement of a bankrupt's estate, respecting the demands of 
 any of his creditors, would be drawn into the circuit court for 
 " decision. This would be the case whether be became a bank- 
 rupt voluntarily or by compulsion, and without any regard 
 either to his occupation or place of residence, or that of his 
 creditors. The whole structure of the national judiciary 
 would be changed. 
 
 * * * *,* * * 
 
 " Another serious objection to the passage of the bill is its 
 manifest tendency to the perpetration of fraud. It is true it 
 has been strenuously maintained by its friends, that ic will, in a 
 
 3* 
 
68 LIFE AKD SERVICES OT JAMES BUOHANAIT. 
 
 great degree, repress that evil. Has the experience of Eng- 
 land justified them in making this prediction ? Does not the 
 testimony taken before the House of Commons prove clearly the 
 contrary ? Indeed so pressed dovra with weight was my honor- 
 able colleague (Mr. Sergeant) that he was obliged to attribute 
 the innumerable frauds which had been committed under the 
 bankrupt law of that country, not to the operation of the law 
 itself, but to the general corruption that prevailed among the 
 people. This bill, should it become a law, must b.e productive 
 of innumerable frauds, unless it will have the power changing 
 the nature of man, and rendering him the less criminal because 
 he is the more tempted. He who created man, and therefore 
 knew best his heart, directed him to pray that he might not be 
 led into temptation. . This bill informs the debtor, that if he 
 will conform to its provisions, he shaR obtain a certificate wliich 
 will discharge him from all his debts. The State insolvent laws 
 declare to him" that when he has given up all his property for 
 the use of his creditors, he has done no more than his duty, and 
 that Ms future acquisitions shall be answerable until his debts 
 are paid. If a debtor can pass the ordeal of this bankrupt 
 law, and obtain Ms certificate,, he may then in security enjoy 
 that property wMch successful fraud has enabled him to conceal 
 under the State insolvent laws ; however, he must know that 
 the moment Ms concealed property is brought to light, it is 
 liable to be seized by Ms creditors. WMlst, therefore, a bank- 
 rupt law holds out every temptation to make the debtor dis- 
 honest, an insolvent law presents him no such inducement. In- 
 deed, Ms true policy is directly the reverse. Upon his good and 
 fair conduct, and the consequent favorable discharge of his cre- 
 ators, depends Ms hopes of a discharge. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " I shall now come to my concluding argument against the 
 
 passage of tMs bUl. It would tend again to arouse the spirit 
 
 of vrild and extravagant speculation, which has spread distress 
 
 far and vride over the land. It will tend again to produce those 
 
BAUKEUPT BILL. 59 
 
 «vils for which its friends say it is intended to pro\ide a reme- 
 dy. What has been the history of this country ? Upon this 
 subject, let us not turn a deaf ear to the dictates of experience. 
 It is theH)est teacher of political wisdom. 
 
 "Under our glorious Constitution, the human mind is unre- 
 strained in the pursuit of happiness, the calm of despotism does 
 not rest upon us. Neither the institutions of the country, nor 
 the habits of society, have established any castes within the 
 limits of which man shall be confined. The human intellect 
 walks abroad in its majesty. This admirable system of govern- 
 ment, which incorporates the rights of man into the Constitu- 
 tion of the country, develops all the latent resources of the 
 intellect, and brings them into active energy. The road to 
 wealth and to honor is not closed against the humblest citizen — 
 and Heaven forbid that it ever should be 1 It is however, the 
 destiny of man to learn that evil often treads closely upon the 
 footsteps of good. The very liberty we enjoy, unless restrained 
 by the dictates of morality and of prudence, has a tendency to 
 make us discontented with our condition. It often produces a 
 . restless temper, and a disposition to be perpetually changing 
 our pursuits, for the purpose of becoming more wealthy and 
 more distinguished. The frame of mind produced by freedom, 
 if kept within proper bound, is a source of the greatest advan- ' 
 tages to society and to individuals : if unrestrained, and suffer- 
 ed to run wild, it leads to every species of extravagance and 
 folly. 
 
 " A few merchants both in the cities and in the country have 
 amassed splendid and princely fortunes. These have glittered in 
 the fancy of the thoughtless and unsuspecting countryman, and 
 have moved his ambition or his avarice. He never calculated 
 that it requires a man of considerable parts with great ex- 
 perience to make an accomplished merchant ; and that, with all 
 these advantages, but few comparatively are successful. His 
 son is taught book-keeping at a country school, and then he 
 abandons the pursuit of his fathers. He leaves the business of 
 
60 LIKE AlSro SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 agriculture, wMcli is tlie most peaceful, the most happy, the 
 most independent, and, I might add, the most respectable, in 
 society, to become a merchant. He, spurns the idea of treading 
 in the path of his ancestors, and acquiring his Kving by the 
 sweat of his brow. Wealth and distinction have become his 
 idols, and turned his brain. Is not this the history of thousands 
 in our country within the last twenty years ? It was not diffi- 
 cult to predict what would be the melancholy catastrophe. 
 Bankruptcy and ruin have fallen upon the thoughtless adven- 
 turers. 
 
 " Happy would it have been for the country had this spirit 
 of speculation confined itself to the farmers who turned mer- 
 chants. We have witnessed it spreading over every class of 
 the community. We have, in innumerable instances, seen 
 the plain, sober, industrious, and inexperienced farmer, con- 
 verted into a speculator in bonds and stocks. We have lived 
 in a time when the foundations of society appeared to be shaken, 
 and when the love of gain seemed to swallow up every pther 
 passion of the heart. This disposition gave birth to hundreds 
 and thousands of banks, which have spread themselves over 
 the country. Thek reaction upon the people doubled the force 
 of the original cause which produced them. Thpy deluged the 
 ' country with bank paper. The price of land rose far above its 
 real value ; it commanded from $200 to $400 per acre in many 
 parts of the district which I have the honor, in part, to repre- 
 sent ; and I know one instance in which a man agreed to give 
 $1,500 per, acre for a tract of land, which he afterwards laid 
 out in town lots. He sold the lots at so large a profit, that 
 he would have accumulated an independent fortune by the spec- 
 ulation had not the times changed, and the lot-holders in conse- 
 quence been unable to pay the purchase money. 
 
 " The universal delusion has vanished, the enchantment is at 
 an end ; the people have been restored to their sober senses. 
 In the change, which was rapid, many honest and respectable 
 citizens have been ruined. Among many, misery and want 
 
BANKKUPT BILL. 61 
 
 have usurped the abodes of happiness and plenty. I most sin- 
 cerely deplore their situation ; but, as legislators, we should all 
 have some compassion upon the community. Experience has 
 taught us a lesson which, I trust, we shall never forget — that 
 a wild and extravagant spirit of speculation is one of the 
 greatest curses that can pervade our country. Do you wish 
 again to raise it ? Do you wish again to witness the desolation 
 which it has, spread over the land, and which we now are 
 slowly repairing ? Then pass this bankrupt biU 1 ' Inform the 
 farmer, who is now contented and happy, and whom experience 
 has taught the danger of entering into trade, that he may 
 become a merchant or a land jobber ; that he may proceed to 
 any excess he thinks proper ; that he need confine the extrava- 
 gance of his speculations within no other limit but the extent 
 of his credit ; that if, at last, he should be successful, un- 
 bounded wealth wiU be his portion, if not, the law wUl dis- 
 charge him from all his debts, and enable him to begin a new 
 career. Hold out a lure to the industrious classes in society to 
 abandon their useful and honorable pursuits, and enter into 
 speculation of some kind or other, by proclaiming it as the law 
 that, if they should prove unsuccessful, their debt§ shall be 
 cancelled, and they shall be restored to their former situation. 
 Such a law would present the strongest temptations to every 
 man in society to become indolent and extravagant, because 
 every man in society is embraced in its provisions. In these 
 respects it is as novel as it is dangerous. Rest assured, Mr. 
 Speaker, that our population require the curb more than the 
 rein. If you hold out such encouragement to unbounded specu- 
 lation as this biU presents, we shall, before many years, see all 
 the occurrences again presented before us which have involved 
 the country in unexampled distress. The time may come, in 
 ages hence, when a bankrupt law may l^ecome necessary for 
 the encouragement of commerce. History has instructed us, 
 that nations, like men, rise, and flourish, and decay. At pre- 
 sent our population possess all. the vigor and enterprise of 
 
62 LIFE AND BEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN'. 
 
 youth. The stimulus of such a bill would drive us on to mad- 
 ness. It would be puttiug into the hands of Phseton the reins 
 of the chariot of the sun. The day will come, but I trust it 
 is now far distant, when old age shall fall upon us as a nation, 
 when wealth shall beget luxury and corruption, and when we 
 shall be enfeebled in all our exertions. Then it may be neces- 
 sary to hold out extraordinary allurements to commercial enter- 
 prise. When that day shall arrive, when our country shall be 
 sinking into decUne, when her energies shall be paralysed, and 
 when perhaps, a new Eepublic as vigorous as ours at present 
 may be her competitor in commerce, then and not till then, 
 will it be necessary that Congress should exercise the power 
 vested in them by the Constitution, and pass uniform laws on 
 the subject of bankruptcies." 
 
 The vote on the bankrupt bill was taken immediately after 
 the delivery of Mr. Buchanan's powerful argument against it, 
 and was defeated by a vote of 99 nays to 12 ayes. Of the 
 nays, fifty-four were from the southern States, while of the 
 ayes only fifteen were from that section of our country. 
 
 At this session, the question of internal improvements 
 by Congress was brought up in a formidable manner. The 
 presidential election was approaching, and the success of 
 De Witt Clinton in New York,, who was receiving all the 
 honors of the day, created an intense desire in the minds of 
 public men to be imitators in some way of his acts, in hopes 
 that, at least, they might be able to catch a portion of the 
 popularity he had achieved. The question came before Con- 
 gress in a definite form, in a bill for making appropriations to 
 repair the Cumberland road. Mr. Buchanan voted against the 
 appropriation, and introduced a resolution to cede the road tc 
 the States in which it laid. The resolution was not, however, 
 then adopted, and the biU making appropriations for the repair 
 of the road passed both houses of Congress, and was presented 
 to Mr. Monroe for his signature. It drew from that distin- 
 
INTEENAI, IMPROVEMENTS. 63 
 
 guished man his celebrated Veto-Message upon internal improve- 
 ments, in which he went into a thorough review of the entire 
 constitutional question, showing how far the jurisdiction and 
 authority of the Federal government extended' in such matters. 
 This able and convincing State-paper has never been answered, 
 and it may be said to have settled the position of the demo-, 
 cratic party on this important question of politics. Mr. Adams 
 undertook to question Monroe's view of this subject in his 
 inaugural address, but it only served to awaken pubhc discus- 
 sion upon the extent of constitutional power in the matter, and 
 thus the sooner settle the true interpretation of the organic 
 law. 
 
 The second session of the seventeenth Congress commenced 
 on the 2d of December, 1822, and ended on the 3d of 
 March, 1823. There were a number of very important subjects 
 brought before it for consideration, and among the acts passed 
 were several of national interest. Among others was one to 
 regulate the collection of duties, imposts, and tonnage, which 
 excited considerable discussion. During this session an act was 
 passed regulating our commercial intercourse with the British 
 colonial possessions in the West Indies, Nova Scotia, and New 
 Brunswick. The most important discussion of this session was, 
 however, on the tariff question. The general prostration of 
 mechanical industry, consequent upon the previous period of 
 Inordinate speculation, had rendered the people clamorous for 
 tome relief. We were jxist recovering from the effects of a 
 wa,r, and there seemed to be not only a universal demand, but 
 a general want of some measure which would restore a healthy 
 and prosperous tone to business. That party which contend 
 ihat it is the duty of government to pass protective duties in 
 srder to foster manufacturing industry, were unceasing in their 
 demands for a new tariff bill. One was accordingly introduced, 
 but as it did not seem to please either the friends or enemies of 
 protection, it did not pass. Mr. Buchanan did not hesitate to 
 express his opinion freely iifregard to it. In some respects he 
 
64 LIFE AST) SEEVICES OF JAMES BITCHAJ^fAN* 
 
 approved of the measure, but not as a protective act. He 
 expressly stated that we were only authorized to impose a 
 tariff for revenue and as such he advocated the bill before 
 Congress. He showed, in the first place, the alarming deficit 
 in the annual revenue of $1,250,000. Besides this, there was 
 a permanent debt of over forty millions of dollars which must be 
 met by some measure which it was the duty of Congress to pass. 
 
 " There can be no doubt," said Mr. Buchanan, " but that 
 every member of this committee vrill concur with me in opinion, 
 that our debt ought, if possible, to be discharged as soon as it 
 shall be redeemable. No one wjU contend that a public debt 
 is a public blessing. The payment of the national debt is one 
 of the best means- of preparing for war. The resources of the 
 nation ought not to continue mortgaged to the public creditor ; 
 but they should be ready to be applied at all times towards the 
 defence of the country. This, at least, is my system of policy. 
 Under this view of the subject, we are brought irresistibly to 
 the conclusion, that revenue must be raised, at least that it 
 ought to be raised. The question then is, from what objects 
 shall we derive the means necessary to extinguish the national 
 debt ? It- is admitted by all that a duty upon imports is the 
 most economical and least oppressive mode of raising revenue. 
 It is the mode most in consonance with the character of a free 
 people. It does not require the agency of the tax-gatherer 
 or the exciseman. The practice of the government for more 
 than thirty years has sanctified this method in the minds of the 
 people. They will not now readily submit to direct taxes or 
 to excises when the country is at peace, — I say, emphatically 
 when the country is at peace^ — ^because I know that in times of 
 actual war, or of approaching danger, the American people 
 will cheerfully submit to any sacrifices which may be necessary 
 to provide for the common defence, and promote the security 
 and glory of th« nation." 
 
 " The necessity of adopting a new tariff, for the purpose of 
 
THE TAEIFF QUESTION. 65 
 
 , raising revenue, has not only been stated by the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, but he has distinctly recommended many of the 
 articles on the importation of which additional duties should be 
 imposed. These are all embraced in the provisions of the pres- 
 ent bill, though the increase of duty is in several instances 
 greater than what he recommended. Yet, notwithstanding its 
 friends have declared their intention t6 amend it, and make it 
 conform more nearly with that recommendation, this is the 
 measure whose blasting influence, if adopted, gentlemen declare, 
 will paralyze agriculture, ruin commerce, and destroy the navy. 
 Phantoms the most deadly and destructive, have been presented 
 before the committee, as the natural offspring of this measure. 
 One would almost be led to beheve, that the biU now under 
 consideration was the true box of Pandora, from which, if 
 enacted into a law, all the evils that can iuvade the human race 
 would proceed. The gentlemen from Georgia and Massachu- 
 setts (Mr. Tattnall and Mr. Gorham) have proclaimed it tyranny, 
 and tyranny which ought to be resisted. Yet all this mighty 
 conflagration has been raised to intimidate us from adopting a 
 
 - system, which in substance has been recommended by the intelli- 
 gent and independent officer at the head of the treasury, merely 
 because in its indirect operation it may benefit certain neces- 
 sary domestic manufactures. I confess I never did expect to 
 hear inflammatory speeches of this kind within these walls, 
 which ought to be sacred to union ; I never did expect to hear 
 the East counseUiug the South to resistance, that we might 
 thus be deterred from prosecuting a measure of policy, urged 
 upon us by the necessities of the country. If I know mysdf, 
 I am a politician neither of the East, mor of the West, of the 
 North, nor the South : I therefore shall forever avoid any expres- 
 sions, the direct tendency of which, must be to create sectional jeal- 
 ousies, sectional divisions, and at length disunion, that worst and 
 last of all political calamities." 
 
 In the same speech, Mr. Buchanan took occasion to repeat 
 
66 LIFE AND 6BKVICES OF JAMES BUCHAifAN'. 
 
 that he considered the bill as a revenue measure. "Money" 
 said he, " must be collected — the public debt must be paid," and 
 to do this he knew of no better or more equitable method, than 
 to raise it by the imposition of duties upon foreign importations. 
 In the course of this speech he paid the following eloquent tri- 
 bute to the agricultural portion of society : 
 
 " Gentleman have contended that should this bill be adopted, 
 the agricultural interest of the country will be greatly injured. 
 If this were the case, it would be a conclusive objection to its 
 passage. The farmers are the most useful, as they are the most 
 numerous class of society. No measure ought ever to be 
 adopted by the government that wiU bear hardly upon them 
 They are the body of men, among whom you may expect to 
 find in an eminent degree that virtue without which your Amer- 
 ican institutions could not continue to exist. Agriculture is 
 the most noble employment of men. It communicates vigor to 
 the body and independence to the mind. My constituents are 
 principally farmers, and I should feel it both my duty and my 
 inclination to resist any measure which would be pernicious to 
 their interests. The agriculturists are the great body of con- 
 sumers. It is from them that the revenue must be derived, no 
 matter what may be the mode by which it is collected. They 
 must equally pay it, whether in the shape of an excise, a land 
 tax, or an impost on the importation of foreign articles. I witi 
 never consent to adopt a general restrictive system, because that 
 class of the community would then be left at the mercy of the 
 manufacturers. The interest of the many would be sacrificed 
 to promote the wealth of the few. The farmer, then, in addi- 
 tion to the payment which he would be thus compelled to pay 
 the manufacturer, would have also to sustain the expenses of 
 the government. If this bill proposed a system which would 
 lead to such abuses, it should not receive my support." 
 
 The sessions of the seventeenth Congress were of more than 
 
THE TAEn'F QUESTION. 07 
 
 ordinary importance. There had been a number of questions 
 before that body which commanded a wide-spread and general 
 attention. The bankrupt law, the question of internal im- 
 provements, and the doctrine of protection to manufactures, had 
 all been ably and fully discussed. The friends of the bankrupt 
 law had assailed the fortress of democracy and equal rights in 
 vain. They had been put to flight in their determined and 
 arduous attempts to model our institutions upon the basis of the 
 worn-out, effete, aristocratic, and special-privileged governments 
 of Europe, where the masses are the machines of the ruling 
 classes. Among those who contributed in an eminent degree to 
 achieve this result stands James Buchanan. At this day it is a 
 gratification to look over the records of the proceedings in Con- 
 gress, and mark the names of those devoted friends to demo- 
 cratic doctrines, who so nobly and heroically preserved them in 
 the outset of our history as a nation, from the combined forces 
 which federalism brought to bear against them. It is a lament- 
 able fact that while our people have paid due homage to those 
 who achieved by their swords our democratic institutions, they 
 have not given the meed of honest, deserving praise to the men 
 who immediately succeeded them, and who preserved this noble 
 inheritance on the floor of our national legislature against all 
 the arts which eloquence could master or sophistry invent. 
 Among these names ought to stand forever remembered those 
 pf John Kandolph, Nathaniel - Macon, John Taylor, George 
 McDnffie, Andrew Stevenson, James Buchanan, and others 
 equally deserving of honorable remembrance. 
 
68 LIFE A2TD BEEVIGES OF JAMES BUOHAITAK. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Tariff Act— Eeception of Lafayette— The Niagara Sufferers— The Ejection of John 
 Quiucy Adams. 
 
 The eighteenth Congress opened on the 1st of December, 
 1823. Mr. Buchanan had been re-elected, and found upon his 
 arrival at the capital, anumber of new individuals whom he had 
 not previously encountered in public life. Among these were 
 Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, then in the vigor of his youth ; 
 Henry Clay, of Kentucky, overflowing with the grand concep- 
 tions he had formed of the great " American System ;" and 
 Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, the eloquent lawyer, the pol- 
 ished orator, and profound statesman. In the Senate, Hon. 
 Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, had made his appearance, hail- 
 ing from the Kansas of 1820, then the uUima thule of our west- 
 ern advancement. General Jackson had been elected Senator 
 from the State of Tennessee, and contributed not a little to the 
 attraction of Washington society, by the prominent position in 
 which he stood before the country, and the hopes which already 
 many of his friends were forming of him for the future. Mr. 
 Clay was chosen Speaker on the first day of the session, by a 
 vote of 139 to 42, his opponent being the Hon. P. P. Barbour, 
 of Virginia. Mr. Buchanan was placed on the Judiciary Com- 
 mittee, of which Mr. Webster was chairman ; a position for 
 which he was eminently qualified by his careful 'and accurate 
 reading m aU the details of law and jurisprudence. 
 
 At this session the tariff biH came up again under the lead 
 
THE TABIFI' ACT. 69 
 
 of Mr. Clay, who brought to its support all the power of his 
 oratory, and all the influence which his personal character could 
 produce. He had christened it " The Anferican System ;" and 
 such, in the depressed condition of the country, there was some 
 plausibility in calling it. The bUl was contested inch by inch, 
 Mr. Webster, afterwards a high tariff man, opposing it with aU 
 his power. Besides Mr. Webster, there were other able and 
 distinguished advocates of free trade — Mr. Baylies, from his own 
 State ; Mr. C. C. Cambreleng, of New York ; Messrs. Ean- 
 dolph, Barbour, Stevenson, Eives, and Archer, of Virginia ; 
 Messrs. Mangum and Saunders, of North Carolina ; Messrs. 
 McDuffie, Hamilton, and Poinsett, of South Carolina ; Messrs. 
 Forsyth and Cuthbert of Georgia ; Mr. Edward Livingston, of 
 Louisiana, and others. Mr. Clay was the leading speaker on 
 the other side of the question ; and after a protracted contest of 
 ten weeks the biU was finally carried by only five majority. In 
 the Senate the vote was stiU closer, where it stood twenty-five 
 to twenty-three. The bUl never could have passed, had it not 
 been for the depressed condition of the country, and the 
 pressing demands upon the treasury for more revenue, in order 
 to pay the public debt, if possible, as fast as it became due. 
 As a revenue measure, it was voted for by Gen. Jackson in the 
 Senate, by Mr. Buchanan in the House, and by other democratic 
 members, who expressly stated their opposition to a tariff whose 
 object was sunply protection. Congress adjourned on the 21th 
 of May, 1824. It had passed two hundred and eleven acts, and 
 been a session -of great activity and considerable importance. 
 Mr. Buchanan had participated generally in the discussions, and 
 measured his powers with Mr. Webster in debate, and proved 
 that even the youthful giant of Massachusetts found his peer, at 
 least, in the stately and careful logic of the son of Pennsylvania. 
 There was at this session a great deal of president-making, 
 the members ot Congress then havmg more to do with the mat- 
 ter than at present. Mr. Buchanan's preferences were well 
 known to be m favor of Gen. Jackson, of whom he was an early 
 
70 LIFE AND 8EBTIOE8 OF JAMBS BUCHANAN. 
 
 and devoted friend. Gen. Jackson, Henry Clay, W. H. Craw- 
 ford, and John Quincy Adams were the candidates, and all par- 
 ties were preparing for a vigorous and determined campaign. 
 It is well known, neither candidate received a majority of the 
 electoral votes. It accordingly devolved upon the House of 
 Representatives, at its next session, to elect a President. 
 
 The second session of the eighteenth Congress was therefore 
 looked forward to with great interest. It assembled at Wash- 
 ington on the 6th of December, 1824. The very first event for 
 which it was distinguished was the reception of Gen. Lafayette, 
 then on a visit to the land which he had so nobly assisted in 
 wresting from the grasp of a tyrannical oppressor. As Lafay- 
 ette was one of those unfortunate men who happened to be bom 
 on foreign soil, and who in these later days, it is asserted, have 
 become so inimical and dangerous to American liberty, it may 
 be interesting to recur to the speech he delivered upon the 
 august occasion when he was received by both houses of Con- 
 gress. Mr. Clay was Speaker of the House, and in welcoming 
 the illustrious stranger, in his most eloquent and imaginative 
 strain, he said, " General, you are in the midst of posterity 1" 
 Lafayette, after saying that it had been his happiness to be 
 adopted as a young soldier, a favored son of America, remarked : 
 " No, Mr. Speaker, posterity has not begun for me ; since in the 
 sons of my companions and' friends I find the same public feel- 
 ings, and permit me to add, the same feelings in my behalf 
 which I have had the happiness to experience in their fathers. 
 Sir, I have been allowed, forty years ago, befose a committee 
 of Congress of thirteen States, to express the fond wishes of an 
 American heart. On this day I have the honor to enjoy the 
 delight, to congratulate the representatives of the Union so 
 vastly enlarged, in the realization of those wishes, even beyond 
 every human expectation, and upon the almost infinite prospects 
 we can with certainty anticipate.'' 
 
 If Lafayette were " in the midst of posterity," at the present 
 day, and surrounded with the cry of " America for Americans " 
 
THE NIAGAEA SUFFERERS. 7!J 
 
 he could hardly say, " that he found the same public feelings, 
 which he had the happiness to experience in our fathers." 
 
 One of the first matters brought before Congress at this ses- 
 sion, was a bill to indemnify the sufferers on our Niagara fron- 
 tier, caused by the wanton devastation of the British troops 
 during the war of 1812. Mr. Buchanan took the ground that 
 if the property was destroyed in accordance with the rules of 
 civilized warfare, then we were bound to mdenmify the indi- 
 viduals who had been injured. If such, however, were not the 
 case, every motive of public policy forbade it. Mr. B. went on 
 to show that if the bill then before the House should pass, we 
 would stand before the world as having justified Great Britain 
 in her lawless and inhuman conduct — conduct that had met the 
 reprobation of the civilized world. A short extract from Mr. 
 Buchanan's speech on this subject, will show the perfidious con- 
 duct of the British troops, as well as his own exact position upon 
 the bill : 
 
 Mr. B. said, " There was another view which this subject 
 presents, which adds the guilt of perfidy to that of violation of 
 the laws of war. WhUst the village of Buffalo still presented a 
 hostile front to the enemy, a capitulation was entered into 
 by Col. Chapin, of our army, with Gen. Rail, who commanded 
 the British forces. By that instrument, it was solely agreed, 
 ' that private property and private persons should not be moles- 
 ted or injured.' Upon the faith of this capitulation, the British 
 forces entered th% town. The testimony proves that before its 
 date they were aU acquainted with the fact that a large body 
 of the United States troops had been quartered there, and that 
 many of the houses were places of mihtary deposit. With a 
 full knowledge of these circumstances, they entered into the 
 capitulation. What was then their subsequent conduct ? In- 
 stead of separating the military stores from the houses in which 
 they were deposited, instead of destroying public property, they 
 involved the whole village in one common conflagration. At 
 
72 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BTTCHAIfAN. 
 
 the most inclement season of the year in a northern climate, 
 regardless of their faith, they set fire to the town, and drove its 
 inhabitants to seek shelter and bread from the compassion of 
 strangers. And this, under pretence of what they well knew 
 before the capitulation, that there were military stores deposited 
 in many of the private houses. And yet this destruction is 
 attempted to be justified by the laws of war established among 
 civilized nations. Sir," said Mr. B., " I. may be asked if I am 
 willing to afford these sufferers any rehef ? I answer without 
 hesitation, I am not. They have claims upon our generosity, 
 not upon our justice. I would mitigate their calamities, not 
 indemnify them for their losses. They have suffered more than 
 the common misfortunes of war — ^they are therefore entitled to 
 the compassion of paternal government." 
 
 The most exciting, and indeed, important business, before 
 this Congress, was the election of President. A long debate 
 ensued upon the rules to be adopted in conducting the election 
 by the House of Eepresentatives. In the course of the discus- 
 sion, it was proposed to sit in secret conclave, if the delegation 
 of any one State demanded it. This Mr. Buchanan opposed 
 with indignant eloquence, showing most conclusively how firm 
 was his reliance on the popular intelligence, and how earnest 
 his devotion to the rights of the people. 
 
 " The American people," said Mr. B., " have a right to be 
 present and inspect all the proceedings of their representatives, 
 unless their own interests forbid it.' In relation to our concerns 
 with foreign governments, it may become necessary to close our 
 galleries. Our designs in such cases might be frustrated if 
 secrecy were not for a time preserved. Whenever there shall 
 be disorder in the gallery, we have also a right to clear it, and 
 are not bound to suffer our proceedings to be interrupted. 
 Except in these cases he at present could recollect none which 
 would justify the House in excluding the people. 
 
THE ELECTION OF JOHN QTJINCT, ADAMS. 73 
 
 " In electing a President of the United States," said Mr. B., 
 " we are, in my opinion, peculiarly the representatives of the 
 the people. On that impdrtant occasion, we shall emphatically 
 represent their majesty. We do not make a President for our- 
 selves only, but also for the whole people of the United States. 
 They have a right that it shall be done in public. He there- 
 fore protested against going into a secret conclave when the 
 House should decide this all-important question. He said that 
 the doctrine of the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. McLane) 
 was altogether new to his mind. That gentleman has alleged 
 that we are called upon to elect a President, not as the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, but by virtue of the Constitution. 
 Sir," said Mr. B., "who created the Constitution? Was it 
 not the people of the United States ? And did they not by this 
 very instrument delegate us as representatives, the power of 
 electing a President for them ? It is by virtue of this instru- 
 ment we hold our seats here. And, if there be any case in 
 which we are -bound to obey their will, this is peculiarly that 
 one. To them we must be answerable for the proper exercise 
 of this duty. 
 
 " What are the consequences which will result from closing 
 the doors of the gallery ? We shall impart to the election an 
 air of mystery. We shall give exercise to the imaginations of 
 the multitude in conjecturing what scenes are acting vrithin the 
 hall. Busy Rumor, with her hundred tongues, will circulate 
 reports of wicked combination, and of corruptions which have 
 no existence. Let the people see what we are doing ; let them 
 know that it is neither more nor less than putting our ballots 
 into our boxes, and they will soon become satisfied with the 
 spectacle and retire. The gentleman from Delaware (Mr. 
 McLane), has urged upon us the precedent which now exists on 
 this subject. Mr. Buchanan said he revered the men of former 
 days by whom this precedent was established. He had good 
 reason, however, to believe that the intense excitement which 
 existed at that time among the people at the seat of govern- 
 
 4 
 
74 LIFE AJSTD 8EEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ment was occasioned in a considerable degree by their exclusion 
 from the gallery. They came in crowds into the house, but were 
 prohibited from entering the hall. Currents and counter-cur- 
 rents of feeling kept them continTially agitated. New conjec- 
 tures of what was doing within were constantly spreading among 
 them. Mystery always gives birth to suspicion. If those people 
 had been permitted to enter, much of the excitement which 
 then prevailed would never have existed. 
 
 " It has been said that there might and probably would be 
 disorder if we admitted the people into the gallery. Mr. B. 
 could scarcely believe this possible. He had too high an opinion 
 of the American people to suffer himself to entertain such an 
 apprehension. Should we, however, be mistaken, where is the 
 power of the Speaker ? Where that of the House ? We can 
 turn them out, and we shall then have a sufScient apology for 
 doing so. But to declare in the first instance that thej shall 
 be excluded upon the request of any one out of twenty-four 
 States would be a libel both on the people of the United States 
 and the members of the House. Mr. B. asked pardon for the 
 expression if it were considered too harsh. 
 
 " Mr. B. said he knew well his friend from Delaware was 
 willing that all his conduct in regard to the presidential ques- 
 tion should be exhibited before the public, and that it was 
 prigciple and principle alone which had suggested Iris remarks. 
 That which gives this subject its chief importance, Mr. B. said, 
 is the precedent. He was anxious that it should be settled on 
 sure foundations. If the rule in its present form should be 
 adopted, it may and probably will be dangerous in future 
 times. At present our republic is in its infancy. At this 
 time he entertained no fear of corruption. In the approaching 
 election it can, therefore, make but little difference whether the 
 gallery shall be opened or closed. But the days of darkness 
 may, and, unless we shall escape the fate of all other Republics, 
 will, come upon us. Corruption may yet stalk abroad over our 
 aappy land. When she aims a blow against the liberties Of 
 
THE ELECTION OF JOHN QDINCT ADAMS. 7& 
 
 the people it will be done in secret. Such deeds always show 
 the light of day. They can be perpetrated with a mnch greater 
 chance of success, in the secrecy of an electoral conclave, than 
 when the proceedings of the House are fully exposed to public 
 yiew. Let us then estabUsh a precedent, which will have a 
 strong tendency to prevent corrupt practices hereafter." 
 
 The result of the election is well known to every one at all 
 acquainted with political history. In the electoral college John 
 Quincy Adams received 84 votes, William H. Crawford 41, 
 Andrew Jackson 99, and Henry Clay 37. Adams, Crawford, 
 and Jackson being the three candidates who had received the 
 highest number of votes, and neither a majority, it devolved 
 upon the House of Representatives to make a choice of a 
 President. There were at that time twenty-four States, and 
 Mr. Adams received the votes of thirteen, Mr. Crawford of 
 four, and Gen. Jackson of seven. Thus, though Gen. Jack- 
 son was without doubt the popular choice, he was defeated, as 
 was generally charged at that time, by an arrangement between 
 the friends of Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams, by which the former 
 was to receive the position of Secretary of State under the 
 new administration. This charge was indignantly repelled by 
 Mr. Clay and his friends, and as Mr. Buchanan has been 
 stoutly charged with having originated the report, the feicts 
 of the case should be known. The truth is, that the idea of 
 the friends of Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams uniting, originated in 
 Washington, at first from surmises, founded as much as any- 
 thing upon the well-known hostiUty of Mr. Clay to " a military 
 candidate." These Washington rumors were first communi- 
 cated to the public by Hon. George Kremer, of Pennsylvania, 
 in a letter to a western newspaper, and they were mentioned 
 by Mr. Buchanan to Gen. Jackson, with whom he was on terms 
 of much intimacy, and whose election he greatly desired. In 
 the course of the conversation, Gen. Jackson indignantly re- 
 marked, that before he would " be guilty of such an act, he 
 
76 LIFE ASD 8EETI0E8 OF JAMES BtTCHAJfAH. 
 
 would see the earth open and swalhw up both Mr. Clay and 
 his friends and himself with them." The fact, however, that 
 Mr. Clay accepted of&ce in Mr. Adams's administration, was 
 the principal ground upon which the charge was grounded. 
 They had been opposing candidates at the presidential eleo 
 tion, and, however pure may have been the acts both of Mr. 
 Adams and Mr. Clay, the fact of the latter gomg into Mr. 
 Adams' cabinet, and the fact of his friends having been the 
 means of placing Mr. Adams in his distioguished position, 
 could not be separated in the minds of the people. It is 
 doubtless true that no bargain existed. Mr. Benton in his 
 " Thirty Years' View " does Mr. Clay the justice to say that he 
 knew of his determination to vote for Mr. Adams, and not for 
 Gen. Jackson, before the 12th of December, 1824. Mr. Clay's 
 friends have always complained bitterly of the injustice done 
 him by this rumor, and a few of the more malevolent have 
 tried to connect Mr. Buchanan with it, but without the least 
 foundation. He merely stated rumors to Gen. Jackson, which 
 were current in private circles, and which had even been pub- 
 lished in the public journals. The fact is, that it was not so 
 much the rumor of " bargain and sale " that injured Mr. Clay, 
 as it was the disregard of the wUl of the people in the election 
 of Mr. Adams. Gen. Jackson had the highest numbet of 
 votes of any of the candidates, and the preferences of some 
 of the States which had voted for Mr. Clay himself, it was 
 well known were for Gen. Jackson as their second choice. Yet 
 the friends of Mr. Clay in Congress assumed to virtually decide 
 that " military Presidents " were dangerous, or, in other words, 
 that the people did not know enough to choose their own pub- 
 lic ofBcers. Whatever may be said about the " bargdSn and 
 sale " story, this was fhe real issue" in the election, and this dis- 
 regard for the popular wm, was doubtless the error of Mr. Clay's 
 life, for he soon after joined the whigs (then called national 
 republicans), aad entirely lost the position in the democratic 
 party he once occupied. The election of Mr. Adams was, of 
 
THE ELECTION OF JOHN QTJINCr ADAMS. 77 
 
 course, perfectly legal, but the will cif the people had neverthe- 
 less been defeated, and most proudly did they vindicate their 
 sovereignty at the next election, when they sent " the hero of 
 New Orleans " to the presidential chair with a majority which 
 no trafficking could destroy, or no chicanery evade. Mr. 
 Buchanan, in a speech in Congress in 1828, referring to llr. 
 Clay's accepting office in Mr. Adams's cabinet, _ exclaimed with 
 true prophetic inspiration, " What Mlliant prospects has that 
 man not sacrificed 1" 
 
78 LIFE AND BEEVI0K8 OF JAMES BUCHANAW. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Judiciary System^— BUssion to Panama — Surviying Officers of the ReTolution. 
 
 The nineteeiith Congress met on the 5th of December, 1825, 
 Ml. Clay, having taken a seat in Mr. Adams's cabinet, was not 
 a member of the House. Hon. John W. Taylor of New York, 
 was chosen Speaker. Mr. Buchanan had been reelected, and 
 was now commencing his third term. Messrs. Levi Woodbury, 
 and Samuel Bell of New Hampshire, made their appearance in 
 the Senate at this session. John Randolph, by the favor of 
 the Virginia Legislature, had been transfeired from the House ; 
 Mr. Berrien of Georgia, was there for the first time, as was 
 Gen. Harrison of Ohio, afterwards President. In the House, 
 among the new members, were Hon. Gulian C. Verplanck, and 
 Gen. Aaron Ward, of New York, W. C. Rives of Virginia, and 
 W. P. Mangum of North Carolina. 
 
 An important discussion took place during this session upon 
 the Judiciary System. It arose upon a bill reported by Mr. 
 Webster from the Judiciary Committee, of which Mr. Buchanan 
 was a member, for the appointment of three new judges, for 
 the purpose of reUeving the pressing demands of business in the 
 western States. The bill was, for some reasons, vehemently 
 opposed. During the debate, the whole question of our judi- 
 ciary system passed under discussion, and on the 9th and 1 0th 
 of January, Mr. Buchanan made a long and elaborate speech 
 upon the bill, evincing profound acquaintance with the whole 
 range of law and jurisprudence. No speech, probably, was ever 
 
JTJDICIAET SYSTEM. 79 
 
 delivered on the same subject on the floor of Congress which 
 showed greater familiarity with all the details of law. It was a 
 convincing proof of the possession of that accuracy of mind and 
 discrimination of intellect which are the foundation of all true 
 greatness. No man can be truly famous who neglects details ; 
 upon these, as upon the concrete mass of the granite, rests the 
 superstructure which commands the respect and admiration of 
 the beholder. 
 
 The mission to the Congress of Panama, proposed by Mr. 
 Adams, was, however, the exciting topic of discussion during 
 the session. The Independence of the South American Repub- 
 lics had been recognized during the preceding session, Mr. Bu- 
 chanan as a devoted friend of liberty and free institutions giving 
 it his most cordial support. The mission to Panama was, 
 however, quite another affair. Mr. Clay, with all the ardor of 
 his impulsive nature, had become an enthusiast in regard to the 
 Southern Republics which had just then thrown off that joke of 
 oppression which Spain had so long laid upon them. He seemed 
 to have conceived a kind of "holy alliance" among the Re- 
 publics of this continent somewhat similar to the one which 
 existed in Europe, among the royal robbers and despots for the 
 subjugation of the people. The idea was at least romantic. 
 Here was one Republic, already a great nation, which had 
 thrown off the power of George III., and which had, after 
 thirty years, again driven invaders from the same country from 
 ■ its soil. The colonial dependencies of Spain had followed 
 the example, and emerging from the long night of Spanish 
 despotism, had asserted the glorious and sublime truth of free- 
 dom and equality. Why should not these young nations, just 
 beginning to tread the virgin soil of a new era in the world's 
 history, unite in alliance to protect and defend liberal institu- 
 tions on this continent ? What reasonable objection could be 
 urged against a course which seemed so palpably the dictate as 
 well of duty as of patriotism ? It is proper to say, that the 
 first view of the question was a favorable one for the course 
 
80 LIFE AND 8EKVIOE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 recommended by Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay. It was popular. 
 It appealed to the warmest and holiest sentiment, next to love to 
 God, which animates all American bosoms — the love of liberty. 
 
 Considering that Mr. Buchanan was among the first to 
 desire the recognition of the -independence of these Republics, 
 it may seem strange that he opposed Mr. Clay's brilliant 
 scheme ; yet he did, and as it has turned out, he may well 
 congratulate himself upon the stand he then assumed. And 
 this country may well congratulate itself that it never consent- 
 ed to be mingled up :with these hybrid Republics, where liberty 
 has been but a name, and where those distinctions of race 
 which the Almighty has so indeUbly marked upon the human 
 family have been disregarded, and, as a consequence, most of 
 these countries this day present scarcely more than a mass of 
 diseased and bestiahzed mongrehsm, lamentable evidence of 
 God's punishment • and vengeance upon all nations which dare 
 to disregard his laws. The following extracts from Mr. Bu- 
 chanan's speech on this subject deUvered on the 11th of April, 
 1826, shows with what profound sagacity he saw and compre- 
 hended the future. 
 
 " Mb. Chairman : I cannot say, with the gentleman from Vii"- 
 ginia (Mr. Powell), who spoke first in this debate, that I am 
 no party man. To a certain extent I am a party man. It is 
 well known, that, at the last presidential election, I gave my 
 warm and decided support to the distinguished individual whom 
 the people of this country sent to the House of Representatives 
 with a large plurality of electoral votes. It is, my fixed purpose 
 to give the same mdividual my feeble support in the next con- 
 test. I shall consider the next election as an appeal from the 
 House of Representatives to the people, for the purpose of tra- 
 versing a precedent which I consider dangerous to their liber- 
 ties. To this extent I am vriUing to confess myself a party man, 
 as I never vrish even to be suspected of fighting under false 
 colors. 
 
MISSION TO PANAMA. 81 
 
 " If, however, any gentleman upon this floor has intended to 
 charge me with being engaged in a factious opposition to the 
 measures of the present administration, I now indignantly cast 
 back the charge upon him, and pronounce it to be unfounded. 
 A factious opposition consists in opposing wise measures, because 
 they have been recommended by particular men. I never have 
 and never shall pursue this course. It would be as impolitic as 
 it is unjust. The people of the United States will never sustain 
 such an opposition. If any circumstance in which he had no 
 concern could, in my native State, prostrate the illustrious indi- 
 vidual whom she still delights to honor, it would be, that his 
 friends in Congress were concerned in factiously opposing the 
 measures recommended by the present administration. But do 
 gentlemen expect to carry ev&rythmg in this House which may 
 be proposed by the executive, merely by attempting to brand 
 the opposition with the name of faction ? I trust that such is not 
 their intention. I feel certain if it be, they will be disappointed. 
 
 " I protest against the measure now before the committee 
 being considered a party measure. I am willing to follow the 
 example of the individual to whom I have already alluded, and 
 judge the tree by its fruits. I have not a single feeling of per- 
 sonal hostility against the present chief magistrate of this Union. 
 I shall always endeavor to do him justice. There is, however, 
 in my opinion, just cause of complaint against his friends on this 
 .floor, for endeavoring to make the subject before the committee 
 a party question. The cause of Kberty in South America is the 
 cause of the whole American people not of any party. An oppo- 
 sition to that sacred cause never will, never can, be cherished 
 by the friends of that individual who reftised to accept a mission 
 to Mexico, merely because Mexico was then suffering under the 
 despotic sway of a tyrant and a usurper. Nothing but a 
 strong sense of duty will induce any gentleman upon this floor 
 to resist his own inclinations, and to stem what seems to be the 
 popular cmTent, by giving his vote against this mission. 
 He * * ' ♦ * * 
 
 4* 
 
82 LIFE AND 8EEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 " It will here be necessary to take a short historical view of 
 our relations with the Southern Repubhcs. "Within the last few 
 years we have seen in this hemisphere seven new republics 
 emerging from the chaos of Spanish colonial despotism. The 
 whole American people beheld this cheering spectacle with 
 heartfelt satisfaction. We watched their progress with the 
 most intense anxiety, and, marching in the van of naljons, we 
 first declared them to be free, sovereign, and independent. 
 This declaration now is, and wiU for ever continue to be, one of 
 the most glorious events in our annals. It was made on the 
 4th of March, 1822, and all hailed it with pride and with plea- 
 sure. In the summer of 1823, the Holy Alliance, at the request 
 of Spain, were called upon to assist in subjugating what she was 
 pleased to call her revolted colonies. The most serious appre- 
 hensions were then entertained that an unholy crusade was to 
 be proclaimed against the cause of liberty and republicaai gov- 
 ernment, wherever they existed, over the whole earth. In this 
 alarming posture of affairs, did we give any pledge to foreign 
 nations ? Did we commit the faith of the country to all, or any 
 of the Southern Bepublics ? Certainly not. We maintained the 
 same independent position which we had always occupied in our 
 relations with foreign nations. The celebrated message of Mr. 
 Monroe, of December 2d, 1823, announced to the Holy Alliance 
 and to the world that we could not view with indifference the 
 hostile interposition of any European power against the inde- 
 pendence of the Southern Republics, but would consider such an 
 attempt as dangerous to our own peace and safety. This 
 declaration was re-echoed by millions of freemen. , 
 
 ****** 
 
 " The President, in his message to the Senate, distinctly stated, 
 that one object which he had in view in accepting the invitation, 
 was to influence the Southern nations to change their political 
 constitutions in regard to their established rehgion, and to intro- 
 duce universal toleration. From the state of public opinion in 
 those ootintries, an attempt of this nature would spread one 
 
MISSION TO PANAMA. 83 
 
 universal flame over the whole Southern continent. With 
 whatever justice the enemies of the Catholic religion may say it 
 has been a scourge to liberty in other countries, it has certainly 
 been a blessing to the Southern Republics. Its ministry, so far 
 from having set themselves in array against the principles of 
 liberty, took a leading and an efficient part in accomplishing 
 the revolution. This assertion is true, in its utmost extent, in 
 relation to Mexico, The President, having discovered the dan- 
 ger of such" an interference at the present time, very prudently 
 changed his attitude in his message to this House, and now 
 only intends to ask, at Panama, what I feel confident all the 
 nations will grant without the least difficulty — the liberty to our 
 citizens, while they reside within any of the Republics, of wor- 
 shipping their God according to the dictates of their own con- 
 science. 
 
 " I come now to speak of a subject deeply interesting to my 
 own constituents, and the State which I have the honor, m 
 part, to represent, as well as the rest of the Union. We have 
 often been told, as an argument against these amendments, that 
 they imply a want of confidence in the executive. Judging 
 from their condact in relation to the Island of Cuba, I am justi- 
 fied in declaring that my confidence in them is shaking in every- 
 thing which regards the Southern Republics. England and 
 France have been warned by our government, in the most sol- 
 emn and formal manner, that we could not consent to the occu- 
 pation of that island by any other European power than Spain, 
 under any contingency whatever. Ought not the same course 
 to have been pursued towards the South American Republics ? 
 The reasons for adopting this policy, a.= I shall presently show, 
 are at least as strong in the one case as in the other ; but, yet, 
 the documents prove that the Cabinet had arrived at a different 
 conclusion. From them, it is evident that our government did 
 not intend to interfere for the purpose of preventing an invasion 
 of that island by Mexico and Colombia. Mr. Clay, in his letter 
 of December last, to the ministers of these two nations, request- 
 
84 LIFE AJTD SBETICES OF JAMES BUCHANAIT. 
 
 ed only that their invasion of Cuba might be suspended until 
 the result of our interference in their faror with the European 
 powers should be ascertained. In his letter to Mr. Middleton, 
 our minister at St. Petersburgh, dated in May last, which he 
 read to the minsters of Mexico and Columbia, he entered into a 
 long argument to justify an invasion of that island by those 
 Eepubhcs, in case Spain should prove obstinate,^ and not recog- 
 nise their independence. I will not trouble the committee by 
 reading this despatch to them, as it is in the hands of every 
 member. 
 
 " The vast importance of the Island of Cuba to the people of 
 the United States, may not be generally known. The com- 
 merce of this island is of immense value, particularly to the 
 agricultural and navigating interests of the country. Its impor- 
 tance has been rapidly increasing for a number of years. To 
 . the middle, or grain-growing States, this commerce is almost 
 indispensable. The aggregate value of goods, wares, merchan- 
 dise, the growth, produce and manufacture of the United 
 States exported annually to that island, now exceeds three mil- 
 lions and a half of dollars. Of this amount, more than the one- 
 third consists of two articles, of pork and flour. The chief of 
 the other products of domestic origin, are fish, fish-oil, sperma- 
 ceti-candles, timber, beef, butter and cheese, rice,- tallow-can- 
 dles and soap. Our principal imports from that island are cof- 
 fee, sugar, and molasses, articles which may almost be consid- 
 ered necessaries of life.. The whole amount of our exports to 
 it, foreign and domestic, is nearly six milhons, and our imports 
 nearly eight millions of doUars. The articles which constitute 
 the medium of this commerce, are both bulky and ponderous, 
 and their transportation employs a large portion of our foreign 
 tonnage. More than one-seventh of the whole tonnage engar 
 ged in foreign trade, which entered the ports of the United 
 States during the year ending the last day of September, 1824, 
 came from Cuba ; and but little less than that proportion of 
 the tonnage employed in our export trade sailed for that island 
 
MISSION TO PAITAMA. 85 
 
 Its commerce is at present more valuable to the United States 
 than that of all the Southern Kepublics united. How, then, 
 can the American people even agree that this island shall be 
 invaded by Colombia and Mexico, and pass under their domin- 
 ion 1 Ought we not to avert its impending fate, if possi- 
 ble ? 
 
 " Important as the island may be to us in a commercial, it 
 is still more important in a political, view. From its position it 
 commands the entrance to the Gulf both of Mexico and Flor- 
 ida. The report of our Committee of Foreign Eelations, truly 
 says, ' that the Moro may be regarded as a fortress at the 
 mouth of the Mississippi.' Any power in possession of this 
 island, even with a small naval force, could hermetically seal 
 the mouth of the Mississippi. Thus the vast agricultural pro- 
 ductions of that valley, which is drained by the father of rivers, 
 might be deprived of the channel which nature intended for 
 their passage. A large portion of the people of the State, one 
 of whose representatives I am, find their way to market by the 
 Mississippi. For this reason I feel particularly interested in 
 this part of the subject. The great law of self-preservation, 
 which is equally binding on individuals and nations, commands 
 us, if we cannot obtain possession of this island ourselves, not 
 to suffer it to pass from Spain, under whose dominion it will be 
 harmless, and yet our go^rnment have never even protested 
 against its invasion by Mexico and Colombia. 
 
 " There is stiQ another view of the subject in relation to this 
 island, which demands particular attention. Let us for a 
 moment look at the spectacle which it will probably present 
 in case Mexico and Colombia should attempt to revolutionize 
 it. Have they not always, marched under the standard of uni- 
 versal emancipation"? Have they not always conquered by pro- 
 claiming liberty to the slave ? In the present condition of this 
 island what shall be the probable consequence ? A servile war, 
 which in every age has been the most barbarous and destructive, 
 and which spares neither age nor sex. Revenge, urged on by 
 
86 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BTTCHAHAW. 
 
 cruelty and ignorance, would desolate the land. The dreadful 
 scenes of St. Domingo would again l?e presented to our view, 
 and would again be acted almost within sight of our own 
 shores. Cuba would be a vast magazine in the vicinity of the 
 southern States, whose explosion would be dangerous to their 
 tranqmUity and peace. Is there any man in this Union who 
 could for one moment indulge the horrid idea of abolishing 
 slavery by the massacre of the highminded and chivalrous race 
 of men in the south ? I trust there is not one. For my own 
 part, I would without hesitation, buckle on my knapsack and 
 march in company with my friend from Massachusetts (Mr. 
 Everett) in defence of their cause." 
 
 The consent of Congress for the appointment of the mission 
 to Panama, was at length obtained, though in a modified form 
 from what was first asked. Few questions ever before Con- 
 gress attracted for the time more attention than this proposed 
 mission. It was the Moni'oe doctrine, and a step beyond, and 
 was opposed by the democracy of that day, simply because 
 they saw and knew it was only an effort of Mr. Adams to secure 
 popularity, and that he himself, as it afterwards appeared, had 
 no idea of entering into such " entangling alliances " as was 
 unavoidable if the mission were carried out as at first sugges- 
 ted. It was, in fact, one of those false excitements raised by 
 the enemies of democracy to divert the pubUc mind from real 
 issues. It had its day, like many others which have been bom 
 and nursed since, producing for the time excited and even in- 
 temperate discussion, but finally leaving the principles of genu- 
 ine democracy only the clearer and brighter, on account of the 
 transitory storm that had darkened the political atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 The reader will not fail to notice by the above speech of Mr. 
 Buchanan, that the importance of allowing no nation to take 
 possession of Cuba in place of Spain, is no new doctrine of his. 
 When it was deUvered in 1826, it was considered too conserva- 
 
BXJEVIVING OFFICEEB OF THE EEVOLTJTION. 8T 
 
 tive, now the same patriotic views are denounced as " filibus- 
 terism." 
 
 " The second session of the nineteenth Congress commenced 
 on the 1st of December, 1826, and ended on the 3d of March, 
 182'!. Almost the first business that came before it was a biQ 
 for the relief of the surviTing officers of the Revolution. It was 
 opposed by many members, but sustained by Mr. Buchanan, in 
 a speech of great eloquence and power, in which he triumph- 
 antly vindicated the duty of government in providing for the 
 wants of its defenders. Upon an amendment to extend the 
 provisions to the State militia, and which was intended to kill 
 the bUl, Mr. Buchanan said : 
 
 " Sir, has it ever been the practice of this government to pro- 
 vide for the nulitia ? Are they before you asking for any such 
 provision ? The wealth of Croesus would have been as that of 
 a beggar — ^the riches of Plutus would have been exhausted, in 
 pensioning aU the militia who served during the war of inde- 
 pendence. I feel as much gratitude to them for their services 
 as any man. A recollection of their glorious achievements must 
 warm the breast of every patriot. They have given renown to 
 their country ; but their occasional service of a few months does 
 not, cannot, place them upon an equality with the soldiers who 
 fought, and suffered, and bled, for years in the sacred cause of 
 liberty. The regular soldier was continually subject to martial 
 law ; he was compelled to remain in the service summer and 
 winter ; and, as the gentleman from Rhode Island had elo- 
 quently said, he had marked the frozen soU of his country with 
 the blood which flowed from his unshod feet. 
 
 " Who are before you asking for relief? They are the rem- 
 nants of the band who achieved your independence. They are 
 now suffermg the evils both of age and poverty. They have 
 lived so long as to be forgotten ; it would seem that they had 
 become pilgrims and sojourners in the land. The beautiful and 
 bountiful feast which they have purchased for the American 
 
88 LIFE AND 8EEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAIirAir. 
 
 pe»3ple, with their sufferings and with their blood, is open to all 
 but to them. The few veterans who survive their generation 
 again ask — what they have hitherto asked in vain — relief from 
 their country. This has never been hitherto granted ; nay, 
 more, we have refused to make any direct decision on their 
 claims. Let us not shrink from meeting the case fairly ; let 
 them know their fate." 
 
 The bill finally became a law, and the worthy veterans who 
 sustained the doubtful and arduous struggle for independence 
 were at least partially rewarded for their trials and their sacri- 
 fices. The business of this session was not very important, and 
 although there were many minor subjects of discussion, in most 
 of which Mr. Buchanan, as usual, took a prominent and leading 
 part, yet, as a whole; the proceedings of the session are barren 
 of historical interest. 
 
BBTBBIHOHUENT. bd 
 
 OHAPTBE VI. 
 
 Ketrenchment — ^Mr. AdamB* Administration — Dress of Foreign Ministers— KatoialiEatior 
 Laws — Retirement of Mr. Macon. 
 
 The Twentieth Congress convened on tJie 3d of December 
 1827. -Hon. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, was chosCT. 
 Speaker. In the Senate were such able debaters as Woodbury, 
 Webster, Van Buren, Macon, Hayne, Berrien, and Benton. In 
 ihe House were John Davis, Edward Everett, C. Mallory, 0am- 
 breleng, Michael Hoffinan, Silas Wright, W. S. Archer, P. P. 
 Barbour, John Kandolph, George McDufBe, John Bell, James 
 K. Polk, Edward Livingston, and Edward Bates. A new 
 Tariff bill was introduced at this session, and was -contested 
 inch by inch, but finally passed the House by eleven and the 
 Senate by four majority. Mr. Buchanan participated ftdly in 
 the discussion ; but as we have, in a previous chapter, given 
 his opinions on this question, it is unnecessary to repeat them. 
 Retrenchment was another subject which engaged the attention 
 of this Congress. It is very common for Congressmen to talk a 
 great deal on this point, but they seldom advocate any practical 
 method in order to reach the desired object without delay or 
 difficulty. Not so, however, Mr. Buchanan ; he proposed a 
 measure, which by simplicity of operation, laid the axe at the 
 root of the tree. In the course of the debate, he remarked : — 
 
 " I have a word to say to the gehtleman from Maryland (Mr. 
 Barney) before I take my seat. I am prepared at this time, 
 ffnd at all times, to act upon the subject of reducing our own 
 
90 LIFE AND SBEVIOES OF JAMES BUOHAITAN. 
 
 pay. In relation to this question, I formed a deliberate opinion 
 six years ago, which my experience ever since has serred to 
 strengthen and confirm, that the per diem allowance of mem- 
 bers of Congress ought to be reduced. As a compensation for 
 our loss of time, it is at present whoUy inadequate. There is no 
 gentleman fit to be in Congress, who pursues any active business 
 at home, who does not sustain a clear loss by his attendance 
 here. If we consider our pay in reference to our indiridual ex- 
 penses, it is too much. It is more than sufficient to cover our 
 expenses. I believe that the best interests of the country 
 require that it should be reduced to a sum no more than suf- 
 ficient to enable us to live comfortably whilst we are here. For 
 my own part, I do not, like the gentleman from Maryland, give 
 away to my constituents my per diem allowance. I. receive it 
 and use it for my own benefit. It seems that gentleman uses 
 the surplus of his pay, in displaying his liberality to his consti- 
 tuents ; by making donations to churches and charitable insti- 
 tutions at public expense. In this manner he may use it most 
 effectually for his own advantage ; but stiU I am inclined to 
 believe his constituents, as well as mine, would be quite as well 
 satisfied, if the surplus were allowed to remain in the treasury 
 for the benefit of the nation. If the government of this country 
 should ever want almoners to distribute their bounty, the last 
 men whom the people should desire to employ in this office, 
 would be members of Congress. It might be dangerous to trust 
 them with the performance of such duty." 
 
 During the course of the same debate on the subject of 
 " Retrenchment," Mr. Buchanan took occasion to explain more 
 fully his reasons for advocating a reduction of pay. 
 
 Said Mr. B., " when I expressed myself friendly to a reduc- 
 tion of our own per diem allowance, I trust neither the gentle- 
 man from Maryland (Mr. Barney), nor any other upon this 
 floor, attributed my remarks to the grovelling and selfish desire 
 
EETKENCHMEin. 91 
 
 of courting popularity. The people of this country are too 
 clear-sighted and too intelligent to be deceived by such preten- 
 ces. I here distinctly avow the saving of money to the public 
 treasury was far from being the chief reason which influenced 
 aiy mind in arriving at the conclusion that our per diem should 
 be reduced. I firmly believe that my own constituents would 
 not regard it a single straw, whether I voted for eight or four 
 dollars per day. My motive was of a higher nature. My 
 remarks, I trust, sprung from a noble source. If the gentle- 
 man from North Carolina (Mr. Culpepper) had reasoned upon 
 the fact which he stated, and had drawn the fair deduction from 
 it, he would, I think, feel the force of the remarks which I 
 intend to make. He says that but one bill has passed into a 
 law during the present Congress. I would ask this gentleman, 
 why is this the case ? Why has not more business been done ? 
 If he had asked himself these questions, he .would probably 
 have discovered the true origin of my remarks. I wish to 
 speak with all due deference to the members of this house, 
 when I say it is my desire, by reducing our wages, to make it 
 our interest as well as our duty, to do the business of the 
 country as it arises, and go home as soon as possible. I do not 
 wish to be in a hurry — I do not wish to act without due delibe- 
 ration ; and yet, I firmly believe that the public business might 
 be better transacted than it is at present, in little more than 
 half the period of our long sessions. I do not profess to be " an 
 aged geaitleman," but yet, upon this subject, I can speak in the 
 language of experience, and am glad that there are many gen- 
 tlemen around me who can correct me if I should fall in error. 
 I would ask, what has been the course of legislation which we 
 have heretofore pursued ? What have we done through the 
 first half of every long session 1 I answer, comparatively 
 nothing. The fact stated by the gentleman from North Caro- 
 lina in regard to the business which has been transacted during 
 the present session, is substantially true of those that are past. 
 But I do not complain of the waete of time alone. The neces- 
 
92 LIFE AND SEKTTCES OP JAMES BTTOHANAN'. 
 
 sary consequence of this manner of proceeding is to force the 
 whole business of the House near its close. Then we have so 
 much to do, that we can do nothing well. There is neither 
 time nor opportunity for inyestigation ; and measures are 
 adopted the nature and character of which cannot be under- 
 stood by the House." 
 
 On the 4th of February in a debate upon the very same 
 bill which drew forth the remarks just quoted, Mr. Buchanan 
 went into a thorough and searching review of Mr. Adams' admi- 
 nistration. The presidential election of 1828 wa^approaching, 
 and General Jackson, who had been defeated in 1825, was the 
 candidate of the democracy. The people had already become 
 tired of Mr. Adams' management of affairs. When a resolution 
 was introduced in the House to inquire into abuses which were 
 said to exist, some of the friends of the President opposed it. 
 How different from the course of Mr. Buchanan in a former 
 Congress where the conduct of his friend, General Jackson, had 
 been assailed I To those who thus proposed to stifle investi- 
 gation, Mr. Buchanan indignantly replied : — " Against this po- 
 sition I take leave to enter my solemn protest. Is it the 
 Eepublican doctrine ? What, sir, are we told that we shall not 
 inquire into the eMstence of abuses in this government, because 
 such an inquiry might tend to make the government less 
 popular ? This is new doctrine to me — doctrine that I have 
 never heard before on this "floor. Liberty, sir, is a preoious gift, 
 which can never long be enjoyed to any people, without the 
 most watchful jealousy. It is Hesperian fTuit, which the ever- 
 wakeful jealousy of the people can alone preserve. The very pos- 
 session of power has a strong— a natural tendency, to corrupt 
 the heart. * * * if the government has been administered 
 upon correct principles, an intelligent people will do justice to 
 their rulers ; if not they will take care that every abuse shall 
 be corrected." 
 
 In the same speech he made a reference to General Jackson, 
 
DEESS OF FOREIGN MINI8TEE8. 93 
 
 which will show not only the early, bat the devoted support he 
 rendered to that distinguished democrat, to whom the people 
 are indebted for the destruction of that gigantic monopoly, the 
 United States Bank. Alluding to the taunt Mr. Clay cast 
 upon General Jackson that he was simply " a military chief- 
 tain^" Mr. Buchanan remarked : — " I thank Heaven, that in 
 these days, a 'military chieftain' has arisen whose name is 
 familiar to the lips of even the humblest citizen of this country, 
 because his services live in their hearts, who will be able, by the 
 suffrages of the people, to wrest the power of this government 
 from the hands of its present possessors. No one else could, at 
 this time, have successfully opposed the immense patronage and 
 power of the administration. * * * l trust and beheve, that 
 the people of the United States will elevate ' the citizen soldier ' 
 to the supreme magistracy of the Union. In that event, and after 
 he shall have been tried by them, I venture to predict, that 
 their award will entwine the civic wreath with the laurel crown, 
 and that Jackson wUl live in the history of his country as the 
 man of the present age, ' first in war, first in peace, and first in 
 the hearts of his countrymen.' " It is unnecessary to remark how 
 abundantly this prediction has been verified. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's love for genuine republican simplicity has 
 always been something more than a mere name. Eesiding in a 
 portion of the country which retains more of the simple, unos- 
 tentatious habits of rural life than any other agricultural district 
 of such wealth, it is not surprising that he should repudiate all 
 those badges of distinction and inferiority, which are so con- 
 trary of that spirit of equality which democracy inculcates. He 
 held up to just derision and contempt the attiring of our for- 
 eign ministers in a military coat covered with ghttering gold 
 lace, and decking them with a chapeau and small sword ! When 
 it was called by some member of Congress " the Uvery of the 
 American people," Mr. Buchanan remarked : — 
 
 "I protest against this dress being called the livery of the 
 
94 LIFE AND SEEVIOBS OF JAMES BUOHANAIT. 
 
 American people : it is the livery of the last and the present 
 administration. No gentleman who valued his standing with 
 the people of this country, would ever appear before them in 
 such a garb. The people of the United States do not even 
 know that such a dress has been prescribed for their ministers 
 abroad. In many instances it must make us appear ridiculous 
 in the eyes of foreign nations. Imagine to yourself a grave and 
 venerable statesman, who never attended a militia training in 
 his life, but who has been elevated to the station of a foreign 
 minister in consequence of his civil attainments, appearing at 
 court arrayed in this military coat, with a chapeau under his 
 arm, and a small sword dangling at Ms side 1 Is not such a 
 man compelled, by conformity to this regulation, to render him- 
 self ridiculous ? ' A military chieftain' who, in early life, had 
 received his education at West Point, not the old citizen soldier 
 who resides upon his farm, mightsport a dress of this kind with 
 some degree of grace ; but what a ridiculous spectacle would a 
 grave lawyer, or judge, of sixty years of age, present, arrayed 
 in such a costume 1 If the salary of our foreign ministers be 
 not sufficient- to enable them to exercise that liberal but plain 
 hospitality which belongs to the character of their country, I 
 say, again, let it be increased ; but let them never forget, 
 in their dress or in their manners, the simple grandeur wHch 
 belongs to the character of republicans." 
 
 It is but proper to say that Mr. Buchanan has since practised 
 what he advocated upon this occasion ; and during his recent 
 residence as minister at the court of St. James, among all the 
 gewgaws and trappings of royalty, he appeared in the simple, 
 unpretending garb of an American citizen ; thus upholding the 
 simplicity of republican institutions, and forcibly rebuking the 
 spirit of monarchy which decks one man with badges of supe- 
 riority, and fastens upon another the symbols of degradation. 
 
 During this session Mr. Buchanan reported an important aud 
 much needed amendment to our naturalization laws, from the 
 
NATURALIZATION LAWS. 95 
 
 Judiciary Committee, of which he still continued a member, 
 Under the law as it then stood, an alien could not be legally 
 naturalized, unless he could produce a certificate that he had 
 gone before a court and registered himself ; and this certificate 
 was to be the evidence of the time of his arrival in the United 
 States. The law also required that this certificate of registry 
 should be recited in the certificate of naturalization. It wiU 
 thus be seen that according to this law, no matter how long a 
 man had been in this country, or how irrefragably he could prove 
 it, he could not be legally naturalized, if he had neglected to 
 make the registry of his arrival. This neglect was very com- 
 mon, on account of aliens upon their arrival here, not being 
 acquainted with the law on the subject. The bill which Mr. 
 Buchanan reported proposed to do away with this registry. 
 There was also another section of the law which required every 
 alien who arrived in this country after April 14th, 1802, to 
 exhibit a certificate of the declaration of his intention to become 
 a citizen, made two years before his application to be natu- 
 ralized. 
 
 " It was believed," Mr. B. said, " by the committee, " that if 
 an ahen could- establish, by clear and indifierent testimony, thai 
 he had arrived in this country previous to the late war (of 1812), 
 and continued to reside in it ever since, this condition might, in - 
 such case, with propriety be dispensed with. He had reason to 
 believe that there were many persons in the country, particu- 
 larly Irishmen, who served as soldiers during the late war, who 
 have hitherto neglected to make declaration of their intention 
 to become citizens ; and we thought it right to provide for this 
 class of cases, more especially as such persons must prove, by 
 clear and indifferent testimony, that they have ever since resided 
 in the United States." 
 
 These amendments to our naturalization laws, so just and 
 proper, were, by the exertions of Mr. Buchanan, adopted. 
 Congress adjoiifned on the 26th of May, 1828, and met again 
 
96 LTFE Airo 8EBTICB8 OF JAMES BUOHASTAU. 
 
 ' on the lst,of December following. In the meantime the presi- 
 dential election had taken place, and Gen. Jackson triumph- 
 antly elected, according to the predictions of Mr. Buchanan. 
 The principal topics of discussion before Congress were the occu- 
 pation of the Oregon river, the Cumberland road, and an amend- 
 ment to the Constitution introduced by Mr. Smyth, of Virginia, 
 to the- effect that no person who should have been once elected 
 President of the United States shall be again eligible to that 
 office. Mr. Buchanan opposed this upon true democratic 
 grounds, which will at once commend themselves to the reason 
 of every intelKgent person. He said " he would incline to leave 
 to the people of the United States, without incorporating it in 
 the Constitution, to decide whether a President should serve 
 more than one term. The day may come when dangers shall 
 lower over us, and when we may have a President at the helm 
 of state who possesses the confidence of the country, and is bet- 
 ter able to. weather the storm than any other pilot ; shall we 
 then, under such circumstances, deprive the people of the United 
 States of the power of obtaining his services for a second term ? 
 Shill we pass "a decree, as fixed as fate, to bind the American 
 people, and prevent them from ever re-eleicting such a man ? I 
 am not afraid to tnist them with this power." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan delivered an elaborate speech upon the Cum- 
 berland Road BUI, in which he discussed the subject of internal 
 improvements by the general government, adhering strictly to 
 the doctrine on this subject laid down in Mr. Monroe's celebra- 
 ted message, to which reference has already been made. The 
 proceedings of this session are not voluminous or important. 
 They embrace a large number of private bOls, but none of im- 
 portant historical interest. The country was anxiously awaiting- 
 the commencement of Gen. Jackson's administration, which was 
 inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1829, the termination of the 
 
 ' present Congress. 
 
 This session of Congress was distinguished for the retirement 
 from public life of that remarkable man, Nathaniel Macou, of 
 
KETIEEMENT OF ME. MACON. 97 
 
 North Carolina. Stern in his integrity, dcToted to duty, ready 
 to accept any of&ce, even to justice of peace, within the gift of 
 the people, but disdainuig a seat in the Cabinet of Mr. Jefferson, 
 where it could only come as an appointment, he presented one 
 of the most noted examples of that Ulustrious patriotism, and 
 rigid self-denial which was a leading trait in the character of all 
 the more eminent founders of our democratic institutions. He 
 had fixed in his own mind for many years previous to his retire- 
 ment, that he would do so when he arrived at the age of three 
 score and ten, and he was equal to his determination. When 
 remonstrated with by his friends and assured that he was still in 
 the vigor of his intellect, which was the fact, he remarked 
 " that his mind was still good enough to tell him that he ought 
 to quit ofiBce before his mind quit him, and that he did not mean 
 to risk the fate of the Archbishop of Granada." Quietly and 
 meekly he left the Senate, retired to his home in North Caro- 
 lina, and on the 29th of June, 1831, died, full of years and ftdl 
 of honors. Jefferson, in speaking of- him, used to say that he 
 vas " the last of the Romans." 
 
LIFE AJTD SEEVT0E8 OF JAMBS BU0HA2IAK. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Election of £le&. /ackBon to the Presidency— The Impeachment of Judge Peck — Ur, 
 Buchanan's Celebrated Speech thereupon. 
 
 The first session of Congress under the administration of Gen. 
 Jackson assembled on the 1th of December, 1829. In the 
 Senate were Samuel Bell and Levi Woodbury of New Hamp- 
 shire, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, Theodore Freling- 
 huysen and Mahlon Dickerson of New Jersey, John M. Clayton 
 of Delaware, John Tyler of Virginia, Eobert T. Hayne of South 
 Carolina, George M. Troup and John Forsyth of Georgia, 
 Edward Livingston of Louisiana, William R. King of Alabama, 
 and Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. In the House may be men- 
 tioned among the prominent names those of Edward Everett of 
 Massachiisetts, Tristam Burgess of Rhode Island, C. C. Cambre- 
 leng, Henry B. Cowles, Michael Hoffinan, Ambrose Spencer, 
 John W. Taylor, and Gulian C. Verplanck of New York, James 
 Buchanan, Joseph Hempbill of Pennsylvania, P. P. Barbour, 
 Charles F. Mercer and Andrew Stevenson of Virginia, George 
 McDuffie of South Carolina, E. M. Johnson, R. P. Letcher, and 
 C. A. Wickliffe of Kentucky, John Bell and James K. Polk of 
 Tennessee, and C. C. Clay and Dixon H. Lewis of Alabama. 
 Seldom in our history has the floor of either house of Congress 
 shown a greater array of talent or more sterling integrity than 
 upon this occasion. A large number of the members were fresl 
 from the people, and had been elected in that sweep of popnlai 
 enthusiasm which had placed " the hero of New Orleans" in 
 the {H^eddential ohair 
 
ELECTION OF GEN. JACKSON TO THE rEESIDENCT. 9& 
 
 And here it is proper to refer to Mr. Buchanan's part in that 
 celebrated contest From the prominent position he had taken 
 as the friend of Gen. Jackson, he was the especial mark of the 
 malignity of "his enemies He was assailed with all the bitter- 
 ness which the most intense party spirit could invoke, but firm 
 in his confidence in the ability of the distinguished man whom 
 he supported for the highest of&ce in the gift of a free people, 
 he never wavered for a moment in his support. Through all the 
 storms of detraction and abuse which were poured upon him as 
 no man had ever before been assailed in this country, Mr. 
 Buchanan stood his firm, unwavering friend. The campaign of 
 1828 was a memorable one in the annals of the democratic 
 party, as well as in .the politics of the entire country. The 
 power and influence of the administration were opposed to the 
 success of Gen. Jackson, and his friends were compelled to con- 
 tend with this and more than all with the systematic course of 
 detraction that was pursued against their candidate. They 
 triumphed, however, over every obstacle, and inaugurated the 
 most glorious democratic administration since the days of Jef- 
 ferson. M. de Tocqueville, about as wise as most European 
 writers on our institutions, has said that Gen. Jackson was 
 " raised to the Presidency and maintained there solely by the 
 recollection of the rictory of New Orleans 1" This imputation 
 upon the intelligence of the people m choosmg their public ser- 
 vants, of course could only come from a disbeliever in popular 
 government, and probably it never was repeated by a single 
 person in our own country who was sincerely a believer in the 
 capacity of the people for self-government. M. de Tocqueville 
 has made another remark in regard to Gen. Jackson, which was, 
 accidentally, true. He says, "the majority of the enlightened 
 dasses were always opposed to him ;" and he might have added, 
 that those he calls " enlightened " have always opposed demo- 
 cracy. Imbibing then- notions of government from British 
 writers, and contenmmg the doctrines of Jefferson, Madison and 
 Jackson, it is no wonder they have no sympathy with the strong 
 
100 LIFE AKD eEKYIOBb OF JAMES BUCHANAlir. 
 
 hearts, earnest impulses and unperverted sentiments of the 
 masses who grasp as if by instinct their leader. In the early 
 and strong attachment which Mr. Buchanan exhibited for Gen. 
 Jackson, we see this impulse of democracy called forth, in all 
 its power ; and the ratification it met from the_ suffrages of the 
 people, gives it the stamp of unequivocal genuineness 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was selected at this session for the important 
 position of Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, ■which had 
 been held by Mr. Webster when be was a member of the 
 House. Mr. B. had for several sessions been a member of this 
 Committee, and no man in the House was probably better quali- 
 fied for the place. There was too, at this lime, one of the most 
 important matters before this Committee which can possibly 
 fall to the consideration of a legislative body. It was no less 
 than the impeachment of a judicial officer, James H. Peck, 
 Judge of the District Court of the United States for the District 
 of Missouri. No matter may be considered of a more serious 
 character, or one which requires a greater degree of prudence 
 and discrimination, than the solenm duty of the impeachment of 
 a judge. To keep inviolate the dignity and authority of the 
 judicial bench, and at the same time preserve a jealous regard 
 for the rights of the citizen, embrace points of constitutional 
 law of a most delicate and important character. Fortunately, 
 instances where the Senate of the- United States has been 
 called upon to resolve itself into a High Court of Impeachment, 
 and to exercise the constitutional functions thereby conferred 
 upon it, have been exceedingly rare ; only three previous to this 
 case have occurred in our history as a nation. But the very 
 fact that these cases have been rare, is the reason that makes 
 them more difficult of adjudication. We have few or no prece- 
 dents to guide us, except those we find in English reports, 
 which, under a republican form of goverment are, or at least 
 ought to be, mostly iaappUcable. Hence, such cases require 
 some qualiflcation in a prosecutor beyond the mere fact of 
 being a lawyer. They call for a profound acquaintance not 
 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF JUDGE PECK. 101 
 
 only with the theory, but aboTe all, with the spirit of our 
 institutions. They need a mind gifted with sufficient power of 
 originahty to break away from the musty traditions of English 
 precedents, and, in conformity with th,e new spirit implanted 
 by republican principles, judge of facts by the unerring stand- 
 ard of rigid common sense, instead of following the decisions of 
 the judicial sycophants of royalty. Are not men of the present 
 day equally as able to judge of what is right or wrong as 
 Scroggs and Jeffries, or even, with all due respect, " my Lord 
 Chief Justice Mansfield?" At least so thought Mr. Bu- 
 chanan in the argument he delivered in the Senate on that 
 celebrated trial, and there is no man in "whose bosom there 
 beats an American heart who wUl not thank him for the noble 
 sentiments he then uttered before the assembled talent of the 
 nation. 
 
 The articles of impeachment againist Judge Peck passed the 
 House of Representatives at the first session of this, the twen- 
 tieth Congress, but the trial did not take place before the 
 Senate until the opening of the second session. The circum- 
 stances which gave rise to this celebrated prosecution were 
 briefly as follows. In December, 1825, Judge Peck in the 
 United States District Court of Missouri decided against the 
 claims of the widow and children of one Antoine Soulard, to 
 certain land within the State of Missouri and the then Territory 
 of Arkansas. Luke E. Lawless, Esq., of St. Louis, had been 
 one of the counsel for prosecuting the claims before Judge 
 Peck, and when the decision of the judge in regard to the mat- 
 ter was published, Mr. Lawless wrote a brief article to one of 
 the newspapers in St. Louis, in which he enumerated the errors 
 into which the judge had fallen. These were stated in respect- 
 fal language, and confined solely to a notice of the case in issue. 
 Judge Peck chose to consider the communication of Mr. Law- 
 less a contempt of court, and having summoned him before 
 him, not only deprived him of his right to act in his profession, 
 but even went so far as to commit him to prison, for exercising 
 
102 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 tke right every citizen enjoys of criticising the decisions of our 
 courts. Mr. Lawless made complaint to the House of Eepre- 
 sentatives. His memorial was referred to the Judiciary Oom- 
 mittee of which Mr. Buchanan was chairman. After a full and 
 deliberate consideration of the case, the Committee unanimously 
 reported articles of impeachment against Judge Peck, which 
 were adopted by the House, and thereupon presented to the 
 Senate, which resolved into a Court of Impeachment for the 
 trial of the accused judge- 
 There were five managers chosen by ballot on the part of 
 the House of Eepresentatives to conduct the prosecution. 
 They were James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, Henry E. Storrs 
 of New York, George McDuf&e of South Carolina, Ambrose 
 Spencer of New York, and Charles Wickliflfe of Kentucky. 
 Hon. WiUiam Wirt and Hon. Jonathan Meredith were the 
 counsel of Judge Peck. The trial opened on the 13th of 
 December, 1830, at noon. The Senators were arranged on 
 two sets of benches, covered with green cloth, to the right 
 and left of the Vice President, the Hon. John C. Calhoun of 
 South Carolina Judge Peck and his counsel, Mr. Wirt and Mr. 
 Meredith, entered and were conducted to a table prepared for 
 their convenience Soon after, the managers appointed on the 
 part of tha House of Eepresentatives to conduct the impeach- 
 ment came in and took seats prepared for them. Mr. Buchanan, 
 ■who had been selected as chairman of the committee of man. 
 agers, rose and stated that they were ready to proceed to trial. 
 After the transaction of some preliminary business, the Court 
 adjourned for one week. On the following Monday, the case 
 was opened on the part of the prosecution, by Mr. McDuf&e, in 
 a speech of great learning, eloquence, and power. After the 
 evidence of the prosecution had been submitted, Mr. Meredith 
 opened for the defence in a learned and able argument, and 
 upon the submission of the entire testimony, Mr. Storrs first, and 
 Mr. Wickliffe afterwards, addressed the Court. Mr. Meredith 
 opened his sjreat speech for the defence on the 19th of January 
 
HIS SPEECH. 103 
 
 and contiimed four days. Once in the course of Ms argu- 
 ment he sank from physical exhaustion. On the 24th, Mr. 
 Wirt followed hiin in one of the happiest and most eloquent 
 efforts of his life. He occtipied three days. The closing por- 
 tion is stUl described by those who heard it as surpassingly beau- 
 tiful. Wit, sarcasm, and impressive eloquence, as only a Wirt 
 could use them, poured forth in streams, riveting the attention 
 and eliciting the admiration of a crowded Senate chamber and 
 galleries during the whole time he was speaking. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan closed the^ase. He did not bring to his task, 
 perhaps, the graceful oratory of Wirt, or even the impulsive, 
 indignant- eloquence of McDuffie, but he presented an argument 
 which, for a review of the principles of constitutional and judi- 
 cial law, it may be said without offence, was certainly superior 
 to Mr. Wirt's speech, and fully equal to that of Mr. McDufBe. 
 Mr. Buchanan was at this time about forty years of age, and 
 his mind had been thoroughly trained in debate on the floor of 
 the House, with such men as Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. 
 Lowndes, Mr. Eandolph, Mr. Webster, and others equally 
 eminent in forensic ability. After opening his speech with a 
 few preliminary remarks explanatory of the general nature of 
 the -case, Mr. Buchanan said : 
 
 "In the progress of this trial, we have made a loag excursion 
 to England. We have had the principles of the English gov- 
 ernment extensively discussed, and the court has been enter- 
 tained with a minute account of the judicial history of that 
 country, and what does it all prove towards the elucidation of 
 this cause ? I should not have cared if the gentlemen had 
 succeeded in establishing that the offence of scandalizing a 
 court, whether a cause was pending or not, is punishable in a 
 summary manner in England. If it were so, what then ? Are 
 we to look to the laws of England, or to the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States, for the power of our judges ? At 
 the revolution we -separated ourselves from the mother country, 
 
304 LIFE AND SEEVI0K8 OF JAMBS BUCHANAN. 
 
 and we have established a republlGan form, of goverument, 
 securing to the citizens of this country other and greater per- 
 sonal rights, than those enjoyed under the British monarchy. 
 The gentlemen "have been discussing the extent of personal 
 rights in England ; but that is not the standard of the rights 
 of the people of this country. When we arrive at the proper 
 stage of the cause, I think I shall then show that the language 
 of the Constitution of the United States upon this subject is so 
 plain, that he who runs may read. Judge Peck had no occasion 
 to go to England and consult the common law to discover pre- 
 rogatives for the courts of this country ; all he had to do, to 
 ascertain the limits of their legitimate power over contempts, 
 was to read the seventh section of the Judiciary Act of lt89, 
 and the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 " In the further prosecution of this subject, I shall contend, 
 that under the Constitution and laws of the United States, the 
 federal courts possess no power to punish in a summary manner, 
 as contempts, pubhcations reflecting on the court, whether in 
 relation to a cause pending or one finaEy decided, and that iu 
 either case, such a power is equally at war both with the spirit 
 and the letter of the Constitution. 
 
 " And here I will take leave to observe, that any one who 
 has attended to the course of this trial, might alone imaghie it 
 was the impeachment of an English judge before the House of 
 Lords, and not that of an American judge before the Senate of 
 the United States. We have scarcely heard of our own Consti- 
 tution or our own laws. This may have been accident, or^it 
 may have been design. If it has been by design, it shall not 
 succeed. The gentleman shall not keep us pursuing the judicial 
 history of England for the last five hundred years, and thus 
 place out of view our own constitutional guarantees for the per- 
 sonal rights and personal Uberty of our own citizens. 
 
 " If the courts of the United States do possess this power, it 
 must be derived either from the common law or from the 
 inherent powers which necessarily belong to all courts of justice, 
 
HIS SPEECH, 105 
 
 or from the Judiciary Act of 1189. If the power exists at all, 
 it must come from one of these three sources. 
 
 " As regards the common law, I think it is now conclusively 
 settled by the a^udged cases, that the courts of the United 
 States possess no criminal common law jurisdiction. If any 
 question can be considered at rest, it is this. It is utterly 
 astonishing to me, that such a claim of jurisdiction should ever 
 have been asserted for the judiciary. The Constitution of the 
 United States called into existence a new government. Under 
 its provisions. Congress estabUshed new courts of justice. To 
 the legislature it belonged to declare what ought or what 
 ought not to be the law by which these courts should be 
 governed. The attempt to transfer from England to the United 
 States the whole criminal code of common law, without the 
 sanction of Congress, was the most extraordinary that. will be 
 conceived. I have ever been a Mend to courts, and in an 
 especial manner a friend to the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, and I trust I have shown it by my public conduct ; but 
 if ever they should attempt to usurp the legislative power of 
 declaring any act to be a crime in this country, merely because 
 it is a crime by the common law of England, I do not know but 
 I should be wiUing to bring the judges of that court themselves 
 before this tribunal. The Congress of the United States have 
 ever legislated upon the principles, that an act must be declared 
 a crime by law before the courts can notice it as such. In 1825, 
 the chairman of the Committee oa the Judiciary in the House 
 of Eepresentatives, who is now a distinguished member of this 
 Court (Mt. Webster), reported a bUl on the avowed principle 
 that many actions manifestly of a criminal character had not 
 been declared crimes by act of Congress, and , it was necessary 
 that this omission should be supplied, in order to give the courts 
 of the United States the power of trying and punishing them. 
 The bUl thus reported was enacted into a law. This doctrine, 
 which is clearly correct in reason and in principle, has been 
 settled by the two adjudged cases, which have already been cited. 
 
 5* 
 
106 LIFE AUD SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHAI^AIT. 
 
 Indeed, so clearly and finnly is it established, that the late Mr, 
 Justice Washington, in delivering a charge to the grand jury - 
 at Philadelphia in 1822, laid it down as settled, that the courts 
 of the United States hare not cognizance of offences at common 
 law, unless it be conferred on them by the laws of the United 
 States. 
 
 N( * 4: H= * * 
 
 " I shall now proceed to prove that the power claimed and 
 exercised by the respondent is in direct violation of the letter 
 and spirit of the Constitution. In order to demonstrate this 
 proposition, it is only necessary to contrast the provisions of the 
 Constitution with the proceedings of the judge against Mr. Law- 
 less. The Constitution declares that " in all criminal prosecu- 
 tions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and pubhc 
 trial, by an impartial jury." What does this mean ? Does it 
 not extend to all criminal prosecutions ? and is it not established 
 that the prosecution of a libel as a contempt is a criminal prose- 
 cution ? In criminal prosecutions the rights of a citizen are 
 never to be taken away, without a trial by an impartial jury. 
 ImpartiaKty is the attribute peculiarly required. But what 
 does the law of contempts, as administered by Judge Peck, 
 declare ? That the dearest rights of a citizen may be taken 
 away, without any trial by jury, and by the sole authority of 
 any angry, offended, and therefore partial judge. Need I add 
 another word ? 
 
 " Again, the Constitution provides that ' no person shall be 
 held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, 
 unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, 
 except in cases arising in the land or naval forces,' &c. In 
 England, where the power of punishing libels against judges in 
 contempts came to the King's Bench from the Star Chamber, 
 a man may be prosecuted criminally upon a mere information 
 filed by the crown. But the Constitution of the United States 
 explodes this doctrine, except in cases arisiag in the land and 
 naval service. In all other cases a grand jury must pass upon 
 
HIS SPEEeH. 167 
 
 the accusea, before he can be brought to trial. So carefd 
 has the Constitution been of the liberty of the citizen, that it 
 has blotted out forever the proceeding by information ; although 
 before any punishment can be inflicted, even by this mode, a 
 petit jury must first have found the accused guilty. But what 
 is the process in the case of contempts ? Without either an 
 information or an indictment, but merely on a simple rule to 
 show cause, drawn up in any form the judge may think proper, 
 a man is put upon his trial for an infamous offence, involving 
 in its punishment the loss both of -liberty and property. He is 
 deprived both of petit jury and grand jury, and is tried by an 
 angry adversary prepared to sacrifice him and his rights on the 
 altar of his own vengeance. 
 
 " The Constitution declares, ' that no person shall be com- 
 pelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself.' 
 Now I ask, can the English language furnish plainer words 
 than these ? Did not the respondent know, when he called 
 upon Mr. Lawless to answer interrogatories upon oath, and on 
 his refusal inflicted an additional punishment, that the Consti- 
 tution protected him against any such inquisition ? If the Con- 
 stitution does not apply to a case of this kind, in the name of 
 Heaven when or where will it apply ? By the common law of 
 England, the refusal to answer interrogatories is itself ' a high 
 and repeated contempt, to be punished at the discretion of the 
 court :' and so thought Judge Peck ; but the Constitution inter- 
 poses its protection, and secures the citizen being called upon 
 to answer. Even the courtly Blackstone, the apologist of every 
 abuse under the British government, declares ' that this method 
 of making the defendant answer upon cath to a criminal charge 
 is not agreeable to the genius of the common law in any other 
 instance.' (4 Com. 287.) Now I verily believe that when the 
 framers of that sacred instrument inserted jn it the provision 
 ' that no person shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be 
 witness against himself,' they had this very case of contempt 
 full in their view. The power which they have forbidden did, 
 
108 LIFE AND SEETICES OF JA1VTES BUCHANAIT. 
 
 in this case, exist in England ; but even there it ' is not agree- 
 able to the genius of the common law in any other instance.' 
 What ease so proper could -they have had in view When they 
 inserted this clause ? They could never have intended that, not- 
 withstanding the provision, unless the accused would himself 
 humbly crouch at the foot of judicial power, and swear that he 
 had no intention to give the slightest offence to the judge, he 
 sTiould be liable to be severely punished. Such a doctrine 
 would be repugnant to every feeling of a freeman. 
 
 "Even the miserable pretext which existed for exercising 
 this power in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, that the Constitu- 
 tions of these respective States had sanctioned a pre-existing 
 ' law of the land,' which prostrated the barriers erected by these 
 very Constitutions for the protection of civil liberty, has no 
 existence here. No law of the land for the United States 
 existed previous to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
 It declares that no man shall be compelled to bear witness 
 against himself in a criminal charge ; and I put the question 
 home to each member of this high and honorable court, whether 
 the language must not be construed to £xtend to cases of this 
 nature. Is there anything else to which ihe provision can apply ? 
 This odious inquisition must certainly have been intended, as 
 there is no other criminal accusation on which a man can, even 
 by the common law, be required to bear witness against himself. 
 
 " Let me here bring into the view of the Senate a fact on 
 whiph I shall comment hereafter. The counsel has told us that 
 at first Judge Peck only intended to suspend Mr. Lawless ; but 
 in consequence of his refusal to have interrogatories filed, and 
 answer questions upon oath, which might require him to bear 
 witness against himself, ^d of his reading a paper to the court 
 in the character of a protest or bill of exceptions, his punish- 
 ment was aggravated by the disgrace of imprisonment. 
 
 "Yes, sir, with this constitutional charter in his hand, the 
 judge has branded Mr. Lawless with infamy (so far as his sen- 
 tence of imprisonment could do so), for refasing to give evidence 
 
HIS SPEECH. 109 
 
 against himself. But I shall treat more fully of this point here- 
 after. 
 
 " The Constitution farther provides, that no person, for the 
 same offence, shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. But 
 the law of contempt, after a judge has first wreaked his own 
 vengeance on the accused for the offence, considered as a con- • 
 tempt of court, the unhappy victim may afterwards be indicted 
 for a libel, and thus again punished for the same offence. 
 
 " The Constitution of the United States does not contain the 
 provision, which is to be found in almost every State Constitu- 
 tion in the Union, that, upon prosecution for a libel, the truth 
 may be given in evidence. The reason of this omission doubt- 
 less was, that as this instrument did not confer upon Congress 
 any power to punish libels, there was no necessity for the intro- 
 duction of such a clause. If the power exercised by the respon- 
 dent does not exist in the courts of the United States, I pre- 
 sume no man wiU be hardy enough to contend that the truth of 
 an accusation against a judge cannot be given in evidence in a 
 summarv prosecution for a contempt. What a spectacle would 
 then be presented on such a trial 1 For example, I believe that 
 a judge has in a certain cause decided absurdly (and such a 
 thing we know may happen). I review his decision in one of 
 the public journals, and prove that he has shown himself to be 
 a weak man, and charge him with having been wicked and par- 
 tial. If such be the fact, I have a right to establish it any- 
 where, and the truth everywhere ought to protect me from pim- 
 ishment. ^ 
 
 " I am called' before this very judge, charged with a con- 
 tempt of coxirt, and the only issue to be tried by him is, whether 
 he Mmself is not weak or is not wicked, whether he has not 
 made an absurd or a partial decision. What an examination 
 would this be in a land of liberty I Could it ever have been 
 intended to confer a power so absurd- and so dangerous upon 
 an American court of justice 7 
 
 " I now advance a little further in this argument (although 
 
110 LIFE AND SEKVICE8 OF JAMES BTJOHANAJSr. 
 
 it is astonishing to me that any argument on such a subject 
 can be necessary). That sacred aegis — the Hberty of the press 
 — a right which Congress, if they would, could not, and if they 
 ' could,' dare not infringe — shields every citizen of this land 
 from the blow of such judicial tyranny. No free government 
 can long exist without a free press. Power is constantly steal- 
 ing on. One implication involves another, until liberty may be 
 lost before the people know it is in danger. To preserve this 
 invaluable boon, it ought to be watched with greater jealousy 
 than, ever was excited by the fabled guardian of the Hesperian 
 fruit. Its safest protector is a free press ; and the Constitution 
 of the United States has therefore declared, that ' Congress 
 shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
 press.' What was the intention of this provision ? The 
 framers of the Constitution well knew, that under the law of 
 each of the States comprising this Union, libels were punish- 
 able. They, therefore, left the character of the ofiScers created 
 under the Constitution and laws of the United States, to be 
 protected by the laws of the several States. They were afraid to 
 give this government any authority over the subject of libels, 
 lest its colossal power might be wielded against the liberty 
 of the press. They have guarded it with a wholesome and 
 commendable jealousy. 
 
 " In open violation of this provision, the sedition law was 
 passed in lt98. This law, after having destroyed its authors, 
 expired in March, 1801, by its own limitation. The gentleman 
 who first addressed the Court in behalf of the respondent, has 
 mistaken the argument of the maijagers in relation to this law. 
 None of us contend that it was cruel and unjust in its pro- 
 visions. It was more equitable than the common law, because 
 in all cases it made an indictment necessary, and it permitted 
 the truth to be given in evidence. The popular odium which 
 attended this law was not excited by its particular provisions, 
 but by the fact that any lav upon the subject was a violation 
 of the Constitution. Congress had no power to pass any law 
 
HIS SPEECH. Ill 
 
 of the kind, good or bad. It is now, I believe, freely admitted 
 by every person (I, at least, have not for several years con- 
 versed with any man who held a contrary opinion), that Con- 
 gress, in passing this act, had transcended their powers. I 
 have no doubt that the motives of many of those who passed it 
 were perfectly pure ; but yet, if any principle has been estab- 
 lished beyond a doubt, by the almost unanimous opinion of the 
 people of the United States, it is, that the sedition law was 
 unconstitutional. Such is the strong and universal feehng upon 
 this subject, that if any attempt were now made to revive it, 
 the authors would probably meet a similar fate with those 
 deluded and desperate men in another country, who have 
 themselves fallen victims upon the same altar on which they 
 had determined to sacrifice the hberty of the press. 
 
 " Well, sir, and what then ? It is contended by the respon- 
 dent that although Congress could not bestow upon the courts 
 of the United States the power of trying and punishing hbels, 
 yet that by implication he may exercise this authority and 
 dominion over all men who may dare to discuss his pretensions 
 in the public newspapers. That power which the legislature 
 who created him could not confer upon him by express grant, 
 he exercises by imphcation. 
 
 " Shall then a petty judge, a petty provincial judge (if it be 
 lawful to use such language, after the rebuke my colleague 
 received) — although Congress itself dare not pass a law for the 
 punishment of libellers against its own members, or the Presi- 
 dent of the United States — ^be permitted to sit as the sole judge 
 in his own cause, and in palpable violation of the Constitution, 
 fine and imprison, at his own pleasure, the author of a libel 
 against himself ? When the express power cannot be delegated, 
 shall he take it by implication ? Shall courts of justice exercise 
 a power as a bare incident, vastly beyond what their creators 
 could confer upon them ? 
 
 "If all courts do possess this authority, it maybe wielded 
 . with vast power as an engine for the destruction of our liberties. 
 
112 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BTrOHAHAN. 
 
 We have always ^had in this country, and I suppose we shall 
 always continue to have, angry political discussions. It would 
 seem that such storms are necessary to puriJfy the political 
 atmosphere of the Republic (though they are sometimes much 
 more violent than agreeable). Let me illustrate my views by 
 putting a case ia reference to the so much agitated question of 
 our relations with the Southern Indians. This question has 
 awakened intense feeling throughout the Union, and I doubt 
 not has given birth to much honest difference of opinion. Some 
 believe the President to be right in his views upon the subject, 
 and others that he is entirely wrong. It would not become me 
 here to express any opinion. But suppose the President of the 
 United States were to institute suits against some one of the 
 editors who have attacked his character and assailed his mo- 
 tives in relation to his conduct on the Indian question, what 
 might be the consequence ? The question then to be settled by 
 such a suit would be, are these attacks true or false ? Now 
 you could not take up a paper in the District of Columbia which 
 would not contain one or more articles discussing the general 
 question, and having a direct bearing upon the public mind in 
 relation to the cause pending. These publications upon the 
 principles on which Judge Peck acted would alt be contempts 
 of court. Ton might as well attempt to stop the flowing tide, 
 lest it might overwhelm the temporary hut of the fisherman 
 upon the shore, as to arrest the march of public opinion in this 
 country, because in its course it might incidentally affect the 
 merits of a cause depending between individuals. 
 
 " Sir, is this a fancy picture ? When a man so distinguished 
 as to be a prominent candidate before the people of the United 
 States for the highest office in the country, undertakes to redress 
 his wrongs by an action for a libel, he attaches to himself the 
 whole politics of the country, and thus all the publications in 
 the papers of the United States on the subject out of which the 
 suit arose are converted into contempts against the court in 
 which it ia pending. 
 
HIS SPEECH. 113 
 
 " I know something abont a governor's election in New York 
 and Pennsylvania. The liberty of the press is on such occa- 
 sions carried to its utmost Kpiits.' Charges are very freely made 
 and very freely urged against the opposing candidates ; and all 
 the people of the State are deeply interested in knowing their 
 truth or falsehood. The candidate who fears the public dis- 
 cussion of any charge made against him, has nothing to do but 
 bring a suit, and then, according to the doctrine of contempts 
 now asserted, all future publications upon that subject become 
 contempts of court, and may be punished with severity by the 
 judges before whom the action is depending. The current of 
 public opinion must be stopped ; the merits or demerits of the 
 candidate must not be discussed-; there must be an awful pause 
 to await the event of a Kttle libel cause in an inferior court. 
 Such a doctrine cannot exist in this country. Carry it out to 
 its practicable consequences, and it becomes appalling. By a 
 politic application of it, every judge in the land may become the 
 tool of Executive power, or the instrument of preventing all 
 attacks against his political favorites who may be candidates 
 for office. These are not mere fanciful cases. They may occur 
 in practice ; and if the power should be sanctioned and estab- 
 lished by the decision of this court, the day may arrive when it 
 will be resorted to for the most dangerous purposes. The time 
 may come when it shall be considered very necessary and proper 
 to shield some future President from public discussion by the 
 exercise of this power. 
 
 " Why, sir, at this very time, from one end of the Union to 
 the other, we find the public papers of a particular complexion 
 ringing with attacks on the character and conduct of the Chief 
 Justice of the United States, in relation to the Indian question 
 now pending before the Supreme Court. I think these attacks 
 are unjust ; but to check them, would you silence the public 
 press ? Would you say that the Supreme Court ought to di-ag 
 before it every editor in the country, and thus put an end to 
 the discussion ? I know that even if the court possessed this 
 
Il4t LIFE AlfD 6BEVI0ES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 power, it would never be invoked by the present Chief Justice — 
 a man upon whom any eulogy of mine would be lost. But if 
 he resembled a Scroggs or a Jefteries (and such men may yet 
 hold that office), he would never rest content until he had 
 infficted vengeance, through the agency of this power, upon 
 those who dared to attack his judicial character. 
 
 " I have been consideriug the consequences of this power in 
 regard to cases pending ; but it would be infinitely worse in its 
 appUcation to cases which have been decided. The Supreme 
 Court of the United States is vested with power in the last 
 resort, to construe the Constitution ; constitutional questions 
 are brought before it almost every term, involving great and 
 extensive interests, and in some cases the rights of sovereign 
 States. Its jurisdiction is co-extensive with the Union, and 
 from the very nature of things, its decisions must agitate and 
 inflame large masses of the people of this country. Judgment 
 is pronounced, and the reasons for it go forth to the world in 
 the form of an opinion. Is not this opinion as fair a subject 
 of criticism as any other public paper ? And will not, and ought 
 not such opinions to be freely criticised as long as liberty shall 
 endure in this country ? And yet upon the principles which 
 governed the respondent's conduct, the Supreme Court possess 
 the power to bring all the editors throughout the Union before 
 them, who have dared to impute errors to their opinions, and 
 punish them by fine and imprisonment at their pleasure. The 
 bare attempt to exercise such a power would convulse the people 
 of this country. 
 
 " I recollect a case in my own State, which may serve to 
 illustrate the absurdity of this claim of power. The Chief 
 Justice of Pennsylvania delivered an opinion that the Supreme 
 Court of that State had no right to declare a State law 
 unconstitutional. A United States judge took up this opinion, 
 and in one of the periodicals of the day handled it very severely ; 
 more so, beyond all comparison, than Mr. Lawless criticised 
 the opinion of Judge -Peck. If such a power had existed, here 
 
HIS SPEECH. 115 
 
 ■was a case for its exercise. The Supreme 'Court might have 
 brought the District Judge of the United States before them 
 on an attachment, and sentenced "him to fine and imprisonment 
 for scandalizing the Chief Justice, and endeaToring to bring him 
 into odium and disgrace before the people. 
 
 " If a judge be corrupt or partial in his judicial conduct, or 
 should chance to be a fool, (a case which sometimes happens) it 
 is not only the right, but the bounden duty of his fellow-citizens 
 to expose his errors. If a man should be notoriously incompe- 
 tent for the judicial station which he occupies, though this niay 
 be no ground for an impeachment, yet it is a state of things on 
 which the force of public opinion may rightftiUj be exerted, for 
 the purpose of driving him from the bench. I admit that the 
 case ought to be an extreme one to justify such a resort. But 
 then, if this power to punish libels does exist, a judge may de- 
 cide as he pleases without regard either to honesty or law ; and 
 then silence the public press in relation to his conduct, by de- 
 nouncing fine and imprisonment against aU those who shall 
 dare to expose the errors of his opinion. In such a case, upon 
 the hearing before the judge, the greater the truth, the greater 
 would be the libel. A weak judge, when his capacity is called 
 in question, would always be the most cruel and oppressive. 
 
 "As I have already referred to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, let me do it again.. That illustrious tribunal, in 
 the honest and fearless discharge of its duties, has come into 
 collision with many of the States of this Union — with Pennsyl- 
 vania, with Virginia, with Georgia, with Massachusetts, with 
 New York, and with Kentucky. It has been abused and vili- 
 fied from one end of the continent to the other. This has been 
 its history since the foundation of the federal government. 
 Has any man ever heard that the judges of this court claimed 
 the power of punishing these revilers in a summary manner by 
 fine and imprisonment ? Have we, at any period of its history, 
 heard the slightest intimation to that effect from any of these 
 men ? Not one. That court has often been in the storm. It 
 
116 LIFE AKD SEEVICES OE JAMES BFOHAIfAN. 
 
 has been assailed by the minds and waves of popular opinion ; 
 but it has gone on in an honest and fearless course, and trusted 
 for a safe deUverance to the good sense and patriotism of the 
 American people. That tribunal needs no such power as has 
 been claimed by this judge in Missouri, and has never thought 
 of resorting to the arbitrary and vindictive conduct, which has 
 brought him to your bar. 
 
 " I trust I have now succeeded iu proving, that the courts 
 of the United States can neither derive this power from the 
 common law, nor from the Judiciary Act of 1189, nor from ne- 
 cessity ; and that its exercise is in direct violation of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States. Another question now presents 
 itself, on which it may be proper to make some additional 
 remarks. 
 
 Had Judge Peck power in this case to suspend Mr. Lawless 
 from practising his profession ? It is of importance to us who 
 belong to the bar to know whether or not— and to have the 
 decision of this court upon the question. If he had, the mem- 
 bers of a profession which has ever stood foremost ia this 
 country, in the defence of civil Uberty, are themselves the 
 veriest slaves in existence. I believe that I have as good a 
 right to the exercise of my profession, as the mechanic has to 
 follow his trade, or the mer~hant to engage in the pursuits of 
 commerce. I want then to know whether henceforward I must 
 humble myself and become the sycophant of a judge, whom I 
 may despise, under the penalty of being deprived of the right 
 to practise my profession before him. If a judge be weak, or 
 if he be wicked, his judicial conduct is as fair a subject of dis- 
 cussion among lawyers, as among any other class of citizens ; 
 and for exercising this right they incur no punishment, whicli 
 cannot be inflicted on any other person. If this proposition be 
 not true, they become the mere creatures of the court. Instead 
 of being the firm and fearless asserters of their chents' rights, 
 often in opposition to the preconceived opinions of the bench, 
 they must cringe and assent to any and every intimation of the 
 
HIS SPEECH. 117 
 
 judge at the risk of their rain. The public have almost as 
 deep an interest in the independence of the bar as of the bench. 
 The rights of the citizens, under the complete systems of modern 
 times, can only be asserted and maintained through the agency 
 of the profession. 
 
 " Members of the profession may forfeit their right to prac- 
 tise, but this can only be done by the commission of some 
 professional offence, or some crime of so black a character as 
 shows them to be wholly unworthy to be trusted. For other 
 offences they are subjected to the same punishments as their 
 fellow citizens. Their oflBcial and their private acts are entire- 
 ly distinct from each other. To show that Judge Peck has no 
 right to suspend Mr. Lawless, I need not go further than 2d 
 PetersdorfPs Abridgment, 615, the book cited by the judge 
 himself. It proves conclusively that the high prerogative of 
 striking an attorney from the rolls has never been exercised, 
 even in England, except for grossly dishonest professional mis- 
 behavior, or on a conviction of felony or other infamous crimes. 
 This power has never been resorted to, except in extreme 
 sases. I admit, that if in this country, where the two professions 
 of attorney and counsellor are generally united in the same 
 person, an attorney, in open court^ will manifest by his conduct 
 A total want of respect for the judges, and will pursue a course 
 tending to obstruct the public business before the court, they 
 must from necessity, possess the power of suspending him from 
 practice. But it is not pretended, that Mr. Lawless has brought 
 himself within this rule. Was it ever heard of in England, that 
 an attorney was stricken from the rolls of the court for writing 
 and publishing strictures, no matter how severe, upon the 
 opinion of a judge ? The research of the learned gentleman 
 has not furnished us with a single case from the EngUsh book, 
 nor a single Return to that effect. K I write and publish an 
 article which a judge may choose to consider as a libel upon 
 himself, is it not enough that he may appeal like other citizens 
 to the laws of his country for redress, and have me fined and 
 
118 LIFE AND SEEVICB8 OF JAMES 3VCKXSAS. 
 
 imprisoned for the offence ? Shall he be permitted to take the 
 law into his own hands, and add to this punishment a forfeiture 
 of my means of subsistence, by taking away from me my pro- 
 fession ? Even the punishment of a libel as a contempt, by 
 fine and imprisonment, would be mercy when compared with 
 this power. 
 
 " The judge, in the same rule against Mr. Lawless, has em- 
 braced two things of an entirely different character. No two 
 subjects can be more distinct, in their nature, than a rule to 
 I show cause why an attachment should not issue for a contempt, 
 and a rule against an attorney to show cause why he should not 
 be stricken from the rolls. In the first case, the court must 
 proceed without delay. Its progress, or its lawful command 
 must be obeyed immediately, otherwise the progress of public 
 business is arrested. If the order of the court be obeyed, either 
 there is no punishment at all inflicted, or it is generally very 
 slight. The suspension of an attorney from practice is of 
 another character. The question, then, to be decided is, has 
 his conduct been of such a character, as to require his expul- 
 sion from the bar ? This is a question which need not be 
 determined in a day or in a month. The spirit which dictated 
 that provision of the common law, that the tools x)f an artificer 
 shall not be distrained, ought to prevail upon such an occasion. 
 When a man's all is at stake, or rather the means by which his 
 all is acquired, there ought to be no haste in the proceeding, 
 when no haste is necessary. But here this infuriated judge 
 had decided, from the very first moment, that Mr. Lawless 
 should be suspended ; and it has been alleged that it was not 
 till after his refusal to answer interrogatories that he determined 
 to add the ignominious punishment of imprisonment. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 "I come now to the vital and essential part of this cause, 
 
 and I do contend, that if there were no evidence before the 
 
 Senate but the opinion of the court, the article signed 'A 
 
 Citizen,' and the fact of its author's imprisonment and snspen- 
 
HIB SPEECH. Hi 
 
 sion, these would be sufiScieut grounds to pronounce the res - 
 pondent guilty. If he had the heart to proceed coolly and 
 deliberately, without passion, and to cloak his malice under a 
 ftlir and kind exterior, I should not beUeve |jim to be the better 
 man, for being able so well to play the hypocrite. But the 
 facts of this case leave nothing for conjecture. They speak in 
 a language which cannot be misunderstood. It wiU now be 
 my endeavor to present them before this Court in a distinct and 
 perspicuous manner, according to the order in which they oc- 
 curred. . 
 
 On Monday, the ITth of April, 1826, Judge Peck issued a 
 rule against Stephen W. Foreman, the editor and publisher of 
 the ' Missouri Advocate, and, St. Lotiis Inquirer,' commanding 
 him to appear on the next morning, and show cause why an 
 attachment should not issue against him for a contempt of 
 court. The language of this rule is unmistakable, and discloses 
 the source of the whole proceeding. In it the judge declares 
 himself to be satisfied that the article signed ' A Citizen,' con- 
 tained ' a false statement ' of a judicial decision delivered by 
 Mm in the case of Sowlard against the United States. He was 
 not only satisfied in the first instance of the falsity of the state- 
 ment, but that it tended ' to bring odium on the court, and to 
 iinpair-the confidence of the pubUc in the purity of its decisions.' 
 
 " In the circumstances in which the judge was placed after 
 he had determined to proceed, what ought to have been his 
 course ? He ought to have expressed no opinion, but merely 
 called the editor before him on a general rule to show cause 
 why he should not be attached for the publication. But before 
 Mr. Foreman came before the court, or one word had been 
 uttered in his defence, nay, before the issuing of the rule against 
 him, the respondent had prejudged the cause. He had deter- 
 mined the publication to be 'a false statement, tending to 
 bring odium upon the court, and to impair the confidence of the 
 public in the purity of its decisions,' and this prejudication he 
 grafted into the rule. ****** 
 
120 LIFE Airo BEETICES OF JAMES BTTCHANAIT. 
 
 "A rule is made upon Mr. Lawless to appear forthwilh. 
 That which was bad enough in the first rule now becomes 
 much worse. ' The false statement ' in it is now magnified into 
 'false and malicious statements.' The tendency of the article 
 is not now merely stated as in the first rule, but the author 
 himself is charged with an ' intent by its publication,' to im- 
 pair the public confidence in the upright intentions of the said 
 court, and to bring odium upon the court, and especially with 
 intent to impress the public mind, and particularly many liti- 
 gants in this court, that they are not to expect justice in the 
 causes^ now pending therein, and with intent further to awaken 
 hostile and angry feelings on the part of the said litigants 
 against the said court, in contempt of the said court.' The 
 conclusion of this rule is a still greater outrage. It calls upon 
 Mr. Lawless ' forthwith ' to ' show cause why he should not be 
 suspended from practising in this court, as an attorney and 
 counsellor therein, for the eaid contempt and evil intent.' 
 Without one moment's delay he is called upon to answer, why 
 he shall not be deprived of the exercise of that profession on 
 which he and his famUy depended for existence. It is not 
 merely why he should not be fined and imprisoned for a con- 
 tempt, but this mild, placid, dovelike judge, as he has been 
 represented, dictates also a rule against Mr. Lawless, to show 
 cause forthwith why in effect his wife and children should not 
 be made beggars. 
 
 " What ! Is there any precedent of a proceeding like this 7 
 Had the judge but taken time to refer to 2 PetersdorfF's 
 Abridgement, the book which he has cited here, he would have 
 found that a rule upon an attorney to show cause why he 
 shall not be stricken from the roll, is a very different matter, 
 from an attachment. But his vengeance could not tarry. He 
 was eager to inflict the double punishment of consigning Mr. 
 Lawless to disgrace, by sending him to the common prison, and 
 depriving h i m of the power of practising his profession so long 
 88 this land court should endure ; and yet we have been talk- 
 
HIS SPEECH. 121 
 
 ng about the quo animo of this transaction, and whether the 
 whole might not- have proceeded from a pure and disinterested, 
 if not from a benevolent, motive. A picture has been presented 
 to us of a man filled with the very milk of human kindness, 
 with a heart pure, tender, and guileless as a child of three 
 years old, and whose whole conduct has been so correct as to 
 win for him the warm friendship of the counsel who last 
 addressed you on behalf of the respondent. Of Mr. Lawless 
 I win here take occasion to say what I believe to be strictly 
 just ; I profess no friendship for him, for my friendships are 
 not quite so sudden ; but from what I have seen of him (which 
 has not been very much), he has exhibited the model of an 
 Irish gentleman. That he has failings, I have uo doubt ; I 
 believe he has, but they proceed from the ardor and intensity 
 of his feelings — ^feelings which belong to the brave and gallant 
 nation from which he springs. He may be hasty and impetu- 
 ous, but a braver or a warmer heart beats not in human bosom. 
 I admire and respect him, and am so much his friend, that I 
 wish to see him have justice, and so far as God shall give me 
 ability, every effort of my mind shall be directed to the attain- 
 ment of that object. 
 
 " On the 26th May, 1824, the act passed, enabling the Dis- 
 trict Court of the United States for the State of Missouri, to 
 try the validity of those Spanish land claims. It required aU 
 claims to be presented to the court vrithin two years. Any 
 claim thus presented and not decided within three years after 
 the passage of the act ' on account of the neglect or delay of 
 the claimant,' was forever barred. The claims were to be filed 
 before the 26th May, 1826, and to be decided before 26th 
 May, 1827. To suspend Mr. Lawless for eighteen months^ 
 from 21st April, 1826, was to banish him forever from that 
 court, if the law had, not been afterwards extended. 
 
 " Some evidence has been given, but for what purpose I can- 
 not conceive, unless to mortify the feelings of Mr. Lawless, that 
 he had but little business in the court, excepting that aritiSag 
 
 6 
 
122 LIFE XSB SERVICES OF JAMES BUOHAKAK. 
 
 from the land claims. Be it so. He had devoted the whole 
 energy of his mind to the investigation of the Spanish laws 
 and customs, and of the treaties relating to these land titles. 
 He naturally became concerned for most of the claunants, and 
 interested in their claims. They were that on which he rested 
 his hopes of fortune Under this circumstance this judge 
 called upon him to show cause forthwith why he should not be 
 deprived of the opportunity of prosecuting any of these claims, 
 and thus in fact lose nearly all his practice. Most truly may 
 he be said to have been foredoomed. But we are told that the 
 judge did grant him a delay until the afternoon. This is most 
 true. He actually extended the rule for half a day, to enable 
 him to attend to some urgent business in another court. 
 
 " After all these indications of the judge's feelings, what 
 could we expect from the trial itself ? Could it have been any- 
 thing but what it was, an outrage on the Constitution and 
 laws of the country ? It was then high time for Mr. Lawless 
 to take his stand. He then resolved upon his course, and to 
 that resolution he stood firm and steadfast. As an American 
 citizen, I rejoice at the determination which he exhibited. 
 After his argument in behalf of the printer had been overruled 
 with contumely, after he had been publicly insulted, and his 
 character traduced, he acted as a man ought to have acted. 
 Hitherto I have yielded, but henceforward I move not a step. 
 I put it to each member of this court, whether it was not such 
 a determination as he himself would have made ? Mr. Lawless 
 felt as he ought to have felt. He then gave instructions to 
 his counsel to make no apology. The time for apology was 
 over. When arguing the question for the printer before the 
 judge, who then well knew that the article was written by 
 Mr. Lawless, he repeatedly declared that the author had no in- 
 tention to offend the court. These declarations were all made 
 in vain ; and the judge had exhibited such a spirit, that when 
 he was called upon to answer in his own person, he felt it to 
 be his duty to stand upon his rights as a man and as a citizen. 
 
HIS SPEECH. 123 
 
 " The trial commenced On Thursday afternoon, and how ? Mr. 
 Magenis took up the article and attempted to prove that it con- 
 tained no misrepresentation of the opinion. The judge immedi- 
 ately cried out, ' Stop, sir, that question has been already fully 
 argued, and decided on the rule against the printer. I shall hear 
 nothing further upon that point.' But had it been fuHy argued ? 
 No. Mr. Lawless had indeed attempted to argue it, but he had 
 been interrupted and insulted at every step, until he became 
 embarrassed, and sat down in despair before his argimient was 
 completed. And how had the question been decided? It is 
 true the argument had been imniediately overruled, but no 
 opinion was given. Besides, this was on the rule against Mr. 
 Foreman. Was not the rule against Foreman distinct from 
 the rule against Lawless ? Was it the same cause ? Foreman 
 had purged him self of the contempt and been discharged. Mr. 
 Lawless was now the accused. Here was a new rule against a 
 new man, the old one having been dismissed. Upon this new 
 charge, Mr. Lawless had a constitutional right to be heard by 
 counsel. Yet this judge determined that his opinion should 
 remain a mystery — that it should not be analyzed and exposed 
 to vulgar gaze. He stopped Mr. Magenis, and would not 
 allow him to utter one word for his friend upon that poiutf 
 which was all important for his defence against the prosecu- 
 tion. Has any case ever occurred in the United States, where, 
 upon the trial of a criminal offence, such a high-handed course 
 was attempted ? 
 
 "But why should the judge have considered one question as 
 open and the other not so ? The counsel were not prohibited 
 from arguing the question of jurisdiction. They were allowed 
 to show that the proceedings of the court were unlawful and 
 violated the Constitution, though these topics had been dis- 
 cussed on the former rule both by Mr. Lawless and Mr. Geyer. 
 These were still held to be open points ; but when the opinion, 
 the sacred opinion was approached, the judge cries out, ' For- 
 bear ! You must not touch this monumentum sere perennius. 
 
124 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BTTOHAK AN. 
 
 You may argue as long as you think proper to show that I am 
 trampling upon the Constitution, and violating the dearest 
 rights of an American citizen — that point is stiU open — but 
 the opinion — do not venture to discuss it ; that door is forever 
 closed.' 
 
 "Mr. Magenis and Mr. Geyer now argued the same ques- 
 tions, which the latter had argued on the rule against the 
 printer. Mr. Geyer came better prepared to press his points 
 than he had been before, and Judge Wash tells us his argu- 
 ment was methodically logical • and weU digested. Colonel 
 Strather then rose and began to violate his instructions by 
 making an apology for the article. He was stopped and 
 privately requested to take his seat. One of the counsel (Mr. 
 Meredith) asked Mr. Geyer 'what ground of argument was 
 Colonel Strather taking when you interrupted him?' The 
 answer was, ' He was taking none, as I thought. I considered 
 liim as making rather an apology than an argument. It was 
 on that account that he was interrupted.' I shall never forget 
 the air and the manner with which Mr. Geyer declared in the 
 conclusion of his testimony that he thought it not a case for 
 apology. 
 
 " Whether there was now a short recess of the court is 
 uncertain. On this point the evidence is contradictory. 
 
 " A spectacle was afterwards presented, such as I trust will 
 never again be witnessed in any part of these United States. 
 The judge took off his goggles and bound up his eyes. God 
 knows I do not attribute this weakness of his eyesight to him 
 as a fault. I am sorry for his misfortune. But such was the 
 fact. He sat upon the bench blindfold. Mr. Bates, the District 
 Attorney, was then called upon to read the article of Mr. Law- 
 less, paragraph by paragraph, and on each as it was read the 
 Judge commented. And such comments 1 And that too from 
 a court of justice 1 Such was the impression made on the 
 bystanders, that one of the witnesses tells us, that among the 
 moltitade which tlu:onged the court, he did not hear a single 
 
HIS SPEECH. 12ft 
 
 man say the judge was doing right. Mr. Lawless, meanwhile, 
 sat silent and submissive. He uttered not a word. He only 
 showed by the flash upon his countenance the indignant feel- 
 ings which were straggling in his heart. He remained untO he 
 could endure it no longer. But before he left the court-house, 
 he consulted with his counsel, whether his withdrawal could be 
 construed into a contempt. What was flie answer ? Either 
 that he was not obliged to remain there and hear himself 
 abused, or listen to such a torrent of abuse. It is stated in both 
 ways by witnesses. 
 
 " As the judge proceeded he became more violent. Judge 
 Wash, his leading witness, admits that he ' spoke in strong 
 terms of the publication.' He used the words 'false' and 
 ' malicious.' He frequently used expressions of this kind, ' that 
 is wholly unfounded,' ' this is clearly false and without founda- 
 tion, except in the malice of the author ;' and he says that 
 remarks like th^e occurred throughout the whole course of the 
 analysis of the publication. They were not merely occasional 
 bursts of passion, but it was a steady current of malicious and 
 abusive language. The epithets used were very various. The 
 words 'false,' 'scandalous,' 'libellous,' 'unfounded,' 'slander- 
 ous,' ' calumniator,' were all used over and over again in the 
 course of this harangue, which lasted for about two hours. We 
 may form some faint idea of what must have been its tenor and 
 spirit, from the expression used by the judge in his answer to 
 the article of impeachment. The terms embodied in that 
 document have left a lasting monument to posterity of the 
 temper and feeling under which this American judge must have 
 acted. 
 
 " The Eev. Mr. Horrall, a gentleman who was merely passing 
 by accident and had never been in the conrt before, and whoso, 
 high character places him above all suspicion, says, that the 
 judge appeared to be under vehement excitement. He used 
 the words ' slanderer,' ' falsehood,' and ' misrepresentation,' and 
 the vritness thought he intended to apply these epithets to the 
 
126 LIFE AJTD SEEVICBS OF JAMES BTJCHANAH. 
 
 author of the publication. But why need I enumerate all the 
 witnesses who have given testimony of a similar character ? As 
 if to cap the climax of abuse, the judge declared that such a 
 calumniator as the author of the article, had he lived in China, 
 would have had his house blackened, as an emblem of the black- 
 ness of his heart. Even Judge Peck himself could go no fur- 
 ther. A large majority of the witnesses state the expression in 
 this or a similar manner. Two or three of them, however, say 
 that the terms used were not directly and personally applied to 
 Mr. Lawless, but they were used by the judge as an illustra- 
 tion of his argument. In every material part of their testimony, 
 however, there is no disagreement. Whether the one or the 
 other version be the truth, there can be no doubt but that it 
 was the judge's intention the audience should point to Mr. 
 Lawless as the black-hearted calumniator whom he had 
 described. Now I ask one and all of the members of this 
 court, whether, in the course of their experience, they have ever 
 known a man convicted, even of murder, and brought before the 
 court for his final sentence, to receive anything like such a cruel 
 and inhuman taunt, as that the very house in which he lived 
 ought to be painted black, as an emblem of the blackness of his 
 heart. 
 
 " I may be wrong in another particular. I have inquired of 
 many learned men whether they had ever heard or read of such 
 a custom in China as that to which the judge has adverted, 
 and the answer of them all has been in the negative. I may be 
 displaying my own ignorance, but I have certainly never met 
 with anything of the kind. The gentlemen on the other side 
 have referred us to no book asserting the existence of such a 
 custom. Still I might not be wan-anted in 'applying to Judge 
 Peck the language which he use to Mr. Lawless, and pronounc- 
 ing this Chinese custom to be without any foundation, except in 
 his own malice. 
 
 "When the dearest rights of an American citizen are at 
 Btake, I wiU not stoop to answer Such observations as have 
 
HIS SPEECH. - 127 
 
 been made by one of the gentlemen on this part of the case. 
 What, sir, when this court is solemnly engaged in investigating 
 an outrage committed against the liberties of this country, shall 
 we suffer our attention to be led away to a farcical scene in a 
 play of Kotzebue ? Do gentlemen believe they can laugh out 
 of court a fact, which every man who has a heart must feel to 
 have been the extremest aggravation of insult and cruelty? Sir, 
 under such circumstances, wit is out of place ; and if, feeling 
 strongly and as I think justly, I did often repeat the same ques- 
 tion to the different witnesses, I did not expect to be treated 
 with a sneer." 
 
 Mr. WmT. — " The remark to which the gentleman seems to 
 aUade, was, I can assure him, perfectly sportive in its charac- 
 ter, and that nothing like a sneer on the gentleman was thought 
 of or iatended." , 
 
 " If so, I retract the remarks to which it gave rise. 
 
 " It is scarcely necessary to waste a word upon the question 
 whether Judge Peck was in a passion whilst he was dehvering 
 this opinion against Mr. Lawless. All the circumstances of the 
 case prove tjiat he must have been. The mass of the testimony 
 establishes the fa,ct that he was vehement and excited to a 
 degree beyond what the witnesses had ever seen him. Both 
 Mr. Geyer and Judge Wash declare that they had never 
 observed the judge's manner to be so impassioned as on this 
 occasion. Whether he was in a passion or not is whoUy imma^ 
 terial ; but were it otherwise, the fact has been clearly estab- 
 lished. His passion is some Uttle extenuation of his guUt. Had 
 done what he did CooUy and deliberately, the evidence of his 
 malignity would have presented a still darker hue. 
 
 " I have now come fo the last scene, an attachment issued 
 against Mr. Lawless. He was brought into court in custody of 
 the marshal. The judge then, with a good deal of formality 
 (to use the language of Judge Wash), asked him if he wished to 
 have interrogatories exhibited, and whether he would answer 
 them if they were exhibited ? To which he rephed that he did 
 
128 LIFE AND 8EKTI0ES OF JAMES BTJOHANAIT. 
 
 not require any interrogatories to be propounded, and if zhej 
 were lie would not answer them. 
 
 " Now, sir, after tlie judge had occupied about two hours in 
 proTing that the article of Mr. Lawless was false, scandalous 
 and malicious — that it had no foundation except in his own 
 malice — and that its character was so infamous that even in 
 China the man who could write it would have his nouse 
 painted black to denote the blackness of his heart, and to warn 
 the public against him ; after he had thus held Mr. Lawless up 
 before the assembled multitude, he asks him whether he will 
 not answer interrogatories, and purge himself upon oath of the 
 contempt. Sir, had he consented to answer them under such 
 circumstances the certificate of his naturalization which he had 
 exhibited with a decent pride before this court ought to be 
 destroyed, and the man who could have so disgraced it ought 
 to be driven back to the country from which he came there to 
 crouch and fawn before a lordly aristocracy. But no, sir, the 
 spirit of his ' father-land ' beat high in his bosom : — a spirit 
 which the impression of centuries had not been able to subdue. 
 I trust and believe that rather than submit to such wantonness 
 of tjrranny, he would have yielded up his hfe as a sacrifice. Yet 
 a gentleman whose name I believe is Carr, has told us that he 
 thought at the time Mr. Lawless refused to answer the interro- 
 gatories, there was something contemptuous in his manner, and 
 the witness has illustrated by exhibiting to the Senate the pos- 
 ture in which Mr. Lawless stood. He was asked whether Mr. 
 Lawless had used any disrespectful language, and the reply was 
 that his language was perfectly respectful, but there was a 
 something in his manner which did not accord with that respect, 
 which from the pre-conceiyed notions of the witness he thought 
 due to judicial dignity. 
 
 " I put it to the heart of every member of this inost digni- 
 fied court to say, whether under such aggravations he would 
 have answered interrogatories ? Did not the Constitution pro- 
 tect Mr. Lawless ? Was it not his right to refuse to be sworn 
 
HIS SPEECH. "129 
 
 in. a prosecution against himself ? Yet we liave been told that 
 for his refusal to answer he was imprisoned twenty-four hours, 
 and that until he had refused, it was the judge's intention to 
 inflict no other punishment but that of a suspension from prac- 
 tice. Here then we have presented to our view an attempt 
 made by an American judge to compel an American citizen to 
 be a witness against himself, and for no other crime but be- 
 cause he stood upon his constitutional rights, and determined 
 that he would not be sworn, we see him doomed to imprison- 
 ment long enough to brand him with disgrace so far as this 
 could be inflicted by such a sentence. 
 
 " When Mr. Lawless was called upon to answer iuterroga- 
 tories, we are iuformed he was a good deal agitated. After his 
 refusal, he read a paper to the court which he desired might be 
 entered upon the record That paper is in the foUoving lan- 
 guage :— 
 
 'In the District Court for the District of Missouri, sitting at St. 
 
 Louis, on'the 21si day of April, 1826, for the decision of land 
 
 titles. 
 The United States ') 
 vs. > 
 
 L. E. Lawless. J 
 
 'Be it remembered, that on the day and year aforesaid, " the 
 said court called upon the said defendant to know whether if 
 there were interrogatories filed in this cause he would answer 
 them, which the said defendant declined for the following 
 reasons, which he assigned to said court in the words following ; 
 First — I refuse to answer the above interrogatories, because 
 this court has no jurisdiction of the offence charged upon me, 
 in manner and form as the court has proceeded against me. 
 Second — ^the positions ascribed in the article signed, ' A Citizen' 
 are true and fairly inferred, and extracted from the opinion of 
 this court in the case of Soulard's Widow and Heirs vs. The 
 United States, as published." 
 
 6* 
 
130 LIFE AOT) 8EEVICKS OF JAMES BTTOHAUAIT. 
 
 " To this request (I use the language of Judge Wash), 
 the judge answered that it could not be put on the record, and 
 that if it were it would answer no purpose, or something of that 
 kmd. On which Mr. Lawless remarked, it was of no great con- 
 sequence, and then threw the paper down and seated himself. 
 Mr Magenis then took up the paper, and asked the judge 
 whether, if it should be signed by the bystanders, he would per- 
 mit it to go on the record ? The judge appeared to me to hesi- 
 tate, and seemed for some time at a loss, and then rephed, it 
 would answer no purpose, and could nojfc go on the record in that 
 shape either. Whether this paper was called a bO of excep- 
 tions, or what naine was given to it, the witness could not say. 
 
 " I have been thus particular in stating this transaction from 
 the lips of the principal witness of the respondent, because it has 
 been much relied upon both by him and by his counsel. But 
 with what justice, let Judge Wash himself determine. The 
 following question was propounded to him by the court : — 
 ' When Col. Lawless read the paper which had been called a bill 
 of exceptions, was it pronounced by the judge, or supposed by 
 you, to be intended as a new contempt V To which he answered, 
 ' I never regarded it in that light, nor was anything said by the 
 court, that I remember, which induced me to beheve that the 
 court so regarded it.' 
 
 " Let me make a few observations in explanation of this part 
 of the case. We have seen^that under the law of Missouri a 
 writ of error is allowed in cases of contempt, and the judges of 
 the Court of Error may suspend the execution of the sentence by 
 a supersedeas. Mr. Lawless, therefore, in the hurry and con- 
 fusion of the moment, must have thought that he might derive 
 some benefit before a superior com-t, from having this paper 
 placed upon the record. It never occurred to any of the wit- 
 nesses at the time that the reading of it was a contempt, and 
 we have the oath of Mr. Lawless that he had no such iutention. 
 
 " Another regular practice prevails under the laws of Mis- 
 jouri, which they have borrowed from Kentucky. When a 
 
HIS SPEECH. 131 
 
 judge refuses to sign a bill of exceptions, tlie party may appeal 
 to the bystanders for their signatures. Mr. Magenis must have 
 had this in view, when he asked the court if they would permit 
 the paper to go upon the record, if it were signed by the by- 
 standers. Upon this proposition the judge doubted. He at 
 first hesitated, and seemed to be at a loss how to decide. But 
 at all events, both the testimony of Judge Wash and Mr. 
 Magenis prove conclusively that no iasult to the judge was either 
 given or intended by this proceeding. 
 
 "The judge, without further delay, pronounced the fatal sen- 
 tence against Mr. Lawless of imprisonment of twenty-four hours, 
 and a forfeiture of his means of a hvelihood for eighteen months 
 
 " Was not this ' a cruel and unusual punishment ?' Does it 
 not violate an express provision of the Constitution ? Why 
 should he not have been satisfied with the infliction, of a fine ? 
 Why not punish Mr. Lawless through his pocket ? It is not 
 pretended that he had before ever shown any want of respect 
 for that court. This was the first instance. Even if the judge 
 had possessed the power, a fine of $50 or $100 would have 
 answered every purpose of punishment, and would have been 
 sufficient to warn others against offending in hke m,anner. TMs, 
 in every point of view, would have been infinitely better. But 
 no I Mr. Lawless must be disgraced. He must be sent to gaol. 
 He must never again appear in that court as the advocate of 
 any of the land claims, to acquire a thorough knowledge of which 
 he had devoted several of the best years of his Ufe. I ask one and 
 all of you to consider seriously the nature and extent of this 
 punishment, and the provocation. Can it have proceeded from 
 a pure motive and virtuous intention ? Was it merely to vin.- 
 dicate the character of the court ? the honor of the judiciary ? 
 
 " But the vindictive feeling which urged the judge to inflict 
 this punishment had not cooled even twenty-two months after. 
 Mr. Lawless then went from his home at St. Louis to attend 
 the session of the District Court at Jefferson City, a distance of 
 140 miles. He was there comparatively a stranger. When he 
 
132 LIFE AND 8EEYICES OF JAMES BUCHAITAN. 
 
 modestly presented himself for admission, tlio judge immediately 
 ask*d, ia open court, whether the period pf his suspension had 
 expired. Is there a man within the sound of my voice who can 
 for one moment suppose that the judge asked the question for 
 the sake of information ? Can that be possible ? The punish- 
 ment of Mr. Lawless was an era in his life ; it was engraved, 
 upon his memory, and will remain there forever. Yet several 
 months after this suspension had expired, when Mr. Lawless in 
 a strange place, and before a multitude of people to whom he 
 was unknown, asked for admission, he is treated with indignity. 
 Judge Peck deemed it necessary, and becoming his judicial 
 character, to inform the multitude that he had affixed a stigma 
 upon this man. 
 
 " There is another circumstance to which I must advert before 
 I conclude. A witness by the name of Walker has been exam- 
 ined. His testimony would never have been admitted by.the 
 court, save on the principle that it might tend to show the feel- 
 ings of Mr. Lawless, and thus prove that he was a prejudiced 
 witness. Having been received upon this ground, it was after- 
 wards used by the counsel for a totally dififerent purpose. After 
 Mr. Lawless had been goaded by oppression into madness, and 
 was actuated by those feeUngs which naturally belong to an 
 injured and suffering man, the intemperate language which 
 oppression provoked and extorted from him has been gravely 
 urged as an argument to justify his oppression. The effect has 
 been relied upon to justify the cause. 
 
 " Mr. Walker met Mr. Lawless in his garden in the spring 
 after his suspension and imprisonment. Every object around 
 was calculated to remind him of the punishment he had en- 
 dured and was still enduring. Whilst showing Mr. Walker his 
 Improvements, he spoke of the hardship of his suspension. He 
 observed, that it had done him much mjury, and interfered 
 essentially with his business. But for it, he said, his improve- 
 ments would have been in a more advanced state. In the very 
 bitterness of his soul, however, he was unwilling to take any 
 
HIS SPEECH. 133 
 
 unmanly advantage of Judgp. Peck. He exclaimed, that if tie 
 judge, after his eyesight should be restored, would meet him in 
 the field of honor (of false honor, I admit), ' he would let 
 him. off from going to Washington.' Tliis language wrung 
 from him in his own garden, is brought here by Mr. Walker, 
 who was subpoenaed to prove it, and this is the manner in 
 which the respondent has been defended. Sir, no act of the 
 life of Mr. Lawless subsequent to the punishment inflicted upon 
 him can be proper evidence in this case, but I am astouished, 
 considering the well known ardor of his temperament, that 
 they have not been able to prove more declarations of a similar 
 character. I haVe not a doubt, but that he has a thousand 
 times expressed the most indignant feeling of his persecution 
 
 " I have now nearly done with this ease ; and in conclusion, 
 1 shall strongly express what I strongly feel. I do most solemn- 
 ly believe, if this judge shall escape punishnient, the descrip- 
 tion which has often been contemptuously applied to the power 
 of impeachment, that it is but the scare-crow of the Constitu- 
 tion, will be hereafter strictly just. But the acquittal of this 
 man may have a still worse effect. If the power of impeach- 
 ment presents no prospect to the people of removing an arbi- 
 trary and tyrannical judge, what will be the consequences ? 
 They will soon begin to inquire whether the judicial ofBce ought 
 not to be limited to a term of years ; at the' commence- 
 ment of this trial I should have shrunk with horror from such 
 a proposition. But if there be no other alternative^ — if the 
 people must either be cursed during a long life with an 
 arbitrary and oppressive judge who has trampled upon their 
 rights, or the Constitution must be so amended as to Kmit the 
 term of office of the inferior judges, I should choose the last 
 alternative, as the least of two very great evils. I say the 
 inferior judges. God forbid that ever such a provision should 
 extend to the judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. 
 
 " Impressed with a solemn belief of the respondent's gmlt, i 
 
134 LIFE Airo SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAH. 
 
 now respectfully ask his conviction. I have no regrets t(J 
 express, no apologies to offer for the part which I have taken 
 upon this trial. I have been footing in an office wholly un- 
 sought by Biyself and ungrateful to my feelings, but yet I 
 enjoy the proud consciousness of reflecting, that I have done my^ 
 duty ; I have urged the respondent's conviction with no feeling 
 of personal animosity, but in the strong belief, that mercy to 
 >>im wtU be cruelty to the American people. I ask for his 
 conviction in the name of the Judiciary, whose pure character 
 he has sullied,, and whose independence he has endangered. I 
 ask for it in the name of the people of the United States, whose 
 Constitution and laws he has violated by tyranny and oppres- 
 sion. Should he be acquitted, I shall bow with the most pro- 
 fbund respect to the judgment of this Court, but I shall never 
 cease to beheve, that it will establish a precedent dangerous in 
 the extreme to the rights and liberties of the American peo- 
 ple." 
 
 The counsel of Judge Peck contended, in opposition to the 
 arguments of the prosecution, that the article pubUshedTby Mr. 
 Lawless was a gross and palpable misrepresentation of his 
 opinion, and calculated to bring his court iato disrespect. 
 That he had given Mr. Lawless every opportunity to defend 
 himself and to purge himself of all intentional disrespect, but 
 that he refused to do so, and even reasserted the truth of his 
 publication. They contended, that a contempt had been com- 
 mitted, and that the judge was right iu asserting the authority 
 and dignity of his court as he had done. The Senate refused 
 to impeach Judge Peck, by a vote of twenty-one for bringing 
 him in guilty, to twenty-two for not guilty. Whatever may 
 have been the peculiar circumstances of the case which thus 
 induced the Senate to decide, it is very evident, if Mr. Lawless 
 was not justifiable in publishing the very temperate and consider- 
 ate article he did, there are scores of individuals now who 
 might be committed for contempts of judicial decisions, with ten- 
 
HIS SPEECH. 135 
 
 fold more reason than the unlucky advocate of the St. Louis 
 bar. The Senate, however, although refusing to impeach 
 Judge Peck, shortly after, almost unanimously passed an act 
 obviating whatever technical objections then stood in the way 
 of his conviction, and placed the law on such a basis, that no 
 judge has since ventured to punish a person upon so frivolous 
 a pretext. 
 
 At the close of this session, March 3d, 1831, Mr. Buchanan 
 voluntarily retired from Congress, of which he had now been a 
 constant member since the 4th of March, 1821. 
 
136 LIFE AUTD 8EEVICE8 OF JAMES BTTCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Kr. Buchanan's Ten Years in Congress — New Issues — Opposition to Sectionalism — 
 Defence of tlie Freedom of the Press — Mission to Bussia — Election to the United 
 
 States Senate. 
 
 Ten successive years of active service in the popular branch 
 of the national legislature, necessarily gives a man a thorough 
 acquaintance with the details of legislation, and if he be an 
 individual of even ordinary sagacity, he must be qualified for 
 more responsible positions. But if he unite to a vigorous miad 
 an originality of conception and an independence of thought, 
 which make him a man whose influence is felt, whose presence 
 is observed, and whose absence is lamented, we may conclude 
 that such a man is destined to occupy something beyond a cir- 
 cumscribed reputation in his country. It is not too much to say 
 that Mr. Buchanan has won his present position in the affec- 
 tions of the American people by the laborious industry of a 
 long life devoted to their interests, and by the possession of 
 those quahties both of head and heart, which have quaUfied 
 him for retaining in so remarkable a degree their confidence, 
 and in discharging with so much acceptance the responsible 
 duties with which he has been entrusted. A brief review of 
 his early Congressional career, a mere outline of which we have 
 only been able to give in the preceding chapters, will illustrate 
 more forcibly than words the truth of what we say. He 
 entered Congress at a period when party lines were not drawn 
 with that rigid exactness which has marked political life since 
 that time. Mr. Monroe had just been elevated a second tune 
 
HIS TEN TEAE8 IN C0NGEE8S. l6l 
 
 to the presidential chair by the almost nnanimous consent of 
 the electors of all the States. The federal party had been 
 dissolved immediately after the war of 1812, and political 
 issues had not yet again assumed a definite form. New issues 
 were arising, which it became every one to meet. What men 
 had been previously was of no consequence, if they now should 
 prove true to democratic principles in the new era which the 
 progress of our national government was inaugurating. Unlike a 
 despotism, where everything is governed by the voice of one 
 man, we cannot expect that quietness and calmness where the 
 conflicting forces of truth and error have fair play and every 
 opportunity to combat each other. 
 
 Jefferson had fought one great battle for democratic institu- 
 tions, and his enemies had sought refuge in annihilation, or 
 what was the next thing to it, had denied their name. They 
 were now coalescing under new leaders, and marshalling their 
 forces to come forth and give battle to the Mends of demo- 
 cracy, under other names and upon other questions. The first 
 measure, as we have seen, which they brought up, was a bank- 
 rupt bill, or, in other words, an act declaring that a man need 
 not pay his honest debts. A measure more unjust, more un- 
 fair, or more inimical to the whole spirit and tenor of our insti- 
 tutions can scarcely be conceived. Let those who accuse Mr. 
 Buchanan of federalism read the noble speech of his upon this 
 iniquitous measure. Upon his very first entrance into Congress 
 we find him battling for the cause of equal rights — ^for special 
 privileges to none, and for justice to all ; and opposing this bUl 
 with all the power of his logic, and with all the abihty which 
 his distinguished talents could bring to the consideration of the 
 subject. 
 
 Even upon the question of internal improvements, then not 
 yet definitely settled, as regards the constitutional principle in- 
 volved in them, we find him instmctively adhering to the demo- 
 cratic doctrine of strict interpretation, and when Mr. Monroe's 
 great message on this subject appeared, he had only to acknow 
 
138 LIFE AifD SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAlfAlI. 
 
 ledge it as an endorsement of his own preconceived opinions; 
 On the question of the tariff we find him with Gen. Jackson 
 and the democracy generally, denying the right oi Congress 
 to levy duties except for revenue, but willing to grant, in levy- 
 ing such duties, that incidental protection which would be bene- 
 ficial to the industry of the country, and not calculated to ad- 
 vance special interests to the injury of the general welfare. As 
 early as 1823 we find him a foe to sectional strife, and an 
 enemy to that spirit which seeks the destruction of our Con- 
 stitution, that it may rule over its ruins. Ambition never so 
 far enticed him from the path of rectitude as to enable him to 
 contemplate the overthrow of this government, which had re- 
 quired so much blood and treasure to establish, without the most 
 painful emotions. He was born too near the era when the noble 
 spirit of repubUcan freedom took its rise, and had caught some- 
 what of its holy inspiration from the lingering patriots of the 
 revolution. More than thirty years ago he solemnly promised 
 " that he should forever avoid any expression, the direct ten- 
 dency of which must be to create sectional jealousies, sectional 
 divisions, and at length, disunion, that worst and last of all 
 political calamities." And who shall say that James Buchanan 
 has not been faithful to this promise, made when he was a 
 young man, on the floor of the House of Eepresentatives ? 
 Let the captious fault-finder search his life, and he will — he 
 must come to the conclusiou, that for steady devotion to this 
 sentiment, he stands before the country a model of consistency. 
 Whatever may be the opinion of even his enemies in other re- 
 spects, they must award him this praise. It is no trifling boast, 
 therefore, to make, that in aU that has been said by different 
 parties to produce irritation between different sections of our 
 country, no one can charge that one word has ever been uttered 
 by James Buchanan. It is only proper to say, however, that no 
 man in the midst of the excited discussions which have occurred 
 for a quarter of a century, could have achieved this result 
 merely from a settled design. It must have originated, as all 
 
DEFENCE OF THE FEEEDOM OF THE PEES3. 139 
 
 who know Mr. Buchanan will testify, from his personal charac- 
 ter, from that rigid sense of justice to all, and of devoted love 
 for the institutions of his country, which is emphatically a part 
 of his very nature. 
 
 Following his career in Congress a little further, we find 
 him in 1826 expounding in an able speech of two days in 
 length, the whole range of our judicial system, going into all 
 minor details of legal formulae, and evincing an acquaintance 
 with jurisprudence which would have done credit to lawyers 
 of twice his age. On the mission to Panama he delivers a 
 speech fall of the most patriotic Americanism, and taking a 
 survey of the importance of the tropical regions of the Gulf 
 of Mexico to this country, which seems at this day like the 
 vision of the prophet penetrating futurity. Time has only 
 served to confirm the truth of his statements, and yet we have 
 some persons even yet, venerable fossUs, wTio do not see the 
 commercial and miUtary value of " the gem of the Antilles." 
 
 Finally, as an appropriate close to his representative career, 
 we see him selected as chairman of the Board of Managers, 
 amopg whom such names as McDuffie, Wickliffe, and Spencer 
 stand prominent, to conduct the impeachment of a high judi- 
 cial functionary at the bar of the Senate of the United States. 
 There he ranks second to none in the ability and vigor with 
 which he supports the freedom of the press and the rights of 
 the people. Indeed, through his whole ten years in the House 
 of Eepresentatives, we find him upon all occasions the defender 
 of popular rights, the upholder of democratic ^doctrine, and the 
 enemy of those who would turn the governmeut into, a machine 
 for plundering instead of protecting the people. 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Buchanan's voluntary retirement from Con- 
 gress, he was honored by President Jackson with the appoint- 
 ment of minister to Russia. How he filled this distinguished 
 position the records of the State Department will show. His 
 diplomatic life was marked by the same scrupulous regard for 
 duty, and the same careful concern for the interests of his 
 
140 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAir. 
 
 country. Among other valuable services which he performed 
 for his country while on that mission, was the negotiation with 
 Count Nesselrode on the part of the Czar, of the first commer- 
 cial treaty between Russia and the United States, by which 
 valuable advantages were secured for our commerce in the 
 Baltic and Black Seas. In this connection it may not be im- 
 proper to refer to the testimony of the venerable Judge Wil- 
 kins, his successor at St. Petersburg, formerly Secretary of 
 War, senator in Congress, &c., as to the effect that Mr. Bu- 
 chanan produced in Eussia in favor of his country. On a recent 
 occasion the judge remarked : " He had been associated with 
 him, and had always had the highest respect for him as a 
 citizen — as a professional man — and as a statesman. It had 
 been his honor to follow in his footsteps. He had traced him 
 through Europe. He had been at a foreign court, after Mr. 
 Buchanan had represented the government of the United States 
 there, with such unsullied and pre-eminent honor. Walking in 
 his footsteps, many thousand miles from here, he could see, and 
 plainly trace, the high respect which followed every official act 
 of his, and the whole deportment of- his private conduct. 
 St. Petersburg was full of admiration for the American states- 
 man ; and so effectually did he perform his duties there, and so 
 effectually did he endear this government to Russia, and so 
 effectually did he arrange the commercial and diplomatic con- 
 cerns of -the two countries, that he left nothing in the world for 
 him (Mr. WUkins) to do but to state that he was his humble 
 successor. He had preoccupied the ground and filled the 
 demands of his government." 
 
 After the return of Mr. Buchanan from Russia in 1833, he 
 was elected to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate, 
 caused by the resignation of the very Judge WUkins who bears 
 such a noble and voluntary testimony to his fidelity to duty. 
 He had left Congress just as the storm, which the rigid princi- 
 ples Gen. Jackson inaugurated, had been raised. He was dea* 
 
KLEOnON TO THE UHTrED STATES SENATE. 141 
 
 tined to return to the theatre of his duties in time to come, to 
 the rescue of his early friend, and bear a part in the memora- 
 ble struggtes that the democracy encountered during his admin- 
 istration. Mr. Buchanan left Congress just at the breaking out 
 of the rupture between Mr. Calhoun and Gen. Jackson, yhich 
 finally produced a dissolution of the Cabinet and much ill-feeling 
 which it is now painful to contemplate. The great battle on 
 the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank had been 
 fought and won during the session of 1831-32. Mr. Buchanan 
 had not participated in the struggle, but he returned in time to 
 bear an honorable part in maiutaining possession of the field, 
 and in forti^ing it against farther assaults. 
 
142 LIFE AITD 8EKVI0ES OV JAMES BUCHAlfAU. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 freach Beprlsals — Executiye Patronage — ^Mr. Clay and Mr. Buchanan — Oonclusion of 
 Twenty-third Congress. 
 
 On the 15th of December, 1834, Mr. Buchanan took his seat 
 in the Senate of the United States. We may well say that " in 
 those days there were giants in the land." Among the distin- 
 guished individuals, now numbered with the dead, whom Mr. 
 Buchanan there met, were Daniel Webster, Silas Wright, John 
 0. Calhoun, and Henry Clay. He had encountered all of these 
 before, ho-wever, in the popular branch of the national legisla- 
 ture, and it was therefore but the reunion of old companions 
 among whom, although they had often measured their strength 
 in manly debate, nothing but the most kindly personal feelings 
 existed. The era of malignant speeches, of crimination and re- 
 crimination, had not yet commenced. Massachusetts in those 
 days delivered enlogiums upon South Carolina, and South Caro- 
 lina, with the natural grace of her chivalric sons, did not hesi- 
 tate to return the compliment. The intercourse which should 
 distinguish gentlemen was not only strictly observed, but each 
 one seemed to instinctively feel that a difference in education, 
 habits and domestic institutions demanded a mutuarrespect 
 for one another's feelings which no excitement should allow them 
 to disregard. Unfortunately, a wretched delusion and the heat 
 of party strife has now nearly destroyed the era of good fellow- 
 ship, and has placed those in antagonistic positions who have no 
 good reason to be anything but brothers. It is to be hoped, 
 however, that the storm which for thirty years has been 
 
FEENCH EEPEISAL8. 143 
 
 gathering, ■will pass away without injury to our institutions, 
 leaving the political atmosphere all the more clear and trans- 
 parent on account of the temporary clouds that have enveloped 
 us. 
 
 Almost the first thing of national importance which came 
 before Congress, was a resolution reported by Mr.' Clay from 
 the committee on Foreign Eelations, to the effect that it was inex- 
 pedient to pass a law authorizing the President to make reprisals 
 upon French property, to force that government to pay the 
 indemnity stipulated by the treaty of 1831. We had waited 
 for three years the tardy action of the French government untU 
 the claims began to be with us a question of honor. The Pre- 
 sident had repeatedly urged our demands upon the attention of 
 France, but had only received promises which had never been 
 fuMUed. At the risk, therefore, of the charge of desiring to 
 involve the two countries iu a war, he believed we ought to 
 assert our rights and maintain them, as the very safest method 
 even to avoid a conflict. Mr. Buchanan ably supported this 
 decidedly American view of the subject. In the course of some 
 remarks upon the resolution, he paid a handsome compliment to 
 France, declaring "that she was a brave and chivalrous nation, 
 whose whole history proves that she is not to be intimidated 
 even by Europe in arms." But said he, " France is wise as well 
 warlike ; and to inform her that our rights must be asserted, is 
 to place her in the serious and solemn position of deciding 
 whether she wiU, for the sake of a few miUions of francs, resist 
 the payment of a just debt by force." The matter, however, 
 was postponed until the next Session of Congress, on account 
 of the meeting of the French Chamber of Deputies. 
 
 Among the subjects of debate before the Senate at this ses- 
 sion, was " Executive Patronage." Charges of the most indis- 
 criminate and wholesale removals from office had been brought 
 against General Jackson, and Mr. Clay opened upon his ancient 
 enemy with all the force and power which the batteries of hia 
 eloquence could furnish. Mr. Buchanan delivered his speech 
 
144 LIFE AND SEKVIOES OF JAMES BTJCHANAIT. 
 
 upon the subject on the 17th of February, showing the power 
 of remoTal from office was an indispensable requisite of the 
 executive department of the government, without which it could 
 not perform the duties imposed upon it by the Constitution. 
 After stating the plain import and meaning of the Constitution, 
 Mr. Buchanan observed : 
 
 " But, sir, if doubts could arise on the language of the Con- 
 stitution itself, then it would become proper, for the purpose of 
 ascertaiuing the true meaning of the instrument, to retort to 
 arguments ah inconvenienti. The framers of the Constitution 
 neverintended it to mean what would be absurd, or what would 
 defeat the very purposes which it was intended to accomplish. I 
 think I can prove that to deprive the President of the power 
 of removal would be fatal to the best interests of the country. 
 
 " And, first, the Senate cannot always be in session. I thank 
 Heaven for that. We must separate and attend to our ordinary 
 business. It is necessary for a healthy political Constitution that 
 we should breathe the fresh and pure air of the country. The 
 political excitement woOld rise too high if it were not cooled 
 off in this manner. The American people never will consent 
 and never ought to consent, that our sessions shall become per- 
 petual. The framers of the Constitution never intended that 
 this should be the case. But once establish the principle that 
 the Senate must consent to removals, as well as to appoint- 
 ^ ments, and this consequence is inevitable. A foreign minister in 
 a remote part of the world is pursuing a course dangerous to 
 the best interests, and ruinous to the character, of the country. 
 He is disgraciag us abroad and endangering the public peace. 
 He has been intrusted with an important negotiation, and is be- 
 traying his trust. He has become corrupt, or is entirely incom- 
 petent. The information arrives at Washington, three or fom' 
 days after the adjournment of Congress on the 3d of March. 
 What is to be done ? is the President entirely powerless until 
 tie succeeding December, when the Senate may meet agaia ? 
 
EXECUTIVE PATKONAGE. 145 
 
 Shall he be obliged to await until the mischief is entirely con- 
 summated—until the country is ruined— before he can recall 
 the cormpt or wicked minister ? Or will any gentleman contend 
 that, upon every occasion, when a removal from office becomes 
 necessary, he shall call the senators from their homes throughout 
 this widely extended EepubKc ? And yet this is the inevitable 
 consequence of the position contended for by gentlemen. Could 
 the framers of the Constitution ever have intended such an ab- 
 surdity ? This argument was also adverted to by Mr. Madison. 
 
 " But again, there are great numbers of disbursing officers 
 scattered over this Union. Information is received, during the 
 recess of the Senate, that one of them in Arkansas or at the 
 Rocky Mountains has been gmlty of peculation, and is wast- 
 ing the public money. Must the President fold his arms, and 
 suffer him to proceed in his fraudulent course, until the next 
 meeting of the Senate ? The truth is, that the President cannot 
 execute the laws of the Union without the power of removal. 
 
 " But cases stiU stronger may be presented. The heads of 
 departments are the confidential advisers of the President. It 
 is chiefly through their agency that he must conduct the great 
 operations of governments. Without a direct control over 
 them, it would be impossible for him to take care that the laws 
 should be faithfully executed. Suppose that one of them dur- 
 ing the recess of the Senate, violates his instructions, refases to 
 hold any intercourse with the President, and pursues a career 
 which he beheves to be in opposition to the Constitution of the 
 country. Shall the executive arms be paralyzed, and in such 
 a case must he presently submit to all these evils until the 
 Senate can be convened ? In time of war the country might 
 be ruined by a corrupt Secretary of War, before the Senate 
 could be assembled. 
 
 " It is not my intention on this occasion to discuss the ques- 
 tion of the removal of the deposits from the Bank of the 
 United States. I merely wish to present it as a forcible illustra- 
 tion of my argument. Suppose the late Secretary of the 
 
 7* 
 
146 LIFE AND SEEV10E3 OE JAMBS BUOHANAIf. 
 
 Treasury had determined to remove the deposits, and the Pre- 
 sident had believed this measure would be as ruinous to the 
 country, as the friends of the bank apprehended. If the 
 secretary, notwithstanding the ramonstrances of the President, 
 had proceeded to issue the order for their removal, what should 
 we have heard from those who were loudest in their denuncia- 
 tions against the executive, if he had said, my arms are tied, I 
 have no power to arrest the act ; the deposits must be 
 removed, because I cannot remove my secretary ? Here the 
 evil would have been done before the Senate could possibly have 
 been assembled. I am indebted to the speech of the senator 
 from South Caroliua (Mr. Calhoun) at the last session for this 
 illustration. The truth is this, view the subject in any light you 
 may, the power of removal is in its nature inseparable from the 
 executive power." 
 
 The proposal of Mr. Clay doubtless originated more in a 
 dislike to Gen. Jackson than to a really candid belief that 
 such a measure as he proposed could or would be beneficial 
 to the interests of the country. To deprive the President of 
 the power of removal from of&ce would, in effect, be depriving 
 him of his executive functions. The bill was finally modified 
 so as to limit the term of ofiSce of certain oflBcers, and in this 
 form passed the Senate. The decided stand which Mr. 
 Buchanan took against this bill and the ardor with which Mr. 
 Clay pressed it, brought them' very often on the floor of the 
 Senate into opposition to each other. They both, however, 
 possessed too much dignity of character to allow themselves to 
 resort to anything but the most courteous deportment in their 
 public intercourse, which was as honorable and manly as their 
 private relations were cordial and agreeable. And here it may 
 be remarked that Mr. Clay and Mr. Buchanan were always 
 personal friends, notwithstanding the efforts of many malicious 
 persons to produce a rupture. During the debate upon this 
 bill there occurred one of those agreeable episodes between 
 
ME. OLAT AlTD MB. BUCHAlTAir. 147 
 
 them, which was so iUustrative of thek interconrse. Mr. Clay, 
 in the closing portion of a speech . denying the constitutional 
 power to confer npon the President the power of removal from 
 office without the consent of the Senate, remarked, "that when 
 the subject should be resumed, he should expect to see (giving 
 one of his searching glances towards the friends of Gen. 
 Jackson) some of the leaders of the administration party come 
 out, with book in hand, and show the text for this tremendous 
 power." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, who presumed he was meant, replied, " I am 
 exceedingly sorry, Mr. President, that the senator from Ken- 
 tucky appears to be disposed so often to pay his compliments to 
 myself." 
 
 Mr. Clay gracefoUy disavowed " any allusion to the senator 
 from Pennsylvania." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan remarked that "when the gentleman spoke 
 of the leaders of the administration party, he looked at me, and 
 I understood him as referring to me." 
 
 " I assure the gentleman," resumed Mr. Clay, " I had no 
 allusion to him whatever. I might look at him as he looks at 
 me sometimes ; but I think at the time I spoke of the leaders 
 of a particular party, I was looking rather to the senator from 
 New York (Mr. Wright) than to him." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan replied, " that without going further into the 
 question of who the gentleman referred to in his remarks, I 
 vriU state that, whenever he thinks proper to take up the 
 subject and attempt to prove that the practice under which 
 this government has flourished and which was sustained by 
 M&dison, is not founded in reason and justice, is not necessary 
 for the proper administration of the government, and is not 
 consistent with the Constitution, then I will be ready to meet 
 Mm." 
 
 "We shall meet, then," said Mr. Clay, with admirable 
 adroitness, " at PhUippi." 
 
 The Senate, dignified and deliberate as it was in the tran* 
 
148 LIFE A3Sn) SEETICES OF JAMES BTJCHAHAN. 
 
 action of important business, was not always without its 
 seasons of relaxation and even amusement. A pleasant scene 
 occurred during the present session, upon the leception of some 
 presents which the Emperor of Morocco had sent to the Presi- 
 dent. These testimonials of royal favor consisted of two 
 Arabian horses and a lion ; but as onr Constitution does not 
 allow the Chief Magistrate to receive presents from a foreign 
 potentate, some disposition had to be made of the munificence 
 of the barbarian prince. A resolution had been reported by a 
 committee that the lion and horses be sold by public auction. 
 Mr. Frehnghuysen, the present venerable President of Prince- 
 ton College, moved "that the lion be presented to the proprie- 
 tor of Peak's Museum, in New York, and that the horses be 
 given to some agricultural society." 
 
 Mr. Porter, of Louisiana, " objected to this, as New York 
 State was already the richest in the Union. He would give 
 the lion to the State of New Jersey if the gentleman desired it, 
 but thought Louisiana ought to have the horses." 
 
 Mr. Poindexter, of Mississipppi, considering our delicate 
 relations with France, moved " that the lion be presented to 
 Louis Philippe." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan said " he opposed this on the ground that it 
 would be a declaration of war." 
 
 Mr. Shipley, of Maine, " desired to know where the gentle- 
 men obtained their authority in the Constitution to give away 
 the property of the United States." 
 
 Mr. Frelinghuysen replied, " that this question could be best 
 settled on the principles of common law. In order to legally 
 dispose of property, we must first be able to hold it ; and ho 
 did not see how we could hold the lion." 
 
 A resolution was finally adopted, authorizing the sale of the 
 horses by public auction, and the presentation of his kingly 
 majegty, the lion, to such person or persons as the President 
 might designate. 
 
 The twenty-third Congress expired ou the 3d of March, 
 
OONOLUSIOK OF TWENTT-THIED C0NGEE8S. liTf 
 
 1835. On the very last day of the session a very excited 
 debate occurred upon the famous "expunging resolution" 
 introduced by Mr. Benton, by which it was desired to expunge 
 from the journal of the Senate a resolution adopted in March, 
 1834, censuring ,Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits from 
 the United States Bank. Mr. Buchanan participated actively 
 in the discussion, and voted among the heroic band who were 
 determined to vindicate Gen. Jackson on the floor of the Senate 
 from the odium of a censure which had been the offspring of 
 momentary party exasperation. 
 
150 LIFE AND 8EEVIOB8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Ne\? Aspect of the Slavery Question — Incendiary Publications — Abolition of Slavery to 
 tlie District oi Columbia — AS&irs of Texas — Sufferers by Great Fire in New York. 
 
 The tweaty-fourth Congress assembled on the 1th of Decem- 
 ber, 1835. Among the new members who made their appear- 
 ance in the Senate at this session were John Davis, of Massa- 
 chusetts ; J. J. Crittenden of Kentucky ; and Eobert J. Walker, 
 of Mississippi. Almost the first thing that came before the 
 Senate was the Subject of negro slavery. It came up by a refer- 
 ence in the message of Gen. Jackson in regard to the circulation 
 by the United States^ mail, of incendiary publications designed 
 to excite insurrection in the Southern States, and upon memo- 
 rials for the aboEtion of slavery in the District of Columbia. 
 The question was then in most of its aspects a new one. It 
 had been before Congress previously, but simply as a measure 
 for excluding it from further extension. Now, however, the 
 question was assuming a different form. It had come from 
 England, lite most of our errors, covered with the conquests for 
 "freedom'' it had there made under the lead of such tories as 
 WUberforce and Clarkson, and was about to be inaugurated as 
 an element in our society. " A slave could not breathe in Eng- 
 land" had been sung by her poets, and repeated by her orators, 
 until their strains for freedom had actually drowned the voices 
 of the patriotic " sons of liberty" who in 1116 had ridiculed in 
 poor doggerel, but full of magnificent patriotism, the tyranny of 
 George the Third, and his unlucky generals, Burgoyne and Corn- 
 waUis. The turning of a few negroes loose in Jamaica, to go back 
 to the fetichisms of their ancestors, was heralded as an act of 
 devotion to the cause of human liberty which had made angela 
 
NEW ASPECT OF THE 8LATEET QUESTIOIf. 151 
 
 glad, and produced rapture even in heaven. The reception of 
 this abolition exotic in our country was at first, however, cold 
 and disdainful. Its advocates were mobbed as readily at the 
 North as they would now be at the South. All regarded the 
 doctrine of equality with negroes with something like indefinable 
 horror ; and although the general sentiment of the community, 
 both North and South, at that day was opposition to negro 
 slavery in the abstract, yet anything that looked like placing 
 white men and negroes upon terms of social and legal equality 
 was iustinctively rejected as outrageous and degrading. There 
 were but few men who then had the courage to call them- 
 selves abolitionists ; and it is to be charitably supposed that 
 those who did brave the odium of the charge were honest in 
 their opinions, and actuated, if by a mistaken, certainly by a sin- 
 cere desire to benefit the negro. No one at this time probably 
 denied the injustice of negro servitude in the abstract. The 
 demonstration of the incapacity of the negro race to retain the 
 advantages of civilization, when left to itself, had not been 
 afforded by the results of British emancipation in the West 
 Indies ; and the unwilling conclusion had not been forced upon 
 the minds of even the best and most benevolent men, that some 
 legal status for- the negro, different from that applied to white 
 men, is absolutely essential for the welfare of every society where 
 any considerable number of both races live in juxtaposition. 
 Whatever, though, may be the opinion of any person upon this 
 point, the constitutional guarantees between the States are 
 plain and explicit ; and while Mr. Buchanan held to the view 
 of the time in regard to slavery in the abstract, yet he went to 
 the utmost limit of constitutional power in protecting the South- 
 em States from what was then thought to be the danger of 
 incendiary publications. 
 
 The story of the St. Domingo massacres which had been 
 duly told by British historians, and ascribed entirely to the 
 negroes (which, if we may now believe reliable witnesses, 
 were like the atrocities of the French Eevolution, instigated 
 
152 LIFE AND SEKVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 by British agents), had created a profonnd sensation through 
 out the Southern States. President Jackson had recom- 
 mended that some measures be taken to afford the South such 
 protection as seemed proper. Mr. Buchanaii, in the debate on 
 the subject, said he would be willing to go to the full constitu- 
 tional power on the subject, and placed his advocacy of whatever 
 measure could be constitutionally adopted upon the ground that, 
 if the inflammatory pubhcations and pictorial illustrations refer- 
 red to were calculated to excite insurrection, the United States 
 ought not to allow its agents to knowingly be guilty of circu- 
 lating them ; otherwise the Constitution formed for the purpose 
 of insuring domestic tranquillity becomes an agent for foment- 
 ing discord — ^in fact, was in effect, by its operation, destroying 
 itself, and instead of being a protection for the common defence, 
 was actually the worst enemy the States where slavery existed 
 could have. If the danger of negro insurrections had been what 
 it was supposed to be at that time, these would have been very 
 just and proper views ; but a more extended acquaintance with 
 negro "slavery" has shown that no society which treats its 
 negroes with any proper degree of humanity need ever fear an 
 insurrection. The attachment formed by these faithful and 
 devoted children of the sun to their masters, gives rise to no more 
 apprehensions of revolt than may be anticipated by a father of a 
 family among his children. 
 
 The abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia arose 
 from memorials for that object which had been presented by 
 societies of Friends in different portions of the country. These 
 memorials had been received for many years from this pecuhar 
 but worthy body of Christians, and had given rise to but httle 
 or no debate. Their manifestoes had been quietly consigned to 
 the tomb of the Oapulets, and the pubUc business duly pro- 
 ceeded with ; but in the excited state of public feeling which 
 now existed, they caused a long and animated discussion. Mr. 
 Buchanan met the question in the outset in the following frank 
 and decided manner : 
 
ABOLITION IN THE DISTEIOT OF COLUKBIA. 163 
 
 " What is now asked by these memorialists ? That in this 
 District of ten miles square — aBistrict carved out of two slaye- 
 holding States, and surrounded by them on all sides, slavery 
 shall be abolished 1 What would be the effects of granting 
 their request ? Tou would thus erect a citadel in the very 
 hearts of these States, upon a territory which they have ceded 
 to yon for a far different purpose, from which abolitionists and 
 incendiaries could securely attack the peace and safety of their 
 citizens. Tou establish, a spot within the slaveholding States 
 which would be a city of refuge for runaway slaves. You create 
 by law a central point from which trains of gunpowder may be 
 securely laid, extending into the surrounding States, which may 
 at any moment produce a fearful and destructive explosion. 
 By passing such a law, you introduce the enemy into the very 
 bosom of these two States, and afford him every opportunity to 
 produce a servile insurrection. Is there any reasonable man 
 who can for one moment suppose that Virginia and Maryland 
 would have ceded the District of Columbia to the United States, 
 if they had entertained the slightest idea that Congress would 
 ever use it for any such purpose ? They ceded it for your use, 
 for your convenience, and not for their own destruction. When 
 slavery ceases to exist under the laws of Virginia and Maryland, 
 then, and not tiU then, ought it to be aboUshed in the District 
 of Columbia." 
 
 In a further' debate upon this subject, Mr. Buchanan more 
 fully stated his position upon the question as follows : — 
 
 " I shall now proceed to defend my own motion from the 
 attacks which have been made upon it. It has been equally 
 opposed by both extremes. I have not found upon the present 
 occasion, the maxim to be true, that ' m medio tutissimus ibis' 
 The senator from Louisiana (Mr. Porter), and the senator 
 from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), seem both to believe that 
 little if any, difference exists between the refusal to receive a 
 
 1* 
 
154 LIFE AHD 8EEVI0BS OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 petition, and the. rejection of its prayer after it has been re- 
 ceived. Indeed, the gentleman from Louisiana, whom I am 
 happy to call my friend, says he can see no difference at 
 all between those motions. At the moment I heard this remark 
 I was inclined to believe that it proceeded from that confusion 
 of ideas which sometimes exists in the clearest heads of that 
 country from which he derives his origin, and from which I am 
 myself proud to be descended. What, sir 1 no difference be- 
 tween refusing to receive a request at all, and actually receiv- 
 ing it and considering it respectfully, and afterwards deciding, 
 without delay, that it is not in your power to grant it ! There 
 is no man in the country acquainted with the meaning of the 
 plainest words in the English language, who will not recog- 
 nize the distinction in a moment. 
 
 " If a constituent of that gentleman should present to him e, 
 written request, and he should teU him to go about his business, 
 and take his paper with him, that he would not have anything 
 to do with him or it ; this would be to refuse to receive the 
 petition. 
 
 " On the other hand, if the gentleman should receive this 
 written request of his constituent, read it over carefully and 
 respectfully, and file it away among- his papers, but, finding it 
 was of an unreasonable or dangerous character, he should in- 
 form him, without taking further time to reflect upon it, that 
 the case was a plain one, and that he could not, consistently 
 with what he believed to be his duty, grant the request, this 
 would be to reject the prayer of the petition. 
 
 " There is as much difference between the two cases as there 
 would be between kicking a man down stairs who attempted to 
 enter your house, and receiving him politely, examining his 
 request, and then refusing to comply with it. 
 
 " It has been suggested, that the most proper course would be 
 to refer his petition to a committee. What possible good can 
 result from referring it ? Is there a senator on this floor who 
 has not long smce determinecl whether he -will vote to abolish 
 
ABOLrriON IN THE DISTRICT OF COLITMBIA. 155 
 
 slayery in tte District or not ? Does any gentleman require the 
 report of a committee, in order to enable him to decide this 
 question ? Not one. 
 
 "By granting the prayer of this memorial, as I observed on 
 a former occasion, you would establish a magazine of gunpow- 
 der here, from which trains might be laid into the surrounding 
 States which would produce fearful explosions. In the very 
 heart of the slaveholding States themselves you would erect an 
 Impregnable citadel, from whence the abolitionists might 
 Becurely spread throughout these States by circulating their 
 incendiary pamphlets and pictures, the seeds of disunion, insur- 
 rection, and servile war. You would thus take advantage of 
 the generous confidence of Virginia and Maryland in ceding to 
 you this District, without expressly forbidding Congress to 
 abolish slavery here whilst it exists within their limits. No 
 man can, for one moment, suppose that they would have made 
 this upon any other terms, had they imagined that a neces- 
 sity could ever exist for such a restriction. Whatever may be 
 my opioion of the power of Congress under the Constitution, to 
 interfere with this question about which at present I say noth- 
 ing, I shall as steadily and as sternly oppose its exercise as if 
 I believed no such power to exist." 
 
 " In making the motion now before the Senate, I intended 
 to adopt as strong a measure as I could, consistently with the 
 right of petition and a proper respect for the petitioners. I 
 am the last man in the world who would intentionally treat 
 these respectable constituents of my own with disrespect. I 
 know them well, and prize them highly. On a former occasion, 
 I did ample justice to their character, I deny that they are 
 abolitionists. I cannot, however, conceive how any person 
 could have supposed that it was disrespectful to them to refuse 
 to grant their prayer in the first instance, and not disrespect- 
 ful to refuse to grant it after their memorial had been referred 
 to a committee. In the first case, their memorial wUl be receiv- 
 ed, by the Senate, and wiU be filed among the records of the 
 
156 LUTE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BTJOHANAJST. 
 
 conntry. That it has already been the subject of sufficient 
 dehberation and debate, that it has already occupied a due 
 portion of the time of the Senate cannot be doubted or denied. 
 Every one acquainted with the proceedings of our courts of 
 justice must know that often, very often, when petitions are 
 presented to them, the request is refused without any delay. 
 This is always done in a plain case by a competent judge. And 
 yet, who ever heard that this was treating the petition with 
 disrespect ? In order to be respectful to these memorialists, 
 must we go through the unmeaning form in this case of refer- 
 ring the memorial to a committee, and pretending to deliber- 
 ate, when we are now all fully prepared to decide ? 
 
 " I repeat, too, that I intended to make as strong a motion 
 in this case as the circumstances would justify. It is neces- 
 sary that we should use every constitutional effort to suppress 
 the agitation which now disturbs the land. This is necessary, 
 as much for the happiness and future prospects of the slave as 
 for the security of the master. Before this -storm began to 
 rage, the laws in regard to slaves had been really ameliorated 
 by the slave-holding States ; they enjoyed many privileges 
 which were unknown in former times. In some of the slave 
 States prospective and' gradual emancipation was publicly and 
 seriously discussed. But now, thanks to the efforts of the 
 abolitionists, the slaves have been deprived of these privileges, 
 and, whilst the integrity of the Union is endangered, their 
 prospect of final emancipation is delayed to an indefinite period. 
 To leave this question where the Constitution has left it, to the 
 slaveholdlng States themselves, is equally dictated by a humane 
 regard for the slaves as well as for their masters." 
 
 During this session there was much discussion in regard to the 
 affairs of Texas. This gallant State was then passing through 
 its battle for independence, and , Santa Anna vsdth aU the pom- 
 posity of his nature was endeavoring to compel his revolted 
 province to return to its ancient allegiance. Mr. Buchanan was 
 
AFFAIE8 IN TEXAB. 157 
 
 one of its earliest, most devoted friends and defenders. It was 
 an odium tten to sympathize with the heroic men who were 
 rescuing the fair plains of Texas from the curse of Spanish- 
 American despotism, and consecrating them to the genius of 
 American Kberty, and a man ran the risk of being called " a 
 friend of adventurers," " a flllibuster," and other opprobrious 
 epithets which have fortunately ceased to frighten those lovers 
 of free institutions, who patriotically wish to see all nations en- 
 joy the same blessing of civil and religious liberty which have 
 made our country the pride of its citizens, and the terror of ty- 
 rants everywhere. Mr. Buchanan in the debate upon the affairs 
 of Texas had early and nobly stated his sjonpathy with the 
 heroic band struggling for liberty : 
 
 " In regard to Mexico, Mr. B. said, he looked upon Santa Anna 
 as a usurper. The federal Constitution, established for the 
 republic of Mexico, and which Texas as a part of that repub- 
 lic, had sworn to support, had been trampled on by him ; Texas, 
 in his eyes, and in the eyes of all mankind, was justified in 
 rebelling against him. Whether the Texans acted consistently 
 with a true policy at the time, in declaring their independence, 
 he should not discuss, nor should he decide ; but as a man and 
 an American, he should be rejoiced to see them successful in 
 maintaining their liberties, and he trusted in God they would be 
 so. He would, however, leave them to rely on their own brave- 
 ry, with every hope and prayer that the God of battles would 
 shield them with His protection. 
 
 " If Santa Anna excited the Indians within our territory to 
 deeds of massacre and blood ; if he should excite a spirit 
 among them which he cannot restrain ; and if, in consequence 
 the blood of our women and children on the frontiers shall flow, 
 he undoubtedly ought to be held responsible. Mr. Buchanan 
 saw a strong necessity for sending a force to the frontiers, not 
 only to restrain the natural disposition of the Indians to deeds 
 of violence, but because they could place no confidence in a man 
 
158 LIFE AND SEEVI0B8 OF JAMBS BUOHAITAN'. 
 
 frho had so little command of his temper, who had shown so 
 truel and sanguinary a disposition as Santa Anna had. He was 
 for having a force speedily sent to that frontier, and a force 
 of mounted men or dragoons, as suggested by the Senator from 
 Missouri (Mr. Linn) ; but he was against interfering in the war 
 now raging in Texas, unless an attack should be made on us.'' 
 
 In a more elaborate speech upon the same subject on the 9th 
 of May, 1836, Mr. Buchanan said : 
 
 " In some remarks which he had submitted to the Senate a 
 few days since, and which, like all other proceedings in this 
 body, had been much misrepresented abroad, he had indulged 
 the feelings of a man and an American. What he then had 
 uttered were the sentiments of his heart in relation to the exist, 
 ing struggle in Texas. But as to the independence of that coun- 
 try, he thought it prudent to refer back to the conduct of our 
 ancestors, when placed in similar circumstances, and to derive 
 lessons of wisdom from their example. If there was any one 
 principle of our public poUcy which had been well settled — one 
 which had been acted upon by every administration, and which 
 had met the approbation not oidy of this country, but of every 
 civilized government with which we have intercourse — ^it was, 
 that we should never interfere in the domestic concerns of other 
 nations. Eecognizing in the people of every nation the absolute 
 right to adopt such form of government as they thought proper, 
 we have always preserved the strictest neutrality between the 
 parties in every country, whilst engaged in civil war. We have 
 left all nations perfectly free, so far as we are concerned, to 
 establish, to maintain or to change their forms of government, 
 according to their own sovereign wiU and pleasure. 
 
 " It would indeed be surprising, and more than this it 
 would be unnatural, if the sympathies of the ^jnerican people 
 should not be deeply, earnestly enlisted in favor of those who 
 drew the sword for liberty throughout the world, no matter . 
 
AOT-AIES IN TEXAS. 159 
 
 where it was to strike. Beyond this we had never proceeded. 
 The peaceful influence of our example upon other nations is 
 much greater. The cause of free govemment is thus more 
 efficiently promoted than if we should waste the blood and 
 treasure of the people of the United States in foreign wars, 
 waged even to maintain the sacred cause of Uberty. The world 
 must be persuaded — ^it cannot be conquered. Besides we can 
 never, with any proper regard for the welfare of our consti- 
 tuents, devote their energies and their resources to the cause of 
 planting and sustaining free institutions among the people of 
 other nations. 
 
 " Acting upon these principles, we have always recognized 
 existing governments, or governments de facto, whether they 
 were constitutional or despotic. We have the same amicable 
 relations with despotisms as with free governments, because we 
 have no right to quarrel with the people of any nation on 
 account of the form of their govemment which they may think 
 proper to adopt or to sanction. It is their afFair— not ours. 
 We should not tolerate such interference from abroad, and we 
 ought to demean ourselves towards foreign nations as we should 
 require them to act towards ourselves. 
 
 " A very striking illustration of this principle has been pre- 
 jented during the present administration, in the case of Portu- 
 gal. We recognized Don Miguel's govemment, because he 
 was de facto in possession of the throne, apparently with the 
 •jonsent of the Portuguese people. In this respect Mr. B. be 
 'ieved we stood alone, or nearly, alone, among the nations of 
 ;he earth. When he was expelled from that country, and the 
 present queen seemed firmly seated upon the throne, we had 
 ao difficulty in pursuing our established policy in recognizing 
 aer govemment 
 
 " A still more striking .case, and one to the very point in 
 question, had occurred during Mr. Monroe's ad^miistration 
 The Spanish provinces throughout the whole continent of 
 America had raised the standard of rebellion against the king 
 
160 LIFE AND 8EKVI0ES OF JAMES Bb.JHANAN. 
 
 of Spain ; they were struggling for liberty against opprt-.aion. 
 The feelings of the American people ?rere devotedly eioisted 
 in their favor. Our ardent wishes and our prayers for their 
 success continued throughout the whole long and bloody con- 
 flict ; but we took no other part in their cause, and we ren- 
 dered them no assistance except the strong moral iufluence ex- 
 cited over the world by our weU known feelings and opinions 
 in their favor. When did we recognize their independence? 
 Not tiU they had achieved it by their arms ; not nntil the con- 
 test was over, and victory had perched upon their banners ; not 
 until the good fight had been fought and won. We then led 
 the van in acknowledging their independence. 
 
 " But let us not, by departing from our settled poliey, give 
 rise to the suspicion that we have got up this war for the pur- 
 pose of wresting Texas from those to whom, under the faith of 
 treaties, it justly belongs. Since the treaty with Spain of 
 1819, there can no longer be any doubt but that this province 
 ifl a part of Mexico. He was sorry for it ^ but such was the 
 undeniable fact. Let us then foUow the course which we had 
 pursued under similar circumstances in all other cases." 
 
 •Among the bills discussed at this session, was one for the 
 relief of the sufferers by the great fire in New York city, on 
 the 16th of December, 1835, The generous manner in which 
 Mr. Buchanan met thie proposition for the relief of a city, the 
 rival of the commercial emporium of his own State, deserves to 
 be recorded. He brought no narrow-minded jealousy to the 
 consideration of the subject. It was enough for him to know 
 that prosperous merchants had been suddenly reduced -to ruin ; 
 that homeless families were suffering the inclemencies of a severe 
 winter. The remarks he made upon the occasion referred to 
 will ever entitle him to the gratitude of the mercantile classes 
 of New York city. 
 
 He said, " it had not been his intention to say a single word 
 
BtnFFEEEES BY GEEAT FIEE IN NEW TOEK. 161 
 
 upon this question. He would not do so now, but he distiactly 
 perceived, that if the friends of the bill yielded to any one of 
 the amendments which had been proposed, the bill was lost. 
 We must take the bill as it now is, or none. For his own part, 
 he took a much more Kberal view of the question than some of 
 those genttemen who had addressed the Senate. What was 
 the state of the case ? On the 16th of December last a capi- 
 tal of between seTenteen and eighteen milli ons of dollars had 
 been in one day annihilated by fire, in our greatest commercial 
 emporium. Notwithstanding this calamity, not a single failure 
 had since taken place among the merchants of that city. He 
 would say that he did not beUeve the history of the commer- 
 cial world presented an example of such punctuahty and such 
 ability to comply with all engagements ia the midst of such 
 distress. It was highly honorable not only to New York, but 
 to the American character. At the time of this destructive 
 fire, the merchants of that city were indebted to the United 
 States about $3,600,000. And what does this bill, first and 
 second sections and all, propose to give ? To give them this 
 amount or any part of it ? No, sir ; all that is asked is, that 
 you shall not in the midst of their distress extort this sum 
 from them ; which, at this moment, may save them from in- 
 solvency and ruin, for the purpose of placiag it in an over- 
 flowing treasury, where it is not wanted. Ton are only asked 
 to grant these suffering merchants time to pay their money, 
 provided they give you ample security that the money shall be 
 paid. Is there a single senator who would not most cheerfully 
 comply with this request if he did not believe the Constitution 
 to be in his way ? Not one. He certainly should not go into 
 the argument of the constitutional question after what had 
 been already said. He felt confident that a large majority of 
 the Senate were already convinced that the Constitution had 
 nothing to do with the question. After the merchant had en- 
 tered his goods at the custom house, and given bonds for the 
 payment of the duties, he became a debtor to the government, 
 
162 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHAHAN. 
 
 with whom he might make any fair and reasonable terms, as 
 we may do, and have done with our debtors. This, he was 
 very clearly of opinion, would not be giving any preference by 
 any regulation of commerce or revenue to the parts of one 
 State over those of another. 
 
 "What is the present position of the mercantile commu- 
 nity of New York? ,He had observed in the late public 
 journals, that money was now worth one, one and a half, 
 and two per cent, per month. The pressure was- very great. 
 The present state of tension could not long endure. Without 
 some reUef, some speedy relief, it was probable the merchants 
 must yield. Let a single failure take place to the amount of 
 a million, half a million, or a quarter of a mUlion, and, in its 
 consequences it would produce such ruin in New York as would 
 be felt to the very extremities of the Union. We might then 
 see that the forbearance whi«h the bill proposes to ex.tend to 
 the merchants, is the very best bargain for ourselves which we 
 can make." 
 
BBLATIONS WITH FRAHOE. 163 
 
 OHAPTEE XI. i 
 
 TTenty-fourtt Oongress continued — Relations witli France — Specie Payments — Ad- 
 mission of Michigan and Arlcansas. 
 
 OiTR relations with France, on account of her neglect to com- 
 ply with the terms of the treaty of 1831, and pay the indemnity 
 BO long due our citizens, caused a long and excited discussion 
 during the first session of the twenty-fourth Congress. The 
 object of the French government in delaying to do what was 
 simply an act of justice, had fairly given rise to suspicions in 
 regard to her ultimate designs. The king, in his opening speech 
 to the Chamber of Deputies, had barely alluded to the subject, 
 and his failure to ask for the sum necessary to hqnidate our 
 claims, whilst at the same time he had called for appropriations 
 for other and apparently less important objects, had served to 
 still more embarrass the question. The President, in view of all 
 the circumstances, and particularly of the necessity of an increase 
 of the navy to meet the constantly expanding demands of the 
 country, had recommended an augmentation of that arm of our 
 defence, and also some improvement of the forts, &c., of our 
 maritime frontier. The proposition was opposed by Mr. Clay and 
 all the anti-administration party on the floor of the Senate. Mr. 
 Buchanan, on the 1st of February, 1836, in a speech of great 
 length and extraordinary ability, reviewed the whole question of 
 national defence, and the entire range of our difficulties with 
 France. He gave a complete history of the negotiations between 
 oxa own and the French government, and showed in a most con- 
 clusive manner that our citizens had been shamefully used, had 
 
164: LIFE AND BEEVIOBB OF JAMES BtJCHANAU. 
 
 been denied for years their 'just rights Withont a shadow of ex 
 cuse, and that longer acquiescence in such manifest mjnsticb 
 would brand us with pusiUanimity and even cowardice. We 
 shall give only a portion of this speech, much of which is his- 
 torical but sufficient to show with what ardent patriotism Mr. 
 Buchanan has always contended for the interests and honor of 
 his country. The following extract embraces the opening 
 portion : 
 
 " Mr. President : I am much better pleased with the first 
 resolution offered by the senator from Missouri (Mr. Benton) 
 since he has modified it upon the suggestion of the senator from 
 Tennessee (Mr. Grundy). When individuals have more money 
 than they know how to expend, they often squander it fooEshly. 
 The remark applies, perhaps, with still greater force to nations. 
 When our treasury is overflowing, Congress, who are but mere 
 trustees for the people, ought to be especially on their guard 
 against wasteful expenditures of the public money. The sur- 
 plus can be applied to some good and useful purpose. I am 
 wiUing to grant all that may be necessary for the public defence, 
 but no more. I am therefore pleased that the- resolution has 
 assumed its present form. The true question involved in this 
 discussion is, on whom ought the responsibOity to rest for having 
 adjourned on the 3d of March last, without providing for the 
 defence of the country ? There can be no doubt a fearful 
 responsibiUty rests somewhere. For my own part, I should 
 have been wiUing to leave the decision of this question to oui 
 constituents. I am a man of peace, and dislike the criminatioii 
 and recrimination which this discussion must necessarily pro- 
 duce ; but it is in vain to regret what cannot now be avoided. 
 The friends of the administration have been attacked, and we 
 must now defend ourselves. I deem it necessary, therefore, to 
 state the reason why I voted, on the 3d of March last, in faroi 
 of the apptopriation of three millions for the defence of the 
 country, and why I glory in that vote. The language used by 
 
BELAT10N8 WITH FBANOE. 165 
 
 senators in reference to this appropriation lias been very strong. 
 It has been denounced as a violation of the Constitution. It 
 has been declared to be such a measure as would not have re- 
 ceived the support of the minority, had they believed it could 
 prevail, and that they would be held responsible for it. It has 
 been stigmatized as most unusual — most astonishing — most sur- 
 prising. And, finally, to cap the climax, it has been proclaimed 
 that the passage of such an appropriation would be virtually to 
 create a dictator, and to surrender the power of the purse and 
 the sword into the hands of the President. I voted for that 
 appropriation under the highest convictions of public duty, and 
 I now intend to defend that vote against all these charges. 
 
 " In examining the circumstances which not only justified 
 this appropriation, but rendered it absolutely necessary, I am 
 forced into the discussion of the French question. We have 
 been told, that if we go to war with France, we are the authors 
 of that war. The senator from New Jersey has declared that 
 it wiU be produced by the boastful vanity of one man, the 
 petulance of another, and the fitful violence of a third. It 
 would not be difficult to conjecture who are the individuals to 
 whom the senator alludes. He has also informed us that, in 
 tho. event of such a war, the guilt which must rest somewhere 
 wiU be tremendous. Now, sir, I shall undertake to prove that 
 scarcely an example exists in Kstory of a powerfal and inde- 
 pendent nation having suffered such wrongs and indignities as 
 we have done from France with so much patience and forbear- 
 ance. If France should now resort to arms — if our defenceless 
 seacoast should be plundered — ^if the blood of our citizens should 
 be shed — ^the responsibility of the Senate, to use the language 
 of the gentleman, will be tremendous. I shall not follow the 
 example of the senator, and say their guilt, because that would 
 be to attribute to them an evil intention, which I believe did 
 not exist. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " The justice of our claims upon France are now admitted by 
 
166 LIFE AUD 8EEVICES OF JAMES BUCHA2JAIS'. 
 
 all mankind. Onr generosity was equal to their justice. When 
 she was crushed to the dust by Europe in arms, when her cities 
 were garrisoned by a foreign foe, when her independence was 
 trampled under foot, we refused to urge our claims. This was 
 due to our ancient ally. It was due to our grateful remembrance 
 of the days of other years. The testimony of Lafayette conclu- 
 sively establishes this fact. In the -Chamber of Deputies, on the 
 13th of June, 1833, he declared that we had refused to unite 
 with the enemies of Prance in urging our claims, in 1814 and 
 1815 ; and that, if we had done so, these claims would then 
 have been settled. This circumstance wUl constitute one of 
 the brightest pages in our history. 
 
 " Was the sum secured to our injured feUow-citizens by the 
 treaty of the 4th of July, 1831, more than they had a right to 
 demand ? Let the report of our Committee on Foreign Rela- 
 tions, at the last session, answer this question. They concur 
 entirely with the President in the statement he had made in his 
 message, that it was absolutely certain the indemnity fell far 
 short of the actual amount of our just claims, independently of 
 damages and interest for the detention ; and that it was well 
 known at the time that in this respect the settlement involved a 
 sacrifice. But there is now no longer room for any conjecture 
 or doubt upon this subject. The commissioners under the 
 treaty have closed their labors. From the very nature of their 
 constitution it became the interest of every claimant to reduce 
 the other claims as much as possible, so that his own dividend 
 might thus be increased. After a laborious and patient investi- 
 gation, the claims which have been allowed by the commission- 
 ers amount to $9,352,193 4'7. Each claimant wiU receive but 
 little more than half his principal, at the end of a quarter of a 
 century, after losing all the interest. 
 
 "Why then has this treaty remained without execution on 
 ihe part of Prance unto this day ? Our Committee on Foreign 
 Eelations, at the last session, declared their conviction that the 
 king of France had invariably, on all suitable occasions, mani- 
 
EELA.TI0N8 WITH TSASOE. 167 
 
 fested an anxions desire faithfully and honestly to fulfill the 
 engagement contracted under his authority and his name. They 
 say that ' the opposition to the execution of the treaty and the 
 payment of our just claims does not proceed from the king's 
 goTernment, but from a majority in the Chamber of Deputies.' 
 
 " Now, sir, it is my purpose to contest this opinion, and to 
 show, as I think I can conclusively, that It is not a just infer- 
 ence from the facts ; and here, to prevent all possible mis- 
 construction, either on this side or on the other side of the 
 Atlantic (if by any accident my hmuble remarks should ever 
 travel to such a distance),. permit me to say that I am solely 
 responsible for them myself. These opinions were in a great 
 degree formed while I was in a foreign land, and were there 
 freely expressed upon all suitable occasions. I was then beyond 
 the sphere of party influence, and felt only as an American citi- 
 zen. Is it not then manifest, to use the language of Mr. Liv- 
 ingston, in his note to the Count de Eigny, on the 3d of August, 
 1834, that the ^rench government have never appreciated the 
 importance of the subject at its just value ? There are two 
 modes in which the king could have manifested this anxious 
 desire faithfully to fulfill the treaty. These are by words and 
 by actions. When a man's words and his actions correspond, 
 yon have the highest evidence of his sincerity. Even then he 
 may be a hypocrite in the eyes of that Being before whom the 
 fountains of himian action are unveUed. But when a man's 
 words and his actions are at variance ; when he promises and 
 does not perform, or even attempt to perform ; when ' he speaks 
 the word of promise to the ear, and breaks it to the hope,' the 
 whole world will at once pronounce him insincere. If this be 
 true in the transactions of common life, with how much more 
 force does it apply to the intercourse between diplomatists. 
 The deceitfulness of diplomacy has become almost a proverb. 
 In Europe, the talent of overreaching gives the minister the 
 glory of diplomatic skill. The French school has been distin- 
 guished in this art. To prove it, I need only mention the name 
 
I 
 
 168 LITE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANACf. 
 
 of Talleyrand. The American schooL teaches far different les- 
 sons. On this our success has in a great degree depended. 
 The skillfnl diplomatists of Europe are foiled by the downright 
 honesty and directness of purpose which have characterized all 
 our negotiations. Even the established forms of diplomacy 
 contain much unmeaning language, which is perfectly under- 
 stood by everybody, and deceives nobody. If ministers have 
 avowed their sincerity and their ardent desire to execute the 
 treaty, to deny them on our part would be insulting, and 
 might lead to the most unpleasant consequences. In forming 
 an estimate of their intentions, therefore, every wise man will 
 regard their actions rather, than their words. By their deeds 
 shall they be known. Let us then test the French government 
 by this touchstone of truth." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan here goes into a detailed account of our rela- 
 tions with Prance, tracing the negotiations between the two 
 governments step by step up to the time of the delivery of his 
 speech. After he iiad concluded this portion of Ms remarks, 
 he addressed the Senate in the following strain of indignant 
 eloquence : 
 
 "Sir, at the commencement of the session of Congress, It 
 became the duty of the President to speak, and what could any 
 American expect that he would say ? The treaty had been 
 violated in the first instance by the ministers of the French 
 king, in neglecting to lay it before the Chambers until after 
 the first installment was due. It was then twice submitted at 
 so late a period of the session, that it was impossible -for the 
 Chambers to examine and decide the question before their ad- 
 journment. On the last of these occasions, the chairman of 
 the committee to which the subject was referred had reported 
 a severe reprimand against the government for not having 
 sooner presented the bUl, and expressed a hope that it might 
 be presented at an early period of the next sessioa. It waa 
 
EELATIONS WITH EBANOE. 169 
 
 then rejected by the Chamber of Deputies, and, when the 
 French government had solemnly engaged to hasten the presen- 
 tation of the rejected law as soon as their Constitution would 
 permit, they prorogued the Chambers to the latest period which 
 custom sanctions, in the very face of the remonstrances of, the 
 minis ter of the United States. I ask again, sir, before such an 
 array of circumstances, what could any man, what could any 
 American, expect the President would say in his message ? 
 The cup of forbearance had been drained by him to the very 
 dregs. It was then his duty to speak so as to be heard and to 
 be regarded on the other side of the Atlantic. If the same 
 spirit which dictated the message, or anything like it, had been 
 manifested by Congress, the money, in my opinion, would ere 
 this have been paid. 
 
 "The question was, then, reduced to a single point. We 
 demanded the execution of a solemn treaty ; it had been refased. 
 France had promised again to bring the question before the 
 Chambers as soon as possible. The Chambers were prorogued 
 until the latest day. The President had every reason to be- 
 lieve that France was trifling with us, and that the treaty 
 would again be rejected. Is there a senator within the sound 
 of my voice who, if France had finally determined not to pay 
 the money, would have tamely submitted to this violation of 
 national faith ? Not one I 
 
 " The late war with Great Britain elevated us in the estimar 
 tion of the whole world. In every portion of Europe we have 
 reason to be proud that we are American citizens. We have 
 paid dearly for the exalted character we now enjoy among the 
 nations, and we ought to preserve it, and transmit it unimpair- 
 ed to future generations. To them it wiU be a most precious 
 inheritance. 
 
 " K, -after having compelled the weaker nations of the world 
 to pay us indemnities for captures made from our citizens, we 
 should cower before the power of France, and abandon our 
 rights against her, when they had been secured by a solonn 
 
 8 
 
170 LIFE AOT) SEEVI0E8 OF JAMES BUCHAITAN. 
 
 treaty, we should be regarded as a mere hector among the 
 nations. The same coarse which you have pursued towards 
 the weak, yon must pursue towards the powerful. If you do 
 not, your name will become a by-word and a proverb. 
 
 "But under all the provocations which the country had 
 received, what is the charcter of that message? Let it be 
 scanned with eagle eyes, and there is nothing in its language at 
 which the most fastidious critic can take offence. It contains 
 an enumeration of our wrongs, in mild and dignified language, 
 and a contingent recommendation of reprisals in case the in- 
 demnity should again be rejected by the Chambers. But m 
 this, and in all other respects, it defers entirely to the judg- 
 ment of Congress, every idea of an intended menace is excluded 
 by the President's express declaration. He says, 'such a 
 measure ought not to be considered by France as a menace. 
 Her pride and power are too weU known to expect anything 
 •from her fears, and preclude the necessity of the declaration, 
 that nothing partaking of the character of intimidation is 
 intended by us.' I ask, again, is it not forbearing in its Ian. 
 guage ? Is there a single statement in it not founded upon 
 truth ? Does it even state the whole trtith^against France 1 
 Are there not strong points omitted ?" 
 
 Mr. Buchanan then discusses the questions of national defence, 
 its necessity and constitutional bearing, and closes with the 
 following brilliant peroration : 
 
 " On the 5th of June, the President had officially sanctioned 
 the explanations which had been made to the French govern- 
 ment by Mr. Livingston in his letter of the 25th of April, as he 
 had previously sanctioned those which had been made by the 
 same gentleman in h-'^ note of the 29th of January. These were 
 considered by the President amply sufBcient to satisfy the sus- 
 ceptible feelings of France. In order to give them fuU time to 
 produce their effect, and to afford the French ministry an ample 
 
RELATIONS WITH FEANCE. 171 
 
 opportunity for reflection, he delayed sending any orders to de- 
 mand the money secured by the treaty imtU the middle of 
 September. On the 14th of that month, Mr. Barton was in- 
 structed to call upon the Duke de Broglie, and request to be 
 informed what were the intentions of the French government in 
 relation to the payment of the money secured by the treaty. 
 He executed these instructions on the 20th of October. The 
 special message has communicated to us the result ': ' We will 
 pay the money,' says the Duke de BrogUe, ' when the govern- 
 ment of the United States is ready on its part to declare to us, 
 by addressing its claim to us officially in writing that it regrets 
 the misunderstanding, which has arisen between the two coun- 
 tries ; that this misunderstanding is founded on a mistake ; that 
 it never entered into its intention, to call in question the good 
 faith of the French government, nor to take a menacing atti- 
 tude towards France ;' and he adds, ' if the government of the 
 United States does not give this assurance, we shall be obliged to 
 think that this misunderstanding is not the result of an error.' 
 
 " Is there any American so utterly lost to those generous feel- 
 ings which love of country should inspire as to purchase five 
 millions with the loss of national honor ? Who for these or 
 any number of milUons, would see the venerable man now al the 
 head of our government bowing at the footstool of the throne 
 of Louis Philippe, and like a cMld prepared to say its lesson, 
 repeating this degrading apology ? First perish the five mil- 
 lions — perish a thousand times the amount. The man whose^ 
 bosom has been so often bared in the defence of his country will 
 never submit to such degrading terms. His motto has always 
 been'death before dishonor. 
 
 " Why, then, it may be asked, have I expressed a hope, a 
 belief, that this unfortunate controversy will be amicably ter- 
 minated, when the two nations are now directly at issue ? I 
 win teU you why. This has been called a mere question of 
 etiquette, and such it is, so far as France is concerned. She 
 has abeady received every explanation which the most jealous 
 
1Y2 LIFE AKD 8EBVI0ES OF JAMES BUOUXSAS, 
 
 Busceptibility ought to demand. These have been voluntarily 
 tendered to her. 
 
 " Since the date of the Duke de Broghe's letter to Mr. Pa- 
 geat on the 11th of June, we have received from the President 
 of the United States his general message at the commencement 
 of the session, and his special message on French affairs. 
 Both these documents disclaim in the strongest terms, any in- 
 tention to menace France or to impute bad faith to the French 
 government, by the message of December, 1834. Viewing the 
 subject in this light — considering that at the interview with 
 Mr. Barton, the duke could not have known what would be the 
 tone of these documents, I now entertain strong hope that the 
 French government have already reconsidered their determina- 
 tion. If a mediation has lieen proposed and accepted, I cannot 
 entertain a doubt as to what wiU be the opinion of the medlar 
 tor. He ought to say to France, you have already received all 
 the explanations, and these have been voluntarily accorded, 
 which the United States can make without national degradation. 
 With these you ought to be satisfied. With you it is a mere 
 question of etiquette. All the disclaimers which you ought to 
 desire have already been made by the President of the United 
 States. . The only question with you now is not one of substance, 
 but merely whether these explanations are in proper form. But 
 in regard to the United States the question is far different. 
 What is with you mere etiquette, is a question of life and death 
 to them. Let the President of the United States make the apo- 
 logy which you have dictated — ^let him once admit the right of 
 the foreign, governments to question his messages to Congress, 
 and to demand explanations of any language at which they may 
 choose to take offence, and our independent existence as a 
 government, to that extent, is virtually destroyed. 
 
 " We must remember that France may yield with honor, we 
 never can without disgrace. WUl she yield ? That is the 
 question. I confess I should have entertained a stronger belief 
 that she would, had she not published the duke's letter to Mr. 
 
SPECIE PAYMENTS. 173 
 
 Pageat as an appeal to the American people. She must stiU 
 believe that the people of this country are divided in opinion 
 in regard to the firm maintenance of their rights. In this she 
 wUl find herself entirely mistaken. But should Congress, at 
 the present session, refuse to sustain the President, by adopting 
 measures of defence — should the precedent of the last session 
 be followed for the present year, then I should entertain the 
 most gloomy forebodings. The Father of his Country has 
 informed us that the mode of preserving peace is to be pre- 
 pared for war. I firmly believe, therefore, that a unanimous 
 vote of the Senate in favor of the resolutions now before them, 
 to foUow to Europe the acceptance of the mediation, would, 
 almost to a certainty, render it successful. It would be an act 
 of the soundest policy, as well as of the highest patriotism. It 
 would prove, not that we intend to menace France, because 
 such an attempt would be ridiculous, but that the American 
 people are unanimous in the assertion of their rights, and have 
 resolved to prepare for the worst. A French fleet is now hov- 
 ering upon our coasts, and shall we sit still with our overflow- 
 ing treasury and leave our country defenceless? This will 
 never be said with truth of the American Congress. ' 
 
 " If war should come (which God forbid 1) — ^if Prance 
 should stiU persist in her effort to degrade 'the American people 
 in the person of their chief magistrate, we may appeal to 
 Heaven for the justice of our cause, and look forward with 
 confidence to victory from that Being in whose hands is the 
 destiny of nations." 
 
 It is gratifying to know that the decided stand taken by 
 Gen. Jackson on French affairs hastened the settlement of this 
 troublesome question, and secured to our citizens what had so 
 long been their just dues. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan took an early and decided stand in favor of 
 specie payments by the general government, instead of depreci- 
 able bank paper. Upon this subject he stood side by side with 
 
174 » LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN'. 
 
 that Ajax of democracy, on the currency question, Mr. Benton. 
 " Tb.e evilB," said Mr. Buchanan, " which result from a large 
 increase of banking capital to the laboring man, to the manu- 
 facturer, and to all classes of society except speculators, were 
 palpable. Banks could make money plenty at one time and 
 scarce at another ; at one moment nominally raise the price of 
 all property beyond its real value, and the next moment reduce 
 it below that standard, and thus prove most ruinous to the 
 best interests of the people. The increase of banking capital 
 was calculated to transfer the wealth and property of the 
 country from the honest, industrious, and unsuspecting classes 
 of society, into the hands of speculators, who knew when to 
 purchase and when to sell." Probably no one element has been 
 a stronger one in Mr. Buchanan's character than his devoted 
 friendship to the laboring classes. Born in the most humble 
 circumstances of hfe, and always residing among a people who 
 justly consider idleness disgraceful, it is not surprising that he 
 should have been naturally the friend and ally of the producing 
 classes. As a proof of this it is only necessary to state that 
 every measure introduced into Congress during his long mem 
 bership of that body, which was calculated in any way to ben- 
 efit them, he advocated ; while every one intended to injure them 
 he opposed. 
 
 One of the most prominent subjects before this Congress was 
 the admission of Michigan and Arkansas into the Union. Mr. 
 Buchanan was the northern senator chosen to present the bill 
 admitting Arkansas, and Mr. Benton was selected to present 
 the one admitting Michigan. The subject gave rise to much 
 debate, in all of which Mr. Buchanan bore a distinguished and 
 honorable part. It was objected to Michigan that foreigners 
 or unnaturaMzed citizens had been allowed to vote in the form- 
 ation of the Constitution of Michigan. Mr. Buchanan demon- 
 strated that ahens who were residents of the Northwest Ter- 
 ritory had a right, under the ordinance of 1781, to exercise the 
 elective franchise. 
 
ADMISSION OF MICHIGAN AND AEKANSA8. 1Y5 
 
 " The territory ceded by Virginia to thf United States," 
 said Mr. B., " was sufficiently extensive for an immense empire. 
 The parties to this compact of cession contemplated that it 
 would form five sovereign States of this Union. At that early 
 period, we had just emerged from our revolutionary struggle, 
 and none of the jealousy was then felt against foreigners, and 
 particularly against Irish foreigners, which now appears to 
 haunt some gentlemen. There had then been no attempts to 
 get up a Native American party in this country. The blood of 
 the gallant Irish had flowed freely upon every battle-field, in 
 defence of the liberties which we now enjoy. Besides, the Senate 
 wiU weU recollect that the ordinance was passed before the 
 adoption of onr present Constitution, and whilst the power of 
 naturalization remained with the several States. In some, and 
 perhaps, in aU of them, it required so short a residence, and so 
 little trouble to be changed from an alien to a citizen, that the 
 process could be performed without the least difficulty. I re- 
 peat that no jealousy whatever then existed against foreigners." 
 
 In the course of the same speech, Mr. Buchanan used the 
 following memorable and emphatic language upon a -question, 
 which at the present day is a most exciting.topic of discussion : 
 
 " Th£ older I grow, the more I am inclined to he what is called 
 ' a State rights man.' The peace and security of this Union 
 depend upon giving to the Constitution a literal and fair con- 
 struction, such as would be placed upon it by a plain and intel- 
 ligent man, and not by ingenious constructions, to increase 
 the powers of this government, and thereby diminish those of 
 the States. The rights of the States, reserved to them by that 
 instrument, ought ever to be held sacred. If, then, the Con- 
 stitution leaves to them to decide according to their own dis- 
 cretion, unrestricted and unlimited, who shall be electors, it 
 follows as a necessary consequence that they may, if they think 
 proper, confer upon resident aliens the right of voting." 
 
176 LIFE AOT) BEEVIOES OF JAMES BUOHAlirAlT. 
 
 " It is curious to remark," said Mr. Buchanan, in concluding 
 the speech from which the foregoing extracts are taken, " that 
 except in a few instances, the Constitution of the United States 
 has not prescribed that the officers elected or appointed under 
 its authority, shall be citizens ; and we all know, in practice, 
 that the Senate- have been constantly in the habit of confirm- 
 ing the nomination of foreigners as consuls of the United 
 States. They have repeatedly done so, I believe, in regard to 
 other officers." 
 
 This Congress closed its first session on the 14th of July, 
 1836. It had been a protracted and important session, as thb 
 reader of this and the preceding chapter wiU not -fail to have 
 observed. 
 
SPECIE CIECTJLAK. 177 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Second Session of Twenly-foarth Congress — Speeie Oircular — Expunging Resolutions— 
 Mr. Buchanan's Speech upon them. 
 
 The second session of the twenty-fourth Congress opened on 
 the 5th of December, 1836. Mr. Buchanan was chosen to the 
 honorable and responsible position of Chairman of the Commit- 
 tee of Foreign Kelations. Associated with him were Messrs. 
 Clay, of Kentucky ; TaUmadge, of New York ; King, of Geor- 
 gia, and Eives, of Virginia. The first subject brought before 
 the Senate was a resolution offered by Mr. Ewing, of Ohio, to 
 rescind an order made by the Secretary of the Treasury, gen- 
 erally known as the "specie circular.'' The object of the order 
 was the laudable one to check speculation in pubhc lands, as 
 well as the excessive issues of bank paper in the West, and thus 
 to increase the specie currency of the country. The aim of the 
 President to accomplish these desirable objects was, however, 
 represented like almost everything Gen. Jackson did whOe in 
 ofBce, as an act of executive tyranny, and a wish on his part to 
 wield the power of the revenue for his own- and his party's 
 political advantage. The resolution of Mr. Ewing, after being 
 shorn of most of its objectionable features, and modified so as 
 to leave the Secretary of the Treasury a discretion in regard to 
 the matter upon which he assumed to act, passed the Senate. 
 
 The principal feature of this session was, however, the adop- 
 tion of the celebrated " expunging resolution" which Mr. Ben- 
 ton introduced to vindicate the name and honor of Gen. Jack- 
 son. With an heroic determination, reminding one of Spartan 
 
 8* 
 
178 LIFE AUD SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHA Cf AU. 
 
 valor, the distinguished senator from Missouri had session after 
 session introduced a resolution for expunging from the journal 
 of the Senate the stain which had been affixed upon Gen. Jack- 
 son for his removal of the deposits from the United States Bank. 
 No epithet had caused him to waver for a moment in his deter- 
 mination, and for three successive years, through evil and good 
 report, he had each session presented the resolution ; but 
 owing to the majority against the President in the Senate, jus- 
 tice had not been granted him. He had now, however, been 
 elected the second time, and the people had ratified what the 
 minority of the Senate had so long contended for. Once more, 
 therefore, did Mr. Benton introduce his long abused resolution. 
 " Solitary and alone," said Mr. Benton, " and amidst the jeers 
 and taunts of my opponents, I put this ball in motion. The 
 people have taken it up and rolled it forward, and I am no 
 longer anything but a unit in the vast mass which now propels 
 it. In the name of that mass I speak. I demand the execu- 
 tion of the edict of the people ; I demand the expurgation of 
 that sentence which the voice of a few Senators, and the power 
 of their confederate, the Bank of the United States, has caused 
 to be placed on the journal of the Senate, and which the voioe 
 of millions of freemen has ordered to be expunged from it." 
 The persevering and unyielding determination which Mr. Ben- 
 ton evinced in rendering this act of justice to Gen. Jackson will 
 ever associate his name in the history of our country, side by 
 side with that of " the hero of New Orleans." 
 
 He was destined at this session to have the efficient and 
 earnest aid of Mr. Buchanan, in a speech of such masterly 
 power, of rich and graceful eloquence, as has seldom, if ever, 
 been delivered upon the floor of the United States Senate. 
 The reader is requested to notice in the following speech the 
 account of the abuse heaped upon Gen. Jackson for the fearless 
 discharge of his duty. It was even greater than that bestowed 
 upon Gen. Pierce, at the present day, for the repeal of the 
 unconstitutional Missouri restriction : 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING EESOLTJTIONS. 179 
 
 Mr. President : After the able and eloquent display of the 
 senator frcm Kentucky (Mr. Clay), who has just resumed his 
 seat after having so long enchained the attention of his audi- 
 ence, it might be the dictate of prudence for me to remain 
 silent. But I feel too deeply my responsibility as an American 
 senator, not to make the attempt to place before the Senate 
 and the country the reasons, which, in my opinion, wiU justify 
 the vote which I intend to give this day. 
 
 " A more grave and solemn question has rarely, if ever, 
 been submitted to the Senate of the United States, than the 
 one now under discussion. This Senate is now called upon to 
 review its own decision, to rejudge its own justice, and to anni- 
 hilate its own sentence, deliberately pronounced against the 
 co-ordinate executive branch of this government. On the 28th 
 of March, 1834, the American Senate, in the face of the Amer- 
 ican people, in the face of the whole world, by a solemn reso- 
 lution, pronounced the President of the United States to be a 
 violator of the Constitution of his country, of that Constitution 
 which he had solemnly sworn, ' to preserve, protect, and defend.' 
 Whether we consider the exalted character of the tribunal 
 which pronounced this condemnation, or the illustrious object 
 against which it was directed, we ought to feel deeply impressed 
 with the high and lasting importance of the present proceeding. 
 It is in fact, if not in form, the trial of the Senate for having 
 unjustly and unconstitutionally tried and condemned the Presi- 
 dent ; and their accusers are the American people. In this cause 
 I am one of the judges. In some respects, it is a painful posi- 
 tion for me to occupy. It is vain, however, to express un- 
 availing regrets. I must, and shall firmly and sternly do my 
 duty, although in the performance of it, I may wound the 
 feelings of gentlemen whom I respect and esteem ; I shall pro- 
 ceed no further than the occasion demands, and will therefore 
 justify. 
 
 " Who was the President of the United States against whom 
 this sentence has been prorounced ? Andrew Jackson — a name 
 
180 LIFE AND BEKVICES OF JAMES BUOHAJSTAIT. 
 
 which eTCry American mother, after the party strife ffhich 
 agitates us for the present moment shall have passed away 
 will, during all the generations which this Republic is destined 
 to endure, teach her infant to lisp with that of the venerated 
 name of Washington. The one was the founder, the other the 
 preserver, of the liberties of his country. 
 
 " If President Jackson has been guilty of violating the Oon- 
 stitntion of the United States, let impartial justice take its 
 course. I admit that it is no justification for such a crime, that 
 his long life has been more distinguished by acts of disinterested 
 patriotism than that of any American citizen now living. It is 
 no justification that the honesty of his heart and the purity of 
 his intentions have become proverbial, even amongst his political 
 enemies. It is no justification that in the hour of danger, and 
 in the day of l^attle, he has been his country's shield. If Jtie 
 has been guilty, let his name be ' damned to everlasting fame ' 
 with those of Csesar and Napoleon, 
 
 " If, on the other hand, he is pure and immaculate from the 
 charge, let us be swift to do him justice, and to blot out the 
 foul stigma which the Senate have placed upon his character. 
 If we are not, he may go down to the grave in doubt as to what 
 may be the final judgment of his country. In any event, he 
 must soon retire to the shades of private life. Shall we, then, 
 suffer his official term to expire without first doing him justice ? 
 It may be said of me, as it has already been said of other sena- 
 tors, that I am one of the gross adulators of the President But, 
 sir, I have never said thus much of him whilst he was in the 
 meridian of his power. Now, that his political sun is nearly 
 set, I feel myself at liberty to pour forth my grateful feelings as an 
 American citizen, to a man who has done so much for his 
 country. I have never for myself, either directly or indirectly, 
 solicited office at his hand ; and my character must greatly 
 change if I should ever do so from any of his successors If I 
 should bestow upon him the meed of my poor praise, it springs 
 from an impulse far different from that which has been attri- 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGmG EES0LTIT10N8. 181 
 
 bnted to tie majority on this floor. I speak as an independent 
 freeman and American senator, and I feel prond now to have 
 the opportunity of raising my voice in his defence. 
 
 " On the 28th day of March, 1834, the Senate of the United 
 States resolved ' that the President, in the late executive pro- 
 ceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon 
 himself authority and power not conferred by the Oonstitution 
 and laws, but in derogation of both.' 
 
 " In discussing this subject, I shall undertake to prove, first, 
 that this resolution is imjust ; secondly, that it is unconstitu- 
 tional ; and in the last place, that it ought to be expunged from 
 our journals, in the manner proposed by the senator from Mis- 
 souri (Mr. Benton). First, then, it is unjust. On this branch 
 of the subject, I had intended to confine myself to a bare ex- 
 pression of my own decided opinion. This point has been so 
 often and so ably discussed that it is impossible for me to cast 
 any new light upon it. But as it is my intention to follow the 
 footsteps of the senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay) wherever 
 they may lead, I must again tread the ground which has been 
 so often trodden. As the senator, however, has confined him- 
 self to a mere passing reference to the topics which this head 
 presents, I shaU, in this particular, follow his example. 
 
 " Although the resolution condemning the President is vague 
 and general in its terms, yet we all know that it was founded 
 upon his removal of public deposits from the bank of the United 
 States. The senator from Kentucky has contended that this 
 act was a violation of law. Aid why ? Because, says he, it 
 is well known that the public money was secure in that institu- 
 tion ; and by its charter the public deposits could not be re- 
 moved from it, unless under a just apprehension that they were 
 in danger. Now, sir, I admit that if the President had no right 
 to remove these deposits, except for the sole reason that their 
 safety was in danger, the senator has established his position. 
 But what is the fact 7 Was the government thus restricted by 
 the terms of the bank charter? I answer, no. Such a limitar 
 
182 LIFE ASTD SEEVIOES OF JAMES BTTCHANAK. 
 
 tiou is nowhere to be found in it. Let me read the sixteenth 
 section, which is the only one relating to the subject. It enacts 
 ' that the deposits of the money of the United States, in places 
 in which the said bank and branches thereof may be established, 
 shall be made in said bank or branches thereof, unless the 
 Secretary of the Treasury shall at any time otherwise order and 
 direct, in which case, the Secretary of the Treasury shall imme- 
 diately lay before Congress, if in session, and if not, immediately 
 after the commencement of the next session, the reasons of such 
 order or direction. 
 
 " Is not the authority thus conferred upon the Secretary of 
 the Treasury as broad and as ample as the English language 
 wUl admit ? Where is the limitation, where the restriction ? 
 One might have supposed, from the argument of the senator from 
 Kentucky, that the charter had restricted the Secretary of the 
 Treasury from removing the deposits, unless he beheved them to 
 be insecure in the Bank of the United States ; but the language 
 of the law itself completely refutes his argument. They were to 
 remain in the Bank of the United States, ' unless the Secretary 
 of the Treasury shall at any time otherwise order and direct.' 
 
 "The whole limitation upon the discretion of that officer, was 
 "his immediate and direct responsibility to Congress. To us he 
 was bound to render his reasons for removing 'the deposits. 
 We, and we alone, are constituted the judges as to the suffi- 
 ciency of these reasons. 
 
 " It would be an easy task to prove that the authors of the 
 bank charter acted wisely in not limiting the discretion of the 
 ■Secretary of the Treasury over the deposits to the single case- 
 of their apprehended insecurity. We may imagine many other 
 reasons which would have rendered their removal both wise and 
 expedient. But I forbear, especially as the case now before 
 the Senate presents as striking an Ulnstration of this proposi-" 
 tion as I could possibly imagine. Upon what principle, then, 
 do I justify the removal of the deposits ? 
 
 " The Bank of the United States had determined to apply for 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING EESOLTJTIONS. 183 
 
 a re-charter at the session of Congress immediately preceding 
 the last presidential election. Preparatory to this application, 
 and whilst it was pending, in the short space of sixteen months, 
 it had increased its loans more than $28,000,000. They rose 
 from forty-two mjllions to seventy millions' between the last of 
 December, 1830, and the 1st of May, 1832. Whilst this 
 boasted regulator of the currency was thus expanding its dis- 
 counts, all the local banks followed the example. The impulse 
 of self-tnterest urged them to -pursue this course. A delusive 
 property was thus spread over the land. Money everywhere 
 became plenty. The bank was regarded as the beneficent 
 parent, who was pouring her money out into the laps of her 
 children. She thought herself wise and provident in thus 
 rendering herself popular. The re-charter passed both houses 
 of Congress by triumphant majorities. But then came 'the 
 frost, the killing frost.' It was not so easy to propitiate the 
 ' Old Eoman.' Although he well knew the power and influence 
 which the bank could exert against him at the then approacB- 
 ing presidential election, he cast such considerations to the 
 winds. He vetoed the biU, and in the most solemn manner, 
 placed himself for trial upon this question before the American 
 people. 
 
 " From that moment, the faith of many of his former friends 
 began to grow cold. The bank openly took the field against 
 his re-election. It expended large sums in subsidizing editors, and 
 in circulating pamphlets, and papers, and speeches, throughout 
 the-Union, calculated to influence the public mind against the 
 President. I merely glance at these things. 
 
 " Let us pause for a single moment, to consider the conse 
 ijuences of such conduct. What right had the bank, as a 
 corporation, to enter the arena of politics for the purpose of 
 defending itself, and attacking the President ? Whilst I freely 
 admit that each individual stockholder possessed the same rights, 
 in this respect, as every other American citizen, I pray you to 
 consider what a dangerous precedent the bank has thus estab- 
 
184: LIFE AKD 6EEVICES OF JAMES BUOHANAIT. 
 
 lished. Onr banks now number nearly a thousand, and our 
 other chartered institutions are almost innumerable. If all 
 these corporations are to be justified in using their corporate 
 funds for the purpose of influencing elections, of elevating their 
 political friends, and crushing their political foes, our condition 
 is truly deplorable. We shall thus introduce into the Stata a 
 new, a dangerous, and an alarming power, the effects of which 
 no man can anticipate. Watchful jealousy is the price 
 which a free people must ever pay for their hberties, and this 
 jealousy should be argns-eyed in watching the pohtical move- 
 ments of corporations. 
 
 " After the bank had been defeated in the presidential elec- 
 tion, it adopted a new course of policy. What it had been 
 unable to accomplish by making money plenty, it determined it 
 would wrest from the sufferings of the people by making money 
 scarce. Pressure and panic then became its weapons, and with 
 these it was determined, if possible, to extort a re-charter from 
 'the American people. It commenced this warfare upon the 
 interests of the country about the 1st of August, 1833. In 
 two short months it decreased its loans more than four millions 
 of dollars, whUst the deposits of the government with it had 
 increased, during the same period, two millions and a quarter. 
 I speak in round numbers. It was then in the act of reducing 
 its discounts at the rate of two millions of dollars per month. 
 
 "The State banks had expanded their loans with the former 
 expansion of the Bank of the United states. It now became 
 necessary to contract them. The severest pressure began to 
 be felt everywhere. Had the Bank of the United States been 
 permitted a short time longer to proceed in this course, fortified 
 as it was with the millions of the government which it held on 
 deposits, a scene of almost universal bankruptcy and insolvency 
 must have been presented in our commercial cities. It thus 
 became absolutely necessary for the President either to deprive 
 the bank of the public deposits, as the only means of protecting 
 the State banks, and, through them, the people from these 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGnsra EEBOLtrnON-S. 185 
 
 impending evils, or calmly to look on and see it spreading min 
 throughout the land. It was necessary for him tc^ adopt this 
 policy for the purpose of preventing a universal derangement 
 of the currency, a general sacrifice of property, and, as an 
 inevitable consequence, the re-charter of this institution. 
 
 " By the removal of the -deposits, he^ struck a blow against 
 the bank from which it has never since recovered. This was 
 the club of Hercules with which he slew the Hydra. This was 
 the master-stroke by which he prostrated what a large majority 
 of the American people believed to have been a corrupt and a 
 corrupting institution. For this he is not only justified, but 
 deserves the eternal gratitude of his country. . For this the 
 Senate have condemned him ; but the people of the United 
 States have hailed him as a deliverer. 
 
 "It has 'been said by the senator from Kentucky, that the 
 President, by removing the deposits from the Bank of the 
 United States, united in his own person the power of the pnrse 
 of the nation with that of the sword. I think it is not difficult 
 to answer this argument. What was to become of the public 
 money in case it had been removed from the Bank • of the 
 United States, under its charter, for the cause which the sena- 
 tor himself deems justifiable ? Why, sir, it would then have 
 been immediately remitted to the guardianship of those laws 
 under which it had been protected, before the Bank of the 
 United States was called into existence. Such was the present 
 case. In regard to this point, no matter whether the cause of 
 removal were sufficient or not, the moment the deposits were 
 actually removed, they became subject to the pre-existing 
 laws, and not to the arbitrary will of the President. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky has contended that the Presi- 
 dent violated the Constitution and the laws by dismissing Mr. 
 Duane from office because he would not remove the deposits, 
 and by appointing Mr. Taney to accomplish this purpose. I 
 shaU not discuss at any length the power of removal. It is now 
 too late in the day to question it. That the execative possessei 
 
186 LIFE AND BEEVICE8 OF JAMBB BUOHAUAN. 
 
 tMs power was decided by the first Congress. It has often since 
 been discussed and decided in the same manner, and it has been 
 exercised by every President of the United States. The Pre- 
 sident is bound by the Constitution to ' take care that the laws 
 be faithfully executed.' If he cannot remove his executive offi- 
 cers, it is impossible that he can perform this duty. Every in- 
 ferior officer might set up for himself, might violate the laws of 
 the country, and put him at defiance whilst he would remain 
 perfectly powerless. He could not arrest their career. A for- 
 eign minister might be betraying and disgracing the nation 
 abroad, without any power to recall him until the next meeting 
 of the Senate; This construction of the Constitution involves 
 so many dangers, and so many absurdities, that it could not be 
 maintained for a mpment, even if there had not been a constant 
 practice against it of almost half a century. 
 
 " But it is contended by the senator that the Secretary of 
 the Treasury is a sort of independent power in the State, and 
 is released from the control of the executive. And why ? Sim- 
 ply becat^se he is directed by law to make his annual report to 
 Congress, and not to the President. If this position be correct, 
 then it necessarily follows that the executive is released from 
 the obligation of taking care that the numerous and important 
 acts of Congress regulating the fiscal concerns of the country 
 shall be faithfully executed. The Secretary of the Treasury- is 
 thus made independent of his control. What would be the po- 
 sition of this officer under such a construction of the Constitu- 
 tion and laws, it would be very difficult to decide. And this 
 wonderful transformation of his character has arisen from the 
 mere circumstance that Congress have by law directed him to 
 make an annual report to them I No, sir, the executive is respon- 
 sible to Congress for the faithful execution of the laws ; and if the 
 present or any other President should prove faith less to his high 
 trust, the present senate, notwithstanding aU which has been said, 
 would be as ready as their predecessors to inflict condign punish- 
 ment upon him, in the mode pointed out by the Constitution. 
 
SPEECH ON Expunging eesoltjtions, 187 
 
 " I havf now arrived at the great question of the constitu- 
 tional power of the Senate to adopt the resolution of Marcli. 
 1884. It is my firm conviction that the Senate possesses no 
 such power ; and it is now my purpose to establish this position. 
 The decision on this point must depend upon a true answer to 
 the question, does this resolution contain any impeachable 
 charge against the President ? If it does, I trust I shall ds- 
 monstrate that the Senate violated its constitutional duty in 
 proceeding to condemn him in this manner. I shall again, read 
 the resolution : 
 
 " ' Resolved, That the President in the late executive proceed- 
 ings, in relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon him- 
 self authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and 
 laws, but in derogation of both.' " 
 
 " This language is brief and comprehensive. It comes at 
 once to the point. It bears a striking impress of the character 
 of the senator from Kentucky. Does it charge an-impeachable 
 offence against the President ? 
 
 " The fourth section of the second article of the Constitution 
 declares, ' that the President, Vice President, and all civil offi- 
 cers of the United States, shall be removed from office on im- 
 peachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high 
 crimes or misdemeanors.' 
 
 " It has been contended that this condemnatory resolution 
 contains no impeachable offence, because it charges no criminal 
 intention against the President ; and I admit that it does not 
 attribute to him any corrupt motive in express words. Is this 
 sufficient to convince the judgment of any impartial man that 
 none such was intended ? Let us, for a few moments, examine 
 this proposition. If it be well founded, the Senate may forever 
 hereafter usurp the power of trying, condemning, and destroy- 
 ing any officer of the government, without affording him the 
 slightest opportunity of* being heard in his defence. They may 
 thus abuse their power, and prostrate any object of their ven- 
 geance. It seems we have now made the discovery that the 
 
188 LIFE AND 8EKTICE8 OF JAMES BUOHANAN. 
 
 Senate are authorized to exert this tremeBdous power ; thai 
 they may thus assume to themselves the ofBce both of accuser 
 and of judge, provided the indictment contains no express alle- 
 gation of a criminal intention. The Fresident, or any officer of 
 the government, may be denounced by the Senate as a violatoi 
 of the Constitution of his country, as derelict in the performance 
 of his pubUc duties, provided there be no express imputation 
 of an improper motive. The characters of men whose reputa- 
 tion is dearer to them than their lives may thus be destroyed 
 They may be held up to public execration by the omission of a 
 few formal words. The condemnation of the Senate carries 
 with it such a moral power, that perhaps there is no man in the 
 United States, except Andrew Jackson^ who could have resisted 
 its force. No, sir ; such an argument can never command con 
 vietion. That which we have no power to do directly, we can 
 never accomplish by indirect means. We cannot by resolution 
 convict a man of an impeachable offence, merely because we 
 may omit the formal words of an impeachment. "We cannot 
 regard the substance of things and not the mere form. 
 
 " But again, although a criminal intention be not charged 
 in so many words by this resolution, yet its language, even 
 without the attending circumstances) clearly conveys this mean- 
 ing. The President is charged with having ' assumed upon him- 
 self authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and 
 laws, but in derogation of both.' ' Assumed upon himself 1' 
 What is the plain, palpable meaning of this phrase, connected 
 with what precedes and follows ? Is it not ' to arrogate,' to 
 ' claim or seize unjustly ?' These are two of the first meanings 
 of the word assume, according to the lexicographers. To as- 
 sume upon one's self is a mode of expression which is rarely 
 taken in a good sense. As it is used here, I ask if any man of 
 plain, common understanding, after reading this resolution, 
 would ever arrive at the conclusion that any senator voted foi 
 it under the impression that the President was mnocent of any 
 improper intention, and that he violated the Constitution from 
 
BPEEOH ON EXPITNGING EESOLUTIONS. 189 
 
 mere mistake, and from pare'motives ? The common sense of 
 mankind revolts at the idea. How can it be contended for a 
 single moment, that you can denounce the President as a man 
 who had ' assumed upon himself' the power of violating the 
 laws and the Constitution of his country, and in the same 
 breath declare that you had not the least intention to criminate 
 him, and that your language was altogether inoffensive. The 
 two propositions are manifestly inconsistent. 
 
 "But I go one step further. If we were sitting as a court of 
 impeachment, and the bare proposition were established to 
 our satisfaction, that the President had, in violation of the 
 Constitution and laws, withdrawn the public revenue of the 
 country from the depositary to whose charge Congress had 
 committed it, and assumed the control over it himself, we would 
 be bound to convict him of a high official misdemeanor. Under 
 such circumstances, we should be bound to infer a crimiual in- 
 tention from this illegal and unconstitutional act. Criminal 
 jtistice could never be administered, society, could not exist if 
 the tribunals of the country should not attribute evil motives 
 to illegal and unconstitutional conduct. Omniscience alone can 
 exMuine the heart. When poor, fraU man is placed in the 
 Judgment seat, he must infer the intention of the accused from 
 his actions. That ' the tree is known by its fruits,' is an axiom 
 which we have derived from the fountain of all truth. Does a 
 poor, naked, hungry wretch, at this inclement season of the 
 year, take from my pocket a single doUar, the law infers a 
 criminal intent, and he must be convicted and punished as a 
 thief, though he may have been actuated by no other motive 
 than that of saving his wife and children from starvation. 
 And shall a different rule be applied to the President of the 
 United States? Shall it be said of a man elevated to the 
 highest station on earth, for his wisdom, his integrity, and his 
 virtues, with all his constitutional advisers around him, when 
 he violates the Constitution of his country and usurps the con- 
 trol over its entire revenue, that he may successfully defend 
 
190 LIFE AND BBBVIOBS OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Mmself by declaring that he had done this deed withont any 
 crimiBal intention ? No,- sir ; in Buch a case, above aU others, 
 the criminal intention mnst be inferred from the unconstitu- 
 tional exercise of high and dangerous powers. The safety of 
 the Republic demands that the President of the United States 
 should never shelter himself behind such flunsy pretexts. This 
 resolution, therefore, although it may not have assumed the 
 form of an article of impeachment, possesses all the suhstance. 
 " It was my fate some years ago to have assisted as a mana- 
 ger, in behalf of the House of Eepresentatives, in the trial 
 of an impeachment before this body. It then became my duty 
 to examine all the precedents in such cases which had occurred 
 under our government since the adoption of the Federal Consti- 
 tution. On that occasion I found one which has a strong bear- 
 ing upon this question. I refer to the case of Judge Pickering. 
 He was tried and condemned by the Senate upon all the four 
 articles exhibited against him, although the three first con- 
 tained no other charge than that of making decisions contrary 
 to law, in a cause involving a mere question of property, and 
 then refusing to grant the party injured an appeal from Ms 
 decision, to which he was entitled. From the clear violation 
 of the law in this case, the Senate must have inferred an im- 
 pare and improper motive. 
 
 " If anything farther were wanting to prove that the resolu- 
 tion of the Senate contained a criminal and impeachable charge 
 against the President, it might be demonstrated from all the 
 circumstances attending the transaction. Whilst this resolu- 
 tion was in progress through the Senate, the Bank of the United 
 States was employed in producing panic throughout the land. 
 Much actual suffering was experienced by the people, and 
 where that did not exist, they dreaded unknown and awful 
 calamities. Confidence between man and man was at an end. 
 There was a fearful pause in the business of the country We 
 were then engaged in the most violent party conflict recorded 
 in our annals. To use the language of the senator from Ken- 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING RESOLTJTIONB. 191 
 
 lucky, we were in the midst of a revolution. On the one side 
 it was contended that the power over the purse of the nation 
 had been usurped by the President ; that in his own person he 
 had united this power with that of the sword, and that the 
 liberties of the people were gone, nniess he could be arrested in 
 his mad career. On the other hand, the friends of the Presi- 
 dent maintained that the removal of the deposits from the 
 Bank of the United States was an act of stem justice to the 
 people, that it was strictly legal and constitutional, that he was 
 impelled to it by the highest and purest principles of patriotism, 
 and that it was the only means of prostrating an institution 
 which threatened the destruction of our dearest rights and 
 liberties. During this terrific conflict public indignation was 
 aroused to such a degree, that the President received a great 
 number of anonymous letters threatening him with assassination, 
 unless he should restore the deposits. 
 
 " It was during the pendmg of this conflict throughout the 
 country, that the senator from Kentucky thought proper, on 
 the 26th of December, 1832, to present his condemnatory reso- 
 lution to the Senate, and here, sir, permit me to say, that I do 
 not believe there was any corrupt connection between any 
 senator upon this floor and the Bank of the United States. 
 But it was at this inauspicious moment that the resolution was 
 introduced. How was^it supported by the senator from Ken- 
 tucky ? He told us that a revolution had already commenced. 
 He told us, that by the Sdr of March, 1837, if the progress of 
 innovation should continue, there would be scarcely a vestige 
 remaining of the government and policy, as they had existed 
 prior to the 3d of March, 1829. That in a term of years, a 
 little more than that which was required to establish our hber- 
 ties, the government would be transformed into an elective 
 monarchy — the worst of aU forms of government. He com- 
 pared the measure adopted by General Jackson with the con- 
 duct of the usurping Caesar, who, after he had overrun Italy in 
 lixty days, and conqnered the liberties of his native country, 
 
192 LIFE AND BEbViCES OF JAMEB BUCHANAN. 
 
 terrified the tribune, Metellus, who guarded the treasury of the 
 Roman people, and seized it by open force. He declared that 
 the President had perpretrated an open, palpable, and daring 
 usurpation. He concluded by asserting that the premonitory 
 symptoms of despotism were upon us, and if Congress did not 
 apply an instantaneous and effectual remedy, the fatal collapse 
 would soon come on, and we should die — ignobly die — base, 
 mean, and abject slaves, the scorn and contempt of mankind, 
 unpitied, unwept, and unmourned. What a spectacle was then, 
 presented in this chamber 1 We are told, in the reports of the 
 day, that when he took his seat, there was repeated and loud 
 applause in the galleries. This, it will be remembered, was the 
 itttroductory speech of the senator. In my opinion, it was one 
 of the ablest and most eloquent of all his able and eloquent 
 speeches. He was then riding upon the whirlwind and direct- 
 ing the storm. At the time I read it, for I was not then in 
 the Senate, it reminded me of the able, the vindictive, and the 
 eloquent appeal of Mr. Burke before the House of Lords, on 
 the impeachment of Warren Hastings, in which he denounced 
 that Governor-General as the ravager and oppressor of India, 
 and the scourge of the millions placed under his authority. 
 
 " And yet, we are now told that this resolution did not in- 
 tend to impute any criminal motive to the President ; that he 
 was a good old man, though not a good constitutional lawyer, 
 and: that he knew better how to wield the sword than to con- 
 strue the Constitution." 
 
 Mr. Clay here rose to explain. He said, " I never have 
 said, and never will say, that personally I acquitted the Presi- 
 dent of any improper intention. I lament that I cannot say it. 
 But what I did say was, that the act of the Senate of 1834 is 
 free from the imputation of any criminal motives." 
 
 " Sir (said Mr. B.), this avowal is in character with the 
 frank and manly nature of the senator from Kentucky. It is 
 no more than what I expected from him. The imputation of 
 any improper motive to the President has been again and again 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING EESOLTJTIONB. 193 
 
 disclaimed by other senators upon this floor. The senator 
 from Kentucky has now boldly come out in Ms true colors, and 
 avows the principles which he held' at the time. He acknow- 
 ledges that he did not acquit the President from improper inten- 
 tions, when charging him with a violation of the Constitution of 
 his country. 
 
 " This trial of the President before the. Senate, continued for 
 three months. During this whole period, instead of the evi- 
 dence which a judicial tribunal ought to receive, exciting me- 
 morials, signed by vast numbers of the people, and well calcula- 
 ted to inflame the passions of his judges, were poured in upon 
 the Senate. He was denounced upon this floor by every odious 
 epithet which belongs to tyrants. Finally, the obnoxious reso- 
 lution was adopted by a vote of the Senate, on the 28th day of 
 March, 1834. 
 
 " After the exposition which I have made, can any impartial 
 mind doubt but that this resolution intended to charge against 
 the President a willfnl and daring violation of the Constitution 
 and the laws ? I think not. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky has argued, with his usual 
 power, that the functions of the Senate, acting in a legislative 
 capacity, are not to be restricted, because it is possible that the 
 same question in another form, may come before us judicially. 
 I concur in the truth and justice of this position. We must 
 perform our legislative duties ; and if, in the investigation of 
 facts, having legislation distinctly in view, we should incident- 
 ally be led to the investigation of criminal charges, it is a ne- 
 cessity imposed upon us by our condition, from which we can- 
 not escape. It results from the varying nature of our duties, 
 and not from our own wUl. I admit that it would be difficult 
 to mark the precise line which separates our legislative from 
 our judicial functions. I shall not attempt it. In many cases, 
 from_necessity, they are in some degree intermingled. The pre- 
 sent resolution, however, stands far in advance of this line. It 
 is placed in bold relief, and is clear of aU such difficulties. It 
 
 9 
 
194 LIFE AlTD SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAIT. 
 
 is a mere marked resolution of censare. It refers solely to tlie 
 past conduct of the President, and condemns it in tlie strongest 
 terms, without even proposing any act of legislation by which 
 the evil may be remedied hereafter. It was judgment upoi the 
 past alone ; not prevention for the future. Nay more, the 
 resolution is so vague and general in its terms, that it is impos- 
 sible to ascertain from its face the cause of the President's con- 
 demnation. The Senate have resolved that the executive ' has 
 assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the 
 Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both.' What is the 
 specification under this charge ? Why, that he has acted thus, 
 ' in the late executive proceedings in relation to the public rev- 
 enue.' What executive proceedings ? The resolution leaves 
 US entirely in the dark upon ihis subject. How could any legis- 
 lation spring from such a resolution ? It is impossible. None 
 such was ever attempted. 
 
 " If the resolution had preserved its original phraseology, if 
 it had C( cdemned the President for dismissing one Secretary of 
 the Treasury because he would net remove the deposits, and 
 for appointing his successor to effect this purpose, the senator 
 might then have contended that the evil was distinctly pointed 
 out ; and although no legislation was proposed, the remedy 
 might be applied hereafter. But he has deprived himself even of 
 this feeble argument. He has left us upon an ocean of uncer- 
 tainty, without a chart or compass. ' The late executive pro- 
 ceedings in relation to the revenue,' is a phrase of the most 
 general and indefinite character. Every senator who voted in 
 favor of this resolution may have acted upon different principles. 
 To procure its passage, nothing more was necessary than that 
 a majority should unite in the conclusion that the President 
 had violated the Constitution and the laws in some one or 
 other of his numerous acts in relation to the public revenue. 
 The views of the senators constituting the majority may have 
 varied from each other to any conceivable extent ; and yet 
 they may have united in the final vote. That this was the fact 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING RESOLUTIONS. 195 
 
 to a considerable extent I have always understood. It is utterly 
 impossible either that such a proceeding could ever have been 
 intended to become the basis of legislation, or that legislative 
 action could have ever sprung from such a source. 
 
 " I flatter myself, then, I have succeeded in proving that this 
 resolution charged ,the President with a high official misdemean- 
 or, wholly disconnected" from legislation, which, if true, ought 
 to have subjected him to impeachment. This brings me direct- 
 ly to the question, had the Senate any power under the Consti- 
 tution, to adopt such a resolution ? - In other words, can the 
 Senate condemn a public officer, by a simple resolution for an 
 offence which would subject him to an impeachment ? To state 
 the proposition, is to answer this question in the negative. 
 Dreadful would be the consequences, if we possess and should 
 exercise such a power. 
 
 " This body is invested with high and responsible powers, of 
 a legislative, an executive, and a judicial charcter. No person 
 can enter it until he has attained a mature age. Our term of 
 service is longer than that of any other elective functionary. 
 If senators wUl have it so, it is the most aristocratic branch of 
 our government. For what purpose did the framers of the 
 Constitution confer upon it those varied and important powers, 
 and this long tenure of office ? The answer is plain. It was 
 placed in this secure and elevated position, that it might be 
 above the storms of faction which so often inflame the passions 
 of men. It never was intended to be an arena for pohtical 
 gladiators Until the second session of the third Congress, the 
 Senate always sat with closed doors, except ia the single 
 instance when the eligibihty of Mr. Gallatin to a seat in the 
 body was the subject under discussion. Of this particular 
 practice, however, I cannot approve. I merely state it to show 
 the intention of those who formed the Constitution. I was 
 informed by one of the most eminent statesmen and senators 
 which this country has ever produced, now no more (the late 
 Mr. King), that for some years after the federal government 
 
196 LIFE AND BEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAJrAN. 
 
 commenced its operation, the debates of the Senate resembled 
 conversations rather than speeches, and that it originated but 
 few legislative measures. Senators were then critics rather 
 than authors in legislation. Whether its gain in eloquence 
 since it has become a popular assembly, and since the sound of 
 thundering applause has been heard in our galleries at the 
 denunciation of the President, has been- an equivalent for its 
 loss in true dignity, may well be doubted. To give this body 
 its just influence with the people, it ought to preserve itself as 
 free as possible from angry political discussions. In the per- 
 forriiance of our executive duties— in the notification of treaties 
 and in the confirmation of nominations — ^the Constitution has 
 connected us with the executive. The efficient and successful 
 administration of the government, therefore, requires that we 
 should move on together in as much harmony as may be 
 consistent with the independent exercise of our respective 
 functions. 
 
 " But, above all, we should be the most cautious in guarding 
 our judicial character from suspicion. We constitute the high 
 court of impeachment of this nation, before which every officer 
 of the government may be arraigned. To this tribunal is com- 
 mitted the character of men, whose character is far dearer to 
 them than their lives; We should be the rock standing in the 
 midst of the ocean for the purpose of affording a shelter to the 
 faithful officer from unjust persecution, against which the biUows 
 might dash themselves in vain. Whilst we are a terror to evil- 
 doers, we should be a praise to those who do well. We should 
 never voluntarily perform any act which might prejudice our 
 judgment, or render us suspected as a judicial tribunal. More 
 especially when the President of the United States is arraigned 
 at the bar of pubUc opinion, for offences which might subject 
 him to an impeachment, we should remain not only chaste but 
 unsuspected. Better, infinitely better, would it be for us not 
 to manifest our feeling, even in a case in which we wore 
 morally certain the House of Kepresentatives would not prefer 
 
SPEECH ON EXPDlfGmG EESOLTJTIONS. 197 
 
 before us articles of impeachment, than to reach the object of 
 our disapprobation by a usurpation of then- rights. It is true 
 that when the Senate passed the resolution condemning the 
 President, a majority in the House were of a different opinion. 
 But the next elections might have changed that majority into a 
 minority. The House might then have voted articles of impeach- 
 ment against the President. Under such circumstances I pray 
 you to consider in what a condition the Senate would have been 
 placed. They had already pre-judged the case. They had 
 already convicted the President, and denounced him to the 
 world as a violator of the Constitution. Iil criminal prosecu- 
 tions, even against the greatest malefactor, if a juror has pre- 
 judged the cause, he cannot enter the jury-box. The Senate 
 had rendered itself wholly incompetent in this case, to perform 
 its highest judicial functions. The trial of the Presidentj had 
 articles of impeachment been preferred against him, would have 
 been but a solemn mockery of justice. 
 
 " The Constitution of the United States has carefully pro- 
 vided against such an enormous evil, by declaring that ' the 
 House of Eepresentatives shall have the sole power of impeach- 
 ment,' and 'the Senate shall have the sole power to try all 
 impeachments.' UntU the accused is brought before us by the 
 House, it is a manifest violation of our solemn duty to condemn 
 him by a resolution. 
 
 " If a court of criminal jurisdiction, without any indictment 
 having been found by a grand jury, without having given the 
 defendant notice to appear, without having afforded him an oppor- 
 tunity of cross-examining the witnesses against him, and making 
 his defence, should resolve that he was guilty of a high crime, 
 and place his conviction upon their records, all mankind would 
 exclaim against the injustice and unconstitutionality of the act. 
 Wherein consists the difference between this case and the con- 
 demnation of the President ? In nothing, except that such a 
 conviction by the Senate, on account of its exalted character, 
 would faU with tenfold force upon its object. I have often been 
 
398 LIFE AKD SEEVlOES OF JAMES BtTCHAITAS'. 
 
 astonished, notwithstanding the extended and well-deserved 
 popularity of General Jackson, that the moral influence of this 
 condemnation by the Senate had not crushed him. With what 
 tremendous effect might this assumed power of the Senate be 
 used to blast the reputation of any man who might fall under 
 its displeasure. The precedent is extremely dangerous, and the 
 American people have wisely determined to blot it out for- 
 ever. 
 
 " It is painful to reflect what might have been the condition 
 of the Country, if at the inauspicious moment of the passage of 
 the resolution against the President, its interests and its honor 
 had rendered it necessary to engage in a foreign war. The 
 fearful consequepces of such a condition, at such a moment, 
 must strike every mind. "W'ould the Senate then have confided 
 to the President the necessary power to defend the country ? 
 Where could the sinews of war have been found ? In what 
 condition was this body at that moment to act upon an impor- 
 tant treaty negotiated by the President, or upon any of his 
 nominations ? But I forbear to enlarge upon this topic. 
 
 " I have now arrived at the last point in this discussion. Do 
 the Senate possess the power, under the Constitution, of 
 expunging the resolution of March, 1834, from their journals, 
 in the manner proposed by the senator from Missouri (Mr. 
 Benton) ? I cheerfully admit that we must show that this is 
 not contrary to the Constitution ; for we can never redress one 
 violation of that instrument by committing another. Before I 
 proceed to this branch of the subject, I shall put myself right 
 by a Uving historical reminiscence. I entered the Senate in 
 December, 1834, fresh from the ranks of the people, without 
 the slightest feeling of hostility against any senator on this floor. 
 I then thought that the resolution of the senator from Missouri 
 was too severe in proposing to expunge. Although I was 
 anxious to record, in strong terms, my entire disapprobation of 
 the resolution of March, 1834, yet I was wilUng to accomplish 
 this object without doing more violence to the feelings of my 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGING EESOLUTIONS. 199 
 
 associates on this floor than was absofutely necessary to justify 
 the President. Actuated by these friendly motives^ I exerted 
 all my little influence with the senator from Missouri, to induce 
 him to abandon the word expunge, and substitute some others 
 in its place. I knew that this word was exceedingly obnoxious 
 to the senators who had voted for the former resolution. 
 Other friends of his also exerted their influence, and at length 
 his kindly feelings prevailed, and he consented to abandon that 
 word, although it ^as peculiarly dear to him. I speak from 
 my own knowledge, ' All which I saw, and part of which t 
 was.' 
 
 " The resolution of the senator from Missouri came before 
 the Senate on the 3d of March, 1835. Under it the resolution 
 of March, 1834, was ' ordered to be expunged from the journal,' 
 for reasons appearing on its face, which I need not enumerate. 
 The senator from Tennessee (Mr. White), moved to amend 
 the resolution of the senator from Missouri, by striking out the 
 order to expunge, with the reasons for it, and inserting in their 
 stead the words ' rescinded, reversed, repealed, and declared to 
 be null and void.' Some difference of opinion then arose 
 among the friends of the administration as to the words which 
 should be substituted in place of the order to expunge. For 
 the purpose of leaving this question perfectly open, you, sir 
 (Mr. King, of Alabama, was in the chair), then moved to 
 Bmend the original motion of Mr. Benton by striking out the 
 words ' ordered to be expunged from the journal of the Senate.' 
 This motion prevailed on the ayes and noes by a vote of thirty- 
 nine to seven, and amongst the ayes the name of the senator 
 from Missouri is recorded. The resolution was thus left a 
 blank in its most essential feature, ready to be filled up as the 
 Senate might direct. The era of good feeling in regard to the 
 subject had commenced. It was nipped in the bud, however, 
 by the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster). Whilst 
 the resolution was still in blank, he rose in his place, and pro- 
 claimed the triumph of the Constitution by the vote to strike out 
 
200 LIFE AlTD SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAK. 
 
 the word expunge, and then moved to lay the resolution on the 
 table, declaring that he would, neither withdraw his motion for 
 friend nor foe. This motion precluded all amendment and all 
 debate. It prevailed by a party vote ; and thus we were left 
 with our resolution a blarji. Such was the manner in which the 
 senators in opposition received our advances of courtesy and 
 kindness, in the moment of their strength and pur weakness. 
 Had the senator from Massachusetts suffered us to proceed but 
 for five minutes, we should have fiUed up the blank in the reso- 
 lution. I\, would then have assumed a distinct form, and they 
 would never afterwards have heard of the word expunge. We 
 should have been content with the words ' rescinded, reversed, 
 repealed, and declared to be null and void.' But the conduct 
 of the senator from Massachusetts on that occasion, and that 
 of the party with which he acted, roused the indignatiou of 
 every friend of the administration on this floor. "We then 
 determined that the word' expunge should never again be sur 
 rendered. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky has introduced a precedent 
 from the proceedings of the House of Eepresentatives of Penn- 
 sylvania, for the purpose of proving that we have no right to 
 adopt this resolution. To this I can have no possible objection. 
 But I can tell the senator, if I were convinced that I had voted 
 wrong when comparatively a boy, more than twenty years ago, 
 the fear of being termed inconsistent would not now deter me 
 from voting right upon the same question. I do not, however, 
 repent of my vote upon that occasion. I would now vote in the 
 same manner under similar circumstances. I should not vote 
 to expunge, under any circumstances, any proceeding from the 
 journal, by obliterating the record. If I do not prove before I 
 take my seat, that the case in the legislature of Pennsylvania 
 was essentially different from that now before the Senate, I 
 stall agree to be proclaimed inconsistent and time-serving. 
 
 " It was my settled conviction, at the commencement of the 
 last session of Congress, that the Senate had no power to 
 
SPEECH ON EXPTTNGrNG EESOLUTIONS. 201 
 
 obliterate their journal. This was shaken, but not remoTed, by 
 the argument of the senator from Louisiana '(Mr. Porter), who 
 confessedly made the. ablest speech on the other side of the 
 question. The Constitution declares that ' each house shall 
 keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish 
 the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require 
 secrecy.' What was the position which that senator then 
 attempted to maintain ? In order to prove that we had no 
 power to obliterate or destroy our journals, he thought it neces- 
 sary to contend that the word ' keep,' as used in the Constitu- 
 tion, means both to record and to preserye. This appeared to 
 me *o be a mere begging of the question. 
 
 " I shall attempt no definition of the word ' keep.' At least 
 since the days of Plato, we know that definitions have been 
 dangerous. Yet, I think that the meaning of the word, as ap- 
 plied to the subject-matter, is so plain, that he who runs may 
 read. If I direct my agent to keep a journal of his proceedings, 
 and publish the same, my palpable meaning is, that he shall 
 write these proceedings down from day to day, and publish 
 what he has written for general information. After he has 
 obeyed my commands, after he has kept his journal and pub" 
 lished it to the world, he has executed the essential part of the 
 trust confided to him. What may become of this original 
 manuscript journal afterwards, is a matter of total indifference. 
 So in regard to the manuscript journal of either House of Con- 
 gress ; after more than a thousand copies have been printed 
 and published, and distributed over the Union, it is a matter of 
 not the least importance what disposition may be made of them. 
 They have answered their purpose, and in any practical view 
 become useless. If they were burnt or otherwise destroyed, it 
 would not be an event of the slightest public consequence. 
 Such indifference has prevailed upon this subject, that these 
 journals have been considered, in the House of Representatives, 
 as so much waste paper, and, during a period of thirty-four 
 years after the organization of the government, they were 
 
 9* 
 
202 LIFE AND 8EEVICK8 OF JAMK8 BU^OHANAN. 
 
 actually destroyed. From this circumstance no public or pri- 
 'ate inconvenience has been or ever can be sustained, because 
 )m' printed journals are received in eyidence in all courts of 
 (Ustice, in the same manner as if the originals were produced. 
 
 " The senator from Louisiana has discovered that to 'keep' 
 means both ' to record ' and ' to preserve.' But can you give 
 this, or any other word in the English language, two distinct 
 and independent meanings at the same time, as applied to the 
 same subject ? I think not. From the imperfection of human 
 language, from the impossibility of having appropriate words to 
 express every idea, the same words, as applied to different sub- 
 jects, has a variety of significations. As applied to any one 
 subject, it cannot, at the same time, convey two distinct mean- 
 ings. In the Constitution it must mean either 'to write down' 
 or ' to preserve.' It cannot have both sfgnifications. 
 
 " Let senators then take their choice. If it signifies ' to write 
 down,' as it unquestionably does, what becomes of the constitu- 
 tional injunction to preserve ? The truth is, that the Constitu- 
 tion has not provided what shall be done with the manuscript 
 journal, after it has served the purposes for which it was called 
 into existence. When it has been pubhshed to the people of 
 the United States, for whose use it was ordered to be kept, 
 after it has thus been perpetuated, and they have been furnished 
 with the means of judging of the public conduct of their public 
 servants, it ceases to be an object of the! least importance. 
 Whether it be thrown into the garret of the capitol, with other 
 useless lumber, or be destroyed, is a matter of no public inte- 
 rest. It has probably never once been referred to in the history 
 of our government. If it should ever be determined to be a 
 violation of the Constitution to obliterate or destroy this manu- 
 script journal, it must be upon different principles from those 
 which have been urged in this debate. My own impression is, 
 that as the framers of the Constitution have directed ns to keep 
 a journal, a constructive duty may be implied from this com- 
 mand, which would forbid us to obliterate or destroy it. Under 
 
SPEE€H ON EXPUNGING KESOLUTIONS. 203 
 
 this impression, I should vote, as I did' twenty years ago in the 
 Legislature of Pennsylvania, against any proposition actually 
 to expunge any part of the journal. But, waiving this unpro- 
 fitable discussion, let us proceed to the real point in contro- 
 versy. 
 
 " Is any such proceeding as that of actually expunging the 
 journal, proposed by the resolution of the senator from Mis- 
 souri ? I answer, no such thing. If the Constitution had, in 
 express terms, directed us to record and to preserve a journal 
 of our -proceedings, there is nothing in the resolution now be- 
 fore us which would be inconsistent with such a provision. 
 
 " Is the drawing of a black line around the resolution of the 
 Senate of March, 1834, to obliterate or to deface it ? On the 
 contrary, is it not to render it more conspicuous, to place it in 
 bold relief, to give it a prominence in the public view beyond 
 any other proceeding of this body in past, and I trust, in all 
 future time ? If the argument of senators were, not that we 
 haye no power to obliterate, but that the Senate possesses no 
 power to render one portion of the journal more conspicuous 
 than another, it would have had much greater force. Why, 
 sir, by means of this very proceeding, that portion of our jour- 
 nal upon which it operates will be rescued from a slumber which 
 would otherwise have been eternal, and fac-simOes of the 
 original resolution without a word or letter defaced, will be cir- 
 culated over the whole Unioii, 
 
 " But, sir, this resolution also directs, that across the face 
 of the condemnatory resolution, there shall be written by the 
 secretary : ' Expunged by order of the Senate, this day 
 
 of , in the year of our Lord 1837. 
 
 "Will this obliterate any part of the original resolution? 
 If it does, the duty of the secretary will be performed in a 
 very bungling manner. No such thing is intended. It would 
 be easy to remove every scruple from every mind upon this sub- 
 ject, by amending the resolution of the senator from Missouri, 
 so as to direct the secretary to perform his duty in such a 
 
204 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 manner as not to obliterate any part of the condemnatory 
 resolution. Sucli a direction, however, appears to me to be 
 "wholly unnecessary. The nature of the whole proceeding is 
 very plain. We now adopt a resolution expressing our strong 
 reprobation of the original resolution, and for this purpose we 
 use the word ' expunged ' as the strongest term which we can 
 apply. We then direct our secretary to draw black lines 
 around it, and place such a reference to our proceedings of this, 
 day upon its face, that in all time to come, whoever may in- 
 spect this . portion of our journal, vrill be pointed at once to 
 the record of its condemnation. What lawyer has not observed 
 upon the margin of the judgment docket, if the original judg- 
 ment has been removed to a superior court and there reversed, 
 a minute of such reversal ? In our editions of the statutes, 
 have we not all noted the repeal of any of them which may 
 have taken place at a subsequent period ? Who ever heard, 
 in Jhe one case or in the other, that this was obliterating or 
 destroying the record or the book ? So in this case : we make 
 a mere reference to our future proceedings upon the face of the 
 resolution instead of the margin. Suppose we should only le- 
 peal the obnoxious resolution, and direct- such a reference to be 
 made upon its face, would any senator contend that thiswould 
 be an obhteration of the journal ? 
 
 " But it has been contended that the word expunge is not 
 an appropriate word ; and we have wrested it from its true 
 signification in applying it to the present case. Even if this 
 allegation were correct, the answer would be at hand. Ton 
 might then convict us of bad taste, but not for violation of the 
 Constitution. On the face of the resolution we have stated 
 distinctly what we mean. We have directed the secretary in 
 what manner he shall understand it, and we have excluded the 
 idea that it is our intention to obhterate or to destroy the 
 journal. 
 
 " But I shall contend that the word expunge is the appropri- 
 ate word, and that there is not another in the English language 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNOmG EESOLUTIONS. 205 
 
 SO precisely adapted to conyey our meaning. I shall show 
 from the highest literary and parliamentary authorities, that 
 this word has acquired a signification entirely distinct from 
 that of actual obliteration. Let me proceed immediately to 
 this task. After citing my authorities, I shall proceed with 
 the argument. First, then, for those of a literary character : 
 I read from Crabbe's Synonyms, page 140 (and eyery senator 
 will admit that this is a work of established reputation), in 
 speaking of the use of the word ' expunge,' the author says : 
 ' When the contents of a book are in part rejected, they are 
 aptly described as being expunged ; in this manner the free 
 thinking sects expunge everything from the Bible which does not 
 suit their purpose, or they expunge from their creed what does 
 not humor their passions.' The idea that an actual oblitera- 
 tion was intended in these cases would be manifestly absurd. 
 In the same page there is a quotation from Mr. Burke, to illus- 
 trate the meaning of this word. ' I believe,' says he, ' that 
 any person who was of age to take a part in public concerns 
 forty years ago (if the iotermediate space were expunged from 
 his memory), could hardly credit his senses when he should 
 hear that an army of two hundred thousand men were kept up 
 on this island. I-shaU now cite Mr. Jefferson as a literary 
 authority. He has often been referred to on this floor as a 
 standard in politics. For this high authority I am indebted 
 to my friend from Louisiana (Mr. Nicholas). In the original 
 draught of the Declaration of Independence, he uses the word 
 ' expunged ' in the following manner : ' Such has been the 
 patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the neces- 
 sity which constrains them to expunge their former systems of 
 government.' Although the word ' alter ' was afterwards sub- 
 stituted for ' expunge,' I presume upon the ground that this 
 was too strong a term, yet the change does not detract from 
 the hierary authority of the precedent. — Jefferson's Correspon- 
 dence, and 1st vol. page IT. 
 
 " I Bresume that I have shown that the word ' expunge ' has 
 
I 
 206 LIFE AKD SBEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAHAN. 
 
 acquired a distinct metaptorical meaning in our literature, 
 ■^hich excludes the idea of actual obliteration. If I should pro- 
 ceed one step further, and prove that in legislative proceedings 
 it has acquired the very same signification, I shall then have 
 fully established my position. For this purpose I cite, first, ' the 
 secret proceedings and debates of the Federal Convention.' In 
 page 118 we find the following entries: 'On motion to 
 expunge the clause of the cfualification as to aye, it was carried 
 — ten States against one.' 
 
 " Again : ' On the clause respecting the ineligibility to any 
 other office, it was moved that the words, " by any particular 
 State," be expunged— four States for, five against, and two 
 divided.' See page 119. 'The last blank was fiUed up with 
 one year, and carried — eight ayes, two noes, one divided.' 
 
 " ' Mr. Pinckney moved to expunge the clause — agreed to, 
 nem. con.' 
 
 " Again : ' Mr. Butler moved to expunge the clause of the 
 stipends — lost ; seven against, three for, one divided.' 
 
 "Again, in page 151 : 'Mr. Pinckney moved that that part 
 of the clause which disqualifies a person from holding an office 
 in the State be expunged, because the first and'best characters 
 in a State may thereby be deprived of a seat in the national 
 council.' 
 
 " ' Question put to strike out the words moved for, and car- 
 ried — eight ayes, three noes.' 
 
 " It win thus be perceived, that in the proceedings of the 
 very convention which formed the Constitution under which we 
 are now governed, the word ' expunge ' was often used in its 
 figurative sense. It wiU certainly not be asserted, or even 
 intimated, by any senator here, that when these motions to 
 expunge prevailed, the words of the original draught of the 
 Constitution were actually obliterated or defaced. The mean- 
 ing is palpable. These provisions were merely rejected, not 
 actually blotted out. 
 
 " But I shall now produce a precedent precisely in point. It 
 
BPEEOH ON EXPUNGING EESOLUnONS. 207 
 
 presents itself in the proceedings of the Senate of Massachu- 
 setts, and refers to the famous resolution of that body, adopted 
 on the 15th day of June, 1813, in relation to the capture of 
 the British vessel Peacock ; denouncing the late war, and 
 declaring that it was not becoming in a moral and religious 
 people to express any approbation of military or naval exploits 
 which were not immediately connected with the defence of our 
 sea coast. Some ten years afterwards, a succeeding Senate of 
 Massachusetts adopted the following resolution : 
 
 "Jiesolved — That the aforesaid resolve of the 15th day of June, A. 1)., 
 1813, and the preamble thereof, be, and the same are hereby expimged 
 rom the journals of the Senate." 
 
 " It is self-evident that in this case not the least intention 
 existed of defacing the old manuscript journal. The word 
 ■ expunge ' was used in its figurative signification, just as it is in 
 the case before us, to express the strongest reprobation of the 
 former proceeding. That proceeding was to be expunged solely 
 by force of the subsequent resolution, and not by any actual 
 obliteration. There never was any actual obliteration of the 
 journal. 
 
 " Judging, then, from the highest English authorities, from 
 the works of celebrated authors and statesmen, and from the 
 proceedings of legislative bodies, is it not evident that the word 
 ' expunge ' has acquired a distinct meaning, altogether inconsis- 
 tent with any actual obliteration ? 
 
 " All that we have heard about defacing and destroying the 
 journal are mere phantoms, which have been conjured up to 
 terrify the timid. We intend no such thing. We only mean 
 most strongly to express our conviction that the condemnatory 
 resolution ought never to have found a place on the journal 
 If more authorities were wanted, I might refer to the legisla- 
 ture of Virginia. The present expunging resolution is in exact 
 conformity with their instructions to their senators. As a mat- 
 ter of taste, I cannot say that I much, admire their plan, 
 
208 LIFE AKD SEETICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 though I entertain no doubt that it is perfectly constitutional. 
 ' That State is highly literary, and I think I have established 
 that their legislature, when they used the word 'expunge,' 
 without intending thereby to effect an actual obliteration of the 
 journal, justly appreciated the meaning of the language which 
 they employed. 
 
 "The word ' expunge ' is in my opinion the only one which 
 we could have used clearly and forcibly to accomplish our pur- 
 pose. Even if it had not been sanctioned by practice as a par- 
 liamentary word, we ought ourselves to have flurst established 
 the precedent. It suits the case precisely. If you rescind, re- 
 verse, or repeal a resolution, you thereby admit that it once 
 had constitutional or legal authority. If you declare it to have 
 been null and void from the beginning, this is but the expression 
 of your own opinion that such was the fact. This word ' ex- 
 punge ' acts upon the resolution itself : it at once goes to its 
 origin, and destroys its legal existence, as if it had never been. 
 It does not merely lull, but it annihilates. 
 
 " Parliamentary practice has changed the meaiiing of several 
 other words from their primitive signification in a similar man- 
 ner with that of the word ' expunge.' The original significa- 
 tion of the word ' rescind,' is ' to cut oflf.' Usage-ias made it 
 mean, in reference to a law or resolution, to abrogate or repeal 
 it. We every day hear motions 'to strike out.' What is 
 the literal meaning of this expression ? The question may be 
 best answered by asking another. If I were to request you 
 to strike out a line from ycir letter, and you were willing to 
 comply with my request, what would be your conduct ? Tou 
 would run your pen through it immediately, you would literally 
 strike it out. Yet, what use do we make of this phrase every 
 day in our legislative proceedings ? If I make a motion to 
 strike out a section from a bill, and it prevails, the Secretary - 
 encloses the printed copy of-it in black lines, and makes a note 
 on the margin that it has been stricken out. The original he 
 never touches. Why, then, should not the word ' expunge,' 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGIKG RESOLUTIONS. 209 
 
 without obliterating the proceedings to which it is directed, sig- 
 nify to destroy, as if it never had existed ? 
 
 " After all that has been said, I think I need scarcely agaia 
 recur to the Pennsylvania precedent. It is evident, from the 
 whole of that proceeding, that an actual expunging of the jour- 
 nal was intended, if it had not already been executed. I have 
 no recollection whatever of the circumstances, but I am under a 
 perfect conviction, from the face of the journal, that such was 
 the nature of the case. I should vote now as I did then, after 
 a period of mora than twenty years. Both my vote and the 
 motion which I subsequently made upon that occasion, evidently 
 proceeded upon this principle. The question arose in this man- 
 ner, as it appears from the journal : On the 10th of February, 
 1816, 'The Speaker informed the House that a constitutional 
 question being involved in a decision by him yesterday, on a 
 motion to expunge certain proceedings from the journal, he 
 was desirous of having the opinion of the House on that decision,' 
 viz. : " that a majority can expunge from the journal proceed- 
 ings in which the yeas and nays have not been called." ' Now, 
 as no trace whatever appears upon the journal of the preceding 
 day, of the motion to which the Speaker refers, it is highly 
 probable, nay, it is almost certain, that the proceedings had 
 been actually expunged before he asked the advice of the 
 House. 
 
 " No man feels with more sensibility the necessity which 
 compels him to perform an unkind act towards his brother sen- 
 ators than myself ; but we have now arrived at that point when 
 imperious duty demands that we should either adopt this expung- 
 ing resolution, or abandon it forever. Already much precious 
 time has been employed in its discussion. The moment has 
 arrived when we must act. Senators in the opposition console 
 themselves with the behef that posterity will do them justice, 
 should it be denied to them by the present generation. They 
 place their own names in the one scale and ours in the other, 
 and flatter themselves with the hope, that before that tribunal, 
 
210 LIFE AND SEKVICE8 OF JAME8 B0CHANA1T. 
 
 at least, their weight will preponderate. For my own part, I 
 am willing to abide the issue. I am willing to be judged for 
 the vote which I shall give to-day, not only by the present, but 
 by the future generation, should my obscure name ever be men- 
 tioned in after times. After the passions and prejudices of the 
 present moment shall have subsided, and the impartial historian 
 Bhall record the proceeding of this day, he will say that the dis- 
 tinguished men who passed the resolution condemning the Presi- 
 dent, were urged on to the act by a desire to occupy the high 
 places in the government, that an ambition; noble in itself, but 
 not wisely regulated, had obscured their judgment, and impell- 
 ed them to the adoption of a measure, unjust, illegal, and un- 
 constitutional ; that, in order to vindicate both the Constitution 
 and the President, we were justified in passing this expunging 
 resolution, and thus stamping, the former proceeding with our 
 strongest disapprobation. 
 
 " I rejoice in the belief that this promises to be one of the 
 last highly exciting questions of the present day. During the 
 period of General Jackson's civil administration, what has he 
 not done for the American people ? During this period, he has 
 had more difiBcult and dangerous questions to settle, both at 
 home and abroad — questions which aroused more intensely the 
 passions of men — than any of his predecessors. They are now 
 all happily ended, except the one which we shall this day bring 
 to a close— 
 
 " ' And all the clouds that lowered upon our bouse 
 In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.* 
 
 " The country now enjoys abundant prosperity at home, 
 whilst it is respected and admired by foreign nations. Although 
 the waves may yet be in some agitation from the effect of the 
 storms through which we have passed, yet I think I can per- 
 ceive the rainbow of peace extending itself across the firmament 
 of heaven. ^ 
 
 " Should the next administration pursue the same course of 
 policy with the present ; should it dispense equal justice to all 
 
SPEECH ON EXPUNGUNG EES0LUTI0N8. 211 
 
 portions and all interests of the Union without sacrificiag any ; 
 should it be conducted with prudence and with firmness, and I 
 doubt not but that this will be the case, we shall hereafter 
 enjoy comparative peace and quiet in our day. This will be 
 the precious fruit of the energy, the toils, and the wisdom of 
 the pilot who has conducted us in safety through the storms of 
 his tempestuous a;.knimstration. 
 
 " I am now prepared for the question. I shall vote for this 
 resolution, but not cheerfuUy. I regret the necessity which 
 exists for passing it, but I believe that imperious duty demands 
 its adoption. If I know my own heart, I can truly say that I 
 am not actuated by any desire to obtain a miserable, petty, 
 personal triumph, either for myself or for the President of the 
 United States over my associates upon this floor. 
 
 " I am now ready to record my vote, and thus in the oppro- 
 brious language of senators in the opposition, to become one 
 of the executioners of the condemnatory resolution." 
 
 Immediately after the delivery of Mr. Buchanan's speech, the 
 vote on the "Expunging Eesolution" was taken, and the 
 odious" sentence stricken from the record of the Senp,te. Mr. 
 Benton had the' gratification of seeing his labors accom- 
 plished, and aU the friends of Gen. Jackson were abundantly 
 pleased that he would now retire from tljie distinguished posi- 
 tion he had occupied through a period of unexampled political 
 strife, with honor to himself, and without a blot upon his fair 
 fame. As it may be "interesting to know at this day what 
 senators refused this act of justice to President Jackson, now 
 that his administration has been unanimously ratified by the 
 judgment of posterity, we- give the vote on this celebrated 
 resolution. 
 
 Yeffis.— Messrs. Benton, Brown, Buchanan, Dana, Ewing of 
 Illinois, Fulton, Grundy, Hubbard, King of Alabama, Linn, 
 Morris, Nicholas, NUes, Page, Elves, Robinson, Euggles, Sevier, 
 Strange, Tallmadge, Tipton, Walker, Wall, Wright.— 24. 
 
212 LIFE AND SEEYICE8 OF JAMES BUCHASTAN. 
 
 Na/ys. — ^Bayard, Black, Calhoun, Clay, Crittenden, Davis, 
 Ewing of Ohio, Hendricks, Kent, Knight, Moore, Prentiss, 
 Preston, Robbins, Southard, Swift, Tomlinson, Webster, 
 White.— 19. 
 
 The subsequent events of this session vrere not important. 
 Mr. Buchanan, from the Committee on Foreign Eelations, made 
 a report in regard to the state of affairs between our country 
 and Mexico, and as early as this stated that strict justice would 
 require us even then to go to war with that country, but for 
 the present he counselled further forbearance. The session 
 adjourned on the 3d of March, after having at least accom- 
 plished one notable and praiseworthy act, the vindication of 
 Gen. Jackson. 
 
ME. VAJSr BUEEn's ADMINISTEATIOir. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren's Administration— The Extra Session— Mr. Buclianan's Speecli on the 
 Sub-Treasury Biil. 
 
 Maktin Van Bbren was inaugurated President, and took his 
 seat as the successor of General Jackson, on the 4th'"of March, 
 183T. The financial embarrassment and commercial distress 
 were if possible even greater than in the revulsion of 18"0-21. 
 The flooding of the country with excessive issues of paper curren- 
 cy had stimulated another of these disastrous periods of general 
 speculation, which had spread desolation and ruin far and near. 
 In the midst of the universal distress Mr. Van Buren called an 
 extra session of Congress, to take some measures to relieve, if 
 possible, the pressure of the times, and to promote the general 
 welfare of the country. Among the new members who made 
 their first appearance at this session was the Hon. Franklin 
 Pierce, the present chief magistrate ; Clay, Calhoun, Webster, 
 Benton, SUas Wright* and other prominent names still conti- 
 nued on the senatorial list. Mr. Buchanan occupied the same 
 place, the chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Eelations, 
 he had in the previous Congress. Almost the first bill intro- 
 duced was what is known as the " Sub-Treasury Act." It was 
 violently opposed, and though it passed the Senate twice it was 
 both times rejected By the House. 
 
 Simple as were the principles of this biU, and as folly as they 
 are now acknowledged to be right and proper, yet the oppo- 
 sition both in Congress and out of it, which was raised against 
 the measure, demonstrates what a powerful, temporary excite- 
 ment can be produced where there is not the slightest reason to 
 
214: LIFB AND BHEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 warrant it. Mr. Van Buren wished merely to complete tht. 
 divorce between bank and state wMch General Jackson had so 
 nobly inaugurated. What more simple to effect tins than that 
 the government by its own agents should disburse its own 
 revenue, instead of employing banks to do it ? As long as the 
 government was in any way mixed up with these institutions, 
 it would be charged with almost every financial embarrassment 
 the currency might experience. The agitation the question 
 caused in politics would be avoided by adopting the simple 
 direct principles of the Constitution, and one more step would 
 have been taken towards returning to the letter and spirit of 
 that instrument. Mr. Buchanan made a speech of great power 
 and research upon the bill, which is valuable as going into a full 
 explanation of the causes of financial embarrassment in a pro- 
 found statesmanhke manner, and in presenting a clear concep- 
 tion of the powers of the general government in regard to the 
 question under consideration. Its great length \ as compelled 
 us to abridge it, but we trust we have given its most important 
 points. The following is the opening portion : 
 
 Mr. President : It cannot be denied that the commercial 
 and manufacturing classes of our people throughout the Union 
 are now suffering severely under one of those periodical pres- 
 sures which have so often afficted the country. Neither have the 
 agricultural and other interests escaped without injury, although 
 they have not suffered to the same extent. The exhaustion of 
 the human system does not succeed a high degree of unnatural 
 excitement with more unerring certainty .than that a depression 
 in the business of the country must foUow excessive speculation. 
 The one is a law of nature, the other a scarcely less uniform 
 law of trade. The degree of this depression will always bear 
 an exact proportion to the degree of overaction. As many de- 
 grees as the system has been elevated above the point of healthy 
 action, so many degrees must it sink below, after the effects of 
 the stimulus have passed away. 
 
SPEECH ON THE SUB-TKEASUET BILL. 215 
 
 " What has been the history of the country in this respect ? 
 One of constant vibration. I can speak positively on 'this sub- 
 ject in regard to the period of time since I came into public 
 life. What has been will be again. The same causes will pro- 
 duce the same effects. We can cherish no reasonable hope of 
 a change unless State legislatures should take a firm and decided 
 stand. The history of the past will become that of the future. 
 This year we have sunk to the extreme point of depression. 
 The country is now glutted with foreign merchandise. There 
 will, therefore, be but few importations. All our efforts are now 
 directed towards the payment of our foreign debt. The next 
 year the patient will begin to recruit his exhausted energies. 
 Domestic manufactures will flourish in proportion as foreign 
 goods become scarce. The third year, a fair business will be 
 done. The country will present a flourishing appearance. Pro- 
 perty of all descriptions will command a fair price, and we shall 
 glide along smoothly and prosperously. The fourth or the fifth 
 year the era of extravagant speculation will return, again to 
 be succeeded by another depression. At successive periods the 
 best and most enterprising men of the country are crushed. 
 They fall victims at the shrine of the insatiate and iasatiable 
 Moloch of extravagant banking. It is an everlasting cycle. 
 The wise man says there is no new thing under the sun, and we 
 are destined, I fear, again and again to pass through the same 
 vicissitudes. The aspect is perpetually changing, but is never 
 new. 
 
 " Senators have plumed themselves, abd their admirers 
 throughout the country have applauded them as being wonder- 
 fully sagacious in their predictions. Their respective partisans 
 are ready to exclaim : 
 
 * The spirit of deep prophecy he hath, 
 Exceeding the nine Sibyls of old Rome ; 
 What*B past and what's to come he can descry.' 
 
 " But no deep penetration into futurity was reqtiired to make 
 
216 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BTJCHAHAN'. 
 
 tl.ade prophecies. Until existing causes shall be removed, the 
 future must be the counterpart of the past. 
 
 " Whence this eternal vicissitude in the business of the coun-- 
 try ? What is the secret spring of all these calamities ? I 
 answer, the spirit of enterprise, so natural to American citizens, 
 excited into furious action by the stimulus of exce'ssive bank- 
 ing. It operates as does the inhaling of oxygen gas upon the 
 human mind, urging it on to every extravagance and to every 
 foUy. 
 
 " I do not deny that several subordinate circumstances have 
 operated in unison with this grand cause to make the present 
 catastrophe more severe than it otherwise might have been. 
 Still it is the root of all the evil. It is the chief and almost 
 the only source from which the existing distress has flowed. 
 
 " I was not a member of this body when the discussion tooK 
 place of the veto of the bank charter, or the removal of 
 the deposits. Although both these measures received my cor- 
 dial approbation, yet I refrain purposely from replying at this 
 late period to the remarks which have been made on these sub- 
 jects. They have already passed into history, and been sanc- 
 tioned by the public approbatibn. 
 
 " Amongst these subsidiary causes of the existing distress, 
 may be enumerated the destruction of capital by the great fire 
 at New York in December, 1835. The wild speculations in 
 public lands, and in splendid towns and cities upon paper 
 throughout the Western States, which withdrew capital from 
 the commercial cities, where it was most wanted, to portions of 
 the country where it was not required ; and the specie circular, 
 if you please, which, however wise it may have been in its 
 origm, ought not, in my opinion, to have been continued in 
 force after it had performed its ofBce and had checked the wild 
 speculations in public lands. I voted in favor of the bill at the 
 last session, which repealed this circular ; and, under the same 
 circumstances, I would again act in the same manner. But 
 permit me to say that its effects have been greatly exaggerated. 
 
SPEECH ON THE STJB-TEEABUET BILL. 217 
 
 It did not carry to tlie West anything approacMng the amount 
 of gold and siyer wMch senators have estimated. According to 
 the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, all the specie in all 
 the western deposit baniis, including Michigan, but little 
 exceeded four millions of dollars at the date of the suspension 
 of specie payments ; and in the southwestern deposit banks it 
 did not amount to one million two hundred thousand dollars. 
 I shall not stop to inquire how much less gold and silver there 
 would have been in these depositories had the specie circular 
 never existed. Certain it is that the comparatively small 
 amount of specie which came into these banks in consequence 
 of this circulation, could have produced but an inconsiderable 
 effect on the business of our commercial cities, and stUl less 
 upon the suspension of specie payments. 
 
 " These causes may have made the revulsion a little more 
 severe ; but, had they never existed, still it must have come 
 with desolating force. 
 
 "■ Senators have attributed some portions of the existing dis- 
 tress to the act of 1834, regulating the standard of our gold 
 coins. They have not told us, and they cannot tell us, how 
 this act could have produced such an effect. It was no party 
 measure, and upon its passage, there were but few, I believe 
 but seven, votes against it in the Senate. It was a measure of 
 absolute necessity, if we desired that our own gold coins should 
 circulate in this country. Before its passage, a half eagle, as 
 an article of merchandise, was intrinsically worth about five 
 dollars and thirty-three cents in silver, whilst its standard value, 
 as currency, under our laws was only five dollars. It is mani- 
 fest, therefore, that eagles and half eagles never could have 
 entered into general circulation had it not been for the passage 
 of this act, which is now condemned. It was a mere adjust- 
 ment of the -relative value of gold to silver, according to the 
 standard of other nations, and, if I am not greatly mistaken in 
 my memory, conformed exactly in this particular with the laws 
 of Spain and Portugal. 
 
 10 
 
218 LIFE AND SEETICE8 OF JAMES BPCHAN'AIir. 
 
 " I have been utterly at a loss to conceiTC the cause of the 
 hostility of senators to this necessary measure, unless it be from 
 a feeling similar to that which, it is said, made a distinguished 
 gentleman desire to kill every sheep which came in his way. 
 He could feel no personal hostiUty to these innocent and harm- 
 less animals, but was such a violent anti-tariff man that the 
 sight of them always reminded him of our woollen manufactures. 
 Certainly no gentleman can entertain any objection to the 
 eagles and half eagles themselves ; but they may remind sena- 
 tors of the efBcieut and untiring exertions of the senator from 
 Missouri (Mr. Benton), to introduce a gold currency into circu- 
 lation. As gold, they may like these coins ; but as Bentonian 
 mint-drops, they are detestable. 
 
 " Senators have also contended that the present depressed 
 condition of the country has been produced, in some degree, by 
 the large importations of specie which were encouraged by the 
 administration of General Jackson. I shall not be diverted 
 from my main purpose by answering this objection in detail. 
 Even if their position were correct, which I by no means admit, 
 that more gold and silver had been forced into the country than 
 our necessities demanded, or the fixed laws of trade would have 
 justifiedj still the effect would have been transient and trifling. 
 It would have immediately flowed back through the channels 
 of commerce to the place from whence it came, until the par 
 exchange had been restored. This is one of the fixed and in- 
 variable laws of trade, from the obUgation of which we can 
 never be released. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay), in the course of 
 his remarks upon this subject, involved himself in a strange con- 
 tradiction. At the commencement of his speech, he deprecated, 
 with his usual eloquence and ability, the policy of the past 
 administration in forcing specie into this country, contrary to 
 the laws of trade. Towards the conclusion, when his fancy 
 became excited by the contemplation of the splendid bank of 
 the United States which it was his purpose to establish, ho 
 
SPEECH ON THE STJB-TEEASUET BILL. 219 
 
 seemed entirely to have changed his opinion. In order to 
 obtain the necessary amount of specie capital, he proposed that 
 some twenty or twenty-five millions of this bank stock should 
 be transmitted to Europe, and sold to foreigners in exchange 
 for gold and silver. It was a violation of the laws of trade, 
 which must recoil upon us, to force a greater amount of specie 
 into the country than our just proportion, for the purpose of 
 putting it into circulation among the people ; but, when the 
 purpose is to furnish a specie capital of twenty oe, twenty-five 
 millions for a new bank of the United States, then all difficulties 
 vanish from the mind of the gentleman. 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. B., " without the agency of any of these 
 secondary causes, the present distress must have come. It was 
 inevitable as fate. No law of nature is more fixed, than that 
 our over-bankiug and our over-trading must have produced the 
 disastrous results under which we are now suffering. 
 
 " Is there now, in any of our large commercial cities, such an 
 individual as a regular importing or commission merchant ? I 
 mean a merchant who is content to grow rich, as our fathers 
 did, by the successive and regular profits of many years of indus- 
 try in his own pecuhar pursuit. If there be such persons, they 
 are rare. No, sir, all desire to grow rich rapidly. Each takes 
 his chance in the lottery of speculation. Although there may 
 be a hundred chances to one against him, each eagerly intent 
 upon the golden prize, overlooks the intervening rocks and 
 quicksands between him and it, and when he fondly thinks he 
 is about to clutch it, he sinks into bankruptcy and ruin. Such 
 has been the fate of thousands of our most enterprising citizens. 
 It is enough to make one's heart bleed to contemplate the 
 blighted hopes and ruined prospects of those who have fallen 
 victims to the demon of speculation. Many of them have been 
 the most promising, and but for this fatal error, would have 
 become the most useful citizens of our country. Under the in- 
 fluence of this feeling, they not only risk their own all, but often 
 
220 LrPB AHD SEEVICES OF JAMES BTJOHANAlif. 
 
 the all of others, which has been confided to them ; not, as I 
 firmly beliove, with any^deliberate purpose of being dishonest, 
 but in the confident but delusive hope that fortune may smile 
 upon their efforts, and enable them to meet all their responsi- 
 bilities. 
 
 " Far be it from me to utter one word against the profession 
 of the merchant. By their ability and enterprise, our mer- 
 chants have cast lustre upon the character of our country 
 throughout the world. They ai'e amongst our most useful 
 citizens. They are agents for exchanging our productions with 
 distant nations and among ourselves. Commerce is the hand- 
 maid of agriculture and manufactures, and heaven forbid, that 
 I should be the instrument of exciting hostility between them. 
 Again, I am the last man in the country who would crush that 
 spirit of enterprise and of untiring effort which belongs to the 
 American character. It has produced miracles. It has covered 
 every sea with our flag. With a rapidity unexampled in the 
 history of the world, it has converted the wilderness into fruit- 
 ful fields, and flourishing towns and cities. It has erected 
 splendid improvements of every kind. It has covered, and is 
 covering the face of our vast country with railroads and canals, 
 and has enabled a nation, centuries behind in the start, to sur- 
 pass all her rivals in the career of internal improvement. If I 
 had the power, I would regulate this spirit. I would limit it 
 within proper bounds. God forbid that I should destroy it. 
 
 "It is impossible that manufactures and commerce can 
 flourish to any great degree in this country without the aid of 
 extensive credit ; I would not, therefore, abolish banks if I 
 could. A return to a pure metallic currency is impossible. To 
 make such an attempt would be ruinous as well as absurd. It 
 would at once diminish the nominal value of all property more than 
 fifty per cent., and would, in effect, double the amount of every 
 man's debts. It would enrich creditors at the expense of their 
 debtors, and thus make the rich richer, and the poor poorer. 
 
SPEECH ON THE ST]B-TEEASTJRT BILI 221 
 
 It would paralyze indastry and enterprise. I would give enter- 
 prise wholesome food to feed upon, but would not drive it into 
 mad speculation, by administering unnatural stimulants. 
 
 " What power does this government possess to regulate the 
 banking system of the country? None, comparatively none., 
 It belongs to the States. We shall soon see whether they will 
 exert this power in a wise and beneficial manner. Every 
 obstacle has been removed from their course, by the general 
 suspension of specie payments. But the banks are all-powerful. 
 Their presidents, their directors, their cashiers, their stockhold- 
 ers, and their agents, pervade our whole society. They are 
 spread over the land. A common interest will unite them in a 
 solid phalanx, for the purpose of making a common effort. 
 They wiU invade our haUs of legislation, and exert aH the 
 influence which they may possess with every department of our 
 State governments, for the purpose of preserving their exorbi 
 tant privileges. The people may now establish these institu 
 tions upon a stable and useful foundation. The conflict wiU be 
 tremendous, and I confess, I tremble for the result. The weal 
 or the woe of this country, for many years to come, depends 
 upon the issue. 
 
 " In this crisis, all which the general government can effect 
 is, in the first . place, to withhold its deposits from the banks, 
 and thus refraiu from contributing their fiinds to swell the 
 torrent of wild speculation, and, in the second place, to restrain 
 the extravagance of their credits and issues, in some smaU 
 degree, by collecting and iisbursing our revenue exclusively in 
 specie, or in the notes of banks which will pay the balances due 
 from them iu specie, at short intervals. To accomplish these 
 two purposes, as well as to render the public revenues more 
 secure, are the objects of the biU and amendment now before 
 the Senate. 
 
 "The evils of a' redundant paper circulation are now mani- 
 fest to every eye. It alternately raises and sinks the value of 
 every man's property. It makes a beggar of the man to-mor- 
 
822 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BUOHA,}rAN. 
 
 row who is indulging in dreams of wealth to-day. It converto 
 the business of society into a mere lottery, whilst those who 
 iistribute the prizes are wholly irresponsible to the people 
 When the collapse comes, as come it must, it casts laborers out 
 of employment, crushes manufactures and merchants, and ruins 
 thousands of honest and industrious citizens. Shall we, then, 
 by our policy, any longer contribute to such fatal results ? 
 That is the question. 
 
 " The system of extravagant banking benefits no person, 
 exept the shrewd speculator, who knows how to take advan- 
 tage of the perpetual fluctuation in prices which a redundant 
 paper currency never fails to produce. He sees, in the general 
 causes which operate upon the commercial world, when money 
 is about to be scarce, and when it will become plenty. He 
 studies the run as a gambler does that of the cards. He knows 
 when to buy and when to sell, and thus often realizes a large 
 estate in a few happy ventures. Those who have been initiated 
 into the mysteries of the paper-money market, can thus accum- 
 ulate rapid fortunes at the expense of their less skillful neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 " The question before the Senate is not, whether we shall 
 divorce the government from the banks ; the banks themselves 
 have done that already ; the alKance is already dissolved. The 
 question now is, shall we, with all the experience of the past, 
 restore this ill-fated union? No propitious divinities would 
 grace the new nuptials, but the fatal sisters would be there 
 ready again to cut the cord at the first approach of difficulty 
 and danger. 
 
 "The senator from Virginia (Mr. Eives) has appealed to 
 us in the name of consistency to support his amendment, but 
 circumstances have entirely changed since we voted for it at 
 the last session. Then the union existed between the banks 
 and the treasury, and his bill prescribed the relative duties of 
 the contracting parties. Now the contract is at an end. The 
 banks have violated its fundamental obligations, and the gov- 
 
SPEECH ON THE STJB-TEEA8UKY BILL. 223 
 
 eminent is free, The preliminary question now is, shall we 
 enter into a new alliance ? We must first determine that we 
 shall, before any question of consistency can arise. Should we 
 again connect ourselves with the banks, then, and not till then, 
 can we be called upon to adopt rules regulating the union. 
 The amendment of the senator from Virginia proceeds upon 
 the assumption that our former relations are to be restored I 
 oppose the amendment mainly because I am hostile to this 
 re-union. If Congress should first determine to restore the old 
 relations between the parties, then, and not tUl then, might 
 there be some force in an appeal to our consistency. 
 
 " We are left, at this moment, entirely free to decide what is 
 best to be done with the public money. To use the language 
 of the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun), we have 
 reached a point from whence we are about to take a new 
 departure. But three courses have been, or, in the nature of 
 things, can be presented for our selection. We must either 
 deposit the public money in a bank of the United States, to be 
 created for that purpose, or restore it to the State banks, or 
 provide for its safe custody in the hands of our own officers, 
 without the agency of any bank. State or national. 
 
 " And first, in regard to the creation of another bank of the 
 United States. It was not my purpose, at this time, to offer 
 my objections in detail to such an institution. Even if I had 
 intended to present my views fully upon this snbject, the over- 
 whelming vote of the Senate on Tuesday last, against the 
 establishment of such a bank, would warn me to forbear. It 
 would be labor lost, and time expended in vain. I shall con- 
 tent myself, therefore, with a few general observations upoa 
 this branch of the subject, and a short reply to some of the 
 remarks which have been made by the advocates of a new 
 bank. 
 
 " In my opinion, the most alarming dangers which would 
 result from such an institution, have never yet been presented 
 in bold relief before the people. This has arisen from the 
 
224 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 unnatural position of that institution towards the. government. 
 We have seen it struggling against executive power, and its 
 efforts have been tremendous They would have been irresisti- 
 ble against any other President than Andrew Jackson As it 
 was, the conflict was of the most portentous character, and 
 shook the Union to its centre But we have witnessed the 
 exception, not the rule. It is the natural ally, not the enemy 
 of power. Wealth and power necessarily attract each other, 
 and are always ready to rush to each other's embrace. In the 
 language once used by a distinguished orator, now no more 
 (Mr. Kandolph), ' Male and female created he them.' Suppose 
 Greneral Jackson and the bank had been in aUiance, and not in 
 opposition ; what then might have been the consequences, had 
 he been an enemy to the liberties of his country ? Armed with 
 all the power and all the patronage which belonged to the Pre- 
 sident of the United States, enjoying unbounded popularity, and 
 wielding the combined wealth of the country, through the 
 agency of this all-powerful bank and its branches, planted in 
 every portion of the Union, can any man say that our liberties 
 would not have been iu danger ? All the forms of the Consti- 
 tution might have remained, the people might stOl have been 
 fliattered with the idea of electing their own ofiScers, but the 
 animating spirit of our free institutions would have departed 
 forever. A secret, an all-pervading influence, would have 
 sapped the foundations of hberty, and made it an enipty name. 
 Under such circumstances, a President might always select his 
 successor. But, thank Heaven, the danger has passed away, 
 and I trust forever. 
 
 " If any of my friends on this side of the House, who advo- 
 cate the establishment of a national bank, should be elected 
 President — and if their political principles are to prevail with 
 a majority of the people of this country, that majority could hot 
 make a better selection — in what situation shall we be placed ? 
 One of the first measures of the administration would be to 
 establish a magnificent bank of the United States, with a capi- 
 
SPEECa ON THE BTJB-TEEA8UET BILL. 225 
 
 tal of at least fifty millions of dollars, and with branches 
 throughout the different States. A feeling of gratitude towards 
 their creator would render them subservient to his will. It 
 would be their pride and their pleasure to promote his influence 
 and extend his power. We should have no more wars between 
 the bank and the government. They would move on harmo- 
 niously together. In other days, the time might arrive when 
 the bank would be used by some bad and aspiring President, 
 as a powerful instrument to subvert the liberties of his country. 
 
 " Even if such a bank could better regulate the currency and 
 the domestic exchanges of the country than any other instru- 
 ment, Btm it would be infinitely better to bear the ills we have 
 than to endanger the existence or the purity of our free insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 " But won.a such a bank control and regulate the issues of the 
 State banks ? I answer, no. It would not if it could ; it 
 could not if it would. In the affairs of human life, if you 
 expect an agent to restrain and control another, you ought to 
 render either their interests or their inclinatioiis different and 
 -counteracting. To accomplish this purpose they must be 
 ' antagonistical ' to each other. When such agents are corpo; 
 rations, ' this is emphatically true. Peculiarly governed by 
 self-interest, they feel no enthusiasm unless it be to make large 
 dividends for their stockholders. Now, a bank of the United 
 States would have precisely the same interest with the State 
 banks in makmg extravagant loans and issues. Whenever, in 
 their estimation, they should extend their accommodations, 
 ■without endangering their own security, they would pursue that 
 course. This is the powerful instinct of self-interest You 
 cannot change the fixed laws which govern human nature, by 
 making men directors and stockholders in the Bank of the 
 United States. It is absurd to suppose that a large moneyed 
 corporation, having in view solely its own interests, will volun- 
 tarily become the regulator of the paper currency of a great 
 nation, and prevent those ruinous contractions and expansions 
 
 10* 
 
226 LIFE AND'SEEVIGES OF JAME8 BUOHANiN. 
 
 under which both England and this country have periodically 
 sufiered. It would be easy for me to prove, at least to my own 
 satisfaction, that, in point of fact, neither the first nor the last 
 bank of the United States ever did exercise a regular and effi- 
 cient control over the issues of the State banks. Both the one 
 and the others have thus rushed together, and have together 
 administered to that spirit of over-trading and extravagant 
 speculation which has so often desolated our country. To 
 pursue such a course of illustration would, however, be to 
 revive the old controversy ; to tread the ground which has 
 been so often trodden, and to direct me from that which more 
 essentially belongs to the present question, 
 
 " The mistake committed in regard to the deposit banks, 
 was the belief that they would be able and willing to restrain 
 the issues of the other State banks. Fortified with the public 
 deposits, and numerous as they were, they might possibly have 
 done something towards the accomplishment of such a purpose. 
 But, bank hke— human nature like — instead of aiming at any 
 such result, the»government deposits became the instrument in 
 their hands of still more extravagant credits and circulation. 
 Their objects seemed to be not to restrain, but to give loose 
 reins to the other banks and to themselves, and thereby 
 Increase their own profits." 
 
 ******* 
 
 Mr. Buchanan having concluded this portion of his subject, 
 5hen noticed th^ position Mr. Webster had taken upon the 
 question, and thus referred to that distinguished man : 
 
 " What, then, was the senator's main position ? In this I 
 think I cannot be mistaken, I wish to state it distinctly and 
 fairly. He contended that Congress not only possess the power 
 inder the Constitution, but that it is their imperative duty 
 to create and furnish for the people of this country a paper 
 currency which shall be at par in all portions of the Union, 
 
SPEECH ON THE SUB-TEEA8UET BILL. 227 
 
 and everywhere serve as the medium of domestic exchanges. In 
 what particular mode or by what means, this papei- currency 
 was to be called into existence, the senator did not explain. On 
 this point he was quite mysterious. He infers the existence of 
 this power from two clauses in the Constitution ; the first, that 
 which confers on Congress the power ' to regulate commerce 
 with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with 
 the Indian tribes ; ' and the second, ' to coin money, regulate 
 the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of 
 weights and measures.' " 
 
 (Here Mr. Webster also referred Mr. Buchanan to that 
 clause of the Constitution which prohibits the States from 
 coining money or emitting bills of credit.) 
 
 " What, in my opinion, constitutes the chief excellence of 
 the senator from Massachusetts, as a public speaker, is the 
 clearness with which he states his propositions, and his power 
 of condensation in maintaining them. When he happens to be 
 in the wrong, these high qualities operate against himself, and 
 render his errors more conspicious. Such was my conviction 
 yesterday, when he undertook the herculean task of deducing 
 the power to create a paper currency, without any limit but the 
 discretion of Congress, from the simple powers of regulating 
 commerce, and coining hard money. 
 
 " By the state of the question before the Senate, the gentle- 
 man has been driven into a narrow place, and has chosen a po- 
 sition which his great powers will not enable him to maintain. 
 The bill upon your table proposes to keep on deposit, and to 
 transfer the public revenue, where it may be required, without 
 the agency of any bank. If these duties can be successfully 
 performed by the officers of the government, then there can be 
 no pretence for claiming the power to incorporate a national 
 bank from that clause in the Constitution giving Congress the 
 power ' to levy and collect taxes, duties, impost, and excises, and 
 to pay the debt of the United States.' The present bill pro- 
 vided for all these purposes, independently of all banks. There 
 
228 LIFE AND SEKVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 can, then, be no neoessity to create one as a fiscal agent of the 
 government ; and, of consequence, the ancient argument in 
 favor of its constitutionality falls to the ground. This was its 
 origin ; this was the foundation on which it has formerly rested. 
 The power to issue notes, and that to regulate the exchanges 
 of the country, have heretofore been considered as merely inci- 
 dental to the bank itself, after it had been called into existence 
 as a necessary fiscal agent of the treasury. These have never 
 been considered as powers inherent in the government, but as 
 mere consequences of the regular . action of a national banking 
 institution. Under existing circumstances, the senator is driven 
 even from these comparatively narrow limits. He disclaims the 
 idea of advocating, at present, the establishment of a national 
 bank, hence lie has never once, throughout the whole course of 
 his argument, called to his aid the power ' to levy and collect 
 taxes.' He has not even mentioned it. He casts this power 
 into the background, whilst be claims for Congress, from the 
 other clauses of the Constitution which I have read, the trans- 
 cendent power of creating a paper currency without limits. 
 
 "Let us for a few moments examine his argument. The 
 framers of the Constitution were sturdy patriots, who, with a 
 bold but cautious hand, conferred upon the general government 
 certain enumerated powers. Dreading lest this government 
 might attempt to usurp other powers which had not been 
 granted, they have expressly declared that ' the powers not 
 delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
 hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respective- 
 ly or to the people.' This caution was absolutely necessary to 
 prevent astute and subtle lawyers from extending, by forced and 
 ingenious constructions, the clear and explicit grant of powers 
 which was traced by the hand of our fathers.' Does the Consti- 
 tution, then, anywhere expressly confer upon Congress the 
 power of creating a national paper currency ? This is not pre- 
 tended. But the senator from Massachusetts has found it lurk- 
 ing under the power 'to regulate commerce with foreign 
 
SPEECH ON THE SUB-TEEAStTET BILL. 229 
 
 nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian 
 tribes.' What is the signification of the word 'regulate?' 
 Does it mean to create ? No, sir. Such a signification would 
 be to confound the meaning of two of the plainest words in the 
 English language. Yqu create something new ; you regulate 
 the action of that which has already been called into existence. 
 The meaning of the word ' regulate,' as used by the framers of 
 the Constitution themselves, clearly appears in a subsequent 
 clause in the instrument. ' Congress shall have power to coin 
 money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix 
 the standard of weights and measures.' To coin money is the 
 creation of the subject ; after it has been coined, and thus 
 brought into existence, you regulate the value of it and of 
 foreign coin. There are no two words In the English language 
 which have more distinct and precise meanings than to 'create' 
 and to ' regulate.' The word ' regulate ' necessarily presupposes 
 the previous existence of something to be regulated. Such is 
 its plain, clear signification in the Constitution. Commerce had 
 long existed ' with foreign nations and among the several States, 
 and with the Indian tribes,' previous to the date of the Consti- 
 tution. Its framers took the subject up as they found it, and 
 acting upon the existing state of things, they authorized Con- 
 gress to regulate, or to prescribe rules for conducting this com- 
 merce in all future times. To infer, therefore, from this simple 
 power of regulating commerce, that of creating and issaing a 
 supply of paper money for the country, strikes me as one of the 
 most extraordinary propositions which has ever been presented 
 to the Senate." 
 
 It cannot be denied that the above plain, common sense views 
 of the power of Congress to estabMsh a national bank is so plainly 
 and so palpably correct, that no arguments renowned as the 
 senator from Massachusetts was for his logical abilities, could 
 overthrow them. Mr. Buchanan, in closing this part of his 
 speech, presented the following very clear statement of the dif- 
 
230 LIFE AND 8EETICEB OF JAMES BTJCHAKAIT 
 
 ference between the political -parties of our country. He 
 said : 
 
 " Two political schools have existed in this country from the 
 time the Constitution was adopted. The one favored a strict, 
 the other a liberal, construction of that instrument. The one 
 has been jealous of State rights, the other the advocate of fede- 
 ral power. The senator from Massachusetts, if we may judge by 
 his argument upon the present occasion, is far in advance of 
 those who have hitherto gone the farthest in support of fede- 
 ral power. He has made large strides towards consolidation or 
 conservatism. I use these terms with no offensive meaning.'' 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's speech then goes into a discussion as to 
 whether the public deposits ought to be restored to the State 
 banks, and shows that they ought not, because these banks were 
 not and never had been safe depositories of the public money. 
 More than all that, it gave them a capital upon which to make 
 large paper issues, and thus flood the country with means for 
 the speculators to use the government money to injure the labor- 
 ing classes. These banks, after going on during a period of ex- 
 travagant expansion, would fail, and " in such cases," said Mr. 
 Buchanan, " what classes of society are most likely to suffer 
 from the explosion ? Who do you suppose, Mr. President, held 
 the notes of the hundred and sixty-five banks, that proved insol- 
 vent, between 1811 and 1830 ? Not the shrewd men of busi- 
 ness, nor the keen speculator ; because they snuff the danger 
 from afar. It was the honest and industrions classes of society, 
 who are without suspicion, and whose pursuits in life do not 
 render then familiar with the secret history of banking. 
 
 " We are now just experiencing another great evil which has 
 resulted from extravagant loans and issues, and consequent sus- 
 pension of specie payments by banks. The country is now 
 deluged with small notes, vulgarly called shin-plasters. They 
 are of every form and every denomination between five cents 
 
SPEECH ON THE BUB-TEEASUET BILL. 231 
 
 and five dollars ; and they are issued by every individual and 
 every corporation who think proper. It is impossible for the 
 poor man to say he will not take them, for there is scarcely any 
 silver change in circulation anywhere. He must receive them 
 for his labor or starve. The paper on which these small notes 
 are printed is often so bad, and the] are so inartificially got up, 
 that it is almost impossible to distk guish between the counter- 
 feit and the genuine. To counterfeit then has became a regular 
 business, as it has been carrited to a great extent. 
 
 " Our currency below five dollars now consists of this com- 
 bined mass of genuine and counterfeit shin-plasters, and many 
 of the counterfeits are intrinsically of equal value with the 
 genuine. Some are payble in one medium and some in another. 
 Some are on demand, and others have years to run before they 
 reach maturity. The very moment the banks resume specie- 
 payments, this mass of illegal and worthless currency will be 
 rendered entirely useless.. It will fall a dead weight in the 
 hands of the holders, and these will be chiefly the very men 
 who are least able to bear the loss. A scene of confusion and 
 distr^s will then be presented, which I need not describe. 
 Such is one of the effects of extravagant banking.'' 
 
 No one at this day wiU question the faithfulness of the above 
 picture, and yet we have men who are called great statesmen, 
 who labored, mistakingly we must charitably suppose^ to fasten 
 upon the people of this country a policy which would have 
 constantly rendered us hable to the fluctuation and distress 
 which Mr. Buchanan so truthfully, and without any embellish- 
 ment, describes. 
 
 The speech from which we have made the above extracts, 
 then refers to the biU under discussion, showing that it amount- 
 ed to simply this, that to the duties of the existing officers of 
 government, who already collect the revenue and disburse it, 
 be merely superadded, that of safely keeping and transferring 
 the pubhc money, according to the exigencies of the govern- 
 
232 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ment during the time that must necessarily intervene between 
 its receipt and disbursement. After going into a detailed 
 statement of the arguments bearing upon the bUl, our indebt- 
 edness to foreign countries, Mr. Buchanan concluded as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "But, gentlemen allege that the President has committed 
 another grave error, in stating that the foreign debt contracted 
 by our citizens was estimated, in March, last, at more than 
 thirty milUons of dollars. This estimate, they say, is below 
 the truth some eighty or ninety millions. If it were, this 
 would only be, as in the case of the other alleged mistakes, so 
 much in favor of the President's argument, not against it. But 
 how do they prove this mistake ? By adding to our actual 
 foreign debt now due, and payable by the merchants, all foreign 
 investments in our stocks, and aU the permanent loans which 
 have been made in England to the several States and to corpo- 
 rations. The bare statement of this fact is sufficient. It is 
 evident the President was not estimating the amount of perma- 
 nent investments made by foreigners in this country, but the 
 actual amount of our commercial debt due in March last, which 
 it was necessary to extinguish before our trade could revive. 
 This debt may have been thirty-five or forty millions of dollars, 
 but from the information communicated by the senator from 
 New York (Mr. Talbnadge), a few days ago, that in the 
 opinion of the merchants of New York, it was now reduced to 
 twelve millions of dollars. I should very much doubt whether 
 it at all exceeded thirty millions in March last. 
 
 " How cheering the intelUgence that our foreign debt has 
 been reduced to twelve millions of dollars ! The resources of 
 our country are so abundant, that this debt must very soon be 
 extinguished. Our next cotton crop will create a large balance 
 in our favor. The foreign exchanges will soon no longer be 
 against us, and then the foreign demand for specie will cease. 
 All sound banks may then with safety resume specie payments. 
 
SPEECH ON THE SUB-TEEABUET BILL. 233 
 
 They will have notMng to dread, except the want of confidence 
 at home. This, I fear, has been greatly increased, at least 
 throughout the interior of Pennsylvania, by the refusal of the 
 banks in Philadelphia to meet those of New York, even for the 
 purpose of consulting at what time it was probable specie pay- 
 ments might with safety be resumed. I have received numer- 
 ous letters on the subject, which all speak the same language. 
 This refusal, I feel confident, did not arise from any apprehen- 
 sion that these banks were less able to resume specie payments 
 than those of their sister city. 
 
 " Mr. Van Buren is not only correct in his statements of fact, 
 but by his message, he has forever put to flight the charge of 
 non-committalism, of want of decision and energy. He has 
 assumed an attitude of moral grandeur before the American 
 people, and has shown himself worthy to succeed General 
 Jackson. He has elevated himself much in my own esteem. 
 He has proved equal to the trying occasion. Even his political 
 enemies who cannot approve the doctrines of the message, ad- 
 mire its decided tone, and the ability with which it sustains 
 what has been called the new experiment. And why should 
 the sound of new experiments in governments grate so harshly 
 upon the ears of the senator from Massachusetts ? Was not our 
 government itself, at its origin, a new and glorious experiment? 
 Is it not now upon its trial ? If it should continue to work as 
 it has heretofore done, it will at least secure liberty to the 
 human race, and rescue the rights of man, in every clime, from 
 the grasp of tyrants. SliU it is, as yet, but an experiment. 
 For its future success it must depend upon the patriotism and 
 the wisdom of the American people and the government of 
 their choice. I Sincerely believe that the establishment of the 
 agencies which the bill provides, will exert a most happy in- 
 fluence upon the success of our grand experiment, and that it 
 wiU contribute in no small degree to the prosperous working of 
 our institutions generally. The message wiU constitute the 
 touchstone of political parties in this country for years to come, 
 
234 LIFE AUD BEEVIOES OE JAMES BUOHANAN. 
 
 and I shall always be found realy to do battle in support of ita 
 doctrines, because their direct tendency is to keep the federal 
 government within its proper limits, and to maintain the re- 
 served rights of the States. Ta take care of our own money 
 through the agency of our own officers, without the employ- 
 ment of any banks, whether State or national, will, in my 
 opinion, greatly contribute to these happy results ; and, in 
 sustaining this policy, I feel confident I am advocating the true 
 interest and the dearest rights of the. people." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's powerful speech was answered both by Mr. 
 Webster of Massachusetts, and Mr. Preston of South Carolina. 
 It was customary then as now, for the public press to give the 
 impression to the country that every democratic speech in Con- 
 gress was always crushed by the answer of opponents. Mr. 
 Buchanan shortly after the delivery of his speech referring 
 to this peculiaritv remarked : 
 
 "He had not flattered himself," he said, "that the remarks 
 which he had made some days ago, in answer to the senator 
 from Massachusetts, would have called him out in^reply. It 
 has, sir, been already reported over the whole country, by a 
 portion of the newspaper press, that the blows which I aimed 
 at him with a feeble hand, had been repelled by his adamantine 
 armor, without leaving the slightest impression. Besides," said 
 Mr. B., "I have been utterly prostrated, according to the same 
 reports, by the senator from South Carolina (Mr. Preston) 
 and so belabored after I was down, that I can scarcely now be 
 recognized by my most intimate friends. Under those painful 
 circumstances, it affords me a ray of comfort to find that the 
 senator from Massachusetts has deemed my argument worthy 
 of a studied reply. I hope it may not be presumptuous in me 
 to say a few words by way of rejoinder. 
 
 " Heaven forbid that I should be forced to Ue down in the 
 same bed with the senator from Massachusetts, the senator 
 
SPEECH ON THE SUB-TEEASUET BILL. 235 
 
 from South. Carolina (Mr. Calhoun), and the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. For a man of peace like myself, the bed of Pro- 
 crustes would be a mercy compared with such fellowship. 
 Never were there more ill-assorted and heterogeneous materials 
 brought together. If my argument has made the three gentle- 
 men lie down together in the same bed, as the senator has 
 asserted, there let them lie as best they can ; I beg to be ex- 
 cused from becoming a partner with this triple alliance ; con- 
 scious that in that event my fate would deserve to be pitied, I 
 shall endeavor to support myself alone.'' 
 
 A.11 the prominent debates at this session took place upon the 
 currency question, and such collateral subjects as district banks, 
 deposit banks, &c. Although the great measure of thesession 
 had not been carried yet, the discussion elicited had prepared 
 the way for a measure of a similar character. The extra 
 session, which had commenced on the 5th of September, ad- 
 journed on the 16th of October. 
 
236 LIFE AND BEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUOHAHAH 
 
 CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 Expimging Resolution — Relations with Mexico — A -New National Bank — Mr. Bacba. 
 nan*s Speech on Pre-emption Rights — The Slavery Question — Resurrection Notes— 
 The Independent Treasury. 
 
 The first regular session of the twenty-fifth Congress opened 
 on the 4th of December, 1831. Mr. Buchanan, according to 
 his usual custom, was in his seat on the first day of the session. 
 A careful scrutiny of the proceedings of Congress will show 
 that Mr. Buchanan took a more active pi "t in the business of 
 the -country than any other senator. In Ae present session, 
 his name stands as speaking or votiog upoa more public ques- 
 tions than any other senator. Mr. Clay was considered a very 
 active member, yet Mr. Buchanan ranks ahead of him in this 
 respect. Many poUticians go to Congress with their heads 
 fiUed with a single idea or hobby. Upon this they are always 
 ready to make a speech or vote, but they take very little, if 
 any, interest in the ordinary and general business of govern- 
 ment. Mr. Buchanan, however, never had any specialties ; he 
 regarded himself as a senator particularly elected to represent 
 the great State of Pennsylvania, and bound by the duties he 
 owed to his constituents and to his country at large, to take 
 part in aU the legislation that came before him, no matter of 
 how slight importance it might be considered. In this he showed 
 the jealous watchfulness of the true statesman, who cares for 
 the interests of even the humblest of the people, and neg- 
 lects nothing that appertains to their welfare. 
 
 Only ten days of the session had elapsed before Mr. Bayard 
 of Delaware presented a resolution to rescind the former 
 
EELATI0N8 WITH MEXICO. 237 
 
 " expunging resolution," wHcli had been passed by the pre- 
 vious Congress, just as Gen. Jackson was retiring from the 
 chair which he had So nobly filled. Mr. Bayard did not pro- 
 pose to express any opinion upon the propriety of passing the 
 resolution of censure upon Gen. Jackson. He contended, how- 
 ever, that it was wrong to have "expunged" it from the jour- 
 nal, and he announced his resolute determination to set the 
 ball in motion, a la Benton, and so keep it until the " expung- 
 ing resolution " should be repealed ; and he predicted that he 
 should live to see that day arrive. Mr. Buchanan rephed to, 
 him by saying, " that the honorable member from Delaware 
 must desire a very long existence in this vale of tears if he 
 expected to live untU what was asked by tlie resolution was 
 adopted. The senator has been pleased to say he would not 
 be willing to die so soon. He certainly wished the senator 
 long hfe and prosperity ; but to remain until his aim were ac- 
 complished, would be to render him miserable, unless he feasted 
 on the Medean herb to renovate his youth." And such has 
 proved to be the fact. No man to increase his popularity would 
 be likely now to make a move to replace the stigma upon Gen. 
 Jackson's official conduct which the heated exasperations of 
 momentary party spite put upon it. 
 
 The relations of this country with Mexico was again a sub- 
 ject of debate in this session, and again we find Mr. Buchanan, 
 as ever, the resolute defender of his country's honor. In the 
 course of a debate upon this subject, Mr. B. traced the conduct 
 of the Mexican government towards our citizens, showed how 
 American citizens had been forced to leave the country, that 
 the American flag was no protection to them, and that, after 
 being insulted and robbed, no satisfaction or apology was 
 gives. When Mr. Clay suggested that Ln consideration of the 
 deranged state of the currency we had better avoid war, Mr. 
 Buchanan replied that, "if the national honor demanded vin- 
 dication, he would not be deterred by any such consideration. 
 He for one ' would not consent to see American citizens plun- 
 
238 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 dered with impunity.'" It was on this occasion that he 
 uttered that sentence which will be as immortal as the mind 
 that conceived it : " Millions to defend our rights, but not a 
 cent for tribute." 
 
 Mr. Clay could not give up entirely his favorite scheme of a 
 United States Bank, and although the institution had only just 
 been fairly crushed by the gigantic exertions of a great man, yet, 
 so intent was he upon some institution of a similar character, that 
 he brought before Congress in May the plan of a national bank, 
 to be located in the city of New York, with a capital of some 
 fifty taillions of dollars, with Mr. Albert Gallatin at its head. 
 Mr. Buchanan met the project of the senator from Kentucky at 
 the outset, and said, " that he was rejoiced that the senator 
 had come out in a bold and manly manner, and presented his 
 project of a national bank. The two great parties of the conn- 
 try' would now know precisely where they stood. From this 
 day the issue would be fairly formed and distinctly presented to 
 the people. On the one side there was a national bank, with a 
 capital of fifty millions, sustained by the revenues of the govern- 
 ment, and enjoying the privilege of having its notes received in 
 payment of the public dues ; whilst on the other, we desired 
 a separation — a friendly separation — of the business of the 
 Treasury from that of all the banks, leaving each of them to its 
 own resources, and to perform its own duties, without danger 
 of being crushed or controlled by a mammoth institution. We 
 wished to part from them in peace, and to remain at peace with 
 them, interposing no obstacles in the way of their healthy and 
 vigorous action. We leave them, to be regulated by the States 
 where they belong. He did not fear the final result of such a 
 trial before the American people." And why, we ask, did Mr. 
 Buchanan not fear the result of this question ? We reply, 
 because he had a firm confidence in the judgment and intelli- 
 gence of the people, the first sentiment in the heart of every 
 true democrat, as it is the first plank in the platform of the 
 party. It is sufficient to say, he was not mistaken. 
 
SPEECH ON PRE-EMPTION EIGHTS. 239 
 
 The pre-emption right of land to actual settlers, is one of the 
 most important to the hardy pioneer, of any measure ever 
 enacted by our government. It has been the foundation of the 
 fortune of many a person who now stands at the head of society, 
 for all the noble qualities that can adorn the human character. 
 A young man with his wife, and scarcely any wordly effects, 
 except it may be a dog and a gun, settles upon the broad prairies 
 of the West, and after having improved a section of the land, 
 and perchance accumulated a part of the money necessary for 
 its purchase, is suddenly surprised in his dreams of a comforta- 
 ble home by some speculator, who comes along, and purchasing 
 his land, assumes the right to dispossess him and seize upon the 
 fruits of his hard-earned toil. It is strange that there ever 
 were any persons elected to Congress who defended a measure 
 which would allow this. Yet such is the fact. While, how- 
 ever, there were but few who went to this extent, there were 
 many who believed that a distinction ought to be made between 
 our own citizens and the industrious emigrant from the old 
 world, who, after plowing his weary way through thousands of 
 mUes of trackless seas like our forefathers, should, when arriv- 
 ing upon the fertile fields of the West, be there subjected to the 
 ruthless sport of the speculator. It is a gratification of no tri- 
 fling character, that we find Mr. Buchanan at this early day 
 resolutely condemning that spirit of ostracism that would thus 
 place barriers in the way of those who seek a home among 
 us, from having the same opportunity of reaping the rewards of 
 industry, and of enjoying the advantages of equal laws, after 
 they had come so far and braved so many dangers to obtain them. 
 The following short speech delivered by Mr. Buchanan on this 
 subject, in January, 1838, in reply to Mr. Clay, will be respon- 
 ded to by every liberal and true-hearted democrat every- 
 where : 
 
 Mr. Buchanan said that, " It was not his intention to go into 
 any detailed argument upon the question before the Senate. 
 
240 LIFE AUD 8EEYICES OF JAMES BUOHAITAIT. 
 
 He would merely state in general terms, the reasons why he 
 should vote for the bill. This he would do no± for the purpose 
 of convincing others, but of placing himself in the position which 
 he desired to occupy. 
 
 " It had been repeated over andovei* again in the course of 
 this debate, that the bill before the Senate would confer a 
 bounty upon the actual settlers on the pubhc lands, at the ex- 
 pense of the people of the United States. He denied that it 
 would produce any such effect. These settlers would be com- 
 pelled to pay the minimum price of one dollar twenty-five cents 
 per acre for their land. Could the government now obtain 
 more for it at pnbUe auction, had it remained unsettled ? Let 
 the history of the past answer this question. From the 1st of 
 January, 1823, until the present day, averaging all the land 
 sales which had been made, the result was, that we had received 
 two, three, four, five, or at the most, sis cents per acre more 
 than what the settlers would be obliged to pay under this bill. 
 Senators had differed in their statements upon this subject, but 
 none of them had contended that the average price upon the 
 whole sales , exceeded one dollar and thkty-one cents per acre. 
 The commissioner of the land ofBce states it to have been one 
 dollar and twenty-seven cents and nine-twentieths. The ques- 
 tion then was, whether for the prospect, and a hopeless one it 
 was, of obtaining six cents per acre more at public auction, we 
 should attempt to expel the settlers from their lands, and thus 
 by depriving them of a home, inflict the greatest misery and dis- 
 tress upon themselves and their families ? 
 
 " Mr. B. said that our past experience ought to have taught 
 us that this was a question in which the government had but 
 little, if any, pecuniary interest. It was a question between 
 the actual settler on the one side, and the organized bands of 
 speculators which attended the land sales on the other. It was 
 notorious — ^it had often been established on this floor — that 
 these speculators, acting in concert, had prevented bidding 
 above the minimum price, and had purchased our most valuable 
 
SPEECH ON PEE-EMPTION EIOHTS. 241 
 
 lands at a dollar and a quarter per acre. If the settlers should 
 not obtain these lands at this price, the speculators would. 
 This was the alternative. Turn this question and argue it in 
 whatever mode yon might, still we come to the same result. 
 It was a matter of indifference so far as the Treasury was con- 
 cerned, whether you granted these pre-emptions or not. In 
 either event the government would neither be benefited nor 
 injured. Then he was called upon to decide between the 
 actu.J settler, who had spent his time and his labor in cutting 
 down the forest and preparing himself a home in the wUderness, 
 and the heartless speculator who might be anxious to deprive 
 these hardy pioneers of the benefit of their toOs and to purchase 
 the land which they had improved. He could not hesitate 
 upon that subject. Past experience had rendered it certain 
 that the United States wUl never receive more for their land 
 than a cent or two per acre above the minimum price ; and for 
 this inconsiderable difference he would not turn off the men 
 who had settled upon our public lands, in order that they might 
 be monopolized at the public sales by speculators. Let the 
 actual settler have ' the first cut,' and sufficient wUl remain for 
 the companies of speculators who attend the public auctions. 
 He had no doubt that in both these modes of sales there had 
 been frauds ; but he should always lean to that side which 
 would protect the poor man in the possession of the land which 
 he had rendered valuable by the sweat of his brow, rather than 
 in favor of those who had come from a distance to purchase 
 him out of house and kome. 
 
 " Mr. B. probably should not have said a word upon the sub- 
 ject, had it not been for the amendment which had been offered 
 by the senator from Maryland (Mr. Merrick). This amend- 
 ment proposed to make an invidious distinction, which had 
 never been made heretofore in our legislation, against foreigners 
 who had settled upon the public lands, and had not been natu- 
 ralized prior to the first day of December last. Whilst it 
 granted pie-emptions in such cases to our own citizens, it 
 
 11 
 
242 lilFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHASTAN. 
 
 excluded these foreigners. Why had this change been pro 
 fiused in our settled policy ? He had observed with regret that 
 attempts were now extensively making throughout the country, 
 to excite what was called .a native American feeling agamst 
 those who had come from a foreign land to participate in the 
 blessings of our free Constitution. Such a feeling was unjust — 
 it was ungrateful. In the darkest days of the Eevolution, who 
 had assisted ue in fighting our battles and achieving our ^de- 
 pendence ? Foreigners ; yes sir, foreigners. He would not say, 
 for he did not believe that our independence could not have 
 been established without their aid ; but he would say the 
 struggle would have been, longer and more doubtful. After 
 the Revolution, immigration had been encouraged by our policy. 
 Throughout the long and bloody wars of Europe which had 
 followed the French revolution, this country had ever been an 
 asylum for the oppressed of all nations. He trusted that at 
 tills late day, the Congress of the United States were not about 
 1o establish, for the first time, such an odious distinction as that 
 proposed between one of our citizens, who had settled upon the 
 pubye fauds, and his neighbor who had pursued the same 
 course under the faith of your previous policy, merely because 
 that neighbor had not resided long enough within the United 
 States to have become a naturalized citizen. He was himself 
 the son of a naturalized foreigner, and perhaps might feel this 
 distinction the more sensibly on that account. He was glad 
 the yeas and nays had been demanded, that he might record 
 his vote against the prmciple proposed by the amendment." 
 
 :1c :)c 4: :|e :{c ;): :(c 
 
 " Wise and practical statesmen would study the actual con- 
 dition of the country, and never attempt that which was from 
 its nature morally impossible. We ought to yield with a good 
 grace to circumstances which we could not control. In what 
 situation were we now placed? A very great number of per- 
 sons had settled upon the public land since the date of the last 
 pre-emption law. They had gone there on the presumption 
 
BPEEOH ON PEB-EMPTION' EIGHTS. 243 
 
 that you would place them upon the same footing with those 
 who had gone before thea. You had for years pursued this 
 system, and you had passed no law which indicated any inten- 
 tion of abandoning it. You had thus, to a certain extent, 
 pledged your faith that you would respect the rights which 
 might be acquired in this manner. You were now placed iu a 
 condition that you could not draw back even if you would. In 
 that part of Wisconsin, west of Mississippi, called Iowa, there 
 were now more than thirty thousand settlers on the public 
 lands. They had formed themselves into counties, and erected 
 court-houses, and this government had sent them judges. They 
 were now a flourishing and prosperous community, under the 
 protection of your laws. They had 'cleared away the forests, 
 and erected farm-houses and bams, planted orchards, cultivated 
 the laud, and were surrounded by all the necessaries and many 
 of the conveniences of life. Could you now expel such an entire 
 coinmunity from their homes ? The attempt would be vain. 
 It would cast disgrace upon the government. After an unavail- 
 ing effort, it would be abandoned. It might be persisted in 
 until civil commotion would be excited, and blood would 1 1 
 shed. At that point it must end. The moral sense of the 
 people of this country would be roused against proceeding any 
 further. 
 
 " It is true, that if the whole power of the United States 
 were exerted for such a purpose, we might destroy this happy 
 community, and drive them from their homes ; but it would 
 never thus be exerted. It is wise, therefore, to submit at once 
 to a moral necessity which has been imposed upon you in con- 
 sequence of your own conduct. It is true that you may lose a 
 cent or two per acre on the price of the land ; but is such a 
 loss worth mentioning when compared either with the calamities 
 and injustice you would inflict by a rigid adherence to the letter 
 of the law, or with the expense which you would incur by send- 
 ing an armed force into that country, in a vain attempt to 
 enforce its provisions ? 
 
244 LIFE AND 6EEVICE8 OF JAMES BTJOHAUAlir. 
 
 " Mr. B. had been asked by the senator from Kentucky if he 
 would compare the hordes of foreign paupers that are con- 
 stantly flooding our shores, with the de Kalbs, the Steubens, 
 the Lafayettes, and the Pnlaskis of the Eevolution? It was 
 easy to ask such a question. He felt a deep and grateful vene- 
 ration for the memory of these illustrious men. They were 
 leaders of our armies ; but what could they have accomphshed 
 without soldiers ? Was it not a fact known to the world, that 
 the. emigrants from the Emerald Isle — that land of brave hearts 
 and strong arms — had shed their blood freely in the cause of 
 our liberty and independence ? It was now both ungrateful and 
 unjust to speak«f these people, in the days of our prosperity, 
 as hordes of foreign paupers. Such was not the language 
 applied to them during the revolutionary war, when they con- 
 stituted a large and effective proportion of our armies. 
 
 " The senator had asked if he (Mr. B.) would grant pre- 
 emptions to the Hessians ? It was true, they had fought upon 
 the wrong side, and were not much entitled to :>ur sympathies 
 Still some apology might be made even for t'nem. They were 
 the slaves of despotic power, and thsj were sold by their mas- 
 ters like cattle, to the British government. They had no will 
 of their own, but were under the most abject subjection to petty 
 princes, who considered themselves, by the grace of God, bom 
 to command them. But the condition even of the poor Hes- 
 sian has since been greatly improved. The. principles of liberty, 
 which were sanctified by the American Revolution, are winning 
 their way among every civilized people. In no country have 
 they made greater progress than among the people of Germany. 
 The Hessian of the present day is far different from what his 
 fathers were ; and let me tell senators from the West, that the 
 best settlers they can have amongst them are the Germans. 
 Industrious, honest, and persevering, they make the best 
 farmers of our country, while their firmness of character 
 qualifies them for defending it against any hostile attacks, 
 which may be made by the Indians along our western frontira". 
 
THE SLAVEKT QUESTION. 245 
 
 As to the hordes of foreigners of which we had heard, tL<!y did 
 not alarm him. Any foreigner from any country under the sun, 
 who, after landing with his family on our Atlantic coast, will 
 make his long and weary way into the forests or prairies west 
 of the Mississippi, and there, by patient toU, establish a settle- 
 ment upon the public lands, whilst he thus manifests his attach- 
 ment to our institutions, shows that he is worthy of becoming 
 an American citizen. He furnishes us by his conduct the 
 surest pledge that he will become a citizen the moment the 
 laws of the country permit. In the meantime, so far as my 
 vote is concerned, he shall continue to stand upon the same 
 footing with citizens, and have his quarter section of land at 
 the minimum price." 
 
 The exciting question of slavery again came up at the pre- 
 sent session upon some resolutions offered by Mr. Calhoun. Mr. 
 Buchanan again stated his position and declared his determina- 
 tion, no matter what were the consequences, to give the South 
 their constitutional right, on this question, and to resist the 
 aggression which was coming from the North. On this occasion, 
 amid the power which the abolitionists were gaining, and while it 
 was yet muttering in the distance, attracting the attention of 
 politicians who always began to think that something might yet 
 be made out of this new British exotic, Mr. Buchanan uttered 
 these memorable words : " I have long since taken my stand, 
 and from it I shall not be driven. I do not desire to maintain 
 myself at home, unless I can do it with a due regard to the 
 rights and safety of the South.'' In the same speech he said : 
 
 " And, if the Union should be dissolved upon the question 
 of slavery, what wiU be the consequences ? An entire non- 
 intercourse between its different parts, mutual jealousies, and 
 implacable wars. The hopes of the friends of liberty, in every 
 clime, would be blasted ; and despotism might regain her em- 
 pire over the world. I might present in detail the evils which 
 
246 LIFE AOT) SERTICES OF JAMES BUCHAJS^AN. 
 
 would flow from -clisunion, but I forbear, I shairno further* lift 
 the curtain. The scene would be too painful. The good sense 
 and sound patriotism of the people of the North, when once 
 aroused to the danger, will apply the appropriate remedy. The 
 peaceful influence of public opinion will save the Union. 
 
 " The select committee might report a -resolution, which 
 would obtain the unanimous vote of the Senate, declaring that 
 neither the Congress of the United States, nor any State, nor 
 any combination of individuals in any State," has any right to 
 interfere with the existence or regulation of slavery in any 
 other State, where it is recognized by law. Even the aboUtion- 
 ists themselves, so far as my knowledge extends, have never 
 denied this principle. It was solemnly announced by the first 
 Congress, and it is most clearly the doctrine of the Constitu- 
 tion, that instrument expressly recognizes the right to hold 
 slaves as property in States where slavery exists. This, then, 
 is not a question of general morality, afiFecting the consciences 
 of men, but it is a question of constitutional law. When the 
 States became parties to the federal compact, they entered 
 into a solemn agreement that property in slaves should be as 
 inviolable as any other property. Whilst the Constitution 
 endures, no human power, except that of the State withia 
 which slavery exists, has any right to interfere with the 
 question. An attempt on the part of any other State, or of 
 Congress, to violate this right, would be a palpable violation 
 of the Constitution. ^Congress might as well undertake to 
 Interfere with slavery under a foreign -government, as in any 
 of the States where it now exists. I feel confident that there 
 would not be a single dissenting voice raised in the Senate 
 against the adoption of such a resolution as^ have suggested. 
 
 " A second resolution might assert the principle that Con- 
 gress have no right under the Constitution to prohibit the 
 transfer of slaves by a citizen of .one State to a citizen of an- 
 other State, when slavery is recognized by the laws of both. 
 The power " to regulate commerce among the several States," 
 
EESUEEKCnON JTOTEB. 247 
 
 ';an never be construed into a power to abolish this commerce. 
 Eegulation is one thing, destrncticfti another As long as slaves 
 continue to be property under the Constitution. Congress miglit 
 as well undertake to prohibit the people of Massacuusetts from 
 selling their domestic manufactures in South Carolina, as to 
 prohibit the master of a slave in Virginia from disposing of hhn 
 to his neighbor in North Carolina. Both cases rest upon the 
 same principle of constitutional law. The power to regulate 
 does not imply the power to destroy. I believe that such a 
 resolution would encounter no serious opposition in the Senate. 
 " Again, a third resolution might be adopted in regard to 
 the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, which 
 would unite nearly every suffrage in the Senate. This District 
 was ceded to the United States by Virginia and Maryland. 
 At the date of the cession, they were both slaveholdiog States, 
 and they continue to be so at this day. Does any man suppose 
 for a single moment, that they would have ever made this 
 cession, if they had supposed that Congress would abolish 
 slavery in this District of ten miles square, whilst it existed in 
 their surrounding territories ? So long as it continues in these 
 two States, it would be a violation -".f tne implied faith which 
 we pledged to them by the acceptance of the cession, to con- 
 vert this very cession into the means of injuring and destroying 
 their peace and security." 
 
 A matter of no small importance came before Congress in 
 relation to the old United States Bank. It could not be con- 
 tent to die gracefully and resignedly after it had received its 
 fatal blow, but by disobeying the act of Congress it sought to 
 perpetuate its existence by proxy, and the Pennsylvania Bank 
 of the United States having been recently re-chartered, the old 
 institution, instead of winding up its affairs, as it was bound 
 to do, made an assignment of all its effects and business to the 
 Jt'hUadelphia concern. This re-issued the notes of the old bank, 
 and hence the introduction into Congress of a bill' to prohibit 
 
248 LIFB AND SEEVI0E8 CSF JAMES BTTCHAKAN. 
 
 the circulation of these "resurrection notes" as they were 
 called. Mr. Buchanan made- a long and exceedingly able 
 speech upon this bill, in the beginning of which he referred 
 to the chartering of the Pennsylvania Bank of the United 
 States, declaring that whatever might be his opinion in regard 
 to the policy of that measure, he had no right to discuss it 
 upon the floor of the United States Senate. It was a gtate 
 affair with which Congress had nothing to be. 
 
 " As I am on the floor, however," said Mr. Buchanan, " I 
 shall proceed to discuss the merits of the bill now before the 
 Senate. It proposes to inflict a fine not exceeding ten thou- 
 sand dollars, or imprisonment for not less than tjne or more 
 than five years, or both such fine and -imprisonment at the dis- 
 cretion of the court, upon those who shall be convicted under 
 its provisions. Against whom does it denounce these penalties ? 
 Against directors, of&cers, trustees, or agents of any corpora- 
 tion created by Congress, who, after its term of existence is 
 ended, shall re-issue the dead notes of the defunct corporation, 
 and push them into the circulation of the country, in violation 
 of its original charter. The bill embraces no person, acts upon 
 no person, interferes with no person, except those whose duty 
 it is, under the charter of the old bank, to redeem and 
 cancel the old notes as they are presented for payment, and 
 who, in violation of this duty, send them again into circula- 
 tion. 
 
 " This bin inflicts severe penalties, and before we pass it, we 
 ought to be entirely satisfied, first that the gnUt of the indivi- 
 duals who shall violate its provisions is sufficiently aggravated 
 to justify the punishment ; second, that the law will be politic 
 in itself ; and third, that we possess the constitutional power 
 to enact it. 
 
 " First, then, as to the nature and aggravation of the ofience. 
 The charter of the late Bank of the United States expired 
 by'its own limitation, on the 3d of March, 1836. After that 
 
SPEECH ON EESTTEEECTION NOTES. 249 
 
 day, it could issue no notes, discount no new paper, and exer- 
 cise none of' the usual functions of a bank For two years 
 thereafter, untU the 3d of March, 1838, it was merely permit- 
 ted to use its corporate name and capacity ' for the purpose of 
 suits for the final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and 
 accounts of the corporation, and for the sale and disposition of 
 their estate, real, personal, and mixed, hut not for any other 
 purpose, or in any other manner whatsoever.' Congress had 
 granted the bank no power to make a voluntary assignment of 
 its property to any corporation or any individual. On the con- 
 trary, the plain meaning of the charter was, that all the affairs 
 of the institution should .be wound up by its own president and 
 directors. It received no authority to delegate this important 
 trust to others ; and yet what has it done ? On the "2d 
 day of March, 1836, one day before the charter had expired,* 
 this very president and these directors assigned aU the pro- 
 perty and effects of the old corporation to the Pennsylvania 
 Bank of the United States. On the same day, this latter bank 
 accepted the assignmen-t, and agreed to ' pay, satisfy, and dis- 
 charge all debts, contracts, and engagements, owing, entered 
 into, or made by this (the old) bank, as the same shall become 
 due and payable, and fulfill and execute all trusts and obliga- 
 tions whatsoever arising from its transactions, or from any of 
 them, so that every creditor or rightful claimant shall be fully 
 satisfied.' By its own agreement it has thus expressly created 
 itself a trustee of the old bank. But this was not necessary to 
 confer upon it that character. By the bare act of accepting 
 the assignment, it became responsible, under the laws of the 
 land, for the performance of all the duties and trusts required 
 by the old charter. Under the circumstances, it cannot make 
 the slightest pretences of any want of notice. 
 
 " Having assumed this responsibility, the duty of the new 
 bank was so plain, that it could not have been mistaken. It 
 had a double character to sustain. Under the charter from 
 Pennsylvania, it became a new banking corporation, whilst, 
 
 11* 
 
250 LIFE AND SEBVI0E8 OF JAMES BUCHANAH. 
 
 under tte assignment from tlie old bank, it became a triistee to 
 wind np the concerns of that institution under the act of Con- 
 gress. These two characters were in their nature separate and 
 distinct, aijd never ought to have been blended. For each of 
 these purposes it ought to have kept a separate set of books. 
 Above all, as the privilege of circulating bank notes, and thus 
 creating a paper currency, is that function of a bank which 
 most deeply and vitally affects the community, the new bank 
 ought to have cancelled or destroyed all the notes of the old 
 bank, which it found in its possession on the 4th of March, 
 1836, and ought to have redeemed the remainder at its counter, 
 as they were demanded- by the holders, and then destroyed 
 them. This obligation no senator has attempted to doubt or 
 deny. But what was the course of the bank ? It has grossly 
 violated both the old and the new charter. It at once declared 
 independence of both, and appropriated to itself all the notes 
 of the old bank, not only those which were then stiU in circular 
 tioH, but those which had been redeemed before it accepted the 
 assignment, and were then lying dead in its vaults. I have 
 now before me the first monthly statement which was ever made 
 by the bank to the Auditor General of Pennsylvania. It is 
 dated on the 2d of AprU, 1836, and signed, J. Cowperthwaite, 
 acting cashier. In this statement the bank charges itself with 
 'notes issued,' $36,620,420 16, whilst in its cash account, 
 along with its. specie and the notes of State banks, it credits 
 itself with ' notes of the Bank of the United States and offices ' 
 on hand, $1 6, 1 94, 7 IB tl. It thus seized these dead notes to 
 the amount of $16,794,113 Tl, and transformed them into cash, 
 whilst the difference between those on hand and those issued, 
 equal to $19,825,706 45, was the circulation which the new 
 bank boasted it had inherited from the old. It thus, in an 
 instant appropriated to itself, and adopted as its own circular 
 tion, all the notes and all the illegal branch drafts of the old 
 bank, which were then in existence. Its boldness was equal to 
 its utter disregard of law. In this first return it not only pro- 
 
SPEECH ON EESTTEEECTION NOTES. * 261 
 
 claimed to the legislature and people of Pennsylvania that it 
 had disregarded its trust as assignee of the old bank, by seizing 
 upon the whole of the old circulation, and converting it to its 
 own use, but that it had violated one of- the fundamental pro- 
 visions of its new charter, 
 
 " In Pennsylvania, we have for many years past deemed it 
 wise to increase the specie-basis of our paper circulation. We 
 know that, under the universal law of currency, small notes, 
 and gold and- silver coin of the same denomination, cannot 
 circulate together. The one will expel the other A^ceordingly, 
 it is now long since we prohibited our banks from issuing notes 
 of a less denomination than five dollars. The legislature which 
 re-chartered the bank of the United States, deemed it wise to 
 proceed one step farther in regard to this mammoth institution, 
 and in that opinion I entirely concur. Accordingly, by the 
 sixth fundamental article of its charter, they declare that ' the 
 notes and bills which shall be issued by order of said corpora- 
 tion, or under its authority, shall be binding, upon it, and those 
 made payable to order shall be assignable by endorsement, but 
 none shall be issued of a denomination less than ten dollars.' 
 
 " Now, it is well known to every senator within the sound of 
 my voice, that a large proportion of these resurrection-notes, 
 as they have been aptly called, which have been issued, and 
 re-issued by order of the new bank, are of the denomination of 
 five dollars. Here, then, iS a plain, palpable violation, not only 
 of the spirit but of the very letter of its charter. The Senate 
 will perceive that the bank, as if to meet the very case, is not 
 merely prohibited from issuing its own notes, signed by its own 
 president and cashier, of a denomination less than ten dollars, 
 but this prohibition is extended to the notes or biUs which shall 
 be issued by its order or under its authority. If I should even 
 be mistaken in this construction of the law, and I believe I am 
 not, it will only follow, that its conduct has not amounted to a 
 legal forfeiture of its charter. In both cases, the violation of 
 the spirit of its charter, and the contravention of the wise policy 
 
252 LIFE AND BEETtOES OF JAMES BtTCHANAN. 
 
 of the legislature, are equally glarJBg. So entirely did the bank 
 make these dead notes its cwn peculiar circulation, that until July 
 last, in its monthly return to the Auditor-General of Pennsyl- 
 vania, the new and the old notes are blended together, without 
 any distinction. In that return we are, for the first time, 
 ofBcially informed that the bank had ever issued any notes of 
 its own 
 
 " And here an incident occurs to me which will be an ad- 
 ditional proof how lawless is this bank, whenever obedience to 
 its charter interferes in the least degree with its policy. By the 
 tenth fundamental article of that charter, it is required ' to make 
 to the Auditor General monthly returns of its condition, show- 
 ing the details of its on«rations, according to the forms of the 
 returns the bank of the United States, now makes to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, or according to 
 such form as may be established by law.' From no idle curi- 
 osity, but from a desire to ascertain, as far as possible, the con- 
 dition of the banks of the country, and the amount of their cir- 
 culation, I requested the Auditor General, during the late special 
 session of Congress in September, to send me the return of the 
 bank for that month. In answer, he informed me, under date 
 of the 22d of September, that the bank had not made any 
 return to his ofBce since the 15th of the preceding May. Thus, 
 from the date of the suspension of specie payments, until some 
 time after the 22d of September last, how long I do not know, 
 a period during which the public mind was most anxious on the 
 subject, the bank put this provision of its charter at defiance. 
 Whether it thus omitted its duty, because at the date of the 
 suspension of specie payments it had less than a million and a 
 half of specie in its vaults, I shall not pretend to determine. If 
 this were the reason, I have no doubt that it sent to the 
 Auditor General all the intermediate monthly returns on the 
 2d of October, I83T, because at that period it had increased its 
 gold and silver to more than three millions of dollars. 
 
 " In order to illustrate the enormity of the offence now pro- 
 
SPEECH ON EE8TJEEECTI0N NOTES. 253 
 
 posed to be punished, senators have instituted several compari- 
 sons. No case wHcli they have imagined equals the offence as 
 't actually exists. Would it not, says one gentleman, be a fla- 
 grant breach of trust for an executor intrusted with the settle- 
 ment of his testator's estate, to re-issue, and again put in circu- 
 lation for his own benefit, the bills of exchange or promissory 
 notes which he had found among the papers of the deceased, 
 and which had been paid and extinguished in his lifetime ? I 
 answer, that it would. But, in that case, the imposition upon 
 the community would necessarily be limited, whilst the means 
 of detection would be ample. The same may be observed in 
 regard to the case of the trustee, which has been suggested. 
 What comparison "do these cases bear to that of the conduct of 
 the bank ? The amount of its' re-issues of these dead notes of 
 its testator, is many milhons. Their circulation is co-extensive 
 vrtth the Union, and there is no possible means of detection. 
 No man who receives this paper can tell whether it belongs to 
 that class which the new bank originally found dead in'its vaults, 
 or to that which it has since redeemed and re-issued, in violation 
 of law, or to that which has remained circulating lawfully in the 
 community, and has never been redeemed since the old charter 
 expired. There is no earmark upon these notes. It is impossi- 
 ble to distinguish those which have been illegally re-issued from 
 the remainder. 
 
 " I can imagine but one case which would present anything 
 like a parallel to the conduct of the bank. In October last, we 
 authorized the issue of $10,000,000 of treasury notes, and 
 directed that when they were received in payment of the pubUc 
 dues, they should not be re-issued, but be cancelled. Now, sup- 
 pose the Secretary of the Treasury had happened to be the 
 president of a bank in this district, and, in that character, had 
 re-issued these dead treasury notes, which he ought to have can- 
 celled, and again put them into circulation, in violation of the 
 law, then a case would exist which might be compared with 
 that now before the Senate. If such a case should ever occur, 
 
254 LIFE AND SEEVI0E8 OF JAMES BUCHANAIT. 
 
 would not the Secretary &t once be impeaclied ; and is there a 
 senator upon this floor who would not pronounce him guilty ? 
 The pecuniary injury to the United States might be greater ta 
 the supposed than in the actual case, but the degree of moral 
 guilt would be the same., , 
 
 " Whether it be politic to pass this law is a more doubtful 
 question. Judging from past experience, the bank may openly 
 violate its provisions with impunity. It can easily evade them 
 by sending packages of these old notes to the South and South- 
 west, by its agents, there to be re-issued. by banks or individuals 
 in its confidence. There is one fact, however, from which I am 
 encouraged to hope that this law may prove effectual. No man 
 on this floor has attempted to justify, or even to palliate, the 
 conduct of the bank. Its best friends have not dared to utter 
 a single word in its defence against this charge. The moral 
 influence of their silence, and the open condemnation of its 
 conduct by some of them, may induce the bank to obey the 
 law. 
 
 " I now approach the question, do Congress possess power 
 under the Constitution to pass this bill ? In other words, have 
 we power to restrain the trustees of our own bank from re-issu- 
 ing the old notes of that institution, which have_ already been 
 redeemed, and ought to be destroyed ? Can there be a doubt 
 of the existence of this power? The bare statement of the 
 question seems to me sufficient to remove every difficulty. It 
 is almost too plain for argument. I should be glad if any 
 gentleman would even prove this power to be doubtful. 
 Then even I should refrain from its exercise. I am a State 
 rights man, and in favor of a strict construction of the Consti- 
 tution. The older I grow, and the more experience I ac- 
 quire, the more deeply rooted does this doctrine become in my 
 mind. I consider a strict construction of the Constitution 
 necessary not only to the harmony which ought to exist be- 
 tween the Federal and State governments, but to the perpetua- 
 tion of the Union. I shall exercise no potrer which I do not 
 
SPEECH ON EESTJEEECTION NOTES. 255 
 
 consider clear. I call upon gentlemen, therefore, to break 
 their determined silence upon this subject, and convince me 
 even that the existence of the power is doubtful. If they do, 
 I pledge myself to vote against the passage of the bill. 
 
 "If this power could only be maintained by some of the 
 arguments advanced by the friends of the bill ia the early part 
 of this discussion, it never should receive my vote. Principles 
 ■were then avowed scarcely less dangerous and unsound than 
 the principle on which the senator from Vermont (Mr. Pren- 
 tiss) insists that the friends of the bill must claim this power. 
 He contends that it does not exist at all, unless it be under that 
 construction of the Constitution advocated by his friend from 
 Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), which would give to Congress 
 power over the whole paper currency of the country, under 
 the coining and commercial powers of the Constitution. The 
 senator from Connecticut (Mr. Niles) was the first in this de- 
 bate who presented in bold relief ihe principles on which this 
 bill can securely rest. 
 
 " Neither shall I dodge the question, as some senators have 
 done, by taking shelter under the pretext that it is a question 
 for the judiciary to decide whether the general language of 
 the bill be applicable to the officers of the Bank of the United 
 States, under the Pennsylvania charter. We all know that it 
 was intended to embrace these. Indeed, it was their conduct, 
 and that alone, which called this bill into existence. It is 
 true that the provisions of the bill extend to all corporations 
 created by Congress ; but it is equally certain that had it 
 not been intended to apply to the Bank of the United States, 
 it would have been confined in express terms to the District 
 of Columbia, where alone corporations now exist under the 
 authority of Congress. Away with all such subterfuges ; I 
 will have none of them. 
 
 " Suppose, sir, that at any time within the period of two 
 years thus allowed by the charter to the president and direc- 
 tors to make up its affairs, these officers, created under your 
 
256 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAlir. 
 
 own authority, had attempted to throw thirty millions of dol- 
 lars of their dead paper money again into circulation, would 
 you have had no p6wer to pass a law to prevent and to punish 
 such an atrocious fraud ? Would you have been compelled to 
 look on and patiently submit to such a violation of the charter 
 which you had granted ? Have you created an institution and 
 expressly limited its term of existence which you cannot destroy 
 after that term has expired ? This would indeed be a political 
 hydra, which must exist forever, without any Hercules to de- 
 stroy it. If you possess no power to restrain the circulation 
 of the notes of the old bank, they may continue to circulate for 
 ever, in defiance of the power which called them into existence. 
 You have created that which you have no power to destroy, 
 although the law which gave it birth limited the-term of its 
 existence. Will any senator contend that daring these two 
 jears allowed by the charter for winding up the concerns of 
 the bank, we possessed no power to restrain its president and 
 directors from re-issuing these old notes ? There is no man on 
 this floor bold enough to advance such a doctrine. This point 
 being conceded, the power to pass the present bill follows as a 
 necessary consequence. 
 
 " If the president and directors of the old bank could not 
 evade our authority, the next question is, whether by assigning 
 the property of the corporation to a trustee _ the day before 
 the charter expired, and delivering up to him the old notes 
 which ought to have been cancelled, they were able to cut this 
 trustee loose from the obligations which had been imposed 
 upon them by the charter, and from the authority of Congress. 
 Vain and impotent indocd would this government be, if its 
 authority could be set at naught by such a shallow contrivance. 
 No, sir ; the fountain cannot ascend beyond its source. The 
 assignee in such a case is not released from any obligation 
 which the assignor assumed by accepting the original charter. 
 In regard to Congress, the trustee stands in the same situation 
 with the president and directors of the old bank. We have 
 
SPEECH ON EESUKKECTION NOTES. 257 
 
 the same power to compel him to wind np the concerns of the 
 bank according to the charter, that we might have exercised 
 against those from whom he accepted the assignment. The 
 qnestioh is too plain for argument." 
 
 Mr. Bachanan at this point in his speech went into a very 
 able argument to show the causes of the suspension of specie 
 payments by the banks of the country. He also noticed the 
 charge that had been made that the democratic party were op- 
 posed to all banks, and in favor of a pure metallic currency. 
 He. denied this, and again stated that all they wanted was to 
 separate the business of the government from that of -the banks, 
 not to render them hostile to each other. " Until that propi- 
 tious day shall arrive," said Mr. Buchanan, " we shall be for- 
 ever agitated by the connection of the currency with our mis- 
 erable party politics. Political panics, pohtical pressures, 
 charges against the government for exercising an improper in- 
 fluence over the banks, and charges against the banks for inter- 
 fering in the politics of the country; all, aU which have kept us 
 in a state of constant agitation for the last seven years, will 
 continue to exist, and wiU be brought into action upon every 
 successive election of President and Vice-President." In con- 
 cluding this truly great speech, Mr. Buchanan said — 
 
 " In conclusion, permit me to remark, that the people of the 
 United States have abundant cause for the deepest gratitude 
 towards that great and glorious man now in retirement, for 
 preventing the re-charter of the Bank of the United States. 
 He is emphatically the man of the age, and has left a deeper 
 and more enduring impress upon it than any individual of our 
 country. Still, in regard to the bank, he performed but half 
 his work. For its completion we are indebted to the president 
 of the bank. Had the bank confined itself, after it had accept- 
 ed the charter from Pennsylvania, to its mere banking and 
 financial operations — ^had it exerted its power to regulate the 
 
258 LIFE AUD SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 domestic exchanges of the country — and above all, had it taken 
 the lead in the resumption of specie payments, a new bank, 
 Phoenix-like, might have arisen from the ashes of the old. That 
 danger, from present appearances, has now passed away. The 
 open defiance of Congress by the bank, the laws of the country 
 over and over again violated — its repeated atttempts to inter- 
 fere in the party politics of the day — all, all have taught the 
 dfinger of such a vast moneyedT corporation. Mr. Biddle 
 has finished the work which General Jackson only commenced. 
 
 " Not one particle of personal hostility towards that gentle- 
 man has been mingled in my discussion of the question. On 
 the contrary, as a private gentlemaji, I respect him , and my 
 personal intercourse with him, though not frequent, has been ot 
 the most agreeable character. I am always ready to do justice 
 to his great and varied talents. I have spoken of the public 
 conduct of the bank over which' he presides, with the fireedom 
 and boldness which I shall always exercise in the performance 
 of my public duties. It is the president of the bank, not the 
 man, that I have assailed. It is the nature of the institution, 
 over which he presides, that has made him what he is. 
 Like all other men, he must yield to his destiny. The pos- 
 session of such vast and unlimited power, continued for a long 
 period of years, would have turned the head of almost any other 
 man, and have driven him to as great excesses. 
 
 "In vain you may talk to me about paper restrictions in the 
 charter of a bank of sufficient magnitude to be able to crush 
 the other banks of the country. When did a vast moneyed 
 monopoly ever regard the law, if any great interest of its own 
 stood in the way ? It wiU then violate its charter, and its own 
 power will secure it immunity. It well knows that in its destruc- 
 tion the ruin of hundreds of thousands would be involved, and 
 therefore it can do almost what it pleases. The history of the 
 bank for several years past has been one continued history of 
 violated laws, and of attempts to interfere in the politics of the 
 countr"; Create another bank, and place any other man at its 
 
«\JifiCH ON EESUEEECTION NOTES. 259 
 
 h(i»^, wmi ■De rftgui; will be the same. Such an institution 
 will alway.'x hereaft<'i prove too strong for the government ; 
 because we cannot a^-aia expect to see, at least in our da,y, 
 another Andrew Jacksoix in the presidential chair On the 
 other hand, should such te bank, wielding the moneyed powei 
 of the country, form an aJliui.ce with the political power, and 
 that is the natural position of ilie parties, their combined influ- 
 ence win govern the Union, ard liberty might become an empty 
 uame." 
 
 This speech of Mr. Buchanan Vffes probably one of the most 
 effective he ever deUvered. It hit a deadly blow at Mr. Clay's 
 favorite scheme of a new national bank ; and scarcely had Mr. 
 Buchanan taken his seat before Mr. C. sprung to his feet, and 
 replied in one of his niost happy impromptu efforts. After Mr. 
 Clay had concluded, Mr. Buchanan immediately returned the 
 compliment in a good-natured, graceful rejoinder, and said "he 
 had never enjoyed many triumphs, and therefore he prized the 
 more the one he had won this day. He had forced the honor- 
 able senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay) to break that deter- 
 mined silence that had hitherto sealed his lips on the subject 
 of this bill. Thus," said Mr. B., " I have adorned my brow 
 with a solitary sprig of laurel. Not one word was he to utter 
 upon the present occasion. This he had announced publicly. 
 {Mr. Clay dissented.) I thought," resumed Mr. B., "that he 
 had announced the other day his determination not to debate 
 the question, and stated the reason therefor. (Mr. Clay 
 explained.) Well," said Mr. Buchanan, " the senator did 
 intend to address the Senate on the subject, and the only sprig 
 of laurel which I ever expected to win from him has already 
 mthered. Immediately after I had taken my seat he sprung 
 to his feet, and has made one of his best speeches, for it 
 belongs to the character of his mind to make his ablest efforts 
 with the least preparation. I will venture to say that he had 
 not intended to make the speech when he entered the Senate 
 
260 LIFE AND BEETICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 chamber this morning. (Mr. Clay admitted this to be, the 
 fact.) Then," said Mr. Buchanan, " I have succeeded, and my 
 sprig of laui-el is again green." Mr. Buchanan continued at 
 some length in reply to Mr. Clay, defending the bUl under con- 
 sideration, and predicting that the embarrassment in financial 
 affairs under which they were then laboring would soon be dis- 
 pelled. " Even at the risk of being called a false prophet," said 
 Mr. B., " I can prophesy nothing but good." 
 
 The Independent Treasury Bill came before Congress at this 
 session, and to Mr. Buchanan is the country indebted for the 
 idea upon which our present admirable system of disbursing 
 the revenue is founded. He was earnestly desirous of com- 
 pleting the separation of the banks from the government, and 
 although he had been defeated at the extra session upon the 
 Sub-treasury BiU, yet he felt it the duty of Congress to devise 
 some plan to meet the proposed requirements. Some friends 
 of the administration began to falter, and to fear they were 
 carrying things too far. Not so Mr. Buchanan. With a 
 clear conception of the application of democratic truth to this 
 question, he determined never to cease until the measure was 
 accompUshed. He was destined, however, to be defeated at 
 this session, though eventually he had the satisfaction to see 
 the principle he advocated triumphant ; and it now stands the 
 law of the land, with not a person wbo dares to raise his voice 
 for its repeal. Such is one of the beneficent conquests that 
 the democratic party has achieved. Mr. Buchanan declared 
 that the adoption of the measure would bring quiet and har- 
 mony to the country upon the question of the currency. And 
 who shall say that he was mistaken ? Has not experience, the 
 only true test of all principles, proved the accuracy of his pre- 
 diction, and thus placed upon the brow of James Buchanan 
 the civic wreath of that far-seeing and profound statesmanship, 
 which comprehends, as if by unerring intuition, the wants of Ms 
 country and the interests of the people ? 
 
INTEEFEEEIfOE Or FEDEKAi 0FFICEE8 IN ELECnONS. 261 
 
 OHAPTEE XV. 
 
 Twenty-fifth Congress — ^The Last Session— Interference of Federal Officers in Elections 
 — Mr. Buchanan's Speech. 
 
 The third, or second regular session of the Twenty-fifth 
 Congress commenced on the 3d of December, 1838. A num- 
 ber of important matters were discussed, among which were 
 the graduation of the prices of the public lands, our civil and 
 diplomatic policy, the Maine Boundary question, and the inter- 
 ference of federal ofiScers in elections, in all of which Mr. 
 Buchanan took an active and leading part. His great speech 
 of this session was upon the latter biU. Probably there never 
 was an act introduced into Congress which contained so much 
 of the spirit of ancient federalism as this measure to prevent, 
 as it was termed, the interference of the federal oflScers in 
 elections. Mr. Buchanan met it with his most indignant con- 
 demnation. He had never favored a single measure for the 
 oppression of any class or portion of the people, neither did he 
 believe that because a man accepted a trifling of5ce from the 
 government, he should, on that account, be deprived of the 
 freedom of speech, which belongs as an inalienable right to 
 every American citizen. It seems strange that such a measure, 
 one that embraced all the odious features of the old sedition 
 law, could have been proposed in the Senate of the United 
 States only fifteen years ago, and advocated by leading senat- 
 ors. Yet such is the fact. Mr. Buchanan made in opposition 
 to it one of the best speeches of his life. He showed ia this 
 effort the same instrnctive regard for equal rights, which has 
 
262' LIFE AND BEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 been the distingnisliing feature of his whole political career 
 We make copious extracts from this eloquent and triumphan 
 vindication of the right of each and every citizen to express hi. 
 opinions in regard to the affairs of the government to which hi 
 owes allegiance. The following extract gives the openinf 
 portion : 
 
 " Mr. President : The question raided for discussion by th( 
 bill now before the Senate, is very simple in its character. This 
 bill proposes to punish, by a fine of five hundred dollars — the 
 one moiety payable to the informer, and the other to the United 
 States — and by a perpetual disabiUty to hold office under the 
 United States, any officer of this government below the rank 
 of a district attorney, who ' shall by word, message, or writ- 
 ing, or in any other manner whatsoever, endeavor to pfersuade 
 any elector to give, or dissuade any elector from giving, his 
 vote for the choice of any person to be elector of President 
 and Vice-President of the United States, or to be a senator 
 or representative in Congress, or to be a governor or lieutenant- 
 governor, or senator or representative within any State of the 
 Union, or for the choice of any person to serve in any public 
 office estabUshed by the law of any of the States.' The officers 
 of the United States against whom the penalties of this bill are 
 denounced, consist of marshals and their deputies, postmasters 
 and their deputies, receivers and registers of land offices and 
 their deputies and clerks, surveyors general of the public lands 
 and their deputies and assistants, collectors, surveyors, naval 
 officers, weighers, gangers, appraisers, or other officers or per- 
 sons concerned or employed in the charging, collecting, levying, 
 or managing the customs or any branch thereof ; and engineers, 
 officers, or agents, employed or concerned in the execution or 
 superintendence of any of the public works. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) before he 
 commenced his remarks, moved to amend the bill by striking 
 from it the pecuniary penalty and perpetual disability against 
 
INTEKFEBENCE OF FEDEKAL OFFICERS rCf ELECTIONS. 2<>3 
 
 these officers, and substituting in their stead, the penalty of & 
 removal from office by the President, upon the production of 
 evidence satisfactory to liini that any of them had been guilty 
 of the offence. 
 
 " Now, for myself (said Mr. B,), I shall not vote for this 
 amendment. I will not take advantage of the amiable weak- 
 ness of my friend from Kentucky, in yielding to the solicitation 
 of others that which his own judgment approved. I will more 
 especially not give such a vote because the proposed amend- 
 ment makes no change in the principle of the bill. There is a 
 beautiful harmony and consistency in its provisions as it came 
 fresh from its author which ought to be preserved. I shall not 
 assist in marrying any of its fair proportions. Let it remain 
 in its perfect original form, and let his friends upon this floor 
 come up to the baptismal font and act as its sponsors, and let 
 its avowed principles be recognized as the established doctrines 
 of the pohtical church to which they are all devoted. No sir, 
 no ; if a village postmaster should dare to exercise the freedom 
 of speech, guaranteed to hitin by an antiquated instrument, called 
 the Constitution of the United States, and have the audacity 
 ' to endeavor to persuade any elector ' to vote for Martin Van 
 Buren, or what wotild be a much more aggravated offence, dis- 
 suade any giod whig from voting for the other distinguished 
 senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay), a mere forfeiture of his 
 office would bear no just proportion to the enormity of the 
 crime. Let such, a daring criminal be fined five hundred dollars; 
 let him be disqualified forever from holding any office under 
 the government; and let him be pointed at as a man of blasted 
 reputation all the days of his life. With honest Dogberry in 
 the play of ' Much ado about Nothing,' I pronounce the offence 
 to be ' flat burglary as ever was committed." 
 
 "There is another reason why I shall vote against the 
 amendment. An issue has been fairly made between the sena- 
 tor from Kentucky and my friend from New Jersey (Mr. Wall), 
 who, from what we have heard in the course of this debate. 
 
264 LIFE AISD SEEVIOES OF JAMEB ETJCHANAN. 
 
 has but a few shattered planks left on which he can escape 
 from a total shipwreck of his fair fame. In mercy to him I 
 would not remove any of them. Let him have a chance fof his 
 life. He has dared to make a report against the biU in its 
 original form, as it was referred to the committee of which he 
 is the chairman, and for this cause has encountered all the 
 withering denunciations of the senators from Kentucky and 
 Virginia (Messrs. Urittenden and Kives). In justice to him, 
 the aspect of the question should not now be changed. Let us, 
 then, have the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill, 
 against which his report is directed. 
 
 "It -would seem almost unnecessary to discuss the question, 
 whether this bill be constitutional or not, as the senator from 
 Kentucky, throughout the whole course of his argument, never 
 once attempted to point to any clause of the Constitution on 
 which it could be supported. It is true that he did cite some 
 precedents in our legislation, which he supposes to have a bear- 
 ing on the subject, but which I shall undertake to prove, here- 
 after, are wholly inapplicable. The senator from Virginia (Mr. 
 Rives), has gone further into the argument, and has attempted 
 to prove that this bill is constitutional. At the proper time, I 
 shall endeavor to furnish a proper answer to his remarks. By- 
 the-bye, this Constitution is a terrible bugbear. Whilst a 
 member of the other house, I once heard an old gentleman ex- 
 claim, when it was cited against one of his favorite measures, 
 " what a vast deal of good it prevents us from doing 1" After 
 this bill shall have passed, it will be a bugbear no longer, so 
 far as the freedom of speech or the press is concerned. It will 
 not, then, alarm even political children. 
 
 " The gentlemen have a precedent for their bUl. Yes, sir, 
 they have a precedent in the sedition law, but it does not go far 
 enough for their purpose. That law, which is the only true 
 precedent on which this bill can be founded, and on which 
 alone it can be sustained, permitted every man to write and to 
 publish what he pleases concerning public men and public 
 
mTERFEEENOE OF FEDERAL 0FFICEE8 tN ELECTIONS. 265 
 
 measures, and only held, him responsible in case his charges 
 should prove to be false. But this bUl is a gag-law. It goes 
 to the fountain. It prohibits the officer not only from writing, 
 but from speaking anything good, bad, or indifferent, whether 
 true or false, on any subject whatever, which may affect any 
 pending election from that of a President down to a constable. 
 It has a much broader sweep than the sedition law, which did 
 not interfere with the liberty of speech, however, much it may 
 have abridged the freedom of the press. Indeed, among the 
 more enlightened despotisms of Europe, I know not one which 
 prohibits the freedom of speech on all public subjects ; it is 
 only in free and enUghtened America that we propose actually 
 to insert the gag. The sedition law was bad enough, God knows, 
 but it extended only to the use of the pen, not to that of the 
 tongue. There is, therefore, no parallel between the two cases. 
 " Had it not been for the existence of the sedition law, I 
 should have supposed it to be impossible that there could have 
 been two opinions in regard to the utter unconstitutionaHty of 
 this bill. The Constitution, in language so plain as to leave no 
 room for misconstruction, declares, that ' Congress shall make 
 no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.' The 
 rule is universal. There is no exception. The bOl proposes 
 not only to abridge, but utterly to destroy, the freedom of 
 speech and of the press ; to interdict their use altogether to the 
 enumerated officers on all questions touching the election of 
 any officer of the Federal or State government. A plam man 
 would naturally suppose that, barely to state the contradiction 
 between the Constitution and this bdl was to decide the ques- 
 tion. Not so ; an ingenious and astute lawyer, in favor of a 
 liberal construction of that instrument, can, by inference and 
 ingenuity, confer powers upon Congress in direct violation both 
 of its letter and its spirit, and of which its framers never once 
 dreamed. Such was the power to pass the sedition law. That 
 law engrafted one limitation upon the freedom of the press. It 
 in effect, changed the meaning of the general terms, ' Congress 
 
 12 
 
266 LIFE AND SEEVICEB OF JAMES BUCHAUAIf. 
 
 shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the 
 press,' and excepted from their operation any law which might 
 bs passed to punish libels against the President, the govern- 
 ment, or either house of Congress. The present bill, in prin- 
 ciple at least, proceeds much farther. It excepts from the 
 general prohibition of the Constitution the power of punishing 
 all persons holding ofiBces under the government of the United 
 States, who shall dare either to speak or to write at all on 
 questions wiiich may affect the result of any election. This 
 interpolation must be inserted, before gentlemen can show any 
 power to pass the present bill. They cannot advance one step 
 in their argument without it. This Constitution can never be 
 construed according to the meaning of its framers, but by men 
 cf plain, well informed, and practical judgment. Common 
 sense is its best expounder. Ingenious men, disposed to raise 
 one implieatioa upon another in favor of federal power, and to 
 make each previous precedent a foundation on which to proceed 
 another step in the march towards consolidation, may soon 
 make it mean anything or nothing. The liberties of this country 
 can only be preserved by a strict construction of the enumerated 
 powers granted by the States to Congress. 
 
 " Before I proceed further in my argument against the con- 
 stitutionality of this bill, it will be proper that I should develop 
 some of its latent beauties. I desire to delineate a little more 
 precisely its character — to present some of its striking features, 
 and to show what it is in principle, and what it will prove to 
 be in practice. 
 
 " There are twenty-six sovereign States in this confederacy, 
 united by a federal compact, called the Constitution of the 
 United States. Each individual elector in this country sustains 
 two distinct characters. He is a citizen of some one of the 
 States, and he is also a citizen of the United States. He is 
 bound to perform the duties of a good citizen both towards his 
 own State and towards the United States. Now, what does 
 this bill propose ? In the older States of this confederacy, all 
 
INTEEFEEENCE OF FEDEKAL 0FFICEE8 IN ELECTIONS. 267 
 
 the federal officers which we have in the interior are postmas- 
 ters. It is true that at our ports of entry there are custom- 
 house officers, but in Pennsylvania for example, from the 
 Schuylkill to the Ohio and to Lake Erie, our people scarcely 
 feel their connection with the general government except 
 through the medium of the Post-office Department. These 
 postmasters are very numerous. They are planted in every 
 village and at every cross road. They are agents for dissemi- 
 nating information throughout the country. I might probably 
 say that in nine instances out of ten the office is scarcely worth 
 holding, on account of its pecuniary emoluments^ In most 
 cases, the postmaster accepts it for the accommodation of his 
 neighbors. Now this postmaster is generally a man of property 
 and of character, having a deep stake ui the community, and 
 in the faithful administration and execution of the laws. Two 
 candidates are presented to the people for office, say that of a 
 justice of the peace. If one of these village postmasters should, 
 in the exercise of his unquestionable rights as a citizen of Penn 
 sylvania, advise his neighbor to vote for one of these candidates, 
 and against the other, this bill dooms him to a fine of five hun- 
 dred dollars, and to a perpetual disqualification from ever 
 holding any office under the government of the United States. 
 No matter whether the merits which he may have ascribed to 
 one of the candidates be true as holy writ, and the dehnquencies 
 which he may have charged against the other may be suscepti- 
 ble of the clearest proof, this wiU not arrest the vengeance of 
 the bUl. He is doomed to remain mute, although his dearest 
 interests may be involved, or incur its penalties. A gag is to 
 be put into his mouth, and he is to be punished if he dare to 
 express a preference for one candidate over the other ; and let 
 me tell the gentleman, these postmasters hold all sorts of politi- 
 cal opinions. * In my own State a vionsiderable proportion of 
 their numbers are whigs and anti-masons, opposed to the pre- 
 sent administration. I might cite other examples to depict the 
 enormity of this bill, but I consider it wholly uxmecessary. I 
 
268 LIFE Airo SICEVICE8 OF JAMES BTJOHAlTiJJ. 
 
 might ascend from the justice of the peace or the constable, 
 through all the gradations of elective office, State and Federal, 
 to the President of the United States, and show that at each 
 ascending grade, the yiolation of the rights of the citizen be- 
 comes more and more outrageous. I might enumerate the 
 weighers and the gangers, and the other proscribed classes of 
 inferior office-holders, and paint the mad and wanton injustice 
 which this bUl would inflict upon them. But enough." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan here went on to show that any man who 
 would accept office upon such terms, would forfeit all self-respect, 
 and become at once a fit tool for corruption and despotism. 
 That it would be degrading to American freemen, and a degra- 
 dation to which they would not submit. It would also, he said, 
 raise troops of informers and eavesdroppers to catch every in- 
 cautious word dropped by a postmaster or other official, in order 
 to find grounds for his punishment. 
 
 " But," said Mr. Buchanan, " there is another remark which 
 I desire to make on this branch of the subject. Whenever you 
 attempt to violate the plain letter and spirit of the Constitu- 
 tion, a thousand evils, of which you have never dreamed, pre- 
 sent themselves in the perspective. This law can alone be 
 executed by the courts of the United States. Where are they 
 situated ? In the large States, such as Pennsylvania and Vir 
 giiiia, they are held at great distances from each other. A 
 postmaster in either of these States, the income of whose office 
 does not exceed fifty doUars per annum, may be dragged from 
 home, a distance of one hundred and fifty or two hundred 
 miles, to stand his trial under this bill, before a federal court. 
 The expense would be enormous, whilst he is obliged to appear 
 before a tribunal far from the place where his character and 
 that of his prosecutor are known and appreciated. Under such 
 circumstances, he would almost be certain to become the victim 
 of the common informer, under this most unjust and unconstitn- 
 
mTEKFEEENCE OF FEDERAL 0FFICEE8 IN ELECTIONS. 209 
 
 fcional law. He would either be convicted, or compelled to buy 
 his peace at almost any price. 
 
 " In conferring the powers enumerated in the Constitution on 
 the federal government, the States expressly reserved to 
 themselves respectively, or to their people, all the powers not 
 delegated by it to the United States, or prohibited by it to the 
 States. Now, I would ask the senator from Kentucky when, 
 or where, or how has the State of Pennsylvania surrendered to 
 Congress the right of depriving any of her citizens who may 
 accept office under the general government, of the freedom of 
 speech or of the press? Where is it 'declared by the Consti- 
 tution, either in express terms, or from what clause can it be 
 fairly inferred, that Congress may make a forfeiture of the best 
 of all political rights, an indispensable condition of office ? 
 Each one of the people of Pennsylvania, under her constitution 
 and laws, is secured in the inalienable right of speaking his 
 thoughts. The State, as well as each individual citizen, has 
 the deepest interest in the preservation of this right. I ask the 
 gentleman to lay his finger on the clause of the Constitution by 
 which it has been surrendered. Where is it declared, or from 
 what can it be inferred, that because the States have yielded to 
 the federal government their citizens to execute pubhc trusts 
 under the general government, that therefore they have yielded 
 the rights of those citizens to express their opinions freely con- 
 cerning public men and public measures ? The proposition 
 appears to me to be full of absurdity. In regard to the qualifi- 
 cations of electors, the States have granted no power whatever 
 to the United States. This subject they have expressly 
 reserved from federal control. The legislatures of the States, 
 and they alone, under the Constitution, possess the power of 
 prescribing the qualifications of the electors of members of the 
 House of Representatives in Congress. They have reserved the 
 same power themselves in regard to voters for the choice of 
 electors of President and Vice-president. What then does this 
 bill attemot ? To separate two things which reason and the 
 
270 LIFE AND SEEVICKS OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Almighty himself have united beyond all power of separation. 
 You might as well attempt, by arbitrary laws, to separate 
 human life from the power of breathing the vital air, as to 
 detach the elective franchise from freedom of thought, of 
 speech, and of the press. In this atmosphere alone can it live, 
 and move, and have its being. To speak his thoughts is every 
 free elector's inalienable right. Freedom of speech and of the 
 press are both the sword and the shield of our republican insti- 
 tutions. To declare that when the citizens of a State accept 
 office from the general government, they thereby forfeit this 
 light to express an opinion in relation to the public concerns of 
 their own State and of the nation, is palpable tyranny. In the 
 language referred to in the report, ' it puts bridles into their 
 mouths and saddles upon their backs,' and degrades them from 
 ihe rank of a reasoning animal The English precedent of the 
 senator was wiser, much wiser, in depriving these officers of the 
 right of suffrage altogether. It does not attempt to separate, 
 by the power of man, two things which Heaven itself has indis- 
 Bolnbly united. 
 
 " If, therefore, the Constitution contained no express pro- 
 vision whatever, prohibiting Congress from passing any law 
 abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, I think I have 
 shown conclusively, that the power to pass this bill could not 
 be inferred from any of the express grants of power. But the 
 Constitution is not silent on the subject. Before its adoption 
 by the State, it was drgaded by the jealous patriots of the day, 
 that the federal government might usurp the liberties of the 
 people by attacking the Uberty of speech and of the press. 
 They, therefore, insisted upon the insertion of an express pro- 
 vision, as an amendment, which, in all time to come, would pre- 
 vent Congress from interfering with these inestimable rights. 
 The amendment to which I have often referred, was adopted, 
 and these rights were expressly excepted from the powers of 
 the federal government ; and yet in the very face of this ex- 
 press negative of federal power, we find the senator from Ken- 
 
INTEEFEEEKCE OF FEDERAL 0FFICEE8 Ilf ELECTIONS. 211 
 
 tncky comiug forward with his bill, declaring direct war against 
 any exercise of the freedom of speech and of the press by tnose 
 citizens of the United States who happen to be office-nolders 
 under the general government But, says the senator from Vir- 
 ginia, Congress possess and have exercised the unquestionable 
 power of creating offices under the Constitution, and they may, 
 therefore, annex to the holding of these offices such a pondition 
 as that prescribed by the bill, or rather the amendment of the 
 senator from Kentucky. Now, sir, what is this but to say that 
 Congress may declare that any citizen of Pennsylvania who ac- 
 cepts a federal office, shall take it upon condition that it shall 
 be forfeited the moment he exercises the dearest political right 
 guaranteed to him and every other citizen by the Constitution 
 of the United States. Can Congress impose any such condition 
 upon an office ? If they can. they can repeal the most solemn 
 provision of the Constitution, and render it a dead letter in re- 
 gard to every person in the employment of the general govern- 
 ment. All mankind may then speak and publish wha^ they 
 please, except those individuals who have been selected, I hope 
 generally, for their integrity and ability, to execute the impor- 
 ■ tant public trusts of the country. 
 
 " But I do not mean even to rest the Constitutional question 
 here. From the very nature of the Constitution itself, two 
 great political parties must ever exist in this country. You 
 may call them by what names you will ; their principles must 
 over continue to be the same. The one dreading federal 
 power, will ever be friendly to a strict construction of tho 
 powers delegated to the federal goverhment and to State 
 rights. The other, equally dreading federal weakness, will ever 
 advocate such a liberal construction of the Constitution as will 
 confer upon the general government as much powei- as possible, 
 consistently with a free intepretation of the terms of the in- 
 strument. The one party is alarmed at tie danger of consoli- 
 dation, the other at that of disunion. In the days of the elder 
 
272 LIFE AND SEETIOES OP JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Adams, the party friendly to a liberal construction of the 
 Constitution got iato power. And what did they do? 
 Among other things, in the very face of that clause of the 
 Constitution which prohibited Congress from passing any law 
 abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, they passed 
 the sedition law. What were its provisions ? It punished 
 false, scandalous, and malicious libels against the government 
 of the United States, either House of Congress or the Presi- 
 dent, by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and imprison- 
 ment not exceeding two years, 
 
 " The Constitution had declared that ' Congress shall pass 
 no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.' Its 
 framers well knew that, under the laws of each of the States 
 composing this Union, libels were punishable. They, therefore, 
 left the character of all officers created under the Constitution 
 and laws of the United States to be protected by the laws of 
 the several States They were afraid to give this government 
 any authority over libels, lest the colossal power might be 
 wielded against the liberty of the press. Conjjress were, there- 
 fore, prohibited from passing any law upon the subject, whether 
 good or bad. It was not merely because the law was unjust 
 in itself, though it was bad enough, Heaven knows, that the 
 indignant republicans of that day rose against it, but it was 
 because it violated the Constitution. It expired by its own 
 limitation, in March, 1801, but not untU it had utterly prostra- 
 ted the pohtical party which gave it birth. 
 
 " The federalists of that day honestly believed that the gov- 
 ernment should be strengthened at the centre, and that the 
 pulsations of the heart were not powerful enough to extend 
 a wholesome circulation to the extremities. They, therefore, 
 used every effort to enlarge the powers of the federal gov- 
 ernment by construction. This was the touchstone which 
 then divided parties, and which will continue to divide them 
 
ENTEEFEEENCE OF PEDEEAL OFFIOEES IN ELEOTIONS. 273 
 
 until, whicli God forbid, the government itself shall cease to 
 exist. 
 
 ***** :)c ;): 
 
 " And yet this bill is supported by my friend from Virginia, 
 who, to use his own langnagfe, ' has been imbued with the prin- 
 ciples of democracy and a regard for State rights from his 
 earliest youth.' If such a charge should ever be made against 
 hi m hereafter, his speech and his vote in favor of this bill will 
 acquit him before any court in Christendom where the truth 
 may be given in evidence. 1 yet trust he may never vote for 
 its passage. 
 
 " Every measure of this kind betrays a want of confidence 
 in the intelligence and patriotism of the American people. It 
 is founded on a distrust of their judgment and integrity. Do 
 you suppose that when a man is appointed a collector or a 
 postmaster he acquires any more influence over the people than 
 he had before ? No, su* ; on the contrary, his influence is 
 often diminished instead of being increased.- The people of 
 this country are abundantly capable of judging whether he is 
 most influenced by love of country or love of office. If they 
 should determine that his motives are purely mercenary for 
 supporting a poKtical party, this will destroy his influence. If 
 he be a noisy, violent, and meddling politician, he will do the 
 administration under which he has been appointed much more 
 harm than good. Let me assure gentlemen that the people 
 are able to take care of themselves. They do not require the 
 interposition of Congress to prevent them from being deceived 
 and led astray by the influence of office-holders. Whilst this 
 is my fixed opinion, I think the number of federal officers ought 
 to be strictly limited to the actual necessities of the govern- 
 ment. Pursue this course, and my life for it, all the land offi- 
 cers, and postmasters, and weighers and gangers which you 
 shall spread abroad over the country, can never influence the 
 people to betray their own cause. For my own part, I enter- 
 
 12* 
 
274 LIFE AND 8EEVICiE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAW. 
 
 tain the most perfect confidence in their intelligence as well as 
 
 integrity. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " And here I hope the senator from Kentucky will pardon me 
 for suggesting to him an amendment to his bill. He has, I 
 think, made one or two mistakes in the classification of his 
 officers, though, in general, it is suf&ciently perfect. The 
 principle would seem to have been to separate what may be 
 called the aristocracy of office-holders from the plebeians. Those 
 of the elevated class are stiU permitted to enjoy the freedom of 
 speech and of the press, whilst the hard working operatives 
 among them are denied this privilege. The heads of depart- 
 ments and bureaus, the officers of the army and navy, the super- 
 intendents and officers of our mints, and the district attorneys 
 are not affected by the bill. These gentlemen are privileged by 
 their elevation. They are too high to be reached by its pro- 
 visions. Who, then, ought to care whether weighers and 
 gangers, and village postmasters, and hard-handed draymen, 
 and such inferior people, shall be permitted to express their 
 thoughts on public affairs ? I would suggest, however, that the 
 collectors of our principal seaports, the marshals of our extensive 
 judicial districts, and the postmasters in our principal cities, re- 
 ceive compensation sufficient to enable them to figure in ' good 
 society.' They ought to rank with the district attorneys, and 
 should be elevated from the plebeian to the patrician rank of 
 office-holders. They ought to be allowed the freedom of speech 
 and of the press. As to the subordinate officers, they are not 
 worth the trouble of a thought. 
 
 " To be sure there is one palpable absurdity on the face of 
 the bill. Its avowed purpose is to prevent office-holders from 
 exercising an influence in elections. Why, then, except from its 
 operation all those office-holders who from their station in 
 society can exercise the most extensive influence, and confine its 
 provisions to the humbler, but not less meritorious class, whose 
 
INTEEFERENCE OF FEDERAL OFFICERS IN ELECTIONS. 275 
 
 opinions can have but a limited influence over their fellow men ? 
 The District Attorney, for example, is excepted, the very man 
 of all others who, from his position and talents, has the best op- 
 portunity of exerting an extensive influence. He may ride over 
 his district, and make political speeches to secure the election 
 of his favorite candidate. He is too high a mark for the gen- 
 tleman's bill. But if the subordinates of the custom-house, or 
 the petty postmaster at the cross-roads, with an income of fifty 
 dollars per annum, shaU dare even in private conversation, to 
 persuade an elector to vote for or against any candidate, he is 
 to be punished by a fine of five hundred dollars, and a perpetual 
 disability to hold any office under the government. Was there 
 ever a bill more unequal or more unjust ? 
 
 " Now, sir, I might here with great propriety, and very much 
 to the relief both of my audience and myself, leave this subject ; 
 but there are still some other observations which I conceive it 
 to be my duty to add to what I have already said. Most of 
 them will be elicited by the very strong remarks of my friend 
 from Virginia. For I trust that I may stiU be permitted to 
 call him by that name. 
 
 " He and I entered the House of Eepresentatives almost 
 together. I believe he came into it but two years after myself. 
 We soon formed a mutual friendship, which has ever since, I 
 may say, on my part, with great sincerity, continued to exist. 
 We fought shoulder to shoulder, and his great powers were 
 united with my feeble efforts in prostrating the administration 
 of the younger Adams. General Jackson came into power, 
 and, during the whole period of that administration, he was tlje 
 steady, unwavering supporter of all its leading measures except 
 the specie circular and his advocacy of the currency bill ; and, 
 on that bill, I stood by him, in opposition to the administration. 
 Whilst this man of destmy was in power — this man of the lion 
 heart, whose will the whigs declared was law, and whose roar- 
 ing terrified all the other beasts of the forest, and subdued them 
 into silence — where was -then the senator from Virginia ? He 
 
276 IJFE ASD BEEVICB8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 was our chosen champion in the fight. Whilst General Jackson 
 was exerting all this tremendous influence, and marshalling all 
 his trained bands of office-holders to do his bidding, according 
 to the language of the- opposition, these denunciations had no 
 terrors for the senator from Virginia. Never in my life did I 
 perform a duty of friendship with greater ardor than when, onl 
 one occasion, I came to his rescue from an unjust attack made 
 against him by the Whigs, in relation to a part of his conduct 
 whilst minister in Prance. After holding out so long together, 
 ought he not at least to have parted from us in peace, and bade 
 us a kind adieu ? In abandoning our camp, why did he shoot 
 Parthian arrows behind him ? In taking leave of us, I hope 
 not forever, is it not too hard for us to hear ourselves denounced 
 by the gentleman in the language which he has used ? He is 
 amazed and bewildered with the scenes passing before him. 
 Whithsr, he asks, wUl the mad dominion of party carry us ? 
 His mind is filled with despondency as to the fate of his country. 
 Shall we emulate the servility of the Senate and people of Rome ? 
 You already have your Praetorian bands in this city. I might 
 t[uote from his speech other phrases of a similar character, but 
 these are sufficient. I do not believe that any of these expres- 
 sions were aimed at me personally, yet they strike me with the 
 mass of my political friends, and I feel bound to give them a 
 passing notice. ***** 
 
 Not long previous to the time of the delivery of this speech, 
 M. de Tocqueville had been in this country, and had published, 
 on his return to Europe, a work upon " Democracy in America," 
 a curious compound of sagacity and obtuseness of a great mind, 
 naturally acute and expansive, but so bound up in the habitudes 
 of European ideas, that the simple truths of democracy to him 
 were, like the gospel to the Greeks — foolishness. This work of 
 Ms had been frequently cited in the course of debate, and Mr. 
 Buchanan had exposed soiTiS of his errors. In referring to the 
 subject, he said • 
 
JNTEEFEEKNCE OF FEDEKAl 0FFICEE8 IN ELECTIONS. 277 
 
 " I may truly say, that I have never met any Frenchman or 
 Englishman who could understand the complicated relations ex- 
 isting between our Federal and State governments, in this re- 
 spect, De Tocqueville has not succeeded much better than the 
 rest. I am disposed to quarrel with him for one thing, and 
 that is, that he is opposed to the doctrines of the Vh-ginia and 
 Kentucky resolutions. He is one of those old federalists, in 
 the true acceptance of that term, who believe that the powers of 
 the general government are not sufficiently strong to protect it 
 from the encroachments of the States. Hence one gi'eat object 
 of his book is to prove that this government is becoming weaker 
 and weaker, whilst that of the States is growing stronger and 
 stronger ; and although he does not think the time near, yet 
 the final catastrophe must be, that it will be dissolved by its 
 own weakness, and the people, at length tired of the perpetual 
 struggles of liberty, will finally seek repose in the arms of des- 
 potism. This result, in his opinion, is not to be brought about 
 by the strength, but by the weakness of the federal govern- 
 ment. I might adduce many quotations to this effect from his 
 book, but I shall trouble the Senate with but a few. He says, 
 in summing up a long chapter on this subject, ' I am strangely 
 mistaken if the federal government of the United States be not 
 constantly losing strength, retiring gradually from public affairs, 
 and narrowing its circle of action more and more. It is natu- 
 rally feeble, but it now abandons even its pretensions to strength. 
 On the other hand, I thought I remarked a more lively sense of 
 independence, and a more decided attachment to provincial gov- 
 ernment, in the States. The Union is to subsist, but to subsist 
 as a shadow ; it is to be strong in certain cases, and weak in aU 
 others ; in time of warfare it is to be able to concentrate all the 
 forces of the nation, and aU the resources of the country in its 
 hands, and in time of peace, its existence is to be scarcely per- 
 ceptible, as if this alternate debility and vigor were natural or 
 possible.' 
 
 " ' I do not foresee anything for the present which may bo 
 
278 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN'. 
 
 able to check this general impulse of public opinion; the causes 
 in which it originated do not cease to operate with the same 
 effect. The change wUl therefore go on, and it may be predic- 
 ted that, unless some extraordinary erent occurs, the govern- 
 ment of the Union will grow Breaker and weaker every day.' 
 
 " Again : ' So far is the federal government from acquiring 
 strength, and from threatening the sovereignty of the States as 
 it grows older, that I maintain it to be growing weaker and 
 weaker, and that the sovereignty of the Union alone is in dan- 
 ger.' And again : ' It may, however, be foreseen, even now, 
 that when the Americans lose their republican institutions, 
 they will speedily arrive at a despotic government, without a 
 long interval of limited monarchy.' 
 
 " Speaking of the power of the President, he says, ' Hitherto, 
 no citizen has shown any disposition to expose his honor or his 
 life, in order to become the President of the United States, be- 
 cause the power of that office is temporary, limited, and subor- 
 dinate. The prize of fortune must be great, to encourage 
 adventurers in so desperate a game. No candidate has as yet 
 been able to arouse the dangerous enthusiasm or the passionate 
 S3Tnpathies of the people in his favor, for the very simple reason, 
 that when he is at the head of the government he has but little 
 power, but little wealth, and but little glory to share amongst 
 his friends, and his influence in the State is too small for the 
 success or the ruin of a faction to depend upon the elevation of 
 an individual to power.' 
 
 " Now, if this greater than Montesquieu, is to be believed, 
 and his authority is to be relied upon by the senator from Vir- 
 ginia, whence his terror and alarm lest the power of the Presi- 
 dent might be strengthened by the influence of the lower class 
 of federal office-holders at the elections ? Why should they be 
 deprived of the freedom of speech amd of the press, upon the 
 principle that the power of Mr. Van Buren is dangerous to the 
 liberties of his country 1 The gentleman's lauded authority is 
 entirely against his own position." 
 
mTEE¥>TteG.fClfi OF FEDEEAL OFFICEES IN ELECTIONS. 279 
 
 Mr. Bnchanau, however, went on to explain that he differed 
 altogether from M. de Tocqneville, and apprehended no such 
 weakness as he pointed oat ; on the contrary, he beheved the 
 executive and federal government would always be strong - 
 enough to exercise its It^timate powers. It will be seen that 
 what De Tocqneville supposed was our weakness, is actually our 
 strength. To be " strong in certain cases, and weak in all 
 others " was just the idea which the founders of our system of 
 government had in view. To be strong in the enforcement of 
 all powers delegated to it by the States, but weak in all things 
 pertaining to State rights, is just the point and pith of our 
 federal Constitution, the bulwark of our Union, and the sup- 
 port of aU our most cherished instiiiutions ; yet, the great Euro- 
 pean writer on democracy could not understand such profound 
 simplicity 1 
 
 In the course of the same debate, England was again, as it 
 is often now, held up as a model fof America. Mr. Buchanan 
 did not, however, feel disposed to go to such a source for 
 guidance. In reference to some remarks that Mr. Rives of 
 Virginia had made, he said : 
 
 " I agree with him, that we are indebted for several of our 
 most valuable institutions to our British ancestors. We have 
 derived from them the principles of liberty established and con- 
 secraled by Magna-Charta, the trial by jury, the petition of 
 right, the habeas corpus act, and the revolution of 1688. And 
 yet, notwithstanding all this, I should be very unwilling to 
 make the British government a model for our legislation in 
 republiian America. Look at its effect in practice. Is it a 
 government which sheds its benign influence, like the dews of 
 heavea, upon all its subjects ? Or is it not a government, where 
 the rights of the many are sacrificed to promote the interest of 
 the few ? The landed aristocracy have controlled the election 
 of a majority of the members of the House of Commons, and 
 they, themselves, compose the House of Lords. The main 
 
280 LIFE AND BEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 scope and principal object of their legislation was to promote 
 vhe great landed interest, that of the large taanufacturers, and 
 the fund-holders of a national debt, amounting to more than 
 seven hundred and fifty millions sterling. In order to accom- 
 plish these purposes, it became necessary to oppress the poor. 
 Where is the country beneath the sun, in which pauperism pre- 
 vails to such a fearful extent ? Is it not known to the whole 
 world, that the wages both of agricultural and manufacturing' 
 labor are reduced to the very lowest point necessary to sustain 
 human existence ? Look at Ireland, the fairest land I have 
 ever seen. Her laboring population is confined to the potatoe. 
 Earely, indeed, do they enjoy either the wheat or the beef which 
 their country produces in such plentiful abundance. It is chiefly 
 sent abroad for foreign consumption. 
 
 " The people of England are now struggling to make their 
 institutions more free, and, I trust in God, they may succeed ; 
 yet, their whole system is artificial, and without breaking it 
 down altogether, I do not perceive how the condition of the 
 mass of the people can be much ameHorated. In the present 
 state of the world, no friend of the human race ought, probably, 
 to desire its immediate destruction. We ought to regard 
 it rather as a beacon to warn us than as a model for our imita- 
 tion. We ought never, Mke England, to raise up by legislation 
 any great interests or monopoUes, to oppress the people, which 
 we cannot put down without crushing the government itself 
 Such is now the condition of that country. I am no admirer 
 of the British Constitution, either in church or state, as it at 
 present exists. I desire not a splendid government for this 
 country." 
 
 In concluding his speech, Mr. Buchanan defined his last 
 position upon the bUl. He said : 
 
 " I win tell the senator from Kentucky how far I am willing 
 to proceed with him in punishing public oflScers. If a post- 
 
INTERFKEENCE OF FEDERAL OFEICEES TN ELECTIONS. 281 
 
 master will abuse his franking privilege, as I know to my sor- 
 row has been done in some inslances, by couTerting it into the 
 means of flooding the surrounding country with base libels in 
 the form of electioneering pamphlets and handbills, let such an 
 dficer be instantly dismissed and punished. If any district- 
 attorney should either faror or oppress debtors to govemmeLtJ 
 for the purpose of promoting the interest of his party, he ougut 
 to share a similar fate. So, if a collector will grant privileges 
 in the esecution of his office to one importer, which he denies 
 to another, in order to subserve the views of his party, be 
 ought to be dismissed from office, and punished for his offenco. 
 I would not tolerate any such official misconduct. But whilst 
 a man faithfully and impartially discharges all the duties of hii 
 office, let him not be punished for expressing his opinion in re- 
 gard to the merits or demerits of any candidate. Above all, 
 let us not violate the Constitution, in order to punish aii 
 officer. 
 
 " The senator from Virginia has of late appealed to us 
 often to arise above mere party, and to go for our country. 
 Such appeals are not calculated to produce any deep impres- 
 sion on my mind, because, in supporting my party, I honestly 
 believe I am in the best manner promoting the interest of my 
 country. I am, but I trust not servilely, a party man. I sup- 
 port the present President, not because I think him the wisest 
 or best man aKve, but because he is the faithful and able repre- 
 sentative of my principles. As long as he shall coptinue to 
 maintain these principles, he shall receive my cordial support, 
 but not one moment longer. I do not oppose my friends on 
 this side of the house because I entertain unkind feelings to- 
 wards them personally. On the contrary, I esteem and re- 
 spect many of them highly. It is against the political princi- 
 ples of which they are the exponents that I make war. 
 
 " I support the President because he is in favor of a strict 
 and limited construction of the Constitution, according to the 
 true spirit of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions. I firmly 
 
2b2 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 believe that if the government is to remain powerful and per- 
 manent, it can only be by never assuming doubtful powers, 
 which must necessarily bring it into collision with the States. 
 It is not difficult to foresee what would be the termination of 
 such a career of usurpation of the rights of the States. 
 
 " I oppose the whig party because, according to their read- 
 ing of the Constitution, Congress possess, and they ought to 
 exercise, powers which would endanger the rights of the States, 
 and the liberties of the people. Such a free construction of 
 the Constitution as can derive from the simple power ' to levy 
 and collect taxes,' that of creating a national bank, appears to 
 me to be fraught with imminent danger to the country. I am 
 opposed to the party so liberal in their construction of the Con- 
 stitution, as to infer the existence of a power in the federal 
 government to create and circulate a paper currency for the 
 whole Union, from the clause which merely authorizes Congress 
 ' to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
 several States, and with the Indian tribes.' Such construc- 
 tions would establish precedents which might call into existence 
 other aUen and sedition laws, and it is such a construction 
 which has given birth to the bill now before the Senate, deny- 
 ing the freedom of speech and of the press to a respectable 
 portion of our citizens." 
 
 This speech of Mr. Buchanan effectually settled this federal 
 measure, for such it unquestionably -was, -though advocated by 
 one or two who had always hitherto been true to democratic 
 ideas. It shows how even the clearest mind may sometimes 
 get befogged upon plain democratic doctrines. Thus it has 
 ever been. Many noble democratic leaders have had a vivid 
 conception of the application of democratic principles to some 
 questions, but have failed to see it in regard to others. Our 
 own day exhibits some melancholy examples of the truth of this 
 statement ; but it is a satisfaction to know, that if a few 
 armor-bearers have fainted and fallen by the way, others have 
 
CLOSE OF THE SESSION. 283 
 
 arisen to take their places, and above all, the great earnest 
 heart of the democratic masses has remained unperverted and 
 true. 
 
 The other speeches made by Mr. Buchanan at this sessipn 
 were of far less national importance though embracing a dis- 
 cussion of some of our most important public interests. As 
 the foregoing speech, however, ^vas made apon a question that 
 involved a radical departure from fundamental law, we have 
 thought it most important ol any, for it shows how sternly and 
 resolutely he has always maintained democratic principles, and 
 how senseless are the accusations of his enemies, that he was 
 ever the advocate of those opprobrious doctrines which have 
 made the otherwise respectable name of federal, a term of 
 odium and reproach. This long and stormy Congress was 
 brought to a close on the 4th of March, 1839, and although it 
 had not completed the principal measure Mr. Van Buren had 
 in view — the independent treasury system, yet it had laid the 
 foundation forjt, and paved the way for a final divorcement of 
 bauK and State. 
 
284 LITE ASTD 8EEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 The Twenty-sixth Congress — The Independent Treasury — Mr. Buchanan'^ great 
 Speech — His reply to Hon. John Davis. 
 
 The twenty-sixth Congress, the last under Mr. Van Buren's 
 administration, commenced its first session on the 2d of Decem- 
 ber, 1839. It was a protracted and important session, and did 
 not close its labors until the 18th of July, 1840. Early in 
 December, Hon. Silas Wright gave notice of a biU " to more 
 effectually secure the public money in the hands of the officer? 
 and agents of the government," and which is subsantially the 
 independent treasury system now in existence. This was a call 
 to combatbetween the forces of the old federal bank system, and 
 the advocates of separating the government from all connec- 
 tions with such institutions. Silas Wright was the recognized 
 leader of the measure of the administration on the floor of the 
 Senate. The contest was a most desperate one. It was the 
 expiring effort of a giant monster — the death struggle of the 
 alliance between the government and the banks. At this day 
 it is perfectly astonishing to read the disasters predicted from 
 the passage of this measure, even by men who have great repu- 
 tations as shrewd statesmen. The country at the time was, no 
 doubt, in a most unfortunate financial condition, the effects of 
 a period of paper currency expansion never before equalled in 
 the history of our country. The measure advocated by the demo- 
 cratic party was just the one to prevent the recurrence of such 
 a catastrophe ; yet the bill was fought against by its enemies 
 with a resistance that can scarcely be imagined. Even after it 
 
THE mCEPENDENT TEEABUKT. 285 
 
 had passed, and nothing remained but the form of agreeing to 
 its title, its opponents pursued the beneficent act as if it were a 
 malignant virus which, after it had entered the public system, 
 could produce only disease and death. A member of the House 
 from Pennsylvania proposed to entitle the bill an act " to 
 reduce the value of property, the products of the farmer, and 
 the ^^^ages of labor ; to destroy the indebted portions of the 
 community, and to place the treasury of the nation in the hands 
 of the President." Mr. Clay declared that " the certain tendency 
 of the measure would be to reduce prices ;'' and all pictured 
 only ruin, devastation and destruction to every business and 
 occupation ia society. Undaunted, however, amid the storm 
 that surrounded them, that important bill was sustained by the 
 democratic members, and finally passed the Senate by a vote 
 of 24 to 18, and the House by a majority of 124 to 10*7. The final 
 result, however, was not reached until the 30th of June, when 
 the presidential election of 1840 began to assume the enthusi- 
 astic spirit, which finally turned a victory into a rout. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's great speecli upon the Independent Treasury 
 BUI was deKvered in reply to Mr. Clay, on the 22d of January, 
 1840. Like all of his efforts, it was able, dignified, and pro- 
 found. It contains, without doubt, the best synopsis of the 
 science of political economy, the relation between capital and 
 labor, that has ever been presented by any American states- 
 man. Most assuredly it has never been surpassed, and we 
 believe not equalled. Mr. Buchanan, at the time of the deUvery 
 of this speech, had been familiar with the policy of our gov- 
 ernment for twenty years ; he had passed through financial 
 revulsions before ; he had studied the effect of extravagant 
 bank expansions, and could place his finger upon the errors of 
 the past, and, like a skillful maihier, direct how to avoid the 
 shoals and quicksands that might lie in the futare. What 
 makes his views of more importance, is the fact that time has 
 proved their accuracy. The speech, however, is so long, and 
 goes so much into financial and commercial detaUs that we have 
 
286 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 uot tuought it interesting to give it entire, especially as he 
 delivered a shorter one immediately after, in reply to the Hon. 
 John Davis, of Massachusetts, which contains, in a much more 
 condensed form, all the facts and arguments of the first one. 
 We cannot, however, refrain from giving the following extract 
 from the main speech, in which he explains th6 disastrous 
 effects of extravagant bank expansions upon all the multifar 
 rious interests of society. After showing what evils this course 
 had produced in England, he said : 
 
 "But why need we resort to foreign nations for Ulustriitions 
 of the truth of this position, when it has been brought home to 
 the actual knowledge of every man within this country ? Have 
 we not all learned by bitter experience, that when our periodi- 
 cal expansions commence, the price of all property begins to 
 rise ? It goes on increasing with the increasing expansions, 
 until the bubble bursts, and then bank accommodations and 
 bank issues are contracted, the amount of property is reduced, 
 and prices fall to their former level. This is the history of our 
 own country, and we all. know it. A certain amount of cur- 
 rency is necessary to represent the entire exchangeable pro- 
 perty of a country, and if this amount should be greatly 
 increased without a corresponding increase in the exchangeable 
 productions of the country, the only consequence would be a 
 great enhancement in nominal prices. I say nominal, because 
 this increased price will not enable the man who receives it to 
 purchase mote real property, or more of the necessaries and 
 luxuries of life than he could have done before. 
 
 " Let me now recur to the proposition with which I com- 
 menced ; and I wiU repeat that I do not pretend to mathematical 
 accuracy in the illustration which I shall present. The United 
 States carry on a trade with Germany and Prance, the former 
 a hard money country, and the latter approaching it so nearly 
 as to have no bank notes in circulation under the denomination 
 of five hundred francs, or nearly one hundred dollai-s. On the 
 
SPEECH ON THE INDEPEJTDENT TKEAStTET. 281 
 
 contrary, the United States is emphatically a paper money 
 country, haying eight hundred banks of issue, all of them emit- 
 ting notes of a denomination as low as five dollars, and most of 
 them one, two, and three dollar notes. For every dollar of 
 gold and silver in the vaults of these banks, they issue three, 
 four, five, and some of them as high as ten and even fifteen 
 dollars of paper. This produces a vast but ever changing 
 expansion of the currency, and a consequent increase of the 
 prices of all articles, the value of which is not regulated by the 
 foreign demand above the prices of similar articles in Germany 
 and. France. At particular stages of our expansions, we might, 
 with justice, apply the principle which I have stated to our 
 trade with these countries, and assert that, from the great 
 redundancy of our currency, articles are manufactured in 
 Prance and Germany for half their actual cost in this country. 
 Let me present an example. In Germany, where the currency 
 is purely metallic, and the cost of everything is reduced to a 
 hard money standard, a piece of broadcloth can be manufac- 
 tured for fifty dollars, the manufacture of which in our country, 
 from the expansion of our paper currency, would cost one hun- 
 dred dollars. What is the consequence ? The foreign French 
 or German manufacturer imports his cloth into our country, 
 and sells it for onfe hundred dollars. Does not every person 
 perceive that the redundancy of our currency is equal to one 
 hundred per cent, in favor of the foreign manufacturer ? No 
 tariff of protection, unless it amounted to prohibition, could 
 counteract this advantage in favor of foreign manufacturers. I 
 would to Heaven that I could arouse the attention of every 
 manufacturer in the nation to this important subject. 
 
 " The foreign manufacturer will not receive our bank notes in 
 payment. He will take nothing home except gold and silver, 
 or bills of exchange, which are equivalent. He does not expend 
 this money here, where he would be compelled to support his 
 family, and to purchase his labor and materials at the same 
 rate of prices which he receives for his manufactures. On the 
 
288 LIFE AND SKEVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 contrary, he goes home, purchases his labor, his wool and all 
 other articles which enter into manufacture, at half their cost 
 in this country, and again returns to inundate us with foreign 
 woollens, and to rain our domestic manufactures. I might cite 
 many other examples ; but this I trust wOl be sufficient to draw 
 public attention to the subject. This depreciation of our cur- 
 rency is, therefore, equlTalent to a direct protection granted to 
 the foreign over the domestic manufacturer. It is impossible 
 that our manufacturers should be able to sustain such an 
 unequal competition. 
 
 " Sir, I solemnly beliere that if we could but reduce this in- 
 flated paper bubble to anything like reasonable dimensions, 
 New England would become the most prosperous manufacturing 
 country that the sun ever shone upon. Why cannot we manu- 
 facture goods, and especially cotton goods, which will go into 
 successful competition with British manufactures in foreign mar^ 
 kets ? Hare we not the necessary capital ? Have we not the 
 industry ? Have we not the machinery ? And, above all, are 
 not our skUl, energy, and enterprise proverbial throughout the 
 world ? Land is also cheaper here than in any other country 
 on the face of the earth. We possess every advantage which 
 Providence can bestow upon us for the manufacture of cotton ; 
 but they are all counteracted by the folly* of man. The raw 
 material costs us less than it does the English, because this is an 
 article the price of which depends upon foreign markets, and is 
 not regulated by our own inflated currency. We, therefore, 
 save the freight of cotton across the Atlantic, and that of the 
 manufactured article on its return here. What is the reason 
 that, with all these advantages, and with the prospective duties 
 which our laws afford to the domestic manufacturer of cotton, 
 we cannot obtain exclusive possession of the home market, and 
 successfully contend for the markets of the world ? It is simply 
 because we manufacture at the nominal prices of our own inflated 
 currency, and are compelled to sell at the real prices of other 
 nations. Keduce our nominal to the real standard of prices 
 
SPEECH ON THE INDEPENDENT TEEAStTET. 289 
 
 throughout the world, and you cover our country with blessings 
 and benefits. I wish to Heaven I could speak in a voice loud 
 enough to be heard throughout New England ; because if the 
 attention of the manufacturers could once be directed to the 
 subject, their own intelligence and native sagacity would show 
 them how injuriously they are affected by our bloated banking 
 and credit system, and would enable them to apply the proper 
 corrective. 
 
 " We are also charged by the senator from Kentucky with a 
 desire to reduce the wages of the poor man's labor. We have 
 been often termed Agrarians on our side of the house. It is 
 something new under the sun to hear the senator and his friends 
 attribute to us a desire to elevate the wealthy manufacturer at 
 the expense of the laboring man and "the mechanic. From my 
 soul I respect the laboring man. Labor is the foundation of the 
 wealth of every country ; and the free laborers of the North 
 deserve respect both for their probity and their intelligence. 
 Heaven forbid that I should do them wrong 1 Of all the countries 
 on the earth, we ought to have the most consideration for the 
 laboring man. From the very nature of our institutions, the 
 wheel of fortune is constantly revolving and producing such mu- 
 tations in property, that the wealthy man of to-day may become 
 the poor laborer of to-morrow. Truly, wealth often takes to 
 Itself wings and flies away. A large fortune rarely lasts beyond 
 the third generation, even if it endure so long. We must all 
 know instances of individuals obliged to labor for their daily 
 bread whose grandfathers were men of fortune. The regular 
 process of society would almost seem to consist of the efforts of 
 one class to dissipate the fortunes which they have inherited, 
 whilst another class, by their industry and economy, are regu- 
 larly rising to wealth. We have all, therefore, a common inte- 
 rest, as it is our conmion duty, to protect the rights of the labor- 
 ing man ; and if I believed for a moment that this bill would 
 prove injurious to him, it should meet my unqualified opposition. 
 
 " Although the bUl wiU not have as great an influence as I 
 
 13 
 
290 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUOHANAN. 
 
 could desire, yet, as far as it goes, it will benefit the laboring 
 man as much, and probably more, than any other class of 
 society. What is it he ought mosi to desu-e ? Constant em- 
 ployment, regular wages, and uniform, reasonable prices for the 
 necessaries and comforts of hfe which he requires. Now, su-, 
 what has been his- condition under our system of expansions and 
 contractions ? He has suffered more by them than any other 
 class of society. The rate of his wages is fixed and known ; and 
 they are the last to rise with the increasing expansion, and the 
 first to fall when the corresponding revulsion occurs. He still 
 continues to receive his dollar per day, whilst the price of every 
 article which he consumes is rapidly rising. He is at length 
 made to feel that, although he nominally earns as much, or even 
 more than he did formerly,' yet, from the increased price of all 
 the necessaries of life, he cannot support his family. Hence, 
 the strikes for higher wages, and the uneasy and excited feel- 
 ings which have at different periods existed among the laboring 
 classes. But the expansion at length reaches the exploding 
 point, and what does the laboring man now suffer ? He is for 
 a season thrown out of employment altogether. Our manufac- 
 tures are suspended ; our public works are stopped ; our pri- 
 vate enterprises are abandoned ; and whUst others are able to 
 weather the storm, he can scarcely procure the means of bare 
 subsistence. 
 
 " Again, sir, who do you suppose held the greatest part of 
 the worthless paper of the one hundred and sixty-five broken 
 banks to which I have referred ? Certainly it was not the keen 
 and wary speculator, who snuffs danger from afar. If you were 
 to make the search, you will find more broken bank notes in the 
 cottages of the laboring poor than anywhere else. And these 
 miserable shinplasters, where are they ? After the revolution 
 of 1837, laborers were glad to obtain employment on any terms ; 
 and ihey often received it upon the express condition that they 
 should accept this worthless trash in payment. Sir, an entire 
 suppression of all bank notes of a lower denomination than the 
 
SPEECH ON THE IHOEPENDENT TEEASUET. 291 
 
 value of one week's wages of the laboring man, is absolutely 
 necessary for Ms protection. He ought always to receive his 
 wages in gold and silver. Of all men on the earth, the laborer 
 is most interested in having a sound and stable currency. 
 
 " The sound state of the currency will have another most 
 happy effect upon the laboring man. He wOl receive his wages 
 in gold and silver ; and this will induce him to lay up, for 
 future use, such a portion of them as he can spare, after satisfy- 
 ing his immediate wants. This he vrill not do at present, 
 because he knows not whether the trash which he is now com- 
 pelled to receive as money, will continue toTbe of any value a 
 week or a month hereafter. A knowledge of this fact tends to 
 banish economy from his dwelling, and induces him to expend 
 all his wages as rapidly as possible, lest they may become 
 worthless on his hands. 
 
 " Sir, the laboring classes understand this subject perfectly. 
 It is the hard-handed and firm-fisted men of the country on 
 whom we must rely in the day of danger, who are the most 
 , friendly to the passage of this bill. It is they who are the most 
 ardently in favor of infasing into the currency of the country a 
 very large amount of the precious metals." 
 
 No one at this day will pretend to question the accuracy of the 
 above remarks. Indeed, they evince a political sagacity, amid 
 the delusions of the time on the currency question, so in- 
 dustriously maintained by those interested in banks, that does 
 infinite credit to the statesmanship of Mr. Buchanan. It is not 
 too much to say that this manly and able defence of the rights 
 of the laboring classes has saved thousands, yes, hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars to the men ,who earn their living by the 
 sweat of their brows. And not these classes alone have been 
 benefited, but every business man has reaped innumerable bles- 
 sings, in the uniformity and healthful activity which the adop- 
 tion of the principles Mr. Buchanan advocated with so much 
 earnestness and ability, has secured to every department of in- 
 
292 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BtTCHASTAU. 
 
 dustrial, manufacturing or mercantile pursuits. But how has Mr. 
 Buchanan been repaid for this defence of the interests of his coun- 
 try 1 No reasonable man would suspect from the foregoing ex- 
 tract we have given from his great speech in answer to Mr. 
 Clay, that Mr. Buchanan was not advocating the interests of the 
 laboring man. Yet, upon this, Mr. John Davis, of Massachusetts, 
 founded a speech of a most unjust and unfair character, charging 
 Mr. Buchanan with being in favor of low wages, and from this 
 have^the many newspaper slanders on this subject originated. It 
 is this speech in reply to Mr. Davis which we now give, and a more 
 searching and indignant exposition of the meanness of an oppo- 
 nent in putting words in the mouth of his adversary, we have 
 never encountered : 
 
 " Mr. President : I rise to perform a painful, but imperious 
 duty, which I owe to myself. The speech which I lately deliv- 
 ered in favor of the independent treasury bUl, has been made 
 the subject of criticism and censure in another part of this Capi- 
 tol ; under what rule of order, I confess I cannot comprehend. 
 In some portions of the country, at public meetings, and in the 
 public press, I have been denounced as the enemy of the labor- 
 ing man, and have been charged with a desire to reduce his 
 wages, and depress his condition to that of the degraded serfs, 
 of the European despotisms. Sentiments have been attributed to 
 me, which I never uttered, and which my soul abhors. I repeat 
 what I declared in that speech, that if I could believe for a mo- 
 ment that the independent treasury bUl would prove injurious 
 to the laboring man, it would meet my unqualified opposi- 
 tion. 
 
 " I had intended to embrace the first opportunity which pre- 
 sented of doLog myself justice upon this subject. Business called 
 me away, and I was absent whilst the senator from Kentucky 
 (Mr. Crittenden) addressed the Senate on the resolutions now 
 before it. I understood that he had referred to the wages of 
 labor, in no offensive terms to me, however, but in such a man- 
 
HIS EEPLT TO HON. JOHN DATIS. 293 
 
 ner as to have presented the opportunity which I so much de- 
 sired. When the senator from New York (Mr. Tallmadge) 
 afterwards alluded to the same Subject, the debate had assumed 
 a personal character, and I was not the man to interfere 
 against him in such a contest. He had said nothing which 
 could excite a disposition on my part to pursue such a course. 
 
 " Had I obtained the floor at any time during the last week, 
 my explanation would have been short and simple. The means, 
 and the only means, by which it was alleged that I had sought 
 to reduce the wages of labor to the standard of the hard money 
 despotisms of Europe, was, by the introduction of an exclusive 
 metalKc currency into this country. Now, to such a radical 
 change in our currency, I have forever been opposed. I have 
 avowed my opposition repeatedly upon this floor and elsewhere, 
 and never more distinctly, than in my late speech in favor of the 
 independent treasury bill. My motto has always been to reform, 
 not to destroy the banks ; and I have endeavored to prove — 
 with what success I must leave the public to judge — that such 
 a radical reform in these institutions as would prevent violent 
 expansions and contractions of the currency, and thus enable 
 them always to redeem their notes in specie, would prove emi- 
 nently beneficial to all classes of society, but more especially to 
 the laboring man. 
 
 " On Saturday evening last, a message was sent me by a 
 friend, requesting me to examine the published speech of the 
 senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Davis) and suggesting that it 
 contained an erroneous statement of the arguments which I had 
 used in favor of the independent treasury bill. I examined his 
 speech in the ' National Intelligencer,' having never read it be- 
 fore, and I confess it struck me with the utmost astonishment. 
 I found that, throughout, he had attributed to me arguments 
 in favor of the bill which I never used — nay, more, that the ob- 
 jections of the bUl, which I had endeavored to combat, had been 
 imputed to me as the very arguments which I urged in its 
 favor. 
 
294 LIFE AHD 8EEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANilT. 
 
 " I shall proceed to make some remarks upon his speech. In 
 performing this duty, it is my sole purpose to justify myself; 
 without feeling the slightest disposition to do him injury. 
 
 " In my remarks, I urged the passage of the independent 
 treasury bill, because it would separate the banks from the 
 government, and would render the money of the people always 
 secure, and always ready to promote their prosperity in peace, 
 and to defend them in war. Great as are the advantages, 
 direct and indirect, which the country wUl derive from the pas- 
 sage of this bill, I knew that it could accomplish little or noth- 
 ing towards reforming our paper currency, or. retaining the 
 banks within safe limits. This opinion I have declared upon 
 all occasions, and never more emphatically than in my late 
 speech. I stated that the additional demand for gold and sil- 
 ver which it might create, would not exceed five millions of 
 dollars per annum, according to the President's estimate, and 
 that although this might compel the banks to keep more spe- 
 cie in their vaults in proportion to their circulation and depo- 
 sits, yet that it would prove but a very inadequate restraint 
 upon excessive banking. Nay, more ; I plumed myself upon 
 the fact that I had been the first to suggest the amendment 
 requiring the holders of treasury drafts to present them for pay- 
 ment to the depositors, with as little delay as possible, for the 
 express purpose of saving the banks from the injury which might 
 be inflicted upon them by locking up a large surplus of revenue 
 in gold and silver, in the vaults of the depositories, and I en- 
 deavored to prove, not only by my own argument, but by the 
 authority of one of the most distinguished financiers that his- 
 tory has ever produced, that the bank never could be iryured 
 by the adoption of the independent treasury bill, unless in the 
 event of a large surplus revenue, which would not probably 
 soon occur. I also stated that it would thus become their inter- 
 est, as it already was that of the rest of the community, to pre- 
 vent the accumulation of such a surplus. In referring to the 
 blessings wMch wojild flow to the laboring man from the exist- 
 
HIS REPLY TO HON. JOHN DAVIS. 293 
 
 ence of a sound mixed currency, whose basis should be gold and 
 silver, I expressly declared that the bill would exeroise lo great 
 influence in producing this desirable result. 
 
 " Again, in speaking of the effect which this measure would 
 produce in reducing the amount of our imports — a consumma- 
 tion devoutly desired by all — what was my argument ? That 
 the bill would, in some degree, especially after June, 1842, 
 diminish our imports ; because we should then have a system 
 of cash duties, which would operate as an encouragement to 
 our domestic manufactures. 
 
 " One of the great objects of my speech was to answer the 
 objections which had been urged against the independent 
 treasury bill, by proving that it would not injuriously influence 
 the business of the country in the manner which had been 
 predicted by its enemies, and especially that it would produce 
 little or no effect upon the sound and solvent banks of the 
 country. I thought I had succeeded. It certainly never en- 
 tered into my conception that any person on the face of the 
 earth could so far have mistaken my meaning as to attri- 
 bute to me arguments in favor of the bill,_ as directly oppo- 
 site to those which I urged as darkness is to light. 
 
 " Tou may judge, then, Mr. President, of my astonishifient, 
 when, in *the very second paragraph of the speech of the 
 senator from Massachusetts, I read the following sentence : 
 
 " ' The senator from Mississippi (Mr. Walker) with his 
 usual acknowledged ability, and the distinguished senator from 
 Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan) following in his track, have ad- 
 vanced the propositions that the embarrassments and distress 
 with which the country has been grievously afflicted for several 
 years past, and which now paralyze all its energies, are im- 
 putable to the pernicious influence of bank paper, that this 
 bill (the Independent Treasury bill) contains the neccessary 
 corrective, as it wUl check importations of foreign goods, sup- 
 press what they call the credit system, and by restoring a 
 specie currency, reduce the wages of labor and the value of 
 
296 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 I 
 
 property. Thjs is the character given to the measure by its 
 friends ; and alarming as the doctrines are, I am gratified 
 that they are frankly avowed.' 
 
 "" Now, sir, I openly declare in the face of the Senate and 
 the world, not only that no such doctrines were ever avowed by 
 me, but that these remarks of the senator are palpable, I will 
 not say interitional, misrepresentations both of the letter and 
 spirit of my speech. 
 
 " What, sir 1 to attribute to me the remark, that this bUl, 
 by applying the necessary corrective to the pernicious influence 
 of bank paper, ' and by thus restoring a specie currency ' will 
 produce the disastrous consequences which he has enumerated, 
 when a considerable portion of my argument was devoted to 
 prove that the bill would produce no injurious effect whatever 
 upon the sound and solvent banks of the country 1 Nay, more, 
 that it would exert but a very trifling influence, indeed, if any, 
 even in restraining within safe limits their loans and issues. 
 Now, sir, it may be very ingenious, but it is certainly not very 
 fair, to put into the mouth of a friend of the biU, as arguments 
 in its favor, the strongest objections which have been urged 
 against it by its enemies. These would be so many admissions 
 of its fatal consequences, and they would be the stronger when 
 converted into arguments in its favor by one of its friends. 
 Against the whole interest of my remarks — against my express 
 and reiterated declarations, both upon this and former occasions, 
 that I was no friend to an exclusive hard money currency, but 
 was in favor of well regulated State banks, how could the senar 
 tor be BO far mistaken as to sit down and deliberately write that 
 I had urged in favor of this bill, that it would restore a specie 
 currency, and thereby reduce the wages of labor and the value 
 of property?.! leave it for him to answer the question accord- 
 ing to his own sense of justice towards a brother senator who 
 had never done him harm. 
 
 " But the senator does not stop here. Throughout his whole 
 speech he imputes to me the use of such arguments in favor of 
 
HIS EEPLT TO HON. JOHN DAVIS. 297 
 
 the bill as I have stated, and dwells upon them at length — 
 arguments which if I had ever used, would prove conclusively 
 that I was an enemy of the bill which I professed to advocate, 
 and that scarcely even in disguise. This is the light in which he 
 presents me before the world. Towards the conclusion of his 
 speech, he caps the climax. He says : 
 
 " ' To foUow out the case, I have supposed : The income of 
 every man except the exporter, is to be reduced one half in the 
 value of wages and property, while all foreign merchandise will 
 cost the same, which will obviously, in effect, double the price, 
 as it will take twice the amount of labor, or twice the amount 
 of the products of labor, to purchase it.' 
 
 " I do not ascribe this power to the bill, but it is enough for 
 me that its friends do. What response will the farmers, me- 
 chanics, manufacturers, and laborers make to such a flagitious 
 proposition ? ~ 
 
 " And all this, the senator says in a professed reply to me. 
 He thus charges me with having ascribed to the Independent 
 Treasury bill the power of reducing the income of every man 
 in the country, ' one half in the value of wages and property.' 
 Had I contended in favor of any such power, well might the 
 senator have said, it was ' a flagitious proposition.' He would 
 almost have been justified in the use of a term so harsh and 
 unparliamentary. 
 
 " Self-respect, as weU as the respect which I owe to the 
 Senate, restrains me from giving such a contradiction to this 
 allegation as it deserves. It would surely not be deemed im- 
 proper, however, in me, if I were to turn to the senator, and 
 apply the epithet which he himself has applied to the proposi- 
 tion he imputes to me, and were to declare that such an impu- 
 tation was a ' flagitious ' misrepresentation of my remarks. 
 
 " So far from imagining that the Independent Treasury bill 
 would restore to the country a metallic currency, I believed 
 that it would exercise but a slight influence in restraining the 
 excesses of the bankmg system. Other and much more efficient 
 
 17* 
 
298 LIFE AND 8EBVIOE8 OE JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 remedies must be adopted by the several States to restrain the 
 excesses, and thus to prevent future suspensions. In my 
 remarks, I stated distinctly what legislation would, I thought, 
 be required to acoompUsh this purpose. In the first place I 
 observed that the banks ought to be compelled to keep in their 
 vaults a certain -fair proportion of specie compared with their 
 circulation and deposits, or in other wtrrds, a certain proportion 
 of immediate specie means, to meet their immediate responsi- 
 bilities. 2d. That the foundation of a specie basis for our 
 paper currency should be laid, by< prohibiting the circulation of 
 bank-notes, at the first, under the denomination of ten, and 
 afterwards, under that of twenty dollars. 3d. That the amount 
 of bank dividends should be limited. 4th. And above all, that 
 upon the occurrence of another suspension, the doors of the 
 bank should be closed at once, and their affairs placed in the 
 hands of Commissioners. A certainty that such must be. the 
 inevitable effect of another suspension, would do more to pre- 
 vent it than any other C£||Use To reform, and not to destroy, 
 was my avowed motto. I know that the existence of banks, 
 and the circulation of bank-paper, are so identified with the 
 habits of our people, that they cannot be abolished, even if 
 this were desirable. 
 
 " Such a reform in the banking system, as I have indicated, 
 would benefit every class of society, but above all others, the 
 man who makes his living by the sweat of his brow. The 
 object at which I aimed by these reforms was not a pure 
 metallic currency, but a currency of a mixed character ; the ' 
 paper portion of it always convertible into gold and silver, and 
 subject to as httle fluctuation in amount as the regular business 
 of the country would admit. Of all reforms, this is' what the 
 mechanic and the laboring man ought most to desire. It 
 would produce steady prices and steady employment, and, 
 under its influence the country would march steadily on in its 
 career of prosperity, without suffering from the ruinous expan- 
 sions, and contractions, and explosions which we have en- 
 
HIS KEPLT TO HON. JOHN DAVIS. 299 
 
 dured during the last twenty years. What is most essential to 
 the prosperity of the mechanic and laboring man ? Constant 
 employment, steady and fair wages, with uniform prices for the 
 necessaries and comforts of life which he must purchase, and 
 payment for his labor in a sound currency. 
 
 " Let ns, in these particulars, compare the present condition 
 of the laboring man under the banking system which now 
 exists, with what it would be under such reforms as I have 
 indicated. And first, in regard to constant employment. 
 What is the effect of the present system of bank expansions, 
 and contractions, and revulsions, in this particular ? Is it not 
 absolutely certain, has not experience demonstrated, that under 
 such a system, constant employment is i:endered impossible ? 
 It is true, that during the short period whilst the bubble is 
 expanding, and the banks are increasing their loahs and their 
 issues, labor of every kind finds employment. Then buildings of 
 all sorts are erected, manufactures are established, and the 
 mason, and other mechanics are in demand. Public works are 
 prosecuted, and afford employment to an fmmense number of 
 laborers. The tradesman of every description then finds cus- 
 tomers, because the amount of paper in circulation produces a 
 delusive appearance of prosperity, and promotes a spirit of 
 extravagance. But, sir, under this system the storm is sure to 
 succeed the sunshine, the explosion is certain to follow the 
 expansion — and when it comes, and we are now suffering under 
 it — what is then the condition of the mechanic and the labor- 
 ing man ? Buildings of every kind cease, manufactories are 
 closed, public works are suspended, and the laboring classes 
 are thrown out of employment altogether. It is enough to 
 make one's heart bleed to reflect upon their sufferings, particu- 
 larly in our large cities, during the past winter. In many in- 
 stances the question with them has not been what amount of 
 wages they could earn, but whether they could procure any 
 smployment which would save them and their families from 
 fitarvation. If our State legislatures, which alone possess the 
 
300 LIl'E AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 power, would but regulate our bloated credit system wisely, by 
 restraining the banks within safe limits, our country would then 
 be permitted to proceed with regular strides, and the laboring 
 men would suffer none of these evils because he would receive 
 constant employment. 
 
 " In the second place, what is the effect of the present sys- 
 tem upon the wages of labor, and upon the price of the neces- 
 saries and comforts of hfe ? It cannot be denied that that 
 country is the most prosperous where labor commands the 
 greatest reward ; but this not for one year merely, not for that 
 short period of time when our bloated credit system Ls most 
 expanded, but for a succession of years, for all time. Permar 
 nence in the rate of wages is indispensable to the prosperity _of 
 the laboring man. He ought to be able to look forward with 
 confidence to the future, to calculate upon being able to rear 
 and educate his family by the sweat of his brow, and to make 
 them respectable and useful citizens. In- this respect, what is 
 the condition of the laboring man under our present system ? 
 Whilst he suffers more under it than any other member of 
 society, he derives from it the fewest advantages. It is a prin- 
 ciple of political economy confirmed by experience, that whilst 
 the paper currency is expanding, the price of everything else 
 increases more rapidly than the wages of labor. They are the 
 last to rise with the expansion, and the first to fall with the 
 contraction of the currency. The price of a day's or of a 
 month's labor of any kind, the price of a hat, of a pair of 
 boots, of a pound of leather, of all articles of furniture ; in 
 short, of manual and mechanical labor generally, is fixed and 
 known to the whole community. The purchaser complains 
 when these fixed prices are enhanced, and the mechanic or 
 laborer, in order to retain his customers, cannot and does not 
 raise his price until he is compelled to do so by absolute neces- 
 sity. His meat, his flour, his potatoes, clothing for himself and 
 family, mount up to an extravagant price long before hij com- 
 pensation is increased. It was formerly supposed that the pro- 
 
HIS EEPLT TO HON. JOHN DAVIS. 301 
 
 dactions of meat and flonr were so vast in our extended and 
 highly favored land, that a monopoly of them would be impos-- 
 sible. The experience of the last two or three years has 
 proved the contrary. The banks, instead of giving credit in 
 small sums to honest men, who would have used the money 
 wisely in promoting their own welfare, and as a necessary con- 
 sequence, that of the community, have loaned it to monopolists, 
 to enable them to raise the price of the necessaries of life to 
 the consumer. Have we not all learned that a million of dol- 
 lars have been advanced by them to an individual for the pur- 
 pose of enabling him to monopolize the sale of all the beef 
 consumed in our eastern cities ? Do we not aU know that this 
 effort proved successful during the last year in raising the price 
 of this necessary of life to twelve and sixteen cents, and even 
 higher, per pound. Now, sir, although the wages of the labor- 
 ing man were then nominally high, what was his condition ? 
 He could not afford to go into the market and purchase beef 
 for his family. ^ If his wages increased with the increasing ex- 
 pansion of onr credit system, aggravated in its effects by the 
 immense sales of State bonds of Europe, still the prices of all 
 the necessaries of life rose in a greater proportion, and he was 
 not benefited. I might mention also, the vast monopoly of 
 pork, produced by a combination of individuals, extending from 
 Boston to Cincinnati, which, by means of bank facilities, suc- 
 ceeded in raising the price of that necessary of life to an 
 enormous pitch. What then did the laborer gain, even at the 
 time of the greatest expansion? Nothing — literally nothing. 
 The laborers were a suffering class even in the midst of all this 
 delusive prosperity. Instead of being able to lay by anything 
 for the present day of adversity, which was a necessary conse- 
 quence of the system, the laborer was even then scarcely able 
 to maintain himself and hi? family. His condition has been 
 terrible during the past winter. In view of these facts, I said — 
 
 " ' All other circumstances being equal, I agree with the sena 
 
102 LIFE AND EEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAH'AN. 
 
 tor from Kenluoky that that counti-y is most prosperous when 
 [abor commands the highesfwages. I do not, however, mean 
 by the terms " highest wages " the greatest nominal amount 
 During the revolutionary war, one day's work commanded a 
 hundred dollars of continental paper ; but this would scarcely 
 have purchased a breakfast. The more proper expression 
 would be to say, that that country is most prosperous where 
 labor commands the greatest reward — where one day's labor 
 will procure, not the greatest nominal amount of a depreciated 
 curreupy, but most of the necessaries and comforts of life. If, 
 therefore, you should, in some degree, reduce the nominal price 
 paid for labor, by reducing the amount of your bank issues 
 within reasonable and safe limits, and establishing- a metallic 
 basis for your paper circulation, would this injure the laborer ? 
 Certainly not ; because the price of aU .the necessaries and 
 comforts of life are reduced in the same proportion, and he will 
 be able to purchase more of them for one dollar in a sound 
 state of the currency, than he could have done in the days of 
 extravagant expansion for a dollar and a quarter. So far from 
 injuring, it will greatly benefit the laboring man. It will insure 
 to him constant employment, and regular prices, paid in a 
 sound currency, which of all things he ought most to desire ; 
 and it will save him from being involved in ruin by a recur- 
 rence of those periodica] expansions and contractions of the 
 currency, which have hitherto convulsed the country.' 
 
 " Now, sir, is not my meaning clearly expressed in this para- 
 graph ? I contended that it would not injure but greatly bene- 
 fit the laboring man, to prevent the violent and ruinous expan- 
 sions and contractions to which our currency was incident, and 
 by judicious bank reform, to place it on a settled basis. If 
 this were done, what would be the ponsequence ? That, if the 
 laboring man could not receive as great a nominal amount for 
 his labor as he did •-■ in the days of extravagant expansion,' 
 which must always, under our present system, be of short dura- 
 
HIS REPLY TO HON. JOHN DAVIS. 303 
 
 tion, lie would be indemnified, and far more than indemnified, 
 by the constant employment, the regular wages, and the uni- 
 form and more moderate prices of the necessaries and comforts 
 of life, which a more stable currency would produce. Can this 
 proposition be controverted ? I think not ; it is too plain for 
 argument. Mark, me, sir ; I desire to produce this happy 
 result not by establishing a pure metallic currency, but by 
 reducing the amount of your bank issues within reasonable and 
 safe limits and establishing a metallic basis- for your paper cir- 
 culation. The idea plainly expressed is, that it is better, much 
 better, for the laboring man, as well as for every other class of 
 society, except the speculator, that the business of the country 
 should be placed upon that fixed and permanent foundation 
 which would be laid by establishing such a bank reform as 
 would render it certain that bank notes should be always con- 
 vertible into gold and silver. 
 
 " Aild yet this plain and. sirfiple exposition of my views has 
 been seized upon by those who desired to make poHtical capi- 
 tal out of their perversion ; and it has been represented far 
 and wide, that it was my desire to reduce wages down to the 
 prices received by the miserable serfs and laborers of European 
 despotisms. I shall most cheerfully leave the pubKc to decide 
 between me and my traducers. The senator from Massachu- 
 setts," after having attributed to me the intention of reducing 
 the wages of labor to the hard money standard, through the 
 agency of the Independent Treasury Bill, has added, as an 
 appendix to Ms speech, a statement made by- the senator 
 from Maryland (Mr. Merrick), of the prices of labor in these 
 hard money despotisms ; and it is thus left to be inferred that 
 I am in favor of reducing the honest and independent laborer 
 of this glorious and free country to the same degraded condi- 
 tion. The senator ought to know that there is too much intel- 
 ligence among the laboring classes in this highly favored land, 
 to be led astray by such representations. 
 
 Payment of wages in a sound currency. Under the pres- 
 
304 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ent unrestricted banking system tMs is entirely out of the 
 question. Nothing can ever produce this effect, except the 
 absolute prohibition of the issue and circulation of small notes. 
 As long as bank notes exist of denominations so low as to ren- 
 der it possible to make them the medium of payment for a day's 
 or a week's labor, so long will the laboring man be compelled 
 to accept the very worst of these notes for his wages. Unless 
 it may be at periods of the highest expansion, when labor ia 
 in the very greatest demand, notes of doubtful credit will 
 always be forced upon him. This was emphatically the case 
 after the explosion of the banks in 1831. He could then procure 
 nothing for his work, but the miserable shinplaster-currency with 
 which the country was inundated. This he would not lay by for 
 a rainy day, because he did not know at what moment it might 
 become altogether worthless on his hands. The effect of it was 
 to destroy all habits of economy. Besides, as a class, laborers 
 suffer more from counterfeit and broken bank-notes than any 
 other class of society. In order to afford the laborer the neces- 
 sary protection against these evils, he ought always to be paid, 
 and would from necessity always be paid, in gold and silver, if 
 the issue and circulation of small notes were entirely prohibited. 
 " Thus, it will be perceived, that without the imposition of 
 wholesome restrictions upon the banks, the laboring man can 
 never expect to receive either constant employment or steady 
 and fair wages, paid in a sound currency ; or to pay uniform 
 prices for the necessaries and comforts of hfe, vhich he is 
 obliged to purchase. Under our present system everything is 
 in a state of constant fluctuation and change. Prices are high 
 to-day, low to-morrow. Labor is in demand to-day, there is 
 no employment to-morrow. There is no stabUity, no unifor- 
 mity under our present system. Of all men, laborers are the 
 most interested in such a wise regulation of the banking system 
 by the States, as would prevent the violent expansions and 
 contractions in the currency, and the consequent suspensions of 
 specie payments under which we have been suffering. 
 
THE LOW WAGES SLAITDEB. 305 
 
 " Why, sir, under our present system, we endure tlie evils 
 both of an exclusive hard money currency and a bloated paper 
 system, without experiencing the benefits of either. The one 
 is the inevitable consequence of the other. At the present 
 moment, we have reached a point of depression in the currency 
 which the senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun), con- 
 siders as low, or lower, than the hard money standard. Here 
 we are without credit, because no man for the prosecution of 
 his necessary business, can procure a loan from the banks. 
 They are now in that state of exhaustion which is the inevita- 
 ble consequence of their former highly excited action. The 
 case which senators supposed might exist should we suddenly 
 adopt a hard money currency, exists already. It is now fact, 
 and not fancy. The man who purchased a property but one 
 year ago, in the days of the highest expansion, for two thou- 
 sand dollars, and paid half the purchase-money upon it, could 
 at this moment of depression, scarcely sell it for the remaining 
 one thousand dollars. This is one of the greatest evUs of our 
 present ever-changing system ; but, such things must recur 
 and recur again for ever, unless some efficient remedy shaE be 
 applied." 
 
 This triumphant reply to the special pleading and sophistry 
 of Mr. Davis, was not the last compliment Mr. Buchanan paid 
 that individual foi- his attack upon him. The matter would 
 not have been of so much consequence, had it not been that it 
 was just previous to a presidential election, and the charge of - 
 the administration being in favor of " low wages,", was likely to 
 be used with some advantage as an eleptioneering cry in the 
 contest. Mr. Davis, in his reply to Mr. Buchanan, insisted 
 upon the most unreasonable and outrageous interpretation to 
 his remarks. The enemies to the Independent Treasury had 
 used as their principal argument against it, "that it would 
 reduce the wages of labor." The answer to this was, " no, it 
 wUl TUft have such an effect. It will give labor a much better 
 
306 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 reward than formerly, but should, perchance, the nominal stand- 
 ard of wages be reduced below what it is when everything, as 
 during a bank expansion, is at speculative prices, still the real 
 reward of labor will not be reduced. This is the argument on 
 both sides in a nutshell, and yet because the friends of the 
 administration allowed that prices of all things would be less 
 when there were no bank-expansions than when there were, 
 they were charged with being in favor of " low wages." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan showed that the laboring man was never 
 benefited by extravagant speculation. Said Mr. B., " It brings 
 to him nothing but unmitigated evil, because the increased 
 prices which he is compelled to pay for the necessaries and " 
 comforts of hfe, counterbalance, and more than counterbal- 
 ance, this advantage. What he desires is regularity and sta- 
 bility in the business of the country." But what made the 
 offence of Mr. Davis more palpable and condemnatory, was the 
 fact, that after Mr. Buchanan had replied and disavowed any 
 such sentiments as had been attributed to him, he refused to 
 make {he amende honorable, and still continued his pettifogging 
 play upon words. Eeferring to this, in his last reply to Mr. 
 Davis, Mr. Buchanan, who rarely becomes excited, and must 
 be very grossly wronged before he would speak in terms of 
 denunciation of any one, said : " But when the senator thought 
 proper ±o treat my complaints with scorn and contempt, which 
 he said they deserved, I believed it to be a duty which I owed 
 to myself to hurl back his defiance, and he may make the most 
 of it." 
 
 The good use to which it was supposed this wholesale fabri- 
 cation could be put in the coming presidential election was 
 doubtless the reason which induced the opponents of the ad- 
 ministration to adhere to it so tenaciously. The cry doubtless 
 did have some effect, and it is a lamentable evidence of the 
 malevolence of party spirit that- although the independent 
 treasury upon which Mr. Buchanan's arguments were founded 
 has been ten years in operation, and every one of Ms positions 
 
ELECTION OF GEN. HAEEISON. 307 
 
 have been ratified by time and experience, yet there are now 
 found, unfortunately for the credit of human nature, persons 
 who give this slander either a direct or partial endorsement. 
 
 And here it is but-proper to refer to Mr. Buchanan's conduct 
 while smarting under the gross wrong which had been done 
 him by Mr. Davis. While most men would have denounced Mr. 
 Davis in language such as his conduct really deserved. Mr. 
 Buchanan remembering his place and position, and that the 
 Senate was not the arena for personalities, avoided all severe 
 denunciations. The strongest remark of a personal character 
 which he indulged in was to say " that Mr. Davis was unworthy 
 of the courtesy which one gentleman owes to another," and con- 
 tinued Mr. Buchanan, " I ask the pardon of every other mem- 
 ber of the Senate for using such an expression." Considering 
 the character of the assault upon him, this language may be 
 considered unusually mUd. Mr. Buchanan was always a reso- 
 lute opponent of every thing like personahty in the Senate, 
 considering and justly, too, that individuals who are privileged 
 by law, and have only their honor to restrain them in their lan- 
 guage, should be the last to abuse that freedom of speech 
 granted to them for the good of their country and the safety 
 of its institutions. 
 
 We have now given an account of the principal debate of 
 this session, but it comprises only a small portion of the actual 
 discussion which occurred. Besides the* speeches which Mr. 
 Buchanan dehvered on the Independent Treasury bill, he took 
 part in an animated debate upon the circulation of small notes, the 
 expenditures of the government, etc. The stormy session, how- 
 ever, came to a close upon the 30th of June in the midst of 
 the most remarkable presidential contest that our country has 
 ever experienced. When the next session of this Congress 
 assembled on the 7th of December, 1840, the whirlwind had 
 spent its force ; the misrepresentations and abuse of the democracy 
 which had been accumulating for years, had effected their pur- 
 
308 LIFE AND SEETIOES OF JAMES BTJCHANAN. 
 
 pose. General Harrison had been elected and tlie democratic 
 party was temporarily prostrated, not by the strength of its 
 foes, but paradoxical as it may seem, by the very weakness of its 
 enemies. 
 
 The second session of the twenty-sixth Congress was not an 
 important one. The democracy were confounded but not dis- 
 mayed ; astonished but not overcome, confident that it wa« 
 but a freak of the popular wiU which "the sober second 
 thought,'' as Mr. Buchanan announced in the, early part of the 
 session, would soon set right. The most important bUl bronghl 
 up at this session was the proscription desired to be apphed 
 to foreigners in regard to the pre-emption right to pubHc lands, 
 Mr. Buchanan was again compelled to come to the rescue. He 
 said, " he could not understand the opposition which had beer 
 manifested hi certain quarters to foreigners, who sought s 
 refuge and a home in our country. Had they not materiallj 
 assisted in achieving our independence ? In the days of the 
 revolution no such jealousy was felt towards the brave Irish- 
 men", Frenchmen, and Germans, who side by side with our na 
 tural citizens had fought the battles of liberty. On the contrarj 
 he had no doubt, it was from a grateful sense of their services, 
 that it had ever been the settled policy of our government t( 
 allow them to purchase our vacant lands upon the same termi 
 with American citizens." 
 
 The well known fact, however, that the next Congress wai 
 whig, prevented any important legislation by the party now i)J 
 power. The democrats were more anxious to see the inaugura 
 tion of the measures of the new administration than to presen 
 any of their own. Hence the debates usually run either int 
 a review of the past or speculations in regard to the future 
 There was a man whom Mr. Buchanan never would hear aspersei 
 without coming to his rescue. The day had not then passei 
 when men hoped to make something by attacking Gen. Jacli 
 son. In reply to some remarks by a distinguished senator, Mi 
 Buchanan said : " Gen. Jackson has now retired to the herm 
 
SECOND SESBIOH: of TWENTT-SrSTH C0NGEES8 809 
 
 tage, and may perhaps live to have the judgment of posterity 
 as it were passed upon him. He was an able, sagacious and 
 truly patriotic man ; and I now say that those of us, if there 
 be any such, who shall survive during a quarter of a century 
 longer, will live to see the day when Jackson's name and fame 
 shall be cherished alike by persons of all political parties." 
 Mr. Buchanan was only miataken in one thing, his prediction 
 has become true much sooner than he anticipated. 
 
 This Congress was brought to a close with 4th of March, 
 1841, when Gen. Harrison was duly inaugurated President of 
 the United States, 
 
310 LIFE AlTD 8EEVI0E8 OF JAMES BTTOHANAU. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 An Extra Session of Congress called — Deatb of Gen. Harrison — Accession of Jolin 
 Tyler — The fiscal Bank — The Fiscal Corporation — Mr, Buchanan's Speeches en these 
 Measures — Mr. Clay's Reply — Mr. Buchanan's R^oinder. 
 
 Almost immediately after the accession of Gen. Harrison to 
 the Presidential chair, he issued a proclamation convoking Con- 
 gres, to meet in the extra session on the .31st day of May ensu- 
 ing. . Before, "however, that period arrived, death had removed 
 him from the scene of his duties, and for the first time in our 
 history a President had deceased during the term of his office. 
 Mr. John Tyler, who had been elected Vice President, accord- 
 ing to the Constitution, now became acting Chief Magistrate. 
 The decree which had already gone forth for an extra session 
 was not annulled by Gen. Harrison's successor, and accordingly 
 Congress convened on the day designated. Among the names 
 on the roU of the Senate at this session, were those of Franklin 
 Pierce, Eufus Choate, Silas Wright, W. C. Rives, John C. Cal- 
 houn, Henry Clay, and Thomas H. Benton. In the House were 
 Robert C. Winthrop, John Quincy Adams, Millard PUlmore, 
 Henry A. Wise, Fernando Wood, Aaron Ward, Linn Boyd, and 
 Wm. 0. Butler. 
 
 The very first measure the new party introduced was a bill 
 for the repeal of the Independent Treasury. This was the 
 special object of hatred, as it stood in the way of the establish- 
 ment of a national bank, a brilliant scheme for which Mr. Clay 
 already had in preparation. Nothing could resist the proposed 
 repeal, for a triumphant majority in both houses of Congress 
 
THE FISCAL BAlfK. 311 
 
 demanded it. The democracy resisted it with all their might, 
 but the effort was as useless as their exertions to re-elect Mr. 
 Van Buren had been powerless. It was, indeed, g, dark day. 
 Were all the beneficent reforms which Gen Jackson ]iad 
 labored so long to accomplish to be swept away in a moment ? 
 Were the banks and the government which had been united by 
 Hamilton, and divorced by Jackson and Van Buren to be 
 reunited, and a new national bank be formed even before the 
 injurious effects of the old one h .d passed away? It did seem, 
 indeed, that the severe labors of twelve long years were thus to 
 be rendered useless in one short session. But such was noc the 
 fact. What has been called the treachery of John Tyler by 
 some, and his patriotism by others, prevented these disastrous 
 results. 
 
 Mr. Clay, in the early part of the session, presented his plan 
 of a "Fiscal Bank." In detail it was somewhat different from 
 former national banks, though in principle no wise dissimilar. 
 As Mr. Sil^s Wright had been the chosen champion of the de- 
 mocracy in presenting and carrying through the Independent 
 Treasury bill, so was Mr. Buchanan honored with a like position 
 in combating upon the floor of the Senate the great measure 
 upon which Mr. Clay had staked we may almost say the 
 existence of his party and his reputation as a statesman. No 
 one will deny that Mr. Buchanan did not have a bold, a skillful 
 and powerful antagonist. But he was as honorable, as bold, 
 and as chivaWc in victory as resigned in defeat. Whatever 
 may be gaid of the old whig party, it had noble and honorable 
 leaders, who despised personalities, and who, if fall they must, 
 would do so on the field of manly warfare. The names of Clay 
 and Webster will ever be the synonyms of all that was digni- 
 fied in debate, noble in spirit or generous in personal conduct. 
 To the democracy they were " foemen worthy of their steel." 
 The whole range of parliamentary debates scarcely furnishes a 
 parallel to the conduct of Mr. Clay in this, in more than one re- 
 spect, extraordinary session. For years he had been contend- 
 
312 LITE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BTrCHANAN. 
 
 ing for the establishment of a national bank, and no one wll 
 dare to ascribe to him any improper motives as an excuse foj 
 his conduct. He undoubtedly sincerely beheved that such ai 
 institution would be an important and valuable agent in thi 
 financial transactions of the government. He looked, to thi 
 success of Gen. Harrison as the realization of his hopes. Hi 
 brilliant imagination had pictured to itself his dream as alread; 
 accomplished, and when his favorite measure had been sane 
 tioned by Congress, lo ! it was arrested by the power of oni 
 man, and that man the chosen elect of his own party 1 Coulc 
 anything be imagiaed more chafing to the feelings of a mai 
 honest in his desires to serve his country ? Yet no ungentle 
 manly harshness, no unparliamentary language escaped the lipi 
 of this great man, but in the very period of chagrin and mortil 
 fication he made a speech, unequalled for wit and humor. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's great speech on the Fiscal Bank was deliver 
 ed on the tth day of July, 1841. We regret that the limiti 
 of this volume wUl not permit ns to give it in full. We shal] 
 be compelled to confine ourselves to a few extracts from it, and 
 give instead the greater part of his reply to Mr. Archep- of Vir- 
 ginia, where he presents the arguments of his main speech in s| 
 less detailed form. In noticing the constitutional power to pasi 
 the bill he said : 
 
 " The principle of constitutional construction which woulc 
 here deduce the power to establish a bank of the United Statei 
 from the source where it is ,said to exist, would break down alj 
 the barriers erected by our fathers between federal and Stat( 
 authority. If you can infer this power from the simple powe 
 of taxation in the Constitution, I ask what other power whicl 
 you may desire to exercise may not be inferred from that ol 
 some other clause ? An ingenious man might thus fasten an; 
 power which Congress or the President may desire to exercise! 
 on some one of the express grants contained in the Constitutior 
 But the incident cannot transcend its principle — the streai 
 
SPEECH ON THE FISCAL BANE. 313 
 
 cannot ascend higher than the fountain ; and upon tne mere 
 power of levying the taxes necessary to support an economical 
 government, you can never erect a vast corporation to over- 
 shadow the whole land, and, if not in form, yet in substance, to 
 change the character of all our institutions. Never, never can 
 you fairly infer the existence of the power to create a bank 
 from that of the power to levy and collect taxes." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, after going into a detailed explanation of the 
 •institution proposed to be established, summed up its principal 
 features as follows : 
 
 " Then sir, that is the real government bank ; the directors 
 controlled by the government, the greater portion of the stock 
 held by the government, the surplus profits, if any, given to 
 the government, ^and the most profitable business of the bank 
 founded on the use of the money of the government. And 
 ivhy should such a charter have been offered to Congress by 
 the secretary of the treasury department ? I shall not say 
 that it was concocted there for the express purpose of erecting 
 a mere engine or instrument of political power ; but if Talley- 
 rand himself had been a great financier as he was a diplomatist, 
 he could not have desired a charter more completely adapted 
 to effect this purpose than the bUl now before us presents. The 
 influence of this machine, located at Washington under the eye 
 of the government, vrill be felt everywhere throughout the Union." 
 
 - One argument used in favor of a national bank was, that 
 other nations had these institutions. In .'eply to this, Mr. 
 Buchanan eloquently remarked : 
 
 " Sir, other nations have emperors and kings, and titles of 
 nobility, and established churches, as well as national banks ; 
 but is that any reason why the people of the United States 
 should abandon their republican principles and imitate those 
 
 14 
 
314 LIFE XSO SERVICES OF JAJMES BTJGUANAN. 
 
 foreign forms of government ? Althougli tie senator from 
 Kentucky (Mr. Clay) may not, and I believe does not, desire 
 such a change, yet he may virtually accomplish it much 
 sooner than he anticipates. If he can create this great national 
 bank, and ally it with the government in Washington city, on 
 terms of the closest intimacy, if he can thus concentrate the 
 money power here, and render its interest identical with that 
 of the political power, he may succeed in establishing for this 
 country, not a monarchy, but the very worst form of govern- 
 ment with which mankind has ever been cursed. A hereditary 
 aristocracy has acquired this infamous pre-eminence, but the 
 government of a moneyed aristocracy would, if possible, be 
 still worse. From interest and from habit, a landed aristoc- 
 racy has always cherished some feelings of kindness for the 
 people ; but an upstart moneyed aristocracy has no heart to 
 feel for them, no desire to promote their welfare. It looks 
 upon mankind as mere laboring machines for its own benefit. 
 It never indulges in those kindly and Christian sympathies, 
 which make us feel that all men are alike created in the image 
 of their Maker, and are brethren. This is a kind of govern- 
 ment that may be established by an intimate union of the 
 political with the money power. We may approach nearer to 
 the government of the old world by establishing this bank than 
 the senator or any of his friends imagine. If this should be 
 the case, corruption will insinuate itself into the sinews and 
 nerves, and very vitals of the body politic. The people wiU 
 still attend the elections, and be flattered with the idea that 
 they still enjoy all their liberties, while a secret, controlling, 
 all-pervadiug influence would direct their conduct. The corpse 
 of a free government would then only remain, whilst the ani- 
 mating spirit had fled forever. But I do not myself indulge in 
 these gloomy foi'ebodiiigs. I ara not afraid that this bank will 
 ever be established ; and if ever it should, the people of this 
 country will pursue it with a steady vigilance, which will nevet 
 tire until they accomplish its destruction." 
 
HIS EEPLT TO MK. AKCHEE. 315 
 
 Such was the concluding portion of Mr. Buchanan's speech 
 upon the " Fiscal Bank." The arguments he had presented 
 were unajiswerable, but the decree had gone forth, and the bill 
 was passed. Mr. Tyler, however, threw himself in the way of 
 its becoming a law, and interposed the executive veto. Then a 
 new and similar measure was devised, called the Fiscal Cor- 
 poration, and upon that Mr. Buchanan delivered the following 
 able speech, in reply to Mr. Archer, of Virginia : 
 
 " The senator from Virginia concluded his remarks by telling 
 us that the whig party had done a great deal at this extra ses- 
 sion. I admit they have done much, and they have done one 
 thing for which the country ought to be grateful — they have 
 done for themselves (a laugh). The gentleman quoted to us, 
 on the subject of our abstractions, a couplet from Hudibras ; 
 but he stopped with the two first lines. Let me supply the 
 couplet immediately following, which the senator did not quote, 
 but which I think, applies quite as well to the pretended dif- 
 ference between the present bill and that which the Presiden* 
 has returned to us with his veto : 
 
 ' What mighty difference can there be 
 'Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee ?' 
 
 " Before I conclude, I think I shall be able to show, that if 
 the President would have deserved the condemnation of all 
 honest men, had he approved the bill to establish a fiscal 
 bank ; having rejected that, he will deserve not only the con- 
 demnation, but the contempt and ridicule of all mankind if he 
 shall sign the bill to create this ' fiscal corporation.' But, while 
 I express this opinion, I do not desire or intend to say any- 
 thing which shall wound the feelings of my honorable friend 
 from Virginia (Mr. Archer), for I can in all truth and sincerity 
 declare, that if there is such a thing in the entire world of poli- 
 tics as an honest man (and I doubt not there are many), I be- 
 lieve my fiiend is that man. I think, indeed, that he has by 
 
316 LIFE AKD BEEVIOES OF JAMES BUCHANAK. 
 
 some means got himself involved in a strange delusion ; but if 
 he has changed his opinibn, I am certainly not to blame for 
 not changing mine. 
 
 " I desire to say a few things concerning this -bank, before 
 execution shall have been done upon it either by the President 
 or the Senate ; for I believe no human being anticipates that 
 such a thing as the present bill will ever become the law of the 
 land. I believe further, that if all hearts here could be 
 searched, it would be found that this biU is not what gentlemen 
 on either side desire. 
 
 " A word or two as to the constitutional argument of the 
 senator from Virginia. If I rightly apprehend the position he 
 took, his character as a State rights man is gone forever. The 
 senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) need now no longer 
 apprehend anything from the senator's competing with him for 
 the palm. He has avowed himself a consolidationist, and one 
 of the most thorough-going of the sect. The senator says that 
 the government of the United States has a right to purchase 
 bUls of exchange ; that it may, if it pleases, instead of ' wagon- 
 ing' the specie (to use the senator's phrase) to the headwaters 
 of the Missouri or Mississippi, purchase a biU which will accom- 
 plish the same purpose. Undoubtedly it may; though in prac- 
 tice, this is rarely, if ever, done. There is not the least diffi- 
 culty in the government's transferring its funds to our extreme 
 western frontier ; because even the very Indians will accept a 
 government bUl drawn on New York, and would prefer it to 
 specie, knowing that it can be sold at a premium anywhere in 
 the far west for gold and silver. As the next step in his argu- 
 ment, the senator tells us that it is perfectly incontrovertible 
 that, having the right over a part, the government must have a 
 right over the whole ; that if it possesses the power, it pos- 
 sesses the whole power ; that a constitutional power cannot be 
 broken into fragments ; but if the power be given at all, the 
 whole power must be given. And so, because government may 
 purchase a bill of exchange to discharge its obligations on the 
 
HIS REPLY TO ME. A.ECHEE. 317 
 
 western frontier, it can therefore set up a bank of excliange, 
 with a capital of fifty millions of dollars, and confer on it the 
 power of dealing in bills, not only for the purposes of govern- 
 ment, but for the use of all the people of this country I A pro- 
 position like this needs only to be stated. The men who 
 framed the Constitution of the United States were jealous of 
 federal power, and they dealt it out to Congress with a parsi- 
 monious hand. What do they say in the Constitution ? Any- 
 thing which gives the slightest sanction to the senator's doc- 
 trine ? Not at all. The power to transfer the public funds 
 from one part of the country to another, by bills of exchange, is 
 palpable. Nobody denies it. But that it should follow, as a 
 necessary inference, that it has power to deal in exchange to 
 every extent ; to buy and sell foreign bills between this country 
 and Europe, and bills between State and State, in which It has 
 no interest, is a position such as I never heard, in all my life, 
 from the greatest and most avowed consolidationist. Why, at 
 this rate, an ingenious expositor may make the Constitution 
 mean anything or nothing. But there is no foundation for any 
 construction or inference in the case. The United States may 
 confessedly buy and sell bills of exchange as a means of trans- 
 ferring its funds ; this it has done uninterruptedly and without 
 objection, for the past fifty years. But before my astute and 
 very ingenious friend from Virginia made the discovery, I 
 believe it never was dreamed of that such a simple power as 
 this laid a foundation for the erection of our immense bank of 
 exchange. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " There is a striking difference between the two bills (the 
 Fiscal Bank and the Fiscal Corporation). The former bill 
 went on the presumption that members of Congress are men of 
 mortal mould ; that they possess the same passions and the 
 same frailties as other men ; that they are neither better nor 
 worse than their fellow citizens ; and that, as depended upon 
 the vote of the two Houses of Congress whether proceedings 
 
318 LrFB AND SEEVICES OF JAMES B0CHANAN. 
 
 should be instituted to forfeit its charter in case it were vio- 
 lated, they ought not to have any accommodations from the 
 bank, lest they might thus be swerved from their integrity of 
 purpose. This, to be sure, was a very severe restriction, 
 because gentlemen may desire, like some of their predecessors, 
 to form another congressional land company, and it jnight be 
 very convenient to obtain money on kiteflying bUls, as some of 
 their predecessors had done. Under similar circumstances, it 
 would certainly be a very convenient matter for a member of 
 Congress to fly a kite as far as Baltimore for ten or twenty 
 thousand dollars, and no doubt he would find the bank 
 extremely accommodating. Another advantage is, that if he 
 should not be able to pay at maturity, there is not -the least 
 danger that he will be ever publicly exposed. I believe it is a 
 rule in love never to kiss and tell, and this rule has been most 
 pertinaciously observed by the old corrupt and rotten Bank of 
 the United States. If that bank accommodated members of 
 Congress — and we know it did, to an immense amount — it has 
 always refused to give up their names. The tears and the 
 groans of the widows and orphans whom it has ruined have 
 ascended to heaven, and accused its directors. These directors 
 have been changed again and again, but still they have kept 
 the secret. No resolves and no efforts of this body, or of the 
 other House, have ever been able to extort it from them. 
 There is among the secret arcana of that bank a document 
 known by the name of the ' suspended list,' which. If ever pub- 
 lished, would give the information ; but every human being 
 who has had access to that paper, has most religipusly kept the 
 secret. If they had not, it may be that men who now hold 
 their heads very high, and who occupy distinguished stations in 
 the State, would be covered with shame, and humbled in the 
 very dust. Could that list be procured, it is at least possible 
 that we might learn how bank accommodations can be paid off 
 by the transfer of lots in lithographed paper cities, and value- 
 less western lands. Happily under this biU these golden oppor- 
 
HIS EEPLT TO MK. AJECKEE. 319 
 
 tuiTt'AS vt :1", k<j;a,m be afforded, and the wind will again prove 
 fair for nieuzbevs of Congress to fly their kites as well as other 
 men. 
 
 " And hero bt me point ont something of the working of this 
 new patent sniichice. Why, sir, to use a western phrase, 'it 
 will go without greasing,' there will be no manner of difficulty 
 in the way. The borrower in Philadelphia will, as I told you, 
 draw his bill on some far remote city in another State — such 
 as Camden, and when his bill is due, his bona fide correspondent 
 in Camden can draw back on him just such another on Phila- 
 delphia, and thus, without discounting a single promissory note, 
 the bank can lend more money and make more profit than if its 
 discounting power were without restriction. I was really 
 astonished to hear the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Archer) 
 assert, whilst he denounced the power of discount as being so 
 immense and dangerous, and so utterly inadmissible, "that this 
 other power of dealing in exchanges was the most benign, the 
 most beneficent, and the most fehcitous power that ever was 
 devised by man and that a bill which conferred it should, as a 
 matter of course, nnite in its favor the vote of ail the AVhig 
 party. Then there is the city of New York and Jersey city. 
 If the honorable senator should, at any time, want a loan, he 
 has only to fly his kite across the Hudson river, and he can 
 readily be accommodated." 
 
 Mr. Archer — " I never drew a bill which had one character 
 and asserted another." 
 
 " Yes, but when you establish a bank of such a character as this, 
 you must expect that such consequences will follow. A bank 
 from which all restrictions are taken away, and at whose coun- 
 ter the whole speculating world is invited to Ijorrow — from 
 such a bank, what else can you exjaect ? It will loan money 
 on bills of exchange, instead of loaning on promissory notes, 
 and for my soul, I cannot perceive any essential difference 
 between the two modes. The only effect in thus changing the 
 form win be to induce men to commit fraud. Instead of di'aw- 
 
320 LIFE AHm SERVICES OF JAMES BUCnANAN 
 
 ing on real funds, they will draw bills on places where they^have 
 nothing to answer them. They will thus make their loans, and 
 the bank make its profits, with this only difference — that they 
 have to pay a little more for their money, while the bank will 
 receive a larger interest, in the name of a premium, than the 
 law would allow it to take on the discount of a promissory note.- 
 I can see that some cities — and cities of great business, too—: 
 will derive little benefit from this bill. Buffalo, for example, 
 and Pittsburgh, will both be in a ' bad fix,' for Buffalo cannot 
 draw on New York ; nor Pittsburgh on Philadelphia, and why ? 
 Because under this wise bill, two cities in the same State can- 
 not draw on each other. I cannot imagine how the merchants 
 who conduct the immense flour and other business of Buffalo 
 will be able to obtain accommodations, unless, indeed, they resort 
 to flying kites to the Canada shore, and they present foreign 
 bUls to the bank for discount. Cincinnati will be well off, 
 because Newport is just across the river, and the drawer and 
 the acceptor will be almost within hail of each other. This 
 machine, such as I have described it, will regulate the price of 
 every commodity in the country, and it wUl be done by this 
 kite-flying process. 
 
 ^ iii iti Hi i^ iti 
 
 " And now I have one word to say on the late presidential 
 veto, and then I shall have done. It has been said that John 
 Tyler was bound by the fidelity which he owed to his party to 
 approve the biU for a fiscal bank. I deny it altogether, and 
 say that, if he had approved that bill, he would have deserved 
 to be denounced as a self-destroyer, as false to the whole course 
 of his past life, false to every principle of hor^ar, and false 
 to the sacred obligation of his oath to support the Consti- 
 tution. He had declared, again and again, that such a bank 
 was unconstitutional, and yet he is denounced because he did 
 not render himself Infamous by an utter disregard of that 
 instrument. The President had but one righteous course 
 before him, and had he taken any other, it would not only have 
 
HIS EEPLT TO ME. AECiDEE. 321 
 
 blasted his own character, but it would have fixea a blot on the 
 history of his country to all future generations. How was he 
 committed to sign a bill which he belieTcd to be unconstitu- 
 tional ? What was the history of the Harrisburgh convention ? 
 — and it will be remembered that I do not live far from that 
 celebrated place. How was that convention composed ? It 
 contained, I admit, many men of the highest responsibility, but 
 in a political view, it was made up 'of all nations, and people, 
 and kindred, and tongues.' ' Black spirits and white, blue spir- 
 its and grey,' all mingled their counsels there, to attain a sin- 
 gle end — an available candidate for the Presidency. In this 
 they succeeded ; and the result "was, to turn Mr. Van Buren 
 out, and put themselves in. The infidel philosopher Volney, in 
 his celebrated ' Ruins of Empires,' presents us with an imagin- 
 ary picture of an assemblage, in which all the religious sects of 
 the earth were collected together, and engaged in defending 
 their respective creeds ; and such a confusion ensued as might 
 put to shame that at the tower of Babel. Just so would it 
 have been at Harrisburg, if they had attempted to discuss any 
 pohtical principles. There was the abolitionist, ready to call 
 down fire from Heaven to annihilate slavery from the face of 
 the earth ; and side by side wiii him sat the honorable and 
 high-spirited Southern slaveholder. There was the anti-mason, 
 whose motto was, ' destruction to all secret societies,' mingling in 
 sweet communion vrith the bank director, who, with the fidelity 
 of a vestal, had preserved the secrets of his prison-house. 
 There was the consolidationist, holding, as my friend from 
 Virginia does, that the mere power to buy a bill of 
 exchange, vested in Congress the power to create an exchange 
 bank ; while hand and hand with him we might see the tight- 
 laced strict constructionist, who will not allow the government 
 power to do anything. In that one motley assembly were 
 to be seen all colors and all shades of political opinion 
 From absolute necessity, not from choice, they were compelled 
 to abstain from making any public declaration of their prin- 
 
 14* 
 
322 LIFE AND SBKTICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ciples. Now, if John Tyler had a right to infer anything from 
 the proceedings of that body, it was that he would be at Uberty 
 to oppose a bank of the United States. Certain leaders of that 
 convention were, it is true, in favor of a bank ; but, while the 
 convention, as a body, selected well known anti-bank men as 
 their chosen candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, 
 were those candidates to infer that they must change all their 
 opinions and become bank men ? Sir, I deplored the death of 
 General Harrison, from the deep respect I entertained for his 
 name and character, however much I may have differed from 
 his political principles. But General Harrison was, par excel- 
 lence, an anti-bank man. All his public declarations, up to the 
 very moment of the election, established this fact. Nay, more, 
 we who have been denounced as the loco-foco, barn-burning, 
 agrarian portion of our party, because we assert the constitu- 
 tional right to repeal a pubUc corporation intrusted with the 
 sovereign power of managing the finances of the country, when 
 the public interest demands it, may claim him as a brother in 
 the faith ; for when a resolution was introduced in the House, 
 in 1819, to repeal at a single blow the charter of the late 
 bank, he voted in its favor ; and as to John Tyler, he has sr 
 often declared himself agajnst a Bank of the United States, 
 that there is no need I should specially refer any gentleman 
 to his opinion on that subject. There they both were, holding 
 these opinions, and having only avowed them ; and it is fltterly 
 impossible that the members of this convention should have been 
 ignorant of the fact. The convention, then, made no avowal 
 of its principles, and wha]b was the voice of the people ? I can 
 truly say that, during the whole election campaign, I never saw 
 one single resolution in favor of a national bank, which had 
 been passed by any whig meeting in any part of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " I say that President Tyler could not have done otherwise 
 than veto that bUl, if he wished to preserve his character as an 
 
HIS EEPLT TO ME. AECHEE. 323 
 
 honest man. He must have done it from necessity, if not from 
 choice. He could not have approTed and signed that bill with- 
 out exhibiting to the American people the disgraceful spectacle 
 of a high public officer contradicting all the professions of his 
 past life, and giving the lie to all his own often-avowed princi- 
 ples. A rumor exists, we have been told on this floor, that the 
 veto was given against the unanimous opinion of the cabinet. 
 And suppose it was, who is responsible^ to the people of the 
 United States for conducting the government ? Is it not the 
 President ? Undoubtedly he ought to consult the opinions of 
 the cabinet ; but if he and his cabinet cannot agree in 
 sentiment, which is to yield — the cabinet or the President ? 
 Certainly, according to the theory of our government, it is the 
 cabinet. I was glad to find in the official organ of the 
 administration, such good old-fashioned democratic doctrine as I 
 saw there a few days since. It is true I was not, to every ex- 
 tent, in favor of ' the mint ;' but I would say, in behalf of the ar- 
 ticle to which I refer, that it is one of the best I have ever read, 
 and one that would not disgrace the palmiest day of the demo- 
 cratic administration. If the President cannot agree with his 
 cabinet, or if the cabinet cannot agree with the President, I do 
 not say what ought to be the consquences. I have no feeling on 
 the subject ; it matters nothing to me who are in, and who are 
 out of ofBce. 
 
 " The senator from Kentucky tells us that he never said 
 President Tyler ought to have resigned, but only that resigna- 
 tion was one of the alternatives before him. A President 
 resign ! A President who had been but three months in power 
 resign his place I Why, sir, this is a 'most a moral impossibil- 
 ity, so deeply is the love of power rooted in the human breast. 
 No President will ever think of doing any such thing. In the 
 whole range of history, I recollect but J;wo memorable instances 
 of the kind ; one was that of the Eoman emperor Diocletian, 
 and the other of the emperor Charles V. The Koman emperor, 
 you know, went to raising cabbages, as Mr. Van Bnren is now 
 
324: LIFE AHD SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHAJSTAN. 
 
 doing ; and Charles buried himself before he was dead — a very 
 fit emblem of the condition of a President who should resign 
 his ofBce, that he might suffer a bill for the fiscal bank to be- 
 come a law." 
 
 The happy conclusion of Mr. Buchanan's speech caused much 
 merriment, and he resumed his seat amid a general laugh. Mr. 
 Clay immediately rose and replied, and in opening, referred 
 pleasantly to Mr. Buchanan's attempt at wit, and advised the 
 senator from Pennsylvania, with his permission, that his appro- 
 priate province was logic or grave debate, rather than wit. Mr. 
 Clay said, however, he trusted he would be excused if he should 
 happen while up, to catch by contagion, somewhat of the same 
 vein. Mr. Clay then made the following humorous speech, de- 
 scriptive of a reported interview between some of the democratic 
 members of Congress and President Tyler, convulsing, as he 
 proceeded, the Senate with laughter : 
 
 " An honorable senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Wood- 
 bury) proposed, some days ago, a resolution of inquiry into cer- 
 tain disturbances which are said to have occurred at the presi- 
 dential mansion on the night of the memorable 16th of August 
 last. If any such proceedings did occur, they were certainly 
 very wrong and highly culpable. The chief magistrate, who- 
 ever he may be, should be treated by every good citizen with 
 all becoming respect, if not for his personal character, on ac- 
 count of the exalted ofiGice which he holds for and from the peo- 
 ple ; and I will here say that I read with great pleasure the acts 
 and resolutions of an early meeting, promptly held by the 
 orderly and respectable citizens of this metropolis, in reference 
 to, and in condemnation of, these disturbances. But, if the 
 resolution had been adapted, I had intended to move for the 
 appointment of a select committee, and that the honorable sen- 
 ator from New Hampshire himself should be placed at the 
 head of it, with a majority of his friends, and will tell you why, 
 
325 
 
 Mr. President. I did hear that about eight or nine o'clock, on 
 the same night of the famous 16th of August, there was an 
 irruption on the President's house,^ of the whole loco-foco party 
 in Congress, and I did not know but that the alleged disorder 
 might have grown out of, or had some connection with that fact. 
 (A laugh.) I understand that the whole party were there. No 
 spectacle I am sure could have been more supremely amusing and 
 ridiculous. If I could have been in a position in which, without 
 being seen, I could have witnessed that most extraordinary reun- 
 ion, I should have had an enjoyment which no dramatic perfor- 
 mance could possibly communicate. I think that I can now sec 
 the principal dramatis personae who figured in the scene. — 
 There stood the grave and distinguished senator from South 
 Carolina.'' 
 
 Mr. Calhoun here rose, and earnestly insisted on explaining ; 
 but Mr. Clay refused to be interrupted or to yield the 
 floor. 
 
 Mr. Clay : " There I say, I can imagine stood the senator 
 from South Carolina — tall, careworn, with farrowed brow, 
 haggard, and intensely gazing, looking as if he were discussing 
 the last and newest abstraction which sprung from metaphysi- 
 cian's brain, and muttering to himself, in half-uttered sounds : 
 ' This is indeed a real crisis ! ' (Loud laughter.) Then there 
 was the senator from Alabama (Mr. King) standing upright 
 and gracefully, as if he were ready to settle in the most autho- 
 ritative manner any question of order or of etiquette that 
 might possibly arise between the high assembled parties on that 
 new and unprecedented occasion. Not far off stood the honor- 
 able senators from Arkansas and from Missouri (Mr. Sevier and 
 Mr. Benton) the latter looking at the senator from South Caro- 
 Una, with an indignant curl on his lip and scorn in his eye, and 
 pointing his finger with contempt towards that senator (Mr. 
 Calhoun) whilst he said, or rather seemed to say : ' He call 
 himself a statesman I why, he has never even produced a de- 
 cent humbug I '" (Shouts of laughter.) 
 
326 LIFE AND 8EEYICES OF JAMES BtTCHANAN. 
 
 Mr. Benton here interposed by saying ttat the senator from 
 Missouri was not there. 
 
 Mr Clay : " I stand corrected ; I was only imagining what 
 you would have said if you had been there. (Renewed laughter.) 
 Then there stood the senator from Georgia (Mr. Cuthbert) con- 
 ning over in his mind on what point he should make his next 
 attack upon the senator from Kentucky. (Laughter.) On 
 yonder ottoman reclined the other senator from Missouri on my 
 left (Mr. Linn) indulging, with smiles on his face, in pleasing 
 meditations on the rise, growth and future power of his new 
 colony of Oregon. The honorable senator from Pennsylvania 
 (Mr. Buchanan) I presume stood forward as spokesman for his 
 whole party, and, although I cannot pretend to imitate his well 
 known eloquence, I beg leave to make an humble essay towards 
 what I presume to have been the kind of speech delivered by 
 him on that August occasion : 
 
 " ' May it -please your Excellency : A number of your present 
 political friends, late your political opponents, in company with 
 myself, have come to deposit at your excellency's feet the 
 evidences of our loyalty and devotion ; and they have done me 
 the honor to make me the organ of their sentiments and feel- 
 ings. We are here more particularly to present to your excel- 
 lency our grateful and most cordial congratulations on your 
 rescue of the country from a flagrant and alarming violation of 
 the Constitution, by the creation of a bank of the United 
 States ; and also our profound acknowledgments for the veto, 
 by which you have illustrated the wisdom of your administra- 
 tion, and so greatly honored yourself And we would dwell 
 particularly on the unanswerable reasons and cogent arguments 
 with which the notification of the act to the legislature has 
 been accompanied. We had been, ourselves, struggling for 
 days and weeks to arrest the passage of the bill, and to pre- 
 vent the creation of the monster to which it gives birth. We 
 have expended all our logic, exerted all our ability, employed 
 all our eloquence ; but in spite of all our utmost eflforts the 
 
EEJOnSTDEK TO MB. CLAY. 327 
 
 friends of your excellency in the Senate and House of Eepre- 
 sentatives proved too strong for us. And we have now come 
 most heartily to thank your excellency that you have accom- 
 pUshed for us that against your friends which we with our 
 most strenuous exertions were unable to achieve.' (Roars of 
 laughter. ) 
 
 " I hope the senator will view with indulgence this effort to 
 represent him, although I am but too sensible how far it falls 
 short of the merits of the original. At all events he will feel 
 that there is not a greater error than was committed by the 
 stenographer of the ' Intelligencer ' the other day, when he 
 put into my mouth a part of the honorable senator's speech. 
 (Laughter.) I hope the honorable senators in the other side 
 of the chamber will pardon me for having conceived it possible 
 that, amidst the popping of champagne, the intoxication of 
 their joy, the extasy of their glorification, they might have 
 been thp parties who created a disturbance of which they never 
 could have been guilty had they waited for their ' sober second 
 thoughts.' (Laughter, loud and long.) I have no doubt the very 
 learned ex-Secretary of the Treasury, who conducted that de- 
 partment with such distinguished ability, and such happy results 
 to the country, and now has such a profound abhorrence of all 
 the taxes on tea and coffee, though, in his OfBcial reports, he so 
 distinctly recommended them, would if appointed chairman of 
 the committee, have conducted the investigation with that in- 
 dustry which so eminently distinguishes him, and would have 
 favored the Senate with a report, marked with all his accus- 
 tomed precision and ability, and with the most perfect lucid 
 clearness." 
 
 When Mr. Clay had concluded, Mr. Buchanan rose and re- 
 joined in the following graceful and eloquent speech : 
 
 "The senator has informed me that I do not succeed in 
 attempts at wit, and in this he is, doubtless, correct. I am a 
 
328 LIFE AIJD SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHAJirAN. 
 
 plain man, and speak right on that which I have to say. I 
 think I can, with equal justice, return his compliment. If I do 
 not succeed at wit, he as rarely succeeds in argument. Argu- 
 ment is as little his provmce as wit is mine. He is eloquent, 
 as we all know, and sagacious, and besides, he is the very best 
 drill-officer that ever disciplined any party ; but, in regard to 
 sound logic, or what he , denominates ' abstractions,' he is not 
 very famous. 
 
 " The honorable senator has, with great power of humor, 
 and much felicity of description, drawn for us a picture of the 
 scene which he supposes to have been presented at the Presi- 
 dent's house on the ever memorable evening of the riot. It 
 was a happy effort ; but unfortunately, it was but a fancy- 
 sketch, at least, or as far as I am concerned. I was not there 
 at all upon the occasion. But, I ask, what scenes were enacted 
 on that eventful night at this end of the avenue ? The senator 
 would have no cause to complain, if I should attempt, in hum- 
 ble imitation of him, to present a picture, true to the Hfe, of 
 the proceedings of himself and his friends amidst the dark and 
 lowering clouds of that never-to-be-forgotten night, a caucus 
 assembled in one of the apartments of this gloomy buUding, 
 and sat in melancholy conclave, deploring the unhappy fate of 
 the whig party. Some rose and advocated vengeance ; ' their 
 voice was still for war.' Others, more moderate, sought to 
 repress the ardent zeal of their fiery compatriots, and advised 
 to peace and prudence. It was finally concluded that, instead 
 of making open war upon Captain Tyler, they should resort to 
 stratagem, and, in the elegant language of one of their number, 
 that they should endeavor ' to head ' him. The question was 
 earnestly debated by what means they could best accomplish 
 this purpose, and it was resolved to try the effect of the ' fis- 
 cality ' now before us. Unfortunately for the success of the 
 scheme, " Captain Tyler ' was forewarned and forearmed, by 
 means of a private and confiifential letter, addressed by mis- 
 take to a Virginia Coffee-House. It is by means like this, that 
 
EEJOINDEK TO ME. OLAT. 329 
 
 ' enterprises of great pith and moment ' often fail. But so 
 desperately intent are the whig party still on the creation of 
 a bank, that one of my friends on this side of the house told 
 me that a bank they would have, though its exchanges should 
 be made in bacon hams, and its currency be small potatoes. 
 (A laugh.) 
 
 " The senator has often lauded to the very echo the Mace- 
 donian phalanx, as he terms them, in the other house, and 
 proposed their example as worthy of our imitation. Now, sir, 
 I should never have made any reference upon this floor to the 
 proceedings in that house (which is contrary to all parlia- 
 mentary rule), had I not been driven to it by the previous 
 remarks of the senator. Before heaven, I believe that the 
 conduct of that phalanx, of which the senator seems so proud, 
 forebodes the destruction of the liberties of this country, unless 
 the sovereign people should frown it down forever. If the 
 representatives of fifty thousand freemen can be deprived of the 
 right of speech by arbitrary rules prescribed by a tyrannical 
 majority, and the people of the United States should tamely 
 submit to such a violation of their liberties in the persons of 
 their representatives, then they will deserve to be slaves. Let it 
 once be fully known throughout the country that those whom 
 the people have selected to represent their sentiments and their 
 interests in the other branch of Congress have been prevented 
 from expressing their opinions, and have even been denied the 
 poor privilege of recording their votes on questions of the last 
 importance ; and then, if their constituents should silently 
 acquiesce in this usurpation, we shall be subjected to the same 
 tyranny with that imposed upon France by Napoleon, when he 
 organized his silent Legislative Council. I did not believe that 
 the House of Eepresentatives had been reduced to any snch 
 condition, until I read the able letter upon the subject, of a 
 member from South Carolina (Mr. Khett). With that letter 
 in my hand, I would go into any congressional district of this 
 Union, and, humble as I am, I should feel confident of obtain- 
 
330 LIFE AND 8EEVICKS OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ing the unanimous Toice of the people in condemnation of such 
 proceedings as it describes. This question soars far above all 
 mere party distinctions. It is one upon the decision of which 
 depends the efficient existence of our representative republican 
 form of government. 
 
 " The present bill to establish fiscal corporation was hurried 
 through the House with the celerity, and so far as the 
 democracy was concerned, with the silence of despotism. No 
 democrat had an opportunity of raising his voice against it. 
 Under the new rules in existence there, the majority had pro- 
 determined that it should pass that body within two days from 
 the commencement of the discussion. At first, indeed, the deter- 
 mination was, that it should pass the first day ; but this was 
 too great an outrage, and the mover was graciously pleased 
 to extend the time one day longer. Whilst the bill was in 
 Committee of the Whole, it so happened that in the struggle 
 for the floor, no democratic member succeeded in obtaining it ; 
 and at the destined hour of four in the afternoon of the second 
 day, the committee rose and all further debate was arrested 
 by the previous question. The voice of that great party in 
 this country, to which I am proud to belong, was, therefore, 
 never heard through any of their representatives in the House 
 against this odious measure. Not even one brief hour, the 
 limit prescribed by the majority to each speaker, was granted 
 to any democratic member. 
 
 " But the democracy of the land are not- only deprived of 
 the liberty of speech in the persons of their representatives, 
 but these representatives are even denied the right of record- 
 ing their vote on the ayes and noes, for or against any amend- 
 ment to any bill, unless the majority please to grant them this 
 permission. Under the rule, the ayes and noes cannot be de- 
 manded in Committee of the Whole. Every amendment 
 offered there, which is disagreeable to the majority, is voted 
 down without any responsibility of the representative to his 
 constituents, because the names of the voters are not recorded 
 
EEJOBTDER TO ME. CLAT. 331 
 
 on the journal ; and it is impossible to renew any such 
 amendment after the biU has been reported to the House, 
 because at that very instant the gag of the previous (question 
 is appUed, which cuts off all debate and every amendment not 
 sanetioned by the committee. And this is the bright, the 
 glorious example which the senator from Kentucky has so 
 often proposed for the imitation of the Senate of the United 
 States 1 But enough of this. 
 
 " The senator, with his usual tact and skill, has seized upon 
 a playful remark of mine in reply to my friend from Virginia 
 (Mr. Archer), over the way, that, although I did not know at 
 present what might be the opinions of Mr. Tyler, yet, I hoped 
 this might not long be the case. Upon this feeble foundation, 
 the senator, with that commanding eloquence which is ever 
 ready, has indulged himself in declaring that John Tyler would 
 be guilty of the most atrocious treason, should he be willing 
 to desert his own party, and ally himself with the democracy ; 
 and in that event, he has expressed the confident belief that 
 we would be too honorable to receive him into our ranks. 
 Now, sir, if the avowed opinions of Mr. Tyler's whole life be, as 
 they are, in diametrical opposition to those.of the senator, what 
 course is he to pursue ? Must he abandon his long cherished 
 principles merely because they are identical with those of the 
 democratic party ? And is he to be denounced as a traitor for 
 this mere coincidence of opinion ? This would, indeed, be 
 unjust vengeance. No man of the democratic party, to my 
 knowledge, either expects or desires office or power at his 
 hands. I will tell the honorable senator, however, what we do 
 intend, although we have studiously kept ourselves aloof from 
 all interference with the President, and from every attempt to 
 influence his conduct. So far as his measures shall be in 
 conformity with our principles, we shaU give them a cordial 
 and zealous support. Should the senator, in utter violation, 
 as we believe, of the Constitution, again attempt to establish a 
 National Bank, with the privilege of spreading its branches 
 
332 LIFE AND SEEVI0E8 OF JAMES BITCHANAN. 
 
 tliroughout the Union, and thus, by concentrating the money 
 power, to corrupt the land ; and should the President again 
 and again conscientiously veto such a dangerous measure, we 
 shall be ever ready to yield him our support in a cause so 
 righteous. Whatever the senator may think of us, we shall 
 cheer him on in the path of duty with, ' Well done, good and 
 faithful servant, yon have redeemed your country from an 
 institution in deadly hostility both to the spirit and letter of 
 our form of government ; and will the whigs charge him with 
 treason for this ? The idea of falsehood is always involved in 
 that of treason, and they never can succeed in branding a man 
 as a traitor for adhering to the well-known principles of his 
 whole life. 
 
 " The senator expects that President Tyler will approve this 
 bill. If he does, he will then render himself forever infamous. 
 His name will be the scorn and ridicule of one party, and the 
 contempt of the other. No, he will never do it ; destiny has 
 left him but one course to pursue as an honest man, and that 
 is to go straight ahead, and fearlessly perform his duty. He 
 cannot now turn back without disgrace and dishonor. If he 
 shall pursue this course, a vast majority of the American people 
 of all political parties will award to him the merit of having 
 sacrificed all his personal feelings, and encountered the frowns of 
 many of his ancient friends, from a sacred regard to the Con- 
 stitution and welfare of his country. This will be his reward. 
 He will then stand forever in a niche of the temple of fame, 
 associated with those pure and exalted patriots which have 
 sacrificed all selfish considerations to save the country. 
 
 " As for our party, we want neither patronage nor power, 
 from John Tyler. We shall give him a liberal and manly 
 support whenever we believe he deserves it. Let all the offi- 
 ces and all the honors be given, with our hearty consent, to 
 those who elected him. 
 
 " When I rose in reply, I had intended to reciprocate the 
 kindness of the senator, and make a speech" to the wliig 
 
EEJOINDER TO ME. CLAY. 333 
 
 caucus for him, as lie has done to the President for me. It 
 was my purpose to have presented to the Senate a faint imi- 
 tation of what I conjecture he must have said on that night 
 of sorrow and gloom. I think I know the senator well 
 enough to imagine just such a speech as he must have made 
 upon that occasion. But I forbear it ; it must have been both 
 eloquent and efficient ; for I beheve, in my soul, that no 
 other drill-officer in existence could have reanimated his dis- 
 spirited and scattered forces, and again brought them up to 
 the charge in sohd column to sustam such a thing as this 
 ' fiscal corporation.' " 
 
 The fiscal corporation passed both houses of Congress but 
 unfortunately for the success of Mr. Clay's policy it shared the 
 same fate with the executive as the first biU. 
 
 At this session the celebrated case of Alexander McLeod 
 came before Congress, and was discussed with great spirit and 
 animation. The circumstances are generally known, but we 
 were briefly recapitulate them. In 1837 a rebellion or revo- 
 lution was commenced in Canada having for its object a separa- 
 tion of that country from England. An American vessel, the 
 Caroline, had been accused of carrying provisions and arms to 
 the insurgents. This report had excited a determination on the 
 part of the English officers to destroy it, but they did not 
 choose to wait if perchance they might detect the Caroline on 
 their territory in unlawful trade, but resolved to attack and 
 destroy her, upon American soU. One Captain Drew of the 
 British army it appears gave notice, " that upon a certain night 
 he wanted fifty or sixty desperate fellows to follow him to the 
 devU." At all events while the steamer Caroline was lying at 
 her dock on the American shore she was boarded by a gang of 
 outlaws who killed one man and then towing the steamer out 
 in the stream sent her over Niagara Palls. Some time after this, 
 one Alexander McLeod came in the State of New York and 
 boasted that he had been one of the number engaged in the 
 
334: LIFE AND SEKVICES OF JAMES BUCHAKAN. 
 
 murder on board the Caroline and in the destruction of the yes 
 sel. He was arrested upon the charge of murder, and while in 
 custody therefor, a demand was made upon our government by- 
 England for hun. Mr. B. took ground against yielding to this de- 
 mand, contending that if the man were actually guUty he should 
 be tried and condemned according to the laws of the State 
 where the crime was committed. After concluding this portion 
 of a speech of great power upon this case, he ended by an 
 admirable resume of the law of nations as bearing upon the 
 question as follows : 
 
 " I shall now offer a few remarks on the question of public 
 law involved in this case, and then close what I have to say. 
 I sincerely believe the administration of Mr. Van Buren was 
 perfectly correct on this doctrine, as laid down by Mr. Forsyth. 
 If I had found any authority to induce me to entertain a 
 doubt on that point, I would refer to it mos^ freely. I now 
 undertake to say that the only circumstance which has produced 
 confusion and doubts in the minds of well informed men on this 
 subject is, that they do not make the proper distinction between 
 a state of national war and national peace. If a nation be at- 
 war, the command of the sovereign power to invade the terri- 
 tory of its enemy, and do battle there agamst any hostile force, 
 always justifies the troops thus engaged. 
 
 " When any of the invaders are seized, they are considered 
 as prisoners of war, and as having done nothing, but what the 
 laws of war justified them in doing. In such a case they can 
 never be held to answer, criminally in the courts of the invaded 
 country. That is clear. The invasion of an enemy's territory 
 is one of the rights of war, and, in all its necessary consequen- 
 ces, is justified by the laws of war. But there are offences com- 
 mitted even in open war, which the express command of the 
 offender's sovereign will not shield from exemplary punishment. 
 I will give, gentlemen, an example. A spy will bo hung, if 
 caught, even though he acted under the express command oi 
 
SPEECH ON THE MCLEOD CASE. 335 
 
 his sovereign. We might cite the case of the unfortunate Ma- 
 jor Andre. He was arrested on his return from an interview 
 with Arnold, and his life being in danger, the British com- 
 mander (Sir Henry Clinton I believe) made an effort to save 
 him, by taking upon himself the responsibility of the act. But 
 although he had crossed our lines whilst the two nations were 
 in a state of open and flagrant war, in obedience to instructions 
 from his commander in chief, yet Washington, notwithstanding, 
 rightfully hung him as a spy. 
 
 " Now, let me tell whoever shall answer me (if, indeed any 
 gentleman wUl copdescend to notice what I have said, for it 
 seems, we on this side of the House, are to do all the speaking, 
 and they all the voting), that whilst all the modern authorities 
 concur in declaring that the law of nations protects individuals 
 when obeying the orders of their sovereign, during a state of 
 open and flagrant war, whether it has been solemnly declared 
 or not, and whether it be general or partial, yet these authori- 
 ties proceed no farther. But, to decide Correctly on the appli- 
 cation of this principle in the case before us, we must recollect 
 that the two belligerents here were England on the one hand 
 and her insurgent subjects on the other, and that the Unite* 
 States were a neutral power in perfect peace with England. 
 But what is the rule in regard to nations at peace with each 
 other ? This is the question. As between such nations, does 
 the command of an inferior officer of the one, to individuals 
 to violate the sovereignty of the other, and commit murder and 
 arson, if afterwards recognized by the supreme authority, pre- 
 vent the nation whose laws have been outraged from punishing 
 the offenders ? Under such circumstances, what is the law 
 of nations ? The doctrine is laid down in Vattel, an author 
 admitted to be of the highest authority on questions of interna- 
 tional law ; and the very question ' totidem verbis ' which arises 
 in this case, is in his book stated and decided. He admits that 
 the lawful commands of a legitimate government, whether to its 
 troops or other citizens, protects them from individual respond- 
 
336 LIFE AND SBETICE8 OF JAMES BTJCHANAN. 
 
 bility for hostile a&ts done in obedience to such commands, whilst 
 in a state of open war. In such a case,, a prisoner of war is never 
 to be subjected to the criminal jurisdiction of the country within 
 which he has been arrested. But what is the law of nations in 
 regard to criminal offences committed by the citizens or subjects 
 of one power, with the sovereignty of and jurisdiction of another, 
 they being at peace with each other, even if these criminal acts 
 should be recognized and justified by the offender's sovereign ? 
 This is the case of capture and destruction of the Carohne. 
 The subject is treated of by Vattel, under the head ' of the 
 concern a nation may have in the actions of her citizen<i,' book 
 6, chap, ii., page 161. I shaU read sections 73, 74 and 75. 
 
 '"However, as it is impossible,' says the author, 'for the 
 best regulated state, or for the most vigilant and absolute 
 sovereign, to model at his pleasure all the actions of his subjects, 
 and to confine them on every occasion to the most exact obe- 
 dience, it would be unjust to impute to the nation or the 
 sovereign every fault committed by the citizens. We ought 
 not, then, to say in general that we have received an injury 
 from a nation, because we have received it from one of its 
 members.' 
 
 " 'But if a nation or its chief approves and ratifies the act 
 of the individual, it then becomes a public concern, and the 
 injured party is then to consider the nation as the real author of 
 the injury, of which the citizen was perhaps only the instru- 
 ment.' 
 
 '"If the offended state has in her power the individual who 
 has done the injury, she may without scruple, bring him to jus- 
 tice and punish him. If he has escaped, and returned to hia 
 own country, she ought to apply to his sovereign to have jus- 
 tice done in the case.' 
 
 " Can any thing in the world be clearer ? The authoi 
 Duts the case distinctly. The nation injured ought not U 
 
SPEECH ON THE MC LEOD CASE. 337 
 
 impute to the sovereiga of a friendly nation the acts of its 
 individual citizens, but if such friendly sovereign shall recognize 
 the act as his own, it then becomes a national concern. But 
 does such a recognition wash away the guilt of the offender, and 
 release him from the punishment due to his offence under the 
 jurisdiction of the country whose laws he has violated ? Let 
 Vattel answer this question. He says : ' If the offended state 
 has in her power the individual who has done the injury, she 
 may, without scruple, bring him to justice and punish him.' 
 There is the direct, plain and palpable authority ; and, here 
 permit me to add, that I think I can prove, that according to 
 sound reason, the principle is correct, and that the question 
 would now be so decided by our courts, even if the law of 
 nations had been sUent on the subject. This not only is, but 
 ought to be, the principle of public law. 
 
 " Mr. Webster, in his letter to Mr. Cox, of the 24th of April, 
 tells the British minister that the line of frontier which separates 
 the United States from her Britannic Majesty's North American 
 Provinces ' is long enough to divide the whole of Europe into 
 halves.' 
 
 " This is true enough. Now by admitting the doctrine of 
 Vattel to "be incorrect and unfounded, on what consequences 
 are we forced ? I beg senators to consider this question. The 
 line which separates us ' from the British Provinces is a line 
 long enough to divide Europe into halves. Heaven knows I 
 have no desire to see a rebellion in Canada, or the Canadian 
 Provinces annexed to the United States ; but no event in futu- 
 rity is more certain than that those provinces are destined to be 
 ultimately separated from the British Empire. Let a civQ war 
 come, and 'jt every McNab who shall then have any command 
 in the British pcesessions along this long line be permitted to 
 send a mUitary expedition into the territory of the United States, 
 whenever he shall believe or pretend that it will aid in defend- 
 ing the royal authority against those who are resisting it, and 
 war between Great Britain and the United States becomes 
 
 15 
 
338 LIFE AJSTD SEEVIOES OE JAMES BUOHAITAN. 
 
 inevitable. A British subject marauding under the orders of 
 his superior officer on this side of the line, is seized in the very 
 act. Well, what is to be done ? I suppose we are to wait 
 uniil we can ascertain whether his "government chooses to recog- 
 nize his hostile or criminal act, before we can inflict the punish- 
 ment which he deserves for violating our laws. If it should 
 recognize his act, the jail door is immediately to be thrown open, 
 the offender, it may be murderer, takes his flight to Canada, 
 and we must settle the question with the British government. 
 Such is the doctrine advanced by the British government and 
 our Secretary of State. This principle would, as I say, lead 
 us inevitably into war with that power. What can be done 
 in a state of war ? In that case, the laws of war provide that 
 persons invading our territory who are captured, shall be con- 
 sidered and treated as prisoners of war. But while the two 
 countries continued at peace, a man taken in the flagrant act 
 of invasion and violence, cannot be made a prisoner of war. 
 McLeod, however, is not to be treated on this principle, and 
 punished under our laws if he be guilty, lest we should offend 
 the majesty of England. The laws of New York are to be 
 nullified, and the murderer is to run at large. 
 
 " But if the principle laid down by Vattel be sound and true, 
 all difficulty at once vanishes. If such an offender be caught 
 in the perpetration of a criminal act, he is then punished for his 
 crime. Let him be tried for it at least, and then, if there are 
 any mitigating circumstances in his case, for the sake of good 
 neighborhood, let him escape. There wiU then be no danger of 
 war from this cause. Let me suppose a case. Suppose Colonel 
 Allen McNab should take it into his head that there exists in 
 the United States a conspiracy against the British government, 
 and should believe that he could unravel the whole plot by seiz- 
 ing on the United States mail in its passage from New York to 
 Buffalo — he places himself at the bead of a party, comes over 
 the line, and seizes and robs the mail ; but in the act he is 
 overpowered and arrested, and he is indicted before a criminal 
 
SPEECH ON THE MC LEOD CASE. 339 
 
 court of the United States. Will it be maintained, if the Brit- 
 ish government should say, We recognize the act of McNab in 
 robbing your mad, as we have already recognized that of his 
 burning your steamboat and killing your citizens, that Mr. 
 Webster would be justified in directing a noOe prosequi to be 
 entered in his favor, and thus suffer him to go free ? 
 
 " I do not say that the British government would act in this 
 manner, but I put the case as a fair illustration of the argu- 
 ment. There was one case in which something very hke this 
 might have happened, and it was even thought probable that it 
 would happen. It was reported that an expedition had been 
 planned to seize the person of McLeod, and to oarry him off to 
 Canada ; and I believe that a very distinguished and a gallant 
 general in the United States service (Gen. -Scott) — an ofiScer 
 for whom, in common with his fellow-citizens, I cherish the 
 highest respect and regard — went, in company with the Attor- 
 ney General, to Lockport ; and it was conjectured that he had 
 received orders to hold McLeod and defend the Lockport jail 
 against any incursion of Sir Allen McNab or any other person. 
 
 " Suppose now that such an expedition had been set on foot, 
 that it had succeeded, and that McLeod had been seized and 
 carried off in triumph, the two nations being still in profound 
 peace. The rescue of a prisoner is high criminal offence. What 
 would have been done with McNab if he had voluntarily come 
 within our jurisdiction and been arrested ? If he could be in- 
 dicted, and tried, and punished before the British government 
 should have time to recognize his act — very well. But if not, 
 then, at the moment of such recognition, he would be no 
 longer responsible, and must forthwith be set free. The prin- 
 ciple of Vattel rightly understood, absolutely secures the terri- 
 torial sovereignty of nations in time of peace by permitting 
 them to punish all invasions of it in their own criminal courts, 
 and his doctrine is eminently calculated to preserve peace 
 among aU nations. War has its own laws, which are never to 
 be extended to the intercourse between nations at peace. 
 
340 LIFE AND BEEVICES OF JAMEB BTJCHAJSTAN. 
 
 " The principle assumed in Mr. Fox's letter is well calcula,ted 
 for the benefit of powerful nations against their weaker neigh- 
 bors. (But in saying this I do no not mean to admit that we 
 are a weak nation in comparison with England. We do not, 
 indeed, wish to go to war with her, yet I am confident in the 
 belief that whatever we might suffer during the early period of 
 such a contest would be amply compensated by our success be- 
 fore we reached the end of it.) But let me present an ex- 
 ample : 
 
 " Let us suppose that the empire of Russia has by her side 
 a conterminous nation, which is comparatively weak. A Russian 
 colonel, during the season of profound peace, passes over the 
 boundary, and commits some criminal act against the citizens 
 of the weaker 'nation. They succeed, however, in seizing his 
 person, and are about to punish him accordiug to the provisions 
 of their own laws. But immediately the Russian double-headed 
 black eagle makes its appearance, a Russian officer says to the 
 authorities of the weaker nation, ' stop, take off your hands ; 
 you shall not vindicate your laws and sovereignty. We assume 
 tliis man's' crime as a national act.' What is the consequence ? 
 The rule for which Britain contends will in this case compel the 
 injured nation, though the weaker, to declare war in the -first 
 instance against her stronger neighbor. But she will not do it ; 
 she will not become the actor, from the consciousness of her 
 weakness and the instinct of self-preservation. This principle, if 
 established, will enable the strong to insult the weak with im- 
 punity. But take the principle as laid down by Vattel. The 
 weaker nation defends the majesty of her own laws by punish- 
 ing the Russian subject who had violated them ; and, if war is 
 to ensue, Russia must assume the responsibiUty of declaring it, in 
 the face of the world, and in an unjust cause, against the nation 
 whom she has injured. It is said that one great purpose of 
 the laws of nations is to protect the weak against the strong, 
 and never was this tendency more happily Ulustrated than 
 by this very principle of Vattel for which I am contending. 
 
SPEECH ON THE MC LF. U CASE. oil 
 
 " I, therefore, believe that the Secretary of State was as fai 
 wrong in his view of international law as in his haste to ap- 
 pease the British government, in the face of a direct threat, 
 by his instructions to Mr. Crittenden. The commimication of 
 these instructions to that government, we know, had the de- 
 sired effect. They went out immediately to England, and no 
 sooner were they known on that side of the water than in a 
 moment all was calm and tranqml. The storm portending war 
 passed away, and tranquil peace once more returned and smiled 
 over the scene. Sir, the British govermnent must have been 
 hard-hearted, indeed, if a perusal of these instructions did not 
 soften them, and afford them the most ample satisfaction. This 
 amiable temper wiU never even be ruffled in the slightest 
 degree by the perusal of Mr. Webster's letter to Mr. Fox, 
 written sis weeks afterwards. The matter had aU been virtu- 
 ally ended before its date. 
 
 " In the views I have now expressed I may be wrong ; but 
 as an American senator, without any feeling on my part, but 
 such as I think every American senator ought to cherish, I am 
 constrained to say,, that I cannot approve of the course 
 pursued by the Secretary of State in this matter ; whQe at the 
 same time, I hope and trust that no other occasion may arise 
 to demand from me a similar criticism on the official conduct 
 of that gentleman. " 
 
 The difficulty between our "government and England on tbi? 
 question, which threatened a rupture between the twq countries, 
 was happily terminated in the acquittal of MacLeod, by the 
 court at Lockport before which he was tried. This excited 
 and important session of Congress closed on the 13th of Sep- 
 tember, 1841. 
 
342 I.IFE AND SJIBVIOES OF JAMES BtJCHANAK 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII i 
 
 Second Session of the Twenty-seventh Congress— The Veto Power— Mr. Buchsinan'l 
 Speech in Reply to Mr. Clay — The Board of Exchequer — Mr. Buchanan's Speech— Mr. 
 Clay's Retirement from the Senate— Third Session of the Twenty-seyenth Congress- 
 The Webster Treaty. 
 
 Not three months elapsed after the adjournment of the extra 
 session of Congress, before the first Regular session of the 
 twenty-seventh Congress convened, on the 6th of December, 
 1841. Mr. Clay introduced some resolutions to restrict the 
 veto power. Mr. Buchanan did not agree with Mr. C. 
 that the presidential prerogative of a veto upon bills passed 
 by Congress, was a dangerous power granted to the execu- 
 tive. On the contrary, he believed that the provision in the 
 Constitution, making it the duty of the President to return all 
 bills he did not approve to Congress with his objections, was a 
 safeguard against hasty and inconsiderate legislation, and that 
 the wise framers of our organic law had inserted it from the 
 most patriotic considerations of the public good. On the 2d 
 of February, 1842, Mr. Buchanan made an elaborate reply to 
 Mr. Clay upon his proposition, reviewing our whole system of 
 government, and showing the relations that existed between its 
 parts. This logical and profound speech embraces valuable 
 principles of political economy, and shows with what attention 
 Mr. Buchanan has studied the fundamental laws and maxims 
 of civU government. After showing that the veto power bore 
 no analogy to tyrannical or despotic power, he said : 
 
 " This system of self-imposed restraints is a necessary element 
 
THE VETO POWEB. 343 
 
 of our social condition. Every wise and virtuous man adopts 
 the resolutions by which he regulates his conduct, for the pur- 
 pose of counteracting the evil propensities of his nature, and 
 preventing him from yielding under the impulses of sudden and 
 strong temptation. Is such a man the less free, the less inde- 
 pendent because he choses to submit to these self-imposed re- 
 straints ? In -like manner, is the majority of the people less 
 free and less independent because it has chosen to impose con- 
 stitutional restrictions upon itself and its representatives ? Is 
 this any abridgement of popular liberty ? The true philoso- 
 phy of repubUcan government, as the history of the world has 
 demonstrated, consists in the establishment of such counteract- 
 ing powers — powers always created by the people themselves — as 
 shall render it morally certain that no law can be passed by 
 their servants which shall not be in accordance with their will, 
 and calculated to promote their good. 
 
 " It is for this reason that a Senate has been established in 
 every State of the Union to control the House of Representor 
 tives ; and I presume there is now scarcely an individual in the 
 country who is not convinced of its necessity. Fifty years ago, 
 opinions were much divided upon this subject, and nothing but 
 experience has settled the question. In France, the National 
 Assembly, although they retained the king, rejected a senate as 
 aristocratic, and our own Franklin was opposed to it. He 
 thought that the popular branch was alone necessary to reflect 
 the wiU of the people, and that a senate would be but a mere 
 encumbrance. His influence prevailed in the convention which 
 formed the first Constitution for Pennsylvania, and we had no 
 senate. The doctor's argument against it was contained in one 
 of his homely but striking illustrations : 'Why,' said he, 'will 
 you place a horse in front of a cart to draw it forward, and 
 another behind to puU it back ?' Experience, which is the 
 wisest teacher, has demonstrated the fallacy of this and all other 
 similar arguments ; and pnbUc opinion is now unanimous on 
 
044 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 the subject. Where is the man who does not now feel that 
 the control of a senate is necessary to restrain and modify the 
 action of the popular branch ? 
 
 "All the beauty and harmony and order of the UEiyerse 
 arise from counteracting influences. When its great author, 
 in the beginning, gave the planets their projective impulse, 
 they would have rushed in a straight Kne through the realms 
 of boundless space, had he not restrained them within their 
 prescribed orbits by the counteracting influence of gravitation. 
 AH the valuable inventions in mechanics consist in blending 
 simple powers together so as to restrain and regulate the ac- 
 tion of each other. Restraint — restraint — ^not that imposed by 
 arbitrary and irresponsible power, but by the people them- 
 selves, in their own written constitutions, is the great law which 
 has rendered democratic representative government so success- 
 ful in these latter times. The best security which the people 
 can have against abuses of trust by their public servants, is to 
 ordain that it shaU be the duty of one class of them to watch 
 and restrain another. Sir, this federal government, in its legis- 
 lative attributes, is nothing but a system of restraints from be- 
 ginning to end. In order to enact any bill into a law, it must 
 be passed by the representatives of the people in the House, and 
 also by the representatives of the sovereign States in the Se- 
 nate, where, as I have observed before, it may be defeated by 
 senators from States containing but one-fourth of the popula- 
 tion of the country. After it has undergone these two ordeals, 
 it must yet be subjected to that of the executive, as the tribune 
 of the whole people, for his approbation. If he should exer- 
 cise his veto power, it cannot become a law unless it be passed 
 by a majority of two-thirds of both houses. These are the 
 mutual restraints which the people have imposed on their public 
 servants, to preserve their own rights and those of the States 
 from rash, hasty and impolitic legislation. No treaty with a 
 foreign power can be binding upon the people of this country 
 
SPEECH ON THE VETO POWER. 345 
 
 anless it shall receive the assent of the President and two-thirda 
 of the Senate, and this is the restraint which the people hare 
 imposed on the treaty making power." 
 
 After referring to instances where the rights of the States 
 might be broken down if the veto power were abolished, he con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " But let me suppose another case of a much more dangerous 
 character. In the southern States, which compose the weaker 
 portion of the Union, a species of property exists which is now 
 attracting the attention of the whole civilized world. These 
 States never would have become parties to the Union, had not 
 their rights in this property been secured by the federal Consti- 
 tution. Foreign and domestic fanatics — some from the belief 
 that they are doing God's service, and others from a desire to 
 divide and destroy this glorious Republic — ^have conspired to 
 emancipate the southern slaves. On this question, the people 
 of the South, beyond the limits of their own States, stand 
 alone and unsupported by any power on earth, except that of 
 the northern democracy. These fanatical philanthropists are 
 now conducting a crusade over the whole world, and are en- 
 deavoring to concentrate the public opinion of all mankind 
 against the right of property. Suppose they should ever in- 
 fluence a majority in both Houses of Congress to pass a law, 
 not to abolish this property — for that would be too palpable a 
 violation of the Constitution — ^but to render it of no value, 
 under the letter, but against the spirit, of some of the powers 
 granted ; will any lover of his country say that the President 
 ought not to possess the power of arresting such an act by Ma 
 veto, until the solemn decision of the people should be known 
 on this question, involving the life or death of the Union ? We, 
 sir, of the non-slaveholding States, entered the Union upon the 
 express condition that this property should be protected. What- 
 ever may be our own private opinions in regard to slavery in 
 
 15* 
 
346 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUOHANAK. 
 
 the abstract, ought we to hazard all the blessings of oar free 
 institutions — our Union and our strength — in such a crusade 
 against our brethren of the South ? Ought we to jeopard 
 every political right we hold dear for the sake of enabling 
 these fanatics to invade southern rights, and render that fair 
 portion of our common inheritance a scene of servile war, ra- 
 pine and murder ? Shall we apply the torch to the magnificent 
 temple of human liberty which our forefathers reared at the 
 price of their blood and treasure, and permit aU we hold dear 
 to perish in the conflagration ? I trust not. 
 
 " It' is possible, that at some future day, the majority in 
 Congress may attempt, by indirect means, to emancipate the 
 slaves of the South. There is no knowing, through what chan- 
 nel the ever-active spirit of fanaticism may seek to accomplish 
 its object. The attempt may be made through the taxing 
 power, or some other express power granted by the Constitu- 
 tion. God only knows how it may be made. It is hard to say 
 what means fanaticism may not adopt to accomplish its pur- 
 pose. Do we feel so secure, in this hour of peril from abroad 
 and pern at home, as to be willing to prostrate any of the 
 barriers which the Constitution has reared against hasty and 
 dangerous legislation ? No, sir, never was the value of the 
 veto power more manifest than at the present moment. For 
 the weaker portion of the Union, whose constitutional rights 
 are now assailed with such violence, to think of abandoning 
 this safeguard, would be almost suicidal. It is my solemn 
 conviction, that there never was a wiser or more beautiful 
 adaptation of theory to practice in any government than that 
 which requires a majority of two-thirds in both houses of Con- 
 gress to pass an act returned by the President with his objections, 
 under all the high responsibilities which he owes to his country. 
 
 " Sir, ours is a glorious Constitution. Let us venerate it ; 
 let us stand by it as the work of great and good men, unsur- 
 passed in the history of any age or nation. Let us not assail 
 it rashly with our invading hands, but honor it as the fountain 
 
SPEECH ON THE VETO POWER. 347 
 
 of OUT prosperity and power. Let us protect it as tlie only 
 system of government which could have rendered us what wo 
 are in half a century, and enable ns to take the front rank 
 among the nations of the earth. In my opinion, it is the only 
 form of government which can preserve the blessings of liberty 
 and prosperity to the people, and at the same time secure the 
 rights and sovereignty of the States. Sir, the great mass of 
 the people are unwilling that it shall be changed, although the 
 senator from Kentucky, to whom I cannot, and will not, attrib- 
 ute any but patriotic motives, has brought himself to believe 
 that a change is necessary, especially in the veto power, I 
 must differ from him entirely, convinced that his opinions on 
 this subject are based upon fallacious theories of the nature of 
 our institutions. This view of his opinions is strengthened by 
 his declarations the other day as to the illimitable rights 
 of the majority in Congress. On that point, he differs essen- 
 tially from the framers of the Constitution. They believed 
 that the people of the different States had rights which might 
 be violated by such a majority, and the veto power was one 
 of the modes which they devised for preventing these rights 
 from being invaded." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan then noticed the argument of Mr. Clay, that 
 the veto power gave the President undue infiuence oVer Con- 
 gress, and by that means brought many supporters to his 
 administration. Mr. Buchanan answered this objection, by 
 asking how many friends Mr. Tyler had obtained by his vetoes, 
 and how much power he had secured by the entire patronage 
 of the administration. He closed bis speech showing how 
 trifling was the danger of the abuse of the veto power, com- 
 pared with the evils certain to follow its abolishment, and 
 expressed his hope that it mig'ht be perpetual. This important 
 feature of our Constitution certainly never had a more powerful 
 defence than Mr. Buchanan gave it, and it will, probably, be a 
 long time before it wiU require another vindication. 
 
K43 I.IFB AND SBEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 After the disastrous failures of the " Fiscal Bank " and tba 
 " Fiscal Corporation," Mr. Tyler himself recommended a scheme 
 for managing the financial business of the goTernment, to be 
 called " A Board of Exchequer." The plan was somewhat differ- 
 ent from that of a National Bank, but it embraced the principle 
 which the democracy had always contended against, that of, 
 using the people's money as capital upon which to make bank 
 issues by the goTemment, and, of course, it met with their deter- 
 mined hostility. Indeed, it seemed to be forsaken by all. It 
 never was even called up for consideration in the House. In 
 the Senate it was referred to the Committee of Finance, where 
 it duly expired. Mr. Buchanan, however, made a speech upon 
 it on a motion to refer the subject to a select committee. Many - 
 of the arguments are so similar to those which he used in former 
 bills of the same kind, most of which we have already 
 given, that it is unnecessary to repeat them. 
 
 During this session Mr. Clay presented his resignation, and 
 retired from Congress. He delivered a valedictory of much feel- 
 ing and great eloquence, and sought in the shades of private 
 life that retirement, which he had so long desired. A 
 combination of circumstances had defeated all his leading 
 measures, and he had been taunted with trying to be a 
 dictator, because of the energy and perseverance he had exhibi- 
 ted in endeavoring to carry them out. " That my nature is 
 warm," said Mr. Clay, "my temper ardent, my disposition in 
 the public service enthusiastic, I am ready to own. But those 
 who suppose they have seen any proof of dictation in my con- 
 duct, have only mistaken that ardor for what I at least supposed 
 to be patriotic exertions for fulfilling the wishes by which I 
 hold this seat : they having mistaken the one for the other." 
 Mr. Clay had, however, at least one consolation : if Mr. Tyler 
 obtained the power of the government, he retained the affec- 
 tions of the great whig party, and died in its embrace ! No 
 one at this day will be likely to accuse Mr. Clay of dictation. 
 The charge was the result of temporary party asperities, and 
 
THE WEBSTEEE TEEAT*'. 349 
 
 never received any snpport from Mr, Buchanan, who liways 
 regarded Mr. Clay as a man of the most earnest and sincere 
 patriotism. If he made mistakes npon some public questions, 
 it was but what all men in this fallible world are liable to do. 
 At all events, his heart was always for his country,. and upon 
 questions now at issue he assumed a stand that placed himself 
 and Mr. Buchanan on the same platform, nobly battling 
 against sectional strife and disunion. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was uncommonly active at this session in his 
 participation in public questions, yet we are only enabled to 
 refer to his most prominent speeches. The reader may judge 
 of the attention he gave to the public service, by the fact that 
 he voted or addressed the Senate more than one hundred and 
 seventy different times. It was a long, arduous and trying ses- 
 sion, of nearly nine months' duration. 
 
 The third and last session of the twenty-seventh Congress 
 convened on the 5th of December, 1842. There were no bUla 
 of great national importance brought before it, but an interest- 
 ing debate is incorporated in the proceedings of this Congress, 
 which took place in executive session before the adjournment 
 on the 30th of August previous, upon the British treaty negoti- 
 ated by Mr. Webster and Lord Ashbnrton, in settlement of our 
 Northeast boundary line. It was believed by many persons, 
 and is stUl so regarded by some, that Mr. Webster made too 
 great concessions to the demands of England in the settlement 
 of that question. Indeed if any person will look at a map upon 
 which is marked the boundary as designated by the treaty of 
 1183, and that settled upon by the Webster tr£aty, he wiU 
 be struck with the valuable advantages England has derived 
 from the latter. She now has the unobstructed right of the 
 valley of the St. John's Kiver, and a military road directly 
 through it from the province of New Brunswick to Quebec. It 
 may be said that the territory is mostly sterile and not worth 
 contending for, but if it really belonged to ns our rights are 
 never so valueless as to be given up upon demand, no matter 
 
350 LIFE AUD SEKVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 of how little importaace in an intrinsic point of view they maj 
 be. Mr Buchanan made a long and well considered speech 
 upon the treaty, taking grounds against its ratification in the 
 form in which it was presented to the Senate. 
 
 Amongst the objections which he urged against the treaty, 
 was that it did not settle other matters of dispute then 
 existing between England and our government, indeed, the 
 absence of a firm declaration of our rights, Mr. Buchanan con 
 tended would embarrass future negotiations, and particularly 
 any that might become necessary for the settlement of our 
 north-west boundary. The twenty-seventh Congress expired 
 by constitutional limitation, on the 3d of March, 1843, after 
 three exciting, important, but to the party that had rolled on a 
 whirlwind into power, very unsatisfactory sessions. 
 
TERETTOBIAI, GOVERNMENT IN OEBGON. 351 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 The Trenty-Eightb Oongress — ^Territorial Government In Oregon— AimexaUou of Texas 
 — Electioa of James K. Folk. 
 
 The twenty-eighth Congress, the last under Mr. Tyler's ad- 
 mmistration, convened at its first session on the 4th of Decem- 
 ber, 1843. The most important subjects of discussion were the 
 organization of a territorial goyernment for Oregon, and the 
 annexation of Texas. Mr. Buchanan took an early and decided 
 stand in faror of extending to the far-off settlements on the 
 Pacific, all the advantages which our laws could furnish. 
 
 In his speech on this subject, he takes the following prophetic 
 and brilliant survey of the destiny of this country : 
 
 The senator from New Jersey (Mr. Miller) behoves that a 
 hundred years must roll around before the valley of the Mississ- 
 ippi will have a population equal in density to that of some of 
 the older States of the Union ; and for fifty years, at least, our 
 people should not pass beyond their present limits. And in 
 this connection he has introduced the Texas question. In re- 
 gard to that question, aU I have now to say is, ' that sufficient 
 unto the day is the evil thereof.' I have no opinion to express 
 at this time on the subject. But this I beheve : Providence 
 has given to the American people a great and glorious mission 
 to perform, even that of extending the blessmgs of Christianity 
 and civil and religious liberty over the whole North American 
 continent. Within less than fifty years from this moment, there 
 will exist one hundred millions of free Americans between the 
 Atlantic and the Pacifiic oceans. This will be a glorious specta- 
 
352 LIFE AND SEEVICKS OF JAMES BUCHANAH. 
 
 cle to behold ; the distant contemplation of it warms and ex- 
 pands the bosom. The honorable senator seems to suppose 
 that it is impossible to love our country with the same ardor 
 when its, limits are so widely extended. I cannot agree with 
 him iu this opinion. I believe an American citizen wUl, if pos- 
 sible, more ardently love his country, and be more proud of its 
 power and glory, when it shall be stretched out from sea to sea, 
 than when it was confined to a narrow strip between the Atlantic 
 and the Alleghanies. The Almighty has implanted iu the very 
 •nature of our people that spirit of progress, and that desire to 
 roam abroad, and seek new homes, and new fields of enterprise, 
 which characterises them above all other nations, ancient or 
 modern, which have ever existed. This spirit cannot be repress- 
 ed. It is idle to talk of it. You might as well attempt to 
 arrest the stars in their courses through heaven. The same 
 Divine power has given impulse to both. What, sir I prevent 
 the American people from crossing the Eocky Mountains. You 
 might as well command Niagara not to flow. We mv^st fulfill 
 our destiny. The question presented by the senator from New 
 Jersey is, whether we shall vainly attempt to interpose obsta- 
 cles to our own progress, and passively yield up the exercise of 
 our rights beyond the mountains, on the consideration that it is 
 impolitic for us ever to colonize Oregon. To such a question 
 I ShaU give no answer. But, says he, it would be expensive to 
 the treasury to extend to Oregon a territorial government. No 
 matter what may be the expense, the thing will eventually be 
 done ; and it cannot be prevented, though it may be delayed 
 for a season.'' 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was one of the earliest, most consistent, and 
 steady advocates of the annexation of Texas, and m his 
 speech defending the policy of this act, he took a survey of 
 the varied interests upon which it would have an influence, 
 which probably does more to give his mind the stamp of en- 
 larged statesmanship, than any other speech he ever delivered. 
 
AOTJEXATION OF TEXAS. 353 
 
 If anytMng were wanting to show that his remarks exhibited 
 that profound knowledge of human affairs which enables great 
 minds to grasp the future with aU the confidence of reality, it 
 is that time has affixed the seal of confirmation to their correct- 
 ness. In opening his speech upon this important subject, he 
 said : 
 
 " Mr. President : The present is a question of transcendent 
 importance. For weal or for woe — for good or for evil, it is 
 more momentous than any question which has been before the 
 Senate since my connection with pubhc affairs. To confine the 
 consequences of our decision to the present generation would 
 be to take a narrow.and contracted view of the subject. The 
 life of a great nation is not to be numbered by the few and 
 fleeting years which limit the period of man's existence. The 
 life of such a nation must be counted by centuries and not by 
 years 1 ' Nations unborn and ages yet behind ' will be deeply 
 affected in their moral, political, and social relations, by the 
 final determination of this question. Shall Texas become a 
 part of our glorious confederacy ; shall she be bone of our 
 bone and flesh of our flesh ; or shall she become- our dangerous 
 and hostile rival ? Shall our future history and that of hers 
 diverge more and more from the present point, and exhibit 
 those mutual jealousies and wars, which, according to the 
 history of the world, have ever been the misfortune of neigh- 
 boring and rival nations ; or shall their history be blended 
 together in peace and harmony ? These are the alternatives 
 between which we must decide. I do not mean, by these 
 remarks, merely to refer to the vote of the Senate, which will 
 be recorded to-day upon the treaty ; but to that ultimate and 
 final decision of the question, which must be made withia a 
 brief period." ***** 
 
 Mr. Buchanan went fully into all the questions bearing on the 
 policy of annexation. He observed that Texas would be an 
 
364 LIFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHAITAN'. 
 
 important security and adrantage to our southwestern frontier; 
 that England would be enabled to make with her commercial 
 treaties which would injure the general welfare of the Union, 
 while her annexation to us would greatly increase onr internal 
 commerce, extend the market for our domestic manufactures, 
 and preserve to the United States one of the finest cotton- 
 growing countries of the earth. 
 
 " Whilst the annexation of Texas," said Mr. Buchanan, 
 " would afford that security to the southern and southwestern 
 slave States, which they have a right to demand, it would, in 
 some respects, operate prejudicially upon their immediate pecu- 
 niary interests ; but to the middle and western, and more espe- 
 cially to the New England States, it would, in my opinion, be 
 a source of unmixed prosperity. It would extend their com- 
 merce, promote their manufactures, and increase their wealth. 
 The New England States resisted, with all their power, the 
 acquisition of Louisiana ; and I ask what would those States 
 have been at this day without that territory ? They wiU also 
 resist the annexation of Texas with similar energy ; although, 
 after it has been acquired, it is they who wiU reap the chief 
 pecuniary advantages from the acquisition." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan closed his speech by urging immediate action, 
 and stated that had Mr. Jefferson delayed one month in his 
 acquisition of Louisiana, that valuable and fertile territory 
 would not have been obtained probably without an expensive 
 and bloody war. The annexation was now before the Senate 
 in the form of a treaty, and not receiving the constitutional 
 majority, it failed of being ratified. The final result, however, 
 was not changed, in fact postponed for only a few months. 
 The present session adjourned on the 11th of June, 1844, and 
 the next one convened on the 2d of December following. Then 
 the annexation of Texas came up in the form of a joint resolu- 
 tion. The election of James K. Polk had been accomplished ; 
 
ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 355 
 
 the annexation of Texas had been an issne-before the people, and 
 favorably received, and the democracy were again coming into 
 power. All these things combining rendered the annexation 'of 
 Texas a certainty. The present Congress, therefore, made a 
 virtue of necessity, and just before Mr. Tyler retired from office, 
 received Texas into the American Union upon a joint resolu- 
 tion. It may be remarked that Mr. Buchanan was the only 
 member of the Committee on Foreign Eelations in the Senate 
 to whom the subject was referred, who reported favorably upon 
 the admission. The vote upon the annexation of Texas com- 
 pleted Mr. Buchanan's senatorial career, and it will ever be an 
 honor to him, that he crowned his ten years of devotion to the 
 interests of his country in the highest branch of its legislative 
 body, by an act so important and valuable in its results. 
 
356 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAMES BTJCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTBE XX. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan aa Secretary of State— The War with Mexico— The Oregon Boundary 
 Negotiation — Treaty with Mexico — The Acquisition of California — The Irish Bevoln- 
 tion of 1846— Mr. Buchanan's Denial of British Demands. 
 
 Thj. campaign of 1844, placed James K. Polk in the presi- 
 dential chair. The annexation of Texas had been disposed of^ 
 but there were other questions of great importance stQl unde- 
 cided, which if not managed with decision and energy, might 
 involve a sacrifice of our rights. Our relations with Great 
 Britain and Mexico were in a very unsettled state, and Mr. 
 Polk, justly considering that he needed a statesman of tried 
 ability and of unflinching patriotism to fill the important post, 
 the head of the State Department, and considering also the 
 respect due to the eminent man who had been the hero in so 
 many a hard fought democratic battle, then in retirement at 
 the Hermitage, felt it his duty to consult him in regard to the 
 disposition of the portfolio of his chief cabinet appointment. 
 It was an honor, therefore, to Mr. Buchanan, but one of 
 which he was justly deserving, that that man of profound 
 sagacity and of pure patriotism designated him as the proper 
 person to occupy this responsible position. Mr. Buchanan 
 being thus invited to accept the chair of the Secretary of 
 State in Mr. Polk's cabinet, resigned his position as senator 
 from ■Pennsylvania, a place he had for ten years filled with 
 so much honor to himself and so much acceptance to hia 
 constituents, and entered upon the duties of his new office. 
 
 It would be quite impossible in the limits of this volume to 
 
■3 HE OEEGON BOmSTDAET NEGOTIATION. 357 
 
 give anything like a detaU of the varions and important papers 
 which it became his dnty to prepare wliile connected with the 
 State department. It might be almost enough to say that he 
 occupied the chief position in that cabinet which conducted the 
 brilliant campaign in Mexico, and which first planted the stars 
 and stripes in California. A brief resume, however, of Mr. 
 Buchanan's acts whUe Secretary of State, will be necessary, in 
 order to show how much the country is indebted to him for the 
 valuable acquisitions of a new territory which has in fact almost 
 changed the face of modern society. The gold of California has 
 been to this era what the mines of Mexico and Peru were to 
 Europe when Spain, by the brilliancy of her achievements, was 
 the leadiQg nation of the world in all those daring and adven- 
 turous enterprises which for so many years linked the name of 
 CastUian with all that was enthusiastic and bold. Had not the 
 foresight of such statesmen seen beyond the limits of the pre- 
 sent hour, California might have fallen into the hands of Eng- 
 land, and the glorious future which wUl enable us eventually to 
 clasp the tirade both of the East and the West Indies as ours, 
 would have been obscured, perhaps forever. 
 
 The first negotiation which demanded the attention of Mr. 
 Buchanan after he assumed the duties of his of&ce, was the set- 
 tlement of our northwestern, or Oregon boundary. Mr. B. had 
 long held the firm opinion that our title to that territory was 
 clear and iudisputable up to the parallel of 54° 40 minutes. 
 Upon commencing the duties of his office, however, he found 
 several embarrassments in his way which were not easUy obvi- 
 ated. It will be recoU'ected that he took strong ground against 
 the ratification of Mr. Webster's treaty with Lord Ashbnrton 
 in 1842, and one of the reasons he then gave for his course was, 
 that the adoption of the treaty would embarrass negotiations in 
 regard to the Oregon boundary. Little did he think at the 
 time that upon his shoulders would fall this embarrassment. 
 There was still another difficulty which the administration of 
 Mr. Polk experienced. The negotiations had been commenced 
 
358 LIFE AJSD SEEVIOES OF JAMBS BUCHAKAir. 
 
 under Mr. Tyler, who had offered to settle the line on the 
 parallel of 49° north latitude, and this offer could not be with- 
 drawn abruptly ; indeed courtesy demanded that the new 
 administration should renew it. After reviewing our title to 
 Oregon, in his first protocol to Mr. Pakenham, the British 
 minister, Mr. Buchanan says : 
 
 " In view of these facts, the President has determined to 
 pursue the present negotiation to its conclusion upon the prin- 
 ciple of compromise in which it was commenced, and to make 
 one more effort to adjust this long - pending controversy. In 
 this determination, he trusts that the British government will 
 recognize his sincere and anxious desire to cultivate the modt 
 friendly relations between the two countries, and to manifest to 
 the world that he is actuated by a spirit of moderation. He 
 has therefore instructed the undersigned again to propose to the 
 government of Great Britain that the Oregon territory shall -be 
 divided between the two countries by the forty-ninth parallel 
 of north latitude from the Kocky Mountains to the Pacific 
 Ocean ; offering at the same time to make free to Great Britain 
 any port or ports on Vancouver's Island which the British gov- 
 ernment may desire. He trusts that Great Britain may receive 
 this proposition in the friendly spirit by which it was dictated, 
 and that it may prove the stable foundation of lasting peace 
 and harmony between the two countries." 
 
 The protocol from which this extract is taken was dated July 
 12th, 1845. It went over the grounds in dispute, briefly re- 
 capitulating the main points of the controversy. Mr. Paken- 
 ham repUed to it on the 29 th of the same month, declining in 
 a somewhat hasty manner the offer. Mr. Buchanan did not 
 reply until the 30th of August ; but when he did, it was in a 
 letter of great historical accuracy, carefully and even techni- 
 cally elaborated, and with such a firm and decided spirit ani- 
 mating it from beginning to end, that the British government 
 were convinced that it would not do to trifle further with Mr. 
 
THE OEEGON BODNDABY NEGOTIATION. 359 
 
 Polk's administration. In closing this long, able, and argu- 
 mentative historical paper, Mr. Buchanan says : 
 
 " Such a proposition as that which has been made neyer 
 would have been authorized by the President had this been a 
 new question. Before his accession to office he found the pre- 
 sent negotiation pending. It had been instituted in the prin- 
 ciple and with the spirit of compromise. Its object, as avowed 
 by the negotiators, was not to demand the whole territory in dis- 
 pute for either country, but in the language of the first protocol, 
 ' to treat of the respective claims of the two countries to 
 Oregon territory, with a view to establish a permanent boun- 
 dary between them westward of the Rocky Mountains to the 
 Pacific Ocean.' Placed in this position, and considering that 
 Presidents Monroe and Adams had on former occasions offered 
 to divide the territory in dispute, by the forty-ninth parallel of 
 latitude, he felt it to be his duty not abruptly to arrest the 
 negotiation, but so far to yield his own opinion as once more to 
 make a similar offer. Not only respect for the conduct of his 
 predecessors, but a sincere and anxious desire to promote peace 
 and harmony between the two countries, influenced him to pur- 
 sue this course. The Oregon question presents the only inter- 
 vening cloud which intercepts the prospect of a long career of 
 mutual friendship and beneficial commerce between the two 
 nations, and this cloud he desires to remove. 
 
 "These are the reasons which actuated the President to 
 offer a proposition so liberal to Great Britain. And how has 
 this proposition been received by the British plenipotentiary ? 
 It has been rejected without even a reference to his own gov- 
 ernment. Nay, even more. The British plenipotentiary, to 
 use his own language, ' trusts that the American plenipotentiary 
 will be prepared to offer some other proposal for the settle- 
 ment of the Oregon question, more consistent with fau-ness 
 and equity, and with the reasonable expectations of the British 
 government. Under such circumstances, the undersigned is in- 
 
360 LIFE AND SEKYICE8 OF JAMES BtrCHANAN'. 
 
 Btrncted by the President to say, that he owes it to his country 
 and a just appreciation of her title to the Oregon territory, to 
 withdraw the proposition to the British government which had 
 been made under his direction ; and it is hereby accordingly 
 withdrawn.' In taking this necessary step, the President still 
 cherishes the hope that this long pending controversy may yet 
 be finally adjusted in such a manner as not to disturb the peace 
 or interrupt the harmony now so happily subsisting between 
 the two nations." 
 
 This decidedly spirited and-even indignant reception of Mr. 
 Pakenham's note convinced the British government that the 
 United States were determined to maintain their rights, and 
 not long after it came forward itself with the proposal to settle 
 the boundary as Mr. Polk had at first offered. This it declared 
 to be its ultimatum. Here was a dilemma. - For the Presi- 
 dent not to accept a proposition which he once offered him- 
 self, would seem like going to war merely on a point of eti- 
 quette, yet to accept it would not be in accordance with his 
 own views or those of his cabinet. The Senate, however, was 
 in session, and as this is a part of the treaty making power 
 of our government, Mr. Polk wisely resolved to submit the 
 ^ro;ef%of the treaty to that body, and take its advice on the 
 subject. The ofCer of Great Britain was therefore sent to the 
 Senate, where, after due deliberation, a resolution was passed, 
 advising Mr. Polk to accept the proposition. Thus, at length 
 ended the famous Oregon controversy, which had been suddenly 
 terminated doubtless solely by the decided stand which Mr. 
 Buchanan had taken in asserting our rights and in rejecting at 
 the very outset anything like trifling in the negotiation. 
 
 The management of the negotiation connected with the 
 Mexican war, was, however, the most intricate in its details, as 
 it was the most important in its results of any that came be- 
 fore Mr. Buchanan while a member of Mr. Polk's cabinet. The 
 forbearance we had exercised towards Mexico had been con- 
 
TEEATT WITH MEXICO. 361 
 
 strued by that power into pusillammity, perhaps, even cowardice. 
 Like a degenerated family, vanity had usurped the place of the 
 courage and bravery of its ancestors, and it had the hardihood 
 even to attack Americans upon American soU. It is needless to 
 say that the descendants of a Washington and a Hancock 
 never so nobly vindicated their patriotism and bravery. Con- 
 gress authorized the acceptance of a volunteer force of ten 
 thousand men, and no less than fifty thousand offered their ser- 
 vices. The deKcacy in selectiog from the number eager to 
 enroll themselves in defence of the rights of their country was 
 exceedingly embarrassing, and it is doubtful whether some 
 slight feeling may not exist even yet among the rejected against 
 Mr. Buchanan and other members of Mr. Polk's cabinet, be- 
 cause they were compelled to deny them the privilege of engag- 
 ing in the fight 1 
 
 Constant negotiations, however, were kept up with Mexico, 
 and repeated oflfers made to bring the difficulties to a terminar 
 tion, but she would not submit untU her people saw the stars 
 and stripes waving from the halls of the Montezumas. During 
 the whole of the protracted and tedious negotiation, which 
 finally resulted in a peace both honorable and advantageous to 
 our country, Mr. Buchanan displayed a degree of consummate 
 statesmanship which demonstrated his appreciation of the 
 wants and interests of his nation. In his letter of instruction 
 to Hon, John Slidell, minister to Mexico, he said : 
 
 " The nations of the continent of America have interests 
 peculiar to themselves. Their free forms of government are 
 altogether dififerent from the monarchical institutions of Europe. 
 The interest and independence of these sister nations require that 
 they should establish and maintain an American system of 
 policy for t^eir own protection and security, entirely distinct 
 from that which has so long prevailed in Europe. To tolerate 
 any interference on the part of European sovereigns with con- 
 troversies in America ; to permit them to apply the worn out 
 dogma of the balance of power to the free States on this con- 
 
 16 
 
362 LIFE AST) BEBVIOES OF JAMES BPCKANAIT. 
 
 tinent ; and above all, to suffer them to establish new iolonies 
 of their own, intermingled with our free republics, would be to 
 make to the same extent a voluntary sacrifice of our independ- 
 ence. These truths ought everywhere throughout the continent 
 of America to be pressed upon the public mind. If therefore in 
 the course of your negotiations with Mexico that government 
 should propose the mediation or guarantee of any European 
 power, you are to reject the proposition without hesitation. 
 The United States will never afford, by their conduct, the 
 slightest pretext for any interference in that quarter in American 
 concerns. Separated as we are from the Old World by a vast 
 ocean, and still further removed from it by the nature of our 
 republican institutions, the march of free governments on this 
 continent must not be trammelled by the intrigues and selfish 
 interests of European powers. Liberty here must be allowed 
 to work out its natural results ; and these, ere long, will asto- 
 nish the world. Neither is it for the interests of those powers 
 to plant colonies on this continent. No settlement of the kind 
 can exist long. The expansive energy of our free institutions 
 must soon spread over them. The colonists themselves will 
 break from the mother country to become free and indepen- 
 dent States. Any European nation which should plant a 
 new colony on this continent, would thereby sow the seeds 
 of troubles and uproars, the injury from which even to her 
 own interests, would far outweigh all the advantages which 
 she could possibly promise herself from any such establish- 
 ment." 
 
 It seems every true American and real lover of Kberty 
 and free institutions will instinctively respond to the noble 
 sentiments contained in this extract. Mr. Buchanan's mind 
 appears to grasp the entire destiny of this continent, and to 
 see it in the distant future as the spot where mankind shall 
 live in harmony with their created adaptations, and be "re- 
 deemed, regenerated, and disenthralled " from the corruption, 
 
THE EEISH BBTOLUTION OF 1848. 363 
 
 degradation, and misery wHch royal tyrants have imposed upon 
 them. 
 
 Another important discussion which occurred during Mr. 
 Buchanan's secretaryship was one with the British government 
 in regard to American citizens said to have been engaged in the 
 Irish revolution of 1848. England claimed the right to try 
 individuals for treason to her own government who were duly 
 naturalized citizens of ours — ^in a word it was her old impress- 
 ment doctrine of once a British subject always a British sub- 
 ject. The controversy arose in the following manner. Two 
 gentlemen, Messrs. Bergen and Eyan, had expressed themselves 
 in this country as warmly sympathizing with the cause of Ire- 
 land, and while on a visit to that country were arrested solely 
 for the utterance of their opinions in this country. It is almost 
 needless to say that an act so high-handed and outrageous 
 received from Mr. Buchanan the attention it deserved. In a letter 
 of instruction to Mr. Bancroft then minister to England he says ; 
 
 " Whenever the occasion may require it, you will resist the 
 the British doctrine of perpetual allegiance and maintain the 
 American principle that British native-born subjects, after they 
 have been naturahzed under our laws, are, to all intents and 
 pm-poses, as much American citizens, and entitled to the same 
 degree of protection, as though they had been born in the 
 United States." 
 
 Mr. Bancroft in accordance with these instructions addressed 
 a letter to Lord Palmerston denying the right of the British 
 government, under the circumstances, to arrest Messrs. Bergen 
 and Eyan, and the effect of this decided action on the part of 
 our government was the liberation of the two gentlemen from 
 custody. 
 
 At few periods of our history have there been so many or im- 
 portant interests at stake both at home and abroad as during 
 the four years that Mr. Buchanan contiuued in Mr. Polk's 
 cabinet. An empire was added to our Qwn domain. The coun- 
 
364: LIFE AND SEEVI0E8 OF JAMES BTJOHANAH. 
 
 try was safely a;nd honorably conducted through the first for- 
 eign war, of any importance, in which we had ever been involved. 
 Our relations with England had been adjusted in a manner 
 satisfactory to our citizens, and whUe the thrones of Europe had 
 tottered to their very foundations, the basis of the only free 
 government on earth had been strengthened, and its position 
 made more honorable in the sight of the world. The light of 
 our beneficent example had shed its rays over the Atlantic 
 where, as silent as the Hght of Heaven in its influence, yet as 
 powerful as a thunderbolt in its effect, it is yet destined to 
 awake the slumbering energies of the ^people, and nerve them 
 to inflict upon their oppressors the just vengeance with which 
 a retributive Providence as surely punishes the sins of nations 
 as of individuals. 
 
 When Mr. Buchanan left the State department our country 
 was at peace, both at home and abroad. Our territory had 
 been enlarged, and our commerce extended. Not long after, 
 untold riches were flowing into the country, prosperity was 
 everywhere visible, our cities were growing with unexampled 
 rapidity, the fertile prairies of the West were being intersected 
 with railroads, and dotted with villages, and an impulse had 
 been universally given to business, which no one can deny was 
 directly owing to the statesmanlike foresight that had opened 
 California to the adventurous spirit of American genius and 
 enterprise. 
 
EBVIEW OF HIB 8ENAT0EIAL LIFE. 365 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 Ten years in the Senate — A Reviev of Mr. Buchanan's Senatorial Life — His Position on 
 the Banlc Question — As a Friend of Gen. Jackson— The true Test of Statesmanship — 
 The Slavery Question — The Proscription of Foreigners — Mr. Buchanan's Four Years 
 as Secretary of State. 
 
 And here it may be interesting to review briefly the career 
 of Mr. Buchanan — a career, which, for consistency of principle 
 or for devotion to the public interests, finds no superior in the 
 whole range of American statesmen. He entered the Senate 
 when Clay, Webster, Calhoun, and Wright were the mighty 
 intellects which swayed that body, and he immediately took 
 rank among them as a debater, whose blows, if not so brUliant 
 in style, were even more effectual in execution. There is one 
 feature of Mr. Buchanan's speeches which is very remarkable. 
 It is the absence of. aU display, of all attempts to benefit his 
 cause by any of those adventitious aids which oratory furnishes. 
 He never, even in argument or style, attempts the ad ccvptcm- 
 dvm vulgus, but with a firm rehance on the power of plain, 
 outspoken truth, he appeals to the common sense rather than 
 to the fancy or imagination. Even where almost every person 
 might be excused for indulging in rhetorical metaphors, Mr. 
 Buchanan adheres strictly to plain, yet graceful and elegant 
 language. There is no sign of a desire to catch the breath of 
 temporary applause, but firm, dignified, and impressive in ad- 
 vancing his opinions, as he is resolute and energetic in main- 
 taining them, he presents by his urbanity in debate, and purity 
 of patriotism, the model of an American senator. 
 
 When he entered the Senate in 1834, the great battle that 
 
366 LIFE AND SKEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 prostrated what would have undoubtedly grown into a 
 moneyed aristocracy had been victoriously fought. The dis- 
 cussion and settlement of the policy of the general government 
 in regard to the currency question, is one of the most interest- 
 ing and instructive m the whole history of our existence as a 
 nation. It had to contend against precedents. Some of the very 
 founders of our government had approved a National Bank, 
 and it was difficult, and sometunes almost impossible, to get 
 before the people the circumstances and facts connected with 
 such approval. The democracy were in favor of letting 
 banks, like all other institutions, take care of themselves 
 without assistance or alliance with the general government. 
 They wished to keep the federal government where it 
 belonged ; confined to the few plainly delegated powers given 
 it by the Constitution, and leave each State to manage all its 
 Snancial, business and domestic regulations, without being 
 mder the influence of a central power, which might almost at 
 -my moment become a consolidated oligarchy. It is an agree- 
 ^ble reflection that their views have now been so generally 
 acquiesced in. 
 
 And here we have the touchstone that has always divided 
 political parties in this country. No matter what may be the 
 particular question, be it banks, commerce, or negro slavery, 
 this is the rock upon which they split. The democracy from 
 the days of Jefferson, as fast as the different questions of public 
 policy have been made issues before the people, have resolutely 
 contended for a strict construction of the Constitution. From 
 the day that Mr. Buchanan entered pulslic life untU the pre- 
 sent, he has approved this policy ; at least, after a careful 
 perusal of the congressional record we have not observed a 
 single vote of his upon questions where the issue was involved 
 antagonistic to this position. He has thus shown a devotion 
 to correct principles which endears him to every friend of our 
 system of government. 
 
 And more : in every question before the Senate, he always 
 
EBVIEW OF HIS SENATOEIAI, LIFE. 367 
 
 espoused the cause of his country, as contradistinguished from 
 that spirit of timidity which General Jackson used to declare 
 would always produce war. No man who understands Mr. 
 Buchanan's character will suspect him of anything like bluster- 
 ing or bravado. Nor would he appeal to the sword in the 
 settlement of national disputes, except in the direst emergency, 
 and then it would be with the reluctance of a judge who is 
 compelled to. sentence a criminal to death in order to vindicate 
 the law. Upon questions where our dearest rights, nay, even 
 our existence as an independent nation is concerned, Mr. Bu- 
 chanan has always shown that intrepid spirit, which distin- 
 guishes every man worthy to bear the name of American. 
 But in questions of etiquette, or where no important interest is 
 involved, he has always exhibited that generosity and forbear- 
 ince, which a great nation, justly proud of its strength and con- 
 ident of its resources, can afford to exercise. 
 
 No one feature in his life or character is more decided than 
 his respect and admiration for General Jackson. He ■ was 
 among the first to observe the capacity of that distinguished 
 man for the office of Chief Magistrate, and from the very start 
 was his firm and unwavering friend. His speech upon the 
 " Expunging Resolution " was a vindication of the charac- 
 ter of that much maligned man, which will ever rank with 
 the best delivered upon the floor of the United States 
 Senate. In that effort there was something to awaken his 
 feelings, indeed there was a pardonable degree of indignation 
 in which he might be allowed to indulge. A great and patri- 
 otic man had been assailed, without the means of defence 
 being afforded him, and one, indeed, who, by his acts, had 
 conferred, as he believed, great blessings upon his country. 
 
 Upon all public questions Mr. Buchanan was awarded a 
 leading part. We find him the senator chosen to present the 
 Constitution for the admission of Arkansas, the champion of 
 democracy in the debate with Mr. Clay upon the bank ques- 
 tion, and for several years the head of the most important 
 
368 LIFE AND SEETICES OE JAMES BUCHAIirAN. 
 
 committee of the Senate, that on Foreign Eelations. In all 
 these positions he acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of 
 his friends. Upholding the doctrines of a correct pubhc policy 
 with an earnestness which showed his own sincerity, and with 
 an abiUty which gave evidence of his capacity even for higher 
 and more important duties. Upon our relations with Mexico 
 he early took a stand which was at last found necessary to be 
 adopted in order to vindicate our rights. To him are we 
 indebted for the negotiations that have added to our country the 
 untold wealth of California, and indeed, this result could have 
 been secured only by a man who could stretch his gaze beyond 
 the narrow bounds of a petty statesmanship. Upon the question 
 of the annexation of Texas, we . see the same evidence of 
 expanded views, and the same grasp of inteUeet which has ever 
 rendered real statesmen even greater benefactors to posterity 
 than to the periods in which they lived. But Mr. Buchanan 
 needs no eulogy. His acts, after all, are the points upon which 
 he must stand or fall. These are the rigid evidences which 
 determine whether a man is a statesman or not. The reputa- 
 tion that a person may acquire in life may be merely adventi- 
 tious, and wOl pass away as a dream before the inexorable 
 justice of history. The newspapers of the day may create a 
 fame which will last for even years, but posterity will judge of 
 men by the advantages they have conferred upon it, and by 
 their ideas which hve and breathe as the sentiments of the 
 people after they are gone. If therefore we may judge of 
 the capacity of statesmen by the results, and, as it were, 
 by the judgment of posterity, we submit that justice has 
 not heretofore been done to Mr. Buchanan and those who 
 acted with him in the great battle on the currency ques- 
 tion. Nor would we disparage either Messrs. Clay or 
 Webster. They were both men of that giant mould and 
 undoubted patriotism which we may not soon expect to see 
 again. They were noble leaders — a Cicero and Demosthenes — 
 honorable in conflict, generous to a fault, and when at last 
 
BBVIEW OF HIS SENAT0E1A.L LIFE. 369 
 
 defeated, none tnmed to them with more heartfelt sympathy 
 than the democracy, who honored their talents, respected their 
 patriotism, admired their manly bearing, and only regretted the 
 misfortune that had compelled them to oppose where it would 
 have been a pleasure to agree, and to condemn where it would 
 have been a satisfaction to have admired. 
 
 It is a singular coincidence that Mr. Buchanan should have 
 been brought up before the people of the United States for 
 their suffrages at the very time when the two most prominent 
 features of his pubUe hfe are just now the exciting questions in 
 issue. It seems as if he had been reserved for the occasion. 
 We are confident no man has ever opposed with more deter- 
 mination the spirit that would proscribe persons on account 
 of their birth-place or reUgion, or that unfortunate and 
 deplorable delusion which has arrayed so many under the 
 banner of sectionalism, than Mr. Buchanan. We have shown 
 by his speeches how early and how earnest were his pro- 
 tests against both of these sentiments. He took his stand 
 upon the great doctrine of equal rights, and nobly declared, 
 when speakiug in reference to the slavery agitation, " I do not 
 wish to sustain myself at home unless I can do it by granting 
 to the South her constitutional rights.'' He had too much 
 patriotism to desire to make capital out of a feehng which 
 he knew would injure and perhaps destroy his country. Every 
 inducement that ambition might hold out as a temptation to him 
 was disregarded, and he resolved, as did Clay and Webster, 
 that if overwhelmed by the cloud that was gathering iu the 
 North, it should be whUe clinging to the Constitution. ^ It is but 
 reasonable to suppose that the firm sta ad which Mr. Buchanan 
 took upon this question has been one of the reasons why the 
 grand old democratic State of Pennsylvania has been put down 
 as invincible, against any force which faction can bring against 
 her. There she stands as a barrier to the waves of Northern 
 delusion, saying, " thus far thou shalt go and no farther." It is 
 a worthy tribute of her devotion to the Constitution and the laws 
 
 16* 
 
370 LIFE Airo SERVICES OP JAMES BUCHANAH. 
 
 that in this the darkest hour of our history as a gOTemment, 
 when men have had the hardihood to combine upon narrow 
 sectional issues, when they have trampled under foot the name, 
 the advice, and even the memory of Washington, that her 
 favorite son should be chosen as the standard-bearer in the ^on- 
 test between nationality and sectionaUsm, between those who 
 love the Union as it is and those who have been laboring for 
 years with a spirit almost fiendish to produce estrangement and 
 alienation between citizens of a common country, whose inte- 
 rests are identical, and whose destiny is the same. 
 
 The position which Mr. Buchanan assumed in regard to the 
 poUcy of our government towards foreigners, was taken, Uke 
 that of the slavery question, long before there was any political 
 party founded upon it. To make distinctions in regard to 
 religious creed or birth-place would be to follow the European 
 idea of castes or classes in society, and be a great departure 
 from the fundamental principles of our system. 
 
 We find him; therefore, in the Senate opposing those who 
 would allow speculators to turn off from government lands the 
 hardy foreign emigrant who had braved a thousand dangers to 
 find in this New World a land where for once he could breathe 
 freely the native air of a freeman, and be relieved of all those 
 odious statutes of favoritism and class legislation which had 
 oppressed him in the Old World, and bound him down in the 
 chains of slavery. Every true man will applaud him for this 
 noble position. Indeed, himself the son of such a settler, he 
 would have been not only recreant to his duty as a democrat, 
 but to his affection as a son, had he so soon forgotten the gene- 
 rous policy of the administration of Washington and Jefferson, 
 and refused that boon to others which had been granted to his 
 own father. 
 
 No man can peruse Mr. Buchanan's career as senator in 
 Congress, and as Secretary of State, without being forcibly 
 struck with the vast and important advantages he has con- 
 ferred upon his country. There is not a prominent act of that 
 
*EVrEW OF HIS SENATOEIAi LIFE. 371 
 
 fov«,-teen ycajs' devotion to the public service which is not 
 now ackcowlodged as right by men of all parties, and so fun- 
 damentally settled is the policy of our government, that no one 
 50w purposes to disturb one of them. Time has given a tri- 
 umphant vindication of the soundness of his judgment, of the 
 correctness of his statesmanship, and of the purity of his 
 patriotism. In the great and exciting question now at issue, 
 which has absorbed all others, and brought upon a common 
 platform those who have heretofore seen reasons to differ on 
 other subjects, his record is so consistent that even his ene- 
 mies do not for a moment question it. Always firm in his 
 political views, but moderate and conciliatory in expressing 
 them, he is just the man whom all delight to honor, though 
 they may have been heretofore compelled to differ with him 
 in his political views and opinions. Next to a firm friend is an 
 honorable opponent ; and that Mr. Buchanan has always sus- 
 tained the latter character, whether on the floor of the Senate, 
 or in the chair of the Secretary of State, no one will attempt 
 to deny. 
 
 In referring to the latter position, it is only necessary to say 
 that the acquisition of California completely overshadows all the 
 Dther valuable and important acts of Mr. Polk's administration. 
 To Mr. Buchanan belongs the greatest honor of this achieve- 
 ment, and our empire on the Pacific will and must ever trace 
 its origin to the wise foresight, superior statesmanship, and 
 commanding talents of James Buchanan. 
 
372 LIFE AST> BEEVI0E8 OF JAMES BUOHANAlir. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Mr, Buchanan in priTate life — Opposition to the Wilmot Proviso — Approval of th« 
 Compromise Measures — Mr. Buchanan's position in 1852 — Mission to England — The 
 Enlistment Question — The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty — The Ostend Meeting — ^Mr. 
 Bachanan's return to the United States — His reception. 
 
 After the retirement of Mr. Buchanan from Mr. Pojt's 
 cabinet, in 1849, upon the election of General Taylor, he 
 gladly sought that rest and quiet in private life, which a long 
 and uninterrupted devotion to the public service rendered 
 agreeable as well as desirable. He had never sought public 
 honors. Taken up at an early age by his neighbors, and 
 placed in public life, he had there acquitted himself with such 
 honesty, devotion, and singleness of purpose, that ever after- 
 wards, step by step, his preferment came naturally, just as in 
 this free country it should come, by the spontaneous acts of the 
 people. He was placed in the Senate by the universal demand 
 of his State, and continued there for the same reason. He was 
 sent by General Jackson to Eussia without the least solicitation 
 of himself or his friends. He was called from the Senate to 
 Mr. Polk's cabinet, solely because he possessed qualifications 
 for the position which were not excelled, if equalled, by any 
 democratic statesman. Having thus never sought public office, 
 he could retire to private life with a pleasure unknown to those 
 who are pleased with official stations. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was not, however, an uninterested spectator 
 of events. He could not but feel an interest in his country, 
 and especially through that stormy time which finally resulted 
 in the compromises of 1850. The acquisition of new territory 
 
APPEOVAL OF THE (X)MPE0MI8E MEASUEEB. 373 
 
 had again started np the old agitation of the power of the 
 general government to interfere with the status of the negro in 
 the common territories of the Union. That unconstitutional 
 dogma known as the Wihnot Proviso, was introduced as a bone 
 of contention, and was -seized by the anti-slavery agitators with 
 great eagerness. For a period it obscured even the vision of 
 many good democrats, who did not see the noxious principles 
 it contained, and that the right to pass such an edict would 
 involve still more ftlarming and more dangerous powers. The 
 constitutional demvteracy opposed this doctrine, Mr. Buchanan 
 being among the first to raise his voice in opposition to it. He 
 proposed as a settlement the basis of the act of 1820, and 
 that the Missouri line be extended to the Pacific. 
 
 This proposition was contained in his celebrated "Harvest 
 Home Letter," but it was universally condemned by the anti- 
 slavery agitators of the North. When the same proposition 
 was introduced into the Senate, which body it passed, it was 
 voted down in the House of Eepresentatives by northern men, 
 of aboUtion proclivities. By this act they forced upon the coun- 
 try that terrible agitation which finally compelled all true 
 patriots to unite for a common defence. Mr. Clay had retired 
 to the quiet shades of Ashland, to pass the sunset of his life in 
 meditation and repose, but hearing the angry voices of sectional 
 strife, he rushed again to the Senate, and there, with Mr. Web- 
 ster, Gen. Cass, and others whose names which will live forever 
 in our history, they passed the Compromise Measures of 1850, 
 which were accepted by union men everywhere. However, much 
 we may differ upon banks, tariffs, and other measures, the lan- 
 guage of these men was, all good and true men can agree upon 
 this question. In establishing these compromise measures, they 
 acknowledged the principles now incorporated in the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bUl, and upon these principles the union men of all 
 parties agreed. Tet when it became necessary to apply this 
 fundamental principle of government in the territorial biUa of 
 Nebraska and Kansas, an agitation again commenced which has 
 
374: XrFE AND SEEVICES OE JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 had no parallel in our history. The very men who in 1848 had 
 rejected the Missouri line as a basis of settlement — who had 
 declared that it was an infamous measure, and that if it was 
 right to leave the question of negro slavery south of this line to 
 the people, it was right to grant them the same privilege 
 north of it, now denounced their own principles, and declared 
 themselves in favor of that once infamous measure, the Missouri 
 restriction I Political inconsistency could go no further. 
 
 After the passage of the Compromise Measures of 1850, Mr. 
 Buchanan was among the first to endorse them, and to spread 
 throughout his -State a sound public sentiment in their favor. 
 In a letter to a meeting held at Philadelphia, he said that the 
 Missouri restriction had " passed away." All remember how 
 the authors of these measures were assailed. Many of the 
 political friends of Webster and Clay denounced them without 
 mercy. No epithet was too severe to be applied to them, and 
 even Mr. Webster was denied the privilege of speaking in 
 Fanueil Hall, in defence of an act, demanded by the Constitu- 
 tion of his country 1 The firm stand taken by such patriots 
 as Clay, Webster, Cass, and Buchanan, however, finally quieted 
 the storm. 
 
 And was it not a noble and' a sublime sight ? For years they 
 had been opponents upon nearly all prominent public questions, 
 but when a subject came up which involved the [.afety of their 
 country, they cast to the winds all thoughts of personal ambi- 
 tion, and shoulder to shoulder fought against the surging tide 
 of sectionalism. Nothing more is necessary to establish their 
 patriotic love of country, or their devotion to its best interests. 
 This coincidence of opinion among these great men is just now 
 worthy of remembrance, for if the opposing leaders could thus 
 so cordially unite, there is no reason why their friends may not 
 lay aside every recollection of past party contests, and come up 
 to the defence of their country and its Constitution, against a 
 spirit which would ruin the one and destroy the other. 
 
 The following copious extracts from a letter written by Mr. 
 
APPEOVAL OF THE C0MPE0MI8E MEA8UEES. 375 
 
 Buchanan, in November, 1850, when invited to attend a meet- 
 ing in Philadelphia, give his opinions freely and frankly on the 
 Compromise Measures of 1850 : 
 
 " I now say that the platform of our blessed Union is strong 
 enough and broad enough to sustain all true-hearted Ameri- 
 cans. It is an elevated — it is a glorious platform on which the 
 down-trodden nations of the earth gaze with hope and desire, 
 with admiration and astonishment. Our Union is the star of 
 the West, whose genial and steadily increasing influence wiU at 
 last, should we remain an united people, dispel the gloom of 
 despotism from the ancient nations of the world. Its moral 
 power will prove to be more potent than miUions of armed mer- 
 cenaries. And shall this glorious star set in darkness before it 
 has accomplished half its mission ? Heaven forbid ! Let us 
 all exclaim with the heroic Jackson, ' The Union must and shall 
 be preserved.' 
 
 " And what a Union has this been I The history of the 
 human race presents no parallel to it. The bit of striped bunt- 
 ing which was to be swept from the ocean by a British navy, 
 according to the predictions of a British statesman, previous to 
 the war of 1812, is now displayed on every sea, and in every 
 port of the habitable globe. Our glorious stars and stripes, 
 the flag of our country, now protects Americans in every clime. 
 ' I am a Roman citizen !' was once the proud exclamation which 
 everywhere shielded an ancient Roman from insult and injus- 
 tice. ' I am an American citizen !' is now an exclamation of 
 almost equal potency throughout the civilized world. This is a 
 tribute due to the power and resources of these thirty-one United 
 States. In a just cause, we may defy the world in arms. We 
 have lately presented a spectacle which has astonished the 
 greatest captain of the age. At the call of their ^country, an 
 irresistible host of armed men, and men, too, skilled in the use 
 of arms, sprang up like the soldiers of Cadmus, from the moun- 
 tains and valleys of our confederacy. The struggle among 
 
376 LIFE AND SEEVIOES OF JAME8 BUCHAITAN. 
 
 them was not who should remain at home, bnt who should 
 enjoy the priyilege of enduring the dangers and priTations of a 
 foreign war, in defence of their country's rights. Heaven forbid 
 that the question of slavery should ever prove to be the stone 
 thrown into their midst by Cadmus, to make them turn their 
 arms against each other, and die in mutual conflict. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " The common sufferings and common glories of the past, the 
 prosperity of the present, and the brilliant hopes of the future, 
 must impress every patriotic heart with deep love and devotion 
 for the Union. Who that is now a citizen of this vast Repub- 
 lic, extending from the St. Lawrence to the Eio Grande, and 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, does not shudder at the idea 
 of being transformed into a citizen of one of its broken, jealous, 
 and hostile fragments ? What patriot had not rather shed the 
 last drop of his blood, than see the thirty-one brilliant stars, 
 which now float proudly upon her country's flag, rudely torn 
 from the national banner, and scattered in confusion over the 
 face of the earth ? 
 
 " Eest assured that all the patriotic emotions of every true- 
 hearted Pennsylvanian, in favor of the Union and Constitution, 
 are shared by the southern people. WTiat battle field has 
 not been Ulnstrated by their gallant deeds ; and when in our 
 history, have they ever shrunk from sacrifices and sufferings in 
 the cause of their country ? What, then, means the muttering 
 thunder which we hear from the South ? The signs of the 
 times are truly portentous. Whilst many in the South openly 
 advocate the cause of secession and union, a large majority, as 
 I firmly beKeve, still fondly cling to the Union, awaiting with 
 deep anxiety the action of the North on the compromise lately 
 efiected in Congress. Should this be disregarded and nuUified by 
 the citizens of the North, the southern people may become united, 
 and then farewell, a long farewell to our blessed Union. I am no 
 alarmist ; but a brave and wise man looks danger steadily in 
 the face. This is the best means of avoiding it. I am deeply 
 
APPEOTAL OF THE COMPEOMISE MEASURES. 377 
 
 impressed with, the conviction that the North neither sufficiently 
 understands nor appreciates the danger. For my own part, I 
 have been steadily watching its progress for the last fifteen 
 years. During that period I have often sounded the alarm ; 
 but my feeble warnings have been disregarded. I now solemnly 
 declare as the deliberate conviction of my judgment, that two 
 things are necessary to preserve this Union from danger : 
 
 " ' 1. Agitation in the North on the subject of southern 
 slavery must be rebuked and put down by a strong and 
 enlightened public opinion. 
 
 " ' 2. The Fugitive Slave Law must be enforced in its spirit.' 
 
 " On each of these points I shall offer a few observations. 
 
 " Those are greatly mistaken who suppose that the tempest 
 that is now raging in the South has been raised solely by the 
 acts or omissions of the present Congress. The minds of the 
 southern people have been gradually prepared for this explosion 
 by the events of the last fifteen years. Much and devotedly as 
 they love the Union, many of them are now taught to believe 
 that the peace of their own firesides, and the securities of their 
 families, cannot be preserved without separation from us. 
 The crusade of the Abolitionists against their domestic 
 peace and security commenced in 1835. General Jackson, 
 in his annual message to Congress, in December of that 
 year, speaks of it in the following emphatic language : ' I must 
 also invite your attention to the painful excitement produced 
 in the South by attempts to circulate through the maUs inflam- 
 matory appeals, addressed to the passions of the slaves, in 
 prints and various sorts of publications, calculated to stimulate 
 them to insurrection, and produce all the horrors of a servile 
 war.' 
 
 "From that period the agitation in the North against 
 southern slavery has been incessant, by means of the press, of 
 State Legislatures, of State and County Conventions, Abolition 
 lectures, and every other method which fanatics and dema- 
 gogues could devise. The time of Congress has been wasted" 
 
378 LIFE AND 8EEVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAU. 
 
 in violent harangues on tlie subject of slavery. Inflammatory 
 appeals have been sent forth from this central point throughout 
 the country, the inevitable effect of which has been to create 
 geographical parties, so much dreaded by the Father of his 
 Country, and to estrange the northern and southern divisions 
 of the Union from each other. 
 
 " Before the Wilmpt Proviso was interposed, the abolition of 
 slavery in the District of Columbia had been the chief theme of 
 agitation. Petitions for this purpose, by thousands, from 
 men, women and children, poured into Congress, session after 
 session. The rights and the wishes of the owners of slaves 
 within the District, were boldly disregarded. Slavery was 
 denounced as a national disgrace, which the laws of God and 
 the laws of men ought to abolish, cost what it might. It 
 mattered not to the fanatics that the aboKtion of slavery in the 
 District would convert it into a citadel, in the midst of two 
 slaveholding States, from which the abolitionist could securely 
 scatter arrows, firebrands and death, all around. It mattered 
 not with them that the abolition of slavery in the District would 
 be a violation of the spirit of the Constitution and of the 
 implied faith pledged to Maryland and Virginia, because the 
 whole world knows that those States would never have ceded 
 it to the Union, had they imagined it could ever be converted 
 by Congress into a place from which their domestic peace and 
 security might be assailed by fanatics and Abolitionists. Nay, 
 the Abohtionists went even still further. They agitated for the 
 purpose of abolishing slavery in the forts, arsenals and navy 
 yards which the Southern States had ceded to the Union, under 
 the Constitution, for the protection and defence of the 
 country. 
 
 " Thus stood the question when the Wilmot Proviso was 
 interposed, to add fuel to the flame, and to excite the southern 
 people to madness. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " It would be the extreme of dangerous infatuation to sup- 
 
AFPEOVAl OF THE COMPROMISE MEASUEES. 379 
 
 pose that the Union was not then in serious danger. Had the 
 Wilmot Proviso become a law, or had slavery been abolished 
 in the District of Columbia, nothing short of a special interposi- 
 tion of Divine Providence could have prevented the secession of 
 most, if not all the slaveholding States. 
 
 " It was from this great and glorious old Commonwealth, 
 rightly demonstrated the ' Keystone of the Arch,' that the first 
 ray of light emanated to dispel the gloom. She stands now as 
 the days-man, between the North and the South, and' can lay 
 her hand on either party, and say, thus far shalt thou go, and 
 no farther. The wisdom, moderation and firmness of her 
 people, calculate her eminently to act as the just and equitable 
 umpire between the extremes. 
 
 " It was the vote in our State House of Representatives, 
 refusing to consider the instructing resolutions in favor of the 
 Wilmot Proviso, which first cheered the heart of every patriot 
 in the land. This was speedily followed by a vote of the House 
 of Representatives at Washington, nailing the Wilmot Proviso 
 itself to the table. And here I ought not to forget the great 
 meeting held in Philadelphia on the birth-day of the Father of 
 his Country, in favor of the Union, which gave a happy and 
 irresistible impulse to public opinion throughout the State, and 
 I may add throughout the Union. 
 
 " The honor of the South has been saved by the Compromise. 
 The Wilmot Proviso is for ever dead, and slavery will never be 
 abolished in the District of Columbia whilst it continues to exist 
 in Maryland. The receding storm in the South still continues 
 to dash with violence, but it wUl gradually subside, should 
 agitation cease in the North. AU that is necessary for us to 
 do ' is to execute the Fugitive Slave Law,' and to let the 
 southern people alone, suffering them to manage their own 
 domestic concerns in their own way. * * * * 
 
 " 2. I shall proceed to present to you some views upon the 
 subject of the much misrepresented Fugitive Slave Law. It is 
 now evident, from all the signs of the times, that this is destined 
 
380 LIFE AND BEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAIT. 
 
 to become the principal subject of agitation at the present 
 session of Congress, and to take the place of the Wihnot 
 Proviso. Its total repeal or its material modification will 
 henceforward be the battle cry of the agitators of the 
 North. 
 
 " And what is the character of this law ? It was passed to 
 carry into execution a plain, clear, and mandatory provision of 
 the Constitution, requiring that fugitive slaves, who fly from 
 service in one State to another, shall be deUvered up to their 
 masters. The provision is so explicit that he who runs may 
 read. No commentary can present it in a stronger hght than 
 the plain words of the Constitution. It is a well-known histo- 
 rical fact, that without this provision, the Constitution itself 
 could never have existed. How could this have been other- 
 wise ? Is it possible for a moment to believe that the slave 
 States would have formed a union with the free States, if 
 under it their slaves, by simply escaping across the boundary 
 which separates them, would acquire all the rights of freemen ? 
 This would have been to offer an irresistible temptation to all 
 the slaves of the South to precipitate themselves upon the 
 North. The Federal Constitution, therefore, recognizes in the 
 clearest and most emphatic terms, the property in slaves, and 
 protects this property by prohibiting any State, into which a 
 slave might escape, from discharging him from slavery, and by 
 requiring that he shall be delivered up to his master. 
 ******* 
 
 " The two priQcipal objections urged against the Fugitive 
 Slave Law are, that it wiU promote kidnapping, and that it 
 does not provide a trial by jury for the fugitive in the State to 
 which he has escaped. 
 
 "The very same reasons may be urged, with equal force, 
 against the act of 1793 ; and yet it existed for more than half 
 a century vrithout encountering any such objections. 
 
 "In regard to kidnapping, the fears of the agitators are 
 altogether groundless. The law reauires that the fagitive shall 
 
APPEOTiO. OF THE 00MPE0MI8E MEASTJBES. 381 
 
 be taken before the judge or commissioner. They must there 
 prove, to the satisfaction of the magistrate, the identity of the 
 fugitive, that he is the master's property, and has escaped from 
 his service. Now, I ask, would a kidnapper ever undertake 
 such a task ? Would he suborn witnesses to commit perjury 
 and expose himself to detection before the judge or commis- 
 sioner, and in the presence of the argus eyes of a non-slave- 
 holding community, whose feehngs will always be in favor of 
 the slave ? No, never. The kidnapper seizes his victim in the 
 silence of the night, or in a remote and obscure place, and hurries 
 him away. He does not expose himself to the public gaze. He 
 will never bring the unfortunate object of his rapacity before a 
 commissioner or a judge. Indeed, I have no recollection of 
 having heard or read of a case in which a free man was kid- 
 napped under the forms of law, during the whole period of 
 more than half a century, since the act of 1193 was passed. 
 ******* 
 " The Union cannot long endure, if it be bound together 
 only by paper bonds. It can be firmly cemented alone by the 
 affections of the people of different States for each other. 
 Would to Heaven that the spirit of mutual forbearance and 
 brotherly love which presided at its birth, could once more be 
 restored to bless the land 1 Upon opening a volume, a few 
 days since, my eyes caught a resolution of a Convention of the 
 Counties of Maryland, assembled at Annapolis, in June, IIH, 
 in consequence of the passage by the British Parliament, of the 
 Boston Port BLU, whicli provided for opening a subscription 
 'in the several counties of the Province, for an immediate 
 collection for the relief of the distressed inhabitants of Boston, 
 now cruelly deprived of the means of procuring subsistence for 
 themselves and families by the operation of the said act of 
 blocking up their harbor.' Would that the spirit of fraternal 
 affection which dictated this noble resolution, and which actu- 
 ated all the conduct of our revolutionary fathers, might return 
 to bless and reanimate the bosoms of their descendants ! 
 
382 LIFE AND SEETICBS OF JAMES BTJOHAJSrAN. 
 
 This would render our Union indissoluble. It would be the 
 living soul infusing itself into the Constitution and inspiring it 
 with irresistible energy." 
 
 When the Baltimore Convention of 1852 met, a large num- 
 ber of Mr. Buchanan's friends desired to put him in nomination 
 for the Presidency. According to his usual course during his 
 whole life, he would do nothing to interfere with the pure and 
 free expression of public opiuion, perfectly satisfied with 
 whatever the result might be. After a warm contention, our 
 present Chief Magistrate was selected as the standard- 
 bearer in that campaign, and no one gave him a more generous 
 or hearty support than Mr. Buchanan. During the contest he 
 stood in the van of the democratic ranks in Pennsylvania, encou- 
 raging the democracy to tight on and fight ever for the main- 
 tenance of their time-honored principles. 
 
 The following remarkable passages from his speech delivered 
 to a mass meeting of the democracy of Western Pennsylvania, 
 on the 7th of October, 1852, at Greensburg, Westmoreland 
 County, are so characteristic of the man and his opinions that 
 we do not hesitate to copy them. Remember that, at no time 
 did he ever yield a jot or tittle to sectionaMsm. He was against 
 it instinctively, and from the start. He said : 
 
 " From my soul, I abhor the practice of mingling up religion 
 with politics. The doctrine of all our constitutions, both Fede- 
 ral and State, is, that every man has an indefeasible right to 
 worship his God according to the dictates of his own conscience. 
 He is both a bigot and a tyrant, who would interfere with that 
 sacred right. When a candidate is before the people for ofiSce, 
 the inquiry ought never even to be made, what form of religious 
 faith he possesses ; but only, in the language of Mr. Jefferson, 
 ' Is he honest, is he capable V 
 
 " ' Democratic Americans 1' What a name for a Native 
 American party 1 When all the records of our past history 
 
HI8 POSITION IN 1852. 383 
 
 prove that American democrats have ever opened wide their 
 arms to receive foreigners flying from oppression in their native 
 land, and have always bestowed upon them the rights of Ame- 
 rican citizens, after a brief period of residence in this country. 
 The democratic party have always gloried in this poUcy, and 
 its fruits have been to increase our population and our power 
 with unexampled rapidity, and to furnish our country with vast 
 numbers of industrious, patriotic and useful citizens. Surely 
 the name of ' Democratic Americans' was an unfortunate desig- 
 nation for the Native American party. 
 
 " The Native American party, an ' American excellence,' and 
 the glory of its foundership, belongs to George Washington 1 
 No, feUow-citizens, the American people will rise up with one 
 accord to vindicate the memory of that illustrious man from 
 such an imputation. As long as the recent memory of our 
 revolutionary struggle remained vividly impressed on the hearts 
 of our countrymen, no such party could have ever existed. The 
 recollection of Montgomery, Lafayette, De Kalb, Kosciusko, 
 and a long list of foreigners, both officers and soldiers, who 
 freely shed theii- blood to secure our liberties, would have ren- 
 dered such ingratitude impossible. Our revolutionary l -ny was 
 filled' with the brave and patriotic natives of their lands ; and 
 George Washington was their commander-in-chief. Would he 
 have ever closed the door against the admission of foreigners to 
 the rights of American citizens ? Let his acts speak for theip 
 selves. So early as the 26th of March, 1190, General Wash- 
 ington, as President of the United States, approved the first 
 law which ever passed Congress on the subject of naturalization ; 
 and this only required a residence of two years, previous to the 
 adoption of a foreigner as an American citizen. On the 29th 
 January, 1795, the term of residence was extended by Congress 
 to five years, and thus it remained throughout General Wash- 
 ington's administration, and until after the accession of John 
 Adams to the Presidency. In his administration, which wUl 
 ever be known in history as the reign of terror, as the era of 
 
384: LIFE AlfD SEEVI0E8 OB" JAMES BTJOHAUAN. 
 
 • 
 
 alien and sedition laws, an act was passed on the 18tli of June, 
 1*198 , which prohibited any foreigner from becoming a citizen 
 until after a residence of fourteen years, and this is the law, or 
 else, perpetual exclusion, which General Scott preferred, and 
 which the Native American party now desire to restore. 
 
 " The Presidential election of 1800 secured the ascendency 
 of the democratic party, and under the administration of 
 Thomas Jefferson, its great apostle, on the 14th of April, 1802, 
 the term of residence previous to naturalization was restored to 
 five years, what it had been under General Washington, and 
 where it has ever since remained. No, fellow-citizens, the 
 father of his country was never a ' Native American.' This 
 'American excellence' never belonged to him." 
 
 Speaking of the Fugitive Slave Law, Mr. Buchanan said : 
 
 " It is a law founded both upon the letter and the spirit of 
 the Constitution, and a similar law has existed on our statute 
 books ever since the administration of George Washington. 
 History teaches us that but for the provision in favor of fugitive 
 slaves, our present Constitution never would have existed, 
 Think ye that the South will ever tamely surrender the Fugitive 
 Slave Law to northern fanatics and abolitionists ? 
 
 " And now, fellow-citizens, what a glorious party the Demo- 
 cratic party has ever been I Man is but the being of a sum- 
 mer's day, whilst principles are eternal. The generations of 
 mortals, one after the other, rise and sink, and are forgotten, 
 but the principles of democracy, which we have inherited from 
 our revolutionary fathers, will endure to bless mankind through- 
 out all generations. Is there any democrat within the sound 
 of my voice, is there any democrat throughout the broad limit,'; 
 of good and great old democratic Pennsylvania, who will aban- 
 don these sacred principles for the sake of following in the train 
 of a military conqueror, and shouting for the hero of Lundy's 
 Lane, Cerro Gordo, and Chapultepec" 
 
MISSION TO ENGLAJTO. 385 
 
 After the campaign, President Pierce tendered to Mr. Bucha- 
 nan the mission to the court of St. James. For a number of 
 years the position of minister to Great Britair has been growing 
 in importance. The intimate commercial and other relations 
 existing between the two countries are of themselves enough to 
 demand the attention ef a tried statesman and a prudent man, 
 but when we add to this the constant liability there is of the 
 rising of political questions of great and enduring importance, 
 we may well consider the mission to England only second to 
 that of the position of the President. Certainly Mr. Pierce 
 did a very popular act when he tendered this place to Mr. 
 Buchanan. , Onr business and mercantile men felt that the rela- 
 tions of peace between the two countries were in the hands of a 
 man of steadiness of character, who would do nothing to involve 
 us in an unnecessary war, while all classes had confidence that 
 he would not barter away any real interest of our country, or 
 tamely submit to anything that would involve national dis- 
 honor. 
 
 As it happened while he held this responsible position, two 
 questions did arise which have required the most coi^summate 
 tact for their proper management. To these Mr. Buchanan 
 brought a degree of diplomatic ability which would have in- 
 scribed his name, had it not been there before, among the most 
 skillful negotiators. It is sufficient to say, that thus far the 
 United States have decidedly the best of both points in dispute. 
 The dismissal of Mr. Crampton, the British minister, was placed 
 upon grounds so self-evident, that even England has not dared 
 to cavil at them. The various dispatches of Mr. Buchanan 
 have been so recently published, that they are fresh in every- 
 one's mind. They are direct and explicit, and without the 
 usual evasiveness which characterizes diplomacy. Indeed, the 
 direct American plainness and honesty of Mr. Buchanan's dip- 
 lomatic papers exceedingly puzzle the old school of European 
 tricksters. They are not accustomed to such downright frank- 
 ness. 
 
386 LIFE AND SEETICES OF JAMES BUCHAKAN. 
 
 The management of the Central American question- has, 
 however, been tlie principal subject to which his attention was 
 directed while a minister to Great Britain. To him are we in- 
 debted for the unravelling of that curious piece of diplomatic 
 patch-worlc, called by way of courtesy the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty, an instrument so profound that it puzzles even its au- 
 thors. Such confidence did Mr. Pierce and the cabinet have in 
 Mr. Buchanan's eminent ability to' manage the whole affair 
 connected with our rights in Central America, that on the 12th 
 of August, 1853, shortly after his arrival in England, the Pre- 
 sident " considering his (Mr. Buchanan's) intimate knowledge 
 of the subject in all its bearings," transmitted to him full power 
 to conclude a treaty with Great Britain in relation to the 
 Central American questions. A correspondence was accord- 
 ingly commenced between Mr. Buchanan and Lord Clarendon, 
 for the purpose of ascertaining if possible the exact difference 
 which existed between the two countries in regard to the con- 
 struction of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. This negotiation was 
 interrupted by the Kussian war, and the delicacy which Mr. 
 Buchanan naturally and justly felt in pushing a prompt reply 
 to his communications while England was engaged in a foreign 
 contest. At length, after Mr. Buchanan had intimated a desire 
 to be relieved from the onerous duties of Ms mission, Mr. Marcy 
 addressed him," stating his earnest desire that the question 
 might be brought to a distinct issue before Mr. Buchanan should 
 retire from his mission. "The negotiation," said Mr. Marcy 
 emphatically, " cannot be committed to any one who so well 
 understands the subject in all its bearings as you do, or who 
 can so ably sustain and carry out the views of the United 
 States." This opinion, flattering as it is to Mr. Buchanan, is 
 no more nor less than the simple truth. For thirty years he 
 has studied witli care and attention the position of affairs in 
 that portion of our continent, and the remark is a most just 
 one, that no statesman in this country " so well understands 
 the subject." 
 
THE CLATTON-BULWEE TEEATT. 33'/ 
 
 In accordance, therefore, with the urgent request ( ( the 
 President, Mr. Buchanan made another effort to bring /jord 
 Clarendon to the discussion of the question. In a nc te to 
 him, Mr. Buchanan very pointedly and urgently says, "the 
 President has directed the undersigned, before retiring fro n his 
 mission, to request from the British government a statement of 
 the positions which it has determined to maintain in regard to 
 the Bay Islands, the territory between the Sibun and Sarstoon, 
 as well as the Behze settlement and the Mosquito protectorate. 
 The long delay in asking for this information has proceeded 
 from the President's reluctance to manifest any impatience on 
 this important subject whilst the attention of her majesty's 
 government was engaged by the war with Kussia. But as 
 more than a year has already elapsed since the terminartion of 
 the discussion on these, subjects, and as the first session of the 
 new Congress is speedily approaching, the President does not 
 feel that he would be justified in any longer delay.'' 
 
 The first detailed statement of the positions of our govern- 
 ment was submitted by Mr. Buchanan to Lord Clarendon 
 January 6th, 1854. The reply of Lord 0. is dated on the 2d 
 of May following, to which Mr. Buchanan replied on the 22d 
 of July, in a long and elaborate history of all the points in 
 dispute. It is impossible to give anything like even the points 
 of- this unanswerable vindication of our rights in Central Ame- 
 rica, yet we cannot refrain from presenting the following short 
 extract, which after all gives the pith of the absurd preten- 
 sions of the British government. After citing the article in 
 the treaty in dispute, Mr. Buchanan asks : 
 
 " What, then, is the fair construction of the article ? It 
 embraces two objects. 1. It declares that neither of the par- 
 ties shall ever acquire any exclusive control over the ship canal 
 to be constructed between the Atlantic and the Pacific, by the 
 route of the river San Juan de Nicaragua, and that neither of 
 them shall ever erect or maintain any fortifications command- 
 
388 LIFE AlifD SEETICES OF JAMES BUOHANAH. 
 
 ing the same or in the vicinity thereof. In regard to this stipa- 
 lation,no disagreement is known to exist between the parties. 
 But the article proceeds further in its mutually self-denying 
 policy, and in the second place, declares that neither of the 
 parties wiU ' occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exer- 
 cise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Bica, the Mosquito 
 coast, or any part of Central America.' 
 
 " We now reach the true point. Does this language require 
 that Great Britain shall withdraw from her easting possessions 
 in Central America, including ' the Mosquito coast V The lan- 
 guage peculiarly appUcable to this coast will find a more appro- 
 priate place in a subsequent portion of these remarks. 
 
 " If any individual enters into a solemn and explicit agree- 
 ment that he will not ' occupy ' any given tract of country then 
 actually occupied by him, can any proposition be clearer, than 
 that he is bound by his agreement to withdraw from such occu- 
 pancy ? Were this not the case, these words would have no 
 meaning, and the agreement would become a mere nuUity. 
 Nay more, in its effect it would amount to a confirmation of 
 the party in the possession of that very territory which he had 
 bound himself not to occupy, and would practically be equiva- 
 lent to an agreement that he should remain in possession^a 
 contradiction in terms. It is difScult to comment on language 
 which appears so plain, or to offer arguments to prove that the 
 meaning of words is not directly opposite to their well-known 
 signification. 
 
 "And yet the British government consider that the conven- 
 tion interferes with none of their existing possessions in Central 
 America ; that it is entirely prospective in its nature, and 
 merely prohibits them from making new acquisitions. If this 
 be the case, then it amounts to a recognition of their rights, on 
 the part of the American, government, to all the possessions 
 which thej already hold, whilst the United States have bound 
 themselves by the very same instrument, never, under any cir- 
 cumstances, to acquire ths possession of a foot of territory in 
 
THE CLAYTON- BTTL WEE TREATY. 389 
 
 Central America. The mutuality of the convention would thu3 
 be entirely destroyed ; and whilst Great Britain may continue 
 to hold nearly the whole eastern coast of Central America, the 
 United States have abandoned the right for all future time to 
 acquire any territory, or to receive into the American Union 
 any of the States in that portion of their own continent. This 
 self-imposed prohibition was the great objection to the treaty in 
 the United States at the time of its conclusion, and was power- 
 fully urged by some of the best men in the country. Had it 
 then been imagined that whilst it prohibited the United States' 
 from acquiring -territory, under any possible circumstances, in a 
 portion of America through which their thoroughfares to Cali- 
 fornia and Oregon must pass, the convention, at the same time, 
 permitted Great Britain to remain in the occupancy of all her 
 existing possessions in that region, Mr. Buchanan expresses the 
 confident conviction that there would not have beea a single 
 vote in the American Senate in favor of its ratification. In 
 every discussion it was taken for granted that the convention 
 required Great Britain to withdraw from these possessions, and 
 thus place the parties upon an exact equality in Central Ame- 
 rica. Upon this construction of the convention there was quite 
 as great an unanimity of opinion as existed in the House of 
 Lords, that the convention with Spain of 1*186 required Great 
 Britain to withdraw from the Mosquito protectorate,'' 
 
 Lord Clarendon, in the course of his statement, referred, in a 
 somewhat sneering manner, to the Monroe doctrine, and cha- 
 racterized it as merely the " dictum of its distinguished author.'^ 
 Mr. Buchanan replied that " did the occasion require, he would 
 cheerfully undertake the task of justifying the wisdom and 
 poUcy of the Monroe doctrine, in reference to the nations of 
 Europe, as well as to those on the Americg,n continent." Mr. 
 Buchanan closes his statement as follows : 
 
 "But no matter what may be the naturo of the British claim 
 
390 LIFE AND SBEVIOBS OP JAMES BtJCnANAN. 
 
 to the country between the Sibun and the Sarstoon, the obser- 
 vation already made in reference to the Bay Islands and the 
 Mosquito coast must be reiterated, that the great question 
 does not turn upon the validity of this claim previous to the 
 convention of 1850, but upon the facts that Great Britain has 
 bound herself by tiiis convention not to occupy any part of 
 Central America, nor to exercise dominion over it ; and that 
 the territory in question is within Central America, even under 
 the most limited construction of these words. In regard to 
 Belize proper, confined within its legitimate boundaries, under 
 the treaties of ItSS and 1786, and limited to the usufruct spe- 
 ciiied in these treaties, it is necessary to say but a few words. 
 The government of the United States will not, for the present, 
 insist upon, the withdrawal of Great Britain from this settle- 
 ment, provided all the other questions between the two govern- 
 ments concerning Central America can be amicably adjusted. 
 It has been influenced to pursue this course partly by the 
 declaration of Mr. Clayton on the 4th of July, 1850, but 
 mainly in consequence of the extension of the license granted 
 by Mexico to Great Britain, under the treaty of 1826, which' 
 that republic has yet taken no steps to terminate. 
 
 " It is, however, distinctly to be understood, that the govern- 
 ment of the United States acknowledge no claim of Great 
 Britain within Belize, except the temporary ' liberty of making 
 use of the wood of the different kinds, the fruits, and other pro- 
 duce in their natural state,' fully recognizing that the former 
 ' Spanish sovereignty over the counti-y ' now belongs either to 
 Guatemala or Mexico. 
 
 " In conclusion, the government of the United States most 
 cordially and earnestly unite . in the desire expressed by ' her 
 majesty's government, not only to maintain the convention of 
 1850 intact, but to consolidate and strengthen it by strength- 
 ening and consoUdatmg the friendly relations which it_was cal- 
 culated to cement and perpetuate.' Under these mutual feel- 
 ings, it is deeply to be regretted that the two governments 
 
THE OSTEND MEETING. 391 
 
 entertain opinions so widely different in regard to its true effect 
 and meaning.'' 
 
 This protocol has certainly so reviewed the whole question 
 in dispute, that it has left but little for his successor to do, 
 except to adhere to the positions already established. Unfor- 
 tunately, Mr. Buchanan did not have the satisfaction to see 
 this matter arranged before he left England, and it jet remains 
 to be seen what course the British government wiU take in 
 the matter. 
 
 While Mr. Buchanan was in England, the relations of our 
 country with Cuba became very much disturbed, by a difficulty 
 in regard to the steamer Black Warrior. The constant fear 
 that has existed, of a revolution in that unhappy island, was also 
 increased by various developments, and under all the circnm- 
 stances, the President determined to follow the course adopted 
 by his predecessors in office, and make an effort to purchase 
 Cuba of Spain. Mr. Soule, our minister to the Spanish govern- 
 ment, was specially charged .with conducting the negotiation. 
 But as England and France were more or less connected, or 
 rather, assumed to connect themselves with whatever disposition 
 Spain might make of Cuba, the President thought it liighly im- 
 portant that our ministers to each of these countries shoulS 
 meet at some specified place, and come to a general understand- 
 ing in regard to the policy to be pursued in order that there 
 might be uniformity of action. This recommendation of the 
 President gave rise to what has been known as the " Ostend 
 Conference," a meeting merely for the familiar interchange of 
 views, between Mr. Buchanan as minister to England, Mr. Mar 
 son as minister to France, and Mr.- Soule as minister to Spaiu. 
 They met first at Ostend, in Belgium, and then at Aix la Cha- 
 pelle, in Prussia. As the document drawn up by the ministers, 
 containing their views on the question, and presented to the 
 President, has been much maligned and misrepresented, we give 
 it entire. It will be seen that, so far as Mr. Buchanan is con- 
 
392 LIFE AOT) SEEVICE8 OF JAMEB BUCHAIirAJ^-. 
 
 cerned, the views do not differ from those he presented U> 
 the public, in his speech on the Panama question, in 1824, and 
 that no action is either thought of, suggested, or recommended, 
 except in case Cuba comes under the influence of a foreign 
 power, or seriously endangers the peace and security of our own 
 country. The ministers' report is as follows : 
 
 " There has been a full and unreserved interchange of views 
 and sentiments between us, which we are most happy to inform 
 you, has resulted in a cordial coincidence of opinion on the grive 
 and important subjects submitfed to our consideration. 
 
 " We have arrived at the conclusion, and are thoroughly con- 
 vinced that an immediate and earnest effort ought to be made 
 by the government of the United States to purchase Cuba from 
 Spain at any price for which it can be obtained, not exceeding 
 the sum of dollars. 
 
 " The proposal should, in our opinion, be made in such a man- 
 ner as to be presented through the necessary diplomatic forms 
 to the Supreme Constituent Cortes about to be assembled. On 
 this momentous question, in which the people both of Spain and 
 the United States are so deeply interested, aU our proceedings 
 ought to be open, frank, and public. They should be of 
 such a character as to challeftge the approbation of the 
 world. 
 
 " We firmly believe, that in the progress of human events, 
 the tune has arrived when the vital interests of Spain are as 
 seriously involved in the sale, as those of the United States in 
 the purchase of the island ; and that the transaction will prove 
 equally honorable to both nations. 
 
 " Under these <;ircumstances, we cannot anticipate a failure, 
 unless possibly through the malign influence of foreign powers, 
 who possess no right whatever to interfere in the matter. 
 
 "We proceed to state some of the reasons which have 
 brought us to the conclusion ; and for the sake of clearness, we 
 shall specify them under two distinct heads. 
 
THE OBTEHD MEETmO. » 393 
 
 " First — The United States ought, if practicable, to purchase 
 Cuba with as little delay as possible. 
 
 " Second — The probability is great that the government and 
 Cortes of Spain will prove willing to s^l it, isecause this 'would 
 essentially promote the highest and best interests of the Span- 
 ish people. 
 
 " The first — It must be clear to^every reflecting mind, that 
 from the peculiarity of its geographical position, and the con- 
 siderations attendant on it, Cuba is as necessary to the North 
 American Eepublic, as any of its present members, and that it 
 belongs naturally to that great family of States, of which the 
 Union is the providential nursery. 
 
 " From its locality, it commands the mouth of the Mississ- 
 ippi, and the immense annually increasing trade, which must 
 seek this avenue to the ocean. On the numerous navigable 
 streams, measuring an aggregate course of some 30,000 mUes, 
 which disembogue themselves through this magnificent river, 
 into the Gulf of Mexico, the increase of the population during 
 the last ten years amounts to more than that of the entire 
 Union, at the time Louisiana was annexed to it. 
 
 " The natural and main outlet to the products of this entire 
 population, the highway of their direct intercourse with the 
 Atlantic and the Pacific States, can never be secure, but must 
 ever be endangered while Cuba is a dependency of a distinct 
 power, in whose possession it has proved to be a source of con- 
 stant annoyance and embarrassment to their interests. 
 
 " Indeed, the Union can never enjoy repose, nor possess reli- 
 able-security, as long as Cuba is not embraced within its boun- 
 daries. 
 
 Its immediate acquisition by our government is of paramount 
 importance, and we cannot doubt but that it is a consummation 
 devoutly wished for by its inhabitants. 
 
 " The intercourse which its proximity to our coasts begets 
 and encourages between the citizens of the United States, has, 
 in the progress of time, so united their interests, and blended 
 
 It* 
 
39i LIFE AND SERTIOES OF JAMES BTTOHANAN. 
 
 their fortunes, that they now look upon each other as if they 
 were one people, and had but one destiny. 
 
 " Considerations exist which render delay in the acquisition 
 of this island excefedingly dangerous to the United States. 
 
 " The system of immigration and labor lately organized 
 w^ithin its limits, and the tyranny and oppression which charac- 
 terize its immediate rulers, threaten an insurrection at every 
 moment, which may result in direful consequences to the Ame-_ 
 fican people. 
 
 " Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, and a 
 permanent cause of anxiety and alarm. 
 
 " But we need not enlarge on these topics. It can scarcely 
 be apprehended that foreign powers, in violation of internar 
 tional law, would interpose their influence with Spain, to pre- 
 vent our acquisition of the island. Its inhabitants are now 
 suffering under the worst of all possible governments — that of 
 absolute despotism, delegated by a distant power to irresponsi- 
 ble agents, who are changed at short intervals, and who are 
 tempted to improve the brief opportunity thus afforded to accu- 
 mulate fortunes by the basest means. 
 
 " As long as this system shall endure, humanity may in vain 
 demand the suppression of the African slave-trade in the island. 
 This is rendered impossible while that infamous traffic remains 
 an irresistible temptation and a source of immense profit to 
 needy and avaricious officials, who, to attain their end, scruple 
 not to trample the most sacred principles under foot. 
 
 " The Spanish government at home may be well disposed, 
 but experience has proved that it cannot control'these remote 
 depositories of its power. 
 
 " Besides, the commercial nations of the world cannot fail to 
 perceive and appreciate the great advantages which would 
 result to their people from a dissolution of the forced and 
 unnatural connection between Spain and Cuba, and the annexa- 
 tion of the latter to the United States. The trade of England 
 and France with Cuba would, in that event, assume at once an 
 
THE OSTEND MEETING. 395 
 
 important and profitable character, and rapidly extend with the 
 increasing population and prosperity of the island. 
 
 " But if the United States and every commercial nation be 
 benefited by this transfer, the interests of Spain would also be 
 greatly and essentially promoted. She cannot but see that 
 such a sum of money as we are wiUlng to pay for the island 
 would effect in the development of her vast natural resources. 
 
 " Two-thirds of this sum, if employed in the construction of 
 a system of railroads, would ultimately^ prove a source of 
 greater wealth to the Spanish people than that opened to theii 
 vision by ( stes. Their prosperity would date from the ratifi- 
 cati jn of tl treaty of cession. France has already constructed 
 continuous les of railroads from Havre, AfarseiUes, Valen- 
 ciennes, am Strasbourg, via Paris to the Spanish frontier, and 
 aoxiously av its the day when Spain shall find herself in a con- 
 dition to exi id these roads through her northern provinces to 
 Madrid, Sevi e, Cadiz, Malaga, and the frontier of Portugal. 
 
 " This objt ct once accomplished, Spain would become a 
 centre of attraction for the travelling world, and secure a per- 
 manent and profitable market for her various productions. 
 Her fields, under the stimulus given to industry by remunera- 
 ting prices, would teem with cereal grain, and her vineyards 
 would bring forth a vastly increased quantity of choict wines. 
 Spain would speedily become what a bountiful Providence 
 intended she should be — one of the first nations of continental 
 Europe, rich, powerful, and contented. 
 
 " Whilst two-thirds of the. price of the island would be ample 
 for the completion of her most important public improvements, 
 Bhe,might, with the remaining forty (million) thousands, satisfy 
 the demands now pressing so heavily upon her credit, and 
 create a sinking fund which would gradually relieve her from 
 the overwhelming debt now paralyzing her energies. 
 
 " Such is her present wretched financial condition, that her 
 best bonds are sold upon her own bourse, at about one-third of 
 their par value, whilst another class on which she pays no 
 
LIFE AUD SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAJSr. 
 
 interest have but a nominal value, and are quoted at about 
 one sixth of the amount for which they were issued. 
 
 " Besides, these latter are held principally by British creditors 
 who may, from day to day, obtain the effective interposition 
 of their own government for the purpose of coercing payment. 
 Intimations to that effect have been already thrown out from 
 high quarters, and unless some new source of revenue shall 
 enable Spain to provide for such exigencies, it is not improba- 
 ble that they may be realized. 
 
 " Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity for 
 developing her resources, and removing her present financial 
 embarrassments, it may never again return. 
 
 " Cuba, in her palmiest days, never yielded her exchequer 
 after deducting the expenses of its government, a clear annual 
 income of more than a milli on and a half of dollars. These 
 expedfees have increased to such a degree as to leave a deficit 
 chargeable on the treasury of Spain to the amount of six hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. 
 
 " In a pecuniary point of view, therefore, the island is an 
 encumbrance instead of a source of profit to the mother coun- 
 try. 
 
 " Under no probable circumstances can Cuba ever yield to 
 Spain one per cent, on the large amount which the United 
 States are willing to pay for its acquisition. 
 
 " But Spain is in imminent danger of losing Cuba without 
 remuneration, 
 
 " Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, justi- 
 fies any people in endeavoring to relieve themselves from the 
 yoke of their oppressors. 
 
 " The sufferings which the corrupt, arbitrary, and unrelent- 
 ing, local administration necessarily entails upon the inhabi- 
 tants of Cuba, cannot fail to stimulate and l£(;ep alive that 
 spirit of resistance and revolution against Spain which has of 
 late years been so often manifested. In this condition of 
 affairs, it is vain to expect that the sympathies of the people 
 
THE OSTEND MEETING. 3&7 
 
 of the United States will not be warmly enlisted m favor of 
 their oppressed neighbors. 
 
 "We know that the President is justly inflexible in his deter- 
 mination to execute the neutrahty laws, but should the Cubano 
 themselves rise in revolt against the oppression which they 
 suffer, no human power could prevent citizens of the United 
 States, and hberal-minded men of other countries, from rushing 
 to their assistance. 
 
 " Besides, the present is an age of adventure, in which rest- 
 less and daring spirits abound in every portion of the world. 
 It is not improbable, therefore, that Cuba may be wrested from 
 Spain by a successful revolution, and in that event, she wUl not 
 only lose the island, but the price which we are now willing to 
 pay for it — a price far beyond what was ever paid by any one 
 people to another for any province. 
 
 " It may, also, be here remarked, that the settlement of this 
 vexed question, by the cession of Cuba to the United States, 
 would forever prevent the dangerous compUcations between 
 nations to which it may otherwise give birth. 
 
 " It is certain that, should the Cubans themselves organize 
 an insurrection against the Spanish government, and should 
 other independent nations come to the aid of Spain in the con- 
 test, no human power could, in our opinion, prevent the people 
 and government of the United States from taking part in such 
 civil war, in support of their neighbors and friends. 
 
 " But if Spain, deaf to the voice of her own interest, and ac- 
 tuated by stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, should 
 refuse to sell Cuba to the United States, then the question will 
 arise, what ought to be the course of the American government 
 under such circumstances ? ^ 
 
 " Self-preservation is the first law of nature with States, as 
 well as with individuals. AU nations have at different periods 
 acted upon this maxim. Although it has been made the pre- 
 text for committing flagrant mjustice, as in the partition of Po- 
 land and other similar cases which history records, yet the prin- 
 
398 LIFE AiTD SERVICES OF JAMBS BUOHAlfAlf. 
 
 ciple itself, though often abused, has always been recog 
 nized. 
 
 " The United States have never acquired a foot of territory 
 except by fair purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the 
 free and voluntary application of the people of that uidependent 
 State, who desired to blend their destinies with our own. 
 
 " Even our acquisitions from Mexico are no exception to the 
 rule, because, although we might have claimed them by the 
 right of conquest, in a just way, yet we purchased them for 
 what was then considered by both parties a fuU and ample 
 equivalent. Our past history forbids that we should acquire 
 the Island of Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified 
 by the great law of self-preservation. We must, in any event, 
 preserve our own conscious rectitude and our own self-respect. 
 Whilst pursuing this course, we can afford to disregard the cen- 
 sures of the world to which we have been so often and so un- 
 justly exposed. After we shall have offered Spain a price for 
 Cuba far beyond its present value, and this shall have been 
 refused, it will then be time to consider the question, does Cuba, 
 in the possession of Spain, seriously endanger our internal peace 
 and the existence of our cherished Union ? Should this ques- 
 tion be answered in the affirmative, then by every law, human 
 and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we 
 possess the power. And this upon the very same principle that 
 would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house 
 of his neighbor, if there were no other means of preventing the 
 flames from destroying his own home. Under such circum- 
 stances we ought neither to count the cost nor regard the odds 
 which Spain might enlist against us. We forbear to enter into 
 the question whether the present condition of the island would 
 justify such a measure. Wo should, however, be recreant to our 
 duty, be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base 
 treason against our posterity, should we permit Cuba to be 
 Africanized and become a second St. Domingo, with all its 
 attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to 
 
• HIS EETTJEN FROM ENGtAIirD. 399 
 
 extend to our neighboring shores, seriously to endanger, or 
 actually to consume the fair fabric of our Union. We fear 
 that the course and current of events are rapidly tendiag 
 towards such a catastrophe. We, however, hope for the best, 
 though we ought certainly to be prepared for the worst. 
 
 " We forbear also to investigate the present condition of the 
 question at issue between the United States and Spain. A 
 long series of injuries to our people have been committed in 
 Cuba by Spanish officials, and are unredressed ; but recently a 
 most flagrant outrage on the rights of American citizens and 
 on the flag of the United States was perpetrated in the harbor 
 of Havana, under circumstances which, without immediate 
 redress, would have justified a resort to measures of war in 
 vindication of national honor. That outrage is not only 
 unatoned, but the Spanish Government has dehberately sanc- 
 tioned the acts of its subordinates, and assumed the respon- 
 sibility attaching to them. Nothing could more impressively 
 teach us the danger to which those peaceful relations it has 
 ever been the policy of the United States to cherish with foreign 
 nations are constantly exposed, than the circumstances of that 
 case — situated as Spain and the United States are, the latter 
 having forborne to resort to extreme measures. But this course 
 cannot, with due regard to their own dignity as an indepen- 
 dent nation, continue. And our recommendations now submit- 
 ted are dictated by the firm belief that the cession of Cuba to 
 the United States, with stipulations as beneficial to Spain as 
 those suggested, is the only effectual mode of settling all past 
 differences, and of securing the two countries against future 
 sollisions. We have already witnessed the happy results for 
 both countries which followed a similar arrangement in regard 
 to Florida." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan returned to his native country on the 23d of 
 April last. His course had been watched with intense anxiety 
 by his fellow citizens, and when the Common Council of New 
 
400 LIFE AND 8EEVICE8 OF JAMES BtTCHANAlT. 
 
 York city determined, without respect of party, to unite in 
 giving him a public reception, it but expressed the general 
 impulse of gratefulness to him for his distinguished services. 
 The following preamble and resolution were unanimously 
 passed by the city authorities. 
 
 "Whereas, Mr. Buchanan's patriotic, dignified and able 
 course as representative of his country at the British Court, 
 and especially the judgment and ability displayed in conduct- 
 ing the recent negotiations with Great Britain, have com' 
 manded the admiration and approval of the American people, 
 and whereas, the respect entertained by our citizens, without 
 distinction of party, for his exalted character and commanding 
 talents as evinced in a long career of conspicuous public service, 
 ought to find a fitting expression in their representatives in the 
 Common Council, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That a select committee of five be appointed to 
 receive the Hon. James Buchanan, on his arrival at this port, as 
 the guest of this city, and tender to him the hospitalities thereof." 
 
 The reception which Mr. Buchanan experienced was cordial 
 and enthusiastic. When he landed from the steamer, a dense 
 crowd of persons surrounded the carriage, and cheer upon 
 cheer attested the deep and earnest affection which the people 
 always bestow^ upon a faithful public servant. Mr; Buchanan, 
 while stopping in New York, was visited by a large number of 
 persons of all pohtical parties, who congratulated him upou 
 the successful manner in which he had conducted our foreign 
 relations. A public dinner was tendered h\m by the corpora- 
 tion, but Mr. Buchanan politely but decidedly declined it. He 
 did not wish any display or ostentation. He would be happy 
 to see his fellow-citizens in a familiar manner, but he did not 
 desire to indulge in any feasting or parade. Accordingly, the 
 next day after his arrival, he repaired to the Governor's room 
 in the City HaU, where hiindreds and thousands grated an 
 
HIS EECEPTION. 41/ » 
 
 honorable desire in clasping the hand of one who nad in so 
 distinguished a manner sustained and added to the honor of his 
 country abroad. 
 
 A brief speech deUvered by Mr. Buchanan from the balcony 
 of the Everett House, where he stopped, to a large crowd of 
 persons who had assembled to serenade him, is so full of earnest 
 feelmg, that we give the principal portion. He said : 
 
 " Friends and Fellow-citizens : I can scarcely describe the 
 emotions I feel at the present moment, in view of the vast 
 crowd of my fellow-citizens of the ^reat commercial emporium 
 of the Union. I have been for years abroad in a foreign land, 
 and I like the noise of the democracy 1 My heart responds to 
 the acclamations of the noble citizens of this favored country. 
 I have been abroad in other lands ; I have witnessed arbitrary 
 power ; I have contemplated the people of other countries ; 
 but there is no country under God's heavens where a man feels 
 to his fellow-man, except in the United States. If you could 
 feel how despotism looks on ; how jealous the despotic powers 
 of the world are of our glorious institutions, you would cherish 
 the Constitution and Union to your hearts, next to your belief 
 in the Christian religion — the Bible for Heaven and the Con- 
 stitution of your country for earth." 
 
 These noble sentiments were received with enthusiastic ap- 
 plause. Indeed, wherever Mr. Buchanan went he was greeted 
 with the warmest affection. He left the city after only two 
 days' sojourn, and hastened homeward. Everywhere on the 
 line of his travel, he was received with the utmost enthusiasm. 
 He was taken entirely by surprise, and so humble and modest 
 was he in the estimate of his own performances, that he could 
 not account for the popular feehng. At his place of residence, 
 Lancaster, however, he was destined to be more than surprised. 
 It seemed as if the entire population, men, women, and chil- 
 dren, had turned out to welcome him home. He could undergo 
 
402 LIM! AJSro SEEVICES OF JAMES BITCHANAN. 
 
 the attentions of strangers, but when he saw his .neighbors en 
 masse, those whom he had lived apiong for forty years, assem- 
 bled, and disputing, as it were, who should be the first to 
 express their gratification for his safe return, he was over- 
 whelmed. He attempted to address them, but for a time his 
 feelings overcame his power of utterance, and a tear testi- 
 fied more deeply than the greatest eloquence how sensibly he 
 was affected by the cordial greeting which was so spontane- 
 ously extended to him. After the reception was over, Mr. 
 Buchanan sought his quiet home, Wheatland, about a nule-and- 
 a-half west of the city of Lancaster, where he has since re- 
 mained. 
 
 It is difficult, in these days of political misrepresentation, to 
 convince people that every man who is a candidate for the 
 Presidency is not engaged in a deep laid scheme for his own 
 preferment. Yet Mr. Buchanan has not only been entirely 
 guiltless of any such acts, but he was even surprised at the 
 general feeling in his favor. When informed by some of his 
 friends that the country had been looking with anxiety for his 
 return, " For my return !" said Mr. Buchanan in real surprise, 
 "Why should any interest be taken in me ?" "Because," they 
 replied, " your consistent and candid position upon all public 
 questions have inspired all with confidence in you." " Well, 
 said Mr. Buchanan, " I certainly have not sought it. I have 
 simply endeavored to do my duty." These facts afford the 
 key to the whole subject. A man who, with honesty of pur- 
 pose, strives to do his duty, does not take into consideration 
 the effect of his conduct ; while the people, with that natural 
 instinct which always responds to purity of intention, take up 
 such a man, and bestow upon him honors that he did not ex- 
 pect, and is surprised to receive. In this way has Mr. Buchanan 
 been placed so prominently before the American people. 
 
BEOUGHT FOEWAED FOB THE PEESIDENCO. 403 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 Mr. Bucha.can brought forward' for the Presidency— His Nomination at Cincinnati— 
 The National Democratic Platform — Letter of the Committee oflBcially announcing 
 the Nomination — Mr. Buchanan's Reply. 
 
 Long before Mr. Buchanan returned from Europe a large and 
 influential portion of his political friends in different parts of 
 the Union brought forward his name as a candidate for the 
 Presidency. The democratic convention of his own State held 
 at Harrisburg on the 4th of March, 1856, had also presented 
 his name prominently to the pubhc. All acknowledge the right 
 of Pennsylvania as the democratic banner State to ^ make a 
 claim upon the party, and especially should she be heeded when 
 she presented a name at once so acceptable to her own citizens 
 as well as to the people of the United States. The time and 
 circumstances seemed to conspire to force Mr. Buchanan 
 upon the attention of the public. Never since the formation 
 of our government had a more formidable agitation been con- 
 ceived, or been conducted upon such systematic principles. He 
 was known to combine in his character, what is rarely ever 
 found united in the same person ; a mind always capable of tak- 
 ing an expanded and progressive view of pubhc questions, and 
 at the same time preserve that healthful degree of conserva- 
 tism which checks excesses, guides events within the bounds of 
 reason, and in fact sustains that healthful progress of society 
 which is as equally removed from rashness as from the dead 
 calm of inactivity. Then too he was looked upon as a saft mam 
 in every emergency — one to whom the country could look with 
 
404 LITE AST) 8EETIOE9. OF JAMES BUCUAJSAJS. 
 
 confidence. He had also arrived at that age in life -when the 
 experience of the statesman had ripened into the wisdom of the 
 sage, and when he could have no inducement to act from any 
 impulse of popularity. All these qualifications particularly 
 recommended him for the present emergency, and as his name 
 seemed to be the demand of the people, as it appeared to come 
 up from the very heart of the masses, even those who person- 
 ally preferred other eminent statesmen, sacrificed their wishes 
 to the people's choice. 
 
 In this connection it is proper to refer to Mr. Buchanan's 
 action in this matter. We can assert upon the best authority 
 that from the very first to the last Mr. Buchanan has utterly 
 refused to do anything whatever, either by word or deed, 
 request or suggestion, in order to procure the nomination for 
 the Presidency. Could every private letter he has penned to 
 his most intimate friends be laid before the public, all would be 
 firmly convinced that James Buchanan has had no agency in 
 urging in any way his own nomination. He proudly abstained 
 from even expressing any desire for its accomplishment. In truth 
 he knew too much of the anxieties and difficulties of public sta- 
 tions, and had gone beyond that period of life when ambition 
 may tempt men " to rush in where angels fear to tread." He 
 had long been deliberately convinced that the Presidency was 
 above all others an office which should not become an object 
 for the scramble of public men. What action there was in his 
 favor was the spontaneous moving of the people in their pri- 
 mary organizations. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when the Democratic National 
 Convention met at Cincinnati on the 2d day of June. It is 
 unnecessary to go into the details of that meeting. It was the 
 only political convention held this year composed of men from 
 every State and District in this broad Union. It was a noble, 
 a grand, a sublime sight. In the midst of the controversies of 
 their opponents, divided and sub-divided into antagonistic 
 organizations, some so sectional in their ideas that they would 
 
HIS NOMINATIOir AT CINCINNATI. 4:05 
 
 make war npon even the immortal Washington were he now 
 alive, here was a body of men coming up from every town and 
 hamlet in our glorious confederacy, and harmoniously working 
 together for their country's good. There has seldom, if ever, 
 met at any National Convention a body of such good and true 
 men, and who felt so fully the responsibilities of their positions. 
 This is attested by reliable and worthy persons, who were present, 
 and who noted the fact of so much order, sobriety and dignity, 
 considering the immense crowd and the usual circumstaDces of 
 excitement attending such a convention. In stating the result 
 of this convention it is only necessary to say that Mr. Buchanan 
 was unanimously nominated on the seventeenth ballot, amid the 
 most tumultuous cheering. As the news spread, the booming of 
 cannon caught up the expiring cheers and prolonged the sound, 
 until from the North to the South, from the East to the West 
 the joyful responses had been received that James Buchanan 
 was as unanimously accepted by the party, as he had been by 
 the convention. 
 
 As it may often be necessary to refer to this volume during 
 the campaign, we give below the platform of the National 
 Democratic party as adopted at Cincinnati : 
 
 PLATFORM OF THE NATIONAL DEMOGEiTIO CONVENTION, 1856. 
 
 " Resolved, That the American democracy place their trust 
 in the intelligence, the patriotism and the discriminating justice 
 of the American people. 
 
 " Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of 
 political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world 
 as the great moral element in a form of government springing 
 from and upheld by the popular will ; and we contrast it with 
 the creed and practice of federalism, under whatever name or 
 form, which seeks to palsy the wiU of the constituent, and 
 which conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular 
 credulity. 
 
4:06 LIPB AND BHKVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Resolved, therefore, That entertaining these views, the 
 democratic party of this Union, through their delegates assem- 
 bled in a general convention, coming together in a spirit of 
 concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free repre- 
 sented government, and appealing to their feUow citizens for 
 the rectitude of their intentions, renew and re-as&ert before the 
 American people, the declarations of the principles avowed 
 by them when, on former occasions, in general convention, 
 they have presented their candidate for the popular suffra- 
 ges. 
 
 " 1. That the federal government is one of limited power, 
 derived solely from the Constitution ; and the grants of power 
 made therein ought to be strictly construed by all the depart- 
 ments and agents of the government ; and that it is inexpedient 
 and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 
 
 " 2. That the Constitution does not confer upon the general 
 government the power to commence and carry on a general 
 system of internal improvement. 
 
 " 3. That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the 
 federal government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts 
 of the several States, contracted for local and internal improve- 
 ments, or other State purposes ; nor would such assumption be 
 just or expedient. 
 
 " 4. That justice and sound policy forbid the federal govern- 
 ment to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of any 
 other, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury 
 of another portion of our common country ; that every citizen 
 and every section of the country has a right to demand and 
 insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete 
 and ample protection of persons and property from domestic 
 violence or foreign aggression. 
 
 " 5. That it is the duty of every branch of the government 
 to enforce and practise the most rigid economy in conducting 
 our pubUc affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised 
 than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the govern- 
 
THE NATIONAL DEMOOKATIO PLATFOEM. 407 
 
 ment, and for the gradual, but certain extinction of the public 
 debt. 
 
 "6. That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly 
 applied to the national objects specified in the Constitution ; and 
 that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such pro- 
 ceeds among the States, as alike inexpedient in policy and 
 repugnant to the Constitution. 
 
 " 1. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank ; 
 that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to 
 the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican 
 institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to 
 place the business of the country within the control of a concen- 
 trated money power, and above the laws and the will of the 
 people ; and that the results of democratic legislation in this 
 and all other financial measures upon which issues have been 
 made between the two political parties of the country, have 
 demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties, their 
 soundness, safety, and utility, in all business pursuits. 
 
 " 8. That the separation of the moneys of the government 
 from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of 
 the fun4ig of the government and the rights of the people. 
 
 " 9. That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the Pre- 
 sident the quaMed veto power, by which he is enabled, under 
 restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the 
 public interests, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits 
 cannot secure the approval of two thirds of the Senate and 
 'House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people 
 can be obtained thereon, and which saved the American people 
 from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the 
 United States, and from a corrupting system of general internal 
 improvements. 
 
 " 10. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the 
 Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitu- 
 tion, which makes ours the land of liberty, and the asylum of 
 the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal princt 
 
4:08 LIFE -AKD SERVICES OF JAMES BUOHAXAU. 
 
 pies in the democratic faith, and every attempt to abridge the 
 privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us, 
 ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien 
 ajid sedition laws from our statute books. 
 
 " And whereas, Since the foregoing declaration was uniformly 
 adopfed by our predecessors in national conventions, an adverse 
 political and religious test has been secretly organized by a 
 party claiming to be exclusively American, it is proper that the 
 American democracy should clearly define its relations thereto, 
 and declare its determined opposition to all secret political soci- 
 eties by whatever name they may be called. 
 
 " Resolved, That the foundation of this union of States hav- 
 ing been laid in, and its prosperity, expansion and pre-eminent 
 example in free government, buQt upon entire freedom in mat- 
 ters of religious concernment, and no respect of person in regard 
 to rank or place of birth ; no party can justly be deemed 
 national, constitutional, or in accordance with American princi- 
 ples, which bases its exclusive organization upon religious 
 opinions and accidental birth-place. And hence a political 
 crusade in the nineteenth century, and in the United States of 
 America, against catholics and foreign born, is neither justified 
 by the past history or the future prospects of the country, nor 
 in unison with the spirit of toleration and enlarged freedom 
 which peculiarly distinguishes the American system of popular 
 government. 
 
 " Resolved, That we reiterate with renewed energy of pur- 
 pose, the well-considered declarations of former conventions 
 upon the sectional issue of domestic slavery, and concerning the 
 reserved rights of the States : 
 
 " 1. That Congress has no power -under the Constitution to 
 interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several 
 States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of 
 everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by 
 the Constitution ; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, 
 made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery 
 
THE NATIONAL DEMOCEATIC PLATFOKM. 409 
 
 0" to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to 
 lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences ; and 
 that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the 
 happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and per- 
 manency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by 
 any friend of our political institutions. 
 
 " 2. That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended 
 to embrace the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress ; 
 and therefore, the democratic party of the Union, standing on 
 this national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful 
 execution of the acts known as the Compromise Measures, settled 
 by the Congress of 1850 ; ' the act of reclaiming fugitives from 
 service or labor,' included ; which act being designed to carry 
 out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot with fidelity 
 thereto be repealed, or so changed as to destroy or impair its 
 efficiency. 
 
 " 3. That the democratic party will resist all attempts at 
 renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery 
 question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be 
 made. 
 
 " 4. That the democratic party will faithfully abide by and 
 uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia^ 
 resolutions of 1198, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the 
 Virginia Legislature in 1799 ; that it adopts those principles as 
 constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, 
 and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and 
 import. 
 
 " And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which 
 a sectional party, subsisting exclusively on slavery agitation, 
 now relies to test the fidelity of the people, North and South, 
 to the Constitution and the Union — 
 
 " Resolved, That , claiming fellowship with, and desiring the 
 co-operation of all who regard the preservation of the Union 
 under the Constitution as the paramount issue — and repudiating 
 all sectional parties and platforms concerning domestic slavery 
 
 18 
 
410 LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ■•.lAdi seek to embroil the States and incite to-tieason and 
 iu-med resistance to law in the territories ; and whose avowed 
 purposes, if consummated, must end in civil war and disunion — 
 the American democracy recognize and adopt the principles 
 contained in the organic laws, establishing the territories of 
 Kansas and Nebraska, as embodying the only sound and safe 
 solution of the 'slavery question' upon which the great 
 national idea of the people of this whole country can repose in 
 its determined conservatism of the Union — non4nterference by 
 Congress witk slavery m State and Territory, or in the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 " 2. That this was the basis of the compromises of 1850 — 
 confirmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties m national 
 conventions — ratified by the people in the election of 1852— 
 and rightly applied to the organization of territories in 1854 
 
 " 3. That by the uniform application of this democratic prin- 
 ciple to the organization of Territories, and the admission of 
 new States, with or without, domestic slavery, as they may 
 elect — the equal rights of all the States will be preserved 
 intact — the original coinpacts of the Constitution maintained 
 inviolate^and the perpetuity and expansion of this Union 
 insured to its utmost capacity of embracing, in peace and har- 
 mony, every future American State that may be constituted or 
 annexed, with a republican form of government. 
 
 " Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all 
 the Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through 
 the legally and fairly expressed will of a majority of actual 
 residents ; and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies 
 it, to form a Constitution, with or without domestic slavery, 
 and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality 
 ■with the other States. 
 
 " Resolved, finally. That in yiew of the condition of popular 
 institutions in the Old World (and tho dangerous tendencies of 
 BBCtional agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil 
 •od religious dlfiabilitie's against the rights of acquiring and 
 
THE NATIONAL DBMOCEATIO PLATFORM. 4.11 
 
 enjoying citizenship in onr own land) — a high and sacred duty 
 is devolved with increased responsibility upon the democratic 
 party of this country, as the party of the Union, to uphold and 
 maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the Union of 
 the States ; and to sustain and advance among us Consti- 
 tutional liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and 
 exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of 
 the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those 
 principles and compromises of the Constitution, which are broad 
 enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as 
 it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be, in the 
 fuU expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and 
 progressive people. 
 
 " [All of the above was adopted unanimously by the Con- 
 vention.] 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the 
 foreign policy of this country, which are inferior to no domestic 
 question whatever. The time has come for the people of the 
 United States , to declare themselves in favor of free seas and 
 progressive free trade throughout the world, and, by solemn 
 manifestations, to place their moral influence at the side of 
 their successful example. 
 
 " [Adopted, 234 to 26. Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, and 
 North Carolina voted no.] 
 
 " 2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position 
 with reference to the other States of this continent, no less than 
 the interests of our commerce and~ the development of our grow- 
 ing power, requires that we should hold as sacred the princi- 
 ples involved in the Monroe doctrine ; their bearing and import 
 admit of no misconstruction ; they should be applied with 
 unbending rigidity. 
 
 " [Adopted, 239 to 23.] 
 
 " 3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature, as well 
 as the assent of the States most immediately interested in its 
 maintenance, has marked out for a free communication between 
 
412 LITE AND SERVICES 0¥ JAMES BUCHAJSTAir. 
 
 tlio Atlantic and Pacific oceans, constitutes one of the most im- 
 portant achievements realized by the spirit of modern times, 
 and the unconquerable energy of our people. That result 
 should be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the con- 
 trol which we have the right to claim over it, and no power on 
 earth should be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any 
 interference with the relations it may suit our policy to estabhsh 
 between our government and the governments of the States 
 within whose dominions it Ues. We can, under no circum- 
 stances, surrender our preponderance in the adjustment of all 
 questions arising out of it. 
 
 [Adopted, 199 to 56. Maine 1, Connecticut 2, Virginia, 
 Maryland, and Rhode Island formed the principal nays.J 
 
 " 4. That in view of so commanding an interest, the people of 
 the United States cannot but sympathize with the efforts which 
 are being made by the people of Central America to regenerate 
 that portion of the continent which covers the passage across 
 the interoceanic Isthmus. 
 
 [Adopted, 221 to 38. Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, 
 South CaroMna, and Kentucky voted nay.] 
 
 " 5. Resolved, That the democratic party wiU expect of the 
 next administration that every proper effort be made to insure 
 our ascendency in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain a per- 
 manent protection to the great outlets through which are 
 emptied into its waters the products raised out of the soU, and 
 the commodities created by the industry of the people of our 
 Western valleys, and of the Union at large. 
 
 [Adopted, 229 to 30 — last nearly as on previous one.] 
 
 " A resolution was introduced and passed, though not 
 adopted as a part of the platform, declaring it to be the duty 
 of the general government, so far as the Constitution will per- 
 mit, to aid in the construction of a safe overland route between 
 the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts." 
 
 A committee was appointed to wait upon Mr. Buchanan and 
 
LETTER OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE. 413 
 
 inform Mm officially of his nomination. These gentlemen repaired 
 personally to Lancaster, and there presented to Mr. Buchanan 
 the following letter • 
 
 " Lancaster, June 13, 1856. 
 
 " Sir : The National Convention of the democratic party, 
 which assembled at Cincinnati on the first Monday in June, 
 unanimously nominated you as a candidate for the office of 
 President of the United States. 
 
 " We have been directed by the convention to convey to you 
 this intelligence, and to request you, in their name, to accept 
 the nomination for the exalted trust which the chief magistracy 
 of the Union imposes. 
 
 " The convention, founding their action upon the time- 
 honored principles of the democratic party, have announced 
 their views in relation to the chief questions which engage the 
 public mind ; and, while adhering to the truths of the past, 
 have manifested the policy of the present in a series of reso- 
 lutions, to which we invoke your attention. 
 
 " The convention feel assured, in tendering to you this signal 
 proof of the respect and esteem of your countrymen, that they 
 truly reflect the opinion which the people of the United States 
 entertain of your eminent character and distinguished public 
 services. They cherish a profound conviction that your ele- 
 vation to the first office in the Eepublic will give a moral 
 guarantee to the country that the true principles of the Con- 
 stitution will be asserted and maintained ; that the public tran- 
 quillity will be established ; that the tumults of factions will be 
 stilled ; that our domestic industry will flourish ;• that our for- 
 eign a%irs will be conducted with such wisdom and firmness 
 as to assure the prosperity of the people at home, whOe the 
 interests and honor of our country are wisely but inflexibly 
 maintained in our intercourse with other nations ; and, espe- 
 cially, that your public experience and the confidence of your 
 countrymen will enable you to give effect to democratic prin- 
 
414 LIFE AND 8EETI0E8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 ciples, SO as to render indissoluble the strong bonds of mutual 
 interest and national glory which unite our confederacy and 
 secure the prosperity of our people. 
 
 " "While we offer to the country our sincere congratulations 
 upon the fortanate auspices of the future, we tender to you, 
 personally, the assurances of the respect and esteem of your 
 fellow-citizens, 
 
 " John E. Ward, 
 " W. A. Richardson, 
 " Harry Hibbard, 
 " W. B. Lawrence, 
 " A. G. Brown, 
 " Jno. L. Manning, 
 " John "Forsyth, 
 " W. Preston, 
 " J. Randolph Tucker, 
 " Horatio Seymour 
 " Hon. James Buchanan. 
 
 The reply of Mr. Buchanan is characterized with his usual 
 frankness and clearness, and places in a prominent light all the 
 entabhshed traits of his character. 
 
 Wheatland (nea/r Zanaasfer), June 16, 1856. 
 
 " Gentlemen : I have, the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your communication of the 13th instant, informing me offi- 
 cially of my nomination by the Democratic National Conyen- 
 tion, recently held at Cincinnati, as the democratic candidate 
 for the office of President of the United -States. I shall not 
 attempt to express the grateful feelings which I entertain to- 
 wards my democratic fellow-citizens for having deemed me 
 worthy of this, the highest political honor on earth — an honor . 
 such as the people of no other country have the power to be- 
 stow. Deeply sensible of the vast and varied responsibility 
 attached to the station, especially at the present crisis of oar 
 
ms REPLY. 4t6 
 
 taffairs, I have carefully refrained from seeking the nomination 
 either by word or by deed. Now that it has been offered by the 
 democratic party, I accept it with diffidence in my own abili- 
 ties, but with an humble trust that, in the event of my election, 
 I may be enabled to discharge my duty in such a manner as 
 to allay domestic strife, preserve peace and friendship with 
 foreign nations, and promote the best interests of the repub- 
 Uc. 
 
 " In accepting the nomination, I need scarcely say that I 
 accept in the same spirit the resolutions constituting the plat- 
 form of principles erected by the convention. To this platform 
 I intend to confine myself throughout the canvass, believing 
 that I have no right, as the candidate of the democratic party, 
 by answering interrogatories, to present new and different 
 issues before the people. 
 
 " It will not be expected that in this answer I should spe- 
 cially refer to the subject of each of the resolutions, and I shall, 
 therefore, confine myself to the two topics now most promi- 
 nently before the people. 
 
 " And, in the first place, I cordially concur in the sentiments 
 expressed by the convention on the subject of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty. No party founded on religious or political 
 intolerance towards one class of American citizens, whether 
 born in our own or in a foreign land, can long continue to ex- 
 ist in this country. We are all equal betore God and the 
 Constitution ; and the dark spirit of despotism and bigotry 
 which would create odious distil ctions among our fellow-citi- 
 Eena will be speedily rebuked by a free and enlightened public 
 opinion. 
 
 " The agitation of the question of domestic slavery has too 
 long distracted and divided the people of this Union and alien- 
 ated their affections from each other. Tliis agitation has 
 assumed many forms since its commencement, but it now seems 
 to be directed chiefly to the territories ; and, judging from its 
 present character, I think we may safely anticipate that it is 
 
4-16 LIFE AND BEBVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 rapidly approaching a ' finality.' The recent legislation of 
 Congress respecting domestic slavery, derived, as it has been, 
 from the original and pure fountain of legitimate political 
 power, the wiU of the majority, promises ere long to allay the 
 dangerous excitement. This legislation is founded upon princi- 
 ples as ancient as free government itself, and, in accordance 
 vnth them, has simply declared that the people of a tenitory, 
 like those of a State, shall decide for themselves whether 
 slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. 
 
 " The NebraskarKansas act does no more than give the 
 force of law to this elementary principle of self-government, 
 declaring it to be ' the true intent and meaning of this act 
 not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor ta 
 exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly 
 free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their 
 own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United 
 States." This principle will surely not be controverted hf 
 any individual of any party professing devotion to populai 
 government. Besides, how vain and iUusory would any othei 
 principle prove in practice in regard to the Territories 1 
 This is apparent from the fact admitted by all, that, after a 
 Territory shall have entered the Union and become a State, no 
 Constitutional power would then exist which could prevent it 
 from either abolishing or establishing slavery, as the case may 
 be, according to its sovereign will and pleasure. 
 
 " Most happy would it be for the country if this long agi- 
 tation were at an end. During its whole progress it has pro- 
 duced no practical good to any human being, whilst it has been 
 the source of great and dangerous evils. It has alienated and 
 estranged one portion of the Union from the other, and has even 
 seriously threatened its very existence. To my own personal 
 knowledge, it has produced the impression among foreign nations 
 that our great and glorious confederacy is in constant danger 
 of dissolution. This does us serious injury, because acknow- 
 ledged power and stability always command respect among 
 
HIS EEPLT. 4:17 
 
 nations, and are among the best securities against unjust 
 aggression, and in favor of the maintenance of honorable peace. 
 
 " May we not hope that it is the mission of the democratic 
 party, now the only surviving conservative party of the country, 
 ere long to overthrow all sectional parties, and restore the 
 peace, friendship, and mutual confidence which prevailed in the 
 good old time among the different members of the confederacy ? 
 Its character is strictly national, and it therefore asserts no 
 principle for the guidance of the federal government which is 
 not adopted and sustained by its members in each and every 
 State. For this reason it is the same determined foe of aU 
 geographical parties, so much and so justly dreaded by the 
 Father of his Country. From its very nature it must continue 
 to exist so long as there is a Constitution and a Union to pre- 
 serve. A conviction of these truths has induced many of the 
 purest, the ablest, and most independent of our former oppo- 
 nents, who have differed from us in times gone by upon old 
 and extinct party issues, to come into our ranks and devote 
 themselves with us to the cause of the Constitution and the 
 Union. Under these circumstances, I most cheerfully pledge 
 myself, should the nomination of the convention be- ratified by 
 the people, that all the power and influence Constitutionally 
 possessed by the Executive shall be exerted, in a firm but con- 
 ciliatory spirit, during the single term I shall remain in office, 
 to restore the same harmony among the sister States which 
 prevailed before this apple of discord, in the form of slavery 
 agitation, had been cast into their midst. Let the members of 
 the family abstain from intermeddling with the exclusive domes- 
 tic concerns of each other, and cordially unite on the basis of 
 perfect equaKty among themselves, in promoting the great 
 national objects of common interest to all, and the good work 
 will be instantly accomplished. 
 
 " In regard to our foreign policy, to which you have refer- 
 red in your communication, it is quite impossible for any human 
 fore-knowledge to prescribe positive rules in advance to regulate 
 
 18* 
 
418 LIFE AND SEEVTCES OF JATVTPIS BUCHAUAJST. 
 
 the conduct of a future administration in all the exigencies 
 which may arise in our various and ever-changing relations 
 with foreign powers. The federal government must, of neces- 
 sity, exercise a sound discretion in dealing with international 
 questions as they may occur ; but this under the strict respon- 
 sibility which the executive must always feel to the people of 
 the United States, and the judgment of posterity. You will, 
 therefore, excuse me for not entering into particulars ; whilst 
 I heartOy concur with you ~in the general sentiment, that our 
 foreign affairs ought to be conducted with such wisdom and 
 firmness, as to assure the prosperity of the people at home, 
 whilst the interests and honor of our country are wisely, 
 but inflexibly, maintained abroad. Our foreign policy ought 
 ever to be based upon the principle of doing justice to all 
 nations, and requiring justice from them in return ; and from 
 this principle I ^hall never depart. 
 
 " Should I be placed in the executive chair, I shall use my 
 best exertions to cultivate peace and friendship with all nations, 
 believing this to be our highest pohcy, as well as our most 
 imperative duty ; but, at the same time, I shall never forget 
 that in case the necessity should arise, which I do not now 
 apprehend,our national rights and national honor must be pre- 
 served at all hazards and at any sacrifice. 
 
 " Firmly convinced that a special Providence governs the 
 affairs of nations, let us humbly implore His continued bless- 
 ing upon our country, and that He may avert from us the 
 punishment we justly deserve for being discontented and un- 
 grateful while enjoying privileges above all nations, under such 
 a constitution and such a Union as has never been vouchsafed 
 to any other people. 
 
 " Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 " James Buchanan." 
 
 Hon. John E. Ward, W. A. Richakds(<n,' Habrt Hibbabd, W. B. Law- 
 EBNCB, A. G. Bkown, John L. Manning, John Forsyth, W. Preston, 
 J. Randolph Tcceer, and Horatio Seymocr, Committee, &o. 
 
AT HOME. 419 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan at Home. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapters given a brief review of 
 some of the more prominent events in Mr. Buchanan's life, aa 
 well as the more important of his many public services, it is no 
 more than right to close this volume with some reference to 
 hia personal character. To a certain extent the private rela- 
 tions of any man who is presented to the people of the United 
 States to receive their suffrages for the highest office in their 
 gift, is a fair and proper subject of inquiry. " Upon private 
 integrity," said the illustrious Washington, " rests all the safe- 
 guards of public virtue." The people have, therefore, undoubt- 
 edly the right to inquire whether the candidate before them 
 possess those qualities both of mind and heart, which will con- 
 fer honor even upon the exalted office to which he may be 
 elected, and give, at the same time, a guarantee that public 
 truth wiU flow legitimately from private integrity. It is no 
 exaggeration to say, that Mr. Buchanan is a model of all that 
 is praiseworthy or admirable in the character of a public man , 
 His has 'been a life of thorough discipline, of rigid and careful 
 culture, and, guided by those simple methodical habits, which 
 were imbibed in early life, at the feet of a devoted mother, it is 
 not surprising that they have been the foundation of a charac- 
 ter at once graceful in its parts and symmetrical in its com- 
 plete proportions. 
 
 One of the strongest traits in Mr. Buchanan's personal life, 
 >" thp. hold he has upon the affections of the people among 
 
420 LIFE A2ST) SEETTCES OF JAMES BtTOHAlTAN. 
 
 whom he resides. His political enemies have represented liim 
 as cold and distant in his manners. There never was a more 
 unfounded statement. The writer of this has been among Ms 
 friends and neighbors, and conversed unreservedly with all he 
 met, and the universal voice was that for genial, and warm- 
 hearted friendship he has no equal. This feeling is not con- 
 fined to any class of the. population, but all, rich and poor, 
 unite in the same expression. In one respect, perhaps, Mr. 
 Buchanan may not meet the expectations of some. He is not 
 of that facile, ever-changing mould, capable of adapting him- 
 self to any and every individual he meets, and conquering their 
 friendship by addressing their vanity. To such persons, friend- 
 ship is but a name. To individuals hke Mr. Buchanan, it is 
 an affection founded upon an acquaintance which ripens into 
 confidence. All who meet him are at once convinced of the 
 kindness of his disposition, and the sincerity of his heart. There 
 is an eatire absence of display, no ostentation or formality ; but 
 accustomed to mingle freely with all classes of society, he in- 
 stinctively rejects everything that looks like pride or fashion. 
 
 In this respect, he is an index of the people among whom 
 he resides. Probably there is no agricultural population of 
 equal wealth in our country which has retained so many habits 
 of rural simplicity, as that of the county of Lancaster, in Penn- 
 sylvania. It has resisted with success the follies of fashionable 
 hfe which naturally radiate from our large seaboard towns, and 
 in the whole city of Lancaster, a place of some seventeen 
 thousand inhabitants, there is less fashion and display to be 
 found than in one small New England village. The church 
 of the Presbyterian denomination, which Mr. Buchanan regularly 
 attends, is a structure so hmited in size, and so plain and 
 unpretending in aj^ear..nce, that it would shock the sensibih- 
 ties of the majority of metropolitan church goers. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan's equanimity of mind is one of the most 
 admirable, as it is one of the most prominent,, features of his 
 character. His natural disposition is exceedingly buoyant, and 
 
AT HOME. 421 
 
 as years have gradually trept over him, silvering his locks with 
 the frosts of age, the original tendency of his mind has not 
 been perverted, only modified, and at this day he presents that 
 joyous spectacle where the freshness of youth is united to the 
 calmness and maturity of age. It is believed there is no 
 instance during the whole course of Mr. Buchanan's public life 
 where his equanimity of temper was seriously disturbed. At 
 all times and under all circumstances, he has been enabled to 
 bring to the consideration of questions a mind free from that 
 species of insanity, where passion usurps the place of reason. 
 It has been noted with what dignity he repelled the outrageous 
 attack made upon him by John Davis of Massachusetts. Few 
 men would have borne themselves through such a provoking 
 assault, without losing that command of their temper which a 
 proper respect for one's place and position requires, but which 
 _it is almost impossible, under great provocation, to exercise. 
 Upon another occasion Mr. Clay indulged, in the course of 
 some remarks, in a reference to the charge of " low wages " in 
 such a manner as to cast a reflection upon Mr. Buchanan 
 When he had concluded Mr. Buchanan rose with his usual 
 dignity and deliberation and said, " he had listened with his 
 usual gratification to the reply of the distinguished senator 
 from Kentucky, with the exception of a single remark. I refer 
 to his allusion to the electioneering slang of the late contest on 
 the subject of low wages. That remark was wholly unworthy 
 of that senator, and I intend to answer it as it deserves." 
 
 Mr. Clay observing that Mr. Buchanan had taken his remark 
 in a serious manner, interrupted him and begged to be permit- 
 ted to explain. He expressly disclaimed any offensive purpose 
 in his remark, and declared " that it was meant only as a 
 playful allusion and not intended to wound the feelings of the 
 senator in the least." Mr. Buchanan replied, " I am entirely 
 satisfied and am glad we are friends again." This disavowal 
 on the part of Mr. Clay of any respect for the charge of John 
 Davis, as a serious one against Mr. Buchanan, was exactly in 
 
422 LIFE AND 8EETIOE8 OF JAMES BTJCHAUAK. 
 
 accordance with Mr Clay's well known generosity of character, 
 and should shame all at the present day who haTe the hardi- 
 hood to revive the exploued slander. It is by such evenness of 
 temper and entire self-possession as we haive referred to in the 
 foregoing instances, that Mr. Buchanan has been enabled to 
 pass a long public life without, it is beheved, havmg a single 
 personal enemy among his political opponents. 
 
 The equanimity of Mr. Buchanan's temper is only equalled 
 by the generosity of his disposition. Did it not seein like 
 paradifig before the public, deeds whose sincere benevolence has 
 made them almost sacred, we might specify numerous instances 
 where his unostentatious charity has been conspicuous. Such 
 a course, we feel confident, would be as distasteful to him as it 
 might seem obtrusive to the pubUc. 
 
 " The secret pleasure of a generous act 
 Is the great mind's great bribe." 
 
 To show, however, what his neighbors think of him in this res- 
 pect, we give the following quotation from a newspaper published 
 in-the place of his residence, and coming as it does from a poUtical 
 opponent, and since his nomination for the presidency, it cannot 
 be suspected of any partiaUty. The editor says : 
 
 "We knew Mr. Buchanan as one of our most respected 
 fellow citizens — a gentleman of unblemished personal integrity, 
 and unusually agreeable manners in his social intercourse with 
 all classes. We knew him as a friend of the poor — as a 
 perpetual benefactor of the poor widows of this city, who, 
 when the piercing blasts of each successive winter brought 
 shrieks of cold, and hunger, and want, in the frail tenements 
 of Poverty, could apply to the ' Buchanan KeUef Donation ' for 
 their mmual supply of wood, and sitting down with their 
 orphaned children in the cheerful warmth of a blazing fire, lift 
 their hearts in silent gratitude to God, and teach their little 
 ones to bless the name of James Buchanan. As a citizen, s 
 
AT HOME. 423 
 
 ueighbor, a friend^-in a word, as -simply James Buclianan, we 
 yielded to no man in the measure of our respect and esteem." 
 
 The "Buchanan Eelief Donation" referred to, consists of a 
 fund of several tliousand dollars invested by him a number of 
 years since, for purposes indicated in the foregoing extract. If, 
 as Byron asserts, 
 
 " The drying up a siogle tear has more 
 Of houest fame than shedding seas of gore," 
 
 then most assuredly has Mr. Buchanan attained it. 
 
 The following extract from a private letter from a gentleman 
 at Washington, written since the nomination, gives such a 
 graphic picture of Mr. Buchanan at home, that we make no 
 apology for introducing it here : 
 
 " While at Lancaster, on professional business, I called at his 
 residence, a mile and a half from the city, to see Mr. Buchanan, 
 with whom I had been somewhat acquainted from his entrance 
 into the U. S. Senate, in 1835. I found him at Wheatland, 
 once a large farm noted for its yield of the cereal which con- _ 
 ferred its name, now by subdivisions in passing through several 
 generations, reduced to some thirty acres. He occupies an 
 ancient, but spacious, brick dwelling surrounded by a beautiful 
 grove, planted by an early owner. The cultivation is limited 
 to a large garden and a few acres of wheat and oats, while a 
 cow is in full possession of the most beautiful hickory grove I 
 ever saw. I found Mr. B. in his library, the largest room in 
 his house, which is well filled with books, and very neatly and 
 appropriately fitted up with furniture of Pennsylvania oak. He 
 receives his company with a courtesy and simpKcity that make 
 every one feel at his ease, though he never appears undignified. 
 His conversation has a peculiar charm, because he uses, as Mr. 
 Calhoun did, common and plain language to communicate his 
 thoughts. He never confounds you with language, or words 
 
424: LIFE AND SEEVICES OF JAMES BUOHANAIT. 
 
 you do not understand, nor does he attempt to dazzle by strik- 
 ing expressions or applying pungent epithets. His, is the clear 
 explicit language of every day life, and which is most befitting 
 aU stations. 
 
 " Everything about him indicated that he loves order and 
 quiet, and that the tendency of his mind is in favor of utOity. 
 There is nothing gaudy or frivolous to be found in his house. 
 Its furniture is plain, substantial, and appropriate to its plate 
 and uses. His affection for his friends is manifested in all 
 parts of his house. I was much gratified in finding in his 
 library a likeness of the late Vice-President King, whom he 
 loved (and who did not ?j He declared that he was the purest 
 public man that he ever knew, and that during his intimate 
 acquaintance of thirty years he had never known him to perform 
 a selfish act. Mr. B.'s tastes are of the most simple kind, and 
 he Uves, like his neighbors, without attempting foolish osten- 
 tation or wearisome display. His uniform frugality has crowned 
 his latter years with a Uberal competence, never contaminated 
 by parsimony. Poverty and affliction never soKcited of him in 
 vain. He has always be"en liberal and charitable. He is now 
 about sixty-five years of age and has never married. His family 
 consists of himself and niece, whose education has been mainly 
 under his direction, and who accompanied him during his late 
 mission to England, and whose knowledge and sense, derived 
 from books, study and reflection, peculiarly qualify her to grace 
 and cheer the fireside of the Sage of Wheatland. 
 
 " Mr. Buchanan is very frank with his friends, and is always 
 ready to avail himself of their suggestions, when appropriate. 
 I was much struck with the attachment of his old neighbors 
 and friends, and indeed of aU Pennsylvanians, to him person- 
 ally. I saw no man in Lancaster, who was not his devoted 
 friend. Ton would be surprised to learn the large number who 
 voluntarily tell you of his numerous acts of kindness to them, 
 or their parents, relatives or neighbors. His old clients are 
 universally attached to him, and many speak of his gratuitous 
 
AT HOME. 425 
 
 professional services, ui fighting the battles of the poor. A 
 stranger would suppose that the entu'e population were Ms 
 friends. During a stay of two days, at his house, I found him 
 thronged with company, from early morning till a late hour in 
 the evening, who came to congratulate him upon his safe return 
 from Europe, and triumphant nomination. IThe numerous calls 
 from the Pennsylvania farmers seemed to afford him great 
 pleasure. There was an earnest sincerity manifested by them, 
 that touched the heart. This deep feeling of attachment was 
 strikiugly illustrated when I was present. A Kentucky drover 
 had been to Philadelphia, and sold his cattle to a city dealer. 
 When the business was closed, the latter came with the former 
 to Lancaster, a distance of seventy mUes, apparently for the 
 sole purpose of congratulating Mr. Buchanan, and introducing 
 his western friend. I was told of other as striking instances of 
 attachment. 
 
 " I saw many prominent whigs at his house, and others on 
 the way, who openly avowed their intention to vote for Mr. 
 Buchanan. The reasons for so doing, were, either personal at- 
 tachment, or an avowed strong desire to repress all agitation 
 and action tending to disunion, and a wish to restore national 
 harmony and quiet. They seemed to be confident that his elec- 
 tion would produce this desirable result. Some referred to our 
 foreign affairs, and expressed the opinion that his experience, 
 wisdom and prudence would keep them from falling into con- 
 fusion, or resulting in contention, or stain upon national honor. 
 
 " Mr. Buchanan is a large, muscular man, who enjoys the 
 most perfect health, and is capable of enduring as much labor 
 as a young man. During the time I was with him, I heard of 
 no subject of conversation, with which he was not familiar. He 
 was early distinguished as a sound lawyer. Ten years' service 
 in the House, and ten in the Senate, made him familiar with 
 the legislation and poUcy of the country. Three years service 
 in Eussia and three years in England, as Minister, and four in 
 the Statei department, as Secretary, made him more famiKar 
 
4:26 LIFE AND SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 with our foreign relations than any other liying man. From 
 this you will readily belieye that it is a treat to converse with 
 him on diplomatic as well as other subjects, and that those who 
 spend much time with him, depart greatly wiser than they 
 came. He instructs without making one feel that he does so, 
 and you regret when he is called off from the subject in hand. 
 Had the state of my own business permitted, I should have 
 been but too happy to have enjoyed his hospitality and society 
 for a much longer period and to have profited by conversation 
 with one so well quahfied to impart wisdom and knowledge. 
 
 " Like General Jackson, he seems to have nothing to con- 
 ceal. He remarked, that the time was when he was anxious to 
 be elected President, but years, and the loss of those who had 
 served long with him in public Ufe, and who would have ren- 
 dered him the needed support, had changed his feelings upon 
 the subject. He had now been made a candidate without an 
 effort of his own, and he felt bound to submit to the wishes of 
 his friends, and therefore consented to become the representa 
 tive of their principles and wishes. When referring to the fact 
 that all who entered pubKc life with him had left the stage, and 
 he was left alone, he seemed deeply affected. A new genera- 
 tion had sprung up around him, to many of whom he was much 
 attached, but they had not been his companions in arms in the 
 pohtical conflicts of his early life. But the sons of his early 
 friends had demanded his services, and he had no right to 
 refuse. He inquired, with emphasis, ' why should I, after forty 
 years spent in the turmoil and excitement of public life, wish to 
 leave my quiet home, and assume the responsibilities and cares 
 incident to the presidency 1 A sense of duty alone has induced 
 me to accept the nomination. They tell me that the use of my 
 name will stUl the agitated waters, restore public harmony, by 
 banishing sectionalism, and remove all apprehension of disunion. 
 For these objects I would not only surrender my own ease and 
 comfort, but cheerfully lay down my life. Considerations like 
 these have imposed upon me the duty of yielding to the wishes 
 
CONCLUSION. 42'( 
 
 of tlios*» who must know what the public good requires.' I 
 could not doubt he spoke what he strongly felt. It made a 
 deep impression upon my mind. I shall long remember this 
 visit, and whateyer may be the future course of his poUtical 
 fortunes, I shall never cease to admire and venerate the "Union- 
 loving sage of Wheatland." 
 
 Such is the man now presented to the American people for 
 their suffrages. In the sunset of an honorable life, with his 
 eye yet undimmed, and his natural force unabated, he is 
 brought forward by the spontaneous voice of his countrymen. 
 Said the great Edmund Burke, "When bad men combine, good 
 men should unite ;" and without stopping to inquire whether 
 those who have combined on sectional issues are bad or not, 
 certainly their success can only add fuel to the present flame 
 of unholy strife. All good aid reaRonable men must therefore 
 bexonvinced that the peace, prosperity, and safety of twenty 
 millions of the happiest, freest, and most advanced white men, 
 with their noble structure of republican government, cemented 
 by the blood, the sufferings, and treasures of their ancestors, 
 should not be sacrificed — nay, not even jeopardized for the sup- 
 posed interests of three mUlions of the African race, who, 
 whatever may be their present condition, are certainly better 
 off than any other three million of their own race of which we 
 have any knowledge. 
 
 This Union, with its inestimable blessings, its patriotic asso- 
 ciations, its trial of the capacity of man for self-government, is 
 so invaluable to the cause of suffering humanity throughout the 
 world, that should the American people, with sacrilegious hands, 
 tear down this noble temple of liberty, they would deserve, 
 as they would undoubtedly receive, the just contempt and exe- 
 cration of posterity. To restore peace to our already distracted 
 country, to unite once more the bonds of fraternal feeling 
 between all sections, and in the language of the immortal 
 Washington, " to frown indignantly upon the first dawning of 
 
428 LIFE AUD 8EKVICES OF JAJffiES BTTCHAKAN. 
 
 every attempt to alienate any portion of onr country from th* 
 rest," we cannot but believe that an overwhelming majority, 
 North as weU as South, wiQ insist upon placing in the presi- 
 dential chair, the consistent statesman, the pure patriot, and 
 the honest man, James Bitchakan. 
 
THE PEOGEESS OF THE ELECTION. 429 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ADDITIONAL. 
 
 The Progress of the Election — The Issues InTolved — The Final Result — ^The Election of 
 Mr. Buchanan — The Rejoicings of the Democracy — The Inauguration Ceremonie^ 
 The Inaugural Address — SlEetches of the Cabinet Officers. 
 
 The foregoing chapters were written and published in the 
 early part of the month of Jnly immediately subsequent to 
 Mr. Buchanan's nomination for President, and it is a source of 
 satisfaction that the confidence felt and expressed therein in 
 relation to his election, have received an emphatic confirma- 
 tion in the voice of the people of the TJnited States. There 
 have been but few presidential elections in the history of our 
 government where greater efforts were made by all parties to 
 secure the triumph. The democracy entered the contest under 
 more than ordinary disadvantages. The repeal of the Mis- 
 souri Restriction had been so immediately followed by the 
 difficulties in the territory o£ Kansas, that it was very plausi- 
 ble to charge the responsibility of them solely upon the party 
 which had removed it. For this reason the justice or injustice 
 of this restriction was, in a great measure, lost sight of, and 
 ingenious stump orators, opposing the election of Mr. 
 Buchanan, preferred to dwell in pathetic terms upon the 
 reputed " outrages " in that territory, rather than to discuss 
 the right of excluding a portion of their fellow-citizens from 
 the common domain of the Union, unless they dissolved cer- 
 tain social relations with whicfc the Federal Government has 
 no right to interfere, much less abolish. The entire non-inter- 
 ference by Congress with the status of negroes, or in other 
 
430 LIFE AND SEEVIOBB OF JA3IES BUCHAITAII. 
 
 words, with the social or legal relations of the white and 
 black races, whether in State or Territory, was the great and 
 principal issue of the late campaign. This, though in a some- 
 what different phraseology, was clearly enunciated in the 
 Democratic platform. 
 
 It was perceived, however, in the early part of the canvass, 
 that the real issue was to be avoided as much as possible, and 
 the "evils of slavery," "the wrongs of Kansas," and "the 
 aggressions of the South,'' were to be the principal texts from 
 which to preach to the northern people. Two parties entered 
 the field as opponents of the Democracy ; one had nominated 
 Millard Fillmore, and the other John C. Frdmont, as com- 
 petitors of Mr. Buchanan. Mr. Fillmore had already served 
 as President with honor to himself and with much satisfaction 
 to many of his countrymen. He had, however, since the 
 close of his official term, adopted the peculiar doctrines of the 
 " American " party, and thus alienated from him many of his 
 old adherents. Mr. Fremont was, however, a new man upon 
 the political field, and with a considerable dash of romance in 
 his life, he attracted even in his personal character more than 
 ordinary attention. Supported, too, by powerful and influen- 
 tial presses, and receiving the endorsement of many men of 
 well-known integrity and ability, it was soon perceived that he 
 was destined to be an opponent of no ordinary strength. 
 
 During the early part of the canvass the tide of public 
 opinion seemed to be strongly in favor of the so-called Repub- 
 lican party throughout all the Northern States. The August 
 elections in Maine and Iowa were really disheartening to the 
 Democrats. Their opponents were more than usually confi- 
 dent, and used almost superhuman exertions to effect the 
 election of their candidate. It was soon perceived, however, 
 by all who possessed any degree of political sagacity, that the 
 State of Pennsylvania, the ho^ of Mr. Buchanan, was to be 
 the great, indeed, the decisive battle-ground. Never before 
 had the Democracy of that honored State such immense and 
 
THE ISSUES INVOLVED. 431 
 
 overwhelming questioos confided to their decision. Mr. Jef- 
 ferson has somewhere prophetically observed, " Let Virginia 
 stand firm and Peunsylyariia remain true to the Democracy, 
 then will our liberties be safe, and our Union perpetual." The 
 remark seemed to have been made with reference to just such 
 a contingency as was now presented. At all events, all 
 parties felt that upon the result in Pennsylvania depended the 
 whole issue of the contest, and hence the most extraordinary 
 efforts were made to defeat the Democrats at the October 
 election. The friends of Mr. Fillmore were very strong in the 
 State, while the peculiar principles of "Republicanism" had 
 met with but an indifferent reception. A successful effort, 
 however, was made to combine both of these parties in the 
 support of the same ticket for State officers, and they, there- 
 fore, entered the contest flushed with hope and confident of 
 victory. Defeats in other quarters had not, however, dis. 
 mayed the " unterrified " democracy. As Virginia had given 
 the first check to Know Nothingism under the lead of the 
 gallant Wise, the honor remained for Pennsylvania to stem 
 the torrent of abolition delusion, and disunion, with the name 
 of her favorite son, James Buchanan, for the rallying cry. The 
 victory in the one case was no less complete than in the other. 
 While there was a dash of chivalry in the first, characteristic 
 of the descendants of the Cavaliers, there was also the steady 
 intrepidity and cool courage in the latter which ever distin- 
 guishes the German element. It is sufficient to say, that 
 notwithstanding the union of all parties opposed to the 
 Democracy, thfeir ticket was elected by a handsome majority of 
 nearly three thousand. The result was hailed everywhere 
 throughout the Union by Democrats with the most enthusias- 
 tic rejoicing. Poets celebrated it in verse, and orators were 
 never tired of talking about it on the stump. It revived the 
 spirits of the Democracy, ajid infused new courage into their 
 wavering lines. It was felt that the crisis, which all had been 
 watching with almost breathless anisiety and attention, had 
 
432 LIFE AKD SEETIOES OF JAMES BTTOHAKAH. 
 
 passed. Patriots breathed freer, and all who felt in any way 
 alarmed at the portents of the times were sensibly relieved. 
 Prom that moment the battle was "decided, for though much 
 remained to be done, the democracy marched on afterwards to 
 a confident victory. Their opponents felt that there was but 
 little chance of defeating Mr. Buchanan. His name had 
 proved a tower of strength in Pennsylvania, and scattered 
 all the vain imaginations which his opponents had ever con- 
 ceived. 
 
 Indiana and Ohio, which also held their State elections at 
 the same time, did nobly. In the former State the Hon. A. P. 
 Willard had been nominated for Governor, and canvassing the 
 State personally, and taking bold and logical ground on the 
 prominent questions involved in the canvass, he had rolled up 
 a majority at once complimentary to himself and honorable to 
 his State. In Ohio the majority on the State ticket for the 
 "Republicans" was much less than they had confidently been 
 claiming, while the Democrats had secured no less than eight 
 congressmen out of twenty-one, in a delegation that had been 
 wholly against them. They had also gained five members of 
 Congress in Indiana and eleven in Pennsylvania. Thus at one 
 stroke, the moral effect of a victory had not only been secured, 
 bilt the next House of Representatives would be favorable to 
 the incoming Democratic President. 
 
 Only tjvp weeks, however, of precious time now remained 
 for the Democracy to close up their columns and prepare for 
 the final struggle of the fourth of November. If the reverses 
 of October had staggered their opponents, they had not dis- 
 mayed them or caused them to relax their efforts. It was 
 indispensably necessary for the Democrats to carry Pennsyl- 
 vania, and one other Northern State, even if they secured all 
 the Southern ones, in order to elect Mr. Buchanan. It was, 
 however, by no means certain that the South would vote 
 in an undivided phalanx. Maryland had been looked upon 
 from the first as one of the doubtful States, and fears were felt 
 
THE FINAL RESULT, 433 
 
 of Louisiana and Kentucky. If Maryland should vote for 
 Mr. Fillmore then Mr. Buchanan, besides the remaining 
 electoral yotes of the South, would require Pennsylvania and 
 Indiana, or in the event of losing the latter, both New Jersey 
 and California, in order to elect him. 
 
 It may be safely said that the Democrats did more active 
 work during the two weeks preceding the day of the presi- 
 dential election than for any four or six weeks of any other 
 part of the canvass. Everybody who could speak was on the 
 stump. Meetings were held every night in the large cities, 
 while the country was equally alive, with the excitement of the 
 strife. The important day at length arrived and the great 
 decision was to be made, when, if we use the language of the 
 "Republicans," the question of "freedom" or "slavery" was 
 to be settled. On that day over four millions of citizens were 
 tcr eiercise the noble, yet natural prerogative of sovereignty, 
 and from Maine to Texas, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
 from ocean to ocean, and from the great lakes on the north to 
 the broad gulfs on the south, the silent, yet tremendous ballot 
 was 
 
 " To execute a freeman's will." 
 
 The decision was another evidence of the confidence to be 
 reposed in the honest masses of the country — another proof of 
 the capacity of man for self-government. Large bodies of 
 men may be deluded, a temporary excitement may even cause 
 the masses to err for a time, but the ultimate decision of the 
 will of the entire people is correct. The news of Mr. 
 Buchanan's election was received with more than ordinary 
 rejoicings. It was generally felt, that at least, danger had 
 been avoided, and the safety of the Union perpetuated. 
 
 The result, at all events, was such as to satisfy-the demo- 
 cracy. They had been nearly overwhelmed in most of the 
 Northern States ; but Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, 
 Illinois, and California, stood nobly by the banner, which was 
 
 19 
 
4:34: lilFE AND SEEVICE8 OF JAMES BTTCHANAIT. 
 
 unfortunately forsaken by some old democratic states. Mary- 
 land aloae, of all her southern sisters, had refused her vote to 
 Mr. Buchanan. She followed, solitary and alone, the fortunes 
 of Mr. Fillmore. Mr. Fremont had secured the votes of all 
 the Northern States, excepting those we have mentioned, as 
 having gone for Mr. Buchanan, making his electoral vote 114. 
 Mr. Buchanan received 174, and Mr. Fillmore 8. Thus wa,s 
 the long, and exciting contest decided — thus ended one of the 
 most remarkable presidental elections which has ever occurred 
 in the history of our country. To the Democratic party it 
 was an auspicious event, while to the country it was undoubt- 
 edly one of infinite moment. The party had returned to its 
 old and excellent rule of electing its first class men to the chief 
 magistracy, while the country had a president in whose 
 honesty, integrity, and patriotism all could confide. There can 
 be no doubt that the personal-character of Mr. Buchanan, his 
 unblemished integrity, and solid, private worth contributed in 
 a great measure to decide the contest. He was regarded as 
 an eminently safe man for the position, and one of whom, in all 
 respects, the country might feel justly proud. We might 
 point the hereditary rulers of the world, indeed the whole 
 "divine race of kings,'' with their lordly titles, to him, and 
 say, " Behold the moral and intellectual accomplishments, the 
 noble, physical proportions — in a word, all that goes to make 
 up the perfect man, and see how far you fall short of our 
 republican President, whose proudest title is, that he is the 
 servant of the people!" 
 
 The result of the election, if closely scanned, presents many 
 facts which arrest attention. The total vote the diflFerent 
 candidates received in the Northern States was as follows: — 
 Mr. Buchanan, 1.224,150; Mr. Fremont, 1,340,618; and Mr. 
 Fillmore, ^93,.5.'^0. The vote of Mr. Fremont was, therefore, 
 115,868 over that of Mr. Buchanan. If we recollect, how- 
 ever, that the regular abolitionists gave their votes to Mr. 
 Frdmont, we can readily see where this majority came from. 
 
THE ELECTION OF ME. BUOHANAIT. 436 
 
 In 1852 John P. Hale received, as the candidate of this party, 
 157,685 votes. 
 
 If this vote had been given to the regular candidate of ' the 
 party in 1856, as it was in 1853, Mr. Fremont would have had 
 less votes in the north than Mr. Buchanan, showing that Mr. 
 Fremont is entitled to his complimentary northern majority 
 entirely to the partiality of those who openly declare their 
 fixed determination to wage an unrelenting sectional strife. 
 If we add the vote of Mr. Fillmore in the North, which, so 
 far as it relates to the question of negro " slavery,'' must, at 
 all events, be considered as a condemnation of the doctrines of 
 Mr. Fremont, we have, even with the figures as they now 
 stand, an emphatic majority against him in the Northern 
 States of 277,662. Notwithstanding the supposed falling 
 off of the democratic strength, Mr. Buchanan received more 
 votes in the North than have ever before been given to any 
 democratic president, he having 68,237 more than Mr. Pierce 
 in 1852. In the Southern States Mr. Buchanan received not 
 less than 650,000 votes; Mr. Fillmore about 500,000; and 
 Mr. Fremont 1,194. If we add those votes of Mr. Buchanan 
 and Mr. Fillmore in the South, to the majority against Mr. 
 Fremont in the North, taking out his vote in the South, we 
 have a sweeping majority of 1,426,468 citizens of these United 
 States protesting against the " anti-slavery " principles as 
 enunciated in the " Republican " platform. The total number 
 of votes cast in the entire confederacy was over 4,000,000. 
 This is, however, but a very brief glance at many of the inter- 
 esting phases which a careful study of the figures of the late 
 election present. It might be shown by tracing localities, that 
 " Republicanism" is mainly confined to New England and to 
 portions of our country, settled principally by those who 
 have emigrated therefrom. Indeed, it can be proved very 
 conclusively, that wherever there exists little or no practical 
 knowledge of the negro character aTid habits, there, does aboli- 
 tionism, or the various intermediate shades of opmion which 
 
436 LIFE AKD 8EEVIOE8 OF JAMES BTTOHAITAN. 
 
 more or less approach it, flourish and prosper. While in South- 
 ern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, upon the very bor- 
 ders of the "slave" States, there is little or none of it to be 
 found. 
 
 Immediately after the result of the election vras known, 
 there was much speculation as to what would be the policy of 
 Mr. Bnchanan's administration. Nearly all parties were in- 
 clined to the opinion that it would be Conservative, and cal- 
 culated, as far as possible, to harmonize the asperities which 
 the severe political agitation through which the country had 
 just passed, had provoked. These ideas were foreshadowed by 
 Mr. Buchanan himself, shortly after the 4th of November, in 
 an address which he delivered to the students of Franklin and 
 Marshall College, at Lancaster, who paid him a , visit. On 
 this occasion, Mr. Buchanan remarked, substantially, that the 
 objects of his administration would be to destroy any sec- 
 tional party, no matter where it existed, whether in the 
 North or in the South, and to restore, if possible, that 
 national, fraternal feeling between the different States that had 
 existed during the days of the fathers of our Republic. With 
 this exception, Mr. Buchanan kept his own counsels until the 
 day of his inauguration. Even in the formation of his cabinet 
 the most ingenious newspaper correspondents were not able to 
 give so authentic intelligence concerning who were to compose 
 it, that they did not have to correct themselves the day after 
 the " exclusive information " had been published. 
 
 The last session of the thirty-fourth Congress opened on the 
 1st of December. The message of Mr. Pierce was remarkable 
 for its decided tone, and for the severe animadversions it con- 
 tained upon the political principles of the " Republican" party. 
 It, of course provoked a long and excited discussion, and it was 
 many weeks before the legitimate business of the people was 
 much attended to. The " Republicans" repudiated the ultra prin- 
 ciples of sectionalism and abolitionism, with which they were 
 charged, and claimed only as their distinctive creed the fixed 
 
THE HSrAUGUEATION 0EEEM0NIE8. 437 
 
 determination not to allow the negro to be held in so-called 
 slavery in any future state or territory of the Union. On the 
 26th of January, while Congress was in session, Mr. Buchanan 
 made a short trip to Washingtoa, in order to enjoy a free and 
 unrestrained interview with his political friends ; and thus, 
 doubtless, to prepare himself for the construction of his cabinet, 
 in such a manner as to harmonize all conflicting interests, as 
 far -as such a course would not interfere with the public wel- 
 fare.. He remained but a few days, when he returned to 
 Wheatland, where he continued until Monday, the second day 
 of March. On this day, at eight o'clock in the morning, he 
 started in a special train for Baltimore. His old friends and 
 neighbors turned out with unwonted enthusiasm; and, amid the 
 ringiog of bells and the firing of cannon, Mr. Buchanan, who, 
 forty-five years before, came among them a poor, friendless 
 boy, left them to preside over the destinies, all things con- 
 sidered, of the greatest nation on the globe. Every demon- 
 stration of respect attended him during the entire progress of 
 his journey. The city council of Baltimore gave him a worthy 
 reception, and every arrangement had been made ia Washing- 
 ton to render his inauguration one of the most imposing that 
 had ever taken place. The arrangements for the ceremonies 
 were those usually adopted upon such occasions, though more 
 than an ordinary number of the citizen soldiery from various por- 
 tions of the Union, under the command of General John A. Quit- 
 man, of Mississippi, so gratefully remembered by his countrymen 
 for his gallant services in Mexico, contributed to the edat of the' 
 proceedings. At one o'clock, p.m., Ex-president Pierce and 
 the President elect, entered the Senate-chamber and proceeded 
 with the Senators, Members of the Supreme Court, the Foreign 
 Ministers, Heads of the Departments, etc., to the east front 
 of the Capitol, where the inauguration ceremonies were con- 
 ducted. The crowd assembled here was immense, and as soon 
 as the enthusiasm which greeted the appearance of Mr. Buch- 
 anan had subsided, he delivered the following address. 
 
438 LIFE AMD 8EKVICB8 OF JAMES, BTJOHANAIT. 
 
 MB. BUCHANAN'S INAUGURAL. 
 
 " 'Fellow-citizens : I appear before you this day to take 
 the solemn oath ' that I will faithfully execute the office of the 
 President of the United States, and will, to the best of my 
 ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
 United States.' 
 
 ■' In entering upon this great ofBce, I must humbly invoke 
 the God of our fathers for wisdom and firmness to execute its 
 high and responsible duties in such a manner as to restore 
 harmony and ancient friendship among the people of the 
 several States, and to preserve oar free institutions throughout 
 many generations. Convinced that I owe my election to the 
 inherent love for the Constitution and the Union which still 
 animates the hearts of the American- people, let me earnestly 
 ask their powerful support in sustaining all just measures cal- 
 culated to perpetuate these, the richest political blessings 
 which Heaven has ever bestowed upon any nation. Having 
 determined not to become a candidate for re-election, I shall 
 have no motive to influence my conduct in administering the 
 government except the desire ably and faithfully to serve my 
 country, and to live in the grateful memory of my countrymen. 
 
 " We have recently passed through a presidential contest 
 in which the passions of our fellow-citizens were excited to the 
 highest degree by questions of deep and vital importance; but 
 when the people proclaimed their will, the tempest at ouce 
 subsided, and all was calm. 
 
 " The voice of the majority, speaking in the manner pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution, was heard, and instant submission 
 followed. Our own country could alone have exhibited so 
 grand and striking a spectacle of the capacity of man for self- 
 government. 
 
 " What a happy conception, then, was it for Congress to 
 apply this simple rule — that the will of the majority shall 
 
THE mATTGTJEAL ADDKES9. 439 
 
 shall govern — to the settlement of the question of domestic 
 slavery in the Territories ! Congress is neither ' to legislate 
 slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it tliere- 
 from ; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form 
 and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, sub- 
 ject only to the Constitution of the United States.' As a 
 natural consequence, Congress has, also, prescribed that when 
 the Territory of Kansas shall be admitted as a State, it ' shall 
 be received into the Union, with or without slavery, as their 
 constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission.' 
 
 " A difference of opinion has arisen in regard to the point 
 of time when the people of a Territory shall decide this ques- 
 tion for themselves. 
 
 " This is, happily, a matter of but little practical import- 
 ance. Besides, it is a judicial question, wliich legitimately 
 belongs to the Supreme Court of the United States, before 
 whom it is now pending, and will, it is understood, be speedily 
 and finally settled. To their decision, in common with all 
 good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit, whatever this may be, 
 though it has ever been my individual opinion tliat, under the 
 Nebraska-Kansas act, the appropriate period will be when the 
 number of actual residents in the Territory shall justify the 
 formation of a constitution with a view to its admission as a 
 State into the Union. But be this as it may, it is the impera- 
 tive and indispensable duty of the government of the United 
 States to secure to every resident inhabitant tlie free and inde- 
 pendent expression of his opinion by his vote. This sacred 
 right of each individual must be preserved. That being 
 accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to leave the people 
 of a Territory free from all foreign interference, to decide 
 their own destiny for themselves, subject only to the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States. 
 
 " The whole territorial question being thus settled upon the 
 principle of popular sovereignty — a principle as ancient as 
 free government itself — everything of a practical nature has 
 
440 LffiB AND SEKVICE8 OF JAMBS BUOHANiN. 
 
 been decided. No other question remains for adjustment; 
 because all agree that, under the Constitution, slavery in the 
 States is beyond the reach of any human power, except that 
 of the respective States themselves wherein it exists. May we 
 not, then hope, that the long agitation on this subject is ap- 
 proaching its end, and that the geographical parties to which it 
 has given birth, so much dreaded by the Father of his 
 Country, will speedily become extinct ? Most happy will it 
 be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from 
 this question to others of more pressing and practical import- 
 ance. Throughout the whole progress of this agitation, which 
 has scarcely known any intermission for more than twenty 
 years, whilst it has been productive of no positive good to any 
 human being, it has been the prolific source of great evils to 
 the master, to the slave, and to the whole country. It has 
 alienated and estranged the people of the sister States from 
 each other, and has even seriously endangered the very exist- 
 ence of the Union. Nor has the danger yet entirely ceased. 
 TJndeK our system, there is a remedy for all mere political evils 
 in the sound sense and sober judgment of the people. Time is 
 a great corrective. Political subjects which but a few years 
 ago excited and exasperated the public mind, have passed away, 
 and are now nearly forgotten. But this question of domestic 
 slavery is of far graver importance than any mere political 
 question, because, should the agitation continue, it may even- 
 tually endanger the personal safety of a large portion of our 
 countrymen where the institution exists. In that event, no 
 form of government, however admirable in itself, and however 
 productive of material benefits, can compensate for the loss of 
 peace and domestic security around the family altar. L^ 
 every Union-loving man, therefore, exert his best influence to 
 suppress this agitation, which, since the recent legislation of 
 Congress, is without any legitimate object. 
 
 " It is an evil omen of the times that men have undertaken 
 to calculate the mere material value of the Union. Reasoned 
 
THE INAUGTJEAI. ADDEESS. Ml 
 
 estimates have been presented of the pecuniary profits and 
 local advantages which would result to different States and 
 sections from its dissolution, and of the comparative injuries 
 which such an event would inflict on other States and sections. 
 Even descending to this low and narrow view of the mighty 
 question, all such calculations are at fault. The bare reference 
 to a single consideration will be conclusive on this point. We 
 at present enjoy a free trade throughout our extensive and 
 expanding country, such as the world has never witnessed. 
 This trade is conducted on railroads and canals — on noble 
 rivers and arms of the sea — which bind together the North 
 and the South, the East and the West of our Confederacy. 
 Annihilate this trade, arrest its free progress by the geogra- 
 phical lines of jealous and hostile States, and yon destroy the 
 prosperity and onward march of the whole and every part, 
 and involve all in one common ruin. But such considerations, 
 important as they are in themselves, sink into insignificance 
 when we reflect on the terrific evils which would result from 
 disunion to every portion of the Confederacy — to the North 
 not more than to the South, to the East not more than to the 
 West. These I shall not attempt to portray ; because I feel 
 an humble confidence that the kind Providence which inspired 
 onr fathers with wisdom to frame the most perfect form of 
 government and union ever devised by man will not suffer it to 
 perish until it shall have been peacefully- instrumental, by its 
 example, in the extension of civil and religious liberty through- 
 out the world. 
 
 " Next in importance to the maintenance of the Constitution 
 and the Union is the duty of preserving the government free 
 from the taint, or even the suspicion, of corruption. Public 
 virtue is the vital spirit of republics ; and history proves that 
 when this has decayed, and the love of money has usurped its 
 place, although the forms of free government may remain for a 
 season, the substance has departed for ever. 
 
 " Our present financial condition is without a parallel in 
 
 19* 
 
M2 LIFE AND BEBVICE8 OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 history. No nation has ever Jbefore been embarrassed from 
 too large a surplus in its treasury. This almost necessarily 
 gives birth to extravagant legislation. It produces wild 
 schemes of expenditure, and begets a race of speculators and 
 jobbers, whose ingenuity is exerted in contriving and promot- 
 ing expedients to obtain public money. The purity of official 
 agents, whether rightfully or wrongfully, is suspected, and the 
 character of the government suffers in the estimation of the 
 people. This is in itself a very great evil. 
 
 " The natural mode of relief from this embarrassment is to 
 appropriate the surplus in the treasury to great national 
 objects, for which a clear warrant can be found in the Consti- 
 tution. Among these I might mention the extinguishment of 
 the public debt, a reasonable increase of the navy, which is at 
 present inadequate to the protection of our vast tonnage afloat, 
 now greater than that of any other nation, as well as to the 
 defence of our extended sea-coast. 
 
 " It is beyond all question the true principle that no more 
 revenue ought to be collected from the people than the amount 
 necessary to defray the expenses of a wise, economical, and 
 efficient administration of the government. To reach this 
 point it was necessary to resort to a modification of the tariff, 
 and this has, I trust, been accomplished in such a manner as to 
 do as little injury as may have been practicable to our domes- 
 tic manufactures, especially those necessary for the defence of 
 the country. Any discrimination against a particular branch, for 
 the purpose of benefiting favored corporations, individuals, or 
 interests, would have been unjust to the rest of the community, 
 and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness and equality which 
 ought to govern in the adjustment of a revenue tariff. 
 
 " But the squandering of the public money sinks into com- 
 parative insignificance as a temptation to corruption when 
 compared with the squandering of the public lands. 
 
 " No nation in the tide of time has ever been blessed with 
 so rich and noble an inheritance as we enjoy in the public 
 
THE mAUGTIEAL ADDEEBS. 4:4:3 
 
 lands. In administering this important trust, whilst it may be 
 wise to grant portions of tbera for the improvement of the 
 remainder, yet we should never forget that it is our cardinal 
 policy to reserve these lands, as much as may be, for actual 
 settlers, and this at moderate prices. We shall thus not only 
 best promote the prosperity of the new States and- Territories 
 by furnishing them a hardy and independent race of honest 
 and industrious citizens, bat shall secure homes for our children 
 and our children's children, as well as for those exiles from 
 foreign shores who may seek in this country to improve their 
 condition, and to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious 
 liberty. Such emigrants have done much to promote the 
 growth and prosperity of the country. They have proved 
 faithful both in peace and in war. After becoming citizens, 
 they are entitled, under the Constitution and laws, to be 
 placed on a perfect equality with native-born citizens ; and in 
 this character they should ever be kindly recognized. 
 
 " The federal Constitution is a grant from the States to 
 Congress of certain specific powers ; and the question whether 
 this grant should be liberally or strictly construed, has, more or 
 less, divided political parties from the beginning. Without 
 entering into the argument,*! desire to state, at the commence- 
 ment of my administration, that long experience and observa- 
 tion have convinced me that a strict construction of the 
 powers of the government is the only true, as well as the only 
 safe theory of the Constitution. Whenever in our past his- 
 tory doubtful powers have been exercised by Congress, these 
 have never failed to produce injurious and unhappy conse- 
 quences. Many such instances might be adduced, if this were 
 the proper occasion. Neither is it necessary for the public 
 service to strain the language of the Constitution ; because all 
 the great and useful powers required for a successful adminis- 
 tration of the government, both in peace and in war, have 
 been granted, either in express terms or by the plainest impli- 
 cation. 
 
444 LIFE AND SEETI0E8 OF JAMBS BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Whilst deeply convinced of these truths, I yet consider it 
 clear that, under the war-making power. Congress may appro, 
 priate money towards the construction of a military road, 
 when this is absolutely necessary for the defence of any State 
 or Territory of the Union against foreign invasion. Under 
 the Constitution, Congress has power "to declare war," "to 
 raise and support armies," "to provide and maintain a navy," 
 and to call forth the militia to "repel invasions." Thus 
 endowed, in an ample manner, with the war-making power, 
 the corresponding duty is required that " the United States 
 shall protect each of them [the States] against invasion." 
 Now, how is it possible to afford this protection to California 
 and our Pacific possessions, except by means of a military 
 road through the Territories of the United States, over which 
 men and munitions of war may be speedily transported from 
 the Atlantic States to meet and to repel the invader ? In the 
 event of a war with a naval Power much stronger than our 
 own, we should then have no other available access to the 
 Pacific coast, because such a Power would instantly close the 
 route across the isthmus of Central America. It is impossible 
 to conceive that, whilst the Constitution has expressly 
 required Congress to defend all the States, it should yet deny 
 to them, by anyfair construction, the only possible means by 
 which one of these States can be defended. Besides, the 
 government, ever since its origin, has been in the constant 
 practice of constructing military roads. It might also be 
 wise to consider whether the love for the Union which now 
 animates our fellow-citizens on the Pacific coast may not be 
 impaired by our neglect or refusal to provide for them, in their 
 remote and isolated condition, the only means by which the 
 power of the States, on this side of the Rocky Mountains, can 
 reach them in sufficient time to 'protect' them 'against 
 invasion.' I forbear for the present from expressing an 
 opinion as to the wisest and most economical mode in which 
 the government can lend its aid in accomplishing this great 
 
THE INAUGUEAI, ADDRESS. 445 
 
 and necessary work. I believe that many of the difficulties in 
 the way, which now appear formidable, will, in a great degree, 
 vanish as soon as the nearest and best route shall have been 
 satisfactorily ascertained. 
 
 " It may be proper that, on this occasion, I should make 
 some brief remarks in regard to our rights and duties as a 
 member of the great family of nations. In our intercourse 
 with them there are some plain principles, approved by our 
 own experience, from which we should never depart. We 
 ought to cultivate • peace, commerce, and friendship with all 
 nations ; and this not merely as the best means of promoting 
 our own material interests, but in a spirit of Christian benevo- 
 lence towards our fellow-men, wherever their lot may be cast. 
 Our diplomacy should be direct and Jrank, neither seeking to 
 obtain more nor accepting less than is our due. We ought to 
 cherish a sacred regard for the independence of all nations, 
 and never attempt to interfere in the domestic concerns of any, 
 unless this shall be imperatively required by the great law of 
 self-preservation, To avoid entangling alliances has been a 
 maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington, and 
 its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute. In short, we ought 
 to do justice, in a kindly spirit, to all nations, and require jus- 
 tice from them in return. 
 
 " It is" our glory that, whilst other nations have extended 
 their dominions by the sword, we have never acquired any 
 territory except by fair purchase,- or, as in the case of Texas, 
 by the voluntary determination of a brave, kindred, and inde- 
 pendent people to blend their destinies with our own. Even 
 our acquisitions from Mexico form no exception. Unwilling to 
 take advantage of the fortune of war against a sister Repub- 
 lic, we purchased these possessions, under the treaty of peace, 
 for a sum which was considered at the time a fair equivalent. 
 Our past history forbids that we shall in the future acquire 
 territory, unless this be sanctioned by the laws of justice and 
 honor. Acting on this principle, no nation will have a right 
 
446 LIFE AND SEETICE8 OF JAMES BUCHAKAIir. 
 
 to interfere or to complain if, in the progress of events, we 
 shall still further extenJ our possessions. Hitherto, in all our 
 acquisitions, the people, under the protection of the American 
 flag, have enjoyed civil and religious liberty, as well as equal 
 and just laws, and have been contented, prosperous, and 
 happy. Their trade with the rest of the world has rapidly 
 increased ; and thus every commercial nation has shared 
 largely in their success^l progress. 
 
 " I shall now proceed to take the oath prescribed by the 
 Constitution, whilst humbly invoking the blessing of Divine 
 Providence on this great people. 
 
 " James Buchanan. 
 
 "Washington City, itk March, IBS'?." 
 
 After the reading of the Inaugural the venerable Chief 
 Justice Taney administered the oath of office, and the boom- 
 ing of cannon and the cheers of the assembled thousands 
 proclaimed that James Buchanan was President of the United 
 States. The will of the people had been consummated — their 
 sovereignty acknowledged and their decision recognized. 
 
 On the sixth Mr. Buchanan sent to the Senate, which had 
 been convened for executive session, the names of those whom 
 he had selected as members of his cabinet. They were duly 
 confirmed, and were as follows : Lewis Cass, of Michigan, 
 Secretary of State ; Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Secretary of 
 the Treasury ; John Buchanan Floyd, of Virginia, Secretary 
 of War ; Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Secretary of the 
 Interior ; Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut, Secretary of the 
 Navy ; Aaron Venable Brown, of Tennessee, Postmaster- 
 General ; Jeremiah Sullivan Black of Pennsylvania, Attorney- 
 General. These individuals are nearly all distinguished for 
 eminent services to their country, and enjoy in a remarkable 
 degree the confidence and respect of their fellow-citizens. 
 
BKETOHES OP THE CABINET OFFI0EE8. 447 
 
 Gen. Cass is well known at home and abroad as a statesman 
 of great experience, devoted passionately to the interests of 
 his country, and as perfectly intimate with European poli- 
 tics as with those of the United States. His life is identified 
 with the history of his country for more than half a century, 
 and, though at the advanced age of seventy-five, he has 
 sucli an astonishing degree of physical and intellectual vigor, 
 that in his arduous duties on " tha. stump " during the late 
 presidential campaign, he showed a power of endurance of 
 which men half his age might feel justly proud. Mr. Cass is 
 a native of New Hampshire, is of revolutionary lineage, and 
 himself occupied a conspicuous position in the War with Great 
 Britain in 1812. On the field he has distinguished himself for 
 gallantry, and in the civil service has ever shown himself a 
 watchful and jealous guardian of the welfare of his country. 
 He rose to the rank of Brigadier-General in the army, and has 
 occupied subsequently the positions of Governor of Michigan, 
 Secretary of War under Gen. Jackson, Minister to France, 
 and Senator from the State of Michigan, for several terms. 
 There seemed to be no man whom Mr. Buchanan could more 
 appropriately call to the position of Secretary of State, and 
 certainly there was none who would have given so much gene- 
 ral satisfaction. 
 
 Mr. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, the Secretary of the Trea- 
 sury, is about forty years of age. He entered Congress in 
 1842, and rose rapidly as a vigorous debater, an able and 
 expert tactician and parliamentary leader. He was on the 
 floor of the House during some of the most exciting and interest- 
 ing periods of our history, and in 1850 especially distinguished 
 himself in behalf of what are known as the Compromise Mea- 
 sures of that year. His integrity is proverbial ; his personal 
 character spotless, and he must prove an efficient and able 
 Mupport to Mr. Buchanan's administration. 
 
448 LIFE AND 8EBTI0ES OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Mr. John B. Floyd, of Virginia, the Secretary of War, has 
 long been known as a prominent politician of his State. He 
 is about fifty years of age, has been Governor of Virginia, but 
 has never before held a national office. He is a man of strong 
 mind, of real ability, and of very decided political opinions. 
 He is an orator of great power and effectiveness, though he 
 has rather shunned than courted a conspicuous position. He 
 brings to the discharge of the duties of his office unsurpassed 
 energy of character and spotless integrity. He cannot fail to 
 exert great influence in the Cabinet. 
 
 Mb. Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, the Secretary of the 
 Interior, has not been in public life since 1850. Previous to 
 that period he had been a member of the House of Represen- 
 tatives during several Congresses, and had distinguished him- 
 self as a faithful representative, an eloquent speaker, and a 
 man of more than ordinary practical powers. He is about 
 forty years of age, and is eminently qualified for the peculiar 
 duties of his position. 
 
 Mb. Isaac Toucet, of Connecticut, the Secretary of the 
 Navy, has been in political life for a quarter of a century. He 
 was first elected to Congress in 1837, where he distinguished 
 himself as an active and useful member. In 1848, about the 
 close of Mr. Polk's administration, he held the office of Attor- 
 ney-General, with credit to himself, and with honor to his 
 country. In 1852, he was chosen United States Senator from 
 Connecticut, which office he held up to the time he was 
 invited by Mr. Buchanan to a seat in his Cabinet. During the 
 discussion of the recent political issues, Mr. Toucey has stood 
 forth a bold champion for the right in the face of temporary 
 unpopularity at home. He is about sixty-five years of age, of 
 fine attainments, and of solid, substantial worth. 
 
SKETCHES OF THE CABINET 0FFICEE8. 449 
 
 Mr. Aaron V. Brown, of Tennessee, the Postmaster-General 
 is one of the most marked men in Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet. Few 
 men have impressed their political views more generally npon 
 the people than Mr. Brown. He is about sixty years of age, 
 entered Congress in 1840, where he sat five years, distinguish- 
 ing himself as one of the most able and indefatigable members. 
 In 1845 he was elected Governor of Tennessee, but since the 
 expiration of the term of that office, he has held no public 
 position. His democracy is of the purest kind, and his ideas 
 have received great currency from the fact that he is the 
 author of the Baltimore platform of principles of 1852, which 
 has become the magna charla of the Democratic party. He 
 is an ornament to the Cabinet, and contributes essentially to 
 its strength. 
 
 Mr. Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, the Attorney- 
 General, is one of the most popular men of his State. He is 
 distinguished for more than ordinary abilities, and is perfectly 
 familiar with the duties appertaining to his office. When 
 called by Mr. Buchanan to his present post, he occupied 
 the position of Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 
 to which office he had been twice elected, the last time run- 
 ning twenty thousand ahead of his ticket. He is known as a 
 democrat of the soundest kind, and as one of the most promis- 
 ing men in the country. 
 
 Such is a brief account of the personnd of Mr. Buchanan's 
 constitutional advisers. He has instituted his government in 
 the spirit which animated him in accepting the nomination for 
 President, and in accordance with the language in his letter of 
 acceptance, when he pledged himself, should he be elected, to 
 use all the power he constitutionally possessed, " to restore 
 harmony among the States." Ultra the complexion of his 
 
450 LIFE AST} BEETIOES OF JAMES BUCHAUAN. 
 
 Cabinet is not, yet no one fears that, composed of such men, it 
 will ever barter away substantial rights for mere temporary 
 convenience, or compromise the interests of the country to a 
 time-serving expediency. Of course, it cannot hope to escape 
 the attacks of the active, intelligent, and unrelenting opposi- 
 tion party of the country, but that it will command the 
 respect', confidence, and support of a large majority of his 
 countrymen we cannot doubt. The Democratic party are par- 
 ticularly bound to sustain it, for it evidently owes more to Mr. 
 Buchanan than Mr. Buchanan can possibly owe to that. 
 Under the peculiar circumstances it would have been just 
 about impossible for it to have elected any other man. With 
 the distinct announcement that he will occupy the presidential 
 office but a single term, his enemies cannot reproach him with 
 seeking a re-nomination, and his course can only be influenced 
 by an honest desire to advance the interests of the people, and, 
 as he himself expresses it, " to live in the grateful memory of 
 his countrymen." Thus fairly launched, with the future before 
 it, we take leave of Mr. Buchanan's administration, not doubt- 
 ing that the chapter which shall record its acts, will be an 
 honorable one in the history of our country ; and with the 
 honest conviction that the distinguished man who presides 
 over its destinies, will give renewed evidence of his profound 
 statesmanship, scrupulous integrity, and unsullied patriotism. 
 
 THE END. 
 
J. G. DERSY S rUBLICATIONS. 
 
 A BOOK Of BABE UUUOB! 
 
 THE WIDOW BEDOTT P A P K R S 
 
 BY FRANCIS M. WniTOaEU 
 
 WITH AS MTRODDCTION BY AUCE i*. NEAt.. 
 
 One volume 12mo., with 8 spirited illastratione by jJallas and Orr 
 Price Si 25. 
 
 Israel from a Letter to Vie Author by the late Joseph C, Need 
 •' Our readers talk of nothing else, and almost despise ' Neal ' if the * Widow ' be not 
 there. An excellent critic in these matters, said to me the other day, that he regarded 
 thtJi as the best Yankee papers yet written, and such is indeed the general sentiment. 
 T know, for instance of a lady who, for several days after reading oce of them, wai 
 continually, and often at moments the most inopportune, bursting forth into fits of vialent 
 laug} r, and, believe me, that you, gifted with such powers, ought not to speak disparAg- 
 in; I i the gift which thus brings wholesome satire home to every reader. " 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 fl izekiah Bedott. 
 
 The Widow Essays Poetry. 
 
 Widow Jenkins' Animosity, 
 
 Mr. Crane Walks in. 
 
 The Widow Discourses of Pumpkins. 
 
 The Widow Loses her Beau. 
 
 Mr. Crane about to Propose. 
 
 Mr. Crane Walks out. 
 
 lliL' Widow " Sets her Cap." 
 
 The Widow Resolves to leave Wiggletown. 
 
 riie Widow Trades with a Pedlar. 
 
 ''"he Widow and Aunt Maguire Discoursu on 
 
 Various Topics. 
 The Widow having Heard that Elder SniQlea 
 
 is Sick, Writes to him. 
 The Widow Resorts to Elder Sniffles fjr 
 
 Religions Instruction. 
 The Widow concludes to Publish. 
 The Widow Prepares to Receive Elder Snif- 
 
 les on Thanksgiviug-Day. 
 Tfce Widow Retires to a Grove in the rear 
 
 «f ildcr Sniffles- llouae. 
 
 The Widow Writes to her Daughter, Mtg, 
 Jupiter Smith. 
 
 The Rev. Mrs. SnifSes Abroad. 
 
 The Rev. Mrs. Sniffles at Home. 
 
 The Rev. Mrs. Sniffles Expre^rses her Senti- 
 ments in Regard to the Parsonage. 
 
 Aunt Maguire's Experience 
 
 Aunt Magaire'd Description of the Donation 
 Party. 
 
 Aunt Maguire Treats of the Contemplabsd 
 Sewing Society at Scrabble Hill. 
 
 Aunt Maguire Cunlinuus her Aecoiiut of* 
 tiic ^^(.-wing Society. 
 
 Auut Maguire's Visit to Slabtown. 
 
 Visit to Slabtown Continued. 
 
 Mrs. Magaire's Account of Deacon Whip- 
 ple. 
 
 Mrs. Mudlaw's Recipe for Potatoe Pud- 
 ding. 
 
 Moraing Calls; or, Brery Body's Particular 
 Fr'end. 
 
J. c. derby's pcblicatioxj. 
 
 THE MORNINQ STARS OF THE NEW 
 WORLD.^ 
 
 BY R. F, PARKER. 
 
 1 elegant 12mo. volume, over 400 pages, six Illustrations. Price $1 26. 
 
 Contents : — Columbus — Vespucius — De Soto — Ealeigh — Hudson — Smith 
 —Standish— Arabella Stuart — Elliott and Penn. 
 
 "An unpretending work, yet a valuable one. The authoress must have entered upan 
 her task with hearty enthusiasm, as, while adhering strictly to the simplest truth, she 
 has thrown around her portraits a new charm, and given to them a refreshing novelty 
 of aspect. A gallery of striking portraits worthy of preservation and a galaxy of stara 
 whose morning light must not be obscured in the noon-tide brilliancy of a auccesaful 
 present. It, just such a form as this should they lie on our book-tables, reminders of the 
 past, shorn of the technicalities of the history, and presented in strong relief. The came 
 of the authoress is one almost unknown ; but she deserves the thanks of the public for 
 her well written book in which she has given a convenient medium of communication with 
 days of long ago — days that never should be forgotton even by the busy, bustling world 
 that cannot stop to go back even to the days of their own forefathers. The book proves 
 itself a very entertaining one for the young, who declare ihemselves unable to leave its 
 fascinating pages." — Worcester PaUacUum. 
 
 " A. more appropriate name could not have been given to a book which contains all 
 that is interesting in the lives of the master spirits to whom the world may be said to owe, 
 firstly the discovery of this great continent; and secondly, the establishment upon it, of 
 European colonies. In no other single work, o( wiiose existence we are aware, are there 
 to be found so many sketches of the discoverers and first settlers of the principal parts 
 of the new world, which are at once so concise and comprehensive, as those given in the 
 Morning Stars.* They are truly Tuult^um in parvo." — PhUadelpMa IT&wa. 
 
 " The authoress has fashioned her materials in a very winning garb, and with a spirit 
 and feeling rarely kindled in preparing succint biographies, imparts her glowing appre- 
 ciation of their subject to the reader. We hope this volume, while in itself it will be 
 valuable to the young, will lead them to more extended historical reading, and especially 
 of that which pertains to oui' colonial life, and to our own country. It is well that they 
 should be reminded of the coKfiicts and sacrifices which purchased their present luxuri- 
 ous immunities. They cannot begin better than with this charming volume, which they 
 will not leave unfinished." — Ifew Redfbrd Mercury. 
 
 "This book is alike novel, and fortunate in its title and its character. It contains very 
 satisfactory sketches of ten of the great spirits the history of whose lives blends itself 
 most intima'tely with the earliest history of our country. It was a beautiful thought ; and 
 It is carried out in a manner that can hardly fail to secure to the work many delighted 
 readers. "^J.2&a»^ Argua. 
 
 " The book has all the charm of romance, and the value of genuine history. It Is 
 Written with sphlt and vigor, and at the same time with precision and taste. The grouping 
 together of such men brings the reader Into the best of company."— Z7Wca ff&rcdd. H 
 
J e. derby's publications. 
 
 THK OREEN MOUNTAIN TRAVELLERS' 
 
 ENTERTAINMENT. 
 
 BY J08IAB BARNES, SSIT. 
 
 12mo. $1. 
 
 "They will be read with earnest sympathy and heartfelt approval by all who eqjoy 
 quie't pictures of the homely, yet often charming scenes of daily life. The style well 
 befits the thoughts expressed, and is equally simple and '^npressive. We have found in 
 these pages better than a ' traveller's entertainment *— one which will mingle with th» 
 pleasant recoUectiuns of a home fireside." — Providence Daily Post. 
 
 " If any of our friends wish to get hold of a book written in a style of pure and beaa- 
 tiful English, that reminds one of Ii'ving continually ; a book rich with inventions of th« 
 tuarvellous, and yet abounding in sweet humanities and delicate philosophies — a book 
 that will not tire and cannot offend, let them go to a bookstore and buy ' The Old Inn ; 
 or, the Travellers* Entertainment,' by Josiab Barnes, Sen. It will pay the reader well." 
 —Springfield {Mass.) Bepuhlieom, 
 
 *'It ohould be praise enough to say that tne author reminds one occaaionally ol 
 Irving." — Philadelphia Bulletin. 
 
 " Unless we err greatly, a volume so markedly original in its outline and features will 
 
 tttract a large share of attention."— ^os^on JSvening Gazette. 
 
 " This is a very pleasant book. The plan of it, if not new, is just as well carried out 
 
 Five 'r six *r half-a-dozen ' travellers meet at an indifferent tavern in an indifferent 
 
 part of Vermont, upon a seriously unpleasant day, and to pass away the dull hours, they 
 
 fall to story -telling. The record of their performances in that behalf is made up into tha 
 
 volume *' above entitled.' So agreeable became the diversion that not only the evening 
 
 of the first day, but as the following morning was conveniently stormy, the second day 
 
 la consumed in similar diversions. Those who read the book will agree with us, that a 
 
 stormy d%y and a country inn, with such alleviation, presents no very great hardship to 
 
 bhe traveller, unless his business is particularly urgent; We commend the book to thoie 
 
 iho like a pleasant story, pleasantly told." — Budget, Troy, 2f. T. 
 
 *' Under tne above title we have several interesting stories as told by the varloia cha- 
 
 fccters at tne fireside of a comfortable, old fashioned inn, to while away the long hoori 
 
 Btornt, by which they were detained The Little Dry Man's, the supposed Lawyer's, 
 
 iud the Quaker's stories are all worth listening to. They are well told and entertain tho 
 
 rt..tder." — Baaigor Jov/mal. 
 
 *' This is- a series of stories, supposed to be related to while away the time, In an old 
 inn, where a party of travellers are storm-stayed, consisting of the ' Little Dry Man's 
 Story,' the ' Supposed Lawyer's Story," Incidents of a Day at the Inn,' the 'Quaker's 
 Story,' and ' Ellen's Grave.* The stories are well told. There is a charming simplicity 
 in the author's style— all the more delightful, because, now-a-days, simplicity of lan- 
 guage is a rarity with authors. It is a book to take up at any moment, and occupy a 
 leisure hour — to lay aside, and take «p again and again. We commend its tone, an4 
 the object of ttie author. It is a pleasant companion on a country journey "— JT. 1 
 Oiapatch. 
 
J. C. derby's PUBLICAnONS. 
 
 "BeU's sketches are instinct with life, they sparkle with brilliants, are gei 
 med with wit, and address themselves to almost every chord of the hunu ^ 
 heart." — ZoiUsville (iTy.) BulleUn. 
 
 BEI.L SMITH ABROAD. 
 
 A Uandsome 12mo. volume. Price $1 00. With lUustrafcioas Ijj .>jaly, 
 Walcutt, and Overarcho 
 
 " Tlie readers of the Louisville JourJial need uo introduction from us to Beli Smith. 
 Her own brilliant pen, and her own spai-ltling, witching and delightful style have bo often 
 graceil the columns of this paper, and have made so many friends and admirers fur her, 
 that we need say but little toward creating a demand for this charming volume. But 
 Bome tribute is nevertlieless due to Bell Smith for the real pleasure she has imparted in 
 every chapter of her book, and that tribute we cheerfully pay. Her admirable powers 
 feem so much at home in every variety and phase of life, that she touches no subject 
 ''^'hniit making it spirkle with the lights of her genius." — Louisville Journal. 
 
 3he is ever piquant in Iier remarks, and keen from observation ; and the 'eault is 
 -jat her ' Abroad' is one of the most interesting collections of incident and comment, fun 
 and pathos, seriousness and gosalp, which has ever fallen under our notice." — Boston 
 Evening Traveller. 
 
 *' It is dashing and ^^igoroua without coarpeneaa — animati;d with a geniaJ humor— 
 showinc acute and delicate perceptions — and sustained by a bracing infusion of common 
 Bense."— JV; Y. Tribwie 
 
 "There are many delicatt* strokea, and not a little of that vivacity of description 
 whicb entertains. The author shows her best side when matters of home-feeling and 
 affection engage he»- pen.'* — J^. T. EvungeliM. 
 
 " History, art and personal narrative are alike imprir^ed in your memory by the asso- 
 ciations of anecdote, merry and grave, and you feel that you are listening to the magical 
 roice of ' Bell Smith' at home Such volumes enrich and honor American literature.**— 
 Ph/Uadelphia Merchant. 
 
 " This is a capital"book ; full of life, spirit, vivacity and information — thoroughly lady- 
 like, and telling precisely what everybody wants to hear, so far as the author knows."— 
 Salem Gazette. 
 
 " Spirited and artistic I Bell Smith sparkles, and dashes on, amusing and interesting 
 A capital book for a leisure hour or railroad travel, or for those seasons when you waai 
 to be pleased without effort '^—Cl&oeland Leader. 
 
 " We like Bell Smith and Bell Smith's book. A lively, free, dashing style, she talki 
 »n, and nothing is wanting but the merry laugh we know she is owner of to make us 
 khink we are listening to a very Inteiesting woman " — Chicago Journal. 
 
 " Lively, gossiping, chatting, witty, aparftling Bell Smith, we must confess your book 
 baa quite enchanted us." — N. T. Day Book. 
 
 " In freshness, piquancy, and delightful episodes, illustrative bf foreign life i-id mu- 
 nera, they have rarely been e ,\ia\\ed."^y •Uunal Era. 
 
J. C. DERBr'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 "rr IS A LOVE TALE OF THE MOST ENTRANCING KIND." 
 
 Boston Daily Tra/teiier, 
 
 •WHO IS THE AUTHOB? WE GTTESS A LADY."-iK Y. Life Jlkutrated. 
 
 ISORA'S CHILD. 
 
 1 large 12mo. volume. Price $1 25. 
 
 •• Xt 13 one of those few books of its class that we have read quite through — for we found 
 'A to have the requisites of a good book, namely, the power of entertaining the reader to 
 the end of the volume. The story is not complex, but is naturally told; the characters 
 ftre drawn with sharp delineation and the dialogue is apirited. It is something to add, in 
 ihe present deluge of bad books with pleasant names, both the morals and ' ihe moral ' oi 
 tfte work are unexceptionable. It is understood to be the production of a la<ly whose 
 Dame is not unknown to the reading public; and we congratulate her on the increase ot 
 reputation which * Isoba's Child • will bring her when her present incognito shall be 
 removed." — BarliTigton (Vt.) Sentinel, 
 
 "This book starts off with its chapter first, and introduces the reader at once to the 
 heroes and incidents of the really charming story. He will speedily find himself intert^sted 
 as well by the graceful style and the skill with which the different scenes are arranged, 
 as by the beauty of the two principal characters, and the lessons of loving faith, hope, and 
 patience, which will meet him at the turning of almost every leaf. This is one of the best 
 productions of its kind that has been issued this season, and promises to meet with 
 wai'm approval and abundant success," — Detroit Dail/y D&mocrat. 
 
 "Another anonymous novel, and a successful one. There is more boldness and origi' 
 nality both in its conception and in its execution than in almost any work of fiction we 
 \iave lately rea'l. Its characters are few, well delineated, and consistentij managed. 
 *here is^no crowding and consequent confusion among the dramatis perso-nm. Therfr 
 .re two heroines, however. Flora and Cora, both bewitching creatures, and, what ib 
 jetter, noble, true-hearted women, especially the former, laora's child — the dark-eyed and 
 passionate, but sensitive, tender, and loving daughter of Italy. The work wiJUoake ite 
 iflaik. Who is the author? We guess a lady, and that this is her first book." — Weekly 
 Life Illustrated. ^ 
 
 " Its incidents are novel and effectively managed ; and its style possesses both <:^vnest 
 vigor and depth of pathos, relieved by occasional flashes of a pleasing and genial humor. 
 Among the crowd of trashy publications now issued from the press, a wort as true to 
 nature, and as elevated and just in its 'conceptions of the pu/poses of life, as this is, is all 
 the more welcome because it is so rare. We have no doubt it will be as popular as iL ia 
 interesting."— ^/torcy Evetiing Journal. 
 
 " We have seldom perused a work of fiction that gave us more real pleasure than 
 this. From first to last page, it enchains the attention, and carries your sympatlnes 
 along with the fortunes of the heroine. The descriptive powers of the unknown authoress 
 are of the loftiest order, and cannot fail of placing her in the first ranks of authorship.S 
 —CHndiinaH Daily Sv/n,. 
 
 "A story which perpetually keeps cui-iosity on the alert, and as perpetaaUy baffles i; 
 tin It reaches its d6no6ment.ia certainly a good one."— Bi«^x^ Commer<a<d AOverUMr, 
 
J. C. riEP.BY S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 EXTBAORDINAEY PITBLICATION! 
 
 MY COURTSHIP AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 £Y HENBY WIKOFF. 
 K true account of the Author's Adventures in England, Switzeriand, and 
 Italy, with Miss J. C. Gamble, of Portland Place, London. 1 elegant 
 12mo. Price, in cloth, $1 25. 
 
 The extraordinary sensation produced in literai"y circles by Mr. Wikoff's charming 
 romance of real life, is exhausting edition after edition of his wonderful book. From 
 lengthy reviews, among several hundred received, we extract the following brief noticcB 
 of the press:" 
 
 " We prefer commending the book as beyond question the most amusing of the season, 
 and we commend it without hesitation, because the moral is an excellent one." — AlMon, 
 
 "With unparalleled candor he has here unfolded the particulars of the intrigue, taking 
 the whole world into his confidence — * bearing his heart on his sleeve for daws to pec*- 
 at' — and, in the dearth of public atnusemente, presenting a piquant nine days* wondt 
 for the recreation of society."—^. Y. 7Yibv/ne. 
 
 " The work is very amusing, and it is written in such a vein that one cannot refrain 
 from frequcDt bursjts of langhtei-, even when the Chevalier is in positions which might 
 claim one's sympathy." — Boston Evening Gazette. 
 
 "A positive autobiography, by a man of acknowledged fashion, and an associate of 
 nobles and princes, telling truly how he courted and was coquetted by an heiress in high 
 Ufe, is likely to be as popular a singularity in the way of literature as could well be tboughf 
 of." — Bojne Journal. 
 
 " The ladies are sure to devour it. It is better and more exciting than any modem 
 romance, as it is a detail of facts, and every page proves conclusively that tlie plaiUi 
 nnvarnished tale of truth is often stranger than fiction." — BaiMmore Dispatch. 
 
 " The book, therefore, has all the attractions of a tilt of knight-er rants — with this addi- 
 tion, that one of the combatants is a woman — a species of heart-endowed Amazon."— 
 ti'eioark Daily Mercury. 
 
 " If you read the first chapter of the volume, you are in for ' finis,' and can no mora 
 stop without the consent of your will than the train of cars can stop without Uie consent 
 of the engine." — Worcester Pailadmm. 
 
 " Seriously, there is not so original, piquant and singular a book in American literature 
 its author is a sort of cross between Fielding, Chesterfield, and Rochefoucault." — Boston 
 Chronicle. 
 
 " With the exception of Rosseau's Confessions, we do not remember ever to have beard 
 of any such self-anatomization of love and the lover." — J\r. F. Etopreae. 
 
 '"The Dook has cost us a couple of nights' sleep; and we have no doubt it hai a»Bt Iti 
 author and principal subject a good many more." — JIT. Y. Evening Mirrw, 
 
 " The work possesses all the chaim and fascination of a continuous romance.**— X It. 
 4ownal of Ckyrmnarce. 
 
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