E 437 .173 ■■';% BBS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0000174700^ • >*t *o/*rr;-* rf *«* 4> 7a <£*V °^ THE LIFE OF THE HON. JAMES BUCHANAN, AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF AND SET TO MUSIC ^< BY AN OLD DEMOCRAT, To the Tune of "Poor Old Horse Let Him Die!" Price— "Hfilf «t Jim.xx1.3r! t*r [COPY-RIGHT SECURED.] LANCASTER, NEAR WHEATLAND. 1856. LIFE OF HON. JAMES BUCHANAN. There was a time, when I wore the black-cockade !* A Federal I was — intriguing was my trade; I prospered and I grew, in politics waxed fat, And I thundered loud and long at the "rabble democrat, "f For a well-bred Fed was I. The honors of the State, soon gave me wealth and fame, No " Democratic blood" then cours'd along my veins,J I heartily despis'd the "dirty shirted clan," And in my soul I loath'd a "Democratic man," For a noble Fed was I. * There is still living in the city of Lancaster an old, honored and respected citizen who frequently saw James Buchanan with a black cockade in his hat ! The fact of his rank federalism at that period has not been, and dare not, be denied by his most zealous friends. f'What must be our opinion of an opposition, ivhose passions were so dark and malignant as to be gratified in endeavoring to blast the char- acter and embitter the old age of Washington? After thus persecut- ing the savior of his country, how can the democratic party dare to call themselves his disciples?" — Mr. Buchanan's Federal Oration, July 4, 1815. f" IF I THOUGHT I HAD A DROP OF DEMOCRATIC BLOOD IN MY VEINS I would let it out !" This declaration was made by Mr. Buchanan on more than one occasion : Indeed, it was a favorite expression of his at the time when he was truly proud of his Federal principles and the "Orange origin" of his father. The author of the following letter, Col. McGlinn, who heard Mr. B. make this declaration, is still living in Lancaster city — a gentleman of standing and respectability — of unimpeachable veracity — and who was an active Democrat when Mr. Buchanan was a leading Federalist, and who does not hesitate to afiirm the fact herein set forth to all who inquire of him : " Lancaster, May 31, 1S37. " Dear Sir : Your favor of yesterday was duly received by me this morning, and in reply to the questions which you have there addressed to me, I hasten to state that a number of years ago, when the Federal and Democratic parties were nearly equally balanced in this country, I was passing by the Court House one evening, and was in- formed by some persons that[the Federalists were holding[a meeting in it at the time, and that the Hon. James Buchanan was addressing it. Although I was a member of the Democratic party, I nevertheless went to hear what he had to say, because I was always pleased with his delivery and his manner of speaking. I had not been in the Court House long, before he elevated his right hand above his head, and in an emphatic manner ex- claimed : ' IF I THOUGHT I HAD A DROP OF DEMOCRATIC BLOOD IN MY VEINS, I WOULD LET IT OUT.' I remember this distinctly, because I turned to some person who was standing near me at the time, and observed, ' What a rash and improper expression that is for any citizen to make upon such an occasion.' I recollect it, too, because it was a direct and unpro- voked attack upon the party to which I was warmly and ardently attached. From that time I ceased to entertain that respect for Mr. Buchanan which I had formerly done. MYery respectfully, ANTHONY McGLINN." LIFE OF HON. JAMES BUCHANAN. 3 In eighteen fifteen, on the 4th day of July,* A speech I then did make, and my eloquence did try, In dealing deadly blows on "Jefferson and Mad"f — I was in my glory then, and in Federal armor clad, For a "no-war"X Fed was I. *" History of the Revolution — An Oration, delivered on the Fourth day of July, 1815, before the Washington Association of Lancaster, by James Buchanan, Esq., and published by the Association." In this oration Mr. Buchanan thus "pitches into" the Democracy: " There was a powerful faction in the United States, opposed to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. The individuals of which it was composed were called anti-federalists, and were the founders of the Democratic Party. They gloried in setting themselves in array against our present admirable form of government. The authors of this opposition were chiefly Demagogues, who might have risen to the head of a State faction, but who felt conscious that their talents would be eclipsed, when the luminaries of the United States should be collected around the General Government. To gratify their ambition, they wished that this country should continue divided into a number of petty state sovereignties without any efficient government for their control. This they desired, although they had the example of ancient Greece before their eyes, and well knew the clashing interests of the States and their mutual jealousies, kept alive by alliances with differ- ent foreign nations, would have made this country a perpetual theatre of contention and civil war, until it had fled for refuge into the arms of despotism. They therefore sounded the alarm throughout the Union against the Federal Constitution. They predicted ruin to the State governments and to the liberties of the people, from the powers given to the general government. By these means they succeeded in alarming the fears of many good men, and inducing them to believe that government, which is now the palladium of their safety, would be the instrument of their destruction. Notwithstanding their des- perate efforts the Constitution was adopted, and Washington was elected President." f" True to their original principles and their first love, the demo- cratic party of that day become more the friends of the French as they became more the enemies of social order. * * * * Torrents tf personal abuse were poured out by the Democratic parly upon his [Wash- ington's] head. They openly charged the father of his country with an intention of destroying his own beloved offspring. To such a pitch of ingratitude were they carried by their diabolical passions that they dared publicly, and without the slightest foundation, to accuse him of secretly putting his hand into the treasury like a felon, and appropriating without authority, the money of the nation to his own individual use. t" The democratic administration next declares war against com- merce. They were not satisfied with depriving it of the protection of the navy, but they acted as though they were determined upon its annihilation. At a time when the- nations of Europe were convulsed in dreadful wars, the United States being neutral, and when in con- sequence thereof all our native productions were in the greatest de- mand, and the carrying trade presented to our merchants a rich har- 4 LIFE OP HON. JAMES BUCHANAN, I then did denounce the base "Foreign trash,"* Who brought on the war— when Britain did us thrash— And "nothing did we gain, in honor, wealth or fame," But the "scorn of foreign courts" and a "democratic name,"f For a British Fed was I. vest in every quarter of the globe, they shut up our ports by embargoes and non-importation laws. By these means the streams of wealth which were flowing into our national treasury and into our country from the thousand fountains of commerce, were suddenly dried up. These acts of parricide gave an instantaneous and a dreadful blow to our posterity. The voice of business was no longer heard in our cities. The stillness of death pervaded every street. Dejection and despair sat on each man's countenance. The newspapers of the day instead of being filled with arrivals from abroad and sales of merchandize, teemed°with bankruptcies. And our ships were laid up to rot as mel- ancholy monuments of the weak and wicked policy of our government. "Time will not allow me to enumerate all the other wild and wicked projects of the Democratic administration. Suffice it to say, that after they had deprived us of the means of defence, by destroy- ing our navy and disbanding our army ; * * * * and without money in the treasury, they rashly plunged us into a war^ with a nation more able to do us injury than any other in the world." *" The great part of those foreigners who would be affected by it, had long been their earnest friends They had been one of the great means of elevating the present (Democratic) ruling pabtt, and it would have been ungrateful for t at party to have abandoned them " * * * " Immediately before the war, this foreign influence had completely embodied itself with every political feeling of a majority of the people, particularly in the Went Its vice was heard so loud at the .,e„t of government, that the President was obliged either to yield to its dictates or retire from office. The choice in this alternative was easily made bv a man (Madison) who preferred private interert to the public good We were, therefore, hurried into war unprepared." "Above all we ou^ht to drive from our shores foreign influence, and cherish exclusive American feelings. Foreign, influence has been in every age the curse of Republics. Her jaundiced eye sees all things m false colors ! The thick atmosphere of prejudice, by which she is forever surrounded, excludes from her sight the light of reason. * ■ Let us then learn wisdom from experience, and forever banish this fiend from our society. We are separated from the nations of Europe by an immense ocean."— Mr Buchanans Oration, July 4, l81o. f'After the (Democratic) administration had entered upon the war, instead of coming forward with manly confidence and taxing the peo- ple for its support, they basely shrunk from their duty, m order to maintain their popularity, and adopted the ruinous system < f carry- ing on the contest by borrowing money. What were the eflects ot this policy? Does not every man in the country know, was it even disguised by the administration, that the United States would ma short time, have become bankrupt, had not peace been concluded ! Thanks to Heaven, that we have obtained peace, bad and disgraceiul as it is ; otherwise the beautiful structure of the Federal Government, AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 5 I never have retracted a word I then did say — For years was I proud of the glory won that day ; The "visions of Tom Jefferson,"* I strip'd them of their gold; Of "degenerated Madison"f true stories then I told, For an honest Fed was I. The Feds of this county, they were an honest band ;J They first gave me office and honor in the land ; They fed me like a "Buck" — I grew cunning as a "rat," And I sniggered in my sleeve when I flog'd a Democrat, || For a Federal pet was I. supported by the same feeble hands, might have sunk, like the capitol, into ruins." * * " We have not only not obtained by the war anything which we ought to expect, but we have lost many valuable privileges." " But do the administration, who involved us in the late unneces- sary war, derive any credit from their exertions ? Certainly not. * * As well might Ferdinand the VII. of Spain, who was not in his king- dom, but who was nominally king, claim the glory of rescuing his country from the armies of France, as our government take to itself the credit of expelling our invaders." *" We ought forever to abandon the wild project of a philosophic visionary, [Jefferson,] of letting commerce protect itself. For its pro- tection we ought to increase our navy. We ought never to think of embargoes and non-intercourse laws without abhorrence. We ought to use every honest exertion to turn out of power those weak and wicked men who have abandoned the political path marked out for this country by Washington, aud whose wild and visionary theories have been rt length tested by experience and found wanting." t "What has been its result ? • * * * Instead of conquering, we have ourselves been invaded in every quarter, * * * the very Capi- tol, the lofty temple of liberty, which was reared and consecrated by Washington, has been abandoned to its fate by his degenerate succes- sor, (Madison,) who ought to have shed his last drop of blood iu its defence. — Fourth of July Oration, 1815. JThe Democracy of Lancaster county had first to encounter a bitter Federal party, whose leaders denounced the second War of Indepen- dence as " Jim Madison's War" — Jefferson as " a philosophic vision- ary" — and Madison as the degenerate successor of Washington. In their orations before the public they declared that " time would not allow to enumerate all the wild and wicked projects of the democratic administration." [See Mr. Buchanan's Oration, July 4, 1815.] ||The following official returns from 1815 to 1828 will show that Mr. Buchanan's faith in Federalism was not surpassed by his practice: 1815. James Buchanan, Fed - - .3051. M. C. Rogers, Bern. 2502. 1820. James Buchanan, Fed- - -4642. Jacob Hibshman, Dem 3666. 1822. James Buchanan, Fed- - -2753. Jacob Hibshman, Dem 1940. 1824. James Buchanan, Fed- - -3560. Samuel Houston, Dem-- - -3046. L826. James Buchanan, Fed- - -2760. Dr. John McCamant, Dem-2307. 1828. Jas. Buchanan, Jackson- 5203. W. Hiester, Adams 3904. 6 LIFE OF HON. OAMES BUCHANAN, But things took a change, the Federal party fell, The whys and the wherefores I now dislike to tell, But Jackson's name and fame — they sav'd me from the storm ; I shouted for the man, but his honesty did scorn,* For a "wool-dyed" Fed was I. I labor'd with Jackson — his battles bravely fought — Of "Bargain and Sale" in thunder-tones did talk :f I thundered down on Clay, as history does you tell ;| His honor I broke down, and Kentucky's hero fell, For a Jackson Fed was I. I've spoke against Tariffs, I've voted for the same|| — *See speech of the Hon. James Buchanan at the Yellow Springs, Chester comity, in which he declared that he was " a Jackson man, but thanked God he was no Democrat !" f" Henry Clay, the living personification and embodiment of Whig principles, in 183S planned the Cilly duel by which a foul murder was perpetrated and a wife made a maniac ; in 1841, when b'5 years old, and gray headed, is under five thousand dollars BONDS TO KEEP THE PEACE ! At the age of 29 he perjured himself to secure a seat in the United States Senate. In 1S24 he made^ an infamous bargain with John Quincy Adams, by which he sold out for a six thousand dollar a year office ; he is also well known as a gambler and Sabbath breaker. His political principles are precisely and exactly those of the Hartford convention federalists ; opposed to equal rights, equal privileges, and equal laws, and chartered privileges. Also he sustains the ferocious Aigerines in their deeds of blood and murder !" — Extract from the Coffin Handbill circulated from the office of Mr. Buchanan's home organ in 1844, by Forney $• Co. t" Your observations in regard to Mr. Buchanan are correct. He showed a want of moral courage in the affair of the intrigue of Adams and Clay — did not do me justice in the expose he then made. * * * I do know that he wished me to let my friends say if I was elected I would make Mr. Clay Secretary of State. This to me appeared GROSS CORRUPTION and I repelled it with that honest indignation which I thought it deserved." — Gen. Jackson's Letter to Mr. Lewis, Feb. 28, 184.3. "Mr. Clay, while he was so hotly assailed with the charge of bar- gain, intrigue, and corruption, during the Administration of Mr. Adams, notified Mr. Buchanan of his intention to pubLish the above occur- rence, [the facts of Mr. Buchauan's corrupt proposition] but, by the earnest entreaties of that gentleman, he was induced to forbear doing so." — Col ton's Life of Clay. ||" I am most anxious to vote for the present (Tariff ) bill. Upon such a great occasion * * * ought Senators who profess to be devoted to domestic manufactures hesitate for a moment in their course." — Mr. Buchanan's Tariff Speech, Aug. 1, 1842. " If the present extravagant bill [Tariff of 1842] should be forced AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 1 'Gainst banks I have thundered, and won a "ten cent" fame;* I've had to fool the Dutch — the Yankees tickle nice,f And with the " Nigger South" I've had to make a splice, J For a candidate am I. upon the country, I feel conscious that I have done everything that I could do to arrest it." — Mr. Buchanan's Anti- Tariff Speech. Mr. Buchanan subsequently voted for this " extravagant bill, as the least of two evils !" — See Cong. Globe, Sessio?i 1842. " I know James K. Polk to be a better Tariff man than Henry Clay." — Mr. Buchanan's stump speeches in Pennsylvania in 1S44. *" Why cannot we manufacture goods, and especially cotton goods, which will go into successful competition with British manufactures in foreign markets ? Have we not the necessary capital f * * * REDUCE OUR nominal to the real standard of PRICES (of LABOR) throughout the world (which is ten cents a day) and you cover our country with blessings and benefits. * * * The comparative low prices (of Labor) in France and Germany have offered such a stimu- lus to their manufactures, that they are now rapidly extending them- selves." — See Mr. Buchanan's low wages speech in the U. S. Senate, Jan. 22, 1840, Con. Globe 1839-40, p. 129. To which " honest John Davis" replied : " What response will the FARMERS, MECHANICS AND LABORERS make to such a flagitious proposition ? Can they be reconciled to such a measure — one that extracts from them the fruits of their industry to professedly enrich the planter, who now enjoys a prosperity unequalled in the rest of the country ? No, sir, such plans of sectional aggrandizement, and such a disregard of the interests of the greatest and most powerful class of people in the country (the farmers, mechanics and laborers) can only excite their disgust and indignation." — See speech of Hon. John Davis, January 23, 1840. fThe author is assured by a prominent brother Democrat that the friends of Mr. Buchanan expended §100,000 in their efforts to carry the late State election in Maine. They have now adopted the same plan of " tickling the Dutch" of Pennsylvania! J" Their re-union (the Hards and Softs of New York) at this event- ful crisis is one of the grandest events in our history. Our car will now weather the storm of fanaticism, and the Union must and shall be preserved. The WHOLE SOUTHERN COUNTRY will hail this re- inion as a rainbow in the clouds," &c. — Mr. Buchanan's Dispatch to '.he Syracuse Convention, July 31, 1856. "I congratulate you that your choice has fallen on a man who stands m the IDENTICAL PLATFORM THAT I OCCUPY, and that he will take the SAME, with the standard lowered never an inch" — Franklin Pierce's Ratification speech at Washington. "Mr. Buchanan and myself have, for several years back, ever since i came into public life, HELD THE SAME POSITION on the Slavery question, from beginning to end." — Senator Douglas' speech at the N T ew York Ratification meeting. "The fact is, both PLATFORM and CANDIDATE are perfectly satis- Victory to the most scrupulous stickler for Southern Rights." — Rich- mond (Virginia) Enquirer. 8 LIFE OF JAMES BUCHANAN. I go for the South, the North, the East, the West, And for enslaving Kansas — I know it's for the best ; * The South "demands more room" — the West and North must bow, [plow, And the East must knuckle down — and the Niggers hold the For "Platform" James am I.f I speak for the nation, I am the "Wheatland Sage," And if not elected, the South will "bust with rage," The "Union she'll dissolve," no "insults will she take, "J Like electing Jack Fremont, for "selfish Freedom's" sake. Well clone — amen! — say I. I now close my life — the election's close at hand, — Fremont you must defeat, with his "Free Kansas band ;" If this you fail to do, then Kansas will be free, And I a martyr fall to the South and Slavery — And poor ""Old Buck" will die! || *" As the representative of OUR PRINCIPLES, as practically ap- plied to the territory of Kansas, I could not be unfaithful to the man (Buchanan) without treachery to the principles he represents." — Bully Brooks's Letter to a Buchanan Meeting at Charleston, S. C. f" Two weeks ago I should have made you a longer speech, but now my tongue is tied, as I have been placed upon a platform of which I most heartily and cordially approve, and that can speak for me. Being the representative of the great Democratic party, and NO LONGER SIMPLY JAMES BUCHANAN, / must square my conduct according to the platform of that party, and insert no new plank, nor take one from it." — Mr. Buchanan 's speech to the Keystone Club, June 9, 1856. % "At a period when the National "Democratic party of the country are everywhere rallying to defend the Constitution and the Union against the sectional party who would outlaw fifteen of our sister States from the Confederacy, it must cheer the heart of every patriot to know that the Democracy of the Empire State, in solid and united column, are rushing to the rescue." — Mr. Buchanan's Letter to the "Tammany Society," July 2, 185G. ||" If I can be instrumental in settling the Slavery question upon the terms I have mentioned (the Douglas policy) and then add Cuba to the Union, [see the Ostend manifesto,] I shall, if President, be willing to give up the ghost, and let Breckenridge take the gov- ernment." — Hon. James Buchanan to Bon A G. Broun. *" I trust I possess sufficient christian philosophy to enable me to bear my fate with cheerful and contented resignation.'" — Mr. Buchanan's letter to a lady in Washington after his defeat in 1852. " I am perfectly satisfied with the result, belonging, as I do, to the school of optimists." — Wheatland Letter of June 8, 1852. " 1 trust my Democratic fellow citizens throughout the State, consid- ering that I am now more than sixty years of age, will give me an honorable discharge."— Mr. Buchanan's BradfordzLMer in Mp2. ^ r "%. •: *^cr I r W w v .♦. » ^ • ^6 - «fe