, -J^. % r S ■ & "^ sO cv •J- /^ cTV-t^^Uy , /lift J . A COMPREHENSIVE AND POPULAR History of the United States, A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY AID SETTLEMENT OE THE COUNTRY; THE HISTORY OF EACH OF THE COLONIES UNTIL THEIR UNION AS STATES; The French and Indian Wars; the War of the Revolution; the War of 1812; the Long Period of Peace; the Mexican War; the Great War Between the North and South, and its Results; THE CENTENNIAL OF OUR INDEPENDENCE; AND EVENTS DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME. BY ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. (Bihflisjjei fottjj more tjjaitMO dint pstorital (Kngraiiiags anb portrait: 'Neque enim est ulla res, in qua propius ad Deorum numen virtus accedat fiumana, quam civitaUs aut condere novas aui conservare jam condi/as." — ClCERO, De Republica, BOOK I., CHAP. VII. PUBLISHED BY THE HTJ^rCTOlSrj^Tu PUBLISHING OO-, Philadelphia, Pa., Chicago, III., St. Louis, Mo., and Atlanta, Ga. t- ins Dedication. O the memory of the Patriot-Fathers, to the Senate of Sages, whose wisdom conceived, and to the Band of Heroes, on flood and field, whose valor '-; achieved the Independence of the United States of America, and estab- lished, in constitutional form, the principles of self-government, by the people, upon which and for which that Independence was consummated, thus opening up this " Land of the Free and Home of the Brave," as an asylum to the oppressed of all climes and a refuge to the persecuted of all creeds — a Fortress alike and a Temple — this volume is reverently inscribed by The Author. Liberty Hall, Crawfordville, Georgia, 1882. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by J. R. JONES, In the Oflke of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. \ By Exchange \ Army mt** Navy Club JANUARY 16 1934 i o Introduction. T is the purpose of the author of this work to give to the public an enlarged and full history of the United States of America, embracing all important facts connected with the discovery of the country within their limits, and its early occupation by emigrants from other lands ; to- gether with the facts attending the formation of their governments, and the establishment of those free in- stitutions which have so marked, as well as so distinguished them, among the other nations of the earth. It may be accepted as an axioma- tic truth that no people, however blessed with the amplest guarantees of liberty, founded on constitutional representative government, can en- joy or retain the inestimable boon long, who do not thoroughly under- stand the nature, principles and limitations of the crovernment on which it rests ; and who are not also thoroughly imbued with a patriotic devotion to these princi- ples, with an inflexible purpose ever ready, prompt and determined to defend and maintain them. These are the qualities Mr. Jefferson meant by " the virtue, intelligence and patriotism of the people." It is the high office of History, among other things, to present a correct exposition and a clear eluci- dation of those intellectual, moral, social and physical phenomena which mark and characterize the origin, growth and progressive de- velopment of States, Single or Fed- eral. Few things, therefore, are more essential for the preservation of our matchless institutions than a thorough knowledge of their true nature and real character by the people who have control of their administration, which can in no way be so well obtained as from an accurate history of the conflicts, military and civil, attending their formation and establishment. All governments, of whatever form or type, are natural develop- ments from the social forces of or- ganized societies or States respec- tively, for their own self-preserva- tion. Each member of society is a complete living organism in itself, and endowed by nature with vital functions and powers of self-de* (5) IXTRODUCTION. termination for its own existence. But man, by nature, is less capa- ble of self-preservation singly, than jointly with others. Mutual pro- tection and mutual interests, there- fore, are the basis of all organized societies, and the objects of all gov- ernments. The chief end of all States, or the " Esprit dcs Lois," as Montesquieu maintains, should be the security to each member of the community of all " those absolute rights which are vested in them by the immu- table laws of nature." Many writers maintain that the individuals upon entering into so- ciety, give up or surrender a por- tion of their natural rights. This seems to be a manifest error. No person has any natural right what- ever to hurt or injure another. The object of society and govern- ment is to prevent and redress injuries of this sort; for, in a state of nature, without a restraining power of government, the strong would viciously impose upon the weak. Another erroneous dogma pretty generally taught is, that the object of governments should be to confer the greatest benefit upon the great- est number of its constituent mem- bers. The true doctrine is, the object should be to confer the greatest possible good upon every member, without any detriment or injury to a single one. With a desire to render a service to the present and succeeding gen- erations by historic illustrations of these truths, this work has been undertaken. In the prosecution of the design of the author, the first object, after a brief presentation of the facts attending the discovery of the con- tinent of America, will be to trace, during their colonial condition, the History of the separate political communities thereon, known as British Colonies, which afterwards became united under the style of the United States of America ; and then to trace the History of these States so united under their existing Union to the present time. The first part of the work will be the History of the Colonies ; the second part will be the History of the States. With this view, for proper system, the work will be divided into two Parts, or Books. Book I. will treat of the discov- ery, the early settlement and colo- nization of the country by the ances- tors of the present inhabitants, and the events which led to the assump- tion of sovereign, absolute self- governing powers by the respective colonies. Book II. will treat of the achieve- ment and establishment of their Independence as States and their subsequent career under their present Federal Union. CONTENTS OF BOOK I. CHAPTER I. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. (1492— 1506.) The Continent unknown to Europeans until 1492 — The Norwegian explorations and settlements — Eric, the Red, of Norway — Lief, the son of Eric, and his explorations — Settlement in Vinland — Christopher Columbus — Sketch of his life and dis- coveries — Prince Henry, of Portugal — John II., of Portugal — Henry VII., of England — Voyage of I492 — Discovery of Islands supposed to be part of the East Indies — Colonization of San Domingo — Character of the natives of the new continent — The Aztecs, Peruvians, and Chilians — Amerigo Vespucci — Origin of the name of America — Death of Columbus 17 CHAPTER II. SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. (1607 — 1609.) Spanish conquests in North and South America — The Portuguese in Brazil — The French in North America — Discoveries of the Cabots, 1497 and 1498, on which the English colonies were founded — Unsuccessful attempts of the English to colonize — First permanent British settlement at Jamestown, 1607 — Plan of government — Trial by jury. . . 27 CHAPTER III. Virginia — conum led. (1609 — 1621.) Captain John Smith — His romantic adventures — Military services with the Dutch and Austrians — Taken captive and sold as a slave — Escapes — One of the council at Jamestown — Life saved by Pocahontas — Smith's exploration of the Potomac and Chesapeake in 1 607-1608 — Return to Eng- land — Survey of New England — Jamestown Col- ony reduced to great extremity — Saved by the arrival of Lord Delaware in 1609 — Argall's tyr- anny — George Yeardley supplants him as governor — Marriage of Pocahontas to Rolfe — Tobacco — Staple of the Colony — Origin of its name — New and liberal features added to the charter — House of Burgesses established 19th of June, 1619 — Birthday of American Free Institutions — Arrival of female colonists — Increased prosperity. ... 31 CHAPTER IV. SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK BY THE DUTCH. (1609 — 1664.) Sir Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the Dutch service, discovered the Island of Manhattan, in 1609 — Forts and trading-houses built by the Dutch on Manhattan Island and at Albany — The settlement on Manhattan Island called New Amsterdam — General name of New Netherlands given to the Dutch possessions — The English assert their rights, in 1613 — Captain Argall — The Dutch re-establish their authority in 1614 — The Dutch West India Company organized, 1623 — First permanent settle- ment under their auspices — The Walloons — Hu- guenots — Cornelius May — First Dutch white child, Sarah D. Rapelge — Minuits, first governor of the province — The laws — Patroons — Disposition of lands — Van Twiller, governor — A description of him by Washington Irving — Kaieft, governor — His massacre of the Indians at Hoboken — An In- dian war that threatened the existence of the col- ony — Kaieft recalled, and drowned at sea by ship- wreck on return home — Peter Stuyvesant succeeds him as governor — His character — Growing spirit of popular liberty — Controversy between the gov- ernor and the people — Acquisition of New Nether- lands by the English — The name of New Nether- lands changed to New York — Peter Stuyvesant be- comes a citizen of New York — His residence and death — His remains — The pear-tree he planted in 1647 bore fruit for upwards of 200 years — The fait of Hudson 3ndon Company dissolved — Government de- volves on the Crown, under the charter — Colonists favor Charles I. in his contest with Parliament — The House of Burgesses proclaim Charles II., then in exile, their Sovereign, and invite him to come over and be king of Virginia — The " Old Dominion " 54 CHAPTER VII. SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. (1621 — 1662.) Captain John Smith's first explorations — William Clayborne's trading posts — Sir George Calvert — Sketch of his life — A member of the privy council — Secretary of State — Converted to the Catholic faith — Made Lord Baltimore — Relations to James I., King of England — Bancroft's account of him — In advance of the age on the principles of religious toleration — His first colony of Avalon, an asylum for persecuted Catholics — Location abandoned — Seeks to make a settlement in Virginia, but not allowed on account of his religious faith — Obtains a charter to Maryland from Charles I. — Dies be- fore the execution of the Grant — Charter made out and delivered afterwards to Cecil, his eldest son and second Lord Baltimore — Cecil plants a colony of up- wards of two hundred emigrants in 1633 — Treaty with the Indians — Fathers White and Altham — They make many converts among Indians — Leon- ard Calvert, Governor — Clayborne stirs up an in- surrection — The Governor seeks refuge in Virginia — Afterwards overpowers Clayborne — Peace re- stored — Leonard Calvert dies in 164%— William Stone succeeds him — The great Act of Toleration in 1649 — Other troubles ensue — Religious persecu- tions — Stone deprived of the Governorship — Fen- dall appointed — Treasonable act of Fendall — Philip Calvert appointed in his stead — Peace re- stored — General amnesty proclaimed — Charles Cal- vert, son of Lord Baltimore, appointed governor in 1662 — Under his administration Maryland prospers many years 58 CHAPTER VIII. SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. (1622 — 1740.) Early settlement — Dutch and Danes — English Grant to Duke of York— Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret — Name of colony — Inducements to set- tlers — Settlement at Elizabethtown — Philip Carte- ret, first Governor, arrives with emigrants, 1665 — First Assembly, 16S8 — Discontents — Payment of rents resisted — Philip Carteret retires — James Car- teret, Governor — Dutch authority reinstated, 1673 — English authority restored — Sir Edmond Andros, Governor — His tyrannical Government — Lord Berkeley sells out his Proprietary rights — Edward Byllinge — Byllinge transfers his title to Penn — Division of New Jersey — Philip Carteret again Governor — His character — Burlington — Duke of York's claims defeated — First legislative Assembly of West Jersey — Penn and others purchase East Jersey — Government organized — Robert Barclay first Governor — James II. attempts to usurp the government — New York claims jurisdiction over New Jersey — Government devolves on the King — Lord Cornbury Governor — Separate governor ap- pointed for New Jersey — Lewis Morris, Governor — Princeton college founded 64 CHAPTER IX. SETTLEMENT OF NKW HAMPSHIRE. (1623— 1680.) Conflicting accounts of the early settlements in New Hampshire — Grant of Plymouth Company to Fer- nando Gorges and John Mason to the Province of Maine, loth of August, 1622 — The Laconia Grant to the same parties, 27th of November, 1629 — Anterior Grant to John Mason, of territory desig- nated ns New Hampshire, 7th of November, 1629 — Claims of Massachusetts not well founded — The matter decided adversely to Massachusetts, 1679 — Character of the people 68 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE. (1632— 1690.) The Dutch — Van Rensellaer — Godyer — Bloemart — De Saet — De Vries — Asset as Governor — Misun- derstanding with Indians — Extermination of the colony — Oxenstiern — Gustavus Adolphus — Colon- ization by Swedes in 1638 — Minuits — Fort Chris- tiana — Growth of colony — Jealousy between New Sweden and New Netherlands — Dutch build Fort Casimer — Destroyed by Swedes — Stuyvesant comes to aid of the Dutch — The Dutch forced to terms — Delaware passes into possession of New Nether- lands— Penn acquires title — Partial separation of the " lower counties " from Pennsylvania 71 CHAPTER XL SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. (1633— 1639.) Settlement of Hartford by the Dutch : at Saybrook by Grant from Massachusetts — Settlement at Springfield and Wethersfield — Indian war of 1637 — Settlement of New Haven by Davenport and Eaton — Convention and Constitution at Hartford, in 1639 — New Haven stands aloof — The " Blue Laws "- -Yale College 74 CHAPTER XII. THE SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND. (1636— 1688.) Roger Williams — Persecuted for his doctrine of " soul liberty " — His flight — First settlement at Seekonk — Compelled to seek another retreat — Settles finally at Providence, 1636 — His Constitu- tion of Government — Embodies principles of a pure Democracy with unrestricted religious liberty — Settlement at Rhode Island, 1638— Origin of the name — William Coddington chief- magistrate — Government like that of Providence — Baptist church organized by Roger Williams at Providence, 1639 — Claimed to be first in America — Wil- liams visits England and obtains Charter, 1643 — Obtains another, 1663 — Charter temporarily re- pressed by usurpation of Sir Edmond Andros — Rightful Government restored 75 CHAPTER XIII. SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. (1638— 1724.) The Swedes on the Delaware — The Dutch, or New Netherlands — Duke of York — The Quakers — Their character and persecutions — George Fox, the founder — William Penn — His character — Charter and settlement of 1681 — Penn arrives with colon- ists at New Castle, 1682 — Philadelphia settled, 1683 — Treaties with Indians — Good faith kept with them by the Quaker Colony — No Quaker ever killed by Indians — First Legislative Assembly, 1683 — Form of Government established — Penn's influence with James II., in favor of Quakers and other Dissenters — James II. abdicated, 1688 — Penn imprisoned and deprived of his Government by William and Mary — Fletcher appointed — Penn restored — Penn's death — Benjamin Franklin — The rights of Penn's heirs purchased by the State. 80 CHAPTER XIV. NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. (1643— 1675.) The Pequod War — Kind offices of Roger Williams — Great battle on the Mystic — Seven hundred In- dians perish by sword and fire — Survivors sold as slaves — The Pequods extinguished — The " De- sire " the first slave ship built in Massachusetts — The first slaves introduced, 163S — Hugh Peters and Sir Henry Vane — Mrs. Anne Hutchinson — Her character and sad fate — Refugee regicides of Charles I. — Harvard University founded, 1638 — First printing-press — Confederation formed — Meteorological phenomenon — Comet and earth- quake 86 CHAPTER XV. VI rg 1 n 1 a — resumed. (166^1754.) Restoration of Charles II. — Policy of English Gov- ernment towards the Colonies — Heavy exactions — Unjust taxation — McCabe's account of it — War with Susquehanna Indians — Berkeley, governor — Nathaniel Bacon — His character — Civil war — Berkeley's cruelty and perfidy — Charles II. in part disapproves of Berkeley's conduct, but sends a fleet with troops to his aid — Bacon's party dissolved — Sad fate of Drummond — His career and character — Berkeley returns to England — Cold reception — Culpepper his successor — Lord Howard of Effing- ham, governor — Berkeley's death — Monmouth's rebellion — Plis adherents sold as slaves in Virginia and Maryland — Action thereon of House of Bur- gesses — Restrictions on Colonial trade under reigns of Charles II. and James II. — Revolution of 1688 — Downfall of the Stuart Dynasty — William and' Mary's accession — Founding of William and Mary College — Prosperity of Virginia — Religious tolera- tion — Mother of States and Statesmen gv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI. SETTLEMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA. (1663— 1670.) Colony first named by the French in honor of Charles \\., 11I" France — Early attempts by Raleigh to make English settlements failures — Ralph Lane, John White, Eleanor and Virginia Dare — Sad fate of Colonist-. — Raleigh's death — Heath's patent — Settlements by Roger Green and George Durant without Grant — Charter of Charles II., in 1663, to the Clarendon Company — Name of Colony retained, but in honor of Charles II., of England —William Drummond first Governor under new Charter — Sir John Yeamans founds Colony of Clarendon on Fear river — Made Governor thereof — Claren- don and Albemarle united under one Government, 1670 — Samuel Stephens, Governor — Legislation of 1669 — Edmundsen the Quaker — John Locke's grand model of Government — Comments there- on 96 CHAPTER XVII. north CAROLi n a — continued. (1670—1729.) Carteret succeeds Stephens — Resigns — Eastchurch appointed, with Miller to act in his stead while ab- sent — Miller displaced by John Culpepper, 1677 — Culpepper tried for treason — Acquitted — John Harvey, governor — Disorders continue — Seth Sothel — I.udwell, governor — Lillington, governor — "Grand model" of Locke abrogated — Quiet ensues — Daniel, governor — Disturbances — At- tempt at church establishment — Carey, deputy-gov- ernor — Union of Quakers with him — Rupture — Archdale — Porter — Mission to England — Porter's success — Glover, governor — Bigger quarrel than before — Moseley takes lend — Carries the day against test oaths — Elward Hyde, governor — Swiss settlement of De Grafi'cnreid — Hyde's first Legislative Factions rule — Majority op- posed to Carey — Prosecution for embezzlement — Arrest resisted — Great excitement — Appeal to arms — Virginiacalled on for aid — On arrival of Virginian troops Carey abandons contest and leaves the col- ony — Indian conspiracy — Massacre of whites by Tuscarora and Coree Indians — General war — Colony in extreme peril — Virginia and South Car- olina appealed to for aid — Colonel Barnwell brings regiment of whites and friendly Indians from South Carolina in response to appeal — Battle of the N'euse — Handcock, a Tuscarora, lie. ids the Indians — Desperate fight — Harnwell victorious — Treaty of peace — Broken by H.mdcock — War renewed — Vallow fever appears— Death of Hyde — Pollock, governor — War — Virginia and South Carolina again called on for aid — Colonel James Moore comes to the rescue — Wins great battle — Nahauck — War ended — Tuscaroras leave to join Iroquois in New York — Eden, governor — Moseley leads legislature — Settles question of church es- tablishments and test-oaths — Burrington, governor — Virginia boundary settled — Lords proprietors sell out to the king — The colony becomes subject to the crown under limitations of the charter.. 10 1 CHAPTER XVIII. NEW york — resumed. (1664— 1754.) Nicholls, first English Governor — New York city in- corporated — Francis Lovelace succeeds Nicholls — New York city captured by the Dutch — Restored to English — Sir Edmond Andros, Governor — Suc- ceeded by Thomas Dungan — First legislative rep- resentative Government in the Colony established — Treaty with the Five Nations — Efforts of Canada to alienate the Indians from the English — New York united with New England under Andros — Jacob Leisler, Governor — French invasion — Massa- cre of Schenectady — Henry Slaughter, Governor — Execution of Leisler and his son-in-law, Milbourne — Indian treaty — Expedition against Montreal under Schuyler — Benjamin Fletcher, Governor — Efforts to establish the English Church — Lord Bellamont, Governor — Captain Kidd, the pirate — Lord Cornburry, Governor — Succeeded by Lord Lovelace — General Hunter, Governor — Invasion of Canada — William Burnet, Governor — Succeeded by John Montgomery — Rip Van Dam — William Crosby, Governor — Encroachments on liberty of the I 'ress — George Clarke, Governor — Succeeded by George Clinton — Indian incursions 110 CHAPTER XIX. SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA. (1670—I729.) Port Royal— William Sayle, first Governor — Old Charleston — New Charleston — Sir John Yeamans — Introduction of negro slaves — Yeamans resigns — West succeeds him — Two parties or factions — Colleton, Governor — Discontent — Martial law — Colleton impeached' — Seth Sothel in South Carolina — His character — Banished — Ludwell's adminis- tration — Thomas Smith, < lovernor — John Archdale, the Quaker — Salutary administration — James Moore, Governor — Represses Indian invasion — Unsuccessful siege to St. Augustine — Party strife — Charles Craven, Governor — The great Yamassee CONTENTS. war — Massacre at Pocataligo — Colonels Makey and Barnwell, and Lieutenant-General Moore — Aid from Virginia — Colonel Maurice Moore, from North Carolina — Battle of Combahee — Yamassees driven from the colony — Take refuge in Florida — Robert Johnson, last proprietary Governor — James Moore made Governor by popular authority — Gov- ernor Francis Nicholson sent as a sort of Guberna- torial Supervisor — Charier forfeited in 1729 — Lords proprietors sell out their interest to the king, as in North Carolina 1 18 CHAPTER XX. NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION — resumed. (1675— 1754.) Restoration of Charles II, , in New England — Dis- satisfaction of the People — King Philip's war — Ex- tinction of the Wampanoag tribe — Grandson of Massasoit sold as a slave — Dispute between Mas- sachusetts and tne mother country as to New Hampshire domination ended — First General Assembly of New Hampshire under the new organization — Annulment of New England char- ters — The Confederation ended — Sir Edmond Andros and his infamous acts — The Charter Oak — James II., of England, dethroned — War between England and France — Schenectady massacre — Sal- mon Falls — Peace of Ryswick — War renewed — Ex- pedition against Quebec and Montreal — Peace of Utrecht — Great snow storms, 17 17 — Aurora Bore- alis, 1 7 19 — Earthquake, 1727 — Witchcraft — War resumed, 1744 — Capture of Louisburg — Pepperell and Shirley knighted for bravery — Treaty of Aix la Chapelle 1 26 CHAPTER XXI. SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. (1732— 1776.) Georgia, a charity Colony — Charter to Oglethorpe and twenty-one noblemen and gentlemen of England to hold the lands in trust for the poor for twenty- one years — Character of Oglethorpe — The Yama- craws — T - mo-chichi — Settlement of Savannah — Darien, Frederica, Ebenezer — The Salzburghers — Martin Bolsius — Augusta — Revs. John and Charles Wesley — Whitfield — Orphan house established — Oglethorpe's perilous adventure — Great Indian treaty at Coweta — Spanish war — Invasion of Geor- gia — Oglethorpe, brigadier-general, defends the Colony against great odds — The battle of Bloody Marsh — Signal victory — Spanish fleet leaves the country — Peace restored — Oglethorpe returns to England — Refuses to take command of ihe British forces against the Colonies, except on conditions — Old age and death 1 50 CHAPTER XXII. G eorg 1 a — continued. (1741— 1776.) Character of the government — The first jury — Rev. Martin Bolzius — Colony divided into two districts — William Stephens, governor — Henry Parker, assist- ant-governor — Succeeds Stephens — New system of government inaugurated, 1751 — First legislature under new system — Francis Harris, speaker — In- troduction of negro slaves allowed — Settlement at Midway — Trustees resign — Georgia becomes a royal colony — Government devolves on Board of Trade and Plantations — John Reynolds, governor — Constitution of the colony modified — Its new feat- ures — Henry Ellis succeeds Reynolds as governor — Colony divided into Parishes — Ellis succeeded by Sir James Wright, as governor, 1760 — Acquisition of territory by treaty of Pans, 1663 — Boundary of Georgia extended to Mississippi river — Florida, by same treaty, ceded to Spain — Important Indian treaty at Augusta, 1 763 — Four additional Parishes created — Names of Parishes changed to Counties — Another Indian Treaty at Augusta, 1773 — About two and a-half million acres of land acquired — Continental Congress of 1774 — Colonial State Government organized, 1775 — Wright, royal gov- ernor, arrested, 1776 — Action of St. John's parish, afterwards Liberty county — Lyman Hall, George Walton, Burton Gwinnett in Congress, 4th of July, 1776 — Landed policy of Georgia — Reasons of rapid increase in population and wealth — Monopo- lies denied — Speculations prevented — No propri- etors, no rents — The tiller of the soil the owner of the land 162 CHAPTER XXIII. HISTORIC facts preliminary to the FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1 754. Ferdinand de Soto — His explorations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and westward — Discovery and crossing of the Mississippi river — Explorations in Arkansas — Discovery of the Hot Springs — Red r i ver — De Soto's death and burial — Joliette and Marquette — Catholic priests — M. de la Salle — His explorations and discoveries — Names the coun- try Louisiana, in honor of the French king — Murder — Mouth of the Mississippi discovered by Le Moyne DTberville — Builds a fort called Rosa- lie, where the town of Natchez now stands — New Orleans founded by his brother, Bienville D'lb-jrville, 1718 169 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1 754- (1754—1763-) Causes of the war — Major George Washington bears a letter from General Dinwiddie to the French commandant — Narrow escapes — Port Du Quesne erected by the French — Encounter between French and English — Defeat of the former — Attack upon the English under Washington — He capitulates and returns to Virginia — Attempt to unite the colo- nies for defence — Failure — Arrival of General Braddock — His expedition against the French and disastrous defeat — Expeditions under Monckton, Shirley, and Johnson — Lord Loudon appointed Commander-in-chief — Abercrombie temporarily in command — Montcalm the French commander — English defeats at Forts Ontario and William H cnr y — policy of William Pitt, prime minister — Fleet under Admiral Boscawen, and troops under Generals Amherst and Wolfe attack Louisburg — Surrender of Louisburg and St. John's to English — Abercrombie defeated — British under command of Lord Howe attack Fort Ticonderoga — Re- pulsed — Surrender of Fort Frontenac to Brit- ish under Bradstreet — Expedition under Forbes against Fort Du Quesne — Washington at Fort Du Quesne — Fort surrendered to English, who change the name to Pittsburgh— Campaign auspi- cious to the English — Amherst made Commander- in-chief of the English — Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara taken by the English — Attack on Quebec by the English — Its surrender — Wolfe and Montcalm, the English and French com- manders, killed — Montreal and the other French posts in Canada surrender — War in the Carolinas with the Cherokees — Montgomery sent to aid of Carolinians — Moultrie and Marion accompany ex- pedition — Indians defeated — Peace made — Treaty of peace between France, England, and Spain at Paris, 1763 — Florida ceded to Spain by Great Bri- tain 174 CHAPTER XXV. ('763—1774) CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES FROM THE MOTHER COUN- TRY, AND THE ASSUMPTION OF SOVEREIGN POWERS BY THEM. General good feeling after the French war — Mason and Dixon's line — Indignation over the tax bills — Iiord Camden — Colonel Banc — Commercial re- striction — The Stamp Act resisted in North Caro- lina, Virginia, and Massachusetts — Nine Colonies meet in convention in New York, and make a joint declaration — Sons of liberty — Stamp Act repealed — Pitt becomes Prime Minister — Town- send's new tax act — Great excitement — Boston riot — First blood in resistance to unjust taxa- tion shed at Alamance, North Carolina, June 16, 1 77 1 — Tax on tea — Disposition of the tea in New York city — Boston, Massachusetts — Charleston, South Carolina — Baltimore, Maryland —Wilmington, North Carolina — Boston port bill — Action of the Virginia Assembly on the subject — Fasting, humiliation, and prayer — "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all " — First Congress at Philadelphia — Their acts — Lord Chatham's comments on them — General Gage in Massachusetts — Battles of Concord and Lex- ington — Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken by colonists 192 CHAPTER XXVI. CONTINUATION OF CAUSES WHICH LED TO INDEPENDENCE, AND THE ASSUMPTION OF SOVEREIGN POWERS BY THE COLONIES, loth of May, 1775 — 4th of July, 1776. Second Colonial Congress — War actually existing — Declaration by Congress of the reasons of the resort to arms — Policyof the Colonies — Washington chosen Commander-in-chief of the Army — His Commis- sion — Reception of Washington at New York- Proclamation of General Gage — Fortification of Bunker Hill — Attack on Charlestown — Royal Gov- ernors compelled to flee from the Colonies — Steps towards the invasion of Canada and its abandon- ment — Fortification by the Colonial army of the Isle au Noix — General Montgomery surprises and captures Fort Montgomery — Ethan Allen captured and sent to England — Point aux Trembles attacked and Montgomery killed — His successor — The Colonial army retreats — British forces abandon Boston— Arrest of the royal Governor in Georgia- Sir Peter Parker appears in Charleston Harbor — Sergeant Jasper — Parker abandons his ship — Its capture by the Carolinians — Recruits for the Colonial army 209 CHAPTER XXVII. SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY — THE SOVEREIGN POWER AS STATES AS- SUMED BY THE COLONIES. Mecklenburg declaration, 20th of May, 1775— In- structions of Colonies to their delegates in C\>ngre>s CONTENTS. for their Independence — Maryland's instructions — Richard Henry Lee's Resolutions for Confederation and Independence — Two committees raised : one for Declaration of Independence, and one for Con- federation — Declaration in the name of Thirteen United States of America — Synopsis of the provis- ions of the Articles of Confederation — Mutual dele- gations of power by each severally, to all jointly — First Constitution of the United States — Ratifica- tion by the States severally and respectively... 223 CONTENTS OF BOOK II. CHAPTER I. THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATES. (July, 1776 — January, 1778.) The Great Seal of the United States— The British General Howe on Staten Island with 9,000 men — Admiral Howe with reinforcements — General Clin- ton with additional reinforcements — Aggregate British force, 30,000 — Washington's army less than half this number — Howe's attempt at concili- ation — His letter to Washington — Washington re- fuses to receive it — Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson's interview with Washington — Attempts at concilia- tion failing, Howe determines to push the war — Battle of Long Island — Defeat of the patriots — Generals Sullivan and Stirling taken prisoners — Washington's successful withdrawal of army from Brooklyn— Adventure of Captain Nathan Hale— Ex- ecuted asaspy — His treatment and last words — Fort Washington — White Plains — British attack and carry Fort Washington— Washington's retreat across New Jersey — Lord Cornwallis in pursuit — Congress adjourns to Baltimore — General Charles Lee taken prisoner — Sullivan exchanged — Takes his place — Washington's great victoiy at Trenton — Movement on Princeton — General Mercer killed — Congress returns to Philadelphia — Marquis de Lafayette — General Tryon in Connecticut — Death of General Woosler — Major Barton's capture of General Pres- cott — A sword and colonel's commission voted him by Congress — Flag of the United States adopted — General Burgoyne gives a war-feast to the Indians — Attacks Ticonderoga — Generals Lin- coln, Arnold and Morgan — Miss Jane McCrea — Battle of Bennington — General Gates — Burgoyne's defeat — Battle of Brandywine — Lafayette wounded —Count Pulaski — Congress retreats to York, Penn- sylvania — Battle of Germantown — Battles nt Red Bank — British defeated — Forts Mifflin and Mercer taken by the British — British take winter-quarters in Philadelphia, and Washington at Valley Forge 229 CHAPTER II. war of the revolution — continued. (1778— 1779.) Commissioners sent from Great Britain with propo- sals for reconciliation — These rejected except upon conditions — Treaty with France — Count D'Es- taing — Clinton moves from Philadelphia towards New York — Battle of Monmouth — Harsh words of Washington to Cnarles Lee — Winter-quarters at Middlebrook, N. J. — D'Estaing on coast of Virginia — Wyoming massacre — Cherry Valley massacre — Movement against Savannah under Colonel Campbell and Admiral Parker — Savannah taken — Attack on Port Royal — Colonel Boyd moves from Ninety-six to Wilkes county, Georgia, with regiment — Met by Colonel Pickens and Lieu- tenant-Colonel E. Clarke, commanding militia — Battle of Kettle Creek — Boyd mortally wounded — His command routed — Generosity of Pickens — General Ashe defeated on Brier Creek by General Prevost — Affair at Stony Ferry — General Tryon in Connecticut — General Putnam's memorable exploit — Marauding expedition in Virginia — General Clinton on the Hudson — Capture of Stony Point and Verplanck's Point — General Anthony Wayne recaptures Stony Point — Major Henry Lee's achievement at Paulus Hook — General Sullivan at Elmira — Brilliant victory — Count D'Estaing with his fleet near Savannah — General Lincoln in con- cert lays siege to that city — Great battle in which Count Pulaski and Sergeant Jasper fall — Siege raised — Lincoln moves his forces to Charleston — Paul Jones' brilliant exploit at sea — Close of opera- tions of 1779 — Coldest winter ever known in America — Renewed preparations in England for campaign of 17S0 243 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. war OF THE revolution — continued. (I7S0.) The fall of Charleston — (General Lincoln and the whole Southern army prisoners of war — 19th and 20th of May "the dark days" — Colonel Daven- port in the Connecticut Legislature — Uaitle of Cam- den — Defeat of Gates — The death of Baron De Kalb — Sumter, Marion, and Pickens, of South Carolina, and Clarke, of Georgia — Battle of Fish- ing Creek — Cornwallis at Charlotte, North Caro- lina — Battle of King's Mountain — Defeat of the British — Sumter's victory at Fish Dam Ferry — Known as "Game-Cock" — Francis Marion the "Swamp Fox" — French fleet at Newport, Rhode Island, by Count De Rochambeau — Treason of Benedict Arnold — Major Andre detected and exe- cuted as a spy — War declared by England against Holland — Large preparations made by England for operations by sea and land for 178 1 252 CHAPTER IV. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED. THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE THIRTEEN STATES SEVERALLY AC- KNOWLEDGED. (1781-1783.) Sufferings of Washington's army — Meeting of the Pennsylvania line — Their patriotic course — Relief provided by Congress — Patriotism of Robert Mor- ris — Arnold, the traitor, in Virginia — General Phillips on the Chesapeake — General Greene in command of the Southern army — Adroit move- ments of Greene — Battle of Cowpens — Victory of the patriots — Anecdote of Tarleton and Mrs. Willie Jones — Movements of Cornwallis — Greene's safe retreat — Battle of Guilford, without decided remits— Movements of Lord Rawdon in South Carolina — Capture of Fort Watson by the partisan chieftains— Battle of Eutaw Springs — Up-country of South Carolina abandoned by the British — Great outrage of Lord Rawdon in the execution of Hayne — Movements of Lord Cornwallis — Marquis de La- fayette — Cornwallis at Vorktown — Washington's quick movements from the north — Cornwallis be- •1 at Vorktown— Co operation of French fleet — Surrender of Cornwallis, 19th October — War virtually at an end— The effect in England and United States — Lord North compelled to retire from the lead of the British ministry — Negotia- tions for peace at Paris entered into — Provisional treaty, 17S2 — Final treaty, 3d September, 17S3 — Remarks on the provisional treaty — John Adams, first minister — Oglethorpe the first nobleman to call on him 261 CHAPTER V. PROGRESS OF EVENTS. (17S3-1787.) General joy on return of peace with liberty — New troubles arise — Distresses of the army — Officers and men without pay — Congress without money — Washington continues headquarters at Newburgh, N. V. — Discontent among a class of officers — The artful attempt at mutiny — The most critical period in the history of the United Slates — A most in- flammatory address circulated among the officers anonymously — Washington's action in regard to it — Calls a meeting of all the general field officers on 15th of March, 1783 — His great speech on that occasion — Saves public liberty at the time — Congress provides means for the immediate wants of the army — City of New York evacuated by the British — Washington's farewell to his ofricirs — Goes to Annapolis, where the Congress is in session — Resigns his commission, 23d December, 17S3 — Another trouble, the scarcity of money — The paper currency depreciated until worthless — To meet the interest on the public debt, heavy taxes necessary — The States unable to raise them — In Massachusetts jealousy arises on the part of those who had fought in the war against those who had become rich by speculations during the same period — Shay's rebellion, about which so much error has been written — Movement made to amend the articles of confederation — The basis on which quotas of States were to be levied to be changed from value of real estate to the number of popu- lation — A three-fifths principle proposed by Con- gress, but not ratified by the States — Proposition to amend Constitution on subject of foreign com- merce — Not ratified by the States — Virginia calls a general convention of the States — Congress adopts this suggestion — A general convention called for the second Monday in May, 1787 — The ordinance of 1787 269 CHAPTER VI. THE ACTION OF THE SEVERAL STATES UPON THE CALL FOR THE GENERAL FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1 787. The full responses of twelve of the States to the call, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connacticut, CONTENTS. xV New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- lina, and Georgia, with credentials of their dele- gates — Rhode Island makes no response — The importance of these responses as historic facts. 279 CHAPTER VII. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1 787. Distinguished men composing the body — Nationals and Federals — Randolph, Madison, Wilson, and Hamilton lead the Nationals — Patterson, Pinck- ney, Johnson, Sherman, Bedford, and Ellsworth lead the Federals — The contest was whether the government should continue under the Federal Union as States, or the sovereignly of all the States merge into a consolidated single Republic — The Federals triumphed — The revised Constitution adopted unanimously by twelve States — Changes made in it, quite as important in regard to new machinery and division of powers, as in the grant of new powers — The character of the government not changed — De Tocqueville's and Lord Broug- ham's views of the new system 292 CHAPTER VIII. AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION AS FRAMED AND SUBMITTED BY THE CONVENTION AND THE CONGRESS TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE STATES FOR THEIR RATIFICATION. Consists of: Mutual covenants, and delegations of power, as did the Articles of Confederation — No change in the nature of the government — The new feature of the three-fifths Federal ratio of representation fully explained — Great and grave popular errors refuted — History of the clause — Speech of John Adams on the first Article of Con- federation in 1776 — Discussion in the Continental Congress in 1783, when the three-fifths ratio was adopted — In the Federal Convention of 1787 — It was received nem. con. — View of the new restraints imposed on the States, as well as new covenants — The document shows it was Federal in its every feature 303 CHAPTER IX. THE ACTION OF THE SEVERAL STATES UPON THE CONSTITUTION, WHEN SUBMITTED TO THEM UNDER THE REQUEST OP THE CON- VENTION AND THE ORDER OF CONGRESS, AND HOW IT WAS CONSIDERED BY THEM AT THE TIME OF THEIR RESPECTIVE RATIFICA- TIONS. THE DEBATES IN THE STATES, AND COMMENTS ON THEM 314 CHAPTER X. ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. (1789—1797.) Inauguration at New York, 30th April, 1789 — Hon- ors to him en route from Mount Vernon — Grand display at Trenton — The Governor's attentions — • Committee of Congress meets him — The barge of "thirteen oars" symbolical — First session of Congress under the new organization — The first Cabinet — First Supreme Court Judges — Measures adopted — The Assumption and Funding Bill — Jefferson's report on the mint and decimal denomi- nations of money — The division of parties on construction, not on slavery — Resolution of the House on slavery not sectional — Hamilton in the Treasury Department — United States Bank char- tered — The Apportionment Bill — Party lines drawn on it — First bill vetoed by Washington — Central- ists and Republicans — Accession of North Carolina; also of Rhode Island — Permanent seat of govern- ment fixed — Indian war west of Ohio — Treaty of peace with the Creeks — General St. Clair — Sur- prised and defeated with great loss — Admission of Vermont and Kentucky — Organization of militia — Whiskey insurrection — Washington's unanimous re-election — M. Genet — Washington's proclama- tion of neutrality — M. Fauchet — Efeventh amend- ment to the Constitution — Jefferson's celebrated report, and retirement from office — General Wayne in the northwest — Defeats the Indians and lays waste their country on the Maumee — Treaty of peace made — Jay's treaty — Opportune and bene- ficial to United States — Treaty with Spain — Boundary settled — Hamilton's last celebrated re- port, and retirement from office — M. Adet — Wash- ington's reply to his address — Tennessee admitted into the Union — Washington's farewell address — Candidates for President and Vice-President — John Adams elected President, and Thomas Jeffer- son Vice-President — Comments on Washington's administration — Great prosperity 362 CHAPTER XI. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS. (4th March, 1797 — 4th March, 1801.) Inauguration — Cabinet of Washington retained — Relations with France more complicated — Extra CONTEXTS. session of Congress convened — President author- ized to call out militia — Stamp duties imposed — Unpopular with the people — Pinckney, Gerry, and Marshall sent special envoys to France — The " X. Y. /.." correspondence — Pinckncy's e x pr ess ion, " Millions for defence, not a cent for tribute" — Fail- ure of mission — All treaties with France abrogated — Cities on fhe coast fortified — Navy Department created — Benjamin Stoddert appointed Secretary — Alien and Sedition Acts — Great popular excitement and alarm — War with France threatening — Wash- ington appointed Lieutenant-General — Naval en- gagements — Washington's last presence in the House of Representatives — Anotherattempttoavert war by negotiations — Three new Envoys appointed — Napoleon in power in Fiance — Treaty of peace made — Washington's death — Honors paid to his memory — Presidential election in 1800 — Excite, ment over the Alien and Sedition Acts — Prosecu- tion of Matthew Lyon — While in prison elected to Congress — Prosecution of Thomas Cooper — Trial of James T. Callender — Indictment of Jared Peck — Principles of Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1 798-9, and Madison's report thereon — Platform of Republicans in the canvass — The Federal can- didates, Adams and Pinckney — The Republican candidates, Jefferson and Burr — The result of the votes— Election made by the States in the House of Representatives — Thirty-six ballotings — Jeffer- son finally elected President and Burr Vice-Presi- dent — Retirement of Adams — Subsequent life and his death on the fiftieth anniversary of the Inde- pendence of the United States — His last words, " Jefferson survives." 379 CHAPTER XII. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. (4th of March, 1S01 — 4th of March, 1809.) Jefferson inaugurated at Washington City, in the fifty- eighth year of his age — Great anxiety to hear his inaugural — Serious apprehensions from what was supposed to be his French principles — His inaugu- ral — Gives general satisfaction — The obnoxious measures of preceding administration repealed — Cmvicts under Sedition Act pardoned — Elections of 1S01 favorable to the administration— Majority in both Houses — Acquisition of Louisiana — Letter nf Jefferson to Dr.Priesltyon the subject— Cession by Georgia in 1802, consummated in 1803 — Twelfth amendment of the Constitution ratified — War with Tripoli — Commodore Preble, Commodore Barron — Treaty of peace — Presidential election of 1S04 — Duel of Burr and Hamilton — Relations with England and France threatening — British orders in council — Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees — The affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake — British government disavow the act of the offi- cers of the Leopard — The Embargo Act — Presi- dential election, 1S0S — Voles of the States — Re- peal of the Embargo — Retirement of Mr. Jeffer- son, with a popularity unsurpassed 388 CHAPTER XIII. ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON — FIRST TERM. (4th of March, 1809 — 4th of March, 1813.) His Cabinet — Sketch of his character — A National in the Federal Convention, but afterwards Repub- lican — Intimate political and personal friend of Mr. Jefferson — The Non-Intercourse Act — Repre- sentation of Mr. Erskine, British Minister — About the orders in council — Proclamation of the Presi dent in consequence — The assurance of Erskine disavowed by his Government — He is recalled and Mr. Jackson sent in his place — Correspondence soon ceases with him — Congress convened — Senti- ment for war — Assurance from France that their Berlin and Milan decrees were revoked — Presi- dent's proclamation — Orders in Council persisted in — Commodore Rogers on the frigate President repels an insult from the officers of the British sloop-of-war Little Bt.lt — This arouses popular enthusiasm — The cry of " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights" — The young leaders on the Republican side, Clay, Calhoun, Cheeves and Lowndes, for war — The Cabinet divided — War feeling increased by Indian outbreaks — General William Henry Harrison — Battle of Tippecanoe — Increase of the army and navy voted — John Henry, British agent — Burning of Richmond theatre, I Si 1 — Great earth- quake of 1812 — Louisiana admitted into the Union — Death of George Clinton, Vice-President — Declaration of war, iSlh of June, 1812 — Presi- dential election — The candidates and result — Sev- eral Republicans oppose declaration of war — John Randolph prominent in opposition — Admiral War- ren's proposition for cessation of hostilities — Nothing comes of it 399 CHAPTER XIV. ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON — SECOND TERM. (4th of March, 1813 — 4th of March, 1817.) Two changes in the Cabinet — War prosecuted with a view to the conquest of Canada — Not much ex- CONTENTS. xvli pected from the navy — Generals Dearborn, Hull, Van Renssalaer — Surrender of Detroit by Hull — Lewis Cass — Hull court-martialed and sentenced to be shot — His life spared — General William Henry Harrison succeeds Hull — Battle of Queens- town — Van Renssalaer resigns — General Smyth succeeds him and resigns — Splendid naval victory of Captain Isaac Hull — Constitution versus Guer- riere — Naval victory of Captain Porter, of the Essex, over the Alert — Naval victory of Captain Jones, in command of the Wasp, over the Frolic — Captain Decatur, in command of the frigate United States, captures the Macedonia — Commo- dore Bainbridge on the Constitution captures the Java — Exploits of United States privateers — Medi- ation offered by Emperor Alexander — Accepted and Commissioners appointed — Meeting of the Thirtieth Congress — Supplies raised by taxes and loan — Invasion of Canada still the leading object — Another campaign with this view — Slaughter of United States prisoners at Frenchtown — Battle of York, or Toronto — General Pike falls — Defence of Fort Meigs by Harrison — Defence of Fort Sandusky by Croghan — Battle of Sackett's Har- bor — Capture of British Fort George — Battle of Lake Erie — Splendid victory of Commodore Perry — Battle of the Thames — Tecumseh killed — Gen- eral Harrison resigns — Wilkinson succeeds — Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama — Massacre at Fort Mines — Generals Floyd, of Georgia, and Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee — Battles of Cal- labee and Autossee — Battle of Tallusahatchee — Battle of Talladega — Jackson's victory — Battle of the Horse Shoe Bend — Jackson's great victory, and with it a treaty of peace with the Indians — Witherford's speech — Victories of the infant navy — Lawrence on the Hornet over the Peacock — United States reverses — Loss of the Chesapeake — Fall of Lawrence — His last words — United States brig Argus captured by the Pelican — United States brig Enterprise captures British brig Boxer — Gallant exploit of Porter on United States frigate Essex — British Admiral George Cockburn on Chesapeake bay — Mediation of Russia rejected by British government, but proposition made fo'" negotiations for peace — Offer accepted — Commis- sioners appointed — Ghent agreed upon as a place of meeting — Campaign of 1814 — Battle of Chip- pewa — Battle of Lundy's Lane — Scott distin- guished — Battle of Fort Erie — Battle of Plattsburg -Great victory of Commodore McDonough — Battle of Bladensburg — British take possession of Washington — Bombardment of Fort McHenry — Francis Key and the " Star-Spangled Banner" — Death of Vice-President Gerry — Disaffection in the New England States — Hartford Convention — The great battle and victory at New Orleans — Treaty of peace with England — Naval war with Algiers — Decatur soon brings the Dey to terms — Treaty of peace with that power — Another bank of the United States chartered — Indiana admitted into the Union — Presidential election of 1816 — Candidates of the respective parties — Result of the election — Monroe and Tompkins chosen President and Vice-President— Retirement of Mr. Madison — Condition of the country 406 CHAPTER XV. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE FIRST AND SECOND TERMS. (4th of March, 1817— 4th of March, 1825.) His Cabinet — The " era of good feeling " — Internal tax abolished — Pension act passed — Admission of Mississippi — Seminole War — General Jackson in Florida — Ambrister and Arbuthnot tried and ex- ecuted by court-martial — Jackson's course approved — Illinois admitted into the Union— Alabama ad- mitted into the Union — Maine admitted into the Union — The Missouri Compromise — Missouri ad- mitted into the Union — Treaty with Spain, by which East and West Florida were ceded to the United States and all claims of Spain on the Pacific coast north of 42 north latitude — Organi- zation of the Seventeenth Congress — Split in the Republican party — Protective tariff and internal improvements by the general government — Mr. Clay the author of the "American System " — The President's able paper on internal improvements — Independence of Mexico and five South American States acknowledged and recognized — The Monroe doctrine announced — Visit of Lafayette — Honors paid him — Presidential election of 1824 — The candidates, and result of the vote by the Colleges — No one chosen President — The election decided by the States in the House — John Quincy Adams chosen President— John C. Calhoun elected Vice- President by the Colleges 422 CHAPTER XVI. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. (4th of March, 1825—4111 of March, 1829.) Great ability and experience of the new President — Jeffersonian Republican — One of the United States Commissioners— Treaty of peace at Ghent — His position on the Missouri question— Mr. Adams' Cabinet — Controversy with Georgia on the old and new treaty with the Creeks— Policy of Governor CONTENTS. Troup, of Georgia, carried out — General Jackson Dominated for the Presidency by the Legislature of Tennessee — He accepts the nomination, and re- tires from the Senate — First session of the Nineteenth ress, December 25th — Debates become bitter — McDuffie, of South Carolina, on Mr. Clay — I'rimble, of Kentucky, in reply — Investigation called (or — Clay vindicated — The Panama mission — Internal improvements discussed with warmth — New party lines distinctly marked — The death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — Funeral cer- emonies in memory of the honored dead — Elections to Twentieth Congress in favor of the opposition — The protective policy the absorbing question — The tariff bill of 1S28 passed — Known as the " Kill of Abominations" — Presidential election of 1S28 — The candidates, and result of the election — General Jackson the recognized head of the Democratic party — Mr. Clay the leader of the National Repub- licans 442 CHAPTER XVII. ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. (4th of March, 1829 — 4th of March, 1837.) Large attendance at inauguration — Krief sketch of the man — Always Jeffersonian Republican — First Cabinet — Removal of Indians — Debate between Hayne and Webster — Veto of Maysville Road Kill — Rupture between Jackson and Calhoun — Reorganization of Cabinet — Death of President Monroe — National Republicans' Convention — Nomination of Clay and Sergeant — Anti-Masonic convention — Nominations of Wirt and Ellmaker — John Quincy Adams returns to the House; Clay and Calhoun to the Senate — Rill to rechartcr 15. ink of the United States vetoed— Tariff bill of 1832— The cholera — War with the Winnebagoes — Klack Hawk — General Scott — First general convention of that wing of Jeffersonian Republicans styling themselves Democratic — The two-thirds rule — General result of election — Jackson re-elected lent, and Van Kuren chosen Vice-President — Vote by Slate-. — Nullification ordinance in South Carolina— Jackson'.-, celebrated proclamation — Me- diation of Virginia — Mr. Clay's compromise of '833 — The principle of protection abandoned — Clay's bill accepted by South Carolina — Fnd of the Nullification imbroglio — Debate between Calhoun and Webster— Removal of public deposits — Cal- houn, Clay, and Webster, "the great trio," united in opposition to the administration— Name of Whig assumed by combined op|>osition— Kenton and Forsyth sustain administration — The protest— The meteoric shower— Death of Chief-Justice Marshall — Extreme winter of 1834-35 — Great fire in New Vork — Seminole war — Arkansas and Michigan admitted into the Union — Death of Madison — Presidential election of 1834 — Result of the vote — General Jackson's retirement — Farewell ad- dress 446 CHAPTER XVIII. ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. (4th of March, 1837— 4th of March, 1S41.) His inauguration — Accompanied by General Jackson — The new Cabinet — Great financial panic of 1837 — Extra session of Congress — Sub- Treasury system — Seminole war — Colonel Zachary Taylor — Os- ceola — Flag of truce violated by General Jessup — Agitation of slavery — Resolutions of Mr. Calhoun, 1837 — Analysis of the votes on them — Request of James Smithson — Atherton's resolutions in the House — Analysis of the votes on them — Presi- dential election of 1840 — The candidates and result of election — Retirement of Van Kuren — Tribute to his administration 45S CHAPTER XIX. ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. (4th of March, 1841 — 4th of March, 1S45.) Inauguration scenes — Harrison, a Jeffersonian Repub- lican — Extract from his inaugural — The new Cabi- net — Extra session of Congress called — Death of Harrison — John Tyler, Vice-President, becomes President — Twenty-seventh Congress known as the Whig Congress — Tyler a strict constructionist — Di- vision of Whig party — Resignation of all the Cabi- net except Webster — The new Cabinet — Repeal of Sub-Treasury Act and an act of bankruptcy estab- lished — Clay, the leader of the Whigs, opposed to the administration — Rives and Wise, of Virginia, the defenders of the President — Scene in the House on motion to censure Mr. Adams for presenting the petition for the dissolution of the Union — Mr. Clay retires from the Senate — The Tariff Bill of 1842 — The great treaty of Washington — The Dorr rebellion in Rhode Island — Mr. Webster's retire- ment from the Cabinet — Other changes in the Cabi- net — Mr. Adams' Pittsburgh speech in November, 1843 — The Twenty-eighth Congress largely Dem- ocratic — Repeal of the 2 1st Rule — The accident on the Princeton — Death of two members of the cabinet — Mr. Calhoun made Secretary of State — Treaty with Texas rejected by the Senate — Presi- dential election of 1844 — The candidates and the result — The Texas question absorbs all others in CONTENTS. the canvass — On second session of Twenty-eighth Congress divers plans for the annexation of Texas — Milton Brown's resolution — Benton's alternate proposition — Brown's adopted — Tyler's retirement — His administration 469 CHAPTER XX. THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. (1774— 1845.) Early settlements — Jesuit missionaries — The erection of a chain of forts by Spain — Moses Austin's colony — His son, Stephen F., succeeds him — Con- dition of Texas during Colonial existence — Act of the Cortes of the Mexican Republic, May, 1824 — Emigration increased — Bustamente's usurpation — Santa Anna, Dictator — Stephen F. Austin arrested and imprisoned — War by Mexico against Texas — Austin's release and speech — Resistance by Texas organized — Battle at Gonzales — Texan victory at Goliad — Constitutional Convention — General Sam Houston — Successful siege of Bexar — Mexicans driven from the Territory — Santa Anna renews the war — The massacre of Alamo — David Crockett killed — Santa Anna attacks Goliad and kills all the prisoners after surrender — The battle of San Jacinto — Texas triumphant — Santa Anna captured — Independence achieved — Milton Brown's prop- osition for admission into the Federal Union of the United States accepted 479 CHAPTER XXI. ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. (4th of March, 1845 — 4th of March, 1849.) The Ipaugural, with the scenes attending it — The new Cabinet — Dismissal of Blair and Rives, as the organ of the administration — The Mexican min- ister withdraws from Washington — General Taylor ordered to Texas with 5,000 troops — Death of Gen- eral Jackson — Twenty-ninth Congress largely Dem- ocratic — Texas admitted as a State in the Union — Whig tariff of 1842 repealed — New tariff passed, without the protective principle — Sub-Treasury bill re-enacted — Smithsonian Institute established — Notice to terminate the joint occupation of Oregon given — French spoliation bill passed and vetoed — General Taylor moves from Corpus Christi to the Rio del Norte — Massacre of Captain Thornton's Company — Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — War with Mexico declared — 50,000 vol- unteers called out — $ 10,000,000 appropriated — Generals Taylor, Kearney, and Wood — Monterey captured — Kearney at Santa Fe — Colonel Don- ovan, and his exploits — Colonel Fremont on the Pacific coast — Battle of Buena Vista — Great victory by Taylor — General Scott at Vera Cruz and on the road to Mexico — Battle of Cerro Gordo — Victory by Twiggs — General Worth at Pueblo — Battles and Victories of Contreras and Churubuscu — Battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec — Capture of Mexico — Treaty of Guadaioupe-Hidalgo — The Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Burke's amendment to Or- egon bill — Mr. Calhoun's resolutions of 1847 — Wisconsin admitted into the Union — Presidential election of 1848 — Candidates, and result of elec- tion — Gold mines of California — Immense immi- gration — Retirement of Mr. Polk — His adminis- tration 485 CHAPTER XXII. ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. (4th of March, 1849 — 22 & of December, 1849.) The Allison letters — The inaugural and attending scenes — New cabinet — First object of attention — Affairs and condition of things in the Territory of California — Thomas Butler King's mission — Death of ex-President James K. Polk — Meeting of Thirty- first Congress, December, 1 849 — Great excitement in the House over the election of Speaker — No party had the majority — The Whig caucus — Some Southern Whigs refused to support the nominee, Mr. Winters — Howell Cobb, of Georgia, nominated by the Democrats — Gentry voted for by some Southern Whigs — Exciting debates in the House — Speeches of Duer, Bailey, Toombs, Stanton and others— A rule adopted cutting off debate — Toombs' denunciation of it — Plurality rule adopted for the election of the Speaker — Howell Cobb finally elected under it, his vote being nine less than a majority 496 CHAPTER XXIII. Taylor's administration — continued — fill- more's accession to the presidency. (December, 1847, to September, 1850.) The great trio in the Senate again — Calhoun, Clay, and Webster — Clay takes the lead on the sectional question — His great speech and proposed com- promise — Contest in the House over Doty's bill — . Position of a few Southern Whigs — Conference at the Speaker's house — John A. McClernand leading — Toombs' speech — Calhoun's speech — Webster's 7th of March speech — Bell's speech in the Senate — Calhoun's death — Excitement in the House, CONTENTS. 14th and 15th of June — Action of the Senate, 17th of Jane — Webster's speech on that day in the Senate — Clayton-Bulwer treaty— Death of Presi- dent Taylor— Accession to the Presidency of Mr. Fillmore, the Vice-President— Taylor's cabinet re- signed — The new cabinet appointed by Fillmore — Mr. Webster transferred from the Senate to the State Department — Mr. Clay's "Omnibus" bill — Its final disposition — In the Senate as well as the House — Full account of the exciting scenes in the House and the final action upon it — Analysis of the votes 5 ' * CHAPTER XXIV. FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION continued. (September, 1850— 4th of March, 1853.) Second session of Thirty-first Congress, December, 1850 — The country comparatively quiet — Mr. Fill- more's message meets with general favor — Im- portant decision of Speaker Cobb on the subject of Federal time — The adjustment measures of 1850 not universally acquiesced in in the South — Conventions called in several States — South Caro- lina, Georgia, Mississippi — Georgia platform of 1850 — Elections in 185 1 in Georgia and Missis- sippi — Laying corner-stone of the capitol extension, 4th of July, 1S51 — Mr. Clay's death and funeral — Lopez's second expedition and disastrous results — Giinnell's second expedition to the Arctic Seas in search of Sir John Franklin — The elections to Thirty-second Congress favorable to the adjust- ment measures — Lynn Boyd, the leading advocate of the measures, chosen Speaker by a large major- ity — Presidential election in fall of 1852 — Party platforms, with candidates and results of elections — Death of Mr. Webster — Retirement of Mr. Fill- more after the 4th of March, 1853 533 CHAPTER XXV. ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE. (4th of March, 1853—4111 of March, 1S57.) The inaugural scenes — Pierce a most accomplished orator — New cabinet — Acquisition of Arizona — 1 hange the arena of their operations — Act of Congress nullified by State laws — Personal liberty bills — Resistance in the Douse to the pas- of the Nebraska bill — Mr. Sumner le opposition to it — The charge that it was a violation of the Missouri Compromise— Not so in fact — It only carried out in good faith the settlement of 1850 — Bill passed by large majorities, with Kansas added — Whig party becomes extinct — Armed re- sistance organized in the Territory — The Kansas war — The "Know-Nothing" organization — In Thirty-fourth Congress no party has a majority — Nathaniel P. Banks elected Speaker under plurality rule — Slavery agitation at its highest pitch — Presi dential election in fall of 1S54 — The candidates and result of election — Buchanan chosen President and Breckinridge Vice-President — Tariff of 1857 — Bill to admit Kansas as a State — Retirement of Mr. Pierce 541 CHAPTER XXVI. ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. (4th March, 1857 — 4th November, i860.) The inaugural — The new cabinet — The troubles in Utah and Kansas — The Mormons — Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston's expedition against them — Su- preme court decision in the Dred- Scott case — Against the constitutionality of territorial restric- tion of slavery by Congress — The old Missouri line null and void from the beginning — Denunciations against the chief-justice by agitators for the deci- sion — Affairs in Kansas — Commission of Robert J. Walker — Lecompton constitution tolerating slavery — Excitement in both Houses of Congress — Dis- agreement upon the admission of Kansas — Com- mittee of conference — Matter adjusted — Minnesota admitted — Mormon war ended — The sub-marine telegraph — Messages across the Atlantic — The great comet of 1858 — Oregon admitted — Death of Washington Irving — John Brown's raid in Virginia — His seizure of Harper's Ferry — Arrested, tried, and executed — Thirty-sixth Congress meets De- cember, 1859 — Sectional agitation intense — Mr. Davis' resolutions in the Senate — Passed by over- whelming majorities — Presidential election of 1S60 — Candidates and result of election — Abraham Lincoln constitutionally chosen — Excitement in the Southern States — Conventions called 547 CHAPTER XXVII. BUCHANAN' S ADMINISTRATION — continued. (4th November, 1S60— 4th February, 1S61.) South Carolina passes ordinance of secession— Its language, and reasons assigned for it — Breach of faith on the part of thirteen Northern States, in the matter of the rendition of fugitives from service — Refusal of the State of I mio and Iowa to return fugitives fr.mi justice — In the matter of the John Brown raid — The meeting of the second session of the Thirty-sixth Congress, December, i860— CONTENTS. > Conciliatory message of the President — While he denied the right of the State to secede, he also de- nied the power of Congress, under the Constitu- tion, to coerce the withdrawing State — Proposition ' of Mr. Crittenden for compromise by constitutional amendment — This meets with no favor from the agitators — Telegram of Mr. Davis, Toombs, and others to the people of the Soutnern States, advis- ing secession — Speech of Mr. Toombs in the Sen- ate, 7th January, 1S61 559 CHAPTER XXVIII. Buchanan's administration — continued. (4th November, i860 — 4th February, 1861.) Events in Georgia — Old champions of the Union now for secession — Toombs, the brothers Cobb, Thomas W. Thomas, and others — Speech of Alexander H. Stephens, before the State Legislature, November 14th, 1S60 — The secession convention, 16th Janu- ary, 1861 — The speech of Alexander H. Stephens in that body — Position of Herschel V. Johnson — Ordinance of secession passed — Linton Stephens' resolutions — State sends delegates to the Mont- gomery convention — Alexander H. Stephens one of the 1 * delegates — Resolution offered by him, and adopted before his acceptance of the trust ... 570 CHAPTER XXIX. Buchanan's administration — conti?iued. (4th of February, 1861 — 4th of March, 1861.) The Peace Congress — Twenty-one States represented — Mr. Chase appears as a delegate from Ohio — His speech — Its effect — Unequivocally declares that the party that elected Mr. Lincoln never would regard the decisions of the Supreme Court, upon the subject of the powers of Congress to ex- clude slavery in the Territories; and that they never would comply with their obligations under the Constitution to return fugitives from service — The result of the Congress was to widen instead of healing the breach between the sections — The moral view of slavery — Was it a sin or not? — Dr. Diaper's view of what the Southern States had to contend against — Invitation of South Carolina for Southern Congress to meet nt Montgomery, the 4th of February, 1861 — The assemblage of that Con- gress — The States represented — Provisional gov- ernment organized for a year — Officers elected under it — Jefferson Davis, President— Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President — The provisional and permanent Constitution adopted — The changes in these from the Philadelphia Constitution of 1787 — All conservative — Mr. Davis' inaugural address — His Cabinet — Commissioners sent to Washington — Commission of South Carolina — Mr. Buchanan's refusal to receive them officially — Spirited conver- sation between him and them, which was abruptly broken off by him — Major Robert Anderson dis- mantles Fort Moultrie, spikes the guns, and se- cretly at night takes possession of Fort Sumter — Changes in the Cabinet at Washington — Mr. Cobl>, General Cass, Mr. Floyd, Mr. Thompson, retire — The country in a most unsettled condition — Mr. Buchanan's retirement 589 CHAPTER XXX. ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. (4th March, 1S61 — 1st January, 1862.) His inaugural — The Cabinet — Confederate Commis- sioners' note to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State — His reply to Judge Campbell, of the Supreme Court — Commissioners deceived — Fleet fitted out at New York to relieve Sumter in violation of pledge given the Commissioners — Commissioners leave Washington — Judge Campbell resigns place on Supreme Couit bench — Bombardment of Fort Sumter — Beauregard commands Confederate forces — Major Robert Anderson commands the Federal garrison — Anderson capitulates — President Lin- coin issues proclamation for 75,000 troops and for an extra session of Congress — Charge on the Fed- eral side that the Confederates had begun the war — Confederates maintain that the war was begun when the hostile fleet was sent to reinforce Fort Sumter, " peaceably, if permitted, but forcibly, if necessary" — "The aggressor in a war not the force who uses force, but the first who renders force necessary" — President Lincoln's call for troops met by a similar call by the government at Mont- gomery for volunteers to repel aggressions — Presi- dent Lincoln's call without authority of law — Creates great excitement in the border States — Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkan- sas secede from the Federal Union and join the Confederate — Riot in Baltimore — A second and third proclamation by President Lincoln, ordering a blockade of the ports of the seceded Siau s, and increasing the regular army and the navy without authority of law — These were succeeded by a fourth, suspending habeas corpus in certain locali- ties — Great number of citizens arrested — The case of John Merryman — The decision of the chief- justice defied by the military — Lettres de Cachet COAV£.YTS. by cabinet officers — Mr. Seward's remark to Lord Lyons — Seat of Confederate government trans- ferred to Richmond — The death of Stephen A. Douglxs — His last words — Opposed to the policy of Mr. Lincoln — Federal Congress meets 4th July — His las! speech in the Senate — President Lin- coln's acts not legalized, but excused by the Fed- eral Congress — 525,000 men and $500,000,000 appropriated by Federals to prosecute the war — Heath of Ellsworth at Alexandria — Engagements at Grafton, 1'hillipi, Big Bethel, Rich Mountain, Laurel Hill, Carrick'l Ford, Acary Creek, and the fiist great battle of Manassas — Confederate Con- gress at Richmond — Toombs resigns Secretaryship of State — Appointed brigadier-general — Robert M. T. Hunter succeeds him — General Scott re- lieved from further active duty — His place filled by McClellan — Victories of Federals in North Carolina — Victory of Confederates at Leesburg and at Cheat Mountain Pass — Federals take Fort Royal, South Carolina — State of things in Mis- souri — Confederate victories at Carthage and Oak Hill — General Lyon killed — General Price takes Lexington — Battle at Belmont — Confederate elec- tions for President and Nice-President, under con- stitution for permanent government — General Rob- ert Lee assigned to duty for South Carolina and Georgia — The affair of the Trent — Siidell and Mason, Confederate commissioners, seized by Cap- tain Wilkes, United States Navy — Federal govern- ment disavows the act — Commissioners released — Provisional government in Kentucky — Confederate privateers — No exchange of prisoners — Every proposition with tl. is object made by Confederates rejected by the Federals — Close of first year of the war 606 CHAPTER XXXI. ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN — continued. ISl January, 1862 — 1st January, 1863.) The Second Year of the War. Comparative numbers of the two sides in the field — Confederates about 300,000, ami Federals about 800,000 — Stanton, Federal Secretary of War — name of operations — Richmond the objective point from Washington — McClellan in command — Of movements southward from under Halleck — Programme of Conic lei 1 h L. Johnston to oppose McClellan— Albert Sidney Johnston, with headquarters at Bowling n, Kentucky, to o| Halleck — First move- ment by Halleck Battle of Fishing Creek, Ken- tucky Defeat of ZollikofTer by George H.Thomas — His death and character — Fall of Forts Henry and Donelson — Retreat of Sydney Johnston from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Corinth, Mississippi — Fall of Nashville, with loss of immense Confed- erate stores — Second inauguration of Mr. Davis a> President, and Mr. Stephens as Vice-President— Federals at Pittsburgh Landing — Battle of Elkhorn —Fall of MeCulloch— Battle of Shiloh— Fall of Sidney Johnston — Confederate victory the first day — Federals get the better the second day — Con- federate force vacates Tupelo, Mississippi — Evac- uation of Fort Pillow — Memphis taken by the Fed- erals — Beauregard succeeded by Bragg in com- mand of the army of the Tennessee — McClellan moves an army of 120,000 against Richmond — Joe Johnston, with 30,000 men only, at Manassas, re- tires before the opposing host — McClellan changes the line of his operations — The Peninsula cam- paign — Stonewall Jackson's valley campaign — Battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and seven days' fighting about Richmond — The defeat of Mc- Clellan — McClellan relieved, and Pope succeeds to command of Federal army — The battle of Cedar Run — Victory of Stonewall Jackson over Banks — The great second battle of Manassas — Brilliant Confederate victory — Lee in command — Federals routed — McClellan restored to the command of the Federal army around Washington — Movement of Bragg into Kentucky — Battlts of Richmond and Perryville, Kentucky — Great victory of E. Kirby Smith — Bragg retires from Murfreesboro, Tennes- see — Rosecrans succeeds Buell in command of Federal army — The bloody drawn battle of Mur- freesboro — Swinton's comments — Lee, after second battle of Manassas, moves into Maryland — Battles of Boonesborough or South Mountain, and Clamp- ion's Gap — Harper's Ferry captured by Stonewall Jackson, with 1 1 ,000 prisoners and immense army s[ore s — The great drawn battle at Sharpsburg, or Antietam — Lee returns to Virginia — The seven governors meet at Altoona — Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation (see Appendix P) — McClellan superseded by Burnside — War prosecuted for emancipation — Battle of Frederick sUirg — Confed- erate victor) — Naval operations for the year — Ro- ...,oke Island captured by Federals — The Virginia, the Confederate iron-clad war vessel, attacks Fed- eral fleet 8th March — McCabe's account of the engagement — Newbern, North Carolina, taken by Federal fleet — Island No. 10, in the Mississippi river, taken by Federals, 7th April — Fort Pulaski taken by Federals, 12th April — Forts Jackson and St. Phillip's, at the mouth of the Mississippi river — Farragut's fleet passed them — New Orleans cap- tured — Fort Mason, in North Carolina, taken by Federal fleet — Attack by Federal fleet, led by monitors, on Confederate works at Drewry's Bluff CONTENTS. — Attack unsuccessful — The Confederate war-ships Florida and Alabama put to sea from English port 631 CHAPTER XXXII. administration of Lincoln — continued. (1st January, 1863 — 1st January, 1864.) Third Year of the War. Plan of Federal campaign two-fold — Capture of Richmond and the opening of the Mississippi river — Hooker's army at Fredericksburg, of 132,000 — Lee confronting him with 50,000 — The great battles .-\bout Chancellorsville — The fall of Stonewall Jackson — The military status on both sides anew in 1863 — General D. Hunter's letter to President Davis, 23d of April, 1863 — The po- litical aspect of affairs at this time — Mr. Stephens' letter to Mr. Davis upon the subject of the ex- change of prisoners — The reply and the result — The battles of Gettysburg and the capitulation of Vicksburg — Giant's movements before the siege and capture of Vicksburg — McCabe's account of it — Wilson's account of it — Admission of West Vir- ginia as a State in the Union — Particulars of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania — Hooker superseded, and Meade takes his place — Particulars of the battles of Gettysburg — Lee retires to Virginia — Sends 5,000 of his troops to aid Bragg in repelling Rosecrans' advance in Georgia — The great battles of Chickamauga, in which Bragg achieved a splendid victory — Longstreet with his forces sent to Knoxville — An unsuccessful assault by him on that place — Grant takes possession of Federal forces about Chattanooga — His great victory on Missionary Ridge — Bragg is relieved and General Joseph E. Johnston takes his place — Naval opera- tions for the year — Fort Sumter battered to ruins, but still held by the Confederates — Close of the third year of the war 690 CHAPTER XXXIII. administration of Lincoln — continued. (1st of January, 1864 — 15th of April, 1S65.) Invasion of Florida — Battle of Oltistee or Ocean Pond — Victory of Confederates — Victory at Oko- lona, Miss., by Forrest — Banks' expedition from New Orleans to Texas — Battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill — Banks' retreat — Events in the East — Cavalry raids of Kilpatrick and Dahl^ren into Virginia — Sherman transferred to Chattanooga — Two campaigns developed by the Federals : one against Richmond, under Grant, and the other against Atlanta, in Georgia — Lee opposed to Grant in Virginia — And Johnston opposing Sherman in Georgia — Gram's plan of movement — Crook's expe- dition up the Kanawha — Sigel in the Shenandoah valley — Butler's movements up the James river, with a view of attacking Petersburg on the south of Rich- mond — Grant's plans — Grant moves on the 4th of May — Lee opposes him, and checks his advance — Battles of Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor — Grant swings around to the James river, and takes position at City Point — Butler's cooperative movements on the south side — Battle of Walthall Junction — Resulted in a victory for the Confederates under Generals Bushrod Johnson and Hagood — Butler's retreat to Bermuda Hundreds, where he was " bottled up" during the remainder of Grant's campaign — Crook and Sigel's defeat in the valley — Battle of New Market — Sigel superseded by Hunter — Battle of Lynchburg — Hunter defeated by Early — Early's expedition into Maryland against Washington — His withdrawal — Battle of Winchester and Cedar Creek — Grant's operations against Petersburg — Powder mine explosion — Events in Georgia — Sherman's advance on Atlanta — Battles of Resaca, New Hope, and Kennesaw — Johnston's masterly strategy — He falls back to Atlanta — And is super- seded by Hood — Battles of Atlanta under Hood — Evacuation of Atlanta — Hood's Tennessee cam- paign — Battles of Franklin and Nashville — Sher- man's grand march to the sea — Engagement at Griswoldville — Naval operations — The Alabama sunk by the Kearsarge — Loss of the Albemarle — Capture of the Florida — Admiral Farragut's expe- dition to reduce the forts at Mobile — Loss of the Confederate ram — Evacuation and capitulation of Forts Powell, Gaines, and Morgan — Expedition of Porter and Butler against Fort Fisher — Terrific bombardment without success — The Shenandoah at sea — Admission of Nevada as a State — Election for President and Vice-President — The candidates, and vote, with result — Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson elected — Thirteenth amendment to the Constitution — Hampton Roads Conference — Second expedition of Admiral Porter against Fort Fisher — The fort falls — Death of General Whiting on the Federal side, and Colonel John T. Lofton, and wounding of Colonel William Lamb, commander of the fort, of the Confederates — Sher- man's march from Savannah through South Caro- lina—Burning of Columbia — Sumter finally passes into the hands of the Federals — General Johnston reinstated — Battle of Averasboro, and Bentonville — Lee's lines broken about Petersburg — Severe battles fought — Lee's surrender — Fall of Richmond — Mr. Davis and cabinet retiring to Danville — The COXTENTS. " Sherman-Johnston" Convention — Assassination of Lincoln — Johnson becomes President — I lation of General Johnston's army — Surrender of E. Kiiby Smith in Texas, on the 26th of May — Mr. Davis arrested — Arrest of Mr. Stephens ami Reagan, ami other prominent Confederates — Sum- mary of losses in the war on both sides — Cavalry exploits 790 CHAPTER XXXIV. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. (15th of April, 1865 — 4th of March, 1S69.) The new President's antecedents — Lincoln's Cabinet continued — Rejection of the " Sherman-Johnston " Convention — Arrest of Mr. Davis, Mr. Stephens, and all the high officials of the Confederate gov- ernment — His proclamation of peace, and proc- lamation fur reconstruction of North Carolina, with the other States — Terms of proclamation com- plied with — Thirteenth Amendment adopted — General Grant's report on the condition of the South— Mr. Stephens elected to the United States Senate from Georgia, on the organization of the State under the Georgia policy — His speech before the Georgia Legislature in 1866 — General Winfield Scott's death — The Johnson Convention in Phila- delphia, August, 1866 — Rupture between the Pres- ident and Congress — New reconstruction measures ! — fourteenth Amendment proposed — Not ratified by the Southern States — New reconstruction bill passed — Passed ever the veto of the President — Government under Johnson's policy overthrown — Southern States divided into five military districts — Writ of //a/has Corpus suspended throughout the whole of them in time of peace — Mr. Davis' release and enlargement on bond — Indictment for treason finally quashed by government without a trial — General pardon proclaimed by Johnson — A limited number excepted — Another Presidential tion — Candidates and result of election — Grant and Colfax elected — Acquisition of Alaska — Death of ex-President Buchanan S38 CHAPTER XXXV. ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. (4th of March, 1S69- -,i'h ol Much, 1877.) Inauguration — Inaugural address — New Cabinet — Changes in it — Forty first ■ meets 4th of March, [869 — District Civil Rights bill passed — Completion of Union Pacific railroad, May 10, 1869 — Death of ex-President Pierce — Death of Edwin M. Stanton — Black Friday in Wall street — Second session Forty-first Congress — Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas readmitted into the Union — Georgia readmitted some time before — Fifteenth Amendment announced ratified, 15th March — Enforcement act of May, 1S70 — Establishment of Signal Service Bureau — Events in Georgia — Stale election of 1870 — Arrest of Judge Stephens for violation of Enforcement act — He speaks in his own defence, before United Slates Commis! Swayze— Indictment against him ignored by Fed- eral grand jury — Amendment of Enforcement act by Congress — Death of General Robert E. I.ee — Repeal of income tax — Repeal of the iron-clad oath — Modified oath substituted for Confederate office-holders — Forty-second Congress — Ackerman succeeds Hoar as Attorney-General — Great number of prosecutions for violation of Enforcement and Ku-Klux acts — Williams succeeds Ackerman — Grant's pardon of convicts in South Carolina — Great fire at Chicago — Immense loss of property and life — Second session Forty-second Congress — Removal of disabilities of 150,000 Southern citi- zens — Modoc war — Massacre of Canby, Thomas, and others — Execution of Captain Jack — Boundary line between United States and England finally settled — Necrology of 1S72 — Presidential election of 1872 — Candidates, with results — Great fire in Boston — Demonetization of silver — Credit M •- bilier Salary grab — Louisiana troubles, growing out of frauds in election in 1872 — President's mes- sage on the subject — Grant's second inaugural — Troubles in Louisiana in September — Great frauds in election there in 1873 — Final settlement of the questions — Great monetary panic of 1873 — Caused, it is believed, by demonetization of silver — Admis- sion of Colorado — Centennial celebration of 1775 — These only preludes to the grand international celebration of the United States — McCabe's account of this — Presidential election of 1S76 — Candidates, and results — Electoral Commission — \\,\y Wheeler declared elected by a majority of one — Grant's retirement 847 CHAPTER XXXVI. ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. (4th of March, 1877— 4th of March, 1 Scenes attending the inaugural addres — < >. th of office — New Cabinet — Composite, able, conserva- tive — Great embarrassments nf the new President 1 — He manages the state of affairs with consummate skill and ability — The (/nasi state of war existing in South Carolina and Louisiana settled — Peace and harmony restored — The President and some of his cabinet visit Atlanta, Georgia, where they receive CONTENTS. an ovation — Great railroad strikes — Nez Perces war — Extra session of Congress called for October — Senate Republican, House Democratic — Randall again chosen Speaker — Death of Senator Morton — Second session of the Forty-fifth Congress assem- bles in December — Important measures of this ses- sion — Relief granted to Southern soldiers of the war of 1812 — Partial remonetization of silver — Provision made for return to specie payments — Presentation and unveiling of Carpenter's picture of Lincoln's signing emancipation proclamation — Speeches of Messrs. Garfield and Stephens — Mone- tary conference at Paris — United States metric coins — Goloid, gold and silver — Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell — The Potter resolutions — Gen- eral Grant's travels and return — Chicago convention of 18S0 — General Grant's name presented for the third term without success — Garfield and Arthur nominated — Democratic convention at Cincinnati, 22d June — Hancock and English nominated — The result of the election — Second session of Forty- fifth Congress — Mr. Hayes' retirement — His ad- ministration one of the wisest and most beneficent of modern times 877 CHAPTER XXXVII. ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. (4th March, 1881, to Dec., 1882.) Inauguration scenes — Grandest pageant ever before witnessed in the United States — The new Cabinet — Troubles in the Republican party — Irreparable breach — The nomination of Robertson for the Col- lectorship at New York — Resignation of Conkling and Piatt — Illness of Mrs. Garfield — Assassination of the President — His suffering and death — Vice- President Arthur becomes President — Funeral of President Garfield — Guiteau, the assassin — His trial, conviction and execution — President Arthur's Cabinet — Mr. Blaine's South American policy — The first session of the Forty-seventh Congress — Blaine's Eulogy on Garfield — The anti-Chinese Bill — The Tariff Commission Bill — The extension of the National Bank charters, with the funding of the 3^ per cent, into 3 per cent, bonds — The Cotton Exposition at Atlanta, Ga. — The conclusion. . 892 APPENDICES. A. — Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. 917 M. B. — Declaration of Independence 917 C. — Articles of Confederation 919 N.- D. — Constitution of United States 922 O.- E., — Stephens on Government 928 P. F. — Washington's Farewell Address 932 G. — Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 937 Virginia Resolutions of 1798 940 H. — Madison's Report 940 I. — Meredith P. Gentry 959 Q. K. — Georgia Platform of 1850 963 R L. — No. 1. Address before the Assembly of Georgia 964 No. 2. Testimony of A. H. Stephens. . . . 970 M. — No. 1. Provisional Constitution Confederate S.- States 976 T. —No. 2. Permanent Constitution Confederate States 980 -Correspondence 985 -Reminiscences of Alexander H. Stephens.. 990 -No. I. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation 994 No. 2. Appointment of Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, as Military Com- missioner to Washington 994 -Destruction of Columbia, S. C 995 -No. 1. The Hampton Roads Conference. . 998 No. 2. Message of President Lincoln on the Hampton Roads Confer- ence 1013 -Speech of Hon. Linton Stephens 1017 -Results of the War 1022 A COMPREHENSIVE AND POPULAR History of the United States. BOOK I.-COLONIAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. (1492— 1506.) The Continent unknown to Europeans until 1492 — The Norwegian explorations and settlements — Eric the Red, of Norway — Lief, the son of Eric, and his explorations — Settlement in Vinland — Christopher Columbus — Sketch of his life and discoveries — Prince Henry, of Portugal — John II., of Portugal — Henry VII., of England — Voyage of 1492 — Discovery of Islands supposed to be part of the East Indies — Colonization of San Do- mingo — Character of the natives of the new con- tinent — The Aztecs, Peruvians, and Chilians — Amerigo Vespucci — Origin of the name of Amer- ica — Death of Columbus. HAT vast area or portion of the earth's surface, now geographi- cally designated as the United States of America, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific stretching across more than twenty-four degrees of North latitude (whereof this history is to treat), was entirely unknown to the enlightened and commercial classes of the Eastern Hemisphere until near the close of the fifteenth century. It is conceded, however, on well-au- thenticated evidence of comparatively recent disclosure, that some Norwegians 2 Ocean, had been cast by storms upon Iceland as early as A. d. 980, and had thence made their way to Greenland ; also that Eric the Red, of Norway, made a settlement in Greenland, a. d. 986; and that Lief a 1 mi ERIC THE RED, OF NORWAY. son of Eric, in a. d. iooo, fitted out a ship from Norway with a crew of thirty- five men ; and, after visiting his father in Greenland, proceeded southward with his explorations : discovered Hcllulaini "7) i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Booh. I., C. I (Slateland), supposed to be what is now highest more modern authorities, it may known as Newfoundland, and advanced now be considered as historically true further southward as far as the coast of that the Norwegians did make their way the present States of Massachusetts and to this continent, and did make some Rhode Island. Several of these author- such explorations and settlements as ities assert that he entered the waters of claimed.f Narragansett Bay, at the head of which Their settlements and colonies, how- the crew landed and built houses for ever, had entirely perished long before, shelter during the winter, and that to and their discoveries and explorations this region he gave the name of Vin- were utterly unknown to men of science land, from the great abundance of vines and learning in Southern Europe, when that were there found. The same au- thorities maintain that this settlement I I Mill I became the nucleus of a colony, which was afterwards reinforced by many new arrivals from the mother country for several years ; but how long it survived or what was its fate is left in uncer- tainty. Columbus, the Genoese navigator, set out on his voyage in search of a new route to India in 1492 ; and, there- fore, the glory of the discovery of the Western Hemisphere, includ- ing North as well as South Amer- ica, which gave such a wonderful stimulus to human progress, is now universally awarded to this illus- trious benefactor of mankind A brief sketch of this distin- guished navigator and his discov- eries, as well as of others quickly following, together with the char- acter of the natives of the New World at the time, and the origin of the name given to the Western Hemisphere, thus brought to the general knowledge of Eastern civ- ilization, is not deemed inappropri- ate to the objects and purposes of the work now in hand. On these points let it suffice, in this connection, here to say that Columbus, accord- ing to the most reliable authorities, was born in Genoa, a city of Italy, in 1435 or 1436. He was of humble parentage. His father was a wool-comber and Until within the last half century, the weaver. He received an elementary fact of any such explorations or settle- education in his native city, and then ments having been made by Northmen, was gravely questioned by several able and erudite historians.* But from the roft, v..]. i., 1. Hildreth, vol. i., 34, spent one year at the University of Pavia, where he studied geometry, as- i Vide Ridpath, and authorities cited, 54. and authorities cited, vol. i., 39. Bryant, DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 19 stronomy, geography, and naviga- tion. At an early age, he evinced a natural taste and a strong desire for a seafaring life. In 1470 he went to Portugal, spending some time in Lisbon. Soon after he married Felipe Monis de Pales- trello, daughter of an Italian gentleman, deceased, who had been a navigator, and who had colonized the island of Porto Santo, and had been governor thereof, under the auspices of Prince Henry, of Portugal, distinguished in that age as a promoter of discovery. In this way the ardent devotee to nav- igation came into possession of the papers of his wife's father, which greatly increased and intensified his strong passion for nautical life and adventure. Columbus, like most of the learned men of Europe at that day, supposed that India, which was known to be in the East, could be reached by sailing due west, without doubling the Cape of Good Hope at the southern extremity of Africa. From observations of the earth's shadow on the moon during eclipses, as well as from other considerations, he, with other advanced thinkers of that period, had reached the conclusion that the earth was round. Hence he rea- soned that, by sailing due west, he would ultimately reach some land be- yond the Western Sea, as the Atlantic Ocean was then styled. Other facts strengthening this convic- tion also incited him to undertake a western exploration. Driftwood floating from the west was sometimes thrown on the coast of the Madeiras, and the dead bodies of two men of an unknown race had also been found upon the coast. The East Indies from the earliest ages had been a mine of wealth to the West- ern nations. But the overland journey was long and toilsome. It was attended with many difficulties and dangers ; and, at this period, it had become a favorite project with Europeans to discover a di- rect passage by sea. It was with a view of opening up this new route to India that Columbus set out on this voyage of exploration. The idea of discovering a new conti- nent formed no part of his enterprise. For aid in the prosecution of his pur- pose, he first made application to the government of Genoa, his native place. Failing in this, he applied to John II., then King of Portugal. This monarch seems to have trifled with him by detaining and entertaining him with hopes at his court for some time, while he privately fitted out an expedition which was intended to frus- trate the aims and objects of Columbus, and deprive him of the glory of his projected achievement. Upon this act of duplicity and deception Columbus lost confidence in King John and left Portugal in disgust. About this period he sent his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII., King of England, but so many delays occurred that Columbus had ac- tually accomplished his great discovery, as we shall see, before the king gave a favorable answer to his application. While Bartholomew was awaiting the decision of Henry VII., Christopher himself, in i486, applied for aid to Isa- bella, Queen of Castile. The war which "the united kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, under the do- minion of Ferdinand and Isabella, had long waged against the Moors of Gren- ada was drawing to a close. Soon after its termination, he was invited by the queen to her presence. 20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. t He was received with distinguished con- sideration, and a favorable answer was given to his application. The terms upon which Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to assist him were as follows : They, as lords of ocean seas, con- stituted Christopher Columbus their admiral, viceroy and governor-general of all such lands and continents as he should discover in the western seas, with the privilege of nominating three candidates for the selection of one by the crown for the government of these territories. He was to be vested with the exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial transactions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled to a tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of the discovery, and an additional eighth provided he should contribute an eighth part of the ex- penses. The main cost of the expedition was undertaken by them, one-eighth by Columbus. By a subsequent article, " the official dignities above mentioned were settled on him and his heirs forever, with the privilege of prefixing the title of Don to their names." This title had not then degenerated into a mere appellation of courtesy. A fleet of three vessels, properly manned and equipped, was placed under his command. The vessels were vic- tualled for twelve months, and had on board ninety mariners, besides several adventurers and servants, amounting in all to 1 20 persons. The names of the three vessels were the Santa Maria, Pinta, and Nina. Of these the San/a Maria was the largest, and in this vessel Colum- bus himself sailed. The Pinta was com- manded by Martin Alonza Pinzon, and the Nina by his brother, Vincent Yanez Pinzon. They sailed from Palos, a port in Spain, on the morning of Fri- day, the 3d of August, 1492. In three days they came in sight of the Canaries. Here they were detained several weeks on account of injuries received by the Pinta. Columbus endeavored to pro- cure another vessel in the place of the Pinta, but he was unable to do so. The repairs were completed after some de- lay, and on the 6th of September these three small vessels, under the command of their dauntless admiral, adventur- ously sailed from Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, over a trackless and un- known sea, in pursuit of the object of their enterprise. On the 1 6th of September, when far from land, as they supposed, the sailors were much alarmed at discovering a va- riation in the needle of the compass, a phenomenon which had not been ob- served before. Columbus, himself ig- norant of the cause, invented, with great tact, some plausible reason for this strange and singular occurrence. He thus calmed their alarm, and recon- ciled them to the continuance of their westward course. Their fears, however, of never again seeing land soon re- turned and overmastered them, and caused great discontent, which broke out in loud murmurs and mutinous threats of forcing their admiral to return. It was with the utmost difficulty at this crisis that he could retain his as- cendency over them. At length he yielded so far to their importunities as to promise that if no signs of land were seen in three days, he would return to the east. Before this time expired many signs of land began to appear. Flocks of strange birds were observed, the sea became more shallow, and pieces of float- ing timber were seen. On the night of the nth of October Columbus himself DISCO VER Y OF AMERICA. 21 saw a light moving as if borne in the hand of some person, which he considered as evidence not only of the nearness of land but also that the land was inhabited. At two o'clock on the morning of the 1 2th a gun was fired by the Pinta, as a signal that land was in sight. The land proved to be one of the Bahama Islands, called by the natives Gu-an-a- ]ia-ni, or Cat Island, to which Columbus gave the name of San Salvador (or Holy Saviour). gave thanks to God for his goodness. Meantime the natives, in quite a nude condition, stood around, filled with amazement and awe at the formidable appearance of these strange and wonder- ful men, whom they supposed " to have descended from the sun," little thinking that they would soon be their destroyers. Columbus, after touching at Cuba and Hispaniola, or Hayti, returned to Spain. He was received with increased honor and great eclat by Ferdinand and Isa- LANDING Or COLUMlit'S. The landing, which took place on the morning of the 1 2th of October, 1492, was accompanied with every demonstra- tion of gratitude and joy. Columbus, richly dressed in a scarlet uniform, and bearing the royal standard of Spain, was the first to press his foot upon the new earth, of which he took possession for and in the name of Ferdinand and Isa- bella, sovereigns of Aragon and Castile. Then kneeling, he kissed the earth, and bella. The report of his discoveries produced general and universal aston- ishment, and awakened a wide-spread feeling for similar enterprises. He him- self returned in 1493 with a fleet of sev- enteen ships and fifteen hundred men. On this voyage he discovered the Wind- ward Islands, Jamaica, Porto Rico and other adjacent lands. He claimed them all for his sovereigns. In Hispaniola he founded a colony, and appointed his rYPES OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. (22) DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 23 brother, Bartholomew, governor thereof. All these newly discovered islands he considered a part of India, and hence the name given to them was that of West Indies, and the Aborigines or the Peoples then inhabiting the islands and the continent have received the general name of Indians. Of the origin of these tribes and inhabitants nothing is known with certainty. Several curious con- jectures have been indulged in to show that they were descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. Other like speculations have been put forth to show that they came from a more eastern Asiatic stock. But how they crossed the Atlantic or the Pacific waters, and the period at which they arrived on the shores of the West- ern Hemisphere, are left without satis- factory explanation. These questions are all involved in the deepest obscurity. It is evident that for many years — cen- turies, perhaps, it may be — prior to the advent of Columbus, the whole country, including North as well as South America, had been occupied by these or other Peoples unknown to the Old World. Some of the Tribes or Nations in the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America had built large cities, and had attained to a considerable degree of civilization. But the type of their civilization differed greatly in many respects from that of the East. Many remarkable remains of ancient structures, tumuli and mounds, erected by them, still exist in several parts of the country, particularly in the valley of the Mississippi and the South- ern States — many in Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Whether these structures were made by the races inhabiting the continent at the period of Columbus' arrival, or by a pre-existing race, which was then extinct, as many learned authors maintain, desig- nating them simply as the "Mound Builders,"* is not pertinent to the objects before us. Dismissing further inquiry or discus- sion on these topics, it may be proper, as well as pertinent, here to say that perhaps the most highly civilized of all the Peo- ples inhabiting this continent at the time of its discovery by Columbus were the Aztecs in Mexico, the Inhabitants of Central America, and Peoples inhabiting the regions of Peru and Chili. In all these sections the Spaniards who visited them after the discovery of Columbus was known, found large cities well and strongly fortified, with many thousand inhabitants, with large and spacious palaces, and with markets regularly supplied with the necessaries of life, and with fine and elegant goods in great variety. Cortez, the celebrated warrior, who penetrated and conquered Mexico in 1 5 19, some time afterwards, in a letter to the Emperor Charles V., says, writing of the city of Cholula: " The inhabitants are better clothed than any we have hith- erto seen. People in easy circumstances wear cloaks above their dresses. These cloaks differ from those of Africa, for they have pockets, though the cut, cloth and fringes are the same. The environs of the city are very fertile and well cultivated. Almost all tJie fields may be watered, and the city is much more beautiful than all those in Spain, for it is well fortified and built on level ground. I can assure your highness that from the top of a Mosque I reckoned more than four hundred towers, all of Mosques. The number of inhabitants is so great * Charles C. Jones, Jr., LL. D. on "Antiquities of the Southern Indians." D. Appleton & Co., 1873. 24 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 1 that there is not an inch of ground un- a tradition that about four hundred years cultivated." The city of Mexico, which was the capital, exceeded Cholula in size, in population, and in the beauty and mag- nificence of its buildings. " The palace of Montezuma (the king) was so large a pile that it opened with thirty gates into as many different streets." The Aztecs, by which name the inhabitants of Mexico have been known in history, had made FERNANDO CORTEZ. considerable progress in the arts of civ- ilization. Their buildings, their paint- ings, and sculpture were very remark- able in many respects. But the civilization of the inhabitants of Peru in South America was of a higher and more refined character than that of Mexico. The People were milder and gentler in their manners, and their religion did not possess the savage feat- ure of offering human sacrifices to idols, as that of the Aztecs did. They had before the arrival of the Spaniards in the country Manco Capac, their first Inca, by which name their kings were called, a white man of wonderful knowledge, clothed in flowing garments, came amongst them from some unknown re- gion, and taught them agriculture and many useful arts ; " to construct reser- voirs and aqueducts ; to make ploughs, harrows, and shoes for their feet." His wife taught the women to spin, to weave, and to make their own garments. His descendants and successors pursued the same gentle policy, and over whatever territories their sway became extended, whether by conquest, or otherwise, they taught the inhabitants "to plough, and manure, and cultivate the soil." They constructed numer- ous aqueducts, many miles in length, by which almost the whole country of Peru was watered, and some relics and monuments of which remain unto this day. The tribes of Indians in that portion of North America now known as the United States were possessed of but little knowledge ; their arts were few ; their build- ings were rude huts called wig- wams, and agriculture was practised to a very limited extent. War and the chase were the favorite occupations of the men. All labor was performed by the women. They were ignorant of letters ; of literature they had none, and their traditions were few and uncertain. But even these Peoples dwelt not in unmitigated barbarism. They were simple in their manners, faithful to their word, grateful for kindness, and be- lieved that, when they were taken away DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 25 by death, they would go to the happy hunting-grounds prepared by the Great Spirit. Columbus made his third voyage in the summer of 1498. On this he touched for the first time the continent of South America, and landed at several places on the coast of Cumana, and points near the mouth of the Orinoco river, still supposing it to be India. He re- mained under this delusion until the day of his death. The mainland of North America he never saw. But after all his great services to Spain, after adding a new world to the dominion of that coun- try, after building forts and cities and founding colonies in the name and for the benefit of his Sovereigns, a cruel fate, with great injustice and heavy mis- fortunes, befell him. The source from which they came intensified his morti- fication and suffering. Through the machinations of enemies he lost the confidence of Ferdinand and Isabella. He was superseded in his command, arrested under the charge of High Trea- son, and sent home in chains. When the officers on the ship in which he was conveyed to Spain wished to remove his fetters, he refused to allow them to do so, saying, " I will wear them as a me- mento of the gratitude of Princes." When this outrage became known it created great excitement and indignation throughout the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. It was deemed a National disgrace. Queen Isabella soon ordered his fetters to be removed, and, on being summoned to court, he was fully exonerated from the high crime with which he had been charged. The Queen, however, not long after died, exacting a promise from Fer- dinand in behalf of Columbus, which he never fulfilled. Worn down with cares and disappointments, and with increasing bodily infirmities, the great and illustrious Navigator and Admiral departed this life at Valladolid, in Spain, on the 20th of May, 1506, in the seventy-first year of his age. " Death did not end his voyages. His remains were first deposited in the convent of St. Francis, were transferred to the Carthusian monastery of La Cue- vas, were taken in 1536 to St. Domingo, and deposited in the Cathedral of that city ; thence were conveyed with great pomp in 1796 to the Cathedral of Havana, where they now repose."* The name of the new continent so discovered by this renowned navigator was given to another and not to him. The following facts will explain how it occurred : Amerigo Vespucci, or Amer- icas Vespucius, a Florentine Scholar and Navigator, soon after the report of Columbus's wonderful discoveries had excited so much interest throughout Europe, set out on a new exploration and made much more extensive discoveries than Columbus had on his first and second voyages. He, in 1497, discov- ered the mainland of South America, several months before Columbus, and made extensive explorations of its east- ern coast and islands. On his return in 1499 he published an account of his discoveries. His delineations of the coast, inlets and islands were so exact in detail, and his descriptions so charm- ingly written, that they were republished in several of the languages of Europe and were used by most subsequent Navigators. A German Geographer gave to the country the name of Amend Terra, or the land of Americus. From this time the name of America was applied by common consent to the western continent. *Appleton*s Cyclopaedia. Art., Columbus. THE BRONZE DOOR IN ("HE NATIONAL CAPITOL, COMMEMORATING THB EVENTS OF THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBI 3. The above is an exact representation of the figures on the door in the rotunda of the Capitol. This massive door of pure bronze was modeled in Rome in 1858, by Ran- dolph Rogers, and cast in Munich two years afterwards by Von Muller. It weighs 20,000 lbs., and cosl sioo,ooo, and divided into eight panels, each one illustrating a icene in the life of Columbus. COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 27 CHAPTER II. SETTLEMENT (1607- OF VIRGINIA. -1609.) 0)1 6 ib Spanish conquests in North and South America — The Portuguese in Brazil — The French in North America — Discoveries of the Cabots, 1497 and 1498, on which the English claims were founded — Unsuccessful attempts of the English to colon- ize — First permanent British settlement at James- town, 1607 — Plan of Government — Trial by jury. ,6/T'T does not come within the scope and purpose of this work to set forth the progress of the Span- iards, French, Dutch, and Portu- guese in their conquest and occupation of the different portions of South and North America. That mat- ter has little to do with the history of the British colonies, or of the United States. What connection there may be will be noticed at the proper time. It is sufficient, at present, to state that the Spaniards extended their conquests over Mexico, East and West Florida, Central America, nearly the whole of South America — except the Empire of Brazil, which was taken possession of by the Portuguese. It is a notable fact that Brazil is the only country or state on the continent of America which is now governed by the descendants of any of the royal families of Europe. The French, at an early day after the discovery of Columbus, made voyages to the New World, and founded many colonies and settlements. Nova Scotia and all the region north of the river St. Lawrence, now known as British Amer- ica, was first occupied by them. They also planted the colony of Louisiana, and built the city of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi river. From the conflicting claims of Great Britain and France to vast tracts of territory, the colonists of both countries frequently suffered greatly — not only from wars between their Sovereigns, but also from wars with the neighboring Indian tribes. The claim of Great Britain to establish colonies in North America, to the exclu- sion of others, was founded upon the right of priority of discovery, which by the general consent of Nations is regarded as good and valid. In the year 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian in the service of Henry VII., King of England, accom- panied by his son Sebastian, discovered the mainland of North America, fourteen months before Columbus landed on the mainland of South America. In the year 1498, Sebastian Cabot returned and explored the coast-line, from Labrador to the Chesapeake, and proceeded, as some maintain, as far south as the vicinity of Cape Hatteras. This coun- try he claimed as belonging to Great Britain, by virtue of his discoveries made under the royal flag of the empire. The first attempts of the English to establish colonies in North America failed. In the spring of the year 1578, an expedition, consisting of fifteen ves- sels, under Martin Frobisher, was fitted out for Labrador, to which enterprises Queen Elizabeth contributed. The object of this expedition was to work the mines of gold which were supposed to abound in that region. The colony consisted of about one hun- dred settlers ; but they were afraid to be left in that dreary region, and so 28 iIISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. l,c. 2 returned, without even an effort to make Gilbert sailed, under this patent, the a permanent settlement. The inten- next year for North America ; but was tion, however, and efforts to colonize compelled to return without accom- the country at some point were not plishing his purpose. abandoned. In the same year (1578) of Frobisher's enterprise, a charter, or A new expedition was fitted out in June, 1583, by Gilbert and his half- MARTIN FROMSHER. patent, was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, empowering him to take possession of, occupy, and colonize extensive regions of country in the northern portions of the new continent. brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, under the same charter. This expedition consisted of five ships, and two hundred and sixty- nine men who went out as colonists: some, mechanics; some, miners and re- finers. Sir Walter fitted out one of COLONY OF VIRGINIA. ?9 these ships at his own expense.* This time they went through the ceremony of taking possession in the queen's name of the Island of Newfoundland. Thence they soon sailed southward in search of a climate and country more favorable to the main objects of their expedition. Divers mishaps and mis- fortunes attended this attempt at colon- ization, which need not here be recounted. Suffice it to say, that the whole enter- prise was abandoned, and Gilbert and Raleigh resolved to return to England. On the homeward voyage, the ship which bore Sir Humphrey was wrecked, and he was drowned. Raleigh, not discouraged by the un- fortunate termination of the former ex- peditions, and the sad fate of Gilbert, determined on planting a colony further south. He obtained, in March, 1584, a grant or charter for colonizing all the country between the parallels of 33 and 45 , north latitude, on the coast of North America. In honor of Elizabeth, the virgin queen — in whose reign the charter was granted — and on account of the rare beauty of the lands embraced in it, the name of Virginia was given to the whole country covered by the patent. Some settlements were made by Raleigh, under this extensive grant, on the Roa- noke Island, in North Carolina, in 1 585—1 587, but they were subsequently abandoned.f In 1602, Bartholomew Gos- nold, a man of great energy and enterprise —besides others — made extensive ex- plorations of the coast of New England, with the intention of making permanent settlements; but without success. Not- * Bryant, vol. i., 236. f For an interesting account of these colonies, and the sad fate of the last one, see Moore's Hist, of N. C, vol. i. ; Bryant, vol. i., 252 ; Bancroft, vol. i., 107, et post settlement of North Carolina. withstanding the failure of these efforts to colonize, the spirit of adventure was kept alive; and the claim of the English, founded upon the discovery of the Cabots, was not abandoned. It was, however, one hundred and fifteen years after the landing of Columbus at San Salvador — and one hundred and ten years after the assertion of England's claim, founded upon the discovery of Cabot — that the English succeeded in making their first permanent settlement on this continent. This was effected under the following circumstances and auspices : In 1606, James I., who had succeeded Elizabeth to the throne, divided the country, embraced in the Gilbert and Raleigh charter, into two districts. The northern district he granted, by a new charter, to a company organized in England, known as the Plymouth Com- pany. The country comprised in this district was called North Virginia. The southern district was granted to another company organized in England, known as the London Company. This district was known as South Virginia. South Virginia extended from Cape Fear to the Potomac ; North Virginia from the mouth of the Hudson river to Newfoundland. The region between the Potomac and the Hudson rivers was to be neutral ground, on which the companies were at liberty to form colonies within fifty miles of their respective boundaries. By the London Company, so organized, the first English colony was firmly es- tablished on the continent, in the year 1607, at Jamestown, on the river James, in the present State of Virginia. The river and settlement were so named, in honor of the monarch under whose auspices it was founded. The number of settlers consisted at 30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. first of one hundred and five persons. But few of them were laborers, and most of them were single or unmarried men ; no females were among the number. The colony was brought out in a fleet of three vessels, under command of Captain Christopher Newport, a dis- tinguished navigator. They sailed on the 19th of December, 1606; but, from delays in the West Indies, it was late in April, 1607, before they reached the point of their destination. The colony took the general name of Virginia. The plan or form of government was set forth in the charter. The officers consisted of seven members of council, viz. : Bartholo- mew Gosnold, the navigator before re- ferred to; John Smith, Edward Wing- field, Christopher Newport, John Rat- cliff, John Martin and George Kendall. Wingfield was chosen President or Gov- ernor. The season after their arrival proved very sickly, and nearly half of their number died before the cool weather set in. Among the victims was Bartholomew Gosnold, one of the ablest men of the council, and one of the ablest men of that age, or of any age. No one had more to do than he in securing the terms and principles upon which the London Company was organized. His death was a great loss to the infant colony, and was deeply lamented by his asso- ciates, as it was by the company in the mother country. The native people, called Indians, as before stated, were numerous in the neighborhood, and were sometimes hostile. Captain New- port, after a short stay, sailed for Eng- land, leaving the colony in a very re- duced and enfeebled condition. Provi- sions were scarce, the water was bad, and many of the men were sick. To add to their misfortunes, they quarrelled among themselves. They excluded Cap- tain Smith from the council, deposed Wingfield, the President, and put Rat- cliffe in his place. Their condition rapidly grew worse, until they gave the manage- ment of their affairs to Captain Smith whose great skill, capacity and courage, soon restored harmony, brought order out of chaos, and laid the foundation of a permanent prosperity. The government of the settlers, with the right to pass all laws, was vested in the members of the council, who were appointed by the stockholders of the London Company ; the Governor, or President, was also, according to the Charter, appointed by the stockholders. Changes in these particulars soon fol- lowed, as we shall see. The religion of the Church of Eng- land was established as the religion of the colony. There was no restriction on trade ; lands descended according to the common law, and permission to coin money was granted to the colony. The inestimable right of trial by jury was secured to all persons charged with mur- der, or other crimes which were punish- able with death. That was a great prin- ciple in this first charter of Virginia; it was a grand step forward ; in time trial by jury, in civil cases, logically followed. Trial by jury is, indeed, the surest bul- wark of popular liberty; the staunchest safeguard of civil rights; the great con- servator of the peace of society, and the firmest basis of stable, permanent gov- ernment. Blackstone made it the ground of his faith, when he predicted in these words immortality for the British con- stitution : " Greece fell, Rome fell, Venice fell ; the Republics of modern times, that hovered around classic Italy, fell; but England will endure; for trial by jury will make the liberties of Englishmen eternal." COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 3* CHAPTER III. Virginia. — Continued. (1609-1021.) Captain John Smith — His romantic adventures — Military services with .the Dutch and Austrian.-, — Taken captive and sold as a slave — Escapes — One of the council at Jamestown — Life saved by Poca- hontas — Smith's exploration of the Potomac and Chesapeake in 1607-160S — Return to England — Survey of New England — Jamestown colony re- duced to great extremity — Saved by the arrival of Lord Delaware in 1609 — Argall's tyranny — George Yeardley supplants him as governor — Marriage of CAPT. JOHN SMITH. Pocahontas to Rolfe — Tobacco — Staple of the col- ony — Origin of its name — New and liberal features added to the charter — House of Burgesses estab- lished, 19th of June, 1619 — Birthday of American Free Institutions — Arrival of female colonists — In- creased prosperity. NE of the most prominent actors in the early history of the colony of Jamestown was Captain John Smith, who was one of the seven members of the original council. This very remarkable man was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. A short sketch of his eventful and romantic life is deemed quite pertinent and appropri- ate in this connection. 'He was a born adventurer. In youth he was appren- ticed to a merchant, but, not liking the business, or, indeed, any regular habits of life, ran away from his master and went to Holland, where he enlisted as a soldier, and remained in the military ser- vice of the Netherlands four years. He then went to Austria, which country was at the time en- gaged in war with the Turks. He joined the Austrian army, and soon became distinguished for his personal prowess, valor, and military skill. He was re- warded for his services by a patent of nobility, conferred upon him by the Duke of Tran- sylvania. After many singular adventures, he was taken pris- oner by the Turks and sold as a slave. He secured the favor of his mistress, and she — intending to do him a kind- ness — sent him to her brother, an officer in the Crimea, which was then a part of the Turkish empire. Contrary to her ex- pectations, her brother treated Smith with great cruelty, but he maintained an unbroken spirit, and determined to make his escape whenever a favorable opportunity should present itself. He was employed in threshing grain, about three miles from the dwell- ing of his master, and one day when the master came, as usual, to oversee him at his labor, Smith killed him with the flail used in threshing, hid the dead body, and made his escape on his master's horse. 32 HISTORY OF THE U.XITED STATES— COLONIAL. hooK I., c. 3 On his way back to England he passed became tranquil he determined to set through Russia, Poland, Germany, out on a voyage of discover)'. With a France and Spain. He reached Eng- land just in time to join the companies which were then forming for settlement in America. He became attached to the expedition under the command of New- port, and was made one of the Council. party of men he went up the Chicka- hominy river, a branch of the James. They were attacked by the Indians about thirty miles above the juncture of the two rivers. His companions were slain and he was made prisoner. He -. - ! It, BUILDINO THE FIRST HOUSE IN JAMESTOWN. Soon after the affairs of the colony were committed into his hands — as men- tioned in the last chapter— he made treaties with the Indians, kept them quiet for a time, and calmed the fears of the settlers. Following the instructions of the Lon- don Company, as soon as the colony was shrewd enough to overawe his sav- age captors by inducing them to believe that he was a magician, or one possessed of supernatural power. This was done by an exhibition of his pocket-compass, and by obtaining permission to corre- spond with his friends at Jamestown by writinc. COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 33 How ideas could be thus interchanged between people so far separated seemed to the savages miraculous. His life was spared, but he was kept a close prisoner and carried bound to Powhatan, the king. After consultation with the principal chiefs, and due deliberation, it was deter- mined by this high authority appealed to, that the prisoner should die. His head was laid upon a block of stone and a huge club was raised by the strong arms of Powhatan himself, to strike the fatal blow. But the blow was not struck, POCAHONTAS SAVING CAPT. SMITH. and the prisoner's life was saved. Poca- hontas, the daughter of Powhatan, a beautiful girl of about twelve years, had been all this time a silent specta- tor of the scene. When she saw the up- raised club about to descend upon the victim's head, she sprang forward, threw herself upon his breast, and with eyes streaming with tears, begged his life of her father. Moved by her entreaty, he hesitated, then glancing around, saw in the faces of the chiefs present that they were also deeply affected. The club fell from his hands. He took his weeping daughter in his arms, and spared the prisoner's life.* The next day Captain Smith was conducted to Jamestown in safety, after having been a prisoner about seven weeks. Before his return to Jamestown he made a treaty with Powhatan, the Indian king, agreeing to be at peace with the English, and always to regard Captain Smith as his son. But soon afterwards he again became angry with the whites, and made a plot by which he hoped to be able to de- stroy them all at one blow. The colony was saved by Pocahontas. The night before the time set for the execu- tion of the plot was dark and cloudy. Not- withstanding the storm and darkness, this de- voted girl proceeded to Jamestown, revealed the plot to Captain Smith, and returned to her own home the same night. The colony was saved, and, through the influence of Smith, peace was once more restored. In 1608 Captain Smith set out upon an exploring expedition in two open boats and a few hands, and went up the Potomac as high as the falls of Georgetown ; also the Chesapeake bay up to the Susquehanna river, and is supposed to have entered *This highly romantic story has been gravely questioned by some of the later historians; but it is founded upon Smith's own narrative. — Bryant, vol. i., 282, et seq. Johnson's Univ. Cyc. E contra, I Ban., 131, et seq. 34 HISTORY 01- THE UXITED STATES— COLOXIAL. Book I., c. 3 what is now the harbor of Baltimore. This was the first English exploration of what is now known as Maryland. He made very accurate maps of the coast and waters explored by him, which he sent home, and which was of great use afterwards to the London Company.* In the year 1609 a great calamity, as inopportune as unexpected, befell the colony. Captain Smith was seriously wounded, accidentally, and for proper treatment of his wounds compelled to return to England. He never revisited Jamestown, but in the year 1614 sailed from England for the coasts of Virginia. He had a prosperous voyage ; explored the coast and made a map of it from the Penobscot river to Cape Cod. This map he presented to the king's son, Charles (who became Charles I., of Eng- land), and who gave to the country the name of New England, though it lay within the limits of the Plymouth grant, designated as North Virginia. It has been called New England ever since. Captain Smith died in the year 1631, in London, at the age of fifty-two. To- wards the close of the year 1608, two hundred immigrants came over to James- town, which increased the population of the settlement to about five hundred in all at the time of Smith's departure. But in less than six months after he left they were reduced by death or otherwise to about sixty in number. The Indians, no longer restrained by the presence of Smith, became hostile. They attacked the outlying settlements and compelled the colonists to flee to Jamestown. Pro- visions now became scarce, and great suffering ensued. Many, it is said, died from want of food. In their extremity it was deter- mined to abandon the settlement. At * Bancroft, vol. i., pp. 133-34. this juncture a vessel with crew and pas- sengers, who had wintered in the West Indies, arrived at Jamestown. Their whole number now amounted to about two hundred. The intention to abandon the settlement was not given up, and the colonists were actually embarking for return to the mother country when the opportune arrival of Lord Delaware with a supply of provisions and immigrants changed the aspect of affairs. The col- onists changed their minds under persua- sion of Lord Delaware and determined to remain. Affairs grew brighter at once under Lord Delaware's wise administra- tion. The Indians ceased to be trouble- some ; disorder was repressed ; industry was encouraged, and the health of the colony improved. But Lord Delaware's own health failed in a short time, and it became necessary for him to return to England. He was succeeded as Gov- ernor by Sir Thomas Dale. In Septem- ber, 161 1, Sir Thomas Gates, who had been appointed governor to succeed Sir Thomas Dale, arrived with six ships and three hundred immigrants, and large stores of provisions. The population had now increased to about seven hun- dred, and the colony was enabled to send detachments up the river, when Henrico and other new settlements were made. Sir Thomas Gates also brought over a number of cows, goats and swine, now for the first time introduced into the New World. In the year 1613 Pocahontas, although she had been a good friend of the colony, was stolen by a party of white men, led by Captain Argall. A large sum was demanded for her ransom. Powhatan refused to pay the sum de- manded, and war was about to ensue, when a young Englishman named Rolfe fell in love with Pocahontas and proposed to marry her. Her father consented. COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 35 She became a convert to the Christian religion, and was baptized according to the regular forms of the Episcopal Church. Soon after Rolfe and Poca- hontas were married under the rites of the same church. In the year 1616 they went to England, where Pocahontas at- tracted a great deal of attention. She died in that country at the age of twenty- two, a short time before her intended return to her native land. She left one son named Thomas. From this union POCAHONTAS. of Rolfe and Pocahontas descended some of the most illustrious families in the annals of Virginia. Tobacco,* the Indian name of a plant *The name "Tobacco" has been differently de- rived by different authors. Its origin is by no means fixed or certain. Some suppose it to be derived from the Indian word Tobacas, the name given by the Caribs to the pipe in which they smoked the plant. Others derive it from Tabasco, a province of Mexico, in which it is grown. These speculations seem to be without reasonable foundation. It is much more likely that the pipe was named from the plant smoked in it than that the plant was named from the pipe. The plant preceded the pipe. So of the other con- jecture. The most probable origin of the word is which was unknown to Europeans until Columbus met with its use amongst the natives of Cuba, was first cultivated by the colonists in Virginia in the year 1614. Its use was violently opposed by King James, who wrote and published a book against it ; but, notwithstanding the royal opposition, it soon became, and still con- tinues, a regular article of commerce throughout the world. The name of the plant, according to the best authority, was given to it from the name of the island Tobago, one of the West Indies, where its use first came to the knowledge of Europeans. In 1614 Sir Thomas Gates was suc- ceeded as governor by Sir Thomas Dale, who continued in office until 1616, when he returned to England, and was suc- ceeded by George Yeardlcy. Yeardley's term of office continued only about one year. His successor was Captain Argall, said to have been a cruel, avaricious and tyrannical man. His rule, which con- tinued for three years, was, according to the writers of that day, exceedingly arbi- trary and oppressive. He proclaimed martial law in time of peace, and enforced his laws and edicts with relentless sever- ity, even to death by bodily torture. The rigor of his administration ex- cited much discontent, and at length the complaints of the colonists making their way to the company, George Yeardley Tobago, one of the West India islands, on which the Spaniards first became acquainted with its use. On the discovery of America it was indigenous on both continents and the neighboring islands. The name of its narcotic principle, nicotine, is derived, as is generally admitted, from Jean Nicot, a French am- bassador to Portugal, who in 1560 brought some tobacco from Lisbon to Paris. It was most probably introduced into England by Sir Walter Raleigh from his Roanoke colony, about 1585-1587. It is as- serted with some positiveness that he introduced its use into court circles there, from which it rapidly spread throughout the realm. 36 HISTORY OF THE UXI'lED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I was appointed captain-general, with instructions to examine into the wrongs complained of and redress them. Yeardley arrived at Jamestown in April, 1619, and immediately abolished the odious edicts of Argall and removed the burdens upon the people imposed by him. By order of the company the power of the governor was limited by a veto of the council, and the people were permitted to have a voice in the adminis- tration of public affairs by the institution of a colonial Representative Assembly. This Representative Assembly, elected under regulations prescribed by Sir George Yeardley, the captain-general, was convened by him on the 19th of June, 1619, at Jamestown. This was done without authority of the company, but subsequently received their sanction and ratification. This was the first legislative body ever assembled in this country in which the people by deputies enacted laws for their own government, and the time of its meeting may be considered the birthday of American free institutions. It was the parent of the House of Burgesses, and a new and vital impulse .vas imparted to the progress and prosperity of the colony. In the year 1620 ninety females were sent over to the colony ; in the following year sixty more; and they being women of irreproachable character, were soon married to the farmers. Their domestic and home ties becoming thus fixed in the New World, the thought of returning home to England gradually passed from their minds. The permanence and pros- perity of the colony were thus so far insured. One hundred convicts were, also, sent as laborers to the colony, in accordance with the policy about this time adopted by the English government of sending criminals to the colonies as a punishment. Many of these convicts, removed from their usual haunts of vice and dissipation, became useful citizens. Some time anterior to this period the Spaniards and Portuguese had bought from the chiefs on the coast of Africa negro captives, and had carried them to other parts of the world, especially to South America and the West Indies, and had sold them as slaves. This traffic they had continued without intermission, and in the year 1620 a Dutch vessel brought to Jamestown twenty of these unfortunate beings and sold them to the colonists of Virginia. This was the in- troduction of African slaver}- in the Brit- ish American colonies, which has been the source of so much subsequent trou- ble, as we shall see. By the close of the year 1620 the population of the colony amounted to nearly two thousand. Upon the subject of the introduction of African slavery in Virginia, and after- wards in all the other British colonies, out of which so much trouble and strife subsequently arose, it is quite proper here to state that a majority of the col- onists at Jamestown were very much opposed to this introduction in their O immunity of these supposed descendants of Ham as " bondsmen and bondswomen " for life. Their opposition arose, how ever, perhaps more from considerations look- ing to the best interests and future wel- fare of the colony, in its progress in moral and material development, than from any feelings of humanity towards the unfortunate victims of this species of commerce. The African slave trade was at that time not only tolerated by all civilized nations, but actively engaged in for profit by many of the most dis- tinguished Christian monarchs. God often moves in a mysterious way his grand purposes to fulfil. COLONY OF NEW YORK. 37 CHAPTER IV. SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK BY THE DUTCH. (1609 — 1664.) Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the Dutch service, discovered the Island of Manhattan, in 1609 — Forts and trading-houses built by the Dutch on Manhattan Island and at Albany — The settlement on Manhattan Island called New Amsterdam — General name of New Netherlands given to the Dutch possessions — The English assert their rights, in 1613 — Captain Argall — The Dutch re-establish their authority in 1614 — The Dutch West India Company organized, 1623 — First permanent settle- ment under their auspices — The Wal- loons — Huguenots — Cornelius May — First Dutch white child, Sarah D. Rap- elge — Minuits, first governor of the province — The laws — Patroons — Dis- position of lands — Van Twiller, gov- ernor — A description of him by Wash- ington Irving — Kaieft, governor — His massacre of the Indians at Hoboken — An Indian war that threatened the ex- istenceof the colony — Kaieft recalled, and drowned at sea by shipwreck on return home — Peter Stuyvesant succeeds him as governor — His character — Grow- ing spirit of popular liberty — Contro- versy between the governor and the people — Acquisition of New Nether- lands by the English — The name of New Netherlands changed to New York — Peter Stuyvesant becomes a cit- izen of New York — His residence and death — His remains — The pear-tree he planted in 1647 bore fruit for upwards of 200 years — The fate of Hudson. (II HAT territory now embraced with- in the limits of what is known as the State of New York, and which bears the appellation of the " Empire State of the Federal Union," with the motto of " Excelsior," was first colonized by the Dutch. The following brief statement of facts, setting forth the early history of this colony, with its progress and growth, is compiled from what is deemed authentic sources, and believed to be essentially correct. * Sir Henry Hudson, a distinguished English navigator, of whose early life little is known, was in 1607 sent out by a company of London merchants, to seek a North-^.?/ passage to India, which they thought might possibly be feasible, as all attempts to effect a North-ze/^s/ passage had failed of success. They determined at least to make an attempt to achieve this great and desirable object by an exploration of the Polar seas north of the continent of Europe. Hudson HENRY in s proceeded as far north and northeast as the Islands of Nova Zembla, in longitude 5 2° E., and latitude 71 ° N. Here he * See McCabe, Ridpath, Appleton's, and Johnson's Cyclopaedias. 33 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Rook I., c. 4 was so blocked up by ice that he could proceed no farther, and was compelled to return with a report of a failure of his enterprise. His employers were not in- clined to spend more money in renewal of their efforts on that line. Hudson then went over to Holland and made proposals to men of capital in that country, to aid him in fitting him out for another voyage in search of a north- eastern passage to India. He had, him- self, not abandoned the idea that it could be accomplished. His appeal was lis- tened to by the Dutch East India Com- pany, who put him in command of a vessel of ninety tons, bearing the name of " Half-Moon," with a crew specially selected for the service. With this vessel, Hudson set sail in 1609, from Am- sterdam, and pursued the general course of his former voyage ; but upon reaching the Spitzbergen Island, "situated midway between Greenland and Nova Zembla in latitude 8o° 48' N., Lon. 20 29' E., and the northernmost known land on the globe," he was again met with an impassable barrier of ice, and had to abandon farther search in that direction, and turning his course, he sailed west- ward and southwestward, passing the coast of Greenland, New Foundland, and the eastern coast of what is now known as the United States, and proceeded southwestward, as some maintain, as far down as the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, vainly hoping to dis- cover some opening through which he could find a northwest passage to India. Being, so far, baffled, he again re- versed his course and proceeding north- ward on the 3d of September, 1609, dis- covered what is now known as Dela- ware bay; and proceeding on, he en- tered the waters of Sandy Hook, and on the 1 ith of September ascended the out- let of that great river, Hudson, which now bears his name. Sailing up this bold volume of water he came to anchor at Yonkers. From information of the natives who visited his ship, he now formed the opinion that he had at last found a stream which flowed from the Western Ocean to the Atlantic ; and that by pushing his course onward as he was going, he would ultimately accomplish the grand object of finding a passage to India — if not a northeast passage at least a northwest one; but on reaching the mouth of the Mohawk he became satis- fied that he was mistaken, that the river he was upon flowed from the interior of a vast fertile country unknown to Eu' ropeans. He congratulated himself, how- ever, upon the reflection that he had made a discovery almost as great and valuable to his employers as if he had found a passage to the Eastern Continent. With elation he returned to the harbor at the mouth of the Hudson river, and took possession of the entire country in the name of Holland, and then set sail for Amsterdam. On his return voyage, he put into the port of Dartmouth, in Eng- land, where he made known his im- portant discoveries in behalf of the Neth- erlands. King James I. hearing of this forbade Hudson leaving England, but the " Half-Moon," his ship, after a short detention was released, and permitted to return home under another commander. The East India Company, who had fitted out the vessel, felt more than compen- sated for their investment, and placed a high estimate upon the discoveries made under their auspices. By virtue of them the Dutch government laid claim to the whole country. The great river they named Mauritius, in honor of the stadt- holder of Holland. Many private par- ties soon embarked in various enter- COLONY OF NEW YORK. 39 prises of trade in the new country. The profits from the fur trade were what was chiefly looked to first. Among these adventurers employed in this trade was Adrian Block, noted as one of the bold- est navigators of his time. He with his crew built some log huts on Manhattan Island in 1610, and afterwards a fort was New Amsterdam. The States-General of Holland asserted their claims to all this country, and granted to what was known as the Dutch East India Com- pany a monopoly of the trade from Cape May to Nova Scotia. To all this terri- tory they gave the name of New Nether- lands. The assertion of this right and THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. erected there which became a trading- post with the natives. Not long after a trading-house and fort were erected named Fort Orange, on the site and near the place where the city of Albany now stands. To the settlement established on Man- hattan Island they gave the name of jurisdiction on their part gave rise to serious complications with England. The latter power claimed all that region as part of North Virginia; this claim was founded both upon the general ground of the discover}' by the Cabots, and that Hudson himself was an English- man; therefore, in 1613, the English 4o HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES— COLOXIAL. Boor I., c. 4 government sent Captain Argall from ' Virginia to dispossess all intruders on the coast. Captain Argall in this expe- dition not only took possession of New Amsterdam, whose traders promised to pay tribute, but he also took possession of all the French settlements in Acadia, as Nova Scotia was then called. But the Dutch recovered New Netherlands in 1614, and held undisputed sway over it for fifty years. In 1623 the Dutch West India Company was organized, and made the first attempt at permanent coloniza- tion ; this was by a band of Protestants in religion and known as " Walloons ; " they were originally from Flanders in Bel- gium, who had some years before fled to Amsterdam for protection against re- ligious persecution. They were Hu- guenots. Cornelius May was the leader of the company. This colony of "Wal- loons " at first consisted of 1 10 persons. They made their first settlement around the old fort or trading-post on Man- hattan Island, continuing to it the name of New Amsterdam. Some of them after- wards established themselves on Long Island, about where Brooklyn navy yard now stands, and there, it is related in some histories, that the first white child was born in the province of New Nether- lands. Her name was Sarah D. Rapelge. In 1626 the West India Company sent out to New Amsterdam the first governor of the province. Peter Minuits was his name. The colony was governed ex- clusively by laws and regulations pre- scribed by the West India Company. According to these laws or regula- tions, the colonists were to obey the orders of the governor; he was to pun- ish at his discretion all minor offences, but all persons charged with crimes in- volving capital punishment were to be sent to Holland for trial. Governor Minuits soon made treaties with the Indian chiefs, establishing peace and harmony between the red men and the new colonists. He obtained accession from them of the entire Island of Man- hattan, for presents estimated at about twenty dollars in Dutch coin. Liberal inducements were made to settlers com- ing from the mother country or else- where. Each immigrant was entitled to as much land as he could clear and cul- tivate. Whoever should bring fifty per- sons to settle anywhere within the limits of the province outside of Manhattan Island was to be styled " Patroon," or " lord of the manor; " and was to have the right to purchase and hold in fee- simple a tract of land sixteen miles in length by eight in width. This added greatly to the dignity of landed proprie- tors. Many persons of wealth availed themselves of this privilege, and at an earl}- period purchased from the Indians the best lands and the most valuable trading-places in the province. Under this system laborers without capital ne- cessarily became tenants of the " Pa- troons." These " lords of the manor," as they were called, were required ac- cording to rules and regulations to pro- vide a schoolmaster and minister for their tenants, but the company had made no provision or mode for enforcing this duty on their part. Rights without se- curities are but little better than mock- eries. The company, however, who was so negligent in the matter of ministers and schoolmasters, was always ready to furnish the " Patroons " with African slaves if they were willing to take them. Under the administration of Governor Minuits, the colony of New Netherlands flourished rapidly. Life and energy were given to every department of in- dustry. New Amsterdam, in her infancy, COLONY OF NEW YORK. 4r entered upon that high career of com- mercial prosperity which now makes her successor, the city of New York, the emporium of the commerce of the con- tinent. Minuits was succeeded as gov- ernor in 1632 by Wouter Van Twiller, who at the time of his appointment was a clerk in the company's service at Am- sterdam, and who, it is said, received this high promotion because of his connection with Killian Van Ransalaer. Van Twiller had married the niece of this distinguished Patroon. The new notable governor must have been of very extraordinary personal appearance as well as general character. He is thus sketched by the graphic and humorous but rarely unkind pen of Wash- ington Irving: " He was exactly five feet six inches in height, and six feet five inches in circumference ; his head was a perfect sphere, and of such stupendous dimen- sions that Dame Nature, with all her sex's ingenuity, would have been puzzled to construct a- neck capable of support- ing it ; wherefore, she wisely declined the attempt, and settled it firmly on the top of his backbone, just between his shoul- ders. His body was oblong, and par- ticularly capacious at bottom, which was wisely ordered by Providence ; seeing that he was a man of sedentary habits, and very averse to the idle labor of walking. His legs were very short, but sturdy in proportion to the weight they had to sustain, so that when erect he had not a little the appearance of a beer bar- rel on skids. His face, that infallible index of the mind, presented a vast ex- panse, unfurrowed by any of those lines and angles which disfigure the human countenance with what is termed expres- sion. Two grey eyes twinkled feebly in the midst, like two stars of lesser magni- tude in a hazy firmament; and his full- fed cheeks, which seemed to have taken toll of everything that went into his mouth, were curiously mottled and streaked with a dusky red like a Spitzen- berg apple. His habits were as regular as his person. He daily took his four stated meals, appropriating exactly one hour to each ; he smoked and doubted eight hours, and he slept the remaining twelve of the four and twenty." This singular personage held the reins of government over the colony seven years, and strange to say, under such a ruler it continued to grow and prosper. He was, however, removed and suc- ceeded in 1638 by William Kaieft, a man of superior ability to Twiller, but of less honesty and integrity. The most lasting memorial of Van Twiller's admin- istration was the " Isle of Nuts " in New York harbor, which he purchased while governor, and which still bears the name of Governor's Island. Kaieft soon got in trouble with the Indians, from which war was threatened and seemed to be inevitable ; to prevent this, if possible, the people petitioned him in 1642 to al- low a sort of convention to be assem- bled in New Amsterdam, to see if some peaceable settlement of disturbing ques- tions could not be made with the head men of the Indian tribes. The permis- sion was granted ; the Assembly met, and twelve of their number were ap- pointed to represent the interest of the colony in the negotiations with the In- dians. This was the first representative Assembly of New Netherlands, and its career was short ; venturing to pass be- yond the Indian question, and to criti- cise the administration of the governor in other matters, it was promptly dis- solved by him. No peaceable settle- ment had been made by them with the Indians. The war soon afterwards broke out in earnest. In February, 1643, the 42 JIISTOKY OF THE LWJTLD STATES— COLONIAL. Book I , c. 4 garrison at New Amsterdam, by order ' of the governor, with some additional i force, crossed the Hudson and attacked the Indians in their encampment just above Hoboken. It was a night attack; the Indians were not suspecting any danger ; nearly a hundred of them were killed, including women and children ; a few made their escape, and crossed over the river the next day, seeking refuge perfectly secure in their place of retreat, with the avowed friendship of the colo- nists, their allies, were also inhumanly butchered, leaving but few survivors. This was done by order of the governor. By these fiendish acts on his part, the colonists were greatly incensed ; for being perpetrated without justification or prov- ocation, it not only hazarded the peace of the colony, but endangered its very SETTLERS MASSACRED BY THE INDIANS. with the Dutch, their " supposed" friends, existence, by arousing the fury of all the at New Amsterdam. Instead of receiv- ing protection, however, they were as- sailed by the soldiery and driven back into the river and drowned. This was not all of Kaieft's brutal conduct. A company of Indians who had sought refuge previously from some of the river tribes with the Dutch who were en- camped on Manhattan Island, feeling surrounding tribes. Their apprehen- sions were not ill-founded, but were soon fearfully realized. The " Algonquins," with all the river tribes, immediately took up the tomahawk, to avenge the wrongs of their brethren. The war- whoop was heard all along the Dutch settlement. Several villages were de- stroyed and a number of the colonists COLONY OF NEW YORK. 43 were either slain or carried into cap- tivity. The extinction of the colony was imminent, and Kaieft, the governor, was compelled to change his policy and to sue for peace instead of continuing the war. It was in one of the massacres in the valley of the Housatonic that the famous Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and her family were slain. This distinguished lady had taken refuge from religious persecution with the Dutch settlers in the colony of New Netherlands. De Vries, from the settlement on the Dela- ware, who had exerted all his power by remonstrance with Kaieft against that policy which had led to these disastrous results, now used the same kindly in- fluence to bring about peace and recon- ciliation. He first met by invitation six- teen of the Indian chiefs in conference at Rockaway, on the 5th of March, 1643. These chiefs, who had great con- fidence in him, at his request accom- panied him to New Amsterdam, where, under his wise and prudent counsels, a treaty of peace was negotiated. This brought joy throughout the colony, but Kaieft, the governor, was the subject not only of aversion but hate. He was looked upon as the author of all their recent troubles and dangers. The population of New Amsterdam was now reduced to not much over one hundred souls. The indignation against the gov- ernor was increased from the belief that he was instigated solely by motives of avarice and private gain. Kaieft's bar- barous conduct was disavowed by the West India Company, and he was re- called, greatly to the gratification of the colonists. On his return to Europe he perished in the wreck of the ship on which he sailed. His successor was the renowned Peter Stuyvesant, who was appointed governor of New Netherlands in 1647, an d reached New Amsterdam the same year. He was a man of edu- cation and strong will, with a decided cast of aristocratic character and slight sympathy with the masses of the people. He was a soldier by profession ; he had won distinction in the Dutch wars against the Portuguese. He was not exactly the right man for the governorship of the New Netherlands at that time ; yet with all his defects he left the reputation of being an honest man, and a chief magis- trate with an earnest wish to promote what he deemed the best interests of the colony. But at that time the people of New Netherlands had begun to feel a lively sense of popular rights ; they had caught the spirit from their English neighbors. They believed that they ought not to be taxed without their con- sent. While Stuyvesant was restless under this growing public spirit, yet he was too wise and prudent a ruler to resist entirely the popular sentiment. He finally yielded so far as to appoint a council of nine prominent citizens to be consulted in matters of administration. This was a further step towards representative gov- ernment in New Netherlands. It was an executive concession in the nature of Magna Cliarta extorted from King John of England, though this was effected peace- ably and without resort to arms. Stuy- vesant's policy towards the Indians was singularly marked by kindness and jus- tice. He strove to make friends of enemies, instead of making enemies of friends, in which he had laudable success. In his civil administration, his imperious will and temper were doubtless somewhat controlled by the more liberal policy of the home company. The directors wrote him : " Let every peaceful citizen enjoy freedom of conscience ; this maxim has made our citv the asylum for fugitives 44 HISTORY OF THE UXITKD STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 4 from cvcr\- land; tread in its steps, and Assembly, but deemed it best not to seek you shall be blessed." The people were to prevent its meeting, as such a step not content with the council of nine cit- would have brought about a collision izens who had been appointed to advise with the people." The Assembly ac- in the administration : they looked for cordingly met, and among other things, larger and more important concessions, issued an address to the governor, con- They wished to hold town meetings and taining these words: "The States-Gen PETER STU consult upon public affairs. Disputes soon arose between them and the gov- ernor, on matters of this sort. Discon- tents increased. At length the people ap- pointed a convention of two delegates from each settlement, for the purpose of deliberating on the affairs of the colony. Stuyvesant was bitterly opposed to this YVESANT. eral of the United Provinces are our liege lord. We submit to the laws of the United Provinces; and our rights and privileges ought to be in harmony with those of the Fatherland, for we are a member of the State, and not a subju- gated people. We who have come to- gether from various parts of the world, COLONY OF NEW YORK. 45 and are a blended community of various lineage ; we who have, at our own ex- pense, exchanged our native land for the protection of the United Provinces ; we who have transformed the wilderness into fruitful farms, demand that no new laws shall be enacted but with the con- governor, who was used to arbitrary rule, and had a contempt for the idea that the people are capable of self-government. He sent to the Assembly the following haughty reply : " We derive our au- thority from God and the West India Company, not from the pleasure of a SCENE ON BROADWAY, NEW YORK. sent of the people ; that none shall be few ignorant subjects." The Assembly appointed to office but with the approba- was immediately dissolved and dispersed, tion of the people; that obscure and The West India Company sustained the obsolete laws shall never be revived." governor ; so ended this controversy at These were brave, manly and patriotic the time, utterances ; a little in advance, however, But it was doubtless not without its of the times and place. They were too influence in paving the way for the ap- much for the imperious temper of the proaching easy acquisition of the New 46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 4 Netherlands by the English. For in most of the English colonies, if not all, at this time the people were secured by their charter against taxation without their consent. It was but natural that the Dutch colonists, who were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of liberty in their native land, should not be averse when the time came — if it ever should — to be- come English colonists clothed with the plated making such an effort, and at the return of Charles II. to the throne, the plan was more seriously discussed, and at length put in operation. Charles, al- though at peace with Holland, and in spite of the charter which he had granted to Connecticut, bestowed upon his brother, the Duke of York, afterwards James II., the entire region between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. This THi; NEW POST-OFFICE, NEW YORK CITY. same rights as their neighbors. This period was near at hand. For a long time past the English government had seriously entertained the idea of driving out the Dutch, and adding New Nether- lands to its American possessions. The English claim extended along the entire Atlantic coast as far south as Florida, and the Dutch were regarded as intruders. Cromwell and his son had each contem- was in February, 1664. A squadron was at once fitted out for the purpose of seiz- ing the Dutch colony, and was placed in command of Richard Nicholls, an officer of the Duke of York's household. The fleet touched at Boston to land the com- missioners sent out by Charles to the New England colonies, and to receive reinforcements. Governor Winthrop, of Connecticut, also embarked on board of it. COLONY OF NEW YORK. 47 The first intimation Stuyvesant had of the intended robbery was the appear- ance of the fleet within the Narrows, on the 28th of August, 1664. The next day Nicholls demanded the surrender of the town and Fort of New Amsterdam. Stuyvesant, who had made preparations for defending the place, endeavored to resist the demand, but the citizens re- fused to sustain him, and he was obliged to submit. On the 8th of September he embarked his troops for Holland, and put to sea. The English at once took possession of the fort and town, and their vessels ascending the Hudson, re- ceived the submission of the other Dutch forts and settlements along the river. A few weeks later the Dutch and the Swedes along the Delaware submitted to the English, and the entire province was in their hands. The name of New Amsterdam was changed to New York, which name was also bestowed upon the province, and Fort Orange was called Albany; all in honor of the new pro- prietor. Nicholls was appointed gov- ernor. The English set themselves to work to conciliate the Dutch residents, a task not very difficult, as the English settlers in the province had already pre- pared the way for the change, and the treatment the colony had received from the West India Company had prevented the formation of any decided attachment to the rule of Holland. The English system of government was introduced, the towns were allowed to make their own magistrates, and the desires of the people for representative government seemed about to be gratified. The Mohawks had been the friends of the Dutch, and they now readily entered into an alliance with the English as their successors. This alliance remained un- broken all through the colonial period, and during the war after the revolution ; and in the first named period proved of the greatest advantage to the colonies, as the Mohawks, whose hatred of the French was deep and unrelenting, proved a formidable obstacle in the way of in- vading parties from Canada. Governor Stuyvesant, after his sur- render of New Netherlands, as stated, proceeded directly to Holland to give an account of his administration and the loss of the colony, to the West India Company, and afterwards — in about a year — returned to New York and re- sumed his residence, and settled on his farm, the site of which is now in a popu- lous portion of the city. His place was known as " Bouwery," — from which the present street now called the Bowery derives its name — where he continued to live for eighteen years, in the enjoyment of an honored old age. He died in August, 1682, on attaining his four-score years. His remains were deposited in the vaults of a chapel which he had built at his own expense on his farm, and ded- icated according to the ritual of the Re- formed Dutch Church. Its site is now occupied by the Episcopal church of St. Mark's, in the Bowery, and the stone which had been placed over his remains is built into the eastern wall of the church, where it can be seen with the original inscription. A pear tree which he brought with him from Holland, and planted in his garden in 1647, was living and bore fruit until about i860. The fate of the renowned Hudson wa9 sad. In a third voyage to the North Seas under English auspices in 1611, he and his son perished by a mutiny of his crew. It has been well said " that the gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is his tomb and his monu- ment." 4 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 5 CHAPTER V. THE SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS. (1620— 1631.) Plymouth, Salem, Dorchester, Lynn, Charlestown, Watertown, Roxbury and Boston — The Puritans — Rev. John Robinson — Sir Edwin Sandys — John Carver, first Governor of Plymouth — John Win- throp, first Governor of Massachusetts Bay — Rep- resentative Government in Massachusetts in 1631, as it had been in Virginia in 1619. HE first attempt at settlement in the region of country or dis- trict granted to the Plymouth Company in England, styled in the grant North Virginia, but afterwards known as New England, was made, in the year 1607, at or near the mouth of the Kennebec river on the coast of Maine. This settlement was attempted about the same time the col- ony at Jamestown was planted by the London Company. Forty-five persons constituted the colony on the Kennebec. They were sent out by the Plymouth Company, under the presidency or gov- ernorship of George Popham. The col- onists suffered great hardships during the winter of 1 607- 1608. Governor Popham himself died during that winter. In the spring, when no ships came with supplies, Raleigh Gilbert, who now succeeded to the presidency, learning that he had be- come heir to a considerable property by the death of his brother, abandoned the enterprise, and the settlers returned to England. Other attempts at colonization were made by the Plymouth Company, after the publication of Captain John Smith's map in 16 14, as before stated, but these need not be particularly noticed, as all of them failed from some cause or other. But a colony was firmly founded in Massachusetts, the first in New England, rather by the permission than the favor- ing auspices of the Plymouth Company, as we shall see. This was in 1620, by a religious sect known as Puritans. " The name Puritan was given to them on account of their austerity of manner and the rigid observance of the forms of their religion. In religion they were Calvinists, and were dissenters from the Church of England." Their manner of teaching, preaching, and acting brought them in contact with the public author- ities in England at a time when there was no such thing as toleration in matters of faith and worship; they were perse- cuted for obstinate refusal to conform to the requirements of the existing eccle- siastical establishments. During the reign of Henry VIII., many of them had taken refuge in Switzerland and Germany. They had been hospitably received by their brethren in the faith there, and had sat at the feet of the great doctors of Strasburg, Zu- rich, and Geneva, and had been, during some years, accustomed to a more simple worship, and to a more democratic form of church government, than England had yet seen. Some of these returned to their coun- try after the accession of Elizabeth to the throne." But in vain did they look to her for any toleration to their peculiar views in matters of faith and worship. Persecution again awaited them, and, in the language of Macaulay, " Persecu- tion produced its natural effect on them. It found them a sect, it made them a faction. To their hatred of the church COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 49 was now added the hatred of the crown. The two sentiments were intermingled and each embittered the other. "In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died, and was succeeded by James of Scotland. A change, to some extent, had taken place in the principles and practices of the Puritans. The persecutions which they had undergone had been severe •enough to irritate, but had not been severe enough to destroy. * * * " The extreme Puritans, therefore, be- gan to feel for the Old Testament a •preference, which, perhaps, they did not •distinctly avow, even to themselves, but which showed itself in all their sentiments and habits. They paid to the Hebrew language a respect which they refused to that tongue in which the discourses of Jesus and the epistles of Paul have come down to us. They baptised their children by the names, not of Christian saints, but of Hebrew patriarchs and warriors. " In defiance of the express and re- iterated declarations of Luther and Cal- vin, they turned the weekly festival by which the church had, from primitive times, commemorated the resurrection of her Lord, into a Jewish Sabbath. * * It was a sin to hang garlands on a may- pole, to drink a friend's health, to fly a hawk, to hunt a stag, to play at chess, to wear lovelocks, to put starch into a ruff, to touch the virginals, to read the Fairy •Queen. Rules such as these, rules which 'would have appeared insupportable to the free and joyous spirit of Luther, and contemptible to the serene and philoso- phical intellect of Zwingle, threw over all life a more than monastic gloom. The extreme Puritan was at once known from other men by his gait, his garb, * * and above all, by his peculiar dialed. He employed, on every occasion, the im- .agery of the scripture. Hebraisms vio- 4 lently introduced into the English lan- guage, and metaphors borrowed from the boldest lyric poetry of a remote age and country, and applied to the com- mon concerns of English life," etc. This portraiture of the character of the Puritans, like most of the word-painting of Macaulay, is perhaps over-wrought and too highly colored. It exhibits the darker side only of this wonderful peo- ple, and shows nothing of the many fine and tender traits, as well as high heroic virtues, for which they were equally dis- tinguished. A sect of these Puritans, known as Brownists, from the name of their foun- der, had taken refuge at Ley den, in Hol- land, from the annoyances to which they were liable in England. They resided in that city for some years, under the pastoral charge of Rev. John Robinson ; but not finding their situation altogether congenial, they came to the determina- tion to remove to America. As they desired to settle within the limits of the territory, then known as Virginia, they sent two of their number, Robert Cush- ing and John Carver, to England, for the purpose of obtaining the consent of the London Company. Their application was favorably re- ceived, and through the influence of Sir Edwin Sandys, secretary of the company, a patent under the company's seal was obtained, and a tract of land was assigned them. They wished also that their en- terprise should receive the approbation of the king ; but James hated the Puri- tans, and the greatest favor they could obtain from him was his promise to let them alone. Money was obtained from London merchants on terms that constituted the merchants partners in the adventure. Ten pounds in money advanced by the So HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLON! AT. Hook I.,c. 5 merchant was made equal to seven years of labor of the emigrant. The profits were to be reserved to the end of that time, when a distribution was to be made. The society of Puritans was, from their migrations, also called Pil- grims. They procured two vessels, the Speed- well, of sixty tons, and the Mayflower, LANDING OK THE HI.GRIMS. of one hundred and eighty tons burthen. They set sail on the 22d of July, 1620, but the Speedwell was soon found to be unseaworthy, and it became necessary to put back for repairs. They sailed again from Southampton on the 5th of August, but were compelled to put back the sec- ond time. They returned to Portsmouth, at which place they abandoned the Speed- well, with some of the party whose cour- age failed them. The Mayflower finally set sail on the 6th of September, with one hundred and one persons on board. Their intended destination was the mouth of the Hudson river, but they were conducted by their captain, whether ignorantly or of set purpose, to a much more bleak and inhospitable region, north of that river. After a voyage 01 sixty-three days they came in sight of Cape Cod, and on the 10th of No- vember cast anchor in that harbor. Having no charter from the king, they, as yet, had no form of gov- ernment. One, purely democratic, was adopted before landing, drawn up in writing, and signed by the men, forty-one in number. John Carver was unanimously chosen governor for one year. Several days were spent in searching for a suitable place to land. At last the desired harbor was found, and on the 22d of De- cember, 1620, the Pilgrims landed. The place they named Plymouth, after or in honor of the place in England from which they had sailed. No time was spent in idle- ness; trees must be felled and houses built. Lots were assigned to families, and on the third day they began to build. The winter was very severe, and the suffer- ings of the colonists were great. By the first of April, 1621, all but forty- six of those who landed were dead. Among the dead were Governor Carver, his wife and son. At one time there were but seven well persons in the settle- ment. With the return of spring came health, renewed vigor and stimulated hopes. In March, a short time before the death of Governor Carver, a treaty of amity was made with Massasoit, the COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 51 great chief of the Wampanoags, with Samoset, a chief of the same tribe, and eight chiefs of less authority. This treaty was of great service to the colony, as in its weak and suffering con- dition, it could easily have been de- stroyed by savage enemies. It was kept inviolate by both parties for fifty years. As spring advanced, the health of the settlers would have suffered greatly if it had not been for the friendship of the Indians. One of the causes of scarcity was the deep religious feeling of the leading Puritans, who had desired, in imitation of apostolic times, to have a community of property. But even amongst the Puritans there were some who would not work as long as they colonists improved. But their supply j were permitted to eat the fruit of the of provisions was barely sufficient to labor of others. To remedy this evil last them till harvest. Massasoit taught them the cultivation and the use of maize the system was changed, and, in the spring of 1623, each family had allotted or Indian corn, the first of which was ' a parcel of ground to cultivate for itself. THE TREATY BETWEEN GOVERNOR CARVER AND MASSASOIT. planted in the month of May, 1621. In November a ship arrived with thirty-five immigrants, wholly without provisions. The following winter their sufferings were much increased ; sometimes for months they had no grain at all. William Bradford, who was chosen governor after the death of Carver, was so much beloved that he was continued in office the greater part of the time un- til his death, nearly forty years in all. The harvest of 1622 was scanty, and the All had now to work for themselves or do without the necessaries of life. After the harvest of that year, there was never any general want of food. In 1623 the Plymouth colonists were involved in an Indian war, through the conduct of another small English settle- ment, which had in the meantime been established at Weymouth, near Boston harbor. Thomas Weston, one of the London merchants who had advanced money to 52 I//SIOKY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLO.XIAL. Book I., c. 6 settlers, moved by the hope of gain, had obtained a patent from the Plymouth Company in England for a small district in Massachusetts Bay or Boston har- bor. To this place he sent a company of about sixty men, who were dissolute in their habits, and by their aggressions gave so much offence to the Indians, that a plot was laid to entirely extermi- nate the English. Massasoit, the friendly chief, grateful to the colony at Plymouth for kindness received from them, re- vealed the plot to the governor, who immediately sent Captain Standish to the new settlement for its defence. Captain Standish took with him but eight men. Hastening to the scene of action, he was in time not only to pre- vent the attack, but also to surprise the Indians. He attacked them unexpect- edly, slew the principal instigators of the plot, and drove the rest into a swamp, where many of them perished. Wey- mouth was soon after abandoned, and the settlers returned to England. In the year 1624 other immigrants arrived at Plymouth, bringing with them cattle, swine, poultry, clothing, and provisions. The progress of Ply- mouth colony was slow. Four years after the landing of the Pilgrims there were thirty-two houses in the settlement, and one hundred and eighty inhabitants ; at the end of ten years there were only three hundred. The connection of the colony with the London merchants, from whom they had received money, embar- rassed them greatly. The merchants com- plained that they received no return for the money advanced, and interfered in va- rious ways with the affairs of the colony, causing the immigrants great inconven- ience. At last the colonists were able to buy out the rights of the London ad- venturers, and bv this means were re- lieved of debt, and an unpleasant connec- tion. In November, 1620, a short time be- fore the landing of the colonists at Ply- mouth, a new charter was granted by James I., of England, in lieu of the one before granted, to what was known as the Plymouth Company. This grant was to a new company in England, at the head of which stood the Duke of Lenox. This new company was styled the "Grand Council of Plymouth." The charter granted to the new company all the territory between the "fortictli and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and extending throughout the mainland from sea to sea." In this new grant, or charter, th< name of "North Virginia," previouslj applied to the same district of country, was dropped, and that of " New Eng- land" inserted in its place. In 1628, a number of persons in Eng- land, wishing to emigrate to North America, purchased from the " Grand Council of Plymouth " " that part of New England which lies between three miles to the south of the Merrimack river, and three miles to the south of Charles river, and extending from the Atlantic to the South Sea." Under this purchase John Endicott, a man of note, with about one hundred colonists, made a settlement at Salem. In 1629 the proprietors of this pur- chase of public domain, who were resi- dents of England, obtained from Charles I., King of England, who had succeeded his father, James I., a charter, granting them powers of government over colo- nists who might settle within its limits. The title of the corporation created by the royal grant was " The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England." About three hundred per- COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 53 sons soon after embarked for the new colony of Massachusetts. In 1 630, for the purpose of stimulating emigration to the new colony, the proprietors agreed to very liberal terms of self-government for those who might accept the induce- ments offered by them. Under this arrangement John Win- tJirop was chosen the first governor of the colony of Massachusetts, so founded, and during the year 1630 about fifteen hundred new settlers came over from the mother country, and made their home in Massachu- setts. New settlements were made at Charlestown, Dor- chester, Watertown, Lynn, Roxbury, and Boston. In October, '1631, a general meeting of all the freemen in the colony was held in Bos- ton, when John Winthrop was re-elected governor, and Thomas Dudley was chosen deputy governor. The colony of Massachusetts was thus es- tablished. At first the gov- ernment, under the rights and privileges granted by the charter, was a pure democracy. All the freemen assembled and gave their votes for their mag- istrates and other officers, as well as upon all matters of govern- ment. This was afterwards changed. In different localities the freemen held meetings, and chose deputies or dele- gates to meet in a common council, which was called " The General Court," and which was empowered to pass all proper laws. This " General Court " thus established was upon the same principle as the House of Burgesses, which had been established in Virginia in 1619, as we have seen. The pure democratic form of government in this way gave place in Massachusetts to what is called the representative system. For several years after the settlement at Plymouth, that colony had no direct political connection with the other set* tlements in Massachusetts. It was under a government exclusively its own, and in the regulation of all local affairs rec- ognized no authority but its own. Its government was purely democratic. JOHN WINTHROP. This first governor of Massachusetts colony was born January 12, 1587, of an ancient English family. Many of his descendants have shed lustre upon the history of their country. Robert C. Winthrop, one of these, is still living in Boston crowned with honors, and is a descendant from him in the sixth degree. A marble statue of John Winthrop, the distinguished ancestor, presented by the State of Massachusetts, stands in " Stat- uary Mall " in the Federal Capitol. 54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLO. MA I CHAPTER VI. Book I., c. 6 VIRGINIA- (1621 -Resumed. -1660.) First written constitution of the colony — All civil rights of Englishmen secured — Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor — Terrible massacre by the In- dians — London Company dissolved — Government devolves on the Crown, under the charter — Col- onists favor Charles I. in his contest with Par- liament—The House of Burgesses proclaim Charles II., then in exile, their Sovereign, and invite him to come over and be King of Vir- ginia—The " Old Dominion." lE now turn again to Virginia. On the 24th of July, 1 62 1, the Col- onial Assembly, of which men- tion has already been made, re- ceived the express sanction of the London Company by a formal ordi- nance. This ordinance may be consid- ered as the written constitution of the colony. Its provisions were liberal, giving to the people the election of two burgesses frofn each borough, who formed what is called the House of burgesses, and who, with the council appointed by the company, constituted the General Assembly. They had power to make laws subject to the ap- proval of the governor (who was ap- pointed by the company), and the ap- proval of the company in London, and no "orders of the Court in London were to be binding on the colony unless rati- fied by the Assembly." Beside the general right of trial by jury in all cases, all other civil rights of Englishmen were secured, to be deter- mined according to their own regula- tions, with the restriction just stated. In the charter of Virginia, as now amended, was recognized for the first time by the mother country the princi- ple of the great and inestimable right of local self-government by the people of the British colonies respectively on this continent. Sir Francis Wyatt succeeded Ycard- ley as governor in 162 1. At this period the colony was in a very flourishing condition. There were about eighty settlements, and the population amounted to not less than three thousand. The inhabitants enjoyed civil rights, the land was fertile, trade was free, and peace continued unbroken with the In- dians. In the midst of their prosperity and seeming security, a terrible calamity suddenly befell them. They had no sus- picion that the Indians had become un- friendly, but such was the fact. O-pc- chan-can-ough, the brother of Powhatan, had succeeded him as king in 161 8. He had no love for the strangers, but con- cealed his hatred until he could mature his plans, by which he hoped to be able to exterminate them. At noon on a certain day the Indians were to fall on every settlement, and murder the whites. The plot was so well kept secret, that even on the morning of the day of the intended massacre the Indians mingled freely with the whites, and many of them joined, as was usual, in taking the meal of that hour at the same table, without the slightest indication of unfriendly feeling. Nothing in the manner of the savages gave the slightest intimation of their evil designs. The plot might have been entirely successful, and the mas- sacre complete, had it not been for the warning of a converted Indian named Chanco, who on the forenoon of the pro- jected attack brought the news of the plot to Jamestown. Only the night be- fore had he learned it. Messengers were immediately despatched in every direction to warn the inhabitants, but it was too late to > be ratified by the proprietor before they could take effect. "All freeholders were granted the COLONY OF NEW YORK. Ill right of suffrage; trial by jury was es- tablished ; taxes should no more be levied except by consent of the Assem- bly; soldiers should not be quartered on die people; martial law should not exist; no person accepting the general doc- trines of religion should be in anywise distressed or persecuted."* It was in this way the principle of the right of local self-government took root in this colony. The people for a time seemed content with the mere privilege of having representatives, though they had only two sessions of the legislature in the next six years. treaty with the Five Nations, embracing, all the English settlements and all the Indian tribes in alliance with them. This treaty, which was long and faith- fully adhered to. was of immense ad- vantage to the English settlers, as it erected a firm barrier between them and the French on the north, and pre- vented their encroachm pits for many years. In 1684 De la Barre, itie Governor of Canada, invaded the territory of the ! Five Nations with an army of seventeen j hundred men, with the intention of de- | feating and driving them from their n6tlWBl]f3unm_ix NEW YORK IN 1 664. The administration of Dongan was distinguished by the attention he gave to Indian affairs. The interior of New York was inhabited by several of the aboriginal tribes. These at first were known as the Five Nations. After they were joined by the Tuscaroras from the Carolinas, in 1/ 1 3,T tnc y werc known as the Six Nations. Governor Dongan in 1684, seeing great danger from the encroachments of the French in Canada, in conjunction with Lord Effingham, Governor of Virginia, entered into a *Ridpath, p. 175. f Post, p. 108. country. But his troops suffered so much from famine, hardship, and sick- ness, that he was compelled to ask peace of those he had come to destroy. He invited the chiefs of the Five Nations to meet him at his camp; they accepted the invitation. In the conference which ensued, he accused the confederated tribes of conducting the English to the trading grounds of the French, and threatened them with a war of extermi- nation if they did not alter their behavior. The Indian chief Garangala, who well knew the weakness and helpless condi- tion of the French army, treated his I 12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Pnr, K T..C. 11 threats with contempt, and replied to him in a bold and defiant speech. De la Harre was mortified and enraged at his reply; but submitting to necessity, concluded a treaty of peace and returned to Montreal. His successor, De \K I.e. 19 tility was aroused, they began their work of destruction by an attack upon Poco- taligo about daybreak on the morning of the 15th of April, 1715. About one hundred white persons were massacred without warning. The inhabitants of Port Royal got notice just before their place was at- tacked, by a fleet-footed young man, who had escaped from the slaughter at Pocotaligo, and running with utmost speed, had reached there a little ahead of the savages. Most of them, by this information, were enabled to get aboard vessels then lying in the harbor and reach Charleston in safety. A few families in the country, who had not time to em- bark, were either slain or carried into captivity. The war was also fiercely waged in the country towards North Carolina, and the danger became so great that serious fears were entertained for the safety of Charleston itself. The governor ordered out every man under arms, except the slaves, and even some of the more trusty of them were armed. At the head of two hundred and forty men, the commander-in-chief marched directly against the enemy, and sent a courier to Colonel Mackey, with orders to raise, at once, what forces he could, and then to proceed by water to meet him at Yemassee town. He rested at night on the Combahee river, within six- teen miles of the enemy, and was at- tacked early next morning by about five hundred Yemassees. After a consider- able fight he routed the Indians, and drove them back with great loss, while he had but one man killed and several wounded. Being without guides, and seeing great numbers of the enemy on the opposite side of the river, he returned to Charleston. Colonel Mackey, in the execution of the duty assigned him, surprised and drove the Indians from their town, in which were stored large quantities of provisions and plunder. He here learned that two hundred of the enemy had posted themselves in another fort, and he sent one hundred and forty men to attack them. At this time a young man named Palmer, who, at the head of sixteen men, had been on a scout, came to Mackey 's assistance, and at once scaled the walls, but was driven back. He returned to the charge, and was suc- cessful. He drove the enemy out, and as they fled they were shot down in numbers by Mackey's men. But though the Indians were checked here, they gained some advantages on the northern border of the colony. A party entered the plantation of Mr. John Heme, near the Santee, and treacherously killed him, after being kindly enter- tained. Captain Thomas Barker imme- diately -collected a body of ninety men, and advanced to meet them. Trusting to an Indian guide, he was led into an ambuscade in an extensive thicket of bushes, where the enemy lay concealed on the ground. Captain Barker and several of his men were in- stantly killed, and the rest fled in dis- order. The panic now became so gen- eral, that nearly all the inhabitants of the parish were fleeing towards Charles- ton. On one plantation, however, seventy white men, with forty negroes, had thrown up a breastwork, resolving to defend themselves to the last extremity. For some time they were successful, but became discouraged too soon, and while listening to proposals of peace, they suf- fered themselves to be taken by surprise. Very few escaped with their lives. The Indians were shortly afterwards met, COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 125 defeated, and driven back by the Goose Creek militia, commanded by Captain Chicken, who proved himself a true " game-cock " on that occasion. His tri- umph was complete. The province was thus made secure on the north. In the meantime, the whole country became deserted to within twenty miles of Charleston. Many began to fear the destruction of the colony. The enemy numbered from eight to ten thousand warriors, while the Carolina muster-roll could show but twelve hundred men fit to bear arms. Yet Craven determined to send forces into the wilderness to meet the enemy upon their own ground. In his summons of the Assembly he said : " Expedition is the life of action ; bring the women and children into our town, and all provisions from all exposed plantations. Virginia and New England must be solicited for aid." Francis Holmes was sent as agent to New England to purchase arms. The command of the troops was committed to three able officers — Colonels Alexander Mackey and John Barnwell, and Lieu- tenant-General James Moore. Barnwell and Moore were the same officers who figured so conspicuously in the Tusca- rora war.* One hundred gallant Virginians re- sponded to the call for aid, while North Carolina in return sent a regiment under the lead of Colonel Maurice Moore, from Cape Fear. The war was pushed so vigorously that the Vemassees were soon driven from the country to the region beyond the Savannah river. They took up their residence in Florida, from which place they continued for some time, in small parties, to infest the borders of South Carolina. The province was now well defended by six hundred Caro- *Ante, pp. 107, 10S. linians, four hundred negroes, and a hundred friendly Indians. When a new Assembly met in February, 17 16, the war was almost entirely over, and the chief object of solicitude then was to secure a permanent peace with all the neighboring tribes. After this signal failure to destroy the colony the Indians became so well con- vinced of their inability to exterminate the English settlers in the colony, that they never again combined against them or made any attempt to penetrate in hostile bands to the neighborhood of the capital. Governor Craven's family affairs re- quired his presence in England. By permission of the proprietors he left the colony on the 25th of April, 17 16, leaving Colonel Robert Daniel, deputy- governor. But he would not and did not leave the province until after the conclusion of the war, and all apprehen- sion of danger had ceased. In 17 17 Robert Johnson, son of Sir Nathaniel Johnson, was appointed gov- ernor. He was the last governor under the authority of the proprietors. Two years after Johnson's appoint- ment, the famous James Moore was made governor by the people without consulting the proprietors. The long protracted issue, between the people and the proprietors, was now squarely made. General Francis Nicholson, who had considerable colonial experience, was sent to South Carolina as a sort of peace- maker. He was kindly received by all parties. But the end had come. The proprietors gave up the contest, and Parliament declared their charter for- feited. This was in 1729. The lords proprietors, except Carteret, sold their interests to the king in South Carolina, 126 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES— COLOXIAL. Book I., c. 20 as they did in North Carolina. The amount received by them for their in- terest in each colony was the same, namely: a sum in sterling money equivalent to about forty-five thousand Spanish mill dollars. After that time the government of South Carolina, as in North Carolina, devolved on the crown, subject to the limitations, franchises and privileges secured to the settlers by the charter; and for forty years public quiet was maintained, with increasing prosperity on the part of the people. CHAPTER XX. NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION — Resumed. (1675— 1754.) Restoration of Charles II. in New England — Dissat- isfaction of the people — King Philip's war — Ex- tinction of the Wampanoag tribe — Grandson of Massasoit sold as a slave — Dispute between Mas- sachusetts and the mother country as to New Hampshire domination ended — First General As- sembly of New Hampshire under the new organi- zation — Annulment of New England charters — The confederation ended — Sir Edmond Andros and his infamous acts — The Charter Oak — James II. of England dethroned — War between England and France — Schenectady massacre — Salmon falls — Peace of Ryswick — War renewed — Expedition against Quebec and Montreal — Peace of Utrecht — Great snow storms, 17 17 — Aurora borealis, 1 7 19 — Earthquake, 1 727 — Witchcraft — War renewed, 1744 — Capture of Louisbourg— Pepperell and Shirley knighted for gallantry — Treaty of Aix la- Chapelle. HE public manifestations of loy- alty to Charles II. throughout New England, after the restora- tion, were more in appearance than reality. There was a general apprehension pervading the minds of a large majority of the people that their chartered rights would not be regarded by this monarch. It is true he had confirmed the charter of Massachu- setts, yet he had done it in such a way and with qualifications which increased this apprehension. In his act of con- firmation he required a toleration of the Church of England, and dispensed with colonial church membership as a qualifi- cation to hold office. These apprehensions were still more increased upon the arrival not long after of a Board of Royal Commissioners, who were sent over on some pretext or other to determine certain civil as well as mil- itary matters in each of the colonies of the confederation, and also to Rhode Isl- and. They were to look after the peace and security of the whole country generally. These commissioners met with a very jealous reception in Massa- chusetts, much more so than in Ply- mouth, Connecticut or Rhode Island. A very serious dispute soon arose be- tween them and the General Court of Massachusetts about her claim of juris- diction over New Hampshire. The com- missioners returned to New England without any satisfactory adjustment of this dispute. Massachusetts was cited to appear by agents or attorneys to an- swer in England certain complaints al- leged against her by them. This she neglected to do, and matters were as- suming quite a serious aspect in that quarter when a new trouble arose, which diverted attention temporarily from a quarrel with the mother country. It was a dangerous quarrel with the Indians at their doors. This was the breaking out of what is known as King Philip's war. King Philip was the second son of Massasoit, who had always been a firm friend of the English, but he was far from sharing the feeling of his father. He concealed his hatred and went si- THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. lently to work maturing a plan by which he hoped to be able to exterminate all the colonists. The cause of his hatred was the wrongs which, as he complained, had been inflicted upon his brother and upon others of his tribe, who were put to death after being tried and found guilty of murder by a jury composed of colonists and Indians. This was done under an Indian treaty with the confed- eration, and he complained that it all came from the controlling influence of the whites. The origin, history and results of this war are thus graphically sketched by McCabe : " Massasoit, who had been the early friend of the English, left two sons at his death, Wamsutta and Metacom, who had long been reckoned among the friends of the Plymouth colony. They were frequent visitors at Plymouth, and had received from the English the names of Alexander and Philip. At the death of Massasoit, Wamsutta or Alexander became chief of the Wampanoags. He and his brother Philip were men of more than ordinary abilities, and felt deeply the wrongs which were beginning to fall thickly upon their race. Uncas, the chief of the Mohegans, the determined enemy of Wamsutta, exerted himself, with success, to fill the minds of the English with suspicions of the intentions of the Wampanoag chieftain, and it was resolved to arrest him and bring him to Plymouth. Winslow was sent at the head of an armed force, and succeeded in surprising the chief in his hunting-lodge, together with eighty of his followers. The proud spirit of Wamsutta chafed with such fury at the indignity thus put upon him that he was seized with a dangerous fever, and the English were obliged to permit him to return home. 127 'He died on his way,' says Elliott. 'He was carried home on the shoulders of men, and borne to his silent grave near Mount Hope, in the evening of the day, and in the prime of his life, between lines of sad, quick-minded Indians, who well believed him the victim of injustice and ingratitude ; for his father had been the ally, not the subject of England, and so was he, and the like indignity had not before been put upon any sachem.' " By the death of his brother, Meta- com, or Philip, became chief of the KING PHILIP. Wampanoags. He kept his own coun- sel, but the whites soon had cause to believe that he meditated a desperate vengeance upon them for the death of Wamsutta and the wrongs of his race. To make the sense of injury deeper in his mind, the Plymouth authorities treated him with great harshness, and compelled him to give up his arms. A ' praying Indian,' who lived among his people, informed the colonists that the chief meditated harm against them, and 128 HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES— COLOXEl /.. Boos I., C. 20 his dead body was soon after found. Three of Philip's men were suspected of the murder. The)' were arrested, tried at Plymouth, and found guilty by a jury composed of whites and Indians, and were put to death. This was early in 1675. " The execution of these men awoke a wild thirst for revenge among the tribe to which they belonged, and the young warriors clamored loudly for war against the English. Philip, whose vigorous mind enabled him to judge more clearly of the issue of such a struggle, entered into the contest with reluctance, for he saw that it must end in the destruction of his race. Me was powerless to resist the universal sentiment of his people,' and like a true hero resolved to make the best of the situation in which he was placed, and to share the fate of his na- tion. The Indians were tolerably well provided with firearms, for, in spite of the severe punishments denounced against the sale of weapons to the sav- ages, the colonists had not been proof against the temptations of gain held out to them by this traffic. Their chief de- pendence, however, was upon their prim- itive weapons. The English, on the other hand, were well armed, and were provided with forts and towns which fur- nished them with secure places of refuge. They might have averted the war by conciliating the savages, but they per- sisted in their unjust treatment of them, regarding them as 'bloody heathen,' whom it was their duty to drive back into the wilderness. " Philip was able to bring seven hun- dred desperate warriors into the field. They had no hope of success ; and they fought only for vengeance. They knew every nook and hiding-place of the forest, and in these natural defences could hope to continue the struggle as long as the leaves remained on the trees to conceal their lurking-places from the white man's search. Immediately after the execution of the three Indians at Plymouth, Philip's men had begun to rob exposed houses and carry off cattle, but the war did not actually begin until the 24th of June, 1675, the day of fast- ing and prayer appointed by the govern- ment as a preparation for the struggle. On that day the people of Swanzey, in Plymouth colony, while returning home from church, were attacked by the Wampanoags, and eight or nine were killed. Philip burst into tears when the news of this attack was brought to him, but he threw himself with energy into the hopeless struggle, now that it had come. " Reinforcements were sent from Mas- sachusetts to the aid of the Plymouth colony, and on the 29th of June the united forces made an attack upon the Wampanoags, killed six or seven of their men, and drove them to a swamp in which they took refuge. The English surrounded this swamp, determined to starve the Indians into submission, but Philip and his warriors escaped and took refuge among the Nipmucks, a small tribe occupying what is now Worcester county, Massachusetts. The English then marched into the territory of the Xarragansctts, and compelled them to agree to remain neutral, and to deliver up the fugitive Indians who should take refuge among them. This accomplished, the colonists hoped they had put an end to the war. " Philip succeeded in inducing the Nipmucks to join him in the struggle, and his warriors began to hang around the English settlements. The whites were murdered wherever they ventured THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. 129 to expose themselves, and a feeling of general terror spread through the colon- ies. No one knew the extent of the hostility of the savage tribes, or how many allies Philip had gained ; nor was it certain when or where the next great blow of the savages would be struck. Some of the colonists began to give way to superstitious fears. It was asserted the night wind was like the sound of whistling bullets ; and the howling of the wolves was fiercer and more constant than usual. These things, the super- stitious declared, were warnings that the colonies were about to be severely punished for their sins, among which they named profane swearing, the neglect of bringing up their children in more THE BURNING OF BKOOKFIELD BY THE INDIANS. that an Indian bow, a sign of impending evil, had been seen clearly denned against the heavens, and that at the eclipse which occurred at this time the moon bore the figure of an Indian scalp on its face. The northern heavens glowed with auroral lights of unusual brilliancy; troops of phantom horsemen were heard to dash through the air; the sighing of 9 rigid observances, the licensing of ale houses, and the 'wearing of long hair by the men and of gay apparel by the women. The more extreme even de- clared that they were about to be 'judged' for not exterminating the Quakers. " In the meantime Philip, with a party of Nipmucks and his own people, carried 13° HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Rook I., c. 2d the war into the valley of the Connecti- men arrived to the aid of the whites, cut, and spread death along the line of , and the savages were driven off with the settlements from Springfield to North- loss of several of their number. Philip field, then the most remote inland town, succeeded in drawing to his support With the hope of withdrawing the Nip- nearly all the tribes of New England, mucks, who could muster fifteen hundred and it was resolved by the savages to warriors, from the confederacy, Captain make a general effort for the destruction Hutchinson, with twenty men, was sent of the whites. A concerted attack was to treat with them. His party was am- to bt made upon a large number of set- bushed and murdered at Brookfield early j tlements at the same day and hour, and ATTACK UPON DEERFIELU BY Till'. INDIANS. in August. The Indians then attacked Brookfield, and burned the village with the exception of one* strong house to which the colonists retreated. After a siege of two days, during which they kept up a constant fire upon the building, they attempted to burn the house, but were prevented by a shower of rain which extinguished the flames. At the same moment a reinforcement of fifty the Sabbath was chosen as the day most favorable for the movement. " Deerfield in Massachusetts and Had- ley in Connecticut were among the places attacked. The former was burned. Hadley was assailed while the congrega- tion were worshipping in the church, and the whites were hard pressed by their antagonists. Suddenly in the midst of the battle there appeared a tall THE NE W ENGLAND CONFEDE RA TION. 131 and venerable man with a flowing beard, and clad in a strange dress. With sword in hand he rallied the settlers, and led them to a new effort in which the savages were beaten back and put to flight. When the battle was over, the stranger could not be found, and the wondering people declared that he was an angel sent by God for their deliverance. It was Goffe, the regicide, who had sud- denly left his place of concealment to aid his countrymen in their struggle with the savages. He had been lying in concealment at the house of Russell, the minister of Hadley, and returned to his place of refuge when the danger was over. " On the whole, the Indians, though they succeeded in causing great suffering to the colonies, were unsuccessful in their efforts during the summer and autumn of 1675. In October, Philip returned to his old home, but, finding Mount Hope in ruins, took shelter among the Narra- gansetts, who protected him notwith- standing their promise to deliver up all fugitives to the English. The colonial authorities seeing that the tribe had no intention of fulfilling their promise, and being fearful that Philip would succeed in winning them over to his side, resolved to anticipate the danger and treat them as enemies. "A force was collected and sent into the Narragansett country, in December, 1675. This tribe, numbering about three thousand souls, had erected a strong fort of palisades in the midst of a swamp near the present town of Kingston, Rhode Island. It was almost inaccessible, and had but a single entrance, defended by a morass, which could be passed only by means of a fallen tree. The English were led to the fort by an Indian traitor, ■and attacked it on the 19th of December. After a severe fight of two hours they succeeded in forcing an entrance into the fort. The wigwams were then fired, and the whole place was soon in flames. The defeat of the savages was complete, but it was purchased by the loss of six captains and two hundred and fifty men killed and wounded, on the part of the English. About one thousand of the Narragansetts were slain, their provisions were destroyed, and numbers were made prisoners. Those who escaped wandered through the frozen woods without shelter, and for food were compelled to dig for nuts and acorns under the snow. Many died during the winter. Canonchet, the Narragansett chief, was among the sur- vivors. ' We will fight to the last man, rather than become servants to the Eng- lish,' said the undaunted chieftain. He was taken prisoner in April, 1676, near Blackstone, and was offered his life if he would induce the Indians to make peace. He refused the offer with scorn, and when sentenced to death, answered proudly: ' I like it well : I shall die before I speak anything unworthy of myself.' " In the spring of 1676, Philip, who had been to the west to endeavor to induce the Mohawks to join the war against the English, returned to place himself at the head of his countrymen in New England. The work of murdering and burning was resumed with renewed fury. The Indians seemed to be every- where and innumerable, and the whites could find safety only in their forts. The surviving Narragansetts scourged the Rhode Island and Plymouth colonies with fire and axe, and even the aged Roger Williams was obliged to take up arms for the defence of his home. Lan- caster, Medford, Weymouth, Groton, Springfield, Sudbury and Marlborough, in Massachusetts, and Providence and 132 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL Book I Warwick, in Rhode Island, were de- stroyed either wholly or in part, and numerous other settlements were at- tacked and made to suffer more or less severely. "As the season advanced, the cause of the Indians became more hopeless, and they began to quarrel among them- selves. In June the Nipmucks submitted, and the tribes on the Connecticut refused to shelter Philip any longer. He then appealed to the Mohawks to take up the hatchet, but seeing that his cause was hopeless, they refused to join him. In proud despair Philip went back to Mount I lope to die. One of his people urged him to make peace with the whites, and was struck dead by the hand of the chief for daring to mention such a humiliation. It became known that Philip had re- turned to his old home, and Captain Church marched against him, dispersed his followers, and took the chief's wife and little son prisoners. Philip, who had borne the reverses and the reproaches of his nation with the firmness of a hero, was conquered by this misfortune. ' My heart breaks,' he cried, despairingly, ' I am ready to die.' He was soon attacked by Church in his place of concealment, and in attempting to escape was shot by an Indian who was serving in the ranks of his enemies. Philip's little son was sold as a slave in Bermuda, and the grandson of Massasoit, who had wel- comed and befriended the English, was condemned to pass his days in bondage in a foreign clime. " The death of Philip was soon fol- lowed by the close of hostilities. The power of the Indians was completely broken. Of the Narragansetts, scarcely one hundred men were left alive, and the other tribes had suffered severely. The Mohcgans had remained faithful to the English, and Connecticut had been hap- pily spared the sufferings experienced by the other colonies, which were very severe. Twelve or thirteen towns were destroyed, and many others were seri- ously crippled. Six hundred houses were burned, and the pecuniary losses amounted to the then enormous sum of half a million dollars. Over six hun- dred men, chiefly young men, fell In the war, and there was scarcely a family which did not mourn some loved one who had given his life for the country." It may not be improper here to say that numerous efforts were made by all the religious sects and denominations to convert these Indian tribes to the doc- trines and faith of Christianity, but with little effect. Cassell, in his History of the United States, says that they were "not merely indifferent to that religion, but as a rule, positively disliked it." He also relates an interesting interview which took place some years afterwards between Rev. Experience Mayhew, a missionary, and a sachem of the remnant of the Nar- ragansetts. The interview is recorded in Mayhew's journal. This surviving sachem of his tribe bid the preacher " Go and make the English good first," that " owing to the many religious divisions among the conquering race, his people would not know what sect to follow, if they were inclined to adopt Christianity at all," and in an angry humor turned away.* It was some time before the colonics composing the Confederation recovered from the losses and devastations from what is known as King Philip's war The waste places, the burnt towns and villages were not built up soon, nor was the loss of population replen- ished for several years. A heavy debt * See Cassell's Hist, of the U. S., 1882. U33) 134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 2^ was contracted, and their resources were greatly diminished. At the beginning of this war the entire population of New England was not above one hundred and twenty-five thousand. On the restoration of peace, the dis- pute between Massachusetts and the mother country in regard to New Hamp- shire, as well as Maine, was renewed. The latter was ended in 1677, by Massa- chusetts paying twelve hundred pounds sterling for the proprietary rights of Gorges to the territory of Maine. The dispute as to New Hampshire was ended in 1679, by a judicial decision in England, against the claim by Massa- chusetts of jurisdiction over that colony. A new and very liberal charter was granted to New Hampshire on the 1 8th of September, 1 679. John Cutts, of Ports- mouth, was appointed chief magistrate, under the name and style of President. After this, New Hampshire remained a separate colony. The first General Assembly under the new organization met at Portsmouth, 16th March, 1680, which passed many wholesome and liberal laws. One of their declarations was that no act, im- position, law, or ordinance should be imposed upon the inhabitants of the province, but such as should be made by the Assembly and approved by the president of the council. Under the code then adopted, -New Hampshire soon began to flourish. It was not long after this that King Charles II. entered upon the execution of a purpose to annul all the New Eng- land colonial charters. His acts, in the proceeding which ensued, were most ar- bitrary and tyrannical. In 1684 a judg- ment was obtained by him in the High Court of Chancery, abrogating the Mas- sachusetts charter. All the other New England charters, soon after, were also declared void. Very great excitement in all the colonies was the necessary conse- quence. The New England Confedera- tion, which had existed since 1643, was nowended by the annulment of their char- ters. James II., who succeeded Charles II., his brother, to the throne of England,, in 1685, appointed Joseph Dudley to take charge of the government of Massachu- setts, New Hampshire, Maine, Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. He was superseded in 1686 by the infamous Sir Edmond Andros, who, with a coun- cil to be appointed by the king, was empowered, under the title of captain- general and vice-admiral, to make all laws and levy taxes at discretion over the whole of the country committed to their charge. Upon his arrival in Mas- sachusetts, his conduct bore every mark of a usurping despot. He removed all .the civil authorities, and put a restraint,, not only on the freedom of the press, but upon the freedom of personal loco- motion. All public meetings were pro- hibited, and no one was allowed to leave the country without his permission. He afterwards went to Rhode Island, and broke the seal of the charter of that colony, and declared its government at an end. In 1687 he went to Hartford, and demanded the charter of Connecti- cut. The Assembly was in session, but the demand was evaded until night. When candles were lighted the charter was brought in and laid upon the table. As Andros was about to take it up, the lights were suddenly put out ; and when they were restored the document was gone. It had been, according to pre- vious arrangements, seized by one of the patriots, and carried away for safe-keep- ing. It was hid for the time in the hollow of a venerable oak, which after- THE NEW ENGLAND CONEEDERATION. 135 wards remained famous as the old Charter Oak for more than a century. The charter of Connecticut was in this way saved from destruction, but the government under it was repressed for the time being. Andros had complete control, under his commission from the king, and by his exactions and atrocities, rendered himself and his administration extremely odious to all people within the limits of his sway. Cotton Mather, an eminent divine of Massachusetts, was despatched as a common agent to Eng- land, to seek redress. But the king re- mained firm in his purpose, and even enlarged the jurisdiction of Andros, so as to extend it over the colonies of New York and New Jersey. Relief, however, came shortly after- wards, not from the king, but from his overthrow. James II., by his arbitrary measures, both in church and state, ex- cited a general apprehension throughout the realm that the rights and liberties of the people of England were not safe in his hands. Parliament declared against his authority, and invited William, Prince of Orange, husband of Mary, his eldest daughter, to come over and take his place upon the throne. The invitation was accepted. James fled the kingdom, William and Mary were proclaimed by Parliament the legitimate sovereigns of the nation, under what was called the settlement of 1688. The inhabitants of New England received the news of the change with acclamations of joy. An- dros and about fifty of his* most active partisans were seized in Boston and sent to England for trial. The administra- tion of civil affairs in Massachusetts was immediately restored to the former offi- cers who had been displaced by Andros. The same was done in Rhode Island, as we have seen, as also in Connecticut. There the old charter was brought from the hollow of the oak, in which it had been securely kept from the grasp of the tyrant, and the former officers resumed their functions under it. In the colony of Plymouth, when it was known that Andros had been arrested, Clark, his agent or deputy, was imprisoned, and Thomas Hinckly, former governor, was immediately restored to office. In 1 69 1 King William of England granted a new charter to the colonies of Massachusetts and Plymouth. By this charter, these two colonies, which before that had been separate, were in- corporated into one. It was accepted by THE CHARTER OAK. both of them in 1692, and ever since then the original colony of Plymouth has been a part of Massachusetts and under the same government. At the time of the union, the population of Massachu- setts was about forty thousand, and that of Plymouth about seven thousand. The district of Maine was also embraced in the same charter. In it, the king reserved to himself the power of appoint- ing the governor and other officers, but conceded to the people the right of self- government in all other respects, and insured to all classes the protection of person and property. Sir William Phipps was the first governor under this I3 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Hook T., c. 2« new organization. Meantime France favored the cause of the exiled British king, James II., and soon after the Eng- lish revolution and settlement of i68S, war broke out between that country and England. The colonies of New Eng- land and New York were great sufferers in consequence, because of their being exposed to continual incursions of the French and Indians from Canada. On the night of February 8th, 1690, Schenec- tady, in New York, was destroyed, and many of the inhabitants slain. Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, shared the same fate. Thirty of the inhabitants were killed and fifty-four were carried into captivity. The whole northern frontier became a scene of horrors from the same kind of attacks. The colonies unitedly resolved to carry the war into the enemy's country. A fleet of eight vessels was fitted out, and a force of eight hundred men, under command of Sir William Phipps, was sent against Port Royal, in Acadia, as Nova Scotia was then called. The ex- pedition was successful ; Port Royal was captured, and all Acadia was subjugated. But an expedition against Canada — the object of which was the capture of Quebec — failed, as we have seen.* In 1696 Port Royal was recovered by France, and the possession of all Acadia followed. The peace of Ryswick, which was concluded in 1697, gave a brief re- pose to France and England, and also to the colonics. In 1702, after a lapse of five years, war again broke out between the two countries, and the colonial border war- fare recommenced. In 1707 an unsuccessful expedition was undertaken against Port Royal. Haverhill was burned by the Indians in * Ante, p. 113. 1708; more than one hundred persons lost their lives, and a great many were carried into captivity. The same year a force of three thousand men was sent against Canada, but returned without accomplishing anything. The idea, how- ever, of taking Port Royal was not given up. Some regiments were sent from England under Colonel Nicholson, with a fleet, to co-operate with the colonists in an attack on that place. Success crowned their efforts. Port Royal was taken, and the name changed to An- napolis, in honor of Queen Anne, sister of Mary, who was now on the throne of England. P^ncouraged by this success, a grand expedition against Quebec and Mon- treal was undertaken in 171 1. Fifteen ships of war, forty transports, and six store-ships sailed from Boston; but, in proceeding up the St. Lawrence bay, the fleet was scattered by a storm, and one thousand men were lost. This terrible disaster caused the complete failure of the expedition; the force of foui thousand men, which was proceeding overland, returned home, as they could accom- plish nothing without the co-operation of the fleet. For ten years the colonies of New England suffered all the miseries of this harassing warfare. The danger was so urgent that they were compelled to keep one-half the whole body of the militia, amounting to six thousand men, on duty. The peace of Utrecht, wlr'ch was con- cluded in 17 1 3, between France and England, gave the colonists rest from war, but left them heavily burdened with a public debt. To supply the want of money to pay the soldiers, bills of credit were issued. These bills very greatly de- preciated in value — a result which it was impossible to prevent — and great finan- cial embarrassment and distress followed. THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. 137 On the 24th of February, 1717, there was the greatest snow storm ever known in New England. Cotton Mather said that in some places the snow was six- teen feet deep, " covering many cottages over the tops of their chimneys." Many people as well as cattle perished in it. On the nth of December, 17 19, the aurora borealis, or northern lights, as it is called, was observed for the first time by the colonists after the settlement of the country. It caused great wonder and excited the apprehension of the superstitious. On the 29th of October, 1727, there was a noted earthquake, which extended throughout New England, causing alarm, but doing no serious injury. Heretofore no mention has been made of the trials and executions for witch- craft in New England, one of the darkest and most melancholy episodes in the his- tory of that country. The first trials occurred in 1645, when four persons were put to death for that crime in Mas- sachusetts. Many graphic accounts of this sad delusion have been given in the " History of the Times." A distin- guished writer of New England* thus describes it: " For more than forty years after the executions for witchcraft in 1645, we hear but little of similar prosecutions. But in the year 1688 a woman was exe- cuted for witchcraft in Boston, after an investigation conducted with a degree of solemnity that made a deep impres- sion on the minds of the people. Sus- picions having been thus violently roused, the charges of witchcraft began gradually to multiply, till at length there commenced at- Salem that dreadful tragedy which rendered New England for many months a scene of bloodshed, * Greenville Mellen terror and madness, and at one time seemed to threaten the subversion of civil society. "In the year 1692 the frenzy of the colonists reached the highest pitch of extravagance. Suspicions and accusa- tions of witchcraft became general among them ; and on this fanciful charge many persons were put to death. This pesti- lential visitation first showed itself in the town of Salem. A fanatic, who was a minister of a church there, had two daughters subject to convulsions. He fancied they were bewitched, and fixed his suspicions on an Indian girl, who lived in the house, as the accomplice and tool of Satan in the matter. By harsh treatment he made the poor savage ac- knowledge she was a witch. Among a people like the New Englanders, this was throwing a firebrand into a powder magazine ; and the explosion was dread- ful. " Every woman subject to hysterical affections instantly believed herself be- witched ; and was seldom at a loss to discover the cause of her malady. Per- sons accused of this imaginary crime of witchcraft were imprisoned, condemned, hanged, and their bodies left exposed to wild beasts and birds of prey. Coun- sellors who refused to plead against these devoted victims, and judges who were not forward in condemning them, were doomed to share their fate as accom- plices in their guilt. " Children of ten years of age were put to death; young women were stripped naked, and the marks of witchcraft sought for on their bodies with unblush- ing curiosity. Scorbutical or other spots on the bodies of old men were reckoned clear proofs of a heinous commerce with the infernal powers. Dreams, appari- tions, prodigies of every kind, increased 138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Hook I.e. L'i+ the general consternation and horror. The prisons were filled, the gibbets left standing, and the citizens were appalled. Under this frightful delirium, the miser- able colonists seemed doomed to de- struction by each other's hands. The more prudent withdrew from a country polluted by the blood of its inhabitants, and the ruin of the colony seemed in- evitable, when, ceasing to receive coun- tenance from those in authority, this awful frenzy passed away almost as sud- denly as it had arisen, leaving to future ages a fearful warning against such pop- ular insanity." McCabe, in his " History of the United States," of this strange infatuation and the horrible tragedies which attended it, gives a very interesting account, which we may be excused for quoting at large :* " While these matters were in progress of settlement, there occurred in Massa- chusetts one of the most singular de- lusions recorded in history, and which was in some respects the last expiring effort of ecclesiastical ambition to con- trol the political affairs of the colony. The clergy had always sought in New England, as in other lands, to fight their political enemies with spiritual weapons. They now carried this to an extreme which taught the people of New England a lesson that was not soon forgotten. " The belief in witchcraft has not been confined to any single nation, and at this time was common to America and Europe. ' The people did not rally to the error ; they accepted the superstition only because it had not yet been disen- gaged from religion.' It was believed that as Christians were united with God by a solemn covenant, so were witches leagued with the devil by a tie which, once formed, they could not dissolve. * See McCabe, p. 217, et seq. Those who thus placed themselves in the arch-fiend 's power were used by him as instruments to torment their fellow- men. They were given power to annoy them by pinching them, thrusting invisi- ble pins into them, pulling their hair, afflicting them with disease, killing their cattle and chickens with mysterious ail- ments, upsetting their wagons and carts, and by practising upon them many other puerile and ludicrous tricks. The witches generally exerted their arts upon those whom they hated, but it was a matter of doubt how many persons were included in their dislikes. One of the most popular superstitions was that of the ' Witches' sacrament,' a gathering at which the devil, in the form of 'a small black man,' presided, and required his followers to renounce their Christian baptism and to sign their names in his book. They were then re-baptized by the devil, and the meeting was closed with horrid rites, which varied in different' narratives according to the imagination of the relators. " The belief in the existence of witch- craft was held by some of the leading minds of this period. Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England, was firmly convinced of the truth of the doctrine, and it was advocated by many of the clergy in England. In New Eng- land the clergy held it to be heresy to deny the existence of witches, which they claimed was clearly taught in the Scriptures. It was evidently to their in- terest to maintain this belief, as it made them the chief authorities in such cases, and furnished them with a powerful weapon against their adversaries. " By the early settlers of New England the Indians were supposed to be worship- pers of the devil, and their medicine- men to be wizards. Governor Hutchin- THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. 1 39 son, in his ' History of Massachusetts,' thus sums up the cases of supposed witchcraft that had occurred in the colony previous to the time of which we are now writing: " ' The first suspicion of witchcraft among the English was about the year 1645, at Springfield, upon Connecticut river; several persons were supposed to be under an evil hand, and among the rest two of the minister's children. Great pains were taken to prove the facts upon several of the persons charged with the crime, but either the nature of the evidence was not satisfactory, or the fraud was suspected, and so no person was convicted until the year 1650, when a poor wretch, Mary Oliver, probably weary of her life from the general repu- tation of being a witch, after long ex- amination, was brought to confession of her guilt, but I do not find that she was executed. Whilst this inquiry was making, Margaret Jones was executed at Charlestown; and Mr. Hale mentions a woman at Dorchester, and another at Cambridge about the same time, who all at their death asserted their innocence. Soon after, Hugh Parsons was tried at Springfield, and escaped death. In 1655, Mrs. Hibbins, the assistant's widow, was hanged at Boston. In 1662, at Hartford, Connecticut, one Ann Cole, a young woman who lived next door to a Dutch family, and no doubt had learned some- thing of the language, was supposed to be possessed with demons, who some- times spoke Dutch and sometimes Eng- lish, and sometimes a language which nobody understood, and who held a con- ference with one another. Several ministers who were present took down the conference in writing and the names of several persons, mentioned in the course of the conference, as actors or bearing parts in it ; particularly a woman, then in prison upon suspicion of witch- craft, one Greensmith, who upon ex- amination confessed and appeared to be surprised at the discovery. She owned that she and the others named had been familiar with a demon, who had carnal, knowledge of her, and although she had not made a formal covenant, yet she had promised to be ready at his call, and was to have had a high frolic at Christmas, when the agreement was to have been signed. Upon this confession she was executed, and two more of the company were condemned at the same time. In 1669, Susanna Martin, of Salisbury, was bound over to the court upon suspicion of witchcraft, but escaped at that time. " ' In 1671, Elizabeth Knap, another ventriloqua, alarmed the people of Gro- ton in much the same manner as Ann Cole had done those of Hartford; but her demon was not so cunning, for, in- stead of confining himself to old women, he railed at the good minister of the town and other people of good character, and the people could not then be pre- vailed on to believe him, but believed the girl when she confessed that she had been deluded, and that the devil had tormented her in the shape of good per- sons, so she escaped the punishment due to her fraud and imposture. "' In 1673 Eunice Cole, of Hampton, was tried, and the jury found her not legally guilty, but that there were strong grounds to suspect her of familiarity with the devil. '"In 1679 William Morse's house, at Newbury, was troubled with the throwing of bricks, stones, etc., and a boy of the family was supposed to be bewitched, who accused one of the neighbors ; and in 1682 the house of George Walton, a 140 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLON I A I.. Book 1., c. 20 Quaker, at Portsmouth, and another house at Salmon Falls (both in New Hampshire), were attacked after the same manner. " ' In 1683 the demons removed to Connecticut river again, where one Des- borough's house was molested by an invisible hand, and a fire kindled, nobody knew how, which burnt up a great part of his estate; and in 1684 Philip Smith, a judge of the court, a military officer and a representative of the town of Hadley, upon the same river (a hypo- chondriac person), fancied himself under an evil hand, and suspected a woman, one of his neighbors, and languished and pined away, and was generally supposed to be bewitched to death. While he lay ill, a number of brisk lads tried an ex- periment upon the old woman. Having dragged her out of her house, they hung her up until she was near dead, let her down, rolled her some time in the snow, and at last buried her in it and left her there, but it happened that she survived and the melancholy man died.' " These cases, which were not gen- erally regarded in the enlightened spirit of the writer we have quoted, served to confirm the common belief in witchcraft. Increase Mather published a work in 1684, containing an account of the cases which had already occurred in the colony, and giving detailed descriptions of the manner in which the afflicted persons had exhibited their ' deviltry.' The publica- tion of this work seemed to revive the trouble, and in a more aggravated form, for it is a singular fact that the general discussion of delusions of this kind rarely fiils to produce an increase of the evil. " In 1688 a case occurred which ex- cited general interest, and was the be- ginning of one of the saddest periods in the history of New England. The daughter of John Goodwin, a child of thirteen years, accused the daughter of an Irish laundress of stealing some linen. The mother of the laundress, a friendless emigrant, succeeded in disproving the charge, and abused the girl soundly for making a false accusation. Soon after this, the accuser was seized with a fit, and pretended to be bewitched, in order to be revenged upon the poor Irish woman. Her younger sister and two of her brothers followed her example. They pretended to be dumb, then deaf, then blind, and then all three at once. ' They were struck dead at the sight of the "Assembly's Catechism," ' says Governor Hutchinson, dryly, ' " Cotton's Milk for Babes," and some other good books, but could read in Oxford jests, popish and Quaker books, and the common prayer without any difficulty.' Nevertheless, their appetite was good, and they slept soundly at night. The younge'st of these little impostors was less than five years old. It was at once given out that the Goodwin children were bewitched, and no one suspected or hinted at the fraud. They would bark like dogs and mew like- cats, and a physician who was called in, to treat them solemnly declared that they were possessed by devils, as he dis- covered many of the symptoms laid down in Increase Mather's book. A conference of the four ministers of Boston and one from Charlestown was held at Goodwin's house, where they observed a day of fasting and prayer. As a result of their efforts, the youngest child, a boy of less than five years, was delivered of his evil spirit. The ministers now had no doubt that the children had been bewitched, and as the little ones accused the Irish woman of their misfortune, she was ar- rested, tried for witchcraft, convicted and hanged, notwithstanding that many per- THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. 141 eons thought the poor creature a lunatic. Among the ministers who had inves- tigated this case and had procured the execution of the woman was Cotton Mather, the son of Increase Mather, then president of Harvard college. He was a young man who had but recently en- tered the ministry, and was regarded as one of the most learned and gifted preachers in the colony. He was withal a man of overweening vanity, and full of ambition. He could not bear contra- diction, and was devoted to the main- tenance of the political power of the clergy. He was superstitious by nature, and was firmly convinced of the reality of witchcraft. He had become deeply interested in the case of the Goodwin children, and in order to study it more deeply, took the eldest girl to his house, where he could observe and experiment upon her devil at his leisure. She was a cunning creature, and soon found that it was to her interest to humor the young pastor in his views, and she played upon his weakness with a shrewdness and skill which were remarkable in one so young, and exhibit the credulity of the investi- gator in a most pitiable light. " Mather carried on his experiments with a diligence which would have seemed ludicrous had its object been less baneful to the community. He read the Bible, and prayed aloud in the pres- ence of the girl, who would pretend to be thrown into a fit by the pious exercise. At the same time, she read the Book of Common Prayer, or Quaker or Popish treatises, without any interruption from her familiar spirits. The minister then tested the proficiency of the devil in languages, by reading aloud passages of the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, which the girl professed to understand. When he tried her with an Indian dialect, however, she could not comprehend hinu By other experiments, designed to as- certain if the spirits could read the thoughts of others, Mather came to the sage conclusion that ' all devils are not alike sagacious.' The girl flattered his vanity, and lulled his suspicion of fraud by telling him that his own person was especially protected against the evil spirits by the power of God, and that the devils did not dare to enter his study. " The vanity of Cotton Mather was elated to the highest pitch by what he deemed his successful experiments, and he wrote a book upon witchcraft, in which he endeavored to prove the truth of his theories, and declared that he should esteem it a personal insult if any one should hereafter venture to deny the existence of witchcraft. The book was very generally read in New England, andi had a most pernicious effect upon the people by inducing them to give credit, to the stories of the writer rather than to listen to the promptings of their own good sense. Still there were some in Boston who had the boldness to differ with Mather, and these the indignant divine denounced as ' Sadducees.' Mather supported his views by his ser- mons. ' There are multitudes of Saddu- cees in our day,' he declared. 'A devil in the apprehension of these mighty acute philosophers is no more than a quality or a distemper. ***** Men counted it wisdom to credit noth- ing but what they say and feel. They never saw any witches ; therefore there are none.' The ministers of Boston and Charlestown gave their young colleague their hearty support, and declared that those who doubted the existence of witchcraft were guilty of atheism, and indorsed Mather's book as proving clearly that ' there is both a God and a HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. I42 devil, and witchcraft.' Thus did the clergy of Massachusetts set themselves to the task of forcing their own narrow views upon the people. It was a needed lesson. New England had passed the time when clerical rule in political affairs Book I.,c. 20 Phipps, as governor of the province, and the nomination of his father-in-law and many of his intimate friends to the council. " The ambitious Stoughton, the deputy- governor, was also subject to his in- THE REV. COTTON MATHER. could be productive of good, and was | fluence. Here was a fine opportunity to now to be taught the danger of permit- | endeavor to establish the power of the ting it to extend beyond this period, clergy upon the old foundations, which At this juncture, Mather's power was I were being destroyed by the growing in- greatly strengthened by the appointment telligence and independence of the peo- of his friend and parishioner, Sir William | pie. Many of the ministers, under the THE NE W ENGLAND CONFEDERA TION. 143 lead of Cotton Mather, had committed themselves to the doctrine of witchcraft, and the people must accept it upon their simple assertion. No inquiry must be allowed into the matter; the opinions of the ministers must be adopted by the laity. And so Mather and his followers resorted to the usual weapons of super- stition to accomplish the success of their plans. " In 1692 a new case of witchcraft occurred in Salem village, now the town of Danvers. The minister of this place was Samuel Parris, between whom and a number of his people there had for some time existed dissensions of such a bitter nature that the attention of the general court had been directed to them. In February, 1692, the daughter and niece of Parris, the former a child of nine years, and the latter of less than twelve, gave signs of being bewitched. Parris at once recognized the opportunity which was thus offered him for vengeance upon his enemies, and deliberately availed himself of it. He demanded of the children the names of the persons who had bewitched them, and then proceeded to accuse those whom he succeeded in inducing the girls to denounce. The first victim was Rebecca Nurse. She was known in the community as a woman of exemplary Christian character; but she was one of the most resolute opponents of Parris. Upon his accusa- tion she was arrested and imprisoned. The next Sunday Parris preached a ser- mon from the text, ' Have I not chosen you twelve? and one of you is a devil.' As it was evident that his remarks were to be directed against Mistress Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, a sister of the accused, at once left the church. This in itself was a serious offence in those days, and Parris took advantage of it to accuse the offender of witchcraft, and she was sent to join her sister in prison. Mather, who deemed his credit at stake, lent his active aid to the persecution of these unfortunate people, and had the vanity to declare that he regarded the efforts of ' the evil angels upon the country as a particular defiance unto himself.' Par- ris scattered his accusations right and left, becoming both informer and witness against those whom he meant to destroy for their opposition to him. In a few weeks nearly one hundred persons were in prison upon the charge of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, Parris's niece, aided her uncle with her tales, which the least examination would have shown to be absurd. George Burroughs, one of the ministers of Salem, had long been re- garded by Parris as a rival, and he now openly expressed his disbelief in witch- craft, and his disapproval of the measures against those charged with that offence. This boldness sealed his doom. He was accused by Parris, and committed to prison 'with the rest of the witches.' ' The gallows was to be set up, not for those who professed themselves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion.' " Governor Bradstreet, who had been chosen by the people, was unwilling to proceed to extreme measures against the accused, as he had no faith in the evi- dence against them. The arrival of the royal governor and the new charter in Boston in May, 1692, placed Cotton Mather and his fellow-persecutors in a position to carry out their bloody designs. The general court alone had authority to appoint special courts, but Governor Phipps did not hesitate to appoint one himself for the trial of the accused perr sons at Salem, and this illegal tribunal, with Stoughton as its chief judge, met at Salem on the 2d of June. In HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLON! A L. I44 this court Parris acted as prosecutor, keeping back some witnesses, and push- ing others forward as best suited his plans. " The first victim of the court was Bridget Bishop, 'a poor, friendless old woman.' Parris, who had examined her at the time of her commitment, was the principal witness against her. Deliver- ance Hobbs being also accused, a natural infirmity of her body was taken as a proof of her guilt, and she was hanged, protesting her innocence. Rebecca Nurse was at first acquitted of the charges against her, but the court re- fused to receive the verdict of the jury, and Parris was determined that the woman against whom he had preached and prayed should not escape him, and the jury were induced to convict her and she was hanged. John Willard, who had been compelled by his duty as a constable to arrest the accused, now re- fused to serve in this capacity any longer, as he had become convinced of the hy- pocrisy of the instigators of the perse- cution. He was immediately denounced, tried and hanged. " When George Burroughs, the minis- ter, was placed on trial the witnesses produced against him pretended to be dumb. 'Who hinders these witnesses from giving their testimonies?' asked Stoughton, the chief judge. ' I suppose the devil,' replied Burroughs, contemptu- ously. ' How comes the devil,' cried Stoughton, exultingly, 'so loath to have any testimony borne against you ?' The words of the prisoner were regarded as a confession, and his remarkable bodily strength was made an evidence of his guilt. He was convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. He was executed on the 19th of August, with four others. As he ascended the scaffold Burroughs made an appeal to the people assembled Book I., c. 20 to witness the execution, and effectually vindicated himself from the absurd charges against him, and repeated the Lord's prayer, which was regarded as a test of innocence. The spectators were powerfully affected, and seemed about to interfere in favor of the victim. Cotton Mather, who was present on horseback, now exerted himself to complete the judicial murder. He harangued the people, insisted on the guilt of Bur- roughs, reminding them that the devil could sometimes assume the form of an angel of light, and even descended to the falsehood of declaring that Bur- roughs was no true minister, as his ordi- nation was not valid. His appeal was successful, and the execution was com- pleted. " Giles Cory, an old man over eighty years of age, seeing that no denial of guilt availed anything, refused to plead, and was pressed to death, in accordance with an old English law, long obsolete, which was revived to meet his case. Samuel Wardwell confessed his guilt, and escaped the gallows. Overcome with shame for his cowardice, he re- tracted his confession, and was hanged for denying witchcraft. A reign of ter- ror prevailed in Salem; the prisons were full ; and no one could feel sure how long he would escape accusation and arrest. Many persons confessed their guilt to save their lives. Children ac- cused their parents, parents their children, and husbands and wives each other of the most impossible offences, in the hope of escaping the persecution themselves. Hale, the minister of Beverley, was a zealous advocate of the persecution until the bitter cup was presented to his own lips by the accusation of his wife. Many persons were obliged to fly the colony, and the magistrates, conscious that they THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. 145 were already exceeding their powers, were careful not to demand their sur- render. "We have mentioned only some of the principal cases to show the character of the persecution, as our limits forbid the relation of all. The total number hanged was twenty; fifty-five were tor- tured or terrified into confessions of guilt. The accusations were at first lodged against persons of humble station, but at length reached the higher classes. Governor Phipps' wife and two sons of Governor Bradford are said to have been among the accused. 'Insanity,' says Judge Story, 'could hardly devise more refinements in barbarity, or profligacy execute them with more malignant cool- ness.' Every principle of English j ustice was violated to secure the condemnation of the accused, and people were en- couraged by the magistrates to accuse others as a means of securing the favor of the authorities. " These terrible deeds were not the work of the people of Massachusetts, and under a popular government would have been impossible; for though the belief in witchcraft was general, the sentiment of the people was against the barbarity of the court. The Salem tragedies were the work of a few men, not one of whom was responsible in any way to the people. ' Of the magistrates at that time, not one held office by the suffrage of the people; the tribunal, essentially despotic in its origin, as in its character, had no sanction but an extra- ordinary and an illegal commission ; and Stoughton, the chief judge, a partisan of Andros, had been rejected by the people of Massachusetts. The responsibility of the tragedy, far from attaching to the people of the colony, rests with the very few, hardly five or six, in whose hands 10 the transition state of the government left for a season unlimited influence. Into the interior of the colony the de- lusion did not spread at all.'* " Stoughton's court, having hanged twenty of its victims, adjourned about the last of September, 1692, until No- vember, and on the 18th of October the general court met. The indignation of the people had been gathering force, and men were determined to put a stop to the judicial murders and tortures which had disgraced them so long. Re- monstrances were at once presented to the Assembly against 'the doings of the witch tribunals,' the people of Andover leading the way in this effort. The As- sembly abolished the special court, and established a tribunal by public law. It was ordered that this court should not meet until the following January. The governor attempted to undo the work of the Assembly by appointing Stough- ton chief judge of the new court. When that tribunal met at Salem in January, 1693, it was evident that the public mind had undergone a marked change. The influence of the leaders of the delusion was at an end. The grand jury rejected the majority of the presentments offered to it, and when those who were indicted were put on trial, the jury brought in verdicts of acquittal in all but three cases. The governor, now alive to the force of public sentiment, reprieved all who were under sentence, to the great disgust of Stoughton, who left the bench in a rage when informed of this action. The persecutors, anxious to cover their defeat by the execution of one more victim, employed all their arts to procure the conviction of a woman of Charles- town, who was commonly believed to be a witch. They supported their charge Bancroft's Hist, of United States, vol. iii., p. 88. 146 JllsiORY OE EIIE UNTIED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 20 by more important evidence than had been presented in any case at Salem, but the jury at once returned a verdict of ' not guilty.' " Cotton Mather was intensely morti- fied by the failure of his efforts to force the people into a general acceptance of his views. He got up a case of witch- craft in Boston, but was careful to cau- tion his possessed people to refrain from accusing any one of bewitching them. Robert Calef, an unlettered man, but one whose common sense could not be led astray by Mather, promptly exposed the imposture in a pamphlet, which effec- tually destroyed Mather's influence for harm. Mather, unable to reply to him, denounced him as an enemy of religion, and complained that Calef s book was 'a libel upon the whole government and ministry of the land,' forgetting that only seven or eight ministers, and no magis- trate, commanding the confidence of the people, had any share in the tragedies. Calef continued his writings, however, undismayed by the indignation of his adversary, and his book was finally pub- lished in England, where it attracted considerable attention. " The danger was now over. It was no longer possible to procure a convic- tion from witchcraft. The indignant people of Salem village at once drove the wretched Parris and his family from the place. Noyes, the minister of Salem, who had been active in the persecutions, was compelled to ask the forgiveness of the people, after a public confession of his error. The devotion of the rest of his life to works of charity won him the pardon he sought. Sewall, one of the judges, struck with horror at the part he had played in the persecution, made an open and frank confession of his error, and implored the forgiveness of his fel- low-citizens. His sincerity was so evi- dent that he soon regained the favor he had lost. Stoughton passed the re- mainder of his life in proud and haughty disregard of the opinion of his fellow- men, scorning to make any acknowledg- ment of error, and evincing no remorse for his cruelties. "As for the prime mover of the delu- sion, the Rev. Cotton Mather, nothing could induce him to admit that he could by any possibility have been in error; not even the recollection of the sorrow he had brought upon some of the best peo- ple in the colony could shake his im- penetrable self-conceit, or humble him. When it was plain to him that he was the object of the indignation of all good men in New England, he had the hardi- hood to endeavor to persuade them that after all he had not been specially active in the sad affair. * * * * " And yet this man was not to die without rendering to the country a gen- uine service. In 1721, having become satisfied that inoculation was a sure pre- ventive of small-pox, he advocated the introduction of it into the colony. He was opposed by the whole body of the clergy, who declared that it was an at- tempt to defeat the plans of the Al- mighty, who ' sent the small-pox as a punishment for sins, and whose ven- geance would thus be only provoked the more.' The people of the colony were also bitterly opposed to the inoculation, and threatened to hang Mather if he did not cease his advocacy of it. His life was at one time in serious danger, but he persevered, and at length had the satisfaction of seeing the practice of in- oculation generally adopted by the peo- ple who had so hotly opposed it." Of these events and occurrences, Rid- path, in his " History of the United THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. H7 States," gives the following account:* " Massachusetts had in the meantime been visited with a worse calamity than ever. The darkest page in the history of New England is that which bears the record of the Salem witchcraft. The same town which fifty-seven years pre- viously had cast out Roger Williams, was now to become the scene of the most fatal delusion of modern times. In Feb- ruary of 1692, in that part of Salem afterwards called Danvers, a daughter and a niece of Samuel Parris, the minis- ter, were attacked with a nervous dis- order which rendered them partially insane. Parris believed, or affected to believe, that the two girls were be- witched, and that Tituba, an Indian maid-servant of the household, was the author of the affliction. He had seen her performing some of the rude cere- monies of her own religion, and this gave color to his suspicions. He tied Tituba, and whipped the ignorant creature until, at his own dictation, she confessed her- self a witch. Here, no doubt, the mat- ter would have ended, had not other causes existed for the continuance and spread of the miserable delusion. " But Parris had had a quarrel in his church. A part of his congregation de- sired that George Burroughs, a former minister, should be reinstated, to the ex- clusion of Parris. Burroughs still lived at Salem ; and there was great animosity between the partisans of the former and the present pastor. Burroughs disbe- lieved in witchcraft, and openly ex- pressed his contempt of the system. Here, then, Parris found an opportunity to turn the confessions of the foolish Indian servant against his enemies, to overwhelm his rival with the supersti- tions of the community, and perhaps to *See Ridpatb, p. 150, et sequent. have him put to death. There is no doubt whatever that the whole murder- ous scheme originated in the personal malice of Parris. " But there were others ready to aid him. First among these was the cele- brated Cotton Mather, minister, of Bos- ton. He, being in high repute for wis- dom, had recently preached much on the subject of witchcraft, teaching the people that witches were dangerous and ought to be put to death. He thus became the natural confederate of Parris, and the chief author of the terrible scenes that ensued. Sir William Phipps, the royal governor, who had just arrived from England, was a member of Mather's church. Increase Mather, the father of Cotton, had nominated Phipps to his present office. Stoughton, the deputy- governor, who was appointed judge, and presided at the trials of the witches, was the tool of Parris and the two Mathers. To these men, more especially to Parris and Mather, must be charged the full infamy of what followed. " By the laws of England, witchcraft was punishable with death. The code of Massachusetts was the same as that of the mother country. In the early his- tory of the colony, one person charged with being a wizard had been arrested at Charlestown, convicted, and executed. But with the progress and enlightenment of the people, many had grown bold enough to denounce and despise the baleful superstition. Something, there- fore, had to be done to save the tottering fabric of witchcraft from falling into con- tempt. A special court was accordingly appointed by Governor Phipps, to go to. Salem and sit in judgment on the per- sons accused by Parris. Stoughton was the presiding judge, Parris himself the prosecutor, and Cotton Mather a kind 148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. i;<">k I., c. 20 of bishop to decide when the testimony was sufficient to condemn. "On the 2 1 st of March the horrible proceedings began. Mary Cory was arrested, not indeed for being a witch, but for denying the reality of witchcraft. When brought before the church and court, she denied all guilt, but was con- victed and hurried to prison. Sarah Cloyce and Rebecca Nurse, two sisters, of the most exemplary lives, were next apprehended as witches. The only wit- nesses against them were Tituba, her half-witted Indian husband, and the simple girl, Abigail Williams, the niece of Parris. The victims were sent to prison attesting their innocence. Giles Cory, a patriarch of eighty years, was next seized ; he also was one of those who had opposed Parris. The Indian accuser fell down before Edward Bishop, pretending to be in a fit under satanic influences ; the sturdy farmer cured him instantly with a sound flogging, and said that he could restore the rest of the afflicted in the same manner. He and his wife were immediately arrested and condemned. George Burroughs, the rival of Parris, was accused and hurried to prison. And so the work went on until seventy-five innocent people were locked up in dungeons. Not a solitary partisan of Parris or Mather had been arrested. In the hope of saving their lives, some of the terrified prisoners now began to confess themselves witches or bewitched. It was soon found that a confession was almost certain to procure liberation. It became evident that the accused were to be put to death, not for being witches or wizards, but for denying the reality of witchcraft. The special court was already in session ; convictions followed fast ; the gallows stood waiting for its victims. The truth of Mather's preaching was to be established by hanging whoever denied it ; and Parris was to save his pastorate by murdering his rival. When the noble Burroughs mounted the scaffold, he stood com- posedly and repeated correctly the test prayer which it was said no wizard could utter. The people broke into sobs and moans, and would have rescued their friend from death, but the tyrant Mather dashed among them on horseback, mut- tering imprecations, and drove the hang- man to his horrid work. Old Giles Cory, seeing that conviction was certain, refused to plead, and zvas pressed to death. Five women were hanged in one day. Be- tween the ioth of June and the 22d of September, twenty victims were hurried to their doom. Fifty-five others had been tortured into the confession of abominable falsehoods. A hundred and fifty lay in prison awaiting their fate. Two hundred were accused or suspected, and ruin seemed to impend over New England. But a reaction at last set in among the people. Notwithstanding the vociferous clamor and denunciations of Mather, the witch tribunes were over- thrown. The representative Assembly convened early in October, and the hated court which Phipps had appointed to sit at Salem was at once dismissed. The spell was dissolved. The thraldom of the popular mind was broken. Reason shook off the terror that had oppressed it. The prison doors were opened, and the victims of malice and superstition went forth free. In the beginning of the next year, a few persons, charged with witchcraft, were again arraigned and brought before the courts. Some were even convicted, but the conviction went for nothing ; not another life was sacri- ficed to passion and fanaticism. " Most of those who had participated in I in iiiijijpiHiaiiii! 1 ;! 11 1:1,: .' .- ■■' !' ! ' ' THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. I49 the terrible deeds of the preceding summer confessed the great wrong which they had done ; but confessions could not restore the dead. The bigoted Mather, in a vain attempt to justify him- self before the world, wrote a treatise in which he expressed his great thankful- ness that so many witches had met their just doom. It is not the least humili- ating circumstance of this sad business that Mather's hypocritical and impudent book received the approbation of the President of Harvard College. In all this there is to the American student one consoling reflection — the pages of his country's history will never again be blotted with so dark a stain." * After this episode and digression upon the subject of witchcraft, which will ever be an interesting chapter in American history, we resume the thread of our narrative. From the peace of Utrecht, in 17 13, until the breaking out of war between Great Britain and France, in 1744, during the reign of George II., the colonies of New England enjoyed almost uninter- rupted peace. In Massachusetts, after the appointment of Burnet, as governor, in 1728, disputes were kept up with little intermission, through his administration into the succeeding one, between the governor and the Legislature, in regard to his salary and other financial matters. The Assembly ultimately triumphed. In 1744 war again broke out between the allied powers of France and Holland and Great Britain. Soon after the com- mencement of hostilities, the French made a descent upon Nova Scotia, which had remained in possession of Great Britain ever since its capture, in 17 10. * For a correct understanding of the general his- tory of the delusion of witchcraft, with its terrible tragedies, see Johnson's Cyclopedia, title Witchcraft. The Governor of Cape Breton took pos- session of Causeau, in Nova Scotia, made its garrison and inhabitants prisoners of war, and then made an attack upon An- napolis, but was defeated. These opera- tions roused the New England colonies to make an effort to subjugate all the French possessions north of them. Find- ing that the strong fortress of Louisbourg, on the island of Cape Breton, was used as a hiding-place for privateers, by whose operations they were much annoyed, they determined to capture it. Having obtained sanction of the British government, and the promise of the co- operation of Commodore Warren, with a large fleet, they began active preparations to carry out the design. Funds were raised by voluntary subscriptions and issuing bills of credit ; troops were raised by voluntary enlistment from the different New England colonies, and equipped, and by the last of April, 1745, an army of more than four thousand men, com- manded by Colonel Pepperell, was before Louisbourg. The French were surprised at the sudden appearance of the British fleet and the landing of the army, but they determined to defend the place. The colonists had a supply of provis- ions for two months ; and having easily captured all the approaches to the town, they regularly began the siege. Two weeks were occupied in dragging their cannon from the landing-place, two miles through a deep morass, to their encampment, where the guns could be of use. Meantime, the fleet off the harbor captured a French man-of-war, having on board a reinforcement of more than five hundred men. Discouraged by this loss, and despairing of receiving any assistance and supplies, the French commandant, after a siege of seven weeks, surrendered. The surrender took HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. I50 place on the 17th of June. Colonel Pepperell, who commanded the expedi- tion, and Shirley, Governor of Massa- chusetts, who planned it, were both re- warded with the honor of knighthood for its success. Mortified at their loss, the French made extraordinary efforts to retrieve it, and to inflict chastisement on New Eng- land. A fleet was equipped, consisting of forty vessels-of-war and fifty-six transports, having on board a force of near four thousand men, under the com- mand of the Duke D'Auville. This fleet sailed from France in the spring of 1746. The news of its approach spread terror throughout New England, but a succession of disasters deprived it of power to harm. A violent storm scat- tered it, and only a few vessels arrived at Halifax. These were in no condition to make a descent on New England. They sailed, however, for the purpose of attacking Annapolis, but were again scattered by a storm, and made the best of their way back to France. A treaty of peace between the three powers was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, in October, 1748. By this treaty Cape Breton was restored to the French, a general restitution of places captured during the war being made by all the belligerent powers. But the question of boundary between the possessions of France and Great Britain in America was left unsettled, and it was rapidly becoming one of grave importance. In many cases the claims of the two coun- tries were conflicting. There was no well-defined boundary between Canada and New England, none between Nova Scotia and the French possessions ; and the extent of Louisiana, which France had also acquired, was altogether in- definite. About this time, also, the Book I., c. 21 French began to entertain the grand scheme of building a chain of forts along the great lakes and down the Mississippi to their colony of New Orleans, which was now in a flourishing condition. CHAPTER XXI. SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. (1732— 1776.) Georgia a charily colony — Charter to Oglethorpe ano twenty-one noblemen and gentlemen of England to hold the lands in trust for the poor fortwenty-one years — Character of Oglethorpe — The Yamacraws — To-mo-chi-chi — Settlement of Savannah — Da rien — Frederica — Ebenezer — The Salzburghers — Martin Bolzius — Augusta — Revs. John and Charles Wesley — Whilefield — Orphan House established — Oglethorpe's perilous adventure — Great Indian treaty at Coweta — Spanish war — Invasion of Geor- gia — Oglethorpe, Brigadier-General — Defends the colony against great odds — The battle of Bloody Marsh — Signal victory — Spanish fleet leaves the country — Peace restored — Oglethorpe returns to England — Refuses to take command of British forces against the colonies, except on conditions — Old age and death. 1 /7f HE colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe — a name which will ever stand pre-emi- nent among our American " Con- ditores," or Founders of states and commonwealths. This distinguished soldier, scholar, statesman, and philan- thropist, was born on the 2ist of Decem- ber, 1688, at Westbrooke Place, near London, the country-seat of his father, Sir Thcophilus Oglethorpe. Educated at the University of Oxford, he joined, at the age of twenty-two, the British army COLONY OF GEORGIA. 151 as ensign. His passion for military life and aptitude for command made his rise in rank easy and rapid. At the early age of twenty-six years he was adjutant-general of the queen's forces. As aid-de-camp to Prince Eugene he won great distinction in the campaigns against the Turks, and received from that renowned captain the highest testi- monials to his good conduct, unquailing valor, and superlative military merit. When peace was restored in 17 1 8, he returned to Eng- land, and soon afterward was chosen member of Parliament for Hasle-mere. The best evidence of the ability, fidelity and accept- ance with which he dis- charged that honorable trust is, that he represented that borough in the House of Commons forthirty-two years. Young as he was, and without experience in that department of state-craft whereof the legislative hall is the special theatre, he at once rose to a position of eminence and in- fluence. He carried into civil life the warm affections, lively sensibilities, large benevo- lence and ardent philan- thropy which were part of his nature, and which the vocation of a soldier had been powerless to blunt or to freeze. Among the many important measures with which his parliamentary career is identified, either in advocacy or opposi- tion, none is more honorable to his fame than the firm stand he took in behalf of the poor and against imprisonment for debt. He possessed many of the high- est virtues both of the masculine and feminine character — conjoining fortiter in re with suaviter in modo in harmonious union. In emergencies requiring the exercise of the heroic element in man, his courage, refined by chivalry, saw no peril and knew no fear ; while his heart, tender as pity, could contemplate no scene of unjust suffering without melting into compassion which few but women can feel. He was just and he was gen- erous ; and while slow to forgive an injury, he never forsook a friend or for- GENERAL OGLETHORPE. got a favor. His charities and private benefactions were circumscribed only by a prudent regard for his means. Honor was his polar star, and he dreaded a stain more than a wound. No tempta- tion, no lust of power, place, favor, or fortune could allure him from what he deemed to be the path of duty and of rectitude. Such was the man to whom, with his associates, George II. of England made a grant of territory the 9th of June,. 152 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 21 1732, for a new colony, to be named Georgia in honor of the king who granted the charter. It extended " from the head waters of the Savannah river to its mouth, thence along the coast to the Altamaha, and up that river to its head waters, and thence westerly, in direct lines from the head waters of said rivers re- spectively, to the South Seas," which was equivalent to an extension from that point indefinitely westward. The same territory had been embraced in the Clarendon charter of 1663 ; and in 17 17 the lord proprietors of South Carolina had granted to Sir Robert Montgomery that portion of it which lies between the rivers " Savannah and Altamaha," under the title of " Margravate of Azilia ; " but as no settlements had been made under either of these grants, west of the Savannah river, until after the forfeiture of the Clarendon charter in 1729, the whole territory embraced within the chartered limits of Georgia was, therefore, in 1732, granted to Oglethorpe and his associates. The object of Oglethorpe, who was a member of Parliament, and who was distinguished alike for benevolence, patriotism and statesmanship, as has been stated, was not only to provide a home and means of subsistence for the poor inhabitants of Great Britain, but to furnish a refuge for the distressed and persecuted Salzburghers and other Protestants on the continent of Europe. The provisions of the charter set forth dis- tinctly its purposes. The lands were con- veyed to Oglethorpe and twenty-one no- blemen and gentlemen of England (at the head of whom stood Lord Percival),to hold in trust for the purposes therein named. The common seal of this corporation was both appropriate and suggestive. On one side was a group of silk worms at their toils, with the motto — Non sibi scd aliis — Not for themselves, but for others. In his history of Georgia, Bishop Stevens well says : " It was the first colony ever founded by charity. New England had been settled by Puri- tans, who fled thither for conscience sake — New York, by a company of merchants and adventurers in search of gain — Maryland, by Papists retiring from Protestant intolerance — Virginia, by am- bitious cavaliers — Carolina, by the scheming and visionary Shaftesbury and others, for private aims and individual aggrandizement; but Georgia was planted by the hand of benevolence, and reared into being by the adventurous nurturings of a disinterested charity."* After obtaining the charter, Oglethorpe entered immediately upon the discharge of the high trust assumed by him. He soon raised a company of a hundred and sixteen persons of the poor and destitute for his new settlement in Georgia, and, as governor of the colon}-, embarked with them at Gravesend, on the 17th of November, 1732, in the ship. Anne, 200 tons, John Thomas, master, having on board in all about one hun- dred and thirty, including emigrants and crew, and arrived early in the next year at Charleston, where they were cordially received by Governor Craven, of that colony, and the inhabitants generally. From Charleston they proceeded to Beaufort, and while the colonists went ashore for recreation at Beaufort, Ogle- thorpe ascended the Savannah river, and chose for the site of his settlement the bluff where the city of Savannah now stands. At a distance of half a mile dwelt the Yamacraws, a branch of the Muskogees, who, with To-mo-chi-chi, their distin- guished chief, very soon made demon- strations of friendship, and sought an * Stevens's Hist, of Georgia, vol. i., p. 68. COLONY OF GEORGIA. 153 alliance with him. Mary Musgrove, the half-breed wife of an Indian trader, acted as an interpreter. She was the Poca- hontas of the Georgia colony, and ex- erted powerful influence in shaping its future fortunes. The chief presented him a buffalo-robe, painted on the inside with the head and feathers of an eagle, saying, " The feathers of the eagle are soft, and signify love ; the buffalo-skin is warm, and is the emblem of protection. There- fore, love and protect our little families." To-mo-chi-chi and Oglethorpe from the first interview became friends. Ogle- thorpe made liberal payments for as much land as he needed. A cordial welcome was given by the old chief to the new colonists. Oglethorpe immedi- ately laid out the town of Savannah in streets and squares, on the plan which still exists, and commenced building houses. His fame soon penetrated the wilderness, and in a short time, treaties were made with the lower Muskogees, the Creeks, and even with the Cherokees, of the mountains, and the Choctaws on the borders of the Gulf of Mexico. The Muskogees begged him to have pity on the broken and feeble remnant of the Yemassees. The red men all had great confidence in him, for he always acted in good faith, and had a most noble mien and sweet disposition. The Salzburghers were descended from the Vallenses, a name derived from the Alpine valleys of Piedmont ; but the Salzburghers themselves are so called from Salzburgh, the broad valley of the Salza, which lies between the Norric and Rhetian Alps. All the inhabitants of this valley were denominated Salz- burghers. Many of them were Protes- tants (Lutherans) ; what proportion, it is impossible to say; but it must have been considerable, if we judge from the large numbers that were compelled to seek safety in other countries. A persecution was begun under Leopold, Duke of Austria, in 1729, and continued with great violence until 1732. The victims experienced every species of outrage that fanaticism could suggest. They were whipped, imprisoned, murdered, ban- ished, and their property was confiscated. All natural ties were disregarded. Chil- dren were torn from their parents. Hus- bands and wives were banished from each other. Over thirty thousand of these suffering people were exiled, and sought an asylum elsewhere. In December, 1732, the trustees of Georgia, warranted by a special fund raised for that purpose, invited fifty families of these pilgrims to remove to the colony. Forty-two men, some with families, numbering in all seventy-eight persons, availed themselves of the offer. They arrived at Charleston, S. C, early in March, 1734. They left that city on the 9th, and on the 1 ith entered the Savannah river. On the 12th they ar- rived at Savannah, where they were very cordially received. Oglethorpe himself went down to the river, met them, and bid them welcome to their new homes. Having all safely disembarked, the next object of interest was to select a location for settlement. General Ogle- thorpe informed Baron Von Reck, who conducted the expedition, that his people might make their own selection. They desired to be removed some distance from the sea, amongst hills and dales, and where the country was supplied with springs of fresh water. Accordingly, Oglethorpe, in company with Paul Jenys, Esq., Speaker of the South Carolina House of Assembly, Baron Von Reck, Mr. Grenau, Dr. Twiffler, their physician, and one of the Lutheran elders, with 154 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book l.,c 21 some Indians, made a tour of observa- tion. They penetrated nearly thirty miles into the interior, and chose a place on " the banks of a river of clear water, the sides high, the country of the neigh- borhood hilly, the valleys of rich cane land, intermixed with little brooks and springs of water." The Salzburghers were highly delighted with the situation and appearance of the country ; and feeling deeply moved with pious gratitude to God for His great goodness in conducting them to such a lovely land of safety, after sing- ing a Psalm, they set up a stone which they found upon the spot, and named the place " Ebenezer, the stone of help ; " for they could say with truth, " Hitherto the Lord has helped us." In this man- ner was laid the foundation of the set- tlement of the Salzburghers. This location was in a region of the country afterwards known as St. Mat- thew's Parish ; subsequently erected into a county, and called Effingham, in honor of Lord Effingham, who, in the British Parliament, some years afterwards, de- fended the resistance of the colonies to the mother country, and resigned his commission in the army rather than fight for what he believed an unjust cause. The county still bears the name of Effing- ham. Oglethorpe was exceedingly ju- dicious in the location of his settlements, with a view to the protection of the colo- nists from attack, either from the Indians or the Spaniards. In 1735 a company of Scotch Highlanders was settled at Darien. Soon afterward Oglethorpe as- cended the river Savannah to a point just below the falls, and built a fort, which he named Augusta, in honor of one of the royal princes. Having se- cured by treaty with the Indians all the territory lying between the Altamaha and St. Mary's rivers, he erected a fort on Cumberland island, which he named Fort William ; and also built another fort on Amelia island, to which he gave the name of Fort St. George. In 1738 a company of immigrants was located at Frederica, on St. Simon's island. The civil and military affairs of the entire colony of Georgia, including the settlements of Ebenezer, Darien, Fred- erica, and Augusta, were under the con- trol of the trustees, with Oglethorpe the chief executive officer ; but the imme- diate superintendence of the settlement at Ebenezer was assigned to the Rev. John Martin Bolsius, and his colleague, Mr. Grenau,by whom the affairs of the set- tlement were most judiciously managed. The trustees, in their regulations for the government of Georgia, forbid the importation of rum, and the introduction of negro slaves. Georgia was the only colony which prohibited the introduction of negroes. All the others, from the time that Virginia received the first cargo, sooner or later had patronized the African slave trade. The enforcement of the prohibition against rum was at- tended with serious difficulty in all parts of the colony except at Ebenezer. Strictly temperate themselves, they re- quired not the stimulus of ardent spirits, and they saw that its habitual excessive use was injurious to piety and good morals. In April, 1734, after remaining con- stantly in the colony about fifteen months, Oglethorpe resolved to visit England, to the end that the trustees and the public generally might be better informed as to the true state of affairs touching the colony. To-mo-chi-chi, and other chiefs of the lower Creeks, upon invitation, accompanied him. COLONY OF GEORGIA. 155 They produced quite a sensation in I gia in February, 1736, with several hun- IP and ( T rMt- nnmKpi-c finr-V^A 4-~ „,,,. J i ; • _ England. Great numbers flocked to see them, and presents of various kinds were bestowed upon them. On the ist of August, they were presented to the king with great pomp and ceremony. They remained in England about four months, dred immigrants. On their return voy- age, Rev. John Wesley, and his brother Charles, accompanied him, the latter acting as his private secretary. Their special mission was to preach the gospel to the Indians, and to try and JOHN WESLEY. and were sent back in the " Prince of Wales," a public ship. In the same came also quite a number of new colonists, and fifty-six more Salzburghers, newly arrived from Rotterdam. Oglethorpe himself returned to Geor- improve the moral and religious condi- tion of the colony. To his intercourse with these Moravians and Salzburghers, and to his observation of their great calmness and resignation in a time of severe trial, John W'esley attributes his own conversion. i 5 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. Xt On his return to England, two years In a few years after the establishment after his first visit to Georgia, Mr. Wes- of the settlement of the Salzburghers, ley writes thus in his journal: "It is ; their produce of raw silk amounted to now two years and nearly four months ten thousand pounds a year. Indigo since I went to America to teach the also became a staple article of produc- Georgia Indians the nature of Christian- tion. Orphan-schools were established GEORGE WHITEFIELD. ity ; but what have I learned of myself in the meantime ? Why (what of all I least expected), that I, who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God " — words that should be most deeply and solemnly pondered by all. immediately after their arrival. Indeed, in their fundamental rules and regula- tions, they made it obligatory upon all members of the congregation to con- tribute to this end according to their ability. In 1738 Rev. George Whitefield, the COLONY OF GEORGIA. 157 most eloquent preacher of his day, came to Georgia. He visited the settlement at Ebenezer, and was so deeply im- pressed, and was so much gratified with the good the orphan school was doing in training and educating the fatherless, "homeless, and destitute, that he deter- mined to open a similar one. By his fervent zeal he was able to obtain suffi- cient funds in England and America. His institution was established a few miles from Savannah. It flourished un- der his fostering care during his life, and, with some modifications in its organiza- tions, still exists as a monument to his memory. Mr. Whitefield at first was op- posed to the introduction of negro slaves, tut afterwards changed his mind and spoke in its favor, for which he was sharply reproved by Mr. Balzius. But he justified himself by saying that God had some wise end to accomplish in ref- erence to African slavery; and that he had no doubt it would terminate to the advantage of the Africans. The problem is still in process of solution, with pros- pects favorable to Whitefield's specula- tions as to the Divine will and objects. Spain claimed the territory of Georgia as her own, and looked upon its coloni- zation by the English as an intrusion upon her rights. She therefore made a demand for its surrender, which being refused, she prepared to expel the in- truders. But there were other sources of irritation. Trade was not free, and the Spanish laws regulating it were fre- quently violated by the English mer- chants on the coasts of Florida, and when caught and punished they were regarded by their countrymen as martyrs to free trade rather than as law-breakers. Run- away negro slaves from South Carolina were also welcomed by the Spanish authorities in Florida; lands were given to them in that province, as an induce- ment to run away and seek a home there. Foreseeing that war with the Spaniards was inevitable, Oglethorpe repaired to England in 1737 for the purpose of ob- taining reinforcements which would ade- quately enable him to meet it. In that country he raised, equipped, and disci- plined a regiment of six hundred men, and in less than a year returned to Georgia, bringing with him the newly levied body of troops. Having been appointed commander-in-chief of all the militia forces of Georgia and South Car- olina, he henceforth bore the title of General Oglethorpe. War was at length declared by Eng- land against Spain. This was in 1739. But before the actual declaration, Ogle- thorpe, in July of that year, undertook an important and perilous mission, which proved in its results to be of incalculable benefit, not only to the colony, but to the mother country. In view of the ap- proaching conflict he fully realized the great advantages to be secured to Eng- land by a previous treaty of amity and friendship, with all the formidable Indian tribes, not only in his own colony, but westward to the Mississippi. Through To-mo-chi-chi it was brought about that an assembly consisting of all the principal chiefs of the Creeks, Choc- taws and Chickasaws, as well as the other tribes east of the Mississippi, should be held at Coweta, on the Chat- tahoochee river, before whom Oglethorpe should have a hearing. Coweta was the most important town of the Creeks. It was several hundred miles from Savan- nah, requiring several days of travel through a trackless wilderness to reach it. On the 17th of the month stated, Oglethorpe, accompanied by Lieutenant i 5 8 HISTORY Of- THE UNITED STATES- COLONIAL Book I., i . Cl Dunbar, Ensign Leaman, and Cadet Eyre, and attended by his servants, with- out other escort, set out on this hazard- ous enterprise. At Ebenezer, he pro- cured some Indian traders, with saddle and Sumpter horses, to guide them through tangled thickets and over dreary swamps for several tedious days. " Wrapped in his cloak, with his port- manteau for a pillow," Oglethorpe lay down to sleep upon the ground as each night returned ; "or, if the night happened who escorted him the remainder of his way. Great was the joy of the repre- sentatives of all the tribes present on Oglethorpe's arrival. " By having under- taken so long and difficult a journey for j the purpose of visiting them, by coming amongst them with only a few attendants j in fearless reliance on their good faith, by the readiness with which he accom- modated himself to their habits, and by the natural dignity of his deportment, Oglethorpe won the hearts of his red INDIAN LIFE IN THEIR NATIVE FORESTS. to be wet, he sheltered himself in a covert of cypress boughs, spread upon poles." Eor a distance of two hundred miles the adventurers neither saw a human being or habitation. As they approached their journey's end, they occasionally found provisions deposited in suitable places by order of the chiefs who were ex- pecting them. When they reached within forty miles of Coweta, Oglethorpe met a deputation of the chiefs themselves, brothers, whom lie was never known to deceive. On the I ith of August, the chiefs of the several tribes as- sembled, and the great council was opened with all the solemn rites pre- scribed for such occasions. After many talks, terms of intercourse and stipula- tions for trade were satisfactorily ar- ranged ; and Oglethorpe, as one of their beloved men, partook of the Foskey, or black-medicine drink, and smoked with COLONY OF GEORGIA. 159 them the calumet, or hallowed pipe of peace."* The Creeks, the Muscogees, the Choc- taws, the Chickasaws, and Tallapoosas were all there, representing many thou- sand warriors. Commenting upon this remarkable journey and extraordinary diplomatic exploit of General Oglethorpe, Mr. Spalding (in the Georgia Historical Collections, vol. i., p. 263), with no less truth than fervor, remarks : " When we call into remembrance the then force of these tribes — for they could have brought into the field twenty thousand fighting men — when we call to remembrance the influence the French had everywhere else obtained over* the Indians — when we call to remembrance the distance he had to travel through solitary pathways * * * exposed to summer suns, night dews, and*to the treachery of any single Indian who knew — and every Indian knew — the rich reward that would have awaited him - for the act from the Spaniards in St. Augustine, or the French in Mobile, surely, we may proudly ask, what soldier ever gave higher proof of courage ? What gentleman ever gave greater evidence of magnanimity ? What English governor of an American prov- ince ever gave such assurance of deep devotion to public duty?" On his return, Oglethorpe received orders to invade Florida, and to call upon South Carolina for aid. He im- mediately hastened to Charleston. The governor submitted the matter to the Legislature ; supplies and men were voted, and at as early a day as possible in 1740, at the head of two thousand men, consisting of the regiment he had raised in England, some Georgia militia, the troops sent from South Carolina, *To-mo-chi-chi, p. 1 18. By Charles Colcock Jones, Jr. I and some friendly Indians, he set out on an expedition against St. Augustine. Up to this time about twenty-five hun- dred immigrants had settled in Georgia. General Oglethorpe found St. Augustine much more strongly fortified, and the garrison much more numerous, than he had expected. After a few weeks close blockade some Spanish galleys succeeded in running the gauntlet, carrying fresh supplies to the fort, and his troops be- coming enfeebled by sickness, he was compelled to raise the siege and retire. In 1742 this invasion was retaliated by a formidable land and naval force, con- sisting of fifty-six vessels and about seven thousand men, under the com- mand of General Don Manuel de Mon- tiano. In this critical emergency, Oglethorpe, receiving no assistance from South Car- olina, was obliged to rely upon his own resources. The Spanish commander, instead of sailing direct to Savannah, proceeded to the mouth of the Alta- maha. Oglethorpe having but seven or eight hundred men with him on Cum- berland island, was obliged to abandon that place and concentrate his forces at St. Simon's, on which was the town of Frederica. On the 22d of June the Spanish forces appeared off St. Simon's, and Ogle- thorpe immediately moved his forces from Frederica to St. Simon's, seven miles distant. On the 27th the Spanish fleet appeared, largely reinforced, off St. Simon's bar, waiting for a fair wind, to run up to Frederica. Everything was now astir. On the 5th of July the squadron of thirty-six vessels entered St. Simon's harbor. Oglethorpe had only one ship, two guard schooners, and some small trading vessels to oppose them, with two land batteries of eighteen i6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. SI pounds at Fort Simon to dispute the passage. The peril was great. His heroic spirit, however, rose with the danger. In writing to the home government touching the situation, he said: "We arc resolved not to suffer defeat ; we will rather die like Leonidas and his Spar- tans, if we can but protect Georgia and Carolina and the rest of the Americans from desolation." This idea of the fate of the rest of the Americans depending on the result of the common conflict was not extravagant, for the object of Spain was to take possession not only of the coast of Georgia, but South Carolina and North Carolina, and with these con- quests to push the prowess of her arms northward even to New England. Oglethorpe commanded in person. For four hours his small vessels and two batteries maintained the unequal contest. The Spanish fleet was too numerous. Under a strong wind, they passed up the river, sinking one of Oglethorpe's guard schooners, and disabling several of the trading-craft. In this engagement the Spaniards lost seventeen killed, and ten were wounded; the English not a man. During the night, Oglethorpe abandoned St. Simon's, and moved his land forces back to Fred- erica. Next day, the Spaniards, after taking the vacated fort at St. Simon's, debarked their land-forces on the bluff. On the 7th a detachment was put in motion, and reached within a few miles of Frederica, when they were discovered by the rangers and an alarm was given. Oglethorpe immediately attacked, with such forces as were at his command — a few rangers and a Highland company, and charged with such effect that the party was routed The detachment was captured, with upwards of a hundred and twenty-five of their best woodsmen. Spanish rein- forcements poured in. The fight was renewed. The Highlanders, under Suth- erland and Mackay, carried the day. The Spanish officers attempted to rally their men, but the effort was in vain. Panic prevailed, discipline was gone, and the orders were unheeded. Barba, their leader, was taken, after being mor- tally wounded. This was a brilliant victory, won by gallant troops against great odds, and due to superior general- ship, and unsurpassed courage. The battle was known as that of " Bloody Marsh." The Spaniards retreated to their camp near Fort Simon. Ogle- thorpe collected all his forces in Fred- erica. Learning of dissensions among the Spanish commanders, Oglethorpe determined to surprise them in their di- vided state, and by a well-devised night attack, to drive them from the island. With this intention, on the 12th of July, he moved five hundred men within a mile of the Spanish quarters, and at night went forward with a small party to reconnoitre, intending to surprise them, but was prevented by the treachery of a French soldier of his party, who, by fir- ing: his musket, gave the alarm to the Spaniards, and deserted to them under cover of the darkness. Oglethorpe's situation was now very critical, for he knew that the deserter could make known his weakness. Returning to Frederica, he had recourse to the follow- ing expedient : he wrote to the de- serter, desiring him to urge the Span- iards to an immediate attack, and to inform them of the defenceless state of Frederica. But if he could not bring on an attack, he urged him to persuade them to remain where they were three COLONY OF GEORGIA. 161 days longer, as within that time he ex- pected six British ships-of-war with two thousand troops from Carolina. This letter he entrusted to a Spanish prisoner, under promise to deliver it to the de- serter, but he gave it as was intended to the Spanish commander-in-chief, who put the deserter in irons. This letter perplexed the Spaniards very much, and while deliberating what course to pur- sue, three ships with troops on board, were saved, and Oglethorpe's character was established as a great general. In 1743 he returned to England, where, on the 15 th of September, 1744, he mar- ried the only daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Bart., of Cranham Hall, Essex county. She was a lady of great wealth, beauty and accomplishments. Her father had been Lord Chancellor of England under William III., and also under Queen Anne. On the outbreak of the EXPLORING THE UPPER PART OF GEORGIA. which the Governor of South Carolina had sent to Oglethorpe's assistance, did actually appear in sight. Believing these to be the ships mentioned in the letter, and firmly convinced that the letter was not a stratagem, the Span- iards, in a moment of consternation, burned their fort and fled, leaving their cannon and military stores. By this stratagem a wonderful victory was achieved, Georgia and the Carolinas I rebellion of 1745, headed by Charles Ed- j ward, the Pretender, Oglethorpe was ' called into active service at home, and J was made one of the major-generals ' under Marshal Wade, commander-in- chief. One of the cavalry companies assigned to his command, in compliment to him, was named the Georgia Rangers, whose valiant services reflected honor on their name as well as their illustrious chief. :6 3 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 2i In 1747 the king appointed him Lieu- tenant-Gencral in the British army. His Georgia colony requiring no special at- tention from him, he remained in Eng- land and continued his attendance on Parliament until 1754. On the 22d of February, 1765, he was made General of all His Majesty's forces, and remained until his death at the head of the army list as the oldest general officer in Great Britain. Upon the outbreak of colonial disturbances in 1775, he, being the senior officer, was offered the command of the British army in America. His reply was as characteristic as it was noble. " I know the Americans well. They never can be subdued by arms, but their obedience can be secured by doing them justice."* He was willing to assume the command on condition that he should have complete control over the questions of grievances and reconciliation. This did not suit the ministry of Lord North, and Sir William Howe was appointed in his stead. 1 Ie lived to see the end of the struggle of die colonies with the mother country, which was a source of so much regret and pain to him ; and to see Georgia, his own colony, planted in poverty and ab- solute dependence, rising from infancy under his provident care to the position of a flourishing, independent, and sover- eign state. He was the first Englishman of nptc to call upon John Adams, the first minister from the United States to Great Britain. This distinguished statesman, general, and philanthropist, died in Au- gust, 1785, at the advanced age of ninety- seven years. lie was beloved by all classes dining his long v.nA eventful life. His memory will ever be cherished in both hemispheres as one of the most renowned benefactors of mankind in his * McCall's : list, of Ga. See also Ramsay's Hist. of American Revolution. day and generation. Well has it been said of him : " His sepulchre is in Eng- land ; his monument is Georgia." * CHAPTER XXII. Georgia — Continued. (1741— 1776.) Character of the government — The first jury — Rev. Martin Bolzius — Colony divided into two districts — William Stephens, governor — Henry Parker, ant-governor — Succeeds Stephens — New system of government inaugurated, 1 75 1 — First legislature under new system — Francis Harris, speaker — In- troduction of negro slaves allowed — Seti lenient at Midway — Trustees resign — Georgia becomes a royal colony — Government devolves on Board of Trade and Plantations — John Reynolds, governor — Constitution of the colony modified — Its new feat- ures — Henry Ellis succeeds Reynolds as governor — Colony divided into Parishes — Ellis succeeded by Sir James Wright, as governor, 1 760 — Acquisition of territory by treaty of Paris, 1663 — Boundary of Georgia extended to Mississippi river — Florida, by same treaty, ceded to Spain — Important Indian treaty at Augusta, 1 763 — Four additional Parishes created — Names of Parishes changed to Countie — Another Indian Treaty at Augusta, 1773 — About two and a half million acres of land acquired — Continental Congress of 1 774 — Colonial State Government organized, 1775 — Wright, royal gov- ernor, arrested, 1776 — Action of St. John's parish, afterwards Liberty county — Lyman Hall, I Walton, Burton Gwinnett in Congress, 4th of July, 1776 — Landed policy of Georgia — Reasons of rapid increase in population and wealth — Monopo- lies denied — Speculations prevented — N'n propri- etors, no rents — The tiller of the soil the >>v the land. ROM the first settlement of the colony until the year 1 741, the government was eminently patri- archal in its character. By the charter, the trustees were em- powered to make such laws and regula- tions as they deemed to the best interests of society. But all these matters were left almost entirely to Oglethorpe him- self He, in the main, either directly or * Bishop Stevens's Hist, of Ga., vol. i., 212. COLONY OF GEORGIA. indirectly, administered the legislative, judicial and executive functions of the government. It is true that on the first organization of the trustees after advisement with him, they, under the powers of the charter, provided for a judicial tribunal for the settlement of civil and criminal matters according to the regulations of the trustees, in con- formity, with the laws of England, to be known as the Town Court of Record. The officers of this court consisted of a recorder who acted as clerk ; those mag- istrates designated at the time as bailiffs, and twelve free-holders who acted in the capacity of jurors. The term bailiff, as used in the constitution of this court, had a meaning different from that of the same word at this time. It was from the French use of the word. In that country, the bailiff was the prefect of a province, administering justice as a judge or mag- istrate, within a district over which he had jurisdiction The Town Court of Record of the Colony of Georgia was organized, and the first case tried in the city of Savannah on the 17th of July, 1733, soon after the landing of the set- tlers. The first jury were: Samuel Parker, Thomas Long, Joseph Cole, John Wright, John West, Timothy Rowling, John Milledge, Henry Close, Walter Fox, John Grady, James Cannell, and Richard Cannon. While this court per- formed a vast deal of business, its offi- cers were subject almost entirely to the control of Oglethorpe, who changed the magistrates and substituted new ones frequently, when their administration did not accord with his notions of right and justice. From the beginning Oglethorpe left the entire management and government of the settlement at Ebenezer to Rev. Martin Bolzius, a man of great adminis- 163 trative ability, and distinguished alike for learning and piety. In 1741, Oglethorpe, in conjunction with the trustees, thought it best to divide the colony into two districts, one called Savannah, embracing the territory from the Savannah river to the Alta- maha ; the other, Frederica, including the Island of St. Simon's, and adjacent settlements. To each of those districts was to be appointed a president or governor, with four assistants, to whom all matters relating to the internal administration of justice were intrusted. Over the Savannah district Colonel William Stephens, an Englishman of education and distinction, who had served with Oglethorpe in Parliament, and had come into the colony as secre- tary of the trustees in 1737, was ap- pointed president or governor, and Henry Parker, Thomas Jones, John Fal- lowfield and Samuel Mercer, assistants. For the district of Frederica no ap- pointments were made at that time. This state of affairs continued for about two years. At the annual meeting of the trustees, in 1743, just before Ogle- thorpe returned to England, it was thought best — under his advisement — to unite both districts under one executive and one administration, which should have jurisdiction over the entire colony. This continued until 175 1, when the constitution was remodelled by the trustees. In 1743 William Stephens resigned the active duties of his office on account of his age; but retained the office nomi- nally, while the duties were performed by Henry Parker, assistant, or lieu- tenant-governor, until May, 1751, when he succeeded Stephens in the executive office. 164 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 22 The new system of 175 1 provided for a representative legislative government. Each district was to be entitled to rep- resentation according to population. The first Legislative Assembly of Georgia, under this system, consisted of one House, and assembled in Savannah on the 15th of January, 175 1. Francis Harris, of Savannah, was elected speaker. About this time also, the trustees yielded to the policy of the mother country, as well as the wishes of the colonists, in allowing the introduction of negro slaves. Soon after this, in the summer of 1752, a settlement was made at Midway, on a point equidistant between the Savannah and Altamaha, which afterwards became greatly distinguished. It was composed of immigrants originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, who upon some schism on doctrinal points in the church there, migrated southward and made a settle- ment on the Ashley river, South Carolina, about eighteen miles above Charleston, which they called Dorchester, in perpetu- ation of the name of their former residence. They were Presbyterians in religious faith and Congregationalists in church government. After the establishment of the colony of Georgia and the allow- ance of the introduction of negro slaves, they moved in a body from Carolina, and founded for themselves a new home at the place stated. By far the greater number of these new settlers were men of education and wealth. They brought many slaves with them, and took a prominent part in the future history of the colony. On the 20th of June, 1752, the trustees of Georgia resigned their powers and trusts to the crown. This was one year before the expiration of the charter. Henceforth Georgia became a royal colony, and its government devolved on the board of trade and plantations, composed of the lords commissioners appointed to the superintendence of colonial affairs (of which the Earl of Halifax was then at the head). The action of this board was subject to the controlling authority of the crown. On the 6th of August, 1754, John Reynolds of the navy was appointed governor, with powers similar to those of the Gov- ernors of South Carolina and North Carolina. Under direct instructions from the king, the constitution of the colony was again modified. The Legislature or Gen- eral Assembly was to consist of two houses, one known as councillors, the other as representatives, who, in con- junction with the governor, were to have full law-making power, subject to the disapproval of the board of trade, as well as the ultimate veto of the crown. The councillors, or upper house, were colonists to be appointed by the king ; the representatives, or lower house, were to be chosen by the people of the re- spective districts, according to popula- tion. An entirely new judicial system was introduced by the new constitution. Instead of the old-time court of record, with its officers, a general court was created, consisting of two judges and an attorney-general, with the right of ap- peal to the governor and his council where the sum of three hundred pounds or upwards was involved ; and to the board of trade and plantations where the amount was five hundred pounds and upwards, with the last resort of an appeal to the king in council. A court of chancery, a court of oyer and terminer for the trial of criminals, and a court of admiralty to take charge of maritime cases were at the same time COLONY OF GEORGIA. created. Justice courts were also estab- lished, to determine sums of forty shil- lings and under. The judges of the general court were Noble Jones and Jonathan Bryan. In the court of ad- miralty, James Edward Powell was appointed judge-advocate. Governor Reynolds' administration was exceedingly unpopular ; he became arbitrary and tyrannical. In 1757 he was removed, and Henry Ellis appointed in his stead. The administration of Ellis was marked by much more discre- tion and wisdom. The first General Assembly of Geor- gia, under the new constitution, or system, met on the 15th of March, 1758. This body divided the province into eight parishes : Christ Church, including Savannah, Acton, Vernonburg, Sea Islands, and Ogeechee ; St. Matthews, comprising Abercom and Ebenezer; St. George, embracing Halifax; St. Paul's, Augusta; St. Philip's, Great Ogeechee ; St. John's, Midway and Sunbury ; St. Andrew's, Darien : St. James', Frederica. Owing to the infirmities of his age, Governor Ellis was compelled to resign in 1760, much to the regret of all classes in the colony. He was succeeded by Sir James Wright. By the treaty of Paris, on the 10th of February, 1663, all the territory westward of the Altamaha river, from its head waters to its mouth, and along the coast to the mouth of the St. Mary's, and up that river to the head waters of its southernmost branch, thence westward to the Mississippi — by relin- quishment of claim on the part of France — became the undisputed territory of Georgia, under her original charter. Flor- ida, by the same treaty, was ceded by Spain to Great Britain, and was therefore no longer an inimical neighbor to the colony. 165 Soon after this settlement of title, and the end of the war between Spain, England and France, in which the Indians had been involved, some on behalf of Spain, some of France, some of the English, Governor Wright, through the influence and co- operation of Captain Stewart, superin- tendent of Indian affairs, was enabled to secure a renewed treaty of amity and friendship with all the tribes between the Altamaha and Mississippi rivers. This treaty was made at a convention held at Augusta on the 5th of November, 1763, composed of the Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and representative chiefs of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Chero- kees, and Catawbas. Besides the stipu- lations of amity and friendship for the future with England on the part of all these tribes, the lower Creeks, for a con- sideration agreed upon, surrendered their rights of occupancy to a large portion of the territory lying on the coast be- tween the Altamaha and the Savannah river. This very important treaty was concluded on the 10th of November, and " was announced by a salute from the guns from Fort Augusta." As soon as practicable after this treaty with the Indians, four additional parishes on the coast were created by the General Assembly of Georgia, as follows : St. David parish, comprising all the territory between the river Altamaha and the north branch of Turtle river to the southern branch of the Little St. Ilia ; the parish of St. Thomas, all that section of country from the southern branch of the Little St. Ilia to the southern branch of the river Great St. Ilia ; and St. Mary's parish, embracing all the territory from the southern branch of the river Great St. Ilia to the southern branch of the river St. Mary's. 1 66 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES— COLOMAL. Book I., c. 22 The names of those parishes were sub- sequently changed to counties when the colony became an independent State. The parishes of St. Thomas and St. Mary's were known as the county of Camden ; the parishes of St. David and St. Patrick, Glynn ; the parishes of St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James, as the county of Libert)-; the parish of Christ church and the lower part of St. Philip as the county of Chatham; the parish of St. Matthew as Effingham; the parish of St. George as Burke; the parish of St. Paul as the county of Richmond. On the 1st of June, 1773, Governor Wright made another very important treaty with the upper Creeks and Chero- kes. This also was negotiated at Au- gusta. By it nearly two millions and a half acres of land, comprising most of what now constitutes the counties of Wilkes, Lincoln, Taliaferro, Greene and Oglethorpe were ceded to the crown in consideration of the payment to certain traders of what these tribes were respec- tively due them. To this additional newly acquired territory, the name of Wilkes county was given when , the parishes were changed to counties, as stated. The excitement in Georgia against the policy and acts of the British Parliament towards the colonies, in imposing taxa- tion without representation, was perhaps as great as in any other colony. She did not send up any delegates to the Continental Congress, which assembled in Philadelphia in September, 1774, but some of the ablest representative men of the colony sent a joint memorial to that Congress, expressing their entire sympa- thy and willingness to co-operate with them. As the aggressive policy of England became more manifest, so the spirit of resistance in Georgia became more in- tense. A call was made for a general convention of the patriots to assemble in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775, with a view of linking her fortunes with those of her sister colonics.* This was responded to by even' parish in the col- on}-. On that day the convention met according to call, and a new colonial government was organized and delegates were appointed to Philadelphia. In January, 1776, Governor Wright was ar- rested.f Great excitement existed in the parish of St. John's because of the failure of the delegates appointed to Philadelphia promptly to attend, and on the 2 1st of March, 1776, they held a meeting of their own, and elected Lyman Hall to represent that parish in the General Con- gress, binding themselves faithfully to adhere to and abide by his action and that of the Continental Congress. This parish, embracing Midway, possessed nearly one-third of the entire wealth of the colony, and the inhabitants were dis- tinguished for their superior virtue and intelligence. It was because of its action on that occasion that the name of Liberty county was given to it when the names of the parishes were changed to counties. Their delegate, Lyman Hall, with Bur- ton Gwinnett and George Walton, two of the other delegates duly appointed, were present and took part in the ever mem- orable proceedings of the 4th of July, 1776. Georgia was the youngest of the thirteen colonies. Her first settlement was made, it will be remembered, in 1732 ; and she was then only forty-three years of age. Moreover, Georgia was the weakest of all in her infancy. She was founded on benevolence, and supported several years almost entirely by charity ; *PoSt, p. 211. fPost, p. 219. COLONY OF GEORGIA. yet under these adverse circumstances, she had increased faster in numbers and wealth than any of the other twelve sisters. In July, 1776, her population was about fifty thousand, which was near, if not quite three times as great as that of any other colony for the same period. Her increase of wealth was in like pro- portion. This was owing partly to the salubrity of her climate, the fertility of her soil, and the variety and value of her productions in field and forest, which 167 and communities, next to climate, soil, water and geographical conformations, depends eminently on its landed policy. It was this that led to the overthrow of Rome, and is now (1882) so fearfully agitating Ireland and England. The charter of Georgia was peculiar, and different from the charters of all the other colonies on this point. The trus- tees were prohibited, not only from ever holding any interest themselves in ai y lands of which the colony should be- SCENE ON THE CO yielded the amplest rewards to labor, in whatever pursuit it was directed. To- bacco, Indian corn, wheat, rye and oats were grown as well in Georgia as in Maryland and Virginia, or North or South Carolina; while indigo, rice, and other valuable staples were more pecu- liarly adapted to her soil and climate. The chief cause of her greater pros- perity, however, lay in the landed policy of the colony engrafted in the Oglethorpe charter. The well-being of all states AST OK OEURiHA. come possessed, but they were prohib- ited from ever granting to any one per- son more than five hundred acres of pub- lic land. From the earliest settlement the policy of the trustees was to recog- nize what was known as head-rights, and to apportion out the lands under that designation in small quantities to all who would occupy and cultivate them, at no cost except the actual expenses of sur- veying, fixing limits, and ascertaining boundaries. This policy was founder 1 68 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES— COLOXIA, Book I., c. 22 partly upon the idea that it was really worth wild lands to subdue them, or to clear the forests and render them fit for cultivation; but chiefly, perhaps, upon the economic view that it would add more to the public wealth to have the forest lauds brought into cultivation with their abundant valuable products, even with- out price, than to rely upon the filling of the exchequer with the slow returns of sales, when the settlers had no means to invest. Labor was the only capital they had. Th's involves questions which the profoundest statesman might do well to study. Against monopolies and specu- lations in land, as they existed in other colonics, the door was closed and locked by the fundamental law in Georgia. None but the actual tillers of the ground had possession of the key. Those only who were willing to pay sweat for the soil could procure lands in this col- ony. Here the land was intended for the benefit of the destitute, for the poor who would work it. Hence there never were here any such controversies between proprietors and tenants growing out of the question of rents a.s often created serious disturbances in other colonies. The original charter policy on this sub- ject was strictly adhered to by the trus- tees, so long as they had control of affairs, as it was afterwards by the Board of Trade and Plantations. Governor Wright also proved himself a staunch friend of the policy on all oc- casions. The first grants of land under "head-rights" were limited to two hun- dred acres for each head of a family, and fifty more for each child or servant. For this nothing was charged but the moderate fees of surveying, platting. recording, etc., as above stated. After the acquisition of the additional new territory by the treat}- of Paris (1763), and the Indian treaty at Augusta in November of the same year, most ear- nest appeals were made to Governor Wright and the General Assembly for large grants of land in that section of the colony to an organized company, at the head of which stood Denys Rolles, a gentleman of high family and position in England. This was in 1764. This company en- deavored assiduously and most importu- nately to purchase an extensive tract on the southern side of the Altamaha. Many alluring inducements accompanied their offer and efforts; but the beguiling temptation was firmly rejected. Soon after this, Alexander Montgom- erie, the tenth Earl of Eglintown, with others, presented a petition to the king in council, setting forth a proposition by which a large grant of land should be made to them. They offered to guarantee that in the event of the favor- able reception of their petition, 100,000 settlers would come to and occupy the territory asked within the course of five years. This proposition was likewise rejected. After the acquisition of terri- tory from the Cherokees by the treaty of Augusta in 1774, the same landed policy in regard to it was pursued. When the "head-right" land courts were opened in Augusta and Petersburg to dispose of this purchase, as it was called, more than three thousand appli- cants for "head-rights" appeared the first day. The landless of the other colonies, and other countries, apprised of the policy of Georgia, flocked thither in great numbers for the purpose of| securing a permanent home, with the ownership of the soil for themselves and families, almost literally without money and without price. SPANISH EXPLORATIONS— DE SOTO. 169 This policy on the part of the founders Was the chief cause of her rapid growth while in a colonial status. " It put the crown of industrial glory on her head and the rock of conscious independence beneath her feet." This landed policy, it may here be stated, continued in all her subsequent career, after the colony became an inde- pendent State, as will be seen in the proper place. It is to this originally devised landed policy, steadfastly ad- hered to, as much, if not more than any- thing else, that Georgia after the revolu- tion took the lead of her southern sisters in material wealth and prosperity; and finally received by general consent the honor of being styled the " Empire State of the South." CHAPTER XXIII, HISTORIC FACTS PRELIMINARY TO THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1 754. Ferdinand de Soto — His explorations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and westward — Discovery and crossing of the Mississippi river — Explorations in Arkansas — Discoveiy of the Hot Springs — Red river — De Soto's death and burial — Joliette and Marquette — Catholic priests — M. de la Salle — His explorations and discoveries — Names the coun- try Louisiana, in honor of the French king — Murder — Mouth of the Mississippi discovered by Le Moyne D' Iberville — Builds a fort called Rosa- lie, where the town of Natchez now stands — New Orleans founded by his brother, Bienville D'Iberville, 1718. 'ERDINAND DE SOTO, Gov- ernor of Cuba, vvas the first European who ever visited the valley of the Mississippi, and crossed that majestic current of He sailed from Havana in May, 1539, and landed in Florida at the bay of Spiritu Santo, in June following. The first season's wanderings, from June to October, brought him to the country waters. of the Appalachians, not far from the head of the Appalachce bay. The number of his followers is not definitely stated ; Bancroft says, " they were a numerous body of horsemen, besides infantry, com- pletely armed ; a force exceeding in numbers and equipments the famous ex- peditions against the empires of Mexico and Peru." Early in the spring of the following year, this band of adventurers renewed their march, passing northward, lured by FERDINAND DE SOTO. an Indian guide, towards the gold re- gions of North Carolina. They passed the waters of the Altamaha, through middle Georgia, and at length, in April, reached the head-waters of the Ogeechee; their course being still north, it seems, until they reached the head- waters of the Savannah and the Chattahoochee. At a place still known as the " Old Fort," near White Plains, in Greene county, Georgia, the adventurers en- camped for some time. Spanish coins, i;o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 23 fragments of guns, and other relics have I In all their wanderings they had found at comparatively recent dates been no gold, and the prospect of finding this, ploughed up in the fields in this vicinity. \ the great object of their expedition, seem- From remnants of fortifications on Stone ing more remote than when they began Mountain, near the present city of At- lanta, it is believed that De Soto took this great geological wonder in his route, and perhaps remained there for some time. There are evidences also on the head- waters of the Chattahoochee river, that De Sato's men remained there for some time in making searches for gold, which was the main object of their ex; tions. From tins point, they turned their journeying, they again turned south. In the region west of the Mississippi, on the Washita river, they found an agri- cultural people with fixed places of abode, who lived more upon the pro- duce of the soil than of the chase. They were gentle and harmless in their natures, peaceable in their dispositions, and pre- sented a higher type of civilization than their neighbors. The Spaniards treated southwest, and afterwards southward , them with great cruelty. through Alabama, until, October lSth, thev reached a town on the Ala- in March, 1542, the adventurers de- termined to descend the Washita to its bama river called Mabilla, or Mobile, mouth, in hopes of getting tidings of the Here a battle was fought with the na- tives, in which the Indian village was destroyed, with many hundreds killed. The Spaniards lost eighteen killed, and sea. After innumerable difficulties, they reached the Mississippi at the mouth of the Red river, about the 17th of April. At this place they were told by the na all their baggage, which was burned in tives that the lower banks of the Missis- the town. Thence they passed north- ' sippi were an uninhabited waste. They ward and northwest, until on the 25th would not believe the tale, and De Soto of April, 1 54 1, we find them at the Mis- sent one of his officers, with eight men, sissippi river, to which they were guided down the river to explore the country, by the natives. They crossed in May, In eight daws they were able to advance at one of the Chickasaw bluffs, not far only thirty miles. De Soto's mind be- from the thirty-fifth degree of North came filled with gloomy apprehensions, latitude ; the exact point not now known, His men ami horses were dying, and the but perhaps near the present site of the city of Memphis. About the middle or last of July, they reached Pacaha, a lo- cality which cannot now be identified, but not far west of the Mississippi river, and northward of the place of their crossing. From this point they jour- neyed north and northwest, more deeply still into the interior of the country, until they reached the highlands of White river, more than two hundred miles from the Mississippi. In their rambles they discovered the Hot Springs, now so cele- brated, in the State of Arkansas. natives were becoming dangerous. Bancroft thus describes the closing scenes in De Soto's life, and his death: " He attempted to overawe a tribe of Indians near Natchez, by claiming a supernatural birth, and demanding obe- dience and tribute. ' You are a child of the sun,' replied the undaunted chief, ' dry up the river and I will believe you. Do you desire to see me ? Visit the town where I dwell. If you come in peace, I will receive you with special good-will; if in war, I will not shrink one foot back.' ('70 172 SPAA'JSH EXPLORATIOXS—DE SOTO. " But Dc Soto was no longer able to abate the confidence, or punish the temerity of the natives. His stubborn pride was changed by long disappoint- ments into a wasting melancholy ; and his health sunk rapidly and entirely under a conflict of emotions. A malig- nant fever ensued, during which he had little comfort, and was neither visited nor attended as the last hours of life demand. Believing his death near at hand, he held the last solemn interview with his faithful followers, and yielding to the wishes of his companions, who obeyed him to the end, he named a successor. "On the next day (May 21st, 1542) he died. Thus perished Ferdinand de Soto, the Governor of Cuba, the success- ful associate of Pizarro. His miserable end was the more observed from the greatness of his former prosperity. His soldiers pronounced his eulogy by griev- ing for his loss ; the priests chanted over his body the first requiems that were ever heard on the waters of the Missis- sippi. To conceal his death, his body was wrapped in a mantle, and, in the stillness of midnight, was sunk in the middle of the stream. The discoverer of the Mississippi slept beneath its waters. He had crossed a large part of the continent in the search of gold, and found nothing so remarkable as his burial-place."* In the year 1670 two Catholic priests, Joliet and James Marquette, natives of France, set out from the French settle- ments on the great lakes, in search of that wonderful river concerning which so many reports and rumors had reached them. Their company consisted of five boatmen and some Indians as guides. They passed up the Fox river, which empties into Lake Michigan, in two * Bancroft, vol. i., p. 56. birch-bark canoes, which carried them across overland to the Wisconsin; they floated down that stream until they reached the Mississippi. They passed down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas. Here they met with Indians, who showed them tools of European manufacture, and they deemed it most prudent to return. As they retraced their course, when they reached the mouth of the Illinois, supposing it would lead them to the lakes, they ascended to its head-waters and across to Lake Michigan. Joliet immediately set out to carry the news of the discovery to Quebec, but "Marquette chose to remain as a missionary among the Indians. Not long afterwards he was found dead, kneeling at the foot of a cross which he had erected in the wilderness. In 1679 M. de la Salle, a French offi- cer, in company with the celebrated Father Hennepin, a Catholic priest, and about thirty-five men, explored the shores of several of the northern lakes, and built a fort and wintered near the mouth of the Maumee river. In the spring they crossed the wilderness to the Illi- nois and descended it in their canoes. In their passage down the river they one day suddenly found themselves sur- rounded by a large body of Indian warriors, who offered battle. They, how- ever, soon pacified them. At this place, where Peoria now stands, the adventurers built a fort and remained until the next spring, when they again set sail down the river. Arriving at the mouth of the Illinois, they turned their course up the Mississippi, which river they ascended almost to its source. On the 8th of November, they set out overland for the French settlements. In 1 68 1 La Salle passed down the Illinois river the second time. He also Book I., C. 23 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES—COLONIAL. 173 descended the Mississippi to its mouth, which he reached on the 9th of April, 1682. He took possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV., King of France, and, in his honor, named it Lou- isiana. On the nth he set out on his return, and arrived at Michilimackinack in September. Soon afterwards he sailed for France to make a report of his dis- coveries, and to solicit assistance in plant- ing a colony at the mouth of the Missis- sippi. The enterprise was looked upon with favor, and a fleet of four vessels, one of them armed, was fitted out for his use. Nearly three hundred persons — soldiers, volunteers, mechanics, and priests — ac- companied him. In due time they en- tered the Gulf of Mexico, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi. La Salle soon discovered his error, but the commander of the vessels would not listen to him, and sailing due west, landed on the shores of Texas. Here they built a fort, but many of the men, becoming discouraged, when the vessels sailed for France, returned in them. La Salle sought for the mouth of the Mississippi for some time, but in vain. At length he set out with sixteen companions, determined to traverse the whole breadth of the country to Canada. After travelling for two months across the prairies of Texas west of the Mis- sissippi, he was murdered by one of his companions. The survivors passed down a tributary of the Mississippi to its mouth. The colony planted on the shores of Texas perished, and left no trace. In 1700 Le Moyne DTberville, with sixty colonists, ascended the Mississippi, the mouth of which he had discovered the previous year, about four hundred miles, and on a high bluff built a fort which he called Rosalie. This was the beginning of the town of Natchez. About the same time Mobile was settled by the French. In the year 17 18 Bien- ville D'Iberville, brother to the one just mentioned, laid the foundation of New Orleans in a thick cane-brake, where he built a few log huts. The French found brave and determined enemies in the Chickasaws, who occupied the region around Natchez, north to the Ohio, and east to the country of the Cherokees. This tribe successfully defended their country against invaders. In the year 1722 a settlement of in- dustrious Germans was formed about twenty miles above New Orleans. By these colonists, rice, tobacco, and indigo, and also the fig and orange, were culti- vated. The Canadian settlers on the Illinois raised wheat, and sent flour to the settlers below. Trading-houses were established south of Lake Erie, down the Allegheny to the Ohio, and down the Ohio to the Mississippi. It can be easily seen that the progress of the French in that quarter created the live- liest apprehensions in the minds of the English colonists east of the Alleghen- ies. The latter had always been accus- tomed to regard their possessions as extending west to the Pacific. And now to be hemmed in in this way, and con- fined to the slope east of the Alleghenies, was a thought they could not bear. In this state of things it seemed that the controversy in regard to the possession of the fairest portion of the North Amer- ican continent could only be settled by the arbitrament of war. »74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 24 CHAPTER XXIV. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1 754. (1754— 1763.) Causes of the war — Major George Washington hears a letter from General Dinwiddie t<> the French commandant — Narrow escapes — Fort l)u Quesne erected l>y the French — Encounter between French and English — Defeat of the former — Attack upon the English under Washington — He capitulates and returns to Virginia — Attempt to unite the colo- nies for defence — Failure — Arrival of General Braddock — His expedition against the French and disastrous defeat — Expeditions under Monckton, Shirley, and Johnson — Lord Loudon appointed Commander-in-chief — Abercrombie temporarily in command — Montcalm the French commander — English defeats at Forts Ontario and William Henry — Policy of William Pitt, prime minister — Fleet under Admiral 15 iscawen, and troops under Generals Amherst nnd Wolfe attack Louisburg — Surrender of Louisburg and St. John's to English — Abercrombie defeated — British under command of Lord Howe attack Fort Ticonderoga — Re- pulsed — Surrender of Fort Frontenac to Brit- ish under Bradstreet — Expedition under Forbes against Fort Du Quesne — Washington at Fort l)\i Quesne — Fort surrendered to English, who 1 hange the name to Pittsburgh — Campaign auspi- cious to the English — Amherst made Commander- in-chief of the English — Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara taken by the English — Attack on Quebec by the English — Its surrender — Wolfe and Montcalm, the English and French com- manders, killed — Montreal and the other French posts in Canada surrender — War in the Carolinas with the Cherokees — Montgomery sent to aid of Carolinian- — Moultrie and Marion accompany ex- pedition — Indians defeated — Peace made — Treaty of peace between France, England, and Spain at Fans, 1763 — Florida ceded to Spain by Great Bri- tain. HE brief review of the early ex- ploration and occupation of the . \J* Mississippi valley, given in the '3 last chapter, was necessary, as it was from the conflicting claims of France and England to this territory that arose what is usually called the French and Indian War of 1754, in which all the British colonies we have sketched were involved. To vindicate these claims, and to confine the English to thevcountry east of the Allegheny Mountains, the French began the erection of a chain of forts from Nova Scotia along the lakes and down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. A grant of land had been made in 1749 by the British government, to a company called the Ohio Company; and while the agents of this company were engaged in making a survey of these lands, they were seized as intruders upon the territory of the French, by a party of French and Indians, and carried to the French fort at Presquc Isle. The Indians friendly to the English resented this treatment of their allies, and seized several French traders and sent them to Pennsylvania. Soon afterwards the French, irf pursuance of their grand design, began the erection of forts south of Lake Erie, which catiscd serious com- plaints from the Ohio Company. As this territory was within the original chartered limits of Virginia, Governor Dinwiddie remonstrated with the French commandant against these proceedings, and insisted that he should withdraw his troops. He sent a letter to the French commandant by George Washington, with the title of major, who was then only in his twenty-second year. Washington left Williamsburg, Virginia, on the last day of October, 1753, and on the 4th of December following he reached a French fort at the mouth of French creek, which empties into the Allegheny river, sixty-five miles north of Pittsburgh. He was carried up the stream to another fort, where he met the French commandant, M. De St. Pierre. He received from him a written answer to Governor Dinwiddie's letter. On his return, he narrowly escaped being killed by a party of hostile In- THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 175 d'r.ns. At another time he came very near being drowned while crossing a river on a raft, being thrown violently into the water by the floating pieces of ice striking the pole with which he was cruidingr the raft. However, he arrived safely at Williamsburg on the 16th of January, 1754, and delivered to the gov- ernor the answer of the French com- mandant. St. Pierre refused to with- draw his troops, and informed the gov- ernor that he was acting under instruc- tions from his superior officer, the Gov- ernor of Canada, whom alone he was bound to obey. Governor Dinwiddie immediately be- gan to prepare to oppose the French, as their hostile intentions were plainly ap- parent. A party of thirty men was sent out by the Ohio Company to erect a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where Pittsburgh now stands, and a body of troops, under t'le command of Major Washington, inarched into the disputed territory. The Ohio Company's men were soon driven from the ground by the French, who completed the fort, and called it Fort Du Quesne. A party had also been sent out under Jumonville, to in- tercept the advance of Washington, but they were surprised in the night, and nearly all were either killed or made prisoners. At this place Washington erected a fort, which he called Fort Necessity, in what is now Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania. He was here joined by additional troops from New York and Carolina, and with his whole force, now amount- ing to about four hundred men, he pro- ceeded towards Fort Du Quesne. But, hearing of the advance of a large body of French and Indians, commanded by M. DeVillicrs.he returned to Fort Necessity. Soon afterwards he was attacked by about fifteen hundred of the enemy. He resisted for about ten hours, but was compelled to capitulate. He obtained advantageous terms, and was permitted to return unmolested to Virginia. This capitulation took place July 4th, 1754- The British government seeing that war with France could not be avoided, advised the Colonies to unite themselves together for the purpose of general de- fence. Accordingly a plan was adopted by a Congress of Colonies at Albany, on the 4th day of July, 1754. The Colonies thus assembled in Con- gress were New Hampshire, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland ; the others were not present. The plan of union was drawn by Dr. Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania. Though approved by all the delegates except those from Connecticut, it was rejected, both by the Colonial Assemblies and by the British government — by the Colonial Assemblies because it gave too much power to the President-General of this Confederation, and by the British government because it was thought to assume too much power on the part of the respective colonial governments. It was therefore determined to carry on the war with British troops, and with such assistance as the Colonies separately might freely furnish. Early in the year 1755 General Brad- dock, commander-in-chief of all the forces in America, arrived from Ireland with two regiments of British troops. Three expeditions were agreed upon by him and the colonial governors ; one against Fort Du Quesne, to be led by Braddock; one against Niagara, and one against Crown Point, on the western i-6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLON IA I.. Hook I., c. 21 shore of Lake Champlain. Meantime men, regulars and colonial militia, set another enterprise, projected by the gov- out from Fort Cumberland. He has- ernment of Massachusetts, was being tened his march towards Fort Du prosecuted with success. Near the last Quesne, with about twelve hundred menj of May Colonel Monckton sailed from leaving Colonel Dunbar with the rest Boston with about three thousand troops, of the troops as a rear-guard with the against the French settlements on the heavy baggage. General Braddock, Bay of Fundy. over-confident, and paying no attention The plantations of the settlers were to the warning of Washington, who was laid waste, and several thousands of des- I acting as one of his aids, pressed forward titute people were driven from their I until within a few miles of Fort Du homes and dispersed through the Eng- ' Quesne, when he was suddenly fired lish colonies, for no crime and for no act of hostility against Great Britain, or British subjects, but because they would not take the oath of allegiance to the British crown ; and from this they had formerly been excused, on condition that they would remain neutral — a con- dition not violated by them. The expedition against the French on the Ohio was unsuccessful. On the ioth of June, General Brad- BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. upon by an unseen enemy. The ad- vanced guard, commanded by Lieuten- ant-Colonel Gage, unused to savage war- fare, was thrown into disorder and fell back upon the main body, causing gen- eral confusion. General Braddock did everything pos- sible to rally his troops upon the spot where first attacked. But he fell mor- tally wounded, after having three horses killed under him. His troops dock, at the head of about two thousand j soon fled in great disorder. Washing- THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 177 ton, with his Virginians, covered the retreat of the regulars, and so saved the army from complete destruction. The loss was very heavy, more than two- thirds of all the officers and nearly half the privates being either killed or wounded. The enemy made no pur- suit; but the panic was so great that even Colonel Dunbar's troops fled has- tily, and made no pause until they felt •themselves safe in Fort Cumberland. Soon afterwards Colonel Dunbar left a few of his forces to guard Fort Cumber- land, and retired to Philadelphia. The expedition against Niagara, which was commanded by Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, commander-in-chief after the death of Braddock, accomplished nothing except the erection of two new forts on the east side of the river, in which forts suitable garrisons were left for their defence. General (afterward Sir William) John- son commanded the expedition against Crown Point. A few miles north of Fort Edward, which is about forty-five miles north of Albany, he met the enemy, and after several hours' hard fighting, and severe loss, completely routed and drove them from the field. The loss was heavy on both sides. Colonel Wil- liams, of the British army, and Hen- dricks, who commanded the Indian allies, were killed. After the retreat of the French, their commander, the Baron Dieskau, was found wounded and alone, leaning against a tree. He put his hand into his pocket, feeling for his watch, with the intention of surrendering it ; but a British soldier, thinking that he was searching for a pistol, fired upon him and wounded him mortally. This battle was fought in the latter part of August, 1755. The British forces consisted of about six thousand men, 1 2 while the French did not number more than three or four thousand. General Johnson built a fort near the battle- ground, which he called Fort William Henry. The French meantime strength- ened their works at Crown Point, and also took possession of Ticonderoga, which they fortified. Learning of these facts, General Johnson did not think it advisable to make any further advances. Accordingly, late in the season, leaving garrisons at Forts William Henry and Edward, he retired to Albany. The remainder of the army he sent to their homes in the different colonies. The plan of campaign for the year 1756 was similar to that of the last, the chief object being to take the posts of Crown Point, Niagara, and Fort Du Quesne. Lord Loudon was appointed by the King of Great Britain commander of all the forces in America, and also Governor of Virginia. But as he could not leave England immediately, General Abercrombie was ordered to take com- mand until his arrival. Up to this time, there had been no declaration of war between the two countries ; but in May of this year, war was formally declared by Great Britain against France, and soon afterwards by France against Great Britain. General Abercrombie arrived in June, with several regiments, and proceeded to Albany, where the colonial forces were stationed. But he thought it prudent to await the arrival of the Earl of Loudon, which was delayed until the latter part of July. The French in the meantime made an attack upon Oswego. In August, the Marquis Montcalm, who now com- manded the French forces, with five or six thousand men, French and Indians and about thirty pieces of cannon, crossed 178 HIS'IVRV OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I, c. 2+ Lake Ontario, and laid siege to Fort Ontario, on the Oswego river. Fort Ontario was abandoned by the garrison, who retired to an old fort on the west side of the river. But at this place, on the 14th of August, their number being only about fourteen hun- dred, they were compelled to surrender. A large amount of military stores, pro- visions, small-arms, and ammunition, to- gether with several vessels in the harbor, and about one hundred and thirty-five pieces of cannon, fell into the hands of the enemy. Montcalm destroyed the forts and returned to Canada. After the defeat of Braddock, the In- dians on the western frontier killed or carried into captivity more than a thou- sand of the inhabitants. In August, 1756, Colonel John Armstrong (after- wards a major-general in the revolu- tionary war,) with about three hundred men, marched against Kittaning, their chief town on the Alleghany river. The principal Indian chiefs were killed, their town was destroyed, and some English prisoners were recovered. The English suffered but little. Captain Mercer, after- wards distinguished in the revolutionary war, was wounded in this expedition. Not one of the important objects of the campaign of this year was accomplished. In the year 1757 a force of about ten thousand men was sent against Louis- bourg, under the command of Lord Loudon. After their arrival at Halifax, learning that the place was strongly gar- risoned, .ind that a large French fleet was in the harbor, the expedition was abandoned. About the same time, the Marquis Montcalm, with an army of near ten thousand men, laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was defended by about twenty-five hundred men. There was at Fort Edward, about fifteen miles distant, a force of four thou- sand men ; but they were not able to* send any assistance, and the defenders of Fort William Henry were compelled to surrender. Honorable terms were granted ; but after the surrender, as the English were leaving the fort, the In- dians fell upon them, plundered them of their luggage, and killed many of them in cold blood. It is believed that Mont- calm and his officers did all they could to protect the prisoners, except that they did not fire upon the Indians. Cassell thus graphically sets forth some of the events preceding this siege, with its attending scenes and horrible re- sults: " Montcalm, taking advantage of the exposed state of the English provin- ces, owing to Loudon having drawn off his troops on an expedition which after all he never prosecuted, had advanced with an army of nine thousand men against Fort William Henry (situated at the south end of Lake George, a little east of the village of Caldwell, in Warren county, New York), and had reduced it. In the first place, previous to starting on this enterprise, he made his court to the Oneidas, the Senecas, and other savage tribes, and gained them over to his interests. These native warriors crossed the waters of Lake Champlain in two hundred canoes, with pennons flying, and all the pomp of savage war- fare. « Assembling beneath the battle- ments of Ticonderoga, in the midst of woods and mountains, they sang the war-song, danced the war-dance, and listened to the eloquence of their ora- tors. Mass was chanted for the benefit of the converts ; Montcalm harangued his officers on the necessity of braving all hardships in the accomplishment of their design; some of the savages, who had been sent out against Fort Edward, THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 179 excited the ferocity of their comrades by returning with a trophy of forty-two English scalps. In the latter days of July they defeated a party of American boatmen on Lake George, and took a great many prisoners. On the 3 1st they embarked on the lake, and rowed nearly all through the night in the midst of a drenching rain. At Northwest Bay, near the encampment of the French commander, De Levi, they held a coun- cil of war, and then proceeded on their route. Arriving in front of the English position, they found the plain covered with tents, and everything indicating that the defenders of Fort William Henry were taken by surprise. General Webb, who was stationed at Fort Ed- ward with a force of four thousand men, and who had reason to know that the enemy was astir, might have taken measures to repel the attack on the other position; but he seems to have shared the imbecility of Loudon. The two forts were separated by a distance of only fourteen or fifteen miles ; yet Webb did nothing. He went to Fort William Henry, but left it again almost directly, with a large escort, shortly before the place was invested. " The French commander disembarked without interruption about a mile and a half below the fort which he had come to attack and on which his army moved for- ward in three columns. While the Indians burnt the barracks of the English, seized their cattle and horses, and, in combina- tion with the Canadians, took up a posi- tion on the road leading to the Hudson, which enabled them to cut off communi- cations, the main body of the army, under the direction of Montcalm himself, occu- pied the skirt of a wood on the west side of the lake. De Levi was to the north, and the doomed fort was nearly sur- rounded. On the 4th of August the French summoned Monroe, an English officer in command of the Anglo-Ameri- can forces, to surrender; but the stout- hearted soldier refused. Montcalm therefore determined on a bombardment. His heavy guns were dragged from the shores of the lake over the intervening rocks, and planted in position. The walls of the fortress were approached by zig-zags, and the heavy artillery opened fire amidst the excited screams of the Indians. Webb, from his comparatively safe position at Fort Edward, despatched a letter to Monroe, giving an alarming account of the French force, and coun- selling an immediate surrender. The missive was intercepted by Montcalm, who was of course glad to send it on to the English commander ; but it produced no effect. On the very day he invested the place, Montcalm had endeavored to intimidate his adversary by threats of Indian vengeance. He addressed him by letter, saying he felt obliged in hu- manity to desire he would surrender the fort, and not provoke the great number of savages in the French army by a vain resistance. 'A detachment of your gar- rison,' he said, ' has lately experienced their cruelty. I have it yet in my power to oblige them to observe a capitulation, as none of them hitherto are killed.'* But Monroe met such advances with de- fiance, and for six days replied with energy to the fire of his assailant. On the 9th of August, having by this time received positive information that no relief would be attempted, the gallant commander hung out a flag of truce. Half his guns had burst, his ammunition was nearly exhausted, and all chance of saving the place was at an end. " The terms of surrender were that the * Smollett. /. at M , ,u j. v.; — < FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754 i8r garrison should not serve against the French for eighteen months ; that they should march out with the honors of war; that they should be allowed to retain their private baggage ; and that they should be escorted to Fort Edward by French troops, as a protection against the ferocity of the Indians. A horrible tragedy ensued. The savages unfortu- nately obtained some strong liquors in the grey light of daybreak, the unfor- tunate soldiers filed out of the fort, the drunken wretches, whom French priests had blessed not many days before, began an indiscriminate attack on officers and men. Several were killed, others wound- ed, others taken prisoners in defiance of the terms of capitulation. It is said that altogether as many as fifteen hun- dred suffered in their persons or their SITE OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY ON LAKE GEORGE. from the English (who probably hoped to conciliate them in this way), and passed the night in a fury of excitement and revelry, dancing their barbarous dances, and singing their maddening songs. The Abenakis of Acadie in- flamed the passions of their comrades by recounting what they had suffered at the hands of the English ; and at dawn all were ready for the work of murder. As, liberty. A number of Indian allies of the English, who had formed part of the garrison, were reserved for lingering torture. Little more than half the en- tire army gained the shelter of Fort Edward, plundered of everything they possessed, and horrified by the massacre which they had barely escaped. " How far the French were privy to this frightful massacre cannot be exactly 182 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 24 determined. Montcalm, in reporting the matter to his government, and in writing to Lord Loudon, asserted that he and De Levi did their utmost to check the Indians ; that French officers received wounds in rescuing the cap- tives, and stood at their tents as sen- tries over those they had recovered ; that they urged the English troops to defend themselves against the savages ; and that those who were carried away were soon afterwards ransomed by the French." ***** "The fort was demolished immediately Larger armies were raised in America, and twelve thousand more men were promised from England. Three armies were to be sent out : one against Louisbourg ; one against the French on Lake Cham- plain, and one against Fort Du Quesne. On the 28th of May, a fleet of nearly forty armed vessels, under command of Admiral Boscawen, with twelve thou- sand men under General Amherst, sailed from Halifax for Louisbourg. The troops landed on the 8th of June near Louisbourg, with little loss. General Wolfe arrived soon after, and gave great AUEKCRoMuiK * EXPEDITION ON LAKE GEORGI after its reduction, and the French re- tired with the stores they had taken from the enemy. Webb, at Fort Edward, was struck with dismay. He sent off his baggage to a place of security, and talked of retreating to the highlands on the Hudson." The ill success of the campaigns of the two preceding years was very painful to the pride of the English, and it was therefore determined in 1758 to carry on the war with greater vigor. A new min- istry was formed, with Mr. Pitt, after- wards Lord Chatham, at the head. j assistance in the reduction of the place. Near the last of July, the city and island I of Louisbourg, and St. John's or Prince Edward's Island, were surrendered to the English. But while the English were successful here, they met with a considerable reverse in the defeat of General Abcrcrombie. On the 5th of July he crossed Lake George with fif- teen thousand men, and a great many cannon, to attack Fort Ticonderoga. On the morning of the 6th he was at- tacked by Montcalm. Lord Howe, in whom the troops had great confidence, THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 133 was killed ; but after a hard fight, the French were repulsed. After Lord Howe's death, the ardor of the troops abated, some confusion prevailed, and the greater part of the army fell back to Lake George. But on the 8th they again advanced in full force against Ticonderoga. The French, under the command of Montcalm in person, were fully prepared to receive them. McCabe thus describes this famous battle : " The attack was made in gallant style, and was continued with energy during the afternoon. The English per- broke helplessly, and fell back in dis- order towards Lake George. Aber- crombie made no effort to rally them ; he was too badly frightened for that; and led the army towards the landing- place, on Lake George, with such haste that but for the energetic action of Colonel Bradstreet, the troops would have rushed pell-mell into the boats, without any semblance of order, and with a still greater loss of life. " The English lost nearly two thou- sand men in the attack upon the French works ; but they still had left a force of more than four times the strength of the ATTACK ON TICONDEROGA. formed prodigies of valor, but were not able to overcome the strength of the French works, or the activity with which the defenders maintained their position. Unlike the English commander, Mont- calm was everywhere along his line, cheering his men with his presence and example, and distributing refreshments to them with his own hands. Without a commander who dared place himself under fire, with no one on the spot to direct their movements, the valor of the English was thrown away. A volley from an advanced party of their own men completed their confusion, and they French, and their artillery had not been engaged. With this force they might have taken Ticonderoga, but Abercrom- bie was too much terrified to attempt anything of the kind. On the morning of the 9th he embarked his troops and hastened to the head of Lake George. Montcalm was astounded at his retreat, but as he had too small a force, and his men were exhausted, he made no effort at pursuit. Arrived at the head of Lake George, the frightened Abercrombie sent the artillery and ammunition back to Albany for safety, and occupied his army with the erection of Fort George, near 284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 2< the ruins of Fort William Henry. The news of this disaster caused General Amherst to hasten with four regiments and a battalion from Louisburg to Lake George. He reached the camp of Aber- crombie on the 5th of October. In No- vember orders arrived from England appointing Amherst commander-in-chief of the royal forces in America, and re- calling Abercrombie, who returned to England to attempt to excuse his cow- ardice by villifying America and the Americans. He could not deceive Pitt, however, whose indignation at his pusil- lanimous conduct was only restrained by the influence of Lord Bute in the royal councils." The British army being now stationed near the head of Lake George, Colonel Bradstreet was sent with three thousand men against Fort Frontenac, on the out- let of Lake Ontario. Bradstreet crossed, landed near the fort, and in two days compelled it to surrender. Nine armed vessels, over fifty cannon, and a large quantity of stores and ammunition, fell into the hands of the English. The expedition against the French in the Valley of the Ohio, was com- mitted to General Forbes, who, early in July, left Philadelphia with about nine thousand men, mostly provincials. The first object of the expedition was to take Fort Du Quesne. Washington soon joined the expedition with two regi- ments from Virginia, and regarding Fort Du Quesne as the key to the West, his design was to march quickly along the old Braddock road, which was already opened up. This, however, did not suit the plan of General Forbes. He ordered a new road on another route to be con- structed. This caused considerable delay. September arrived before the troops had got further than Raystown. Forbes, at this time, was very ill ; so much so that his death was seriously apprehended. In the early part of November, he was sufficiently recovered to hold a council of war at Loyal Hanna. Here it was determined that it was too late for fur- ther military operations that season. Washington was not one of those who concurred in that determination. The headquarters of the army now were within fifty miles of Fort Du Quesne. The intervening country was rough, rugged, and mountainous. Snow had already covered the hills, but Washington obtained permission of the commanding general to make an advance with a com- paratively small band of troops who were willing to follow him. Inspired by the heroic zeal of their leader, the men' made a successful and rapid march, con- sidering the obstacles they had to en- counter. In ten or fifteen days, they were in sight of Fort Du Quesne. The French garrison at the time then num- bered only about five hundred. Alarmed at the news that the enemy were ap- proaching in force, and by the defection of their Indian allies, whose hearts failed under the superstition that the Great Spirit had deserted the French, the garrison on the night of the 24th of November, evacuated the fort, and made their escape in boats down the river ; but before leav- ing the fort they set it on fire and at- tempted to destroy whatever they could not carry with them. On the morning of the 25th, Washington, with his gallant band, entered the fort and planted the British flag on the ramparts just aban- doned by the French. He changed the name from Fort Du Quesne to Fort Pitt in honor of the great British minister whose new and energetic policy was giving such a favorable turn to English affairs in the Colonies. For this heroic WASHINOTON PI.ANTINtt THE F1AC, on fort DITQUKSN f"85) 186 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c 24 exploit, Washington and his troops re- ceived the universal plaudits of their countrymen. The name of Pitt is still Fort Du Quesne about this time pervaded most of the western tribes, and soon after- wards they entered into negotiations for perpetuated with the site of the old fort, peace with the English. It is here that the present city of Pitts- The campaign of 1758, having been, burgh — the Birmingham of Pennsylvania j upon the whole, auspicious to the British *c. m* LRA kalls. and of the Union— has been built up, arms, the Ministry, under the councils bearing the name of England's greatest • and lead of Pitt, determined to push the statesman to ages to come. The same i war with greater vigor than ever, superstitious fear or apprehension that General Amherst was made Corn- seized the Indian allies of the French at j mander of all the forces in North Amer- THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. I8 7 ica, and assumed the responsibility of car- rying out the policy of the Ministry to conquer Canada in one campaign. This was the plan of the campaign: General Wolfe, an officer of great merit, was to go up the St. Lawrence and attack Que- bec; General Amherst, after taking Ti- conderoga and Crown Point, was to unite his forces with those of General Wolfe ; and General Prideaux, with a third army, dentally killed soon after the commence- ment of the siege, when the command devolved on Sir William Johnson. A force of French and Indians, coming to relieve the place, was routed with great slaughter, and the fort soon after sur- rendered. The French communications were thus cut off between Canada and Louisiana. Meantime Wolfe was prosecuting the GENERAL WOLFE. was to take Niagara and proceed against Montreal. General Amherst was so far successful as to take Ticonderoga and Crown Point, with an army of about eleven hundred men ; but was not able to join General Wolfe, and went into winter-quarters at Crown Point. General Prideaux in July laid siege to Niagara, but was acci- siege of Quebec. About the last of June, he landed his army of about eight or ten thousand men on the Isle of Or- leans, a short distance below Quebec. The French, with an army of about thir- teen thousand men, occupied the city, and also a strong fort between the rivers St. Charles and Montmorenci on the north of the St. Lawrence. General 188 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. '2A Wolfe took possession of Point Levi, on which he erected batteries. But, effect- ing very little against the defences of the city, he resolved upon bolder measures. He determined to storm the camp be- tween the St. Charles and the Montmo- renci. The attempt failed, and his loss amounted to nearly five hundred men. He soon after called a council of offi- the precipice, and at sunrise they were drawn up in battle array on the plains of Abraham. A general battle ensued, in which the English and French generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, were both killed. General Wolfe died on the field of battle, but lived long enough to know that he had gained the victor)-. When in the agonies of death he heard a cry, MONTCALM. cers, and proposed another attack upon the French lines. They, however, pro- posed that an effort be made to gain the heights above the city. The plan was approved and preparations were at once made to carry it out. On the night of the 1 2th of September, the troops passed down the stream in boats ; landed within less than two miles of the city; ascended " They run, they run." Raising his head, he asked, "Who run?" Being told it was the French, " Then," said he, " I die contented," and expired. The French general was carried into the city, and on being told that his wound was mortal, his reply was, " So much the better, for then I shall not live to witness the sur- render of Quebec." THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 189 Cassell in his History of the United States relates the following interesting in- cident : "On the evening of the 12th, Wolfe invited Jervis, who was in command of the Porcupine sloop-of-war, to spend an hour or two in his private cabin aboard the Sutherland, and mentioned to him that he had a presentiment he should not survive the morrow. Taking from his " The clear autumn evening deepened to a tranquil night, dark, yet thickly set with stars. A little before sunset, the ships of the line still remaining in the basin had got in close to the Beauport shore, and boats manned with sailors and marines had been lowered, so as to keep up the appearance of a descent in tltet direction, while the lighter ships set sail, and joined the squadron off Cape Rouge. DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE. breast a portrait of Miss Lowther, to j As soon as darkness had fallen, detach- whom he was engaged, he begged his ments from the Isle of Orleans and friend, should the foreboding be fulfilled, Point Levi arrived by a rapid march, un- to restore that pledge to the young lady detected by the enemy, opposite Cape on his arrival in England. The General Rouge, where they took boat and joined then added to his will a codicil disposing the assembled army on the Quebec side of his effects in America; and all was of the river. The place of assembly was now ready for the great and perilous at- some way higher up than the spot •tempt. 1 selected for making the attack , and it 190 HISTOJtY OE THE UN/TED STATES— COLOXIA /.. Book I., c. 24 was therefore necessary to drop down the stream with the ebb-tide in flat-bot- tomed boats. At midnight, the divisions began to embark. At two o'clock on the morning of the 13th, all of the first division were on board ; the boats were formed into line, with the general 's barge at the head ; and the Sutherland speedily gave the signal that had been agreed on for departure. Two lights appeared in the maintopmast shrouds, one over the other; whereupon the flotilla moved away into the dimness of the autumn night. In deep silence — for the soldiers were forbidden to speak, under penalty of death — the boats glided down the stream on the rapid current which then set towards the sea, keeping close to the northwestern bank, that the landing- place might not be missed. As the general's barge passed under those rocky shores, beneath the wild and starlit night, Wolfe, in scarcely audible tones, repeated to his officers Gray's ' Elegy written in a Country Churchyard ' (which he had recently received from England), dwelling with particular emphasis on the words of pious trust with which it con- cludes, and on that eloquent and mourn- ful stanza, — '" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour : The paths of glory lead but to the grave.' When he had finished, Wolfe said to his companions, with great earnestness, ' Now, gentlemen, I would rather be author of that poem than take Quebec' "* Five days after the battle the city sur- rendered, leaving Montreal the only place of importance in the possession of the French in Canada. Yet in the next year, 1760, they tried to recover Quebec, but failed. In September, 1760, Mon- *See Cassell's Hist, of United States, vol. i., p. 617. treal and all the other French posts in Canada were surrendered to the Eng- lish. In the same year a war in the South broke out with the Cherokees. Gov- ernor Lyttleton, of South Carolina, in- vited some of their chiefs to a conference on certain matters of difference between them and the whites; and some misun- derstandings having arisen, and for some matters connected with the subjects of this conference, he put them in prison, which they considered a violation of good faith, and on their release they took up arms, and incited their nation to war against the whites. In April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery, with about two thousand men, was sent by General Amherst from New York to the assistance of the Carolinians. A few weeks after his arrival, he was joined by the militia of the Colony, and set out for the Cherokee country. Moultrie and Mar- ion, afterwards so celebrated in the Rev- olutionary war, were in this expedition. Montgomery's time was limited, the grand object of the year's campaign being the conquest of Canada. He was ordered to strike a sudden blow, and return to headquarters. In pursuance of orders, he rapidly pene- trated the Indian country, and burned several towns and villages, but did not remain long enough to finish the war. In his last battle, fought near the Indian town of Etchoe, he lost twenty men killed and seventy-six wounded. 1I> was victorious, but the condition of his army rendered it imprudent to penetrate further into the woods. Orders were therefore given for a retreat, which was made in good order. In August Colonel Montgomery embarked for New York, agreeably to his orders, but left four companies to cover the frontiers. Mean- THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1754. 191 time the distant garrison of Fort Loudon was compelled to surrender to the Cher- okees or perish of hunger. They sur- rendered on favorable terms ; but after the surrender, on their way to the settle- ments, were attacked by the Indians ; twenty-five were slain, and the remain- der, nearly two hundred in number, were kept in a miserable captivity until they could be redeemed. In the next year, 1 76 1, Colonel Grant marched into the Indian country; de- that year a treaty of peace was signed at Paris. France yielded to Great Britain all her possessions in North America, east of the Mississippi river, from its source to the river Iberville, one of its outlets, through Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time peace was made with Spain, which nation had joined with France, a year or two before, in waging war against Great Britain. By the treaty made at this time, Spain ceded to Great BURNING A CHEROKEE TOWN AND DESTROYING 1HEIR CROPS. feated them in battle, laid waste their fields and villages, and having driven them to the mountains, compelled them to make peace. Francis Marion accom- panied this expedition, and in a letter describes very feelingly the destruction of the growing crops, and the villages of the Indians. Not many years after- wards, he saw much greater desolation wrought by the hands of white men against white men. The war between France and England continued until 1763. In February of Britain her possessions in East and West Florida. Upon the ratification of this treaty, and the settlement of the boundaries between the English and Spanish pos- sessions in America, the limits of the territory of Georgia were more distinctly defined, and her area, as we have seen, was considerably enlarged. She now acquired all the country from the north- ernmost source of the Altamaha river to its mouth westward to the Mississippi river. 192 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIA I.. Book I., c. !45 CHAPTER XXV. ('763—1774) CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES FROM THE MOTHER COUN- TRY, AND THE ASSUMPTION OF SOVEREIGN POWERS P.Y THEM. » ■(General good feeling after the French war — Mason and Dixon's line — Indignation over the tax bills — Lord Camden — Colonel Bane — Commercial re- striction — The Stamp Act resisted in North Caro- lina, Virginia, and Massachusetts— Nine Colonies meet in convention in New York, and make a joint declaration — Sons of liberty — Stamp Act repealed — Pitt becomes Prime Minister — Town- seed's new tax act — Great excitement — Boston riot — First blood in resistance to unjust taxa- tion shed at Alamance, North Carolina, June 16, 1771 — Tax on tea — Disposition of the tea in New York city — Boston, Massachusetts — Charleston, South Carolina — Baltimore, Maryland — Wilmington, North Carolina — Boston port bill — Action of the Virginia Assembly on the subject — Fasting, humiliation, and prayer — " The cause of Boston is the cause of us all" — First Congress at Philadelphia — Their acts — Lord Chatham's comments on them — General Gage in Massachusetts — Battles of Concord and Lex- ington — Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken by mists. 'HE destruction of the French power in America, which was one of the results of the war chronicled in the last chapter, was regarded by all the Colonies as a most auspicious event, and as giving them promise of long-continued peace and prosperity. At the close of this conflict, little did any one suppose that troubles would so soon arise between them and Great Britain, fondly called the mother coun- try. The attachment to that country had never been greater, and, except per- haps in Massachusetts, no dissatisfaction existed anywhere. Murmurs of discon- tent had often arisen previous to this war ; but at its close the recollections of .a recent and common danger, of perils shared together, of difficulties overcome by their united efforts, all tended to kindle in the breasts of the colonists a warm and tender attachment to that country from whence their ancestors came ; and if a wise policy had then been pursued by the British government to- wards the Colonies, this attachment would doubtless have deepened and become permanent. The Colonies, at this time, were in perfect peace and harmony among themselves and with the Indian tribes. A long-standing dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland, touching their boundaries, growing out of the royal grants to Lord Baltimore, the Duke of York, and William Penri, was about this time ended by an agreement as to how the dividing line should be established. This was to be run and marked by two distinguished English engineers, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. They entered upon their wbrk in 1764. The line marked by them was rigidly observed by both parties, and has ever since been famous as Mason and Dixon's line. The new troubles were with the mother country, and began about taxes. The Colonies had heretofore been exempt from parliamentary exactions of any sort, except a duty imposed on sugar and molasses, under a commercial regu- lation in 1733, which had been in a great measure evaded, and neves strictly en- forced. The prevailing ideas in the Colonies, as well as in England, was that taxes or subsidies of every sort, for the support of government, should be the voluntary tribute of the people, through their rep- resentatives. Hence the maxim, that taxation and representation go together. In the British Parliament Lord Camden said: "Taxation and representation are CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. 1 93 inseparable — it is an eternal law of na- ture ; for whatever is a man's own is absolutely his own ; no man has a right to take it from him without his consent. Whoever attempts to do it, attempts an injury ; whoever does it, commits a robbery." The Colonies had also an they were exposed to all the hardships to which human nature is liable. They nourished by your indulgence ! No ; they grew by your neglect. When you began to care about them, that care was exercised in sending persons to rule over them, whose character and conduct COLONEL BARRE. •eloquent advocate in Colonel Barre, in the House of Commons. In answer to arguments on the other side, he ex- claimed : " Children planted by your care! No; your oppression planted them in America. They fled from your tyranny to an uncultivated land, where 13 have caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them. They protected by your arms ! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence ! The people of America are loyal, but a people jealous of their liberties, and they will vindicate them." J 94 IIIS1 OR V OF HIE UNITED states— colonial. Book I., c. 25 The Colonies had no representation in the British Parliament, and they main- tained that no just taxes could be im- posed on them without their having a voice in the matter. They maintained, moreover, that the imposition of taxes on them by Parliament was a violation of the stipulations with the Crown, set GEORGE THE THIRD. forth in their charters. According to these stipulations, they maintained that Parliament had no governing authority over them. Their stipulations were with the king, and they insisted that the great right of local self-government was se- cured to them respectively under their several charters, which they severally re- garded as their Colonial, fundamental or constitutional law, as the principles of Magna Charta were regarded by all Britons as fundamental law of England. On the part of Parliament it was con- tended that, as the late war had greatly increased the public debt, the Colonies should be made to bear a part of it. With this view, the old duty on sugar and molasses was revived, or new orders given for its strict enforcement. This created considerable excitement, which was increased in 1765, by the passage of what is known as the Stamp Act. By this law of Parliament all contracts, notes, bonds, deeds, writs, and public documents were required to be on gov- ernment stamped paper, which was sold by officials at a high price, and from the sales of which a large revenue was ex- pected to be derived. The passage of the last-named act created great excitement, especially in North Carolina, Virginia, and Massa- chusetts, in which Colonies a spirit of open resistance was manifested. In North Carolina, the Royal Governor Tryon had a conference with John Ashe, the Speaker of the Assembly, and in- quired of him what would be the action of that body in relation to the Stamp Act. " It will be resisted to blood," re- plied the Speaker, whereupon the gov- ernor immediately prorogued the As- sembly. The excitement was not lessened, when, two months after the passage of the Stamp Act — in order to enforce it — Parliament authorized the Ministrv to -.~xv PATRICK HENRY. send as many troops as they saw proper to Massachusetts and other places, which troops were to draw their supplies, not from home, but from the Colonies in CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. which they were to be quartered. Through the influence of Patrick Henry, strong resolutions were passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses, declaring, among other things, the exclusive right of that Assembly to tax the inhabitants of that Colony. In the course of the debate on the resolutions, Henry, in a burst of eloquence, exclaimed : " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III. — " "Treason! treason!" 195 ceedings in Virginia, they issued a cir- cular inviting all the Colonies to send delegates to a Convention, to be held in New York in October following, a short time before the day appointed for the Stamp Act to go into operation. This proposition was seconded by South Carolina. On the first Tuesday of Oc- tober, 1765, the proposed Convention of deputies or delegates from several of the Colonies met at New York, to take A STAMP ACT OFFICIAL BEATEN BY THE PEOPLE. cried the Speaker ; a few other members also joined in the cry. Henry paused a moment, and looking with an undaunted eye upon the Speaker, continued, " may profit by their example ! If that be treason, make the most of it." The General Court of Massachusetts was moved by a similar spirit. They re- solved that the courts should conduct their business without the use of stamps. In June, before they heard of the pro- into consideration the state of all the Col- onies, and to consult for the general wel- fare. Nine Colonies, to wit : Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New York, New Jersey, Del- aware, Pennsylvania, and South Caro- lina, were represented in this Convention by twenty-eight delegates. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was chosen President. The convention agreed upon 196 HISTORY OF THE UNTIED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 25 a declaration of principles, and asserted the right of the Colonies to be exempted from all taxes not imposed by their con- sent. In many places the excitement was so great that the rage of the people sought vent by hanging the officers ap- pointed to execute the act, in effigy, gence with the stamps, and issued or- ders for all who needed the stamps to provide themselves with them, according to the provisions of the law, but on the resignation of Houston, no man of the Colony was authorized to receive them and no agent was left in the Colony to HANGING A STAMP ACT OFFICIAL IN EFFIGY. amid the shouts and denunciations of exultant crowds. In North Carolina popular indignation ran so high as to force James Houston — v/ho had been appointed stamp agent — to resign and take an oath that he would not execute the duties assigned him. Governor Tryon had announced by proc- lamation the coming of the ship Dili- execute the Stamp Act.* In Georgia, the indignation was so great upon the news of the passage of the act that a body of men known as the " Liberty Boys " resolved that the stamp paper never should be distributed in the Colony. When, therefore, on the 5th of Decem- ber, 1765, the royal ship Speedwell, with * Moore's Hist, of N. C, vol. i., p. 94. CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. the stamped paper aboard, arrived in the Savannah river, Governor Wright, ap- prehending an outbreak, had the obnox- ious papers removed from the ship and put in Fort Halifax, and when Mr. Agnus, the agent sent over for the dis- tribution of the stamps, arrived at Tybee on the 2d of January, 1766, the governor had him escorted to his own house lest violence should be done him. After remaining two weeks, such was the state of popular feeling, that Agnus left without ever entering on his duties. A short time after this six hundred men assembled near the city and notified the governor that if the stamped papers were not removed they would attack the fort. The governor then had them sent back to the man-of-war, to be re- turned to England.* The stamped paper, after this, in many places was either destroyed or sent back to England. Business for a time was almost suspended, as the law required stamped paper to be used, and the people had determined not to use it. Gradually, however, business revived ; notes, deeds, etc., were written on un- stamped paper, and things went on as before, without regard to the law of Par- liament, which was denounced as usurp- ation. About this time there arose in New York and other cities a society known as the " Sons of Liberty," which took strong ground against divers acts of Parliament affecting the Colonies. They exerted great influence. The merchants of New York, Boston, Phila- delphia, and many other places, agreed with each other not to buy or bring any more goods from Great Britain until the Stamp Act was repealed. The British Bishop Stevens's Hist, of Ga., vol. ii., pp. 44, 45. 197 government heard of these proceedings with anger and alarm. The new minis- try, at the head of which was the Marquis of Rockingham, saw that the Stamp Act must be repealed, or that the Colonists must be compelled by force of arms to comply with its requisitions. With him the former was preferable to the latter alternative. It was in this debate, which was long and angry, that Mr. Pitt, who had been for several years the distinguished leader of the House of Commons, acted a most conspicuous part. He was now grow- ing old and infirm. He was suffering greatly from rheumatism and gout. He made his appearance in defence of the Colonies on crutches and wrapped in flannels. No man in England at that or any other time perhaps, had so firm a hold upon the confidence of the masses of the people of the realm as did this renowned statesman. He was known as "the Great Commoner." Upon his ar- raignment of the obnoxious measures of the administration and his fierce assault upon the iniquitous policy pursued against the Colony in taxing without representation, feeble as he was, he rose to the full majesty of the prime of his manhood. He was charged by Grenville on the ministerial side with countenancing and encouraging by his conduct and language, lawlessness in the Colonies. His reply was prompt and characteristic. " Sir, I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in America. Sorry I am to have the liberty of speech in this House imputed as a crime. But the imputation will not deter me ; it is a liberty I mean to exercise. The gentle- man tells us that America is obstinate ; that America is almost in rebellion, I re- joice that America has resisted." These words produced quite a sensation in the Ig3 HISTORY OF THE UN/TED STATES— COLONIAL Book I.e. S House, but Pitt continued in the same \ Stamp Act was ultimately repealed on bold, defiant tone, adding "If they had the 19th day of March, 1776, but at submitted, they would have voluntarily the same time it was declared that become slaves. They have been driven ; Parliament had " the right and power to to madness by injustice. My opin- bind the Colonies in all cases whatso- ion is that the Stamp Act should be j ever." The news of the repeal was re- WII.UAM HTT. repealed, absolutely, totally, immedi- ately." In the same debate the great Irish orator, Edmund Burke, then but a young man, distinguished himself and won the admiration and love of the Colonies for ceived with great joy by all the Colonies, fktid the great body of the English peo- ple themselves also rejoiced. The Rockingham ministry was dissolved in July, and a new one was formed under Pitt, who was afterwards created Earl of his eloquent defence of their cause. The ! Chatham CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. I 9 9 Mr. Pitt was a friend to the Colonies, and was opposed to taxing them without their consent. But while he was at home, confined by sickness, the scheme of taxation was revived, and a bill was introduced by Mr. Townsend, who was ■Chancellor of the Exchequer, imposing a. tax on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea imported into the colonies. During the absence of Mr. Pitt, the prime minister, the bill was passed by Parliament, and approved by the king, June 29th, 1767. Other bills also in relation to the Colonies were passed, one suspending the Legislative Assembly of New York from passing any act what- ever, until they were willing to furnish the king's troops with certain supplies, at the expense of the Colony. The excitement in all the Colonies was raised to the highest pitch by the pas- sage of these acts. The different col- onial Legislatures or Assemblies passed strong resolutions against them, and associations in favor of home manufac- tures were entered into by the people. By the writers of the day, the assumed authority of Parliament over the Colo- nies was denied. In February, 1768, the General Court of Massachusetts sent a circular to the other Colonies, asking their co-operation in obtaining a redress ■of grievances. The language of this •circular gave great offence to the British Ministry. The Governor of Massachu- setts was instructed to require the gen- eral court to rescind the resolution. They refused, and reaffirmed their opin- ions in stronger language. The royal governor then dissolved the Assembly, but not before they had preferred charges against him, and had petitioned the king for his removal. Soon after- wards tumults occurred in Boston, and troops were sent there to overawe the citizens. About seven hundred landed on the 1st of October, with all the parade usual on coming into an enemy's coun- try. The authorities of Boston were required to provide quarters for the sol- diers ; but they absolutely refused, and the governor ordered the State-House to be opened to them. As the soldiers passed through the streets, irritating language was used, both by them and the people ; the soldiers regarding the people as rebels, and the people looking on the soldiers as instruments of tyranny. In 1769 the British Parliament cen- sured the conduct of Massachusetts, approved the employment of force to put down the rebellious, and prayed the king to direct the Governor of Massa- chusetts to have the traitors arrested, and sent to England. The colonial Assemblies reasserted their rights, and denied the right of the king to take offenders out of the country for trial. In 1770 an affair occurred at Boston which increased the excitement in every part of the country. During a quarrel between a military squad and citizens, some soldiers fired upon the citizens, by which three were killed and several badly wounded. This riot, with its re- sults, is known as the " Boston Mas- sacre." The soldiers were tried for murder. Two were convicted of man- slaughter, the rest were acquitted. About the same time a bill was passed by Parliament repealing all the duties imposed by the act of 1767, except that on tea. This was the first measure of Lord North, just elevated to the Pre- miership, 1770. But the colonists were not satisfied, because the principle of taxation without representation was not abandoned. The non-importation asso- ciations, therefore, were still continued. In 1 77 1 serious disturbances occurred 200 HISTORY OT THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I., c. 26. in North Carolina. The spirit of resist- ance to unjust taxation was, perhaps, more thoroughly aroused there among the masses of the people than in any other Colony. A body of men was organized under the name of Regulators, to resist the payment of illegal taxes, and especially one levied for the purpose of erecting a new executive mansion for Tryon, the royal governor of the Col- ony. These difficulties resulted in an open field battle between the tax- payers and the royal forces, led by the governor himself, on the 16th of May of that year. The Royalists opened the fire, which was returned by the Reg- ulators. The engagement took place on a small stream known as Ala- mance. The insurgents, as this body of men organized to resist by arms the collection of the unjust taxes were called, were overcome by superior forces, and, their ammunition giving out, they aban- doned the field, leaving several of their comrades dead on the ground. This was the first colonial blood shed in resistance to British taxation against chartered rights. As these Regulators, so called, have been severely censured by many historians, we deem it but just to their memory to present, in a foot-note, their own purposes, objects and motives, as announced by themselves.* This organ- ■ We, the subscribers, do voluntarily agree to form ourselves into an association to assemble ourselves for conference for regulating public grievances and abuses of power, in the following particulars, with others of the like nature that may occur : I. That we will pay no more taxes until we are satisfied they are agreeable to law, and applied to the purpose therein mentioned, unless we cannot help it or are forced. II. That we will pay no officer any more fees than the law allows, unless we are obliged to it, and then show our dislike and bear an open te*imony against it. ill. That we will attend our meetings of confer- ization was formed in Orange countv. now Randolph, on the 22d of March, 1767, after the declaration that Parlia- ment had the right to bind the colonists in all cases whatsoever. In 1773 a bill was passed by Parlia- ment, allowing the East India Company to carry their tea into the Colonies free of duty, except the small duty to be paid in the port of entry. It was thought that the Colonists would pay this smalL tax of three pence per pound, as even then they would get tea cheaper' than the people of- England. But they would not pay it. At the ports of New York and Philadelphia, the vessels hav- ing the tea on board were not permitted to enter, and they were obliged to go back to England without landing. In Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was landed, and stored away in damp cellars, where it was quietly per- mitted to rot. In Wilmington, North Carolina, a number of men under the ence as often as we conveniently can, and is neces- sary, in order to consult our representatives of the amendment of such laws as may be found grievous or unnecessary, and to choose more suitable men than we have done heretofore for burgesses and vestry- men ; and to petition the House of Assembly, Gov- ernor, Council, King and Parliament, etc., for redress in such grievances as in the course of the under- taking may occur; and to inform one another, learn, know and enjoy all the privileges and liberties that are allowed and were settled upon us by our worthy ancestors, the founders of our present constitution, in order to preserve it on its ancient foundation, that it may stand firm and unshaken. IV. That we will contribute to collections for defraying neqessary expenses attending the work, according to our abilities. V. That in case of difference in judgment, we will submit to the judgment of the majority of our body. To all of which we solemnly swear, or being a Quakei . or otherwise scrupulous in conscience of the common oath, do solemnly affirm, that we will stand true ami faithful to this cause, till we bring things to a true regulation, according to the true intent and meaning hereof in the judgment of a majority of us. CAUSES LEADING TO THE HE VOLUTION. lead of Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe, and Hugh Waddell, in open day, and in defiance of all opposition, boarded a ship similarly laden, and publicly destroyed the tea. In Baltimore the ship Peo-™ Stewart, laden with the obnoxious arti- cle, was taken off in the harbor, and burnt, with her entire cargo. In Bos- ton, a party of men, disguised as Mo- hawk Indians, in open day, went on board the ships containing the tea, broke 201 finally reduced the tax on tea to a nom- inal amount, yet declared the right of the British Parliament to tax the Colo- nies in all cases whatsoever. In 1774 the port of Boston, for this outrage, so called, was closed, by act/ of Parliament, and the custom-house was removed to Salem. But the people of Marblehead offered the merchants of Boston their harbor, wharves, and ware- houses free of charge. The charter of THROWING THE TEA OVERBOARD IN BOSTON HARBOR open the chests and threw the tea over- board. The grievance of the people was not the amount of the tax on the tea, but the assertion in the preamble of the act, of the right of Parliament to im- pose it. Mr. Webster, in one of his speeches, I truly said that the American Revolution was fought on a preamble— on the pre- 1 amble of the act of Parliament, which ' j Massachusetts was then subverted by J act of Parliament, and the governor was j authorized to send criminals to another Colony or to England for trial. The Boston Port Bill caused an excitement amounting to a fury in that city as well as in all the Colonies. The Assembly of Virginia being in session, on receiv- ing the news of the passage of this Act, and sympathizing with the people of Boston, appointed the first day of June HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. 202 as a day of "fasting, humiliation and prayer." The royal governor immediately dissolved the House of Burgesses; whereupon the members resolved them- selves into a committee, and formed an association, and passed resolutions de- claring that the interests of all the Colonies were equally concerned, and advising the appointment of a local committee of correspondence to consult with the other Colonies on the expe- diency of holding a general Congress of all the Colonies, to devise means for Book I., a 25 powers conferred on their delegates in several of the Colonies : Virginia: "To consider of the most proper and effectual manner of so operat- ing on the commercial connection of the Colonies with the Mother Country, as to procure redress for the much-in- jured province of Massachusetts Bay, to secure British America from the ravage and ruin of arbitrary taxes, and speedily to procure the return of that harmony and union so beneficial to the whole empire, and so ardently desired by all British America." their common protection. The attack upon the chartered rights of Massachu- setts might be followed by a like attack upon those of all the other Colonies in turn. This was in May, 1774, a" d was the first step taken towards the meeting of the Congress that assembled in Phil- adelphia in September, 1774, and was the initiative step, as we shall see, which led to a separation from the Mother Country, and the assumption of sovereign powers by the Colonics represented. The object of the meeting of this Congress may be seen from some of the CARrENTKR'S HALL, PHILADELPHIA. Maryland: "To attend a General Congress to assist one general plan of conduct operating on the commercial connection of the Colonies with the Mother Country for the relief of Boston and the preservation of American lib- erty." South Carolina: "To consider the Acts lately passed, and bills depending in Parliament with regard to the port of Boston and Colony of Massachusetts Bay ; which Acts and Bills, in the pre- cedent and consequence, affect the whole Continent of America. Also the griev- CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. 203 ances, under which America labors, by- reason of the several acts of Parliament that impose taxes or duties for raising a revenue, and lay unnecessary re- straints and burdens on trade, etc." * On the 1st of August a convention of delegates from various counties of Vir- ginia met at Williamsburgh, and ap- pointed seven delegates to represent the Colony of Virginia in the General Con- gress to be held in September following. It was at this time that the cry was raised in Virginia, and went through all the Colonies, " The cause of Boston is the cause of us all ; " for all saw that if the British Parliament could close the port of Boston, and take away the charter of Massachusetts, they could do- the same with all, and there was no safety for the rights of any. The main- tenance of the sacred right of local self- government by each through joint co- operation, was the object aimed at by the call for a Congress of all the Colon- ies. The appeal of Virginia was re- sponded to by the Colonies generally, and on the 5th of September a conven- tion of delegates from twelve of the thirteen Colonies met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. They were repre- sented as follows : New Hampshire by John Sullivan, Nathaniel Folsom; Mas- sachusetts Bay by Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine; Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations by Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward; Connecticut by Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Samuel Johnson, Silas Deane; New York by James Duane, John Jay, Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Law, William Floyd; New Jersey by James Kinsey, William Livingston, John Dehart, Stephen Crane, * Upshur on the Nature of Federal Government, p. 31. Richard Smith ; Pennsylvania by Joseph Galloway, Samuel Rhodes, Thomas Mif- flin, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, George Ross, Edward Biddle; Dela- ware by Caesar Rodney, Thomas Mc- Kean, George Read; Maryland by Robert Goldsborough, William Paca, Matthew Tilghman, Samuel Chase; Vir- ginia by Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Har- rison, Edmund Pendleton; South Caro- lina by Henry Middleton, Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, Edward Rut- ledge; North Carolina by William Hooper, Joseph Hewes. Other delegates subsequently appeared and took part in the proceedings of the convention. Georgia, the youngest of the Colonies, was not represented in this body at this session. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was chosen president of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, of Pennsylvania, an Irishman by birth, secretary. The first thing settled by this body was the nature of its own character and organization. It was held to be a Congress of separate and distinct political bodies. In all de- liberations each Colony was to be con- sidered as equal, and each was to have an equal vote on all the questions coming before it, without regard to population or the number of delegates sent by the respective Colonies; for the object of all was the defence and preservation of what was claimed to be the inestimable right of each, that is, the absolute right of local self-government and freedom from unjust Parliamentary taxation. This was the substance of the instructions of the delegates. This Congress of the Colonies, so constituted and organized, made a 204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STAFFS— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 25- declaration of the indefeasible rights of all the Colonies. Among other things they passed the following resolutions: " Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British Parliament, claiming a power of right to bind the people of America, by statutes in all cases whatso- ever, hath, in some acts, expressly im- posed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising revenue, hath im- posed rates and duties payable in these Colonies, established a board of commis- sioners with unconstitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts of ad- miralty not only for collecting said duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a country; "And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges, who only before held estates at will in their offices, have been made dependent upon the crown alone for their salaries, and standing armies kept in times of peace; And whereas it has been lately resolved in Parliament, that by force of a statute made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Henry the Eighth, Colonists may be transported to England and tried there upon accusations for treason and mis- prisions, or concealments of treasons committed in the Colonies, and by a late statute such trials have been directed in cases therein mentioned. "And whereas, in the last session of Parliament three statutes were made; one entitled, 'An act to discontinue, in such manner and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and dis- charging, loading or shipping of goods, wares, and merchandise, at the town and within the harbor of Boston, in the prov- ince of Massachusetts Bay, in North America;' and another entitled, 'An act for the better regulating the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England;' and another entitled,. 'An act for the impartial administration of justice in the cases of persons questioned for any act done by them in the execu- tion of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults in the Province of .Mas- sachusetts Bay, in New England ; ' and another statute was then made ' For making more effectual provision for the government of the Province of Quebec, etc.' All which statutes are impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as unconstitu- tional and most dangerous and destruc- tive of American rights. "And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, contrary to the rights of the people, when they at- tempted to deliberate on grievances; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and reason- able petitions to the crown for redress have been repeatedly treated with con- tempt by his majesty's ministers of state: "The good people of the several Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachu- setts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Vir- ginia, North Carolina and South Caro- lina, justly alarmed at these arbitrary pro- ceedings of Parliament and administra- tion, have severally elected , constituted and appointed deputies to meet and sit in General Congress, in the city of Phila- delphia, in order to obtain such estab- lishment as that their religion, laws, and liberties may not be subverted. Where- upon the deputies so appointed being now assembled, in a full and free repre- sentation of these Colonies, taking into their most serious consideration the best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first place, as Englishmen, their ancestors, in like cases have usually CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. 205 done, for effecting their liberties, de- clare: " That the inhabitants of the English Colonies in North America, by the im- mutable laws of nature, the principles of the English Constitution and the several charters or compacts, have the following rights : "Resolved, 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty, and property, and they have never ceded to any sovereign power whatever a right to dispose of either without their consent. "Resolved, 2. That by such, they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but that they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them as their local and other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy. "Resolved, 3. That the foundation of English liberty, and of all free govern- ment, is a right in the people to partici- pate in their legislative council ; and as the English Colonies are not represented, and from their local and other circum- stances, cannot properly be represented in the British Parliament, they are en- titled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, when their right of repre- sentation can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has hereto- fore been used and accustomed. But, from the necessity of the case, and a re- gard to the mutual interest of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British Parliament as are bona fide restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commer- cial advantages of the whole empire by the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members ; ex- cluding every idea of taxation, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects in America without their con- sent. "Resolved, 4. That the respective Colonies are entitled to the common law of England, and more especially to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicinage, ac- cording to the course of that law. "Resolved, 5. That they are entitled to the benefit of such English statutes as existed at the time of their coloniza- tion ; and which they have, by expe- rience, respectively found to be applicable to their several local and other circum- stances. " Resolved, 6. That these, his majesty's Colonies, are likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted and confirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their several codes of pro- vincial laws. "Resolved, 7. That they have a right peaceably to assemble, consider their grievances, and petition the king ; and that all prosecutions, prohibitory procla- mations, and commitments for the same, are illegal. " Resolved, 8. That the keeping a standing army in these Colonies in time of peace, without the consent of the leg- islature of that Colony in which the army is kept, is against law. " Resolved, 9. It is indispensably ne- cessary to good government, and ren- dered essential by the English constitu- tion, that the constituted branches of the legislature be independent of each other; that, therefore, the exercise of legislative power in several Colonies, by a council appointed during the pleasure of the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous, HISTORY Of THE UNITED STATES^-COLONIAL. 206 • and destructive to the freedom of Amer- ican legislation." They, moreover, made several recom- mendations to the governments of the Colonies respectively, as to the proper course to be pursued. Amongst other things, they advised that there be no commercial intercourse with Great Bri- tain until the unjust and oppressive acts Book I.,c. 25 THE MINUTE-MAN. of Parliament were repealed, and then dissolved, on the 26th of October, with a recommendation to the Colonies to meet in Congress again, by deputies, on the 10th of May, 1775. In speaking of the papers issued by this Congress, Lord Chatham said in the British Parliament : "That though he had studied and ad- mired the free States of antiquity, the master-spirits of the world, yet for solid- ity of reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion, no body of men could stand in preference to this Con- gress." In the meantime important events were occurring elsewhere. In Massa- chusetts, General Gage, the governor, had convoked the General Court to as- semble at Salem on the 5th of October, but before the day appointed he issued a proclamation dissolving the Assembly. The members, however, met at Salem on the day appointed, and after waiting a day in vain for the governor to meet them, they resolved themselves into a Provincial Legislature, and adjourned to Concord. Appointing John Hancock President, and addressing a communica- tion to the governor, they adjourned to meet on the 17th at Cambridge. Here they appointed committees of safety and supplies ; voted the equipment of twelve thousand men, and the enlistment of one-fourth the militia or minute-men. Preparations of like character were made in the other Colonies. General Gage, who favored the main- tenance of the rights asserted by tin- British government as against those claimed by the colonists, fortified Boston Neck, seized the military stores at Cam- bridge and Charlestown, and conveyed them to Boston. Early in the year 1775, Lord Chatham introduced a bill in Parliament, which he hoped would bring about a reconcili- ation, but Parliament would listen to nothing but absolute submission on the part of the Colonies. Lord North, find- ing that the Boston Port Bill had failed of its purpose, introduced.what he called the New England Restraining Bill, which deprived the people of the priv- ilege, of fishing on the banks of New- foundland. Soon afterwards, learning (207) 208 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. 1 ii I . , c. 25 that the Colonial Assemblies had ap- Major Pitcairn demanded what they proved and determined to support the meant and where they were going. The resolutions of the Colonial Congress, he militia replied they were go.ng to Con- introduced a second restraining act, ap- cord. He then said, « Disperse, you nlicable to all the Colonies except New rebels, disperse." They d.d not obey York and North Carolina, which Parlia- him, but replied, " We have a right to go ment passed in March. These measures to Concord." He then fired his pistol at failed either to coerce or to divide, but them, and ordered his soldiers to fire, tended greatly to excite, inflame, and They immediately fired, and several of unite all. This was especially the case in the militia were killed, and the rest dis- Georcria. Many in this Colony who were ! persed. The first of those who Bill, in lukewarm before were now most zealous for resistance, as will hereafter appear. On the [St of April, 177 his dying agonies exclaimed : " I have a right to cro to Concord." The troops there were ' then went on to Concord, and destroyed m three thousand British troops in Boston. General Gage thought this force suffi- cient to keep down the rebellion, or to quell any sudden outbreak. On the night of the 1 8th of April, he secretly sent eight hundred men to destroy the military stores at Concord, sixteen miles from Boston. But, although he tried to be as secret as possible, yet his troops were met at Lexington, as early as five o'clock in the morning by about seventy militia, commanded by Captain Parker. The British troops were commanded .by Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn. >GA BY ETHAN ALLEN. a part of the stores. But the militia rapidly assembled, a skirmish ensued, and several were killed on both sides. The British soon retreated, but the Colo- nists pursued and kept up a constant fire. At Lexington the British were met by a reinforcement of nine hundred men. under Lord Percy. They then moved rapidly to Charlestown, and on the next day crossed to Boston. In this affair the British loss was about two hundred and seventy-five in killed, wounded, and missing. The Colonists lost nearly one hundred. Vh * erefore ' was to p™ 1 ^ their !L Bunker mi^Lj^S^^^ ^J" » appeal to arms. They also ^rnors compelled to flee from the Colonies-Steps d t0 ra ' Se f ° rCeS to the amount of •crnors compelled to flee from the Colonies-Steps ^^ t0 ^'^ f ° rCeS to tIle amount of «;!;;T ion : f Canada and *> ^^ twenty thousand men, and the means to . I support them, which were to be raised by the Colonies, upon an equitable basis between them respectively. Other active -- ™»«w« auu us, auandor ment-Fort.ficat.on by the Colonial army of the Isle a U No.x-General Montgomery surprises and captures Fort Montgomery-Ethan Allen captured 11 I" * En ^-Point aux Trembles attached and Montgomery killed-His successor - The . Co omal army retreats-British forces abandon Boston-Arrest of the royal Governor in Georgia bir Peter Porl^- . „. . & Sergeant Jasper-Parker abandons his ship-Its capture by the Carolinians - Recruits for the Colonial army measures of resistance were agreed upon On the 24th of May, Mr. Randolph be mg called away, John Hancock, of Mas- CQPhiicnffr. ... _ V t-. ._ 3ir Pe.er Parker appears' i„ CharW™ „Zr- , ' ""'* ^ "^"^ ° f ««" Sergeant Jasper-Parker abandons his s„ip_I ls M* C,1USe « s > Was chosen President of the Congress in his stead. One great ques- tion that engaged their attention was N the same dav thnr -r- I Wh ° Sh ° uId be p,aced at tlle h«d of the' the second Conere L o A r*, r , c <"™ander-in-chief. it is be- onies assembled I Phtd^ h° T \" "* "^ ° f J ° h " Adams - according th r «' P H" d thr ° Ugh the ma "agement of the , 4 "g to the recommenda- I Massachusetts delegation, though the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES-COLONIAL. Book 1 , c. 2lO .ctual nomination was made by Mr. I charge as Commander-in-Ch,e of the Wmon of Maryland. The election Colonial forces. The important fa t to was bv ballot and was unanimous.* He I be noted in this comm.ssmn ,s that ,t was Ts commi-oned in the name of the issued in the name o the Co.omes Unted Colonies, the name of each Col- separately, as stated. The extract ,s ,n heino set forth in the commission, these words: » The followmg ,s an exact Tl 7as on Mb of June. Only | transcript of Genera. Washmgtons JOHN HANCOCK. -We Colonies were then ^ J^^Jtl^ ^ dek F te l f :°™ G r:!',:,, *" Laryof Statc.at Washington. It varies in some minor particulars from the . . . _!jj „.->^ r-MlK- until some time afterwards, In Sparks's writings of Washington, vol. in., pp- 482-3. ^ g» ven a ful1 c °py of Washington's commission^ injakmg * Irving's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 41 3- one reported by the committee, and pub- lished in the journals of the old Con- gress : CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. 211 "Commission of George Washington as Commander- in-Chief of the army of the United Colonies: "In Congress: "The delegates of the United Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, "To George Washington, Esquire: " We, reposing especial trust and con- fidence in your patriotism, conduct and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be general and com- mander-in-chief of the army of the United Colonies, and of all the forces raised or to be raised by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their service, and join the said army for the defence of the American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof; and you are hereby vested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service. And we do hereby strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under your command to be obedient to your orders ; and diligent in the exercise of their several duties. And we do also enjoin and require you to be careful in executing the great trust re- posed in you, by causing strict discipline and order to be observed in the army, and that the soldiers are duly exercised and provided with all convenient neces- saries. And you are to regulate your conduct, in every respect by the rules and discipline of war (as herewith given you), and punctually to observe and fol- low such orders and directions — from time to time — as you shall receive from this or a future Congress of the said United Colonies, or a committee of Con- gress for that purpose appointed. This commission to continue in force until re- voked by this or a future Congress. " By order of the Congress, "John Hancock, President" "Attest : "Charles Thomson, Secretary. "Dated Philadelphia, June 19th, 1775." Washington accepted the appointment, but refused to receive any compensation, except to defray his actual and necessary expenses. Four Major-Generals, one Adjutant, and eight Brigadier Generals were also appointed. The four Major- Generals were Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler and Israel Putnam. The Adjutant-General was Horatio Gates. The Brigadiers were Seth Pomeroy, Rich- ard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene. On the 2 1st of June Washington set out for Cambridge to take charge of the Colonial army there, then amounting to about fifteen thousand men. His journey was on horseback. His military com- panions were Generals Lee and Schuyler, besides whom, as an escort, there was a "gentleman troop of Philadelphia, com- manded by Captain Markoe. The whole formed a brilliant cavalcade."* In the meantime all was astir south- ward as well as northward. Events of the greatest magnitude were occurring daily from the Altamaha to the St. Croix. The words of Patrick Henry " Give me liberty, or give me death " were caught up and repeated " on hill-top and in valley " from the lakes to the Atlan- tic. A constitutional convention met in Georgia, at Savannah, on the 4th of July, 1775. Every parish or county in the Colony was represented. A new form of government was adopted, and or- *Irving's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 442, 212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES+-COLON Ml.. Book I., c. 28 ganized by the election of Archibald Bullock as Governor, and George Walton, Secretary of State, with other proper officers, and delegates were appointed to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. While the Convention was in session, in- formation was received from friends in South Carolina that a British schooner, under the command of Captain Maitland, was entering the river near Tybee with a large amount of powder and other mili- tary stores. The Convention immediately resolved to capture her by a concerted arrangement with Carolina forces. The Carolinians had two small barges well manned. The Convention equipped a new schooner with about thirty men, and placed it in command of Captain Bowen and Joseph Habersham. With a well planned co-operation of forces and a bold stroke the enterprise was a tri- umphant success. Thirteen thousand pounds of powder were seized and se- cured. On division, nine thousand pounds were apportioned to Georgia and four thousand to South Carolina. Of the nine thousand awarded to Georgia, five thousand were sent to Philadelphia at the request of Congress. Its timely acquisition was of most efficient use to the Continental army in their cam- paign in Canada and in the siege of Boston. The only mishap attending the Colo- nists in the seizure of this powder, was the loss of Ebenezer Smith Plat, one of the most gallant of the Liberty Boys. He was taken prisoner and carried to England to be tried for treason ; but was afterwards exchanged as a prisoner of war. In setting forth the causes for which they took up arms, the Congress declared that they had " no wish to separate from the mother countiy.but to maintain their chartered rights;" and in" speaking of these chartered rights they said, " We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain and establishing Independent States. We fight not for glory or for conquest.* * * Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretched- ness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.* * * In our native land, and in defence of the freedom which is our birth-right, and which we have ever enjoyed till the late violation of it, for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our fore- fathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before." In South Carolina, the Provisional Leg- islature of that Colony, in an address to the governor, Lord William Campbell, declared: " Impressed with the greatest apprehension of instigated insurrections, and deeply affected by the commence- ment of hostilities by the British troops, against this continent, solely for the pres- ervation and in defence of our lives, lib- el ties, and properties, we have been im- pelled to associate and take up arms. We only desire the secure enjoyment of our invaluable rights, and we wish for nothing more ardently than a speedy reconciliation with our mother country, upon constitutional principles." As Washington was on his way from Philadelphia to Boston, the authorities CAUSES LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION. > of the city of New York paid him the I The crimes of these two men were cotf Provision, Congress tf^^^S L^K£ tZT^f' addressing him: "We have the fullest fortify Bunker Hil determ,ned to assurance that, whenever this important co^a! ^f ^ ^"/'"f contest shaH be decided by that fondest of Chariestown. B t by tistak'e The" w,sh of each American soul, you will detachment under Colonel Prel ff f cheerfuHy resign the important deposit tihed Breed, Hi,,, an ^ nea " Z committed into your hands and reassume the character of our worthiest citizen." To which General Washington said, in reply : "As to the fatal, but necessary city of Boston. The British ' were very much astonished, in the morning, to see a fort within cannon-shot, filled with armed men. This height commanded Sl^rr« - ■** - - «,• h z =t^ soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen, and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in that happy hour when the estab- lishment of American liberty on the most firm and solid foundations, shall a strong battery there could compel them to leave the place. They therefore de- termined to drive them from the height. About 12 o'clock, on the i;th of June, a force of three thousand men, "com- happy coZ™. * a ^ PeaCefU '' -4° Chariestown for the purpose of attack happy country Neither did Livingston, nor Wash- ington, nor any of the prominent leaders m the cause of the Colonists at that time look to anything but a redress of griev- ances, and with that, a restoration to peace, harmony, and prosperity. None were looking to a final separation and Independence. In the meantime, important events had been and were transpiring in other places. About the 25th of May, the British troops in Boston received rein- forcements, commanded by Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne. The whole British force now amounted to more than ten thousand men. General Gage, on the 12th of June, issued a proc- lamation declaring those in arms to be rebels and traitors. He offered pardon to all that would lay down their arms and quietly go about their business, ex- cep^Samuel Adams^nd John Hancock. *Irving's Life of Washington, vol" i, p. 45 o. ing the fort. They formed in two columns and advanced slowly. As the troops ad- vanced, General Gage ordered the village of Chariestown to be set on fire. The Colonists waited in silence until the British soldiers came within ten rods of the fort, when they opened such a deadly fire that the advancing column was broken, and fled. Their officers rallied them and led them a second time to the attack, but the fire was so severe that they were again driven back. At this moment General Clinton arrived with reinforcements, and a third assault was made, which proved successful. The Colonists retreated across Chariestown neck with no great loss, and fortified Prospect Hill, commanding the harbor of Boston. The British fortified Bunker Hill, but no further movements were made at that time by either army. The loss of the British in this battle was over a thousand killed and wounded ; that of the Colonists was about four hundred and 214 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c. 28 fifty. One young officer was killed who was greatly lamented, General Joseph Warren. This is known as the battle of Bunker Hill. In this battle fell the British officer, Major Pitcairn, who figured so conspic- uously at Lexington. Of him Cassell, an English writer, speaks as follows : "Of the numerous British officers knelt down by the side of the body ; ' I have lost my father ! ' The soldiers slackened fire for more than a minute. 1 We have all lost a father,' exclaimed many of them.* Such are the incidents which in some degree redeem the moral corruption and physical horror of war." Upon his arrival at Cambridge, Wash- ington found the army nothing but a ISAM 1.1'. OF I1WNK1. killed on that memorable day, not one was more sincerely lamented than Major Pitcairn. As he fell, his son, Lieutenant Pitcairn, was standing by his side. Their eyes met for a moment, but the wounded man, with a look of eager affection, expired without speaking a word. ' My father is killed,' cried the youth, as he- body of undisciplined militia, hastily collected, and destitute of tents, ammu- nition, and all regular supplies. His task was consequently very difficult. But with the assistance of those he called around him, he soon introduced order | and discipline, and in a short time was *See Casscll's Hist, of U. S., vol. ii.. p. 172. DEATH OF MAJOR PITCMRN. (215) 2l6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. lir /IjV'Cra*^ *Ja. ~Jtffr. SIGNATURES OF THE SIGNERS OF TH number, however, was not enough for the defence of the city, as it was necessary to have a line fifteen miles long. Great Britain, in the meantime, had made great preparation for the subjuga- tion of the Colonies. There had been ordered to America a large fleet of ships, with seventeen thousand German* sol- E DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. diers and twenty-five thousand English, well supplied with provisions and all mu- nitionsof war. Thepeopleof the Colonies, seeing that Great Britain showed no dis- position to yield her claims, instead of thinkingabout submission, began to think about sovereign independence, though when the difficulties first began that was not the object, as we have seen SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 225 CHAPTER XXVII. (1775). SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY THE SOVEREIGN POWER AS STATES ASSUMED BY THE COLONIES. Mecklenburg declaration, 20th of May, 1775 — In- structions of Colonies to their delegates in Congress for their Independence — Maryland's instructions — Richard Henry Lee's Resolutions for Confederation and Independence — Two committees raised : one for Declaration of Independence, and one for Con- federation — Declaration in the name of Thirteen United States of America — Synopsis of the provis- ions of the Articles of Confederation — Mutual dele- gations of power by each severally, to all jointly — The first Constitution of the United States — Its ratification by the States severally and respect- ively. 'HE manner in which the remon strances of the Colonies were received and treated by the king and Parliament, as well as the formidable forces raised and sent out to reduce them to submission, extinguished all hopes they had pre- viously entertained of an ultimate recon- ciliation upon the basis of right and jus- tice. The feeling was now becoming gene- ral and almost universal for independence. North Carolina was ahead of all her sister States on the subject of independ- ence. On the 20th of May, 1775, the day after receiving the news of the battle at Lexington, a convention of delegates from the several captains' companies of the militia of Mecklenburg county as- sembled in Charlotte, and passed resolu- tions in which they threw off all alle- giance to the British crown, and declared North Carolina to be a sovereign and independent State. These famous reso- lutions were as follows: 44 1st. Resolved, That whosoever di- rectly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form, or manner, countenanced the un- chartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an, enemy to this county, to America, and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man. " 2d. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, and abjure all politi- cal connection, contract, or association,, with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington. " 3d. Resolved, That we do hereby de- clare ourselves a free and independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the genera' government of the Congress ; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other our mu- tual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor. "4th. Resolved, That as we now ac- knowledge the existence and control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this country, we do hereby ordain and adopt as a rule of life, all, each and every of our former laws ; wherein, never- theless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, priv- ileges, immunities, or authority therein. " 5th. Resolved, That it is further de. creed, that all, each and every military officer in this county is hereby reinstated in his former command and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And that every member present, of this delegation, shall henceforth be a civil 224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I.,c "J7 officer, viz., a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a 'Committee-man} to issue process, hear and determine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws, and to preserve peace, union, and harmony in said county; — and to use every exertion to spread love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a more general and organized I ination in which he denounced the Mecklenburg resolutions as the most I treasonable proceeding that had taken I place on the continent. On the 31st of the same month was organized at Charlotte a regular form of government announced ten days before in a series of resolutions, amounting to twenty in number.* In pursuance of these pro- AUTOGRAPHS OF THE SIGNERS OF THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. -government be established in this prov* ince.* " Her last royal governor, Josiah Martin, was immediately afterwards com- pelled, by the people of Wilmington, and the lower waters of the Cape Fear, to flee for safety on board His Majesty's .ship of war, whence he issued a procla- *Address of William A. Graham, at Charlotte, N. : C, 4th day of February, 1875, pp. 105-162. ceedings a Provincial Congress of the State, as it was called, assembled at Hillsboro, on the 20th of August, 1775. This body recognized the abdica- tion of the governor, made an effectual organization of the militia for the public defence, and the maintenance of the authorities of the State. In the autumn of the same year this Provisional * Moore's Hist, of N. C, vol. i., p. 190. SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY. Legislative Assembly raised and sent an •expedition under Colonel (afterwards General) Howe, to the aid of Norfolk and lower Virginia, against the machin- ations of Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of that Colony, which in con- j unction with the Virginia troops there, defeated his lordship's army in the battle of the Great Bridge, on the North Carolina frontier, and forced him to seek protection on board a man-of-war in the harbor of Norfolk. The Congress of the Colonies at Philadelphia continued in session, awaiting events, and acting under the authority of their delegated powers in •providing for the general defence. In January, 1776, Massachusetts instructed her delegates to vote for independence. South Carolina gave similar instructions to her delegates in March. Georgia and North Carolina did the same in April. In May, General Washington wrote from the head of the army at New York : ""A reconciliation with Great Britain is impossible. * * When I took command ■of the army, I abhorred the idea of independence ; but I am now fully satis- fied that nothing else will save us." In the same month Virginia instructed her delegates in Congress to vote for independence. New Hampshire, New Jersey and Maryland followed in giving similar instructions to their delegates, early in June. Pennsylvania and New York delayed action, still indulging hopes of an adjustment of the con- troversy. The general instructions of the Col- onies to their delegates were to re- nounce all allegiance to the British crown, and to form a Confederation among themselves as Independent States. Those of Maryland were in the following words : 15 225; " We, the delegates of Maryland, in convention assembled, do declare that the King of Great Britain has violated his compact with this people, and that they owe no allegiance to him. We have, therefore, thought it just and necessary to empower our deputies ^in Congress to join with a majority of the United Colonies in declaring them free and Independent States, in framing such further Confederation between them, in making foreign alliances, and in adopting such other measures as shall be judged necessary for the preservation of their liberties : "Provided, the sole and exclusive right of internal polity and government." The instruction of all the other Col- onies, except New Hampshire, was of like import. The instructions from New Hampshire to her delegates were, after renouncing allegiance to Great Britain, to unite with the other Colonies in form- ing one Republic* On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, moved a resolution in Congress : " That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and Independent States. * * And that a plan of Confederation be pre- pared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation." This resolution was adopted on -the nth of June. Two committees were appointed under it, one to prepare a Declaration of Independence, and the other to prepare Articles of Union or Confederation. The committee appointed to prepare the Declaration of Independ- ence were, Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia; John Adams, of Massachusetts; Benja- min Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Roger * Bancroft, vol. viii., p. 438. Also Stephens's Con- stitutional View, War between the States, vol. i., p. 69. 226 J/JS10RY OF THE I'.XITED STATES— COLONIAL. Book I Sherman, of Connecticut; and Robert R. Livingston, of New York. On the 24th of June, 1776, in antici- pation of the Declaration of Independ- ence then being prepared, the Congress declared, by resolutions, "That all per- sons abiding within any of the United Colonies, and deriving protection from the same, owed allegiance to the said laws, and were members of such Colony; and that all persons passing through, or making temporary stay in any of the Colonies, being entitled to the protection of the laws during the time of such passage, visitation, or temporary stay, owed, during the same, allegiance thereto." The committee on the Declaration of Independence reported on the 28th of June, the very day on which was achieved the great victory over Sir Peter Parker, at Charleston, South Carolina, the news of which, however, did not reach them for some time after; but action in Con- gress was deferred on the Declaration for some days, until the delegates from Pennsylvania and New York should re- ceive their instructions and powers to vote for it. This celebrated paper was drawn up by Mr. Jefferson, the chairman of the committee. It came up for final action on the 4th day of Jul)', when it received the unanimous vote, not only of all the Colonies, but of all the delegates in Con- gress. It was voted upon by Colonies, as separate and distinct political bodies. After reciting the wrongs of the Colo- nies, and the breaches of faith on the part of the British crown towards them, it concluded in the following words: " We, therefore, the representatives of the United States, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of all the world fur the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and de- clare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and Indepen- dent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and,, that, as free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, con- clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of a Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." All the delegates present from all the Colonies signed the Declaration thus made.Vhich was entitled, "The unani- mous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America."* It was immediately proclaimed from the hall in which Congress met, in Phila- delphia, known ever since as " Independ- ence Hall." Its announcement was re- ceived with great joy everywhere and attended, in many places, by the ringing of bells and the kindling of bonfires. The Committee on Confederation re- ported articles of union, on the 12th of July, eight days after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. f The provisions of these articles may be divided into two classes, the first consisting of mutual covenants between the States; and the second, of mutual delegations of power by each of the States severally to all jointly. The title of these articles was in these words: "Articles of Confederation and perpetual * See Appendix A. f See Appendix B. SEPARATION FROM THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 227 Union between the States of New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia." The mutual covenants, on proper analy- sis, may be set forth in substance as follows : 1 st. The style of the Confederacy was to be " The United States of America." 2d. Each State retained its sover- eignty, freedom and independence, and every power and right which is not ex- pressly delegated to the United States. 3d. The object of the Confederation was for their mutual defence, the secu- rity of their liberties, and mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sover- eignty, trade, or any other pretence what- ever. 4th. In determining all questions in Congress each State was to have one vote. 5th. Each State was to maintain its own delegates. 6th. The free inhabitants of each State — paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted — were to be en- titled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States. 7th. All fugitives from justice from one State into another were to be deliv- ered up on demand. 8th. Full faith and credit w&re to be given to the records of each State in all the others. 9th. Congress was to grant no title of nobility. 10th. No person holding any office was to receive a present from a foreign power. nth. No State was to form any agree- ment or alliance with a foreign power without the consent of the States in Congress assembled. 1 2th. No two or more States were to form any alliance between themselves without the consent of the States in Con- gress assembled. 13th. No State, without the like con- sent of Congress, was to keep war-ships or an army in time of peace ; but each was to keep a well-organized and disci- plined militia, with munitions of war. 14th. No State was to lay any duty upon foreign imports which would inter- fere with any treaty made by Congress. 15th. No State was to issue letters of marque, or to engage in war, without the consent of the Congress, unless actually invaded or menaced with invasion. 1 6th. When Federal land-forces were raised, each State was to raise the quota required by Congress, arm and equip them at the expense of all the States, and to appoint all officers of and under the rank of colonel. 17th. Each State was to levy and raise the quota of tax required by Con- gress for Federal purposes, upon the basis of the value of their lands. 1 8th. The faith of all the States was pledged to pay all the bills of credit emitted, or money borrowed on their joint account by Congress. 19th. It was agreed and covenanted that Canada might accede to the Union so formed if she chose to do so. 20th (and lastly). Each State was to abide by the determination of all the States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by the Confederation, were submitted to them. The Articles of Confederation were to be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union was to be perpetual. No article of the 228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES— COLONIAL - Confederation was to be altered without the consent of every State. The delegations of power by each of the States to all the States, in General Congress assembled, upon a like analysis, may be stated as follows : ist. The sole and exclusive power to determine on war and peace, except in case a State should be invaded or menaced with invasion. 2d. To send and receive ambassadors. 3d. To make treaties with a proviso, etc. 4th. To establish rules for captures. 5th. To grant letters of marque and reprisal. 6th. To appoint courts for trial of piracies and other crimes specified. 7th. To decide questions of dispute between two or more States, in a pre- scribed manner. 8th. The sole and exclusive power to coin money and regulate the value. 9th. To fix a standard of weights and measures. 10th. To regulate trade with the In- dian tribes. 1 ith. To establish post-offices. 1 2th. To appoint all officers of the mi- litia land forces, when called out by Congress, except regimental. 13th. To appoint all officers of the Federal naval forces. 14th. To make rules and regulations for the government of land and naval forces. 15th. To appropriate and apply public money for public expenses, the common defence, and general welfare. 16th. To borrow money and emit bills of credit. 17th. To build and equip a navy. 1 8th. To agree upon the number of land forces, and make requisitions upon the States for their quotas, in proportion to the value of all land in each State. The foregoing powers were delegated with this limitation : the war power, the treaty power, the power to coin money, the power to regulate the value thereof, the power of fixing the quotas of money to be raised by the States, the power to emit bills of credit, the power to borrow money, the power to appropriate money, the power to regulate the number of land and naval forces, and the power to ap- point a commander-in-chief of the army as well as the navy, were never to be exercised unless nine of the States were assenting to the same. These articles form the original basis and first Constitution of the existing Federal States of the United States of America.* After being agreed upon by the States voting as States through their delegates in Congress, they were also submitted to the State governments respectively for their adoption and ratification. The Congress, in the meantime, went on in the exercise of the powers thereby con- ferred. As early as 1777, all the State governments had ratified them, except Maryland. It was not until 1781 that she gave her full assent to them. This closes the history of the Colo- nies, separately and collectively, and closes the First Book of our work, in the beginning of the seven years' conflict of arms known as the " War of the Rev- olution." In the Second Book, which follows, we shall continue the history of the same Peoples during that war, and their subse- quent career under the name and char- acter, now assumed, of " The United States of America." *Curtis's Hist, of the Constitution, vol. i., p. 53. Stephens's Review of the Constitution, War between the States, p. 74. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 22Q BOOK II. -FEDERAL. CHAPTER I. THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATES. (July, 1776 — January, 1778.) The Great Seal of the United States— The British General Howe on Staten Island with 9,000 men — Admiral Howe with reinforcements — General Clin- ton with additional reinforcements — Aggregate British force, 30,000 — Washington's army less than half this number — Howe's attempt at concili- ation — His letter to Washington — Washington re- fuses to receive it — Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson's interview with Washington — Attempts at concilia- tion failing, Howe determines to push the war — Battle of Long Island — Defeat of the patriots- Generals Sullivan and Stirling taken prisoners — Washington's successful withdrawal of army from Brooklyn — Adventure of Captain Nathan Hale — Ex- ecuted as a spy — His treatment and 1 ist words — Fort Washington — White Plains — British attack and carry Fort Washington— Washington's retreat across New Jersey — Lord Cornwallis in pursuit — Congress adjourns to Baltimore — General Charles Lee taken prisoner — Sullivan exchanged — Takes his place — Washington's great victory at Trenton — Movement on Princeton — General Mercer killed — Congress returns to Philadelphia — Marquis de Lafayette — General Tryon in Connecticut — Death of General Wooster — Major Barton's capture of General Pres- cott — A sword and colonel's commission voted him by Congress — Flag of the United States adopted — General Burgoyne gives a war-feast to the Indians — Attacks Ticonderoga — Generals Lin- coln, Arnold and Morgan — Miss Jane McCrea — Battle of Bennington — General Gates — Burgoyne's defeat — Battle of Brandywine — Lafayette wounded — Count Pulaski — Congress retreats to York, Penn- sylvania — Battle of Germantown — Battles at Red Bank — British defeated — Forts Mifflin and Mercar taken by the British— British take winter-quarters in Philadelphia, and Washington at Valley Forge. E now enter upon the History of the States united in a Federal Union. They had all joined, as we have seen, in a common cause for the maintenance of a separate sovereign right of local self- government on the part of each. For the maintenance of this right they had taken up arms. We proceed, therefore, first, with the bloody conflict already commenced, and which attended the achievement of this great object. One of the first things that occupied their attention after the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence was the preparation of a device for a Great Seal of the Confederation, under their articles of Union to be formed. This was assigned to a committee, consisting of Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and Mr. Jefferson. The seal as finally adopted has never been changed since. The articles of confederation were reported, as we have seen, on the 12th of July. In the meantime, on the 8th of July, the British General Howe landed on Staten island, near New York, nine thousand men ; and a few days after- wards Admiral Howe arrived with rein- forcements from England. General Clinton also soon after arrived ; so the whole British forces now in the States amounted to about thirty thousand men. To oppose these forces, which were provided with every necessary to make effective soldiers, Washington had a badly-clothed and badly-equipped army of hardly half their number. General Howe had been instructed to make an attempt at conciliation. Ac- cordingly, soon after his arrival, he offered pardon to all who would swear allegiance to the king. The Congress caused General Howe's proclamation to be published in all the newspapers of the country, so that the people might see the extent of the submission re- 230 HISTORY 01- THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II., d quired of them. General Howe also Howe and General Howe were only to wrote to Washington, but directed his grant pardon ; that those who had corn- letter to George Washington, Esq. mitted no faults wanted no pardons ; Washington declined to receive it. The that we were only defending what we address of the letter was then changed, deemed our indisputable rights." Col- " To George Washington, &c, &c, &c." onel Paterson said " that would open a Washington still declined to notice it very wide field of argument," and so the upon the ground that he would not , matter ended. receive any communication from the I General Howe now determined to British general not directed to him as push the war. Accordingly, on the 22d Commander of the Armies of the United of August, General Clinton crossed over States. On the 2 1st of July, Lieutenant- to the southwest point of Long Island, Colonel Patterson, adjutant of General with ten thousand men and forty cannon. Howe, obtained a personal interview The forces of the United States, in and with General Washington, on the subject about Brooklyn, consisted of about nine of exchange of prisoners, and during the I thousand men, under command of Gen- OBVERSE. SEAL O? THE UNITED STATES. REVERSE. , interview brought up the subject of reconciliation. He stated that General Howe and Lord Howe, by " the benevo- lence of the king," had been appointed " commissioners to accommodate this unhappy dispute;" that "they had great powers, and would derive the greatest pleasure from effecting an accommoda- tion." Colonel Patterson, moreover, "wished to have his visit considered as making the first advance to this great object." General Washington replied that he was vested with no power on the subject ; " but, from what had ap- pear / THE UN HEP STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II. would perhaps have been successful, if his orders had been promptly executed ; but as they were not, nothing was effected by it. Soon after, the British made an attack upon part of Washington's forces, stationed at Red Bank, on the east side of the Delaware. In this, the British ; were defeated, with the loss of General Donot, who commanded the movement, i Forts Mifflin and Mercer, a short dis- tance below Philadelphia, on opposite sides of the river, were then both at- tacked by the enemy, on the 22d of Oc- l winter. Washington encamped at Val- ley Forge, in rude huts. Here he was daily compelled, through a long and vigorous season, to witness sufferings that he could not relieve, and to hear murmurs and complaints it was impossi- ble to still. But his exertions to save his country never relaxed. Calumny did its worst. His enemies spared no efforts to supplant him, to have him re- moved from the chief command, and to put General Gates in his place. But their malicious efforts failed, and they THE BATTLE OK GERMANTOWN— CHEW'S HOUSE. tob x. After a series of assaults, Fort Mifflin was captured, the garrison retiring to Fort Mercer ; but in a few days, beintr pressed by the enemy, this fort was also abandoned, and the Delaware was thus opened to the British shipping. Soon afterwards, Washington advanced to White Marsh, where the British General Howe frequently tried to draw him into a general engagement, but failed. On the approach of winter the British retired to Philadelphia, where, sur- rounded by plenty and all the comforts of life, they passed the cold season of finally received the deserved contempt of the army and of the people. Major General Thomas Conway, of tin- United States army, was supposed to be at the* head of this intrigue. lie was ,i partisan of Gates, and for unjust asper- sions against Washington, was challenged by General John Cadwalader. Conway accepted. The duel was fought. Conway was severely wounded, and leftthecountry never to return. He subsequently joined the French army, became a count, a field- marshal, and Governor of the French Indies. He died about 1800. WAR OE THE REVOLUTION. 24 3 RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA. CHAPTER II. war of the revolution — Continued. (1778— 1779) Commissioners sent from Great Britain with propo- sals for reconciliation — These rejected except upon conditions — Treaty with France — Count D'Es- taing — Clinton moves from Philadelphia towards New York — Battle of Monmouth — Harsh words of Washington to Charles Lee — Winter quarters at Middlebrook, N. J. — D'Estaing on coast of Virginia — Wyoming massacre — Cherry Valley massacre — Movement against Savannah under Colonel Campbell and Admiral Parker — Savannah taken — Attack on Port Royal — Colonel Boyd moves from Ninety-Six to Wilkes county, Georgia, with regiment — Met by Colonel Pickens and Lieu- tenant-Colonel E. Clarke, commanding militia — Battle of Kettle Creek — Boyd mortally wounded — His command routed — Generosity of Pickens — General Ashe defeated on Brier Creek by General Prevost — Affair at Stony Ferry — General Tryon in Connecticut — General Putnam's memorable exploit — Marauding expedition in Virginia — General Clinton on the Hudson — Capture of Stony Point and Verplanck's Point — General Anthony Wayne recaptures Stony Point— Major Henry Lee's achievement at Paulus Hook— General Sullivan at Elm ira— Brilliant victory — Count D'Estaing with his fleet near Savannah — General Lincoln in con- cert lays siege to that city — Great battle in which Count Pulaski and Sergeant Jasper fall — Siege raised — Lincoln moves his forces to Charleston — Paul Jones's brilliant exploit at sea — Close of opera- tions of 1779 — Coldest winter ever known in America — Renewed preparations in England for campaign of 1 780. OON after the defeat and sur- render of Burgoyne, commis- sioners were sent from Great Britain to America to see if the questions of differences could not be settled in a friendly manner with- out a separation of the Colonies from the mother country. But their proposals were rejected by Congress, who refused to treat unless Great Britain should first withdraw her armies, or acknowledge the independence of the United States. About this time the cheering intelligence was received that France had acknowl- edged the independence of the several 244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II., c. 2 thirteen States at war with England, and had entered into a treaty with them under their articles of confederation. The treaty was signed on the 6th day of February, 1778. The commissioners on the part of the United States were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and contest. A French fleet, under Count D'Estaing, was sent over to blockade the British fleet in the Delaware, while Washington operated by land in New Jersey. But Lord Howe, being informed of what was transpiring, before the ar- rival of the French fleet, sailed for New SIR HENRY CLINTON. Arthur Lee. Congress ratified the York, at which place all the British treaty on the 4th of May following, forces were ordered to concentrate. The making of this treaty was considered by Great Britain as a declaration of war On the 1 8th of June, General Clinton, in command of the British land-forces. on the part of France against her; the began his march from Philadelphia to two nations immediately prepared for the New York. His force consisted of about WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 245 eleven thousand men, with a large amount of baggage and provisions. Washington, with the main body of his army, followed cautiously. At the same time he sent forward detachments to operate with the Jersey militia in haras- sing the enemy and retarding his pro- gress. He was anxious to bring on a general engagement; but forebore to do so in opposition to the views of his officers, as expressed in a council of war. When, however, the British army had arrived at Monmouth,Washington,unwill- ing; for them to reach the heights of Middletown without a battle, ordered General Charles Lee (who . had been ex- changed for General Prescott) to attack their rear. ^>' ; On the morning of the 28th, Lafayette, with his light horse, attacked a body of the enemy, but was forced to retire be- fore their superior num- bers. Lee, surprised by the sudden onset of the enemy, ordered his troops to fall back, to the end, as he maintained afterwards, that he might obtain a more ad- vantageous position. Part of his men, misunderstanding the order, continued to retreat; Lee followed the retreating column, hotly pursued by the enemy. Washington came up at this moment, and seeing the disastrous retreat of Gen- eral Lee, rebuked him in a sharp and cutting manner. Some writers blame General Lee very much for this whole affair, alleging that he entirely deserved the severe reproaches of Washington. Whether he really deserved them or not (with his subsequent explanations) it is yet true, that after the arrival of Washington on the ground, the troops were soon rallied; order was restored, and as the main body of the army came up the battle became general, and was continued until night. The victory was not decisive either way, but the Americans kept possession of the field. They expected to renew the battle in the morning; but General Clinton quietly withdrew during the GENERAL CHARLES LEE. night, moving on towards New York. The total loss of the British in this battle was about five hundred; that of the United States, about two hundred and thirty. General Lee, angry at the reproaches of Washington, sent to him the next day a disrespectful and insulting communica- tion. Washington immediately had him arrested for disobedience of orders and 24 6 HISTORY OF JI/E U WJ TED S for improper conduct in the presence of the enemy. He was tried by court- martial; the sentence of the court was that he be suspended from his command for one year. This eccentric genius and soldier of fortune was a native of Dem- hall, Cheshire, England. He had served, not without credit, in the British army in Portugal, under Burgoyne. He after- wards won distinction in the army of Poland. He entered the Russian service against the Turks and became notorious as a duellist. When the dispute arose betu een England and the Colonies, he offered his services to the latter, and was one of the five major-generals appointed by Congress in 1775. He never returned to the army after his suspension, but died in Philadelphia in 1782, in the fifty- second year of his age. After the battle of Monmouth the British proceeded without molestation to Sandy Hook, whence they were con- veyed on the fleet to New York. Wash- ington took position at White Plains, where he remained until he went into winter quarters at Middlebrook, in New Jersey. In July the French fleet, under Count D'Estaing, appeared off the coast of Virginia. Measures being concerted for the siege of Newport, in Rhode Island, D'Estaing entered that harbor early in August. Soon after operations began, a British fleet approached. D'Estaing went out to meet the enemy; but a terri- ble storm arose, which prevented an en- gagement and damaged both fleets con- siderably. The French returned to Newport; and the British sailed U>v New York. Meantime General Sullivan, with the land-forces, had begun the siege, con- fidently expecting the co-operation of the French fleet. In this he was disap- pointed. TATES IN FEDERAL UA/JON. Book II., t Against the urgent entreaties of La- fayette and Greene, D'Estaing soon sailed for Boston, for the purpose of re- fitting his vessels, thereby compelling Sullivan to abandon the siege. On his J retreat, he came near being cut off by General Clinton, who had arrived on the 31st of August, with four thousand men and a light squadron, for the relief of Newport. In this year occurred the melancholy massacre of Wyoming in Pennsylvania, which has become so celebrated in song and story. Early in the summer this lovely valley was invaded by a party of about fifteen hundred Iroquois Indians and Tories,* led by Colonel John Butler. On the 3d of July Colonel Zebulon Butler, with about four hundred men and boys, advanced to meet the invading party. He was defeated and lost nearly the whole of his men, killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. The next day the fort of Wyoming was laid siege to by the Indians and Tories. It was surren- dered on condition that the survivors should be allowed to go to their homes in safety and security. This guaranty was at once perfidiously broken. No sooner was the fort thrown open, and its occupants scattered on the way to their several homes, than the work of treachery and butchery began. v was the appellation given to all dial class of colonists throughout tin- States who sided in sym- pathy and action with the mother country in the struggle then going on. Those who were devoted to tlie cause of independence bore ilie name of Whig. These were the characteristic party name, in England at the time. Those in that country who sustained the Crown and Lord North's administration, or were the adherents of power, in the main, were known as To- ries; while those under the lead of Chatham and other liberals were known as Whigs. The origin of these names in the mother country, or from what they at first arose, i- not well settled in history. Let thU ex- planation he kept in mind by the reader as he meets i wi'h these terms m the progress of this work. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION: 247 At night the Indians and Tories spread themselves over the valley; burned the houses of the inhabitants, and slaugh- tered, without mercy, men, women, and children. Very few, only, escaped the dreadful massacre. The tortures in- flicted on the unfortunate victims were cruel in the extreme. One, a Captain Bidlack, was thrown alive on burning coals and kept there with pitchforks until he died. Six others were placed near a stone on the river bank, and held by six savages, while queen Esther, an -old Indian woman, walked around them in a circle singing their death-song, and striking them on the head with a club until death came to their relief. The desolation of Wyoming was as complete as its destruction was cruel. In November a like scene was enacted in Cherry Valley, New York. Brant, a noted Mohawk chief, at the head of a band of Indians and Tories, suddenly entered the valley, and killed and carried off most of the in- habitants. There seemed to be a malignant rivalry between the Indians and Tories, as .to which could excel in deeds of ferocious bloodthirstiness and butchery. With these events, or soon thereafter, active operations by large armies closed in the northern and middle sections of the country. The scene now shifts to the South ; and, until the termination of the war, the principal military movements were con- fined to that theatre of operation. In November, 1778, General Clinton sent Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, with two thousand men, and a fleet under Admiral Hyde Parker, against Savannah, an Georgia. That place was held by General Robert Howe, with about nine hundred United States troops. An en- gagement ensued, in which the British forces succeeded in taking possession of the place ; the United States forces crossed over into South Carolina. The whole of the lower part of Eastern Georgia was thereafter overrun, and left to the mercy of the British and Tories. This conquest of Savannah and conse- quent inroad into Georgia were the only advantages gained by the enemy during the year. Indeed, after two years of fighting at the North, the British had, in fact, accom- plished nothing ; and the positions of the opposing armies were, at the close SUKRKNDI K OF SAVANNAH. of 1778, almost the same as in the begin- ning of 1777. In the beginning of the year 1779 the British forces in the South consisted of about three thousand effective men, under the command of General Prevost. General Lincoln, a brave and skilful officer, had at this time the command of the United States army in this section; but his forces were inferior in number to the British, and composed chiefly of militia. The first attempt of the British general was the conquest of South Caro- lina and the upper part of Georgia, on the Savannah river. He sent a body of regulars to take possession of Port Royal island ; but they were met by General 248 HISTORY OF TIJL UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II., c. 2 Moultrie and driven back with severe loss. Soon afterwards Colonel Boyd, an English officer, who commanded a regi- ment of loyalists, or Tories, at a place known as Ninety-Six, in the upper part of South Carolina, was ordered to join the British army near the city of Sa- vannah. He crossed over into Georgia, intending to take Augusta in his route ; but was confronted by Colonel Andrew Pickens and Lieutenant-Colonel Elijah Clarke, commanding Carolina and Geor- GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN. gia militia, respectively, and defeated, in a battle fought the 14th of February, on Kettle Creek, in Wilkes county, Georgia. Colonel Boyd received a mortal wound in the action. After the fighting was over, Colonel Sickens went to him, and tendered him ;my service which his situation autho- rized or required. Boyd thanked him for the generous kindness, and inquired as to the result of the battle. Upon being informed that it was against him, he said it would have been otherwise if he had not fallen. He then requested Colonel Pickens, as he had but a feu- hours to live, to leave two men with him to furnish him water, and to bury his body; also, to write to his wife in England apprising her of his fate ; and with the letter to send her a few articles he had about his person. He died very soon afterwards. Colonel Pickens, with chivalry characteristic of the soldier and gentleman, complied faithfully with his request. Seventy of Boyd's regiment were taken prisoners, quite a number were left dead on the field,. while the remainder of his com- mand was utterly routed. Pick- ens and Clarke also encoun- tered and defeated several othei squads of the enemy, on both sides of the river. Clarke was the great Georgia partisan leader. General Lincoln, being en- couraged by these successes, sent General Ashe to take po- sition at the mouth of Brier creek, which empties into the Savannah river, on the Georgia side, some distance above the H& city of Savannah. His force *^ " was about two thousand strong. On the 3d of March he was surprised by General Prevost, and de- feated, with the loss of nearly the whole of his army. By this defeat of General Ashe, the subjugation of Georgia, below Augusta, was made complete for the time being. The United States loss by this affair was very heavy ; but, by the middle of April, General Lincoln was again able to take the field at the head of five thousand men. With these troops he began his march up the Savannah river, intending to enter Georgia at Augusta. But the WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 2 49 < march of Prevost upon the city of Charleston, before which he appeared on the nth of May, compelled Lincoln to abandon this enterprise and hasten back to oppose the British general. On Lincoln's approach Prevost raised the siege and retired. On the 20th of June, the Carolinians attacked a British force at Stono Ferry, ten miles west of Charleston, but were defeated, with considerable loss. Shortly afterwards the British established a post at Beaufort, in South Carolina, the main body returning to Savan- nah. The weather now being very hot, and the season unhealthy, active operations were suspended by both armies until Octo- ber. During this year the British forces at the north were chiefly employed in marauding expeditions. In February, Governor Tryon, commanding a body of about fifteen hundred men, destroyed the salt works at Horse Neck, in Connecti- cut, and plundered the town. It was at this place that General Putnam made his marvellous and heroic escape from the enemy by riding down a steep precipice, over which they dared not follow. In May the enemy made an expedi- tion into Virginia, in which they de- stroyed public and private property to a vast amount in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and all the neighboring country. General Clinton himself conducted an expedition up the Hudson from the city of New York. On the 31st of May he captured Stony Point; on June 1st, Verplanck's Point; and made the garrison prisoners of war. He then left garrisons of British troops in both forts. In July Governor Tryon burnt East Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, plundered New Haven, and' desolated the coasts of Connecticut gen- erally. But all this time the United States forces at the north were not entirely idle or inactive. About the middle of July was performed one of the most brilliant achievements of the whole war. It was CKNKRAL ISRAKI. PUTNAM. the recapture, by General Anthony Wayne, of Stony Point, on the Hudson. On the evening of the 15th he arrived with his command, near the fort, without having been perceived by the enemy. At midnight on the night of the 15th, with unloaded muskets and fixed bay- onets, they rushed up the height on which the fort was situated, scaled the walls, and in a few minutes were masters of the place. The British loss was about six hun- dred killed, wounded, and prisoners;. 2 5 u HISTORY Of THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Bo,kII..c.2 the loss of Wayne did not exceed one returning from the West Indies, appeared hundred. He deemed it best, however, near Savannah with his fleet. Soon not to try to hold the fort, and there- afterwards, General Lincoln, in concert fore retired after destroying it. with the French, laid siege to Savannah. On the 19th of July Major Henry Lee After continuing the siege a month, they surprised a British garrison at Paulus made an assault upon the enemy's works, Hook. Thirty were killed and one hun- but were repulsed with great slaughter, dred and sixty were made prisoners. In losing nearly a thousand men, killed and August General Sullivan, with near five wounded. Count Pulaski, the noble Pole, thousand men, was sent against the In- was mortally wounded. This distin- dians in Pennsylvania and New York, guished patriot, after the battle of the He proceeded up the Susquehanna river, Brandywine (see ante, p. 241), acted an and on the 29th of August found a force' important part in the battle of Ger- mantown as Brigadier-General. Subsequently resigning that po- sition, he formed at Valley- Forge an independent corps of light-horse and infantry, called " Pulaski's Legion," offi- cered chiefly by foreigners en- listed in the cause of the United States. In February, 1779, he moved southward, and reached Charleston in May ; then proceeded to Savannah to co-operate with Count D'Es- taing in the siege of that city. Here he was given the com- mand of the French and Amer- ican cavalry. After being mor- tally wounded in the charge of the 9th of October, he was carried on board the United GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE. •of Indians and Tories strongly posted at States brig Wasp, where, it is reported, Elmira. Here a battle was fought, in he died on the nth, two days aftcr- which the Indians were so completely wards, and was buried in the sea.* A defeated that they gave up all thoughts monument to his memory was erected of further war. General Sullivan laid by the citizens of Savannah, the corner- waste the Indian country to the Genesee river, which empties into Lake Ontario, - ven miles from Rochester, New York. i his was a terrible blow to the Iroquois, from which they never recovered. Let us now return to the south. On the 9th of September, Count D'Estaing, stone of which was laid by Lafayette in : 3- The brave Sergeant Jasper, the hero of Fort Moultrie, was also mortally wounded in the intrepid assault upon 1 :hades C. Jones, Jr., on Siege of Savauaaii, •779- WAR OF TUK REVOLUTION. Spring Hill redoubt. He received his death-wound while fastening to the parapet the battle-rent standard which had been presented to his regiment by Mrs. Elliot. Never relaxing his grasp, he bore the colors to a place of safety before death palsied as heroic an arm as ever fought beneath a plume. His last words were: "Tell Mrs. Elliot I lost my 251 the siege was raised ; the French re- turned home ; Lincoln, withdrawing into South Carolina, moved his army to Charleston. On the 23d of September of this year j occurred near the coast of Scotland a ! very severe and bloody naval combat between some United States vessels com- i manded by Paul Jones, and two English JOHN PAUL JONES. life supporting the colors she presented to our regiment."* General Lincoln wished to renew the attack; but the refusal of Count D'Es- taing to co-operate compelled him to abandon the purpose. The next day *For fuller particulars, sec Siege of Savannah, by Charles C. Jones, Jr. ships of war that were conducting a fleet of merchantmen. At half-past seven o'clock p. m., the battle began by the at- tack of Jones's ship, the Bon Homme Richard, carrying forty guns, upon the Scrapis, a British frigate of forty-four guns, commanded by Captain Pearson. Jones moved his ship close to the side 252 HISTORY UT THE UM JED STATES J A FEDERAL UAJON. Book II. c S of the British vessel, and fastened them together. In this position they fought for two hours, neither having any thought of surrender. Both vessels took fire, and when Jones' ship was almost at the point of sinking, the American frigate Alliance came up, and by mistake in the dark, discharged a broadside into the Richard. The mis- take being discovered directly, she fell with great fury upon the Serapis, which soon surrendered. Jones immediately took possession of the English vessel, and had scarcely time to do so before his own sank. The other English frigate was also captured. Out of three hundred and seventy- five men on board the Bon Homme Richard, three hundred' were cither killed or wounded. Such terrible loss shows the desperate nature of the conflict — without parallel, perhaps, in the history of naval engagements. With these events the military opera- tions of the year 1779 closed. The hopes of the people founded upon the alliance with France had not been real- ized. The schemes of co-operation had in crreat measure failed, and general de- fa ' o spondency prevailed. Exultation had almost given place to despair, and uni- versal gloom, like a pall, seemed to settle over the country. The winter was the severest ever ex- perienced on the continent. All the Atlantic harbors were frozen over as far south as Virginia. Long Island Sound was congealed to a solid highway. The snow was four feet deep for three months. The army was badly clothed and suffered immensely. Its numbers were also ex- tremely reduced. There was no money in the treasury, and the credit of the country was so low that it was impossible to borrow. But Great Britain seemed to be stronger than ever. Though Spain had declared war against her, yet her re- sources seemed equal to the emergency, and she determined on still greater efforts for the conquest of the Colonies. For the year 1780, Parliament deter- mined to enlist eighty-five thousand seamen and thirty-five thousand land troops, in addition to those already in service. They voted also a sum amount- ing to one hundred million of dollars for the same year. CHAPTER III. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION Continual. (17S0.) The fall of Charleston — General Lincoln and the whole Southern army prisoners of war — 19th and 20th of May " the dark days" — Colonel Daven- port in the Connecticut legislature — Battle of Cam- den — Defeat of Gates — The death of Baron De Kail) — Sumter, Marion, and Pickens, of South Carolina, and Clarke, of Georgia — Battle of Fish- ing Creek — Cornwallis at Charlotte, North Caro- lina — Battle of King's Mountain — Defeat of the British — Sumter's victory at Fish-Dam Ferry — Known as " Game-Cock " — Francis Marion, the " Swamp- Fox " — French fleet at Newport, Rhode Island, by Count De Rochambeau — Treason of Benedict Arnold — Major Andre detected anil exe- cuted as a spy — War declared by England against Holland — Large preparations made by England for operations by sea and land for 17S1. ((q S soon as Sir Henry Clinton heard that Count D'Estaing had left the American coast, he deter- mined on the conquest of South Carolina; and, with this object, sailed from New York with a large land and naval force, under convoy of Ad- miral Arbuthnot. He landed at John's island, thirty miles below Charleston, on the nth day of February, 1780. At that time the State was badly provided for defence ; there was little or no money ; the Indians and Tories on the borders WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 253 and in the interior excited continuous .alarm and commotion ; Lincoln's army was a mere handful. When Clinton landed, Lincoln's first impulse was to abandon the city and retire into the interior, but learning- that the British general was preparing for a regular siege, and being urged by the inhabitants to remain, he determined to risk a siege, relying upon the arrival of reinforcements, which had been promised him. The reinforcements never arrived, and at a time when his army ought to have numbered ten thousand men, it did not exceed the third of that number. Clinton invested the city on the 29th of March, and on the 9th of April the fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, favored by a strong wind, passed Fort Moultrie, with little damage, and anchored in Charles- ton harbor, within cannon-shot of the •city. The siege lasted about eight weeks. In that time the city was completely sur- rounded, without hope of succor, either by land or sea. A corps which had as- sembled at Monk's Corner, under com- mand of General Huger, for the relief of the city, had been surprised, defeated and dispersed by a detachment of fourteen hundred men, under Webster, Tarleton, and Ferguson ; so that there now being no hope of relief, Fort Moultrie was sur- rendered on the 6th of May, and Charles- ton on the 1 2th. General Lincoln and the whole army under his command at this place became prisoners of war. To .add to the gloom which this disaster cast upon the country, there occurred a few days afterwards a most remarkable natural phenomenon, which filled the minds of the timid and superstitious with great apprehension and alarm. It was what was long known as the -dark days. About ten o'clock- on the 19th of May, the heavens became dark- ened by a dense vapor or smoke, of a yellow color. It was so dark that lights had to be kindled in the houses for all business purposes, and domestic fowls in farm-yards went to roost. The Legisla- ture of Connecticut was in session at the time, and the House adjourned in con- sequence of the darkness. It was the opinion of some that the day of judg- ment was at hand. A motion was also made in the council to adjourn. Colonel Davenport, a bold leader of the patriot cause, opposed it, saying: "The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I desire to be found doing my duty. I move, there- fore, that candles may be brought, and we go on with the business." This strange and extraordinary phe- nomenon continued all the next day; but the unusual vapor, or whatever it was, passed off on the night of the 20th , the firmament, after that, was as bright as ever. Hope again revived in the breasts of the desponding. After the fall of Charleston, Clinton, to extend his conquests, sent out three detachments into the interior; one, urtder Lord Cornwallis, toward Camden; one, under Colonel Cruger, toward Ninety- Six, and one, under Colonel Brown, to Augusta, Georgia. This was the famous Thomas Brown, who as an uncompromising royalist had been driven with great indignity from Augusta some years before. On this assigned duty he succeeded in taking possession of this place without much resistance. Soon after, General Elijah Clarke, with a considerable militia force, attempted to dislodge him by a regular siege, but having no artillery was com- pelled to abandon the enterprise. Next 2 D 4 HISTORY Oh THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION Book II ca year, however, with the combined forces I of Colonel Lee of Virginia, and Pickens of South Carolina, and the Georgia militia under Clarke, the siege was re- newed. This Colonel Lee was known as "Light-Horse Harry" in the war of the revolution. Of his distinguished, amount of munitions of war. The latter were of great advantage to the patriots. So odious had Brown become among the advocates of the patriot cause for his reported extreme harshness and cruelty, that Colonel Lee, the senior in command, to secure his safety, put him LORD rORNWAl.I IS. son, Robert E. Lee, much will be said hereafter. Several desperate battles were fought. Great military skill was dis- played on both sides; but on the 5th of June, Brown was compelled to surrender. under a special guard to Savannah, where he was sent. It was apprehended that he w.ould be slain on the way by young Mackay, whose brother, it was said, Brov/n had most unjustly and cruelly The garrison consisted of upwards of j executed, or others who had similar three hundred men, besides a large i causes of personal ill-will to him. It WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 25S seems from the history of the times that no man was ever more odious to any people than Brown was to the Georgians and Carolinians. It is but just to his memory, however, to say that after the war, he made a publication in reply to the charges set forth in Dr. Ramsay's history which does much to relieve him from the atrocities attributed to him by his adversaries during what was literally a most desperate civil war at the time between Whigs and Tories. But to return: a truce was also pro- claimed by Cornwallis and Cruger in South Carolina, and a pardon offered to all who would take British protection. Great numbers accepted the terms, and the country appeared so quiet that Clin- ton, thinking the subjugation complete, sailed for New York, leaving Cornwallis in command. At this time they might have accomplished their object, if those in authority had adopted a more con- ciliatory policy. Instead of conciliating, the British general pursued the opposite course; and the Whigs, who, in despair, had yielded for a moment, were soon roused to resistance by the cruel exactions of the British. They flocked to the standard of Sumter, Marion, Pickens, of South Carolina, and Clarke, of Georgia, who began a partisan warfare, which finally resulted, as we shall see, in the expul- sion of the invaders from the State. At this time, also, another event occurred which for a while revived the hopes of the people. This was the appointment of General Gates to the command of the Southern army. While Sumter on the Catawba; Marion, in the swamps of the Peedee; Pickens, on the Saluda, and Clarke, on the Savannah, were keeping the Tories in check, Gates was approach- ing with a strong army from the North. The most brilliant hopes are often most suddenly blasted; so they were now. Gates, blinded by his great suc- cess at Saratoga, disregarding the warn- ings and suggestions of his officers,, pushed rapidly on, confident of victory. On his approach, the British General, Lord Rawdon, concentrated his strength at Camden, where he was joined, August 13th, by Lord Cornwallis, from Charles- ton. On the night of the 15th, Gates set out from his camp at Clermont, about ten miles north of Camden, with the purpose of surprising the enemy's camp. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HENRY LEE. Cornwallis and Rawdon left Camden about the same hour, intending to sur- prise Gates. The vanguards of the two armies soon met, when some skirmishing took place. On the morning of August 16th there was a general engagement. Gates was defeated with heavy loss. At the first onset the Virginia and Carolina militia began to waver, when the British charged with fixed bayonets and put them to flight. The regulars stood their ground bravely; in fact, soldiers never behaved better ; but, being abandoned 2>G J//STOKY OE THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. BooKlI.,c,a by the militia, they were at length over- powered, and driven from the field. Gates, with the remnant of his army, retired to Hillsboro, North Carolina. His loss in this battle was about one thousand, killed, wounded, and pris- oners; besides all his artillery, ammuni- tion, and supplies. Among the slain was the brave Baron De Kalb.* The British loss was only a little over three .hundred. men on the Peedee. Lord Cornwallis, in order to secure the submission of the inhabitants, thought it necessary to ad< »pt severe measures. He gave orders to hang every militia-man who, once having served with the British, had after- wards joined the cause of the States. Those who had once submitted and then revolted were imprisoned, and their property either taken from them or de- stroyed. But these severe measures Soon after Gates' defeat, Sumter vvas| failed to accomplish the intended object. They rather increased and intensified in the breasts of the people a spirit of resist- ance which only wanted op- portunity to burst forth. After the battle of Cam- den, Cornwallis proceeded to Charlotte, North Caro- lina. He sent Tarleton to operate east of the Catawba river, and Major Ferguson to embody the Tories among the mountains of North and South Carolina. Ferguson crossed Broad river, at the Cherokee ford, on the 1st of October. A considerable number of Tories joined him, and with a body of about fifteen hundred men he encamped on King's general francis marion. mountain. The atrocities he surprised at Fishing Creek, by Colonel ! committed soon roused the Whigs to ac- Tarleton, August 1 8th, and defeated with considerable loss. For a time immedi- ately succeeding these disastrous events, there wyre very few Whigs in arms in South Carolina, except Marion and his *This eminent patriot and officer (Baron John De Kalb) was born in Bavaria, (Germany, 29th June, 1721 ; and afier having served with distinction in the French army, came to the United States with La- fayette in 1777, ami was soon afterwards appointed major-general in the United States army by Con- gress. He served with great anility under General tion; and on the 7th of October, under the leadership of Colonels Campbell, Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier, and Williams, they attacked him with great fury. The Whig forces consisted chiefly of Caro- lina and Georgia militia. Washington until the spring of 1780, when he was sent south in the command under General Gates. His loss was greatly lamented throughout the country; his memory has been honored by his name being given to many counties and places in the United States. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 257 The defence was very obstinate; but after a desperate engagement Ferguson himself was slain, and his army, after a loss of three hundred killed and wounded, was entirely routed. Eight hundred prisoners were taken, and about fifteen hundred stand of arms. The Carolinians and Georgians lost about twenty killed. After the battle, ten of the Tories, who had been notorious for their cruelty to the Whigs, were hung. Sumter did not remain idle after his defeat at Fishing Creek. He soon col- lected a band of volunteers, with whom he continued to harass the enemy. His activity and energy were so great that he well deserved the title of " Game- Cock," which was given to him. On the : 2th of November he was attacked at the Fishdam Ferry, on Broad river, by a detachment of the enemy, commanded by Major Wemys. The British were defeated, and Major Wemys was taken Drisoner. On the 20th he was again attacked at Blackstocks, in Chester dis- trict, South Carolina, by Colonel Tarle- ton, the most active, energetic, and dan- gerous of all the British partisan officers of the time. Again Sumter's star was in the ascendant. Tarleton was obliged to retreat severely worsted, leaving Sum- ter in possession of the field. Early in December afterwards, an en- gagement took place between the Whigs and Tories on Long Cane near Ninety-Six, which resulted disastrously to the patriot cause, and which was of sufficient im- portance to be noticed. Colonel Ben- jamin Few, of Georgia, was the senior officer in command of the Whigs — com- posed of Georgia and South Carolina militia. Colonel Cruger, the British officer in command at Ninety-Six, with a greatly superior force, determined to attack Few in his camp by surprise. His 17 forces were within three miles of Few's camp before the latter was aware of then- approach. Colonel Clarke, Lieutenant Colonel McCall, and Major John Lind- say, with one hundred men, were ordered out to meet and skirmish with the enemy until the main body of Few's forces could be brought to their assist- ance. In this skirmish, Clarke received a wound in the shoulder which was thought to be mortal, and was carried from the field. McCall was wounded in the arm, and his horse being killed under him, .narrowly made his escape. Major Lindsay lost his sword-hand by a sabre cut j.»;st at the wrist-joint. The advance or skirmishing party were routed, with fourteen killed and seven, chiefly officers, wounded. Colonel Few. then acting as brigadier-general, re- treated with the balance of his force:, without further loss.* General Francis Marion, who gained the title of "Swamp Fox," distinguished himself greatly in the partisan warfare of this period. He did much service by keeping the Tories in check, and by cutting off straggling parties of the enemy. On many occasions he came upon them in their encampments sud- denly, and routed their assembling re- cruits in terror and dismay. He bore with unflinching fortitude and hope the reverses of the darkest period of the war. and infused into his brigade a spiri, *See McCall's History of Ga., 350. This wai Colonel Elijah Clarke, so famous afterwards in Geor gia. Major Lindsay became more noted afterwards as Colonel of the Georgia militia. In this position he rendered most efficient aid to the patriot cause. He had a silver plate put over the end of his wrist, and from that time was known as "Silver Fist." He was of Scotch-Irish descent; and left sons and daughters from whom numerous descendants of great respectability are scattered over the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. f2 5 8) WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 2 59 which was willing to bear all things and to suffer all, but never to surrender. We must now take a brief glance at some events that occurred at the North during this year. On the 7th of June five thousand men, under General Kny- phausen, invaded New Jersey, and plun- dered the country, but withdrew on the advance of United States forces from Morristown. On the 10th of July a At this dark and gloomy period there was found one man, Benedict Arnold, a major-general in the United States army, weak enough and base enough to offer to betray his country. He had been distinguished for his bravery and good conduct, and had been appointed by Congress commandant at Philadelphia, on the evacuation of that post by the British. He became haughty and arro- BENEDICT ARNOLD. French fleet arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, having on board five thousand men, commanded by Count Rocham- beau ; but so greatly reduced were the resources of Washington, that he had neither men nor supplies sufficient to enable him to co-operate with the French. For this reason active operations were mostly suspended for the remainder of the season. gant, lived very extravagantly, and hav- ing squandered his own fortune by gambling, he appropriated the public funds to his private use. For this mis- conduct he was tried by court-martial, and having been convicted, was repri- manded by Washington. Dissembling his feelings of revenge, he afterwards obtained command of the important for- tress of West Point, which he then pi j 2(5o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II. c. a vately engaged to deliver into the hands of the enemy for ten thousand pounds sterling and a commission of brigadier- general in the British army. Sir Henry Clinton agreed to his prop- osition, and sent Major Andre, a young officer of great merit, to see him. On his return to the British camp, Major Andre was stopped, September 23d, by J three New York militia-men — John , could not be suppressed from the obser- vations of the company. He ordered a horse to be in immediate readiness for him. He had a few words of conference with Mrs. Arnold in her private chamber- She swooned with the announcement he made to her. Arnold called the lieu- tenant who had brought him the letter from Andre and requested him to look- after the condition of his wife, while he MAJOR ANDRE. Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wert. They searched him, and found in his boots papers containing evidences of the treason. They carried him to Colonel Jameson, their command- ing officer, who incautiously permitted him to write to the traitor at West Point. Arnold was sitting at breakfast when a lieutenant from Jameson handed him the letter from Andre. His emotions mounted the lieutenant's horse which was still standing at the door, and gal- loped with all possible speed to the banks of the river. There he took his barge and immediately went on board the Vulture, a British ship-of-war, then lying in the river, and so made his escape. He afterwards received the reward promised him, the gold and the commis- sion of brigadier-general in the British WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 26l army, in which capacity he fought against his countrymen. But he lived contemned and despised by his new friends as much as he did hated by his old ones. He died in England in the vear 1801; obscure, unnoticed, unloved, unhonored. Major Andre was tried by court-martial, by order of Washington. He denied none of the charges alleged against him; but upon his own confes- sion, he was adjudged to be a spy, and condemned to be hung. He died re- gretted by both friends and foes. On the 20th of December of this year England declared war against Holland. The Hollanders had been giving encour- agement and protection to the United States privateers, and had also actually begun to negotiate a treaty with Con- gress; when England, making the dis- covery, at once declared war. Jt would seem that by this time Great Britain might be considered as having her hands full. It was certainly no child's play to carry on war at once with the United States, France, Spain, and Holland. But as yet Great Britain showed no sign or indication of having any disposition to yield. On the contrary, Lord North, the head of the Tory ministry, asked for and obtained large amounts of money for the coming year, and also great armaments to operate both by land and sea. CHAPTER IV. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED. THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE THIRTEEN STATES SEVERALLY AC- KNOWLEDGED. (1781-1783.) Sufferings of Washington's army — Meeting of the Pennsylvania line — Their patriotic course — Relief provided by Congress — Patriotism of Robert Mor- rls — Arnold, the traitor, in Virginia — General Phillips on the Chesapeake — General Greene in command of the southern army — Adroit move- ments of Greene — Battle of Cowpens — Victory of the patriots — Anecdote of Tarleton and Mrs Willie Jones — Movements of Corn wallis — Greene's safe retreat— Battle of Guilford, without decided results — Movements of Lord Rawdon in South Carolina — Capture of Fort Watson by the partisan chieftains — Battle of Eutaw Springs — Up-country of South Carolina abandoned by the British — Great outrage of Lord Rawdon in the execution of Hayne — Movements of Lord Cornwallis — Marquis de La- fayette — Cornwallis at Yorktown — Washington's quick movements from the north — Cornwallis be- sieged at Yorktown — Co-operation of French fleet — Surrender of Cornwallis, 19th October — War virtually at an end — The effect in England and United States — Lord North compelled to retire from the lead of the British ministry — Negotia- tions for peace at Paris entered into — ProviMonal treaty, 1782 — Final treaty, 3d September, 1783 — Remarks on the provisional treaty — John Adams, first minister — Oglethorpe the first nobleman to call on him. HE distresses of Washington's army had become so great that on the 1st of January, 1781, the whole Pennsylvania line of troops, numbering thirteen hun- dred, left their camp at Morristown, de- termined to seek directly from Congress a redress of grievances. They were met at Princeton, New Jersey, by emissaries from Sir Henry Clinton, who tried to in- duce them to enter the British service. They seized the emissaries and delivered them to General Wayne to be treated as spies. A committee from Congress and one also from the Pennsylvania authori- ties met them at Trenton, and induced them to return to the service after a short furlough. They were offered a reward for seizing the British agents, but refused it, saying that they desired no reward for doing their duty. The Congress consummated as promptly as possible the measures of relief in which they had been engaged for some time. Taxes were levied, and money and clothing obtained from Europe. Robert Morris, who was 262 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. B i k II. c. 4 placed at the head of the treasury de- partment of the government, freely used his own money and credit to furnish supplies. Being very wealthy, he was able to do a great deal. In January of this year, the traitor Arnold, now a brigadier in the British army, invaded Virginia, and did an im- mense deal of mischief along the coasts He destroyed a large amount of property, GENERAL NATHANIEL GREENE. both public and private, in the neighbor- hood of Richmond, and finally made his headquarters at Portsmouth, which he fortified. While he was at his head- quarters, Washington laid a plan to capture him. Lafayette, with a consid- erable force, was sent into Virginia, while the French fleet was to co-operate with him. But the British fleet attacked that of the French, and compelled it to return to Rhode Island. So the plan failed, and Arnold escaped. On the 25th of March the British General Phillips arrived in the Chesa- peake with two thousand men. He joined Arnold, took command of their united forces, and, having but little op- position, laid waste the country exten- sively. After the battle of Camden, in which Gates was so badly defeated, Congress appointed General Greene commander of the southern army in his place. Greene took command at Char- lotte, North Carolina, De- cember 3d, 1780, and al- though his army was only about two thousand strong, yet he despatched General Morgan with one division to the relief of the district about Ninety-Six, which was then held by the British, and overrun by the Tories. He himself took post at Chcraw, South Carolina. This placed Cornwallis, who had re- turned to South Carolina after Ferguson's defeat at King's Mountain, between the two divisions of Greene's army. As he was about to march into North Caro- lina, and not being willing to leave Morgan in his rear, he sent Tarleton against him, with instructions to push him. Morgan retreated to the Cowpens, in Spartanburg District, where a battle ensued between him and Tarleton, in which the latter was defeated, with the loss of three hundred killed and wounded, five hundred prisoners, and a large quan- tity of ammunition and stores. Tarleton himself narrowly escaped being captured by Colonel William Washington, who pursued him very closely, and wounded WAR OF 7 HE REVOLUTION. 263 him slightly in the hand with his sword. Colonel Washington might? have shot him, but he did not want to kill him ; his object was to take him prisoner. An amusing story is told of Tarleton, in this connection. Some time after the battle, he remarked to a witty Carolina lady, Mrs. Willie Jones, " I have been told that Colonel Washington is very :jlliterate, and can scarcely write his name." "Ah, Colonel," replied the lady, " at least he can make Ids mark!' Tarleton said he would like very much to see Colonel Washington. A sister of Mrs. Jones instantly replied, "Had you looked behind you at the battle of Cowpens, Colonel, you might have had that pleas- ure!" Tarleton bit his lip and said no more about Colonel Wash- ington in that company. After Tarleton's defeat, Lord Cornwallis hastened to meet Gen- eral Morgan, hoping to intercept and defeat him before he could cross the Catawba. In this he failed. Morgan crossed in safety, but only two hours later Cornwallis appeared on the opposite bank. It was then near night, and Cornwallis en- camped, having no doubt of being N >v - able to overtake Morgan in the morning. Heavy rains in the night raised the river so that it was impossible to cross for two days, during which time Morgan continued his retreat in safety. On the 31st of January, General Greene, having left the main body of his army on the Peedee, arrived and took command of Morgan's division. He continued the retreat, still followed by Cornwallis. Greene reached and crossed the Yadkin river, but so closely pursued by the British that his forces were attacked in the rear, and compelled to abandon part of their baggage. Cornwallis again encamped with only a river between him and the retreating army ; and again a sudden rise in the river prevented his crossing. General Greene proceeded to Guilford Court-House, where he was joined by the main body of his army the 7th of February. He still felt too weak to face Cornwallis, and continued his retreat towards Virginia, closely pursued. On the 15th of February he had just succeeded in crossing the river Dan, in GENERAL DANIEL MORGAN. Virginia, when Cornwallis appeared on the opposite bank. At this point his lordship gave up the pursuit, and, turn- ing to the south, established himself at Hillsboro, North Carolina. General Greene, having received rein forcements, so that his army nov.- amounted to nearly five thousand men, and feeling himself strong enough to oppose Lord Cornwallis, marched back into North Carolina, and sought an engagement. The armies met near 264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IX FEDERAL UNION. BookII..c.< Guilford Court-Housc on the 25 th of March. A battle ensued, and after a severe contest, General Greene was obliged to fall back several miles. Corn- wallis kept possession of the field of battle, and that was all. He derived no further benefit from the victory. Greene's loss in killed and wounded was about four hundred. The loss of the British v/as fully equal, and perhaps greater. Mr. Benton, in his " Thirty Years' View," in a sketch of Mr. Macon, makes the following very appropriate allusion to the battle of Guilford, and its results : "The philosophy of history has not yet laid hold of the battle of Guilford, its consequences and effects. That battle made the capture at Yorktown. The U \ 1 CLE OF THE COWPENS. events are told in every history; their connection and dependence in none. It broke up the plan of Cornwallis in the South, and changed the plan of Wash- ington in the North. Cornwallis was to subdue the Southern States, and was doing it until Greene turned upon him at Guilford. Washington was occupied with Sir Henry Clinton, then in New York, with 12,000 British troops. lie had formed the heroic design to capture Clinton and his army (the French fleet co-operating) in that city, and thereby -utting an end to the war. All his preparations were going on for that grand consummation when he got the news of the battle of Guilford, the retreat of Cornwallis to Wilmington, his inability to keep the field in the South, and his return northward through the lower part of Virginia. He saw his advantage — an easierprey — and the same result, if successful. Cornwallis or Clinton, either of them captured, would put an end to the war. Washington changed his plan, deceived Clinton,, moved rapidly upon the weaker general, captured him and his 7,000 men, and ended the revolutionary war. The battle of Guilford put that capture into Washington's hands, and thus Guilford and Yorktown became connected ; and the philosophy of history shows their dependence, and that the lesser event was father to the greater. The State of North Carolina gave General Greene 25,000 acres of western land for that day's work, now worth a million of dollars; but the day itself has not yet obtained its proper place in American history." A frw days after this battle Cornwallis moved to Wilming- ton, North Carolina, pursued as far as Deep river by Greene, who then discontinued the pursuit and marched into South Carolina. After entering South Carolina he changed his position several times, but finally en- camped on Hobkirk's Hill, near Raw- don's post at Camden. Lord Rawdon attacked him on the 25th of April. Victory, for some time, inclined to the side of Greene ; at last, however, a vigorous charge of the enemy decided the contest, and Greene was forced to retreat. The loss on both sides was nearly equal. On the 10th of May Lord Rawdon left Camden, and retired beyond the WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 26: Santee. Hearing that Fort Watson had been captured by the Carolina partisan chieftains, and that Forts Mott, Granby and Orangeburg would probably soon fall, he retreated to Eutaw Springs. By the 5th of June, the British held in the Carolinas but the three posts of Ninety- Six, Eutaw Springs and Charleston. After Lord Rawdon retreated from Camden, General Greene proceeded to Ninety-Six by way of Granby. Ninety- Six was a place of great natural strength, and was also strongly fortified. General Greene besieged it for about four weeks, when learning that Rawdon was ap- proaching with reinforcements, an assault was determined upon. On the 1 8th of June the assault was made, but the assailants were beaten off with heavy loss, and were compelled to raise the siege and retire. Rawdon pursued for a while, but find- ing pursuit vain, he desisted from further efforts to overtake Greene and took position at Orangeburg, where he in turn was pursued by Greene. At Or- angeburg, Colonel Stewart joined the British with reinforcements from Charles- ton. The enemy being now too strong for Greene to make an attack with any hope of success, he withdrew and retired beyond the Santee, to pass the sickly season in a healthier region of country. Lord Rawdon soon after left Colonel Stewart in command. Early in September General Greene again advanced upon the enemy, then commanded by Colonel Stewart. Stew- art retreated to Eutaw Springs. On the morning of September 8th a battle began. At first Greene was completely successful, and drove the British from the field; but they rallied, and, after a contest of four hours, he was compelled to retreat. During the night the British withdrew, and soon afterwards retired to- Charleston. Shortly after this the Brit- ish entirely abandoned all the up-coun- try. About this time Lord Rawdon, com- mandine the British forces at Charleston AN AMERICAN RIFLEMAN. committed a great outrage upon the usages of civilized warfare, which, while it was intended to overawe the people, only tended to intensify their determina- tion to resist to the last. The outrage- 266 HISTORY 01 THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL CM ON. BookI1.,c« was this : On the surrender of Charles- ton, in May, 1780, Isaac Hayne, who was fighting in the line as a private soldier, though he was a man of dis- tinction in the State, fell into the hands of the British, as a prisoner of war, and was with others discharged on subscrib- ing a declaration of allegiance to the king. This he and others did on the condition that they should not be re- quired to take up arms against their country. But Lord Rawdon now place in the Carolinas or Georgia, except Charleston and Savannah, and to these they were closely confined. With these events the campaign of 1 781, and, in- deed, the active operations of the war, closed in the Carolinas. To return to Lord Cornwallis. He left Wilmington on the 25th of April, and marched northward, proposing to conquer Virginia. About the last of May he reached Petersburg, where- he considerably increased the strength of SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS. ordered him, and others in his position, his army by adding to it the forces stationed at that place. Virginia, at that time, was defended by the Marquis de Lafayette, whose army consisted of only about three thousand men, mostly militia. Lafayette would not risk an engagement, feeling himself too weak to cope with his adversary. Cornwallis, taking advantage of his weakness, over- ran the country, and destroyed a great to join the British army. Hayne made his escape, and joined the Carolina forces. Soon after he was taken pris- oner again, and was ordered t<> be hung, which sentence was carried into execu- tion on the 4th of An- ust. This caused, .is it was well calculated to do, the most ■ r ite efforts everywhere, to rid the country <>f the presence of the enemy. At the close of the year they held no deal of property, both public and private. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 267 An expedition penetrated as far as Charlottesville, and succeeded in cap- turing several members of the Virginia House of Delegates, and came very- near taking the governor, Thomas Jef- ferson. In June, Cornwallis received orders from Sir Henry Clinton to take post near the sea, so that he might be able to send assistance to New York, if it should become necessary. Cornwallis pro- ceeded to Yorktown, at which place he concentrated his forces, and immediately began fortifying it. Colonel Tarleton, with a small body of troops, held Glou- cester Point, on the opposite side of the river. General Washington had in- tended, in combination with the French troops and fleet, to attack Sir Henry Clinton in New York, but the intention was abandoned in August, for Clinton had received reinforcements, and the situation of Cornwallis offered a fairer prospect of success. Clinton, however, remained impressed with the belief that New York would be the point of attack, until Washington suddenly drew up the combined French and United States forces. On the 30th of September, he appeared before York- town. The French fleet blockaded the James and York rivers, and thus pre- vented the escape of Cornwallis by sea, while a French land-force of two thou- sand men joined Lafayette at Williams- burg to prevent his retreat upon the Southern States. Cornwallis found himself hemmed in on all sides with little prospect of relief. On the evening of October 9th, Washington, who had moved rapidly from the north, opened his batteries on the fortifications of Cornwallis at York- town. On the 14th two redoubts were carried by assault. On this occasion Lafayette greatly distinguished himself. On the 1 6th nearly a hundred pieces of artillery were brought to bear on their works with such effect that the walls were beaten down and nearly every gun was silenced. Being pressed to extremi- ties, Cornwallis on the night of the 16th of October attempted to escape from Yorktown. He passed a part of his army over to Gloucester, the other side of the river, intending the other part to follow and get over before daylight should discover his movements, but a sudden storm prevented the other por- tion of his army from following the first as it was expected to do. His purpose therefore was abandoned, and that por- tion of his army which had gotten over was ordered back and effected a re-pass- age of the river with great difficulty. There was nothing else left to him now but to offer terms of capitulation. This he did on the 19th. The terms were agreed upon, and his whole army, con- sisting of seven thousand men, with all the munitions of war, was surrendered. The shipping in the harbor was sur- rendered to the commander of the French fleet. Five days afterwards Sir Henry Clinton arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake with an army of seven thousand men — too late: Cornwallis and his army were prisoners of war, and Sir Henry returned to New York. By this great success the whole coun- try was, in fact, recovered from the power of the British. The war was vir- tually at an end. All hope of subduing the States and holding them as Colonies was gone. The enemy's troops, after this, were principally confined to the cities of New York, Charleston and Savannah. The British government no longer pursued active measures. 268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II. c. 4" It was in the middle of the night that the news of the surrender of Cornwallis reached Philadelphia. A watchman in the street called out, " Twelve o'clock, and a cloudy morning — Cornwallis is taken ! " Soon the whole city was aroused with the cry, which went up in every street and alley. The hope that peace with liberty would now come at last was strong and buoyant. The wildest en- thusiasm prevailed. The same news was received with like joy everywhere in the States. In England the effect was decisive against any further prosecution of the war. The Whigs there immediately gained the ascendancy, and Lord North, who for twelve years had governed the country, was compelled to resign the lead of the ministry. Negotiations for peace were entered into. Five commis- sioners — John Adams, John Jay, Dr. Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens — were appointed by the United States. Five were appointed by the British government. They met at Paris, and on the 30th of November, 1782, signed a provisional treaty of peace. A final treaty was signed at the same place September the 3d, 1783. The first ar- ticle of the latter was in these words : " His Britannic Majesty acknowledges iid United States, viz.: New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent States ; that he treats them as such ; and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claim to the government, proprietary, and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof." Thus, after a bloody war of seven years, each of the original separate thir- teen Colonies was acknowledged by Great Britain to be an independent sov- ereign State. This grand achievement of independence and sovereign right of self-government, on the part of each of the States, was effected through the joint action of all, under their articles of Federal Union. At the same time, England made treaties of peace with all the other coun- tries with whom she had so lately been at war. On the 19th of April, 1783, just eight years after the battle of Lexington, a final cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States was proclaimed. By the treaty with Spain, England re- stored to that country East and West Florida, which had been ceded to her by Spain in 1 763. The preamble to the provisional treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States deserves special notice. It is the philosopher's stone in polities. It sets forth a great truth, which all statesmen would do well to study ; and presents a moral lesson, which forms a fitting conclusion to this chapter, closing, as it does, our history of the first great war for the sovereign right of local self- government by the United States of America. The preamble referred to is in these words : " Whereas, reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience have been found by experience to form the only permanent foundation for peace and friendship be- tween States, it is agreed to form the articles of the proposed treaty on such principles of liberal equity and reci- procity as that, partial advantages (those seeds of discord) being excluded, such a PROGRESS OF EVENTS. 269 beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the two countries may be estab- lished, as to promise and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony." Had England acted towards the Colo- nies from the beginning on these princi- ples, she might have saved herself all the blood and treasure expended in this unholy crusade against the essential rights in issue, and might have secured inestimable advantages to her own com- merce, trade and renown for centuries to come. Soon after the final treaty of peace, John Adams was sent as the first minister from the United States to Eng- land. He was received with all due courtesy by the king and the court of St. James; but General Oglethorpe was the first nobleman of the kingdom who called on him in person, and paid that respect which was due alike to his char- acter and to his high official position. CHAPTER V. PROGRESS OF EVENTS. (1783— 1787.) -General joy on return of peace with liberty — New- troubles arise — Distresses of the army — Officers and men without pay — Congress without money — Washington continues headquarters at Newburgh, N. Y. — Discontent among a class of officers — The artful attempt at mutiny — The most critical period in the history of the United States — A most in- flammatory address circulated among the officers anonymously — Washington's action in regard to it — Calls a meeting of all the general field officers on 15th of March, 1783 — His great speech on that occasion — Saves public liberty at the time — Congress provides means for the immediate wants of the army — City of New York evacuated by the British — Washington's farewell to his officers — Goes to Annapolis, where the Congress is in -ession — Resigns his commission, 23d December, '?S3 — Another trouble, the scarcity of money — 1 he paper currency depreciated until worthless — I'o meet the interest on the public debt, heavy taxes necessary — The States unable to raise them — In Massachusetts jealousy arises on the part of ■those who had fought in the war against those who had become rich by speculations during the same period— Shay's rebellion, about which so much error has been written — Movement made to amend the articles of confederation — The basis on which quotas of States were to be levied to be changed from value of real estate to the number of population — A three-fiflhs principle proposed by Congress, but not ratified by the States — Proposi- tion to amend Constitution on subject of foreign commerce — Not ratified by the States — Virginia calls a general convention of the States — Congress adopts this suggestion — A general convention called for the second Monday in May, 1787 — The ordinance of 1787. HE long struggle was now over. The popular joy of the success of the cause of liberty, and of the independence of the States, was unbounded throughout the country. But the fruition of the long hoped-for and newly acquired blessings at an early day came far short of the fondly cherished anticipations. This arose from several causes. New troubles soon presented themselves, which dis- quieted the minds of those who had been the most hopeful and sanguine during the darkest hours of the conflict. One of these troubles grew out of the state of the army, and the destitute con- dition of the public treasury, as well as of the country generally. Congress was largely in arrears, not only with the offi- cers, but with the men ; and they had no power under the Constitution, as it was, to levy taxes directly upon the people. Public credit was exhausted. Would the army consent to be disbanded with- out a settlement of their dues ? This was a perplexing question. Washington still continued his head-quarters at New- burgh, N. Y., patiently and anxiously awaiting the action of Congress, and hoping that some satisfactory provision would be made in due season for the exigency. At this time, too, it is sad to relate, 2yc HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II c. ft there were many restless spirits in the army, such as all great or long wars usually ^ive rise to; men of ambitious views and projects, who, even to the most daring and gallant deeds, are often actuated much more by selfish motives of personal distinction and lame, than by a true love of liberty. Many of this class had been engaged in behalf of the States from the beginning, but who had little sympathy with the real cause for which arms had been taken up — which was the right of self-government on the part of the people of each Colony. But the establishment of free institu- tions, and republican governments, was not the controlling object which induced this class to take the field, and a military government was what they now looked to, as the only hope of securing their personal aggrandizement. Some of these restless spirits sought to make the patriotic and self-sacrificing army of Washington the instrument of their unhallowed purpose. The wants and needs of the army, the destitution of the country, and the utter inability of Congress to make immediate adequate provision for these wants, and even to deal justly by them by making prompt, full payment for past dues, were seized upon as the means to inflame the pas- sions of the soldiers, in hopes, by appeal to their misguided impulses, they might be prevailed upon not to disband, but, under the claim and demand of their rights, to overthrow Congress and all the civil authorities. These designing men hoped that this course would lead to a military govern- ment of some sort, in which they hoped to be the chief actors. They knew that Washington was too true and patriotic to countenance their object; hence their design was most insidiously to weaken the influence of the commander-in-chief by persuading the soldiers that in not favoring their appeal to Congress for re- dress by arms, he himself was not in real sympathy with their wants. This was the most critical period of all in the history of the United States. It was the turning point of the liberties of the country. It was now more than on any other single occasion that Washington showed those- principles and qualities which so distinguished him throughout his life, and exhibited those transcendent powers, intellectual and moral, which mark him as one of the greatest men the world ever produced. On the ioth of March, 1783 (after the preliminary arti- cles of peace were signed), an anony- mous address of striking point and force, but most guileful in its character, was issued and circulated through the army. Its tenor and object will be seen from the following extracts: " To the Officers of the Army : "A fellow-soldier, whose interests and affections bind him strongly to you, whose past sufferings have been as great, and whose future may be as desperate as yours, would beg leave to address you. "Age has its claims, and rank is nol without its pretensions to advise; but though unsupported by both, he flatters himself that the plain language of sin- cerity and experience will neither be unheard or unregarded. "After a pursuit of seven long years, the object for which we set out is at length brought within our reach. Yes. my friends, that suffering courage of yours was active once. It has con- t ducted the United States of America through a doubtful and a bloody war, and peace returns again to bless — whom ? A country willing to redress your WASHINGTON S HEAD-QUARTERS AT NEWBURGH, NEW YORK. THE ROOM WITH SEVEN DOORS AND ONE WINDOW. (271) HISTORY OF THE I'XITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Boo K lI..af wrongs, clierish your worth, and reward your services ? A country courting your return to private life, with tears of gratitude and smiles of admiration — longing to divide with you that inde- pendency which your gallantry has given, and those riches which your wounds have preserved? Is this the case ? Or is it rather a country that tramples upon your rights, dis- dains your cries, and insults your dis- tresses ? " Have you not more than once sug- gested your wishes, and made known your wants to Congress? Wants and wishes which gratitude and policy would have anticipated rather than evaded ; and have you not lately in the meek language of entreating memorials, begged from their justice what you could no longer expect from their favor? How have you been answered ? Let the let- ' r which you are called to consider to- morrow, reply. If this, then, be your treatment while the swords you wear are necessary for the defence of America, what have you to expect from peace when your voice shall sink, and your strength dissipate by division ? When those very swords, the instruments and companions of your glory, shall be taken from your sides ; and no remain- ing mark of military distinction left, but your wants, infirmities and scars. Can you, then, consent to be the only suffer- ers by this Revolution, and retiring from the field, grow old in poverty, wretched- ness, and contempt ? Can you consent to wade through the vile mire of de- pendency, and owe the miserable rem- nant of that life to charity which has hitherto been spent in honor? If you can — go ! and carry with you the jest of Tories and the scorn of Whigs ; the ridicule, and, what i.; worse, the pity of the world. Go ! starve, and be for- gotten ! " Hut if your spirit should revolt at this ; if you have sense enough to dis- cover, and spirit enough to oppose tyranny under whatever garb it may assume, whether it be the plain coat of republicanism or the splendid robe of royalty ; if you have yet learned to dis- criminate between a people and a cause, between men and principles, awake ! attend to your situation, and redress yourselves. If the present moment be lost every future effort is in vain, and your threats then will be as empty as your entreaties now." ;: This address, with these and other like sentiments, invoked a general meet- ing to be held next day. Its inflamma- tory character was well calculated to arouse the passions of all the army, offi- cers as well as men. It was put forth and circulated without the knowledge of Washington. He immediately, on getting notice of it, by general orders, condemned the spirit of the address, and invited a meeting of all the general and field officers to take place on the 15th. It was on this occasion, in this meeting of the general officers, of which General Gates was chairman, that Washington performed one of the greatest acts of his life — if not the greatest. It was the matchless speech which he then and there made, and by which this grand projected mutiny, so well schemed and artfully planned, was suppressed. Among other things in that speech which should never be forgotten, he said to the war- worn patriot veterans around him : " This dreadful alternative of either deserting our country in the extremes! hour of her distress, or turning our arms * See Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. ii., p. 42, et seq. PROGRESS CF EVENTS. 273 against it, which is the apparent object, unless Congress can be compelled to instant compliance, has something so shocking in it that humanity revolts at the idea. My God! what can this writer have in view by recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the army? Can he be a friend to this country? Rather is he not an insidious foe; some emissary, plotting the ruin of both by sowing the seeds of discord and separation between the civil and military powers ? And what a compliment does he pay to our understandings when he recommends measures in either alterna- tive impracticable in their nature ! " With respect to the advice given by the author to suspect the man who shall recommend moderate measures and longer forbearance, I spurn it, as every man who regards that liberty and re- veres that justice for which we contend, undoubtedly must ; for if men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us. The freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter." He assured them in this speech that he believed that Congress intended to do justice to the army, and would do it; that they would meet all their engage- ments with the army as speedily and promptly as they were able ; and after these assurances, he concluded this ever memorable address in these words : " While I give these assurances, and pledge myself in the most unequivocal manner to exert whatever abilities I am possessed of in your favor, let me entreat you, gentlemen, on your part, not to take any measures which, viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dig- nity and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained. Let me conjure you in the name of our common country, if you value your own honor as you respect the righfs of humanity, to express your utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes, under any specious pretenses, to overthrow the liberties of our country. By thus determining and thus acting, you will pursue the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes ; you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies, who are com- pelled to resort from open force to secret artifice ; you will give one more distin- guished proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated suffer- ings ; and you will, by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for pos- terity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, had this day been wanting the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining." The effect of this speech was never surpassed by anything uttered by the greatest orators of the world ; and yet oratory was not one of Washington's chief excellencies. In him seemed to be combined all the elements which con- stitute true greatness. His appeal on this occasion was not to the passions of his hearers, but to their reason, their virtue, and their patriotism. His senti- ments were pure, unselfish, elevating, and ennobling ! They saved public liberty at the time. The Congress did the best they could in providing for the immediate wants and needs of both the men and officers of the army. They were still kept together, and not disbanded until after the British evacuated the city of 274 HISTORY OF THE l\/7 ED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II.. c. 8 New York, which was on the 25th of the States were unable to raise the mber, 1 7 S 3 . The same day, a por- quotas under the Articles of Union. In tion of the United States arm}- entered several of them, to meet the wants of the garrison there. their own governments, a tax to be paid On the 4th of December Washington in produce, instead of money, was re- took leave of his officers, and went to sorted to. In many instances, strong Annapolis, Maryland, where the Con- appeals were made to the Legislatures of the States was in session, and of the several States, for measures of to them, on the 23d of December, 1783, when peace, quiet and order prevailed everywhere, resigned his commission. Another trouble which was severely relief, and for laws staying the collection of debts. The evil of the times bore most heavily on the laboring classes. In Massachusetts a strong party arose felt throughout the land arose from the from that class, who had borne the brunt general indebtedness of the country, and | of the fight, against those who by trade H« temsBm CONTINENTAL BILLS. the scarcity of money. The public debt ' and traffic at home had become rich (to say nothing of that of individuals), during the war. This ended in what is domestic and foreign, had swelled to near known as Shay's rebellion in that State, one hundred millions. The war had been carried on by an issue of paper, of some about which so much error has been put forth by writers and incorporated into sort or other, chiefly Continental Bills, histories. It was bad enough as it was. is they were called, as a circulating me- but not as bad as has been represented, dium. This currency depreciated until It was an organized resistance to the it ceased to have even a nominal value, collection of personal debts which were fhc Congre s, moreover, had borrowed deemed to be unjust. It, aimed. at no from Holland and France several million resistance to Federal authority. Good dollars. To meet the interest on this men may heartily sympathize with their debt required heavy taxation. Some of grievances, while utterly condemning PROGRESS CF EVENTS. 2/5 their methods of redress. In the mean- time it was discovered that the basis fixed upon in their Articles of Union for the quotas of States respectively was not a just one. That basis was the value of real estate in the several States. This value was by no means uniform. The proper basis, it was thought, was the relative population of the States. In April, 1783, therefore, Congress proposed to the States, to amend the Constitution in this particular, by mak- ing population the basis of the States' quotas. This was the original idea in 1776, when the Articles of Union were first brought forward. But a difficulty soon arose in the discussion, which caused its abandonment at that time. The diffi- culty sprung from the fact that there were more negro slave laborers in some of the States than in others, and it was insisted that negro laborers were not as efficient in the production of wealth, the proper subject of taxation, as free, intel- ligent white men. Some insisted that one white man was as efficient as four negroes ; some put the ratio at three, and some at two. As this difficult ques- tion could not be satisfactorily adjusted at first, the basis then adopted was the one stated ; but after years of discussion it was agreed that five negro slaves, looking to the efficiency of labor in the production of wealth, should be rated as three white persons in establishing' a proper basis for taxation, taking relative population as the best standard of rela- tive production. This was known as the ratio of Federal population. Accord- ingly, in April, 1783, as stated, the Con- gress passed a resolution recommending to the States a change of the Constitu- tion in this particular. The change was that the quota in each State should be — " In proportion to the whole population of white and other citizens and inhabi- tants of every age, sex and condition, including those bound to servitude for a term of years, and t hire -fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the fore- going description, except Indians not paying taxes in each State." This change the States were slow in agreeing to. Another trouble was that each State, under the Constitution, had its own reg- ulations of foreign commerce. Different States had different rates of duty on foreign imports, which worked badly for the common interest. A considerable foreign trade had also commenced. The exports as well as the imports of the United States were greatly increased. The imports consisted of manufactured goods of various kinds, as well as sugar, coffee, tea, etc. The exports from Vir- ginia and the more southern States con- sisted largely of tobacco and rice. The cultivation of cotton was not yet intro- duced. From the Northern and Eastern States were exported articles of greater variety, but not of equal value to those from the Southern States. During 1783, before he retired from the army, Wash- ington addressed a circular letter to the Governors of the States, in which he urged several changes in the Constitu- tion. The Congress, therefore, during the same year, 1783, proposed that the Con- stitution should be changed so as to allow them to resort to the system of indirect taxes ; that is, of levying duties upon imports, which would bear less heavily upon the people, and enable them to meet the interest on the foreign debt. The resolution was offered on the 18th of April, and is in these words : "Resolved, by nine States, that it be recommended to the several States as 2 -5 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IX FEDERAL UNION. Book II, c 5 indispensably necessary to the rcstor- 1 the Legislature of Virginia, and under ation of public credit, and to the his auspices a movement was made in punctual and honorable discharge of the j that body in favor of an amendment to public debt-, to invest the United Stat in C mbled, with the power to levy, for the use of the United States, I lowing duties upon goods imported into the said States from any foreign port, island, or plantation," etc.* Then follows a long list of articles on which it was asked to vest the United States, in Con- gress assembled, with the power to levy duties upon, and the rate of duty pro- d This request of Congress for additional powers, though accompanied by .in able and strong letter from Congress to the States asking them to make " the constitutional change" proposed, was not acceded to by the States, and no further notice of it is necessary here. ' »n the 30th of April, 1784, Congress again" recommended to the Legislatures of the several States to vest the United States in Congress assembled, for the term of fifteen years," etc., with certain specified powers over commerce with foreign nations. This proposition also failed to be confirmed by the States. ral States agreed to it, but it lacked the necessary number to carry it into effect. The next movement to effect a change in the Article- of Confederation was by Mr. Monroe, in Congress, July, 1 785. I 1 proposition was for the States to vest in the United States, in Congress nbled, "the power of regulating trade." Congress never acted upon this proposition. "It was deemed, in the language of the day, that any prop«> for perfecting the Articles of Confeder- ation should originate with the State i .egislatures." \ * Accordingly Mr. Madison went into * Elliot's Debates, vol. i.,p. 93. f Ibid., vol. i., p. III. in the United States in Congress assembled all the powers that had been previously proposed by the Congress. This movement in the Virginia Legislature failed at first, but subsequently, on the 2 1st of January, 1786, that body passed thefollowing resolutions: "Resolved, That Kdmund Randolph, James Madison, Jr., Walter Jones, St. George Tucker, Meri- wether Smith, David Ross, William Ronald, and George Mason, Esqs., be appointed commissioners, who, or any five of whom, shall meet such com- missioners as may be appointed by the other States in the Union, at a time and place to be agreed on, to take into con- sideration the trade of the United States; to examine the relative situation and trade of the said States ; to consider how far a uniform system in their com- mercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and their perma- nent harmony ; and to report to the several States such an act relative to this great object as, when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the United States, in Congress assembled, to provide for the same. That the said commissioners shall immediately transmit to the several States copies of the preceding resolution, with a circular letter request- ing their concurrence therein, and pro- posing a time and place for the meeting aforesaid."* Four other States only responded to this resolution of the Virginia Legislature, to wit : New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, and Delaware. They all ap- pointed commissioners, as suggested by Virginia. These commissioners met in convention at Annapolis, in Maryland, * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 115. PROGRESS OF EVENTS. 277 on the nth of September, 1786. They did nothing, however, but make a report to the Legislatures appointing them, and recommending the calling of a general convention of all the States, to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May, 1787, "to take into consideration the situation of the United States; to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and to report such an act for that purpose to the United States, in Congress assem- bled, as, when agreed to by them, and afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State, will effectually provide for the same." * As a reason for this course, they say "they are the more naturally led to this conclusion, as in the course of their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to think that the power of regulating trade is of such comprehensive extent, and will enter so far into the general system of the Federal Govern- ment, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate questions and doubts concerning its precise nature and limits, may require a correspondent adjustment of other parts of the Federal system." This communication was addressed to the States from whom the parties held their commissions, and copies of it were likewise sent to the United States, in Congress assembled, and to the execu- tives of all the States. The Congress took up the subject on the 21st of Feb- ruary, 1787, and came to the following resolution upon it : "Resolved, That in the opinion of Con- gress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been ap- * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 118. pointed by the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Con- federation, and reporting to Congress and the several Legislatures such altera- tions and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and con- firmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government, and the preservation of the Union." It was under this resolution of Con- gress that the ever memorable Federal Convention of 1787 was called and met. The initiative step to this movement was the resolution of the 21st of January, 1786, of the Virginia Legislature. Mr. Madison was the author of that resolu- tion, though it was offered by Mr. Tyler, father of the late ex-President Tyler. Mr. Madison's agency in first starting this movement is what has given him the title of" Father of the Constitution." In none of these proceedings, either in Con- gress, or in the Virginia Legislature, or in the communication of the commissioners at Annapolis, is there any intimation of a wish or intention to change the nature of the government then existing, in any of its essential federative features. It does, however, very clearly appear, from the letter of the commissioners, that in granting additional powers to the United States, in Congress assembled, it might and would be, in their opinion, proper to make "a correspondent adjustment of other parts of the existing federal sys- tem." This, doubtless, referred to a division of the powers vested in the States jointly, under the then Constitu- tion. These were mostly, as we have, seen, committed to one body — to the Congress of the States. Already the idea had begun to develop itself, of in- troducing a new feature in the federal 278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II. plan — that of dividing the powers dele- gated into legislative and executive de- partments, each distinct from the judicial ; and also dividing the legislative depart- ment into two brandies, or houses ; and further still, of allowing the federal ma- chinery to act directly upon the citizens of the States in specified subjects, and not on the States in their corporate capacity, as had been the case in all former confederacies. This idea at first was not fully developed. All new truths are slow of development. Mankind, generally, at first, sec new truths indis- tinctly ; as the man we read of in the Scriptures, who having been born blind, when his eyes were opened, at first " saw men as trees walking." This new fea- ture, or these new features, in the federal plan, are but dimly shadowed forth in the letter of the commissioners, wherein they speak of some necessary corre- spondent adjustment of the federal sys- tem. Mr. Jefferson, soon after, gives the idea more substantial form in a letter to Mr. Madison, written at Paris, 16th of December, 1786. His letter is in these words : " I find by the public papers, that your commercial convention failed in point of representation. If it should produce a full meeting in May, and a broader re- formation, it will still be well. To make us one nation, as to foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the outline of the proper division of powers between the general and par- ticular governments. But to enable the federal head to exercise the powers given it to best advantage, it should be organ- ized as the particular ones arc, into legis- lative, executive and judiciary. The first and last are already separated. The second should be. Winn last with Con- gress. I often proposed to members to do this, by making of the committee of the States an executive committee, during the recess of Congress ; and, during its session, to appoint a committee to re- ceive and despatch all executive busi- ness, so that Congress itself should med- dle only with what should be legislative. But I question if any Congress (much less all successively) can have self-denial enough to go through with this distribu- tion. The distribution, then, should be imposed on them."* This, as far as the author has been able to discover, after no inconsiderable research, is the first embodied concep- tion of the general outline of those pro- per changes of the old Constitution or Articles of Confederation, which were subsequently, as we shall see, actually and in fact ingrafted on the old system of confederations ; and which makes the most marked difference between ours, and all other like systems. Of all* the statesmen in this country, none ever ex- celled Mr. Jefferson in grasp of political ideas, and a thorough understanding of the principles of human government. This is a brief but unquestionable history of the complaints under the old system. The gre.it leading object at the time, with Congress, was to get additional power to regulate trade, and to raise revenue directly by law, operating on the individual citizens of the States, and not on the States in their corporate char- acter. Under the Articles of Union, as the)- then were, Congress could regulate trade, as we have seen, with the Indian tribes, but not between the States respec- tively, or with foreign nations; nor could the\ - raise revenue, as we have seen, ex- cept by requisitions upon the States. The main and leading objects were to get the Federal Constitution amended in * Jefferson's Complete Works, vol. xi.,p. 66. RESPONSES OF THE STATES. 279 these particulars. Could these new ideas and new principles be incorporated in a system strictly Federal ? This was the great problem of that day. Congress gave consent to the calling of a conven- tion of the States, as desired, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, to the attain- ment, if possible, of these ends and objects. No intimation was given in any of the proceedings that led to the call of this convention, of any wish, much less a design, to change the char- acter of the Federal system, or to trans- form it from a Confederate Republic, as it was then acknowledged to be, into a consolidated single republic. It is im- portant to pay strict attention to the pro- ceedings at this time. The convention was called, not to change the nature of the general government, but to delegate to it some few additional powers. It is im- portant to pay strict attention to the proceedings of the States at this time, and to ascertain what ,vvas their un- derstanding of the nature of the call for a convention by the resolution of Congress, as well as their aims and objects in sending delegates to the convention. This will best be seen by a careful and full review of their respective responses to the call, which will be the subject of the next chapter. In the meantime Congress passed an ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river. To this territory several of the States had claims, as parts of it lay within the original chartered limits of those States; much the larger portion lay within the limits of Virginia. This State and the others had ceded their rights to the land or soil to the United States as a common fund for the use and benefit of all. This ordinance was in the nature of a compact between the States and the settlers of this territory, providing a system of self-government for them while in the condition of inchoate States, and for their future admission into the Union when the population of its respec- tive parts, particularly designated, should reach the number of sixty thousand in- habitants. By the sixth section of this celebrated ordinance, "slavery or involuntary ser- vitude, except for crime, was to be forever prohibited" from this portion of the public domain. Mr. Jefferson, though not in Congress at the time, was well known to be the author of this famous provision. CHAPTER VI. THE ACTION CF THE SEVERAL STATES UPON THE CALL FOR THE GENERAL FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1 787. The full responses of twelve of the States to the call, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- lina, and Georgia, with credentials of their dele- gates — Rhode Island makes no response — The importance of these responses as historic facts. HE subject of this chapter is the responses of the States respec- tively to the call for a Federal Convention to revise the articles of confederation between them. On an inquiry into the nature and extent of the changes in the fundamental law proposed by the call, especially so far as there was any intention to trench upon the sovereign powers of the States, it is of the utmost importance to know what the States did in reference to it, both anterior to going into the convention and subsequently. With this view special attention will be first directed to the responses of each of the States tc 28o HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES IN FEDERAL CXI OX. Book II, c. 6 the call itself. It is quite a task to go through with them all ; but the important bearing they have upon the great ques- tions under consideration requires, not only that they should be looked into, but scanned closely, and thoroughly ex- amined. From these very essential facts can only be obtained a clear understand- ing of the history of the times, with the true social phenomena attending them. These are the deep footprints of truth impressed upon our lower strata of political formation and growth which must forever stand against bare assertion or speculative theory. They are marks which discussion can never obliterate, arguments cannot remove, sophistry can- not obscure, time cannot erase, and which even wars cannot destroy. How- ever upheaved the foundations of society may be by political convulsions, these will stick to the very fragments of the rocks of our primitive formations, and bear unerring testimony to the ages to come of the true character of our insti- tutions. The responses of all the States which did respond (and all responded but Rhode Island) show conclusively the great indisputable fact that they all at that time claimed to be sovereign and independent, and were acknowledged by each other and other nations so to be, and that their sole object in going into the proposed convention was to provide for such changes as could be made in their then Constitution, as experience had shown to be expedient and proper, without any change in the Federal char- acter of the government. The responses of all the States (except Rhode Island) will now be presented in the order, and just as th y appear, in 11 Elliot's Debates." * * See Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. I26. STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD I787. An Act for Appointing Deputies from this State to the Convention Proposed to be holden in the City of Philadelphia, in May, 17S7, for the purpose of revising the Federal constitution. Whereas, in the formation of the Federal compact, which frames the bond of Union of the American States, it was not possible, in the infant state of our republic, to devise a system which, in the course of time and experience, would not manifest imperfections that it would be necessary to reform : And whereas, the limited powers which, by the Articles of Confederation, are vested in the Congress of the United States, have been found far inadequate to the enlarged purposes which they were intended to produce ; and whereas, Congress hath, by repeated and most urgent representations, endeavored to awaken this, and other States of the Union, to a sense of the truly critical and alarming situation in which they may inevitably be invoked, unless timely- measures be taken to enlarge the powers of Congress, that they may be thereby enabled to avert the dangers which threaten our existence as a free and in- dependent people ; and whereas, this State hath been ever desirous to act upon the liberal system of the general good of the United States, without circum- scribing its views to the narrow and self- ish objects of partial convenience ; and has been at all times ready to make every concession to the safety and hap- piness of the whole, which justice and sound policy could vindicate : — Be it therefore enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives in General ( ourt convened, That John Langdon, John lackering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin West, Esqrs., be, and hereby HESPONSES OF THE STATES. 28l are, appointed commissioners ; they, or any two of them, are hereby authorized and empowered, as deputies from this State, to meet at Philadelphia said Con- vention, or any other place to which the Convention may be adjourned, for the purpose aforesaid, there to confer with such deputies as are, or may be ap- pointed by the other States for similar purposes, and with them to discuss and decide upon the most effectual means to remedy the defects of our Federal Union, and to procure and secure the enlarged purposes which it was intended to effect, and to report such an act to the United States in Congress, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, will effectually provide for the same. State of New Hampshire. — In the House of Representatives, June 27, 1787. The foregoing bill having been read a third time — voted that it pass to be enacted. Sent up for concurrence. John Sparhawk, Speaker. In Senate, the same day. This bill having been read a third time — voted that the same be enacted. John Sullivan, President. [L. S.] Copy examined per Joseph Pearson, Secretary. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSA- CHUSETTS. By his Excellency, James Bowdoin, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, [l. s.] To the Honorable Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rnfns King, Caleb Strong, Esqrs., Greeting : Whereas, Congress did, on the 21st day of February, a. d. 1787, resolve " That, in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a Convention of Delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of re- vising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several Legislatures such alterations and pro- visions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government, and the preservation of the Union; " and whereas, the General Court have appointed you their Delegates, to attend and represent this Commonwealth in the said proposed Convention, and have, by resolution of theirs of the 10th of March last, requested me to commission you for that purpose; Now, tJicrcfore, Know ye, That, in pur- suance of the resolutions aforesaid, I do, by these presents, commission you, the said Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King and Caleb Strong, Esqrs., or any three of you, to meet such Delegates as may be appointed by the other or any of the other States in the Union, to meet in Convention at Philadelphia, at the time and for the purposes aforesaid. In testimony whereof, I have caused the public seal of the Commonwealth aforesaid to be hereunto affixed. Given at the Council Chamber, in Boston, the 9th day of April, a. d. 1787, and in the eleventh year of the In- dependence of the United States of America. James Bowdoin. By his Excellency's command. John Avery, Jun., Secretary. STATE OF CONNECTICUT. At a General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, in America, holden at 282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II., c I Hartford, on the second Thursday cf May, a. d. 1787. [L. S.] An At for appointing Delegates to meet in Conven- tion of tin- States, to be held at Philadelphia, on tin- second Monday of May, infant. Whereas, The Congress of the United States, by their Act of 21st February, 1787, have recommended that, on the second Monday of May, instant, a Con- vention of Delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several States, to be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, — Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Representatives, in General Court as- sembled, and by the authority of the same, That the Hon. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth, Esqrs., be, and they hereby are, ap- pointed Delegates to attend said Con- vention, and are requested to proceed to the city of Philadelphia for that purpose, without delay; and the said Delegates, and, in case of sickness or accident, such one or more of them as shall attend the said Convention, is and are hereby au- thorized and empowered to represent this State therein, and to confer with such Delegates appointed by the several States, for the purposes mentioned in the said .let of Congress, that may be present and duly empowered to sit in said Con- vention, and to discuss upon such alter- ations and provisions agreeably to the general principles of Republican Gov- ernment, as they shall think proper to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union; and they are further directed, pursuant to the said Act of Congress, to report such alter- ations and provisions as may be agreed to by a majority of the United States represented in Convention, to the Con- gress of the United States, and to the General Assembly of this State. A true copy of record. Examined by George Willys, Secretary STATE OF NEW YORK. By his Excellency, George Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, Gen- eral and commander-in-chief of all the militia, and admiral of the navy of the same. [L. S.] To all to whom these presents shall come : It is by these presents certified, That John M'Kcsson, who has subscribed the annexed copies of resolutions, is clerk of the Assembly of this State. In testimony whereof, I have caused the privy seal of the said State to be hereunto affixed, this 9th day of May, in the 1 ith year of the Independence of the said State. George Clinton. State of New York — In Assembly, February 28, 17S7 — A copy of a resolu- tion of the honorable the Senate, de- livered by Mr. Williams, was read, and is in the words following, viz. : Resolved, If the honorable the Assem- bly concur therein, that three Delegates be appointed on the part of this State, to meet such Delegates as may be ap- pointed on the part of the other States respectively, on the second Monday in May next, at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and to the several Legis- latures, such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Con- gress, and confirmed by the several States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of govern- RESPONSES OF THE STATES. 283 mem and the preservation of the Union; and that in case of such concurrence, the two houses of the Legislature will, on Tuesday next, proceed to nominate and appoint the said delegates in like manner, as is directed by the Constitution of this State for nominating and appointing del- egates to Congress. Resolved, That this House do concur with the honorable the Senate in the said resolution. In Assembly, March 6, 1787. — Re- solved, That the Honorable Robert Yates, Esq., Alexander Hamilton, and John Lansing, Jr., Esqrs., be, and they are hereby, nominated by this House, dele- gates on the part of this State, to meet such delegates as may be appointed on the part of the other States, respectively, on the second Monday in May next, at Philadelphia, pursuant to concurrent resolutions of both houses of the next Legislature, on the 28th ultimo. Ordered, That Mr. A. Smith deliver a copy of the last preceding resolutions to the honorable, the Senate. A copy of a resolution of the hon- orable, the Senate, was delivered by Mr. Vanderbilt, that the Senate will immedi- ately meet this House in the Assembly Chamber, to compare the list of persons nominated by the Senate and Assembly, respectively, as delegates, pursuant to the resolutions before mentioned. The honorable, the Senate, accord- ingly attended the Assembly Chamber, tc compare the lists of persons nomi- nated for delegates, as above mentioned. The list of persons nominated by the honorable, the Senate, were the Hon. Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton, Esqrs., and on comparing the lists of the persons nom- inated by the Senate and Assembly re- spectively, it appeared that the same persons were nominated in both lists; thereupon, Resolved, That the Hon. Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton, Esqrs., be, and they are hereby, declared duly nomi- nated and appointed delegates, on the part of this State, to meet such delegates as may be appointed on the part of the other States, respectively, on the second Monday in May next, at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of re- vising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress, and to the several Legislatures, such alterations and pro- visions therein, as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the sev- eral States, render the Federal Constitu- tion adequate to the exigencies of gov- ernment and the preservation of the Union. True extracts from the journals of the Assembly. John M'Kesson, Clerk. STATE OF NEW JERSEY. To the Hon, David Brearly, William Churchill Houston, William Patterson, and John jVeilson, Esqrs., Greeting. The Council and Assembly, reposing especial trust and confidence in your integrity, prudence and ability, have, at a joint meeting, appointed you, the said David Brearly, William Churchill Hous- ton, William Patterson, and John Neilson, Esqrs., or any three of you, commis- sioners, to meet such commissioners as have been, or may be, appointed by the other States in the Union, at the city of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on the second Monday in May next, for the purpose of taking into consideration the state of the Union as to trade and other important objects, and of devising such other provisions as shall appear to be necessary to render the Con- 284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IX FEDERAL UNION. BookII.,c.« stitution of the Federal government ad- equate to the exigencies thereof. In testimony whereof, the great seal of the State is hereunto affixed. Wit- ness, William Livingston, Esq., governor, captain-general, and commander-in-chief in and over the State of New Jersey, and territories thereunto belonging, chancellor and ordinary in the same, at Trenton, the 23d day of November, in the year of our Lord 1786, and of our sovereignty and independence the I ith. William Livingston. By his Excellency's command — Howls Reed, Secretary. [Commissions exactly similar in sub- stance and purport were also given to Abraham Clark and Jonathan Dayton.] COMMONWEALTH OF PENN- SYLVANIA. An act appointing Deputies to the Convention intended to be held in the City of Philadelphia, for the pur- pose of m>ising the Federal Constitution. Sec. 1. Whereas, the General Assem- bly of this Commonwealth, taking into their serious consideration the represen- tations heretofore made to the Legisla- tures of the several States in the Union, by the United States in Congress assem- bled, and also weighing the difficulties under which the Confederated States now labor, are fully convinced of the necessity of revising the Federal Con- stitution, for the purpose of making such alterations and amendments as the ex- igencies of our public affairs require: and whereas, the Legislature of the State of Virginia have already passed an Act of that Commonwealth, empowering certain commissioners to meet at the city of Philadelphia in May next, a Con- vention of commissioners or deputies from the different States; and the Legis- lature of this State are fully sensible of the important advantages which may be derived to the United States and every of them from co-operating with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the other States to the Confederation, in the said design. Sec. 2. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the representatives of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, that Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Esqs., are hereby appointed deputies from this State to meet in the Conven- tion of the deputies of the respective States of North America, to be held at the city of Philadelphia, on the 2d day in the month of May next ; and the said Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitz- simons, James W'ilson, and Gouverneur Morris, Esqs., or any four of them, are hereby constituted and appointed depu- ties from this State, with powers to meet such deputies as may be appointed and authorized by the other States, to assem- ble in the same Convention, at the city aforesaid, and join with them in devising, deliberating on, and discussing all such alterations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Con- stitution fully adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and in reporting such act or acts for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, will effectually provide for the same. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted by the au- thority aforesaid. That, in case any of the said deputies hereby nominated shall happen to die, or to resign his or their said appointment or appointments, the FESPOA'SES OF THE STATES. Supreme Executive Council shall be, and hereby are, empowered and required to nominate and appoint other person or persons, in lieu of him or them so de- ceased, or who has or have so resigned, which person or persons, from and after such nomination and appointment, shall be, and hereby are, declared to be vested with the same powers respectively as any of the deputies nominated and appointed by this act is vested with by the same. Provided always that the Council are not hereby authorized, nor shall they make, any such nomination and appointment, except in vacation and during the recess of the General Assembly of this State. Signed by order of the House. [l. s.] Thomas Mifflin, Speaker. Enacted into a law at Philadelphia, on Saturday, December 30th, in the year of our Lord 1786. Peter Zachary Lloyd, Clerk of the General Assembly. I, Matthew Irwine, Esq., Master of the Rolls of the State of Pennsylvania, do certify the preceding writing to be a true copy (or exemplification) of a certain act of assembly lodged in my office. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, the 15th of May, a. d. 1787. [l. s.] Matthew Irwine, M. R. A supplement to the Act entitled "an Act appointing deputies to the convention intended to be held in the City of Philadelphia, for the purpose of Revising the Federal Constitution." Sec. i. Whereas, by the act, to which this act is a supplement, certain persons were appointed as deputies from this State, to sit in the said Convention ; And whereas, it is the desire of the General Assembly, that his Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, Esq., President of this State, should also sit in the said Convention, as deputy from this State ; therefore, 285 Sec. 2. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the representatives of the free- men of the Commonwealth of Pennsylva- nia, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That his Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, Esq., be, and he is hereby appointed and authorized to sit in the said Convention as a deputy from this State in addition to the persons heretofore appointed; and he hereby is invested with like powers and authorities as are invested in the said deputies, or any of them. Signed by order of the House. Thomas Mifflin, Speaker. Enacted into a law at Philadelphia, on Wednesday, the 28th of March, in the year of our Lord 1787. Peter Zachary Lloyd, Clerk of the General Assembly. I, Matthew Irwine, Esq., Master of the Rolls for the State of Pennsylvania, do certify the above to be a true copy (or exemplification) of a supplement to a certain act of Assembly, which supple- ment is lodged in my office. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, the 15th of May, a. d. 1787. [l. s.] Matthew Irwine, M. R. DELAWARE STATE. His Excellency, Thomas Collins, Esq., president, captain-general and command- er-in-chief of the Delaware State, To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know ye, that, among the laws of the said State, passed by the General Assem- bly of the same, on the 3d of February, in the year of our Lord 1787, it is thus enrolled: — [L. S.] " In the eleventh year of the independ- ence of the Delaware State. 286 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II, c. 6 "An Act appointing deputies from this State to the Convention proposed to be held in the City of Phila- delphia, for the purpose of revising the Federal Con- stitution." WHEREAS, the General Assembly of this State arc fully convinced of the necessity of revising the Federal Consti- tution, and adding thereto such further provisions as may render the same more adequate to the exigencies of the Union; And whereas, the Legislature of Virginia have already passed an act of that com- monwealth, appointing and authorizing certain commissioners to meet at the city of Philadelphia, in May next, a Convention of commissioners or deputies from the different States; and this State, being willing and desirous of co-operat- ing with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the other States in the Confedera- tion, in so useful a design : Be it therefore enacted by lite General Assembly of Delaware, that George Read, Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, Rich- ard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, Esquires, arc hereby appointed deputies from this State to meet in the Convention of the deputies of other States, to be held at the city of Philadelphia, on the 2d of May next, and that the said George Read, Gunning Bedford, John Dickinson, Rich- ard Bassett, and Jacob Broom, Esquires, or any three of them, are hereby consti- tuted and appointed deputies from this State, with powers to meet such deputies as may be appointed and authorized by the other States to assemble in the said Convention at the city aforesaid, and to join with them in devising, deliberating on, and diseussing such alterations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and in reporting .such act or acts, for that purpose, to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, may effectually provide for the same. So always provided, that such alterations or further provisions, or any of them, do not extend to that part of the 5th Article of the Confederation of the said State, finally ratified on the 1st day of March, in the year 178 1, which declares that., "in determining questions in the United States in Con- gress assembled, each State shall have one vote." And be it enacted, that in case any of the said deputies hereby nominated shall happen to die, or resign his or their appointment, the president or commander-in-chief, with the advice of the privy council, in the recess of the General Assembly, is hereby authorized to supply such vacancies. Signed by order of the House of As- sembly. John Cook, Speaker. Signed by order of the Council. George Craghed, Speaker. Passed at Dover, February 3d, 1787. All and singular which premises, by the tenor of these presents, I have caused to be exemplified. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and caused the great seal of the said State to be affixed to these presents, at New Castle, the 2d day of April, in the year of our Lord 1 787, and in the eleventh year of the independence of the United States of America. Thomas Collins. Attest, James Booth, Secretary. STATE OF MARYLAND: An Act for the Appointment of, and conferring is on. Deputies from this St Ue to the t'ederat Convention. Be it enacted by the General Assem- bly of Maryland, That the Hon. James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, RESPONSES OF THE STATES. 28? and Luther Martin, Esqrs., be appointed and authorized, on behalf of this State, to meet such Deputies as may be ap- pointed and authorized by any other of the United States, to assemble in Con- vention at Philadelphia, for the purpose of revising the Federal System, and to join with them in considering such alter- ations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Consti- tution adequate to the exigencies of the Union ; and in reporting such an Act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, will effectually provide for the same ; and the said Deputies, or such of them as shall attend the said Convention, shall have full power to represent this State for the purposes aforesaid ; and the said Deputies are hereby directed to report the proceedings of the said Convention, and any act agreed to therein, to the next session of the General Assembly of this State. By the House of Delegates, May 26, 1787. Read and assented to. By order, Wm. Harwood, Clerk. True copy from the original. Wm. Harwood, Clerk H. D. By the Senate, May 26, 1787. Read and assented to. By order, J. Dorsey, Clerk. True copy from the original. J. Dorsey, Clerk Senate. W. Smallwood. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. Gerreral Assembly begun and held at the Public Buildings in the city of Rich- mond, on Monday, the 16th day of Oc- tober, in the year of our Lord 1786. An Act for appointing Deputies from this Common- wealth to a Convention proposed to be held in the City of Philadelphia, in May next, for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitution. Whereas, The Commissioners who assembled at Annapolis, on the 14th day of September last, for the purpose of devising and reporting the means of en- abling Congress to provide effectively for the Commercial interests of the United States, have represented the ne- cessity of extending the revision of the Federal System to all its defects, and have recommended that Deputies, for that purpose, be appointed by the several Legislatures, to meet in Convention in the City of Philadelphia, on the second Monday of May next — a provision which was preferable to a discussion of the subject in Congress, where it might be too much interrupted by the ordinary business before them, and where it would, besides, be deprived of the valuable counsels of sundry individuals who are disqualified by the Constitution or laws of particular States, or restrained by peculiar circumstances from a seat in that Assembly; and whereas, the Gen- eral Assembly of this Commonwealth, taking into' view the actual situation of the Confederacy, as well as reflecting on the alarming representations made, from time to time, by the United States in Congress, particularly in their Act of the 15th day of February last, can no longer doubt the crisis is arrived at which the good people of America are to decide the solemn question — whether they will, by wise and magnanimous efforts, reap the just fruits of that Independence which they have so gloriously acquired, and of thai Union which they have ce- mented with so much of their common blood — or whether, by giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudices, or to partial or transitory interests, they will renounce the auspicious blessings pre- pared for them by the Revolution, and furnish to its enemies an eventful triumph 288 HISTORY OF THE OX/ 7 ED STATES IX FEDERAL UXIOX. Book II.. c. S over those by whose virtue and valor it Congress, and to the Executives of each was accomplished ; and whereas, the same noble and extended poli-cy, and the same fraternal and affectionate senti- ments, which originally determined the citizens of this Commonwealth to unite with the brethren of the other States in establishing a Federal Government, can- not but be felt with equal force now as motives to lay aside every inferior con- sideration, and to concur in such further concessions and provisions as may be necessary to secure the great objects for which that Government was instituted, and to render the United States as happy in peace as they have been glorious in war : — Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia, That Seven Commissioners be appointed, by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly, who, or any three of them, are hereby authorized, as Deputies from this Commonwealth, to meet such Depu- ties as may be appointed and authorized by other States, to assemble in Conven- tion at Philadelphia, as above recom- mended, and to join with them in devising and discussing all such alter- ations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union ; and in reporting such an Act, for that purpose, to the United States in Congress, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, will effectually provide for the same. And be it further enacted, That in case of the death of any of the said Deputies, or of their declining their appointments, the Executive is hereby authorized to supply such vacancies ; and the Gover- nor is requested to transmit forthwith a copy of this Act to the United States in of the States in the Union. ' [Signed.] John Jones, Speaker of the Senate. Joseph Prentis, Speaker of the House of Delegates. A true copy of the enrolment. John Beckley, Clerk H. D. In the House of Delegates. Monday, the 4th of December, 1786. The House, according to the order of the day, proceeded, by joint ballot with the Senate, to the appointment of seven deputies from this Commonwealth to the Convention proposed to be held in the city of Philadelphia, in May next, for the purpose of revising the Federal Con- stitution ; and the members having pre- pared tickets, with the names of the persons to be appointed, and deposited the same in the ballot-boxes, Mr. Corbin, Mr. Matthews, Mr. David Stewart, Mr. George Nicholas, Mr. Richard Eee, Mr. Wills, Mr. Thomas Smith, Mr. Goodall. and Mr. Turberville, were nominated a committee to meet a committee from the Senate, in the conference chamber, ant? jointly with them to examine the ballot boxes, and report to the House or whom the majority of the votes should fall. The committee then withdrew, and after some time, returned into the House, and reported that the Committee had according to order, met a Committee from the Senate in the conference cham- ber, and jointly with them examined the ballot-boxes, and found the majority of votes in favor of George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, and George Wythe, Esqs. (Extract from the Journal.) Attest, John Beckley, Clerk House Delegates RESPONSES OF THE STATES. 289 in the House of Senators. Monday, the 4th of December, 1786. The Senate, according to the order of the day, proceeded, by joint ballot with the House of Delegates, to the appoint- ment of seven deputies, from this Com- monwealth, to a Convention proposed to be held in the city of Philadelphia, in May next, for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitution; and the mem- bers having prepared tickets, with the names of the persons to be appointed, and deposited the same in the ballot-boxes, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Lee, were nominated a Committee to meet a Committee from the House of Delegates, in the conference chamber, and jointly with them to examine the ballot-boxes, and report to the House on whom the majority of votes should fall. The Committee then withdrew, and, after some time, returned in to the House and reported that the Committee had, according to order, met a Committee from the House of Delegates, in the con- ference chamber, and jointly with them examined the ballot-boxes, and found a majority of votes in favor of George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, George Mason, and George Wythe, Esqrs. (Extract from the Journal.) John Beckley, Clerk House Delegates. Attest, H. Brook, Clerk Senate. [l. s.] Virginia, to wit: I do hereby certify and make known, to all whom it may concern," that John Beckley, Esq., is clerk of the House of Delegates for this Commonwealth, and the proper officer for attesting the pro- ceedings of the General Assembly of the said Commonwealth, and that fml faith 19 and credit ought to be given to all things attested by the said John Beckley, Esq , by virtue of his office as aforesaid. Given under my hand as Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and under the seal thereof, at Richmond, this 4th day of May, 1787. Edmund Randolph. [l. s.] Virginia, to wit: I do hereby certify, that Patrick Henry, Esq., one of the seven commis- sioners appointed by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly of the Common- wealth of Virginia, authorized as a dep- uty therefrom to meet such deputies as might be appointed and authorized by other States to assemble in Philadelphia, and to join with them in devising and discussing all such alterations and fur- ther provisions as might be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and in re- porting such an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, might effectually provide for the same, did decline his ap- pointment aforesaid ; and thereupon; in pursuance of an act of the General As- sembly of the said Commonwealth, en- titled "An Act for appointing deputies from this Commonwealth to a Convention proposed to be held in the city of Phil- adelphia in May next, for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitution," I do hereby, with the advice of the Coun- cil of State, supply the said vacancy by nominating James McClurg, Esq., a deputy for the purposes aforesaid. Given under my hand, as Governor of the said Commonwealth, and under the seal thereof, this 2d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1787. Edmund Randolph. 2 9 HISTORY STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. To the Hon. Alexander Martin, Esq.,greeHng . WHEREAS, our General Assembly, in their late session holden at Fayetteville, by adjournment, in the month of Janu- ary last, did, by joint ballot of the Senate and House of Commons, elect Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones, Esqs., depu- ties to attend a Convention of delegates from the several United States of Amer- ica, proposed to be held at the city of OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. BookIL.c* STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. By his Excellency, Thomas Pinck- n v, Esq., Governor and Commander-in- chief, in and over the State aforesaid. To the Hon. John Rutledge, Esq., greeting: By virtue of the power and authority invested by the Legislature of this State, in their Act passed the 8th day of March last, I do hereby commission you, the said John kutledge, as one of the depu- ties appointed from this State, to meet such deputies or commissioners as may- be appointed and authorized by other of Philadelphia in May next, for the pur- the United States to assemble in Conven- pose of revising- the Federal Constitu tion: We do therefore by these presents nominate, commissionate and appoint you, the said Alexander Martin, one of the deputies for and in behalf, to meet with our other deputies at Philadelphia, on the ist of May next, or with them or any two of them, to confer with such deputies as may have been, or shall be appointed by the other States, for the purpose aforesaid: To hold, exercise and enjoy the appointment aforesaid, with all powers, authorities, and emolu- ments, to the same belonging, or in any wise appertaining, you conforming in every instance to the Act of our said Assembly, under which you are ap- pointed. Witness, Richard Caswell, Esq., our Governor, Captain-General, and Com- mander-in-chief, under his hand and our seal, at Kinston, the 24th day of Febru- ary, in the eleventh year of our inde- pendence, a. d. 1787. [Exactly similar commissions were given to each of the other delegates appointed, and upon the resignation of Richard Caswell, a similar one was given to William Blount.] tion, in the city of Philadelphia, in the month of May next, or as soon there- after as may be, and to join with such deputies or commissioners (they being duly authorized and empowered) in de- vising and discussing all such altera- tions, clauses, articles and provisions, as may be thought necessary to render the Federal Constitution entirely adequate to the actual situation and future good government of the Confederated States; and that you, together with the said deputies or commissioners, or a majority of themi, who shall be present (provided the State be not represented by less than two), do join in reporting such an act to the United States, in Congress assem- bled, as, when approved and agreed to by them, and duly ratified and confirmed by the several States, will effectually pro- vide for the exigencies of the Union. Given under my hand and the great seal of the State, in the city of Charles- ton, this ioth day of April, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the sovereignty and independence of the United States of America the eleventh. [l, s.] Thomas Pinckney. By his Excellency's command. Peter Freneau, Secretary RESPONSES OF THE STATES. 291 ["Commissions exactly similar in sub- stance and import were issued to Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Pierce Butler.] STATE OF GEORGIA. By the Hon. George Matthews, Esq.. captain-general, governor, and com- mander-in-chief, in and over the State aforesaid. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Know Ye, That John Milton, Esq., who hath certified the annexed copy of an ordinance, entitled "An ordinance for the appointment of deputies from this State, for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitution," is secretary of the said State, in whose office the archives of the same are deposited ; therefore, all due faith, credit, and authority are, and ought to be, had and given the same. In testimony whereof, I have here- unto set my hand, and caused the great seal of the said State to be put and affixed at Augusta, the 24th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of our sovereignty and independence the eleventh. [l. s.] George Matthews. By his honor's command. J. Milton. An ordinance for the appointment of deputies from this State for the purpose of rez'ising the Federal Constitution : Be it ordained by the Representatives of the freemen of the State of Georgia, in General Assembly met, and by authority of the same, That William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Wal- ton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton, Esqs., be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, who, or any two or more of them, are hereby autho- rized as deputies from this State to meet such deputies as may be appointed and authorized by other States, to assemble in convention at Philadelphia, and to join with them in devising and dis- cussing all such alterations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and in re- porting such an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assem- bled as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several States, will effectually provide for the same. In case of the death of any of the said deputies, or of their declining their ap- pointments, the executive is hereby au- thorized to supply such vacancies. Signed, Wm. Gibbons, Speaker. By order of the house. Augusta, the 10th February, 1787. Georgia, Secretary's Office. The above is a true copy from the original ordinance deposited in my office. J. Milton, Secretary. Augusta, 24th April, 1787. The State of Georgia, by the grace of God, Free, Sovereign and Independent. To the Hon. William Fe-L, Esq. Whereas, you, the said William Few, are, in and by an Ordinance of the Gen- eral Assembly of our said State, nomi- nated and appointed a Deputy to rep- resent the same in a Convention of the United States, to be assembled at Phila- delphia, for the purpose of devising and discussing all such alterations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union. ■ You are, therefore, hereby commis- sioned to proceed in the duties required of you in virtue of the said ordinance. JQ2 IIISTOFY OF THE UNITED STATES TV FEDERAL UNION. r * n Witness our trusty and well-beloved George Matthews, Esq., our Captain- General, Governor, Commander-in-Chief, under his hand and our great seal, this 17th day of Apr.l, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of our Sovereignty and Independence the eleventh. [l. s.] George Matthews. By his honor's command. — J. Milton, Secretary. Commissions exactly similar in sub- stance and purport were also issued o (jS I'- '95- * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 205. f Madison papers, vol. ii., p. II06. \ Ibid., p. 1098. FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 17S7. 299 " Mr. Dayton declared that the smaller States could never give up their equality; that for himself he would in no event yield that security for their rights.* " Dr. Johnson, of Connecticut, would consent for numbers to be represented in one branch, but the States must be in the other." f So after the long struggle, the final re- port of the second grand committee on this subject was adopted, which retained to the States an equal vote in the Senate, the same equality under the new Consti- tution which they had under the former Articles of Confederation, and a repre- sentation in the House as is set forth in the Constitution. The complete nega- tive of a majority of the States in the Senate was secured. So it was "nomi- nated in the bond " of this " more perfect Union." In this, as in the old, it was provided that each State as a State should have an equal vote; and that no law or public measure could pass against a vote of a majority of the States. There was no contest or conflict in this Con- vention over the three-fifths ratio of rep- resentation. It was agreed to by general consent in the early days of the proceed- ings, as will hereafter appear; but after many votes and protracted discussions on other points, the plan of Mr. Pinck- ney, in the main, was adopted as the new Constitution to be proposed to the States for ratification. J Mr. Lansing and Mr. Yates, of New York, and Mr. Martin, of Maryland, had left, believing that no satisfactory adjust- ment would be made on a Federal basis. Most of the Nationals, after their de- feat on the main point of their struggle, with a patriotism seldom exhibited, * Madison pnpers, vol. ii., p. 1098. f Ibid., p. 987. J bee Appendix C, Constitution of the United States. gracefully yielded their opposition, and afterwards devoted all their powers to re- vising the Articles of Confederation, and in perfecting the plan submitted by Mr. Pinckney. This was especially the case with Mr. Madison, Mr. Wilson, and Col- onel Hamilton. All the essential features of the old Constitution were preserved. Some very important changes in detail were made. These consisted chiefly in the new organization, and new machinery introduced for the execution of the Federal powers within the sphere of their limitation. The new delegations of power were also of an important character, but few in number. The following are the principal ones of these: 1st. The power of the States, in Con- gress assembled, to raise revenues by duties upon imports, etc. ; and to lay taxes directly upon the people of the several States, to be apportioned on the "three- fifths " basis of population. 2d. The power to make uniform rules, to be observed in all the States, for the admission of aliens to citizenship in the several States, and like uniform rules regulating bankruptcy. 3d. The power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the sev- eral States. 4th. The power to promote the pro- gress of science and useful arts by se- curing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their writings and discoveries. Besides these, there is hardly a new power delegated in the new Constitution of sufficient importance to need special notice. The covenants between the States, imposing restraints and assuming obliga- tions, were almost in the same language throughout both instruments. Amongst the new restraints the most important are: 3°o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II. ist. That no State shall emit bills of credit, or make anything but gold and silver a legal tender in the payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law ; or law impairing the ob- ligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility. 2d. No State shall, without the con- sent of Congress, lay any imposts or duty upon imports, exports, etc. Of all the new obligations assumed by the States, the most important and one without which it was universally ad- mitted the amended Constitution would not have been agreed to, is that which provides for the rendition of fugitives from service from one State to another. This was on the same principle as the rendition of fugitives from justice, in the original Articles of Confederation. One other change in the mutual cov- enants needs special notice. This re- lates to the manner in which the Consti- tution thereafter should be amended. Unanimity on the part of the States was no longer to be necessary to carry an amendment, but this could be effected by a vote of three-fourths of the States, with a proviso, that no amendment should ever be made which would de- prive any State of its equal suffrage in the Senate. On the principle thus agreed to, as to future changes in the organic law of the Union, it was further cove- nanted that, " The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution be- tween the States so ratifying the same." The great object in framing the new Constitution, as the old, was to secure not only the general welfare, but the in- estimable right of local self-government by the people of the several States, which was the controlling object in their com- mon struggle for and achievement of their independence. The Constitution so. formed finally received the unanimous assent of all the twelve States present in the Convention, on the 17th of September, 1787. Mr. Randolph refused to sign the plan adopted, because the federal feature was retained. Some other individual mem- bers refused to sign for different reasons. The result of the four months' work of this most eminent body — the proposed new Constitution — was then sent, with a letter prepared by the Convention, and signed by Washington as its President, to the Congress then in session at New York ; and by them it was submitted to the States severally for their separate consideration and action, as had been provided in the call for the Convention. Mr. Madison, Colonel Hamilton, and Mr. John Jay, of New York, distin- guished Nationals at first, now entered upon a most zealous advocacy of the FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787. 301 ^mended federal system as proposed. They wrote a series of very able articles explaining its provisions, over the signa- ture of "Publius," which was afterwards put in book form, and known as the " Federalist." In one of these papers, Mr. Madison, with great point and truth, said of the new Constitution: " The change consists much less in the addition of new powers to the Union than in the invigoration of its original powers." By the terms of the plan proposed, it was to go into operation on the 4th of March, 1789, between any nine of the States which should ratify it by that time. In point of fact, it was adopted and ratified by Conventions duly called in all the States, except North Carolina and Rhode Island, before the close of the year 1788. In Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, it was strongly op- posed upon various grounds; chiefly, however, because it was thought that in none of its provisions was there a suffi- cient guard against the assumption of undelegated power on the part of federal functionaries, by construction and impli- cation. This was the position of Patrick Henry, who headed the opposi- tion in the Virginia Convention, as will hereafter be seen. In seven of the States ratifying it, Massachusetts leading and Virginia following, various important amendments covering these alleged de- fjcts were insisted upon ; and the ratifi- cation was carried in these State Conven- tions with the assurance that these amendments would soon be incorporated in the instrument. One of these was, that " The powers not delegated to the fJnited States by the Constitution, nor pro- hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." In the Massachusetts Convention, Mr. Samuel Adams said of this amend- ment : " It is consonant with the second arti- cle in the present Confederation, that each State retains its sovereignty, free- dom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not, by this Confederation, expressly delegated to the United States in Congress as- sembled." It may be proper to state here that this amendment, with nine others in- sisted on in like manner, was soon after- wards unanimously adopted by the States, and thus became part of the Constitution. The system, as a whole, presented the most perfect model of a " Confederated Republic," as Washington styled it, ever before established by the wisdom of men. Its new features and striking peculiarities were without example or a parallel in the annals of history.* Its wonderful and matchless framework in these particulars has attracted the atten- tion and excited the admiration of men of the greatest learning and highest states- manship throughout the civilized world. M. deTocqueville, a French philosopher of great research, after a thorough study of its nature, character, and workings, said of it many y ears ago in his work entitled "Democracy in America:" "This Constitution, which may, at first, be confounded with Federal Con- stitutions, which have preceded it, rests, in truth, upon a wholly novel theory which may be considered a great dis- covery in modern political science. In all the Confederations which pre- * See Article on Government, Appendix E., p.928 ;j2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN FEDERAL UNION. Book II., e. 7 ceded the American Constitution of 1739, the allied States, for a common object, agreed to obey the injunctions of a Federal government; but they re- served to themselves the right of ordain- ing and enforcing the execution of the laws of the Union. The American States, which combined in 1789, agreed that the Federal government should not only dictate, but should execute its own enactments. In both cases the right is the same, but the exercise of the right is different; and this difference produced the most momentous consequences." * Further on he says: "The new word which ought to express this novel thing does not yet exist. The human under- standing more easily invents new things than new words, and we are hence con- strained to employ many improper and inadequate expressions." The novel theory here referred to is that indicated by Mr. Jefferson, of a di- vision of the delegated powers into Legislative, Executive and Judiciary departments, with an organization and machinery in the conventional govern- ment thus formed, for the full exercise of all its delegated and limited powers, within its prescribed sphere, similar to those of the States creating it. This is the peculiar specific difference between the Federal Republic of the United States and all others of similar general type, to which Lord Brougham also alludes in his "Political Philosophy," when he says, in speaking of the gov- ernment of the United States: "It is not at all a refinement that a Federal Union should be formed; this is the natural result of men's joint opera- tions in a very rude state of society. *De Tocfjueville's Democracy in America, vol. i., p. 198. See, also, War Between tfye States, vol. i., p. 4S4, et seq. But the regulation of such a Union upon pre-established principles, the formation of a system of government and legisla- tion in which the different subjects shall be not individuals but States, the ap- plication of Legislative principles to such a body of States, and the devising means for keeping its integrity as a Fedcracy, while the rights and powers of the indi- vidual States are maintained entire, is the very greatest refinement in social policy to which any state of circum-. stances has ever given rise, or to which any age has ever given birth." * The Federal Union under the new Constitution is indeed without a proto- type in history. The Union under the first Articles of Confederation was what the Germans styled a staaten-bund ; but the Union under the new Constitution was far from being what they termed a Bundesstaadt ; that is, an " incorporate " Union of several States.f As Dc Tocque- ville says, the proper or appropriate spe- cific name for it has not yet been dis- covered. One very peculiar charac- teristic of the system, as well- as the entire system of American State govern- ments, is that the supreme power of the several Departments of Government, the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive, are not only separate, but independent of each other ; they are co-ordinate and equal, neither is subordinate to the other; the Legislative is superior in its proper sphere of action — so the Judiciary, and so the Executive. More will be said on that part hereafter. According to the provisions of the new Constitution, the Chief Executive, desig- nated as President, and an alternate des- ignated as Vice-President, were to be elected by Colleges of Electors, to be *See Brougham's Political History, vol. iii., p. 3j6. f See War Between the States, vol. ii., pp. 18, 19. ANAL YSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION: 303 chosen in the several States respectively. The number of the College in each State was to be equal to the number of the Senators and Members of the House to which each State was entitled in the Congress of the States under the new organization.* As soon, therefore, as the Congress, under the old organization, received offi- cial notice of the ratification of the new Constitution by the requisite number of States, they immediately proceeded to provide for its going into operation at the time designated. All the necessary elections, State and Federal, were ordered, and held in every ratifying State except New York. Wash- ington received every electoral vote cast, in all the Colleges of the States thus voting, for the office of President; and John Adams was chosen for the office of Vice-President, by a majority of the votes cast in the Colleges. The United States now entered upon a new and more brilliant career under their new Constitution. But before proceeding with the inau- guration of Washington and the new ad- ministration, and for a clear understand- ing of the changes of the government effected by the new Constitution, the truth of history requires a further exam- ination into the provisions of the instru- ment itself, and the action and the de- bates in the State Conventions upon its adoption and ratification. This will be the work of the next two chapters. It may be proper here to say that Mr. John Jay, who was one of the con- tributors to the Federalist, and who acted so conspicuous a part in effecting a rati- fication of the Constitution, was not a member of the Federal Convention. *See Appendix D., p. 924. CHAPTER VIII. AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION AS FRAMED AND SUBMITTED BY THE CON- VENTION AND THE CONGRESS TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE STATES FOR THEIR RATIFICATION. Consirts of: Mutual covenants, and delegations of power, as did the Articles of Co< .'deration — No change in the nature of the government — The new feature of the three-fifths Federal ratio of representation fully explained — Great and grave popular errors refuted — History of the clause — Speech of John Adams on the first Article of Con- federation in 1776 — Discussion in the Continental Congress in 1783, when the three-fifths ratio was adopted — In the Federal Convention of 1787 — It was received nem. con. — View of the new restraints imposed on the States, as well as new covenants — The document shows it was Federal in its every feature. T is proper now to look more thor- oughly into the Constitution itself (see Appendix D.), and get as clear an understanding of the nature of the government thereby instituted as can be obtained from the words and terms used in setting forth its various provisions ; keeping closely in mind all the antecedent facts, the Articles of Confederation — the old law — the evils complained of under it — the objects of the calling of the Conven- tion — and the remedies proposed by the Convention as set forth in the new Con- stitution. All these matters should be kept constantly in view in the examina- tion of the terms of the Constitution. Upon an analysis of the entire provisions of this instrument from beginning to end, similar to the analysis made of the Articles of Confederation, it will be seen that the whole may be divided into mutual covenants between the States, and into the delegation of specific powers by the States severally to the States jointly, to be exercised by them jointly 304 HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES. Book II., c. 8 in the way and manner specifically set forth in the mutual covenants. The mutual covenants relate partly to the new organization, new machinery, and the general divisions of the exercise of sovereign powers delegated to the dif- f.-rent departments of Government, Legis- lative, Judicial and Executive, partly also to the restrictions on the several States; and the duties and obligations assumed by them, just as under the former or old Constitution. Without going into details, as in the Articles of Confederation, it may be sufficient to inquire, after carefully scanning the whole together, if it is not apparent upon the face of the instrument that the object was solely to perfect and j continue under the new organization,' with enlarged powers, the Federal Union then existing between the States for the r niedying of certain defects therein, for which a Convention had been called. One of these defects, as has been seen, was the proper basis of taxation under the Articles of Confederation. 1 he basis finally fixed on in 1 776 was the value of lands in the several States.* This was found to be unequal and unjust; hence the Congress under the first confedera- tion had, as early as 1783, recommended an amendment to the Constitution in this particular, as has been stated in the last chapter. The States, however, had not ratified it; and this was one of the great evils complained of under the old system. This, it will be seen, was rem- edied in the second section of the first article of the Constitution; by fixing the number of population, as the basis of taxation, upon a certain ratio therein set forth, known as the "Three- Fifths" or Federal ratio of representative population. It is proper here to state that there is * See Article viii., Appendix C. no clause in the Constitution, the history or the effect of which seems to be so little understood by men of note and hierh standing, both at the North and South, as this. It is not among the "compromises," so called, of the Consti- tution at all. It was not carried by any bluster or dictation on the part of South- ern members in the Convention, and its effects, whether so designed or not, greatly weakened and lessened the po- litical power of those States in which slavery existed, instead of strengthening and enlarging it. It has been asserted that "by this compromise" the "slave power," not then, it is true, confiivd to the South, secured to itself that provision in the Constitution which gave "three- fifths " representation in Congress to the slaves, as the property of their owners. By this arrangement, it has been asserted that the men who owned five slaves were endowed with as much political power as three white freemen, and that by this "oligarchical power" the Southern States were enabled to force through the Mis- souri compromise, and, afterwards, the annexation of Texas. Now the true history of this matter is as follows: this proposition in the Federal Convention came from Mr. James Wilson, the distinguished member from Pennsyl- vania. It was offered at an early day in the proceedings, on the nth of June, while the Virginia plan was under con- sideration.* Mr. Rufus King, of Mas- sachusetts, had submitted a resolution that the vote in the House of Represent- atives ought not to be as it was under the articles of union as they then were ; that is, that each State ought not, in that branch of Congress about to be estab- lished, to be entitled to an equal vote without regard to population, but that * See Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 168. ANAL YSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION. the vote in that branch of Congress ought to be according to some equitable ratio of representation. Whereupon Mr. Wilson offered an amendment in these words: " In proportion to the whole number of whites and other free citizens and in- habitants of every age, sex and condition, including those bound to servitude for a term of years, and three-fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes, in each State." This was intended to include only three-fifths of the negro population in the States, who were bound to service not for a term of years, but for life. In other words, it was intended that five negro slaves should be counted as only three in fixing the basis of popular rep- resentation in the lower House of Con- gress. This amendment was immedi- diately adopted, and it thus stands in the Constitution. Every State in the Con- vention voted for it, North and South, except New Jersey and Delaware.* It was not carried by any undue influ- ence on the part of southern members, or by any "truckling" on the part of northern members. To understand how this came about as it did, and why the amendment was offered as it was, and so readily and generally accepted as it was, and thus became engrafted in the Constitution, it will be proper to go back to the proceed- ings of the first Congress of the Con- federation in forming the first Articles of Union, and their proceedings under those articles before the meeting of the Federal Convention. This examination will make the whole matter perfectly clear, and utterly refute the prevalent idea in reference to this clause in * Elliot's Dcb.Ues, 20 p. 1 69 305 the Constitution. Let it be borne in mind, then, that Richard Henry Lee's resolution for the appointment of a com- mittee to draw up a declaration of the independence of the States, in June, 1776, provided also for the raising of a com- mittee to report articles of union and confederation between the States.* Let it be borne in mind, also, that this com- mittee did report articles of union be- tween these States on the 12th of July, 1776."}" These articles then reported contained this among other clauses : "Art. XI. All charges of war and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare and allowed by the United States assem- bled, shall be defrayed out of the common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several colonies, in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex, or quality, except Indians not paying taxes in each colony, a true count of which, distinguishing the white inhabi- tants, shall be triennially taken and transmitted to the Assembly of the United States. I This proposition for levying the quotas of taxes for the Federal treasury which each State was to bear in equal and just proportion, rested upon the then gen- erally received opinion, that population was the best and most reliable standard that could be resorted to in estimating the capacity of any people, community, or State, to raise money for taxes. It was thought that the productive capacity of a people in the accumulation of wealth .which was the proper subject of taxation, could be more nearly arrived at by esti- mating their numbers than in any other way. Hence numbers, or the relative entire population of the States respec- * Ante, p. 225. f Ante, p. 226 J Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 70. 306 HISTORY 01 THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 8 lively, was thought to be the best cri- terion for the levying of quotas to be contributed by each for the common tie- fence. This is apparent from the dis- cussion on this proposed article. There were then not over two-thirds of the slaves in all the States at the South, if General Bloomfield's estimate, furnished the convention in 1787, was at all cor- rect.* Two objections, however, were raised to the article as reported. These ob- jections were not confined to the mem- bers from the Southern States. The first was, that slaves were property, and, as population, and not property, was to be the basis of taxation, this species of property should not enter at all into the count of numbers. The other was much better founded in reason and justice. That was, that the value of the labor of unskilled negroes was not equal to the value of the labor of intelligent white men; that the ca- pacity of negroes to produce wealth was greatly inferior to that of white men ; and hence in the count, the negro ele- ment in the population of the several States should not be rated equal to the white element. Some contended that the ratio in this respect should be one white person to two negro slaves. Mr. John Adams, of Massachusetts, fully an- swered the first objection, and insisted there was no merit in the second. Here is what he said on both : Mr. John Adams observed : "That the number of people are taken by this article as an index of the wealth of a State, and not as subjects of taxation ; that as to this matter, it was of no consequence by what name you called your people ; whether by that of freemen or of slaves ; that in some countries the laboring poor * See Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 194. are called freemen, in others they were called slaves ; but that the difference as to the State was imaginary only. What mattered it whether a landlord employ- ing ten laborers on his farm gave them only as much money as would buy them the necessaries of life, or gave them those necessaries at shorthand ? The ten la- borers add as much wealth to the State, increase its exports as much in the one case as in the other. Certainly five hun- dred freemen produce no more profits, no greater surplus for the payment of taxes, than five hundred slaves. There- fore, the State in which the laborers are called freemen should be taxed no more than that in which are those called slaves. Suppose, by an extraordinary operation of nature or of law, one-half of the laborers of a State could, in the course of one night, be transformed into slaves; would the State be made the poorer or the less able to pay taxes ? That the condition of the laboring poor in most countries — that of fishermen particularly, of the Northern States — is as abject as that of slaves. It is the number of laborers which produces the surplus for taxation; and numbers, therefore, indis- criminately, are the fair index to wealth; that it is the use of the word 'property' here, and its application to some of the people of a State, which produces the fallacy. * * * * " That a slave may, indeed, from the custom of speech, be more properly called the wealth of his master, than the free laborer might be called the wealth of his employer, but as to the State, both were equally its wealth, and should therefore equally add to the quota of its tax." The objection on the "property" view after the speech of Mr. Adams on that point seems to have been given up ; but, from a failure to agree upon the proper ANAL YSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 307 ratio between the relative capacity of the negroes and whites tr> produce wealth, the basis of population as a standard for levying quotas on the States in the first article of Union, was aban- doned, and the value of lands in the several States was adopted in lieu, as we have seen.* But that was not found to work well, owing to the great differences in the prices of lands in the several States. The subject was again revived in Con- gress, and a proposition was made by that body on the 18th of April, 1783, to amend the Constitution or articles of confederation in this particular, and to go back upon population as the proper basis as heretofore stated. It was then that this "three-fifths" was agreed upon as the proper ratio in this respect. The matter underwent a very full discussion. It was not characterized by sectional lines. The whole debate was upon the isolated point, how the negroes should be rated in the count in reference ex- clusively to the efficiency of their labor, or their relative capacity to produce wealth. The following extract from the debates will show its nature, tenor and character :f Mr. Wolcott was for rating them as 4 to 3. Mr. Carroll as 4 to 1. Mr. Wil- liamson said he was principled against slavery ; and that he thought slaves an incumbrance to society instead of in- creasing its ability to pay taxes. Mr. Higginson as 4 to 3. Mr. Rutledge said he would agree to rate slaves as 2 to I ; but he sincerely thought 3 to 1 would be a juster pro- portion. Mr. Holton as 4 to 3. Mr. *See Appendix C, Article viii. f Elliot's Debates, vol. v., p. 79. See Constitution View of War Between States, vol. ii., p. 100. Osgood said he did not go beyond 4 to 3. Now in this discussion it is seen that Mr. Wolcott from Connecticut was for rating them as 4 to 3 ; Mr. Higginson the same ; Mr. Holton and Osgood from Massachusetts the same ; Mr. Rutledge from South Carolina contended that 3 to 1 was a proper basis, but he would agree to 2 to 1 ; while Mr. Williamson from North Carolina stated " that he was principled against slavery," and looked upon the blacks as an incumbrance to society instead of increasing its ability to pay taxes. The first vote was taken upon rating negroes as 3 to 2. On this the States were equally divided ; ten only voted. It was then that Mr. Madison, -well known to have been himself against slavery, said : " that in order to give proof of the sin- cerity of his professions of liberality, he would propose that slaves should be rated as 5 to 3." This was accepted by Mr. Wilson, the same who moved it in the federal convention, and agreed to by a decided majority of the States; two only voting against it — Rhode Island and Connecticut. Massachusetts was divided on the question. The debates on the question, when and where it originated, and when it was agreed to by the States, show that there was nothing sectional in it. There was nothing pro- slavery or anti-slavery about it. When agreed to it had no reference whatever to representation, nor any relative ratio of representation in Congress of either persons or property. The States all then had an equal vote in the Congress without regard to the number or char- acter o( their respective population. But this counting of five negro slaves as equal to three white persons was agreed upon after mature consideration and thorough 3 o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Boos I!.,c.8 investigation of the subject for years as a proper basis for direct taxation, when population was resorted to as a proper standard of fixing the quotas of the States respectively. This proposed amendment to the articles of confedera- tion made by Congress in 17S3 had not been ratified by the States, as stated, when the Federal Convention met in 1787. In that body it was offered by Mr. Wilson of Pennsylvania, as we have said. He was a member of the Con- gress of 1 783, which proposed this amend- ment to the Constitution. It was un- questionably upon the then universally admitted doctrine that representation in legislative bodies and direct taxation should go together. It was with this view and upon this principle solely, and with no view to a property representation at all, that it was incorporated as it was in the Constitu- tion. The counterpart of this provision which followed as a matter of course from the principle on which it was adopted, is the 4th clause, of the 9th section, 1st article of the Constitution, which declared that : " No capitation or direct tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken." Whatever may have been the design when it was offered, the effect of this three-fifths clause, as has been observed, was greatly to weaken, instead of strengthening the political power of the States in which slavery existed; for very soon the number of slaves in the South- ern States w^s considerably increased by acquisitions from the Northern States. The acts of the Northern States abolish- ing the institution of slaver)' within their limits were generally prospective in their character. Under the operation of these acts, humane as they have been claimed to be, the slaves of these States were to some extent — to what is not and never will be exactly known — brought South and sold before the period fixed for their final emancipation. Less than half, it is believed by some, in point of fact, ever became free under these acts, however philanthropic they may have been in their objects. This is the way, however, in which many slaves at the North found a resting-place in the more Southern States. But besides this, and mainly, it must be borne in mind that the system of direct taxation, which was looked to at the time the Constitution was made as the chief mode of raising the ordinary revenues of the Federal government, was soon virtually aban- doned; and the Southern States, in which the slaves had almost entirely accumu- lated, as stated, under the Northern sys- tem of abolition, lost their full and just popular representation under it, without the compensating advantages contem- plated at the time of its adoption in the matter of the assessment of the taxes. The taxes were raised in another way, and by this clause these States were de- prived of their equal and just voice in their imposition, though their people had to pay their full part of them. Under the operation of other clauses of the Constitution by construction the princi- ple intended to be carried out by the adoption of this clause was not only ignored but reversed. Taxation and representation did not go together; for under the indirect mode of raising the revenues of the Federal government, there is no reason in justice or right or on any principles of political or moral equity whatever why the entire population of the Southern States should not have been taken in the estimate for a basis of ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 309 popular representation in the House of Representatives, as well as the entire population of the Northern States. In- stead of counting only three-fifths of their laboring population, the whole five- fifths should have been counted. The fact that they were called " property " made no difference in principle on this subject whatever, as Mr. Adams clearly showed in the speech just quoted from him. The " property " in them consisted in nothing but the legal right to their services for life ; this legal right on the part of the owner was truly called prop- erty, but it in no respect differed in kind or species of property from the legal right of every employer to the services of those who, by contract or law, are bound to service for any time shorter than for life. This legal right to services so due for a term ever so short is as much property in the one case as the other. It is a property that is maintained in all courts without reference to the length of the term for which it is due. On this point, therefore, which seems to be just and correct, there is no reason why all those persons in the Southern States who are bound to service for life should not have been counted in a census for a basis of popular representation as well as all minors, apprentices, or others bound to service for a shorter term in all the States. The owner of five slaves at the South, therefore, was not endowed under this clause of the Constitution with as much political power as three white men at the North. The owner of five, or an hundred, or a thousand was endowed with no more political power under it than the employer of five, or an hundred, or a thousand operatives at the North — that is, none at ail. After this digression in explanation of this new and important feature in the Constitution, and in refutation of so great errors in the popular mind in regard to it, we will now continue the proposed analysis of other parts of the Constitu- tion with a view to ascertain from its words its true meaning and nature. It was to be established, as is seen on its face, not over, " but between " the States ratifying. The leading ideas throughout the whole instrument clearly appear that the new government was to be a Federal Union of States, as the old one was. States pervade the whole instrument. The Senators were to be elected by the Legislatures of the several States. The House of Representatives was to be composed of members chosen by the people of the several States, and to be chosen by electors possessing such qualifications as each State by itself may prescribe for the more numerous branch of the State Legislature; thus providing that every member of the Federal Legis- lature or Congress should be chosen in the one branch directly by the States as such, and in the other branch by con- stituents from and controlled absolutely by the States severally: " Representation and taxation shall be apportioned among the several States. Each State shall have at least one repre- sentative. When vacancies happen in a State," etc. "Congress shall have power to regu- late commerce, etc., among the several States," etc. " Migration and importation of such persons as any of the States," etc. " No preference shall be given," etc., " to the ports of one State over those of another," etc. Nor shall vessels bound- to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another." " No State shall enter into any treaty," etc. 3io HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 8 " No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts," etc. " No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war unless actually invaded," etc. Nothing appears more prominent in the whole instrument than States. The very first article in the Constitution de- clares that all legislative powers under it shall be vested in a "Congress of the United States." The term "Congress of the United States " was familiar to all at that day. It was well known to mean the United States in Congress assembled. Congress means a meeting or assemblage; the Congress of the States means a meeting or assemblage of States. The title of Congress under the Confederation had been the " United States of America in Congress assembled." The same is still retained to this very day. The enact- ing clause of every law passed by the Congress under the Constitution is in these words: • " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress as- sembled." Every law that has been passed from the beginning under this Constitution, as under the Articles of Confederation, derives its sole authority, as its face shows, from States in Con- gress assembled. The new delegations of power amounted to few, as stated in the last chapter. So, also, of the new restraints on the States as therein set forth. The other prohibitions not stated in the last chapter arc almost identical with those set forth in the Articles of Confederation. The striking feature in the new Constitution is that the States under it have in their control their militia. The Congress under the Constitution has no power over the militia of the States except to provide by law, for organizing, arming and disciplining them ; and for calling them out for specific pur- poses ; and governing them when in the service of the United States. But the States retained to themselves severally the power of training and officering and sending them forth upon any call made for them. By the old Articles of Confederation the Congress had the appointment of all the officers of the militia when in ser- vice, from the regimental officers up. By the new articles the power is reserved to the States to appoint all the officers of the militia, whether in service or not, from the lowest to the highest. Great stress has been put upon the judicial department of the new system. This, however, is no new feature. In the old Articles of Confederation there was a judiciary provided. It was en- larged in the new Constitution, that is all. There is no change in principle in this particular. Mr. Madison truly said that all the more important and considerable pov/ers under the Constitution were vested in the Congress under the Articles of Con- federation. If the States, then, under the confederation, formed a Federal Re- public and Union, is it not clear that their relations in this respect were not changed under the new Constitution ? Does not this also clearly appear from the clause next to the last in the Con- stitution, which provides for future changes or amendments in it? In this it is expressly stipulated that in all future changes or amendments the States as States shall act, and that it shall re- ANAL VS/S OF THE CONSTITUTION. 311 quire the concurrence of three-fourths of all the States in their State organizations, and by their State governments, to make any alteration or amendment. It is, moreover, especially stipulated that no amendment shall ever be made which shall deprive the States of their equal suffrage in the Senate. Still again, in one of the mutual covenants, section iv., article iv., it is stipulated that : " The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them from invasion, and on application of the Legislature or of the executive, when the Legislature can- not be convened, against domestic violence." Is not this the unmistakable language of confederation? Does it not clearly set forth a solemn obligation on the part of her confederates to maintain, sustain and secure by their joint authority to each State such Republican institutions as each State for itself, in its own sove- reign will, may adopt? What is a State? Did not the framers of this instrument understand the meaning of the words they used ? Was it not well understood in public law that a State is a body politic? a community self-sustaining and organized with all the powers and func- tions of government within itself? Vattel, one of the highest authorities, says : " Nations or States are bodies politic ; societies of men united together for the purpose of their mutual safety and ad- vantage, by the efforts of their combined strength. Such society has her affairs and her interests ; she deliberates and takes resolutions in common, thus becoming a moral person, who possesses an under- standing and a will peculiar to herself, and is susceptible of obligations and rights."* Is it not apparent from the records that the States by which the Constitution was framed were a set of separate bodies poli- tic, as described by Vattel where he says : " Several sovereign and independent States may unite themselves together by a perpetual confederacy without ceasing to be each individually a perfect State. They will together constitute a Federal Republic ; their joint deliberations will not impair the sovereignty of each mem- ber, though they may, in certain respects, put some restraint on the exercise of it in virtue of voluntary engagements." \ Was not this just what the States of this Federal Union did in their first Articles of Confederation, as well as in their second ? Again, were they not just such States as Montesquieu says may form a confederate republic?! " This form of government is a con- vention by which several small States agree to become members of a larger one which they intend to form. It is a kind of assemblage of societies, that constitute a new one, capable of increas- ing by means of new associations, till they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body. * * * " The State (that is, the conventional State formed by the confederation) may be destroyed on one side and not on the other. The confederacy may be dis- solved, and the confederates preserve their sovereignty. As this government is composed of petty republics, it enjoys the internal happiness of each, and with respect to the external situation, it is * Preliminaries to Treatise on the Laws of Nations, p. 49. f Vattel's Laws of Nations, p. 3. + Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, book ix., chap. ; 312 ///S/OA'V OE THE CXI I ED STAVES. HnOK II., C. 8 possessed, by means of the association, of all the advantages of large mon- archies." Montesquieu's description of a confed- erate union of separate States seems to have been the model of the leading members of the Convention, as the de- bates show. Were not the States, that met in the Philadelphia Convention and framed the Constitution now under con- sideration, just such States as Cicero says ought to possess within themselves the principles of indestructibility? "A State," says he,* "should be so constituted as to live forever' " For" (says this profound philosopher, in his same treatise) " there is no one thing in which human virtue can more closely resemble the Divine Powers than in establishing new States or in preserv- ing those already established." Were States ever more providentially, yea, divinely established, than these had been ? Under their whole superstruc- ture, in their Declaration of Independence lie the great truths announced by po- litical bodies for the first time in the history of the world, of the capacity and the right of man to self-government — that all governments "derived their just powers from the consent of the gov- erned," that " whenever any government becomes destructive of the ends" for which it is established, " it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and or- ganizing its powers in such forms as, to them, may seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." This is asserted to be the inalienable right of all Peoples and States. On these immutable principles the governments of these States had been established separately Cicero on the Commonwealth. and severally. Were States ever estab- lished that so well deserved to live for- ever? Was there ever a grander ex- hibition of this highest of all bare human virtues, according to Cicero, than was presented by the patriot fathers of 17S7 in forming this constitution? Was not their main, chief and leading object throughout, and the object of the Union under it, to preserve and perpetuate as far as possible by human agency these separate and several States so estab- lished ? Is not the Constitution upon its face, as made, without looking into the debates in the States ratifying it, with the amendments afterwards incor- porated into it, federal in its every fea- ture from beginning to end ? Even the very Preamble, which has been so erroneously misconstrued and misinterpreted, shows upon its very face and front, that it is a Constitution " of States and for States," not a Constitution for the mass of the people in one con- solidated Republic, to be the same mu- nicipal authority throughout. The Pre- amble as originally reported and agreed to was in these words : "We, the people of the State of New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare and establish, the following Con- stitution for the government of ourselves and our posterity." * This Preamble was subsequently amended in two particulars: the first was to leave out the names of the indi- vidual States. This was done for the obvious reason that it was not known which of the States would ratify it. * See Journal of the Convention, Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 231. ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 3*3 Hence it would have been exceedingly inappropriate to set forth in advance the States by name. By the terms of the Constitution, article vii., it was to go into operation between such of the States as might ratify it, if as many as nine or more should do so. It was readily perceived that it would be exceedingly out of place to have in the Preamble of the Organic law, terms embracing Peoples or States who might not put themselves under it. For in- stance, Rhode Island and North Caro- lina did not ratify the Constitution for some time. During that time they were out of the Union ; they might have remained out forever. Suppose they had, how oddly would the Preamble to this Constitution have read, " We, the people of Rhode Island, New Hamp- shire, North Carolina," etc, when the people of Rhode Island, New Hamp- shire, North Carolina, etc., had done no such thing ! To preserve the symmetry of their work, and retain the same idea, was what was effected in this change of phraseology; as it was finally deter- mined on, it would embrace such people only as should adopt it. They would then be the people of the States respec- tively which would be thereby united. States united and United States mean the same thing. The other change is of greater impor- tance and significance. The words " es- tablish the following Constitution for the government of ourselves and our pos- terity," were stricken out, and the words in the Preamble as they now stand were substituted, i. c, " We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- erty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." * Had the Preamble in this particular been left as first agreed upon, the inference might have been that it was intended, as has been construed, that it was a Constitu- tion for the people of the United States in mass, as one consolidated Republic. But the substituted words preclude that inference, and seem to show conclusively that it was intended to be a Constitution made by States and for States ; to establish justice, secure domestic tranquillity, to provide for the com- mon defence, to promote the general welfare, and to secure to the people of each of them, and their posterity, the blessings of liberty — through the establishment of a Federal government, by which joint operation the rights and welfare of each would be established. As it stands, the instrument " is ordained and established " as a Constitution for States, for the United States — the same as if it read for the States of this Union. The change in this particular is very im- portant ; for by close attention it will be perceived that its purpose is directly opposite to that so often attributed to it from this Preamble. In the change of phraseology, besides what has been said, the introduction of the word Union has a very marked significance of itself. The new Constitution was proposed, as set forth in this Preamble, " in order to form a more perfect Union ; " that is, it was to make more perfect " the Union " then existing — that we have seen was a Union of States, under the Articles of Confed- eration. It was to revise these Articles, to enlarge the powers of Congress under them, or in other words to perfect that * See Journal of Convention, Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 29S. 3H HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 Union, that the Convention was called, and that was the object aimed at in all their labors (or at least the majority of the Convention), from the beginning to the conclusion of their work, as set forth in this Preamble.* Is it a violation of reason or logic therefore to assume, that the new Constitution, as appears from its very terms, was intended to be a contin- uation of the Federal Union established in 1776? We shall in the next chapter sec what the States thought of it, at the time of its adoption by them, respec- tively. CHAPTER IX. THE ACTION OF THE SEVERAL STATES UPON THE CONSTITUTION, WHEN SUB- MITTED TO THEM UNDER THE REQUEST OF THE CONVENTION AND THE ORDER OF CONGRESS, AND HOW IT WAS CON- SIDERED BY THEM AT THE TIME OF THEIR RESPECTIVE RATIFICATIONS. THE DEBATES IN THE STATES, AND COM- MENTS ON THEM. HE next proper step then, in tracing the true history of facts and events, will be to look into ■^ the action of the several States upon this Constitution, when it was submitted to them as proposed by the Congress of the States, as re- quested by the Convent o i, and see how it was understood by them, and what construction was put upon it by its sup- porters and advocates, as well as its op- ponents. The main point of inquiry is, whether it was considered by them as a surrender of the Sovereignty of the sev- eral States, or simply as a new consti- tutional compact, between the States, upon the same Federal basis as the former Articles of their Union had been. *Sec War Between the Stales, vol. i., p. 137, el seq. The action of the States will be taken up in the order of their ratifications. In each case, first presenting the action of the State, and secondly, the debates, where any have been preserved, as part of the res gesta, showing the understanding of the States, in their ratification, as appears from the record. FIRST, DELAWARE. The Legislature of the State of Dela- ware called a Convention of her people to consider the Constitution, and take action upon it, according to the request of Congress. In the Convention of this State, there seems to have been no division and no discussion. At least, none of the debates in that body, if any were had, have been preserved. The action of the Convention was set forth in the following words : " We, the deputies of the people of Delaware State, in Convention met. having taken into our serious considera- tion the Federal Constitution, proposed and agreed upon by the deputies of the* United States, in a General Convention, held at the city of Philadelphia, on the 17th day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, have approved, as- sented to, ratified and confirmed, and by these presents do, in virtue of the power and authority to us given, for and in -behalf of ourselves and our constituents, fully, freely and entirely approve of, assent to, ratify and confirm, the said Constitution. Done in Convention at Dover, this seventh day of December, in the year aforesaid, and in the year of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth."* In this very act of ratification, it is expressly styled, by the sovereign people * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 319. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 3*5 of Delaware, "The Federal Constitu- tion." Indeed, no one can doubt, for a moment, from the course of her dele- gates, in the Philadelphia Convention, that the people of Delaware understood the Constitution, as they here style it, to be Federal in its character, and that the sovereignty of the State was still re- tained. SECOND, PENNSYLVANIA. The next State in order was Pennsyl- vania. In this, as in the case of Dela- ware, first will be presented the action of the State and then the debates, as far as they have been preserved, to see what light they throw upon this action. First, then, the action of the Convention is in these words : " In the name of the people of Penn- sylvania. Be it known unto all men, that we, the Delegates of the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Convention assembled, have assented to and ratified, and by these presents do, in the name and by the authority of the same people, and for ourselves, assent to and ratify the fore- going Constitution for the United States of America. Done in Convention at Philadelphia, the twelfth day of Decem- ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names." * No allusion in this is made to the character of the instrument or of the understanding of the members of the Convention of it, further than their styling it a " Constitution for the United States of America." That is, a Consti- tution /^r States United, and not for the whole mass of the people of these States * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 319. in the aggregate. This of itself would seem to be quite enough to show that they considered it Federal or Federative in its character ! But we are not left in doubt or to in- ference on this point. The debates in the Convention of Pennsylvania have been in part preserved. The speeches of Mr. Wilson, at least, who had been in the Federal Convention that framed the Constitution, and who was also in the State Convention that ratified it, we have. These, it is true, are all of these debates that we have, but they throw much light upon the subject. Mr. Wilson was un- doubtedly one of the ablest and most zealous of the Nationals in the Federal Convention. But when their plan failed, lie, as Hamilton, Morris, King, and Madi- son did, gave the Constitution agreed upon his warm support. What he said, therefore, in the State Convention, touching the character or nature of the Constitution, which was finally agreed upon, is entitled to great weight, and particularly all his dis- claimers, as to its being a consolidation of the whole people of the country into one single grand National Republic. Let us, then, in the second place, see what was his judgment of it, as given to the Pennsylvania Convention. In opening the deliberations of that body, he said: * " The system proposed, by the late Convention, for the government of the United States, is now before you. Of that Convention, I had the honor to be a member. As I am the only member of that body, who has the honor to be also a member of this, it may be expected that I should prepare the way for the deliberations of this Assembly, by un- folding the difficulties which the late Convention was obliged to encounter; * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 418. 316 by pointing out the end which they pro- posed to accomplish; and by tracing the general principles which they have adopted for the accomplishment of that "A very important difficulty arose from comparing the extent of the country to be governed, with the kind of govern- ment, which it would be proper to establish in it. It has been an opinion, countenanced by high authority, ' that the natural property of small States is to be governed as a Republic; of middling ones to be subject to a Monarchy; and of large empires to be swayed by a despotic prince; — and that the conse- quence is, that, in order to preserve the principles of the established government, the State must be supported in the ex- tent it has acquired; and that the spirit of the State will alter in proportion as it extends or contracts its limits.' (Montes- quieu, b. viii., c. 20.) This opinion seems to be supported, rather than contradicted, by the history of the governments in the old world. Here, then, the difficulty appeared in full view. On one hand, the United States contain an immense extent of territory; and, according to the foregoing opinion, a despotic govern- ment is best adapted to that extent. On the other hand, it was well known that, however the citizens of the United States might with pleasure submit to the legitimate restraints of a Republican Constitution, they would reject with in- dignation the fetters of despotism. What, then, was to be done? The idea of a Confederate Republic presented itself. This kind of Constitution has been thought to have ' all the internal advan- tages of a Republican, together with the external force of a monarchical govern- ment.' (Montesquieu, b. ix., c. I, 2; Paley, 199, 202.) HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 "Its description is 'a convention, by which several States agree to become members of a larger one, which they intend to establish. It is a kind of assemblage of societies that constitute a new one, capable of increasing by means of further association.' (Montesquieu, b. ix., c. I .) The expanding quality of such government is peculiarly fitted for the United States, the greatest part of whose territory is yet uncultivated. " But while this form of government enables us to surmount the difficulty last mentioned, it conducted us to another of which I am now to take notice. It left us almost without precedent or guide, and, consequently, without the benefit of that instruction which, in many cases, may be derived from the Constitution, and history, and experience, of other nations. Several associations have fre- quently been called by the name of Confederate States, which have not, in propriety of language, deserved it. The Swiss Cantons are connected only by alliances. The United Netherlands are, indeed, an assemblage of societies; but this assemblage constitutes 110 new one, and, therefore, it does not correspond with the full definition of a Confederate Republic. The Germanic body is com- posed of such disproportioned and dis- cordant materials, and its structure is so intricate and complex, that little useful knowledge can be drawn from it. Ancient history discloses, and barely discloses, to our view, some Confederate Republics — the Achajan League, the Lycian Confederacy, and the Amphic- tyonic Council. But the facts recorded concerning their Constitutions are so few and general, and their histories are so unmarked and defective, that no satis- factory information can be collected from them, concerning many particular ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 317 circumstances, from an accurate discern- ment and comparison of which, alone, legitimate and practical influences can be made, from one Constitution to another. Besides, the situation and dimension of those Confederacies, and the state of society, manners, and habits, in them, were so different from those of the United States, that the most correct de- scriptions could have supplied but a very- small fund of applicable remark. Thus, in forming this system, we were deprived of many advantages, which the history and experience of other ages and other countries would, in other cases, have afforded us." * * * * * "To be left without guide or prece- dent was not the only difficulty in which the Convention was involved, by propos- ing to their constituents a plan of a Confederated Republic. They found themselves embarrassed with another, of peculiar delicacy and importance. I mean that of drawing a proper line be- tween the National government and the governments of the several States. It was easy to discover a proper and satis- factory principle on the subject. What- ever object of government is confined, in its operation and effects, within the bounds of a particular State, should be considered as belonging to the govern- ment of that State; whatever object of government extends, in its operation or effects, bcyo7id the bounds of a particular State, should be considered as belong- ing to the government of the United States. But though this principle be sound and satisfactory, its application to particular cases would be accompanied with much difficulty, because, in its ap- plication, room must be allowed for great discretionary latitude of construc- tion of the principle. In order to lessen or remove the difficulty arising from discretionary construction on this sub- ject, an enumeration of particular in- stances, in which the application of the principle ought to take place, has been attempted with much industry and care. It is only in mathematical science that a line can be described with mathematical precision. But I flatter myself, that, upon the strictest investigation, the enumeration will be found to be safe and unexceptionable, and accurate, too, in as great a degree as accuracy can be expected in a subject of this nature. Particulars under this head will be more properly explained, when we descend to the minute view of the enumeration, which is made in the proposed Consti- tution. "After all, it will be necessary that, on a subject so peculiarly delicate as this, much prudence, much candor, much moderation, and much liberality should be exercised and displayed, both by the Federal Government, and by the govern- ments of the several States. It is to be hoped that those virtues of government will be exercised and displayed when we consider that the powers of the Fed- eral government and those of the State governments are drawn from sources equally pure." * * * * "The United States may adopt any one of four different systems. They may become consolidated into one gov- ernment, in which the separate existence of the States shall be entirely absolved. They may reject any plan of union or association, and act as separate and un- connected States. They may form two or more Confederacies. They may unite in one Federal Republic. Which of these systems ought to have been formed by the Convention?" After giving his opinion against the first three, he concludes thus: 3i8 HISTORY OF THE UN/TED STATES. Look II.. c. "The remaining system which the American States may adopt, is a union of them under one Confederate Republic. It will not be necessary to employ much time, or many arguments, to show that this is the most eligible system that can be proposed. By adopting this system, the vigor and decision of a wide-spread- ing Monarchy may be joined to the freedom and beneficence of a contracted Republic. The extent of territory, the diversity of climate and soil, the number, and greatness, and connection of lakes and rivers, with which the United States are intersected, and almost surrounded, — all indicate an enlarged government to be fit and advantageous for them. * * * If those opinions and wishes are as well founded as they have been gen- eral, the late Convention were justified in proposing to their constituents one Confederate Republic, as the best system of a National government for the United Stntos ^ In another speech, on 1st December, 1787, as the discussion progressed, he said: "We have heard much about a consolidated government. I wish the honorable gentleman would condescend to give us a definition of what he meant by it. I think this the more neces- sary, because I apprehend that the term in the numerous times it has been used nas not always been used in the same sense. It may be said, and I believe it has been said, that a consolidated gov- ernment is such as will absorb and de- stroy the government of the several States. If it is taken in this view, the plan before us is not a consolidated gov- ernment, as I showed on a former day, and may, if necessary, show further on some future occasion. On the other hand, if it is meant that the general government will take from the State governments their power in some par- ticulars, it is confessed, and evident, that this will be its operation and effect." Again, on the 4th of December, he said : "The very manner of introducing this Constitution, by the recognition of the authority of the people, is said to change the principles of the present Confederation, and to introduce a con- solidating and absorbing government. "In this Confederated Republic, the sovereignty of the States, it is said, is not preserved. We are told that there cannot be two sovereign powers, and that a subordinate sovereignty is no sovereignty. " It will be worth while, Mr. President, to consider this objection at large. " When I had the honor of speaking formerly on this subject, I stated, in as concise a manner as possible, the leading ideas that occurred to me, to ascertain where the supreme and sovereign power resides. It has not been, nor, I presume, will it be denied, that somewhere there is, and of necessity must be, a supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable authority. This I believe may justly be termed the sovereign power ; for, from that gentle- man's (Mr. Findley) account of the matter, it cannot be sovereign unless it is supreme ; for, says he, a subordinate sovereignty is no sovereignty at all. I had the honor of observing, that, if the question was asked, where the supreme power resided, different answers would be given by different writers. I men- tioned that Blackstone would tell you that, in Britain, it is lodged in the Brit- ish Parliament; and I believe there is no writer, on this subject, on the other side of the Atlantic, but supposed it to be vested in that body. I stated, further, that, if the question was asked of some politician, who had not considered the ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 319 subject with sufficient accuracy, where the supreme power resided in one gov- ernment, he would answer, that it was vested in the State Constitutions. This opinion approaches near the truth, but does not reach it; for the truth is, that the supreme, absolute, and uncontrol- lable authority remains ivitJi the people. I mentioned, also, that the practical recognition of this truth was reserved for the honor of this country. I recollect no Constitution founded on this princi- ple; but we have witnessed the improve- ment, and enjoy the happiness of seeing it carried into practice. The great and penetrating mind of Locke seems to be the only one that pointed towards even the theory of this great truth. " When I made the observation that some politicians would say the supreme power was lodged in our State Constitu- tions, I did not suspect that the honorable gentleman from Westmoreland (Mr. Findley) was included in that descrip- tion; but I find myself disappointed; for I imagined his opposition would arise from another consideration. His position is, that the supreme power re- sides in the States, as governments ; and mine is, that it resides in the people, as the fountain of government ; that the people have not — that the people meant not — and that the people ought not — to part with it to any government whatsoever. In their hands it remains secure. They can delegate it in such proportions, to such bodies, on such terms, and under such limitations, as they think proper. I agree with the members in opposition, that there cannot be two sovereign powers on the same subject. * * * This, I say, is the inherent and inalien- able right of the people; and as an illus- tration of it, I beg to read a few words from the Declaration of Independ- ence, made by the Representatives of the United States, and recognized by the whole Union. " 'We hold these truths to be self-evi- dent, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted amongst men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government be- comes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter, or abolish it, and institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.' " This is the broad basis on which our Independence was placed : on the same certain and solid foundation this system is erected. ***** " It is mentioned that this Federal government will annihilate and absorb all the State governments. I wish to save, as much as possible, the time of the House ; I shall not, therefore, recapitulate what I had the honor of say- ing last week on this subject. I hope it was then shown, that, instead of being abolished (as insinuated), from the very nature of things, and from the organiza- tion of the system itself, the State gov- ernments must exist, or the general gov- ernment must fall amidst their ruins. In- deed, so far as to the forms, it is admitted they may remain ; but the gentlemen seem to think their power will be gone. " I shall have occasion to take notice of this power hereafter ; and, I believe, if it were necessary, it could be shown that the State governments, as States, will enjoy as much power, and more 320 111ST0HY OE THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 dignity, happiness, and security, than they have hitherto done. * * " I say, sir, that it was the design of this system to take some power from the State governments, and to place it in the general government. It was also the design that the people should be ad- mitted to the exercise of some powers, which they did not exercise under the present Federation. It was thought proper that the citizens, as well as the States, should be represented. How far the representation in the Senate is a rep- resentation of States, we shall see by and by, when we come to consider that branch of the Federal government. " This system, it is said, unhinges and eradicates the State governments, and was systematically intended so to do. To establish the intention, an argument is drawn from Article 1st, Section 4th, on the subject of elections. I have already had occasion to remark upon this, and shall, therefore, pass on to the next objection. " That the last clause of the 8th Sec- tion of the 1st Article gives the power of self-preservation to the general gov- ernment, independent of the States, for, in case of their abolition, it will be al- leged, in behalf of the general govern- ment, that self-preservation is the first law, and necessary to the exercise of all other powers. " Now, let us see what this objection amounts to. Who are to have this self- preserving power? The Congress ? Who are Congress? It is a body that will consist of a Senate and a House of Rep- resentatives. Who compose this Senate ? Those who are elected by the Legis- latures of the different States. Who are the electors of the House of Represent- atives? Those who are qualified to vote for the most numerous branch of the Legislature in the separate States. Suppose the State Legislatures annihi- lated ; where is the criterion to ascertain the qualification of electors ? and unless this be ascertained, they cannot be ad- mitted to vote ; if a State Legislature is not elected, there can be no Senate, be- cause the Senators are to be chosen by the Legislatures only. " This is a plain and simple deduction from the Constitution ; and yet the ob- jection is stated as conclusive, upon an argument expressly drawn from the last clause of this section. " It is repeated with confidence, that this is not a Federal government, but a complete one, with Legislative, Execu- tive, and Judicial powers; it is a Con- solidating government. I have already mentioned the misuse of the term ; I wish the gentleman would indulge us with his definition of the word. If, when he says it is a consolidation, he means so far as relates to the general objects of the Union; so far it was intended to be a consolidation, and on such a consolida- tion, perhaps, our very existence as a nation depends. If, on the other hand (as something which has been said seems to indicate), he (Mr. Findlcy) means that it will absorb the governments of the individual States, — so far is this position from being admitted, that it is unan- swerably controverted. * „ * * " Sir, I think' there is another subject with regard to which this Constitution deserves approbation. I mean the accu- racy with which the line is drawn between the powers of the general government and those of the particular State govern- ments. We have heard some general observations on this subject, from the gentlemen who conduct the opposition. The)- have asserted that these powers are unlimited and undefined. These words ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 3 2! are as easily pronounced as limited and defined. They have already been an- swered by my honorable colleague (Mr. McKean), therefore I shall not enter into an explanation. But it is not pretended that the line is drawn with mathematical precision ; the inaccuracy of language must, to a certain degree, prevent the accomplishment of such a desire. Who- ever views the matter in a true light, will see that the powers are as minutely enumerated and defined as was possible, and will also discover that the general clause, against which so much exception is taken, is^nothing more than what was necessary to render effectual the partic- ular powers that are granted. " But let us suppose — and this suppo- sition is very easy in the minds of the gentlemen on the other side — that there is some difficulty in ascertaining where the true line lies. Are we, therefore, thrown into despair ? Are disputes be- tween the general government and the State governments to be necessarily the consequence of inaccuracy ? I hope, sir, they will not be the enemies of each other, or resemble comets in conflicting orbits, mutually operating destruction, but that their motion will be better rep- resented by that of the planetary system, where each part moves harmoniously within its proper sphere, and no injury arises by interference or opposition. Every part, I trust, will be considered as a part of the United States. Can any cause of distrust arise here ? Is there any in- crease of risk ? Or, rather, are not the enu- merated pozvers as iv ell defined here, as in the present Articles of Confederation? " Again, on the I ith of December, 1787, he said : " It is objected to this system, that under it there is no sovereignty left in the State governments. * * * "We are next told by the 'honorable gentlemen in opposition (as indeed we have been from the beginning of the de- bates in this Convention, to the conclu- sion of their speeches yesterday) that this is a consolidated government, and will abolish the State governments. " Definitions of a consolidated govern- ment have been called for ; the gentle- men gave us what they termed defini- tions, but it does not seem to me, at least, that they have, as yet, expressed clear ideas upon the subject. I will en- deavor to state their different ideas upon this point. The gentleman from West- moreland (Mr. Findley), when speaking on this subject, says that he means by a consolidation, ' that government which puts the thirteen States into one.' "The honorable gentleman from Fay- ette (Mr. Smilie) gives you this defini- tion : ' What I mean by a consolidated government is one that will transfer the sovereignty fiom the State governments to the general government.' "The honorable member from Cum- berland (Mr. Whitehill), instead of giving you a definition, sir, tells you again that 'it is a consolidated government, and we have proved it so.' " These, I think, sir, are the different descriptions given to us of a consolidated government. As to the first, that it is a consolidated government that puts the thirteen United States into one — if it is meant that the general government will destroy the governments of the States — I will admit that such a government would not suit the people of America. It would be improper for this country, because it could not be proportioned to its extent on the principle of freedom. But that description does not apply to the system before you. This, instead of placing the State governments in jeop- 322 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 ardy, is founded on their existence. On this principle its organization depends; it must stand or fall, as the State govern- ments are secured or ruined. Therefore, though this may be a very proper descrip- tion of a consolidated government, yet it must be disregarded as inapplicable to the proposed Constitution. // is not treated with decency when such insinua- tions are offered against it." * So much for the debates in the Penn- sylvania Convention. It is to be re- gretted that no part of these debates has been preserved but the speeches of Mr. Wilson, from which these extracts have been read. From these, however, it abundantly appears that the nature and character of the government to be insti- tuted under the Constitution of the United States was thoroughly discussed. It appears clearly that there was strong ition to many of its features, but what is of very great importance in tracing the true facts of history, it is equally clear that Mr. Wilson, and the majority who acted with him in that Convention, held the Constitution to be strictly Federal, and that the government instituted by it was a Federal govern- ment, or Confederated Republic. What- ever may have been his original views as to a consolidation of the States into one n itional republic, he distinctly and frankly avowed that the Constitution which had been agreed upon did not ef- fect that result. He declared further, that according to his understanding of the Constitution, the State governments, as States under it, would enjoy as much power, and more dignity, happiness and security, than they had done before. He insisted that no cause of distrust should arise from apprehensions on that score; for the powers of the Federal govern- * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 481, 4S2, 502, 503. ment, said he, with emphasis, were as well defined in the Constitution as under the Articles of Confederation. His whole powers seem to have been put forth to demonstrate that it was not a consolidated government, as the oppo- nents of it argued that it would be con- strued to be. He declared that it was not treating the Constitution with decency, to make such insinuations against it. These speeches of Mr. Wilson, without doubt, controlled the majority of the Pennsylvania Convention, who gave the Constitution their sanction. They show clearly what must have been the under- standing of the friends and advocates of the Constitution as to its nature, and as to the nature of the Union thereby estab- lished, when they styled it, in their ordi- nance of ratification, " a Constitution for States." These speeches of Mr. Wilson were extensively published in the news- papers of the day. They were widely circulated in other States, and Mr. Curtis says had great influence on the action of other State Conventions.* Let us, however, proceed with the other States. The next in order is New Jersey. THIRD, NEW JERSEY. The Legislature of this State called a Convention of her people, to which the Constitution was referred. That Conven- tion came to the following resolutions and ordinance: f " In Convention of the State of New Jersey ( 1 8th December, 1787). "Whereas, A Convention of Delegates from the following States, viz : New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, * Curtis on the Constitution of U. S. f Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 320. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 323 met at Philadelphia, for the purpose of deliberating on, and forming, a Constitu- tion for the United States of America, — finished their session on the 17th day of September last, and reported to Congress the form which they had agreed upon, in the words following, viz. : "And whereas, Congress, on the 28th day of September last, unanimously did resolve, ' That the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several Legis- latures, in order to be submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the Convention made and provided in that case ; " % And whereas, The Legislature of this State did, on the 29th day of October last, resolve in the words following, viz. : " 'Resolved, unanimously, That it be recommended to such of the inhabitants of this State as are entitled to vote for Representatives in General Assembly, to meet in their respective counties on the fourth Tuesday in November next, at the several places fixed by law for holding the annual elections, to choose three suitable persons to serve as delegates from each county in a State Convention, for the purposes hereinbefore mentioned, and that the same be conducted agreeably to tiie mode, and conformably with the rules and regulations prescribed for con- ducting such elections; "'Resolved, unanimously, That the persons so selected to serve in State Convention do assemble and meet together on the second Tuesday in De- cember next, at Trenton, in the county of Hunterdon, then and there to take into consideration the aforesaid Consti- tution, and if approved of by them, finally to ratify the same in behalf and on the part of this State, and make report thereof to the United States in Congress assembled, in conformity with the reso- lution thereto annexed ; " 'Resolved, That the sheriffs of the respective counties of this State shall be, and they are hereby, required to give as timely notice as may be, by advertise- ments, to the people of their counties, of the time, place, and purpose of hold- ing elections, as aforesaid ; "And zt'hereas, The Legislature of this State did also, on the 1st day of No- vember last, make and pass the following act, viz. : 'An Act to authorize the people of this State to meet in convention, de- liberate upon, agree to, and ratify, the Constitution of the United States pro- posed by the late General Convention, — Be it enacted by the Council and Gen- eral Assembly of this State, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful for the people thereof, by their Delegates, to meet in Convention to deliberate upon, and, if approved of by them, to ratify, the Constitution for the United States, proposed by the General Convention held at Philadelphia, and every act, matter and clause, therein contained, conform- ably to the resolutions of the Legislature, passed the 29th day of October, 1787 — any law, usage, or custom to the contrary in any wise, notwithstanding ; ' " Now be it known, That we, the Del- egates of the State of New Jersey, chosen by the people thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, having maturely deliberated on and considered the aforesaid proposed Constitution, do hereby, for and on be- half of the people of the said State of New Jersey, agree to, ratify, and confirm the same and every part thereof. " Done in Convention, by the unani- mous consent of the members present, this 1 8th day of December, in the year 324 HISTORY OE THE UX1TED STATES. Book II., c. 9 of our Lord 1787, and of the Indepcnd- ' encc of the United States of America the twelfth." There was no opposition to the Con- stitution in the Convention of New Jersey. It was unanimously adopted. But the action of the Convention shows how they understood it. They agreed to and ratified it as " a Constitution for the United States of America." FOURTH, GEORGIA. The next State in order is Georgia. Her action is embodied in an ordinance passed the 2d of January, 17S8, and is as follows : * " In Convention, Wednesday, January 2d, 1788. ■• '/',' alt to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: "Whereas, the form of a Constitution for the government of the United States of America was, on the 17th day of Sep- tember, 1787, agreed upon and reported to Congress, by the deputies of the said United States, convened in Philadelphia, which said Constitution is written in the words following, to wit : "And whereas, the United States in Congress assembled, did, on the 28th day of September, 1787, Resolve, unani- mously, ' That the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several Legis- latures, in order to be submitted to a Con- vention of Delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the Convent on made and provided in that case ; ' "And -whereas, the Legislature of the State of Georgia did, on the 26th day of October, 1787, in pursuance of the above-recited resolution of Congress, "Resolve. That a Convention be elected on the day of the next general election, * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 323. and in the same manner that represent- atives are elected ; and that the said Convention consist of not more than three members from each county; and that the said Convention should meet at Augusta, on the fourth Tuesday in De- cember then next, and as soon there- after as convenient proceed to consider the said report and resolutions, and to adopt or reject any part or the whole thereof; " Now know ye, that we, the delegates of the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention met, pursuant to the resolu- tions of the Legislature aforesaid, having taken into our serious consideration the said Constitution, have assented to, rati- fied, and adopted, and by these presents do, in virtue of the powers and authority to us given by the people of the said State for that purpose, for and in behalf of ourselves and our constituents, fully and entirely assent to, ratify, and adopt the said Constitution. " Done in Convention, at Augusta, in the said State, on the 2d day of Janu- ary, in the year of our Lord 1788, and of the independence of the United States the twelfth." In the Georgia Convention there was no opposing voice. The Constitution was unanimously assented to, ratified, and adopted as " a Constitution for the government of the United States of America." A government of States. A Federal Republic. FIFTH, CONNECTICUT. We come now to Connecticut. First, we will look at the words of her ratifica- tion. These are as follows : " In the name of the people of the State of Connecticut : We, the delegates of the people of said State, in General Con- vention assembled, pursuant to an act of ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 325 the Legislature in October last, have assented to, and ratified, and by these presents do assent to, ratify, and adopt the Constitution reported by the Con- vention of Delegates in Philadelphia, on the 17th day of September, a. d. 1787, for the United States of America. " Done in Convention, at Hartford, this 9th day of January, a. d. 1788. In wit- ness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands."* Connecticut ratified the Constitution as a form of government for States. This shows the understanding of the Conven- tion, so far as these words used in the ratification go. But we are not left to bare inference or argument from them. What Roger Sherman and Oliver Ells- worth, two of the delegates from this State, said of the Constitution, in a letter to the Governor of the State, on the ad- journment of the Federal Convention, is on record. In that they stated dis- tinctly that the sovereignty of the States was retained, t But besides this, we have the debates in the ratifying Con- vention. These will now be noted in the second place. There were several men of great ability in this Convention, among whom no one was more prominent than Mr. Ellsworth himself. He was afterwards Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. On him, as a mem- ber of the Philadelphia Convention, de- volved the part of opening the discussion in the body then assembled to consider the Constitution. His opening words were as follows : " Mr. President: — It is observable that there is no preface to the proposed Con- stitution, but it evidently presupposes two things ; one is the necessity of a * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 321. f See War Between the States, vol. i., p. 154. Federal government : the other is the inefficiency of the old Articles of Confed- eration." After going through with a detail of the structure of the government pro- posed, he concluded by saying: " The Constitution before us is a com- plete system of legislative, judicial and executive power. It was designed to supply the defects of the former system ; and I believe, upon a full discussion, it will be found to answer the purposes for which it was designed."* He afterwards, in reply to objections " that the powers delegated by the Constitution were of themselves incon- sistent with the nature of a Federal gov- ernment" said : " The honorable objector maintains if Congress levies money they must- legis- late. I admit it. ' Two legislative pow- ers,' says he, ' cannot legislate on the same subject in the same place.' I ask, why can they not ? It is not enough to say they cannot. I wish for some rea- son. I grant that both cannot legislate upon the same object at the same time, and carry into effect laws which are con- trary to each other. But the Constitu- tion excludes everything of this kind. Each Legislature has its province ; their limits may be distinguished. * * " Two several Legislatures have in fact existed, and acted at the same time, and in the same territory. It is in vain to say they cannot exist, when they actually have done it. In the time of war we had an army. Who made the laws for the army ? By whose authority were offenders tried and executed ? Congress. By their authority a man* was taken, tried, condemned, and hanged in this very city. He belonged to the army ; he was a proper subject of mili- * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 185-190. HISTORY OF THE UMTKD STATES. 326 tury law ; he deserted to the enemy ; he deserved his fate."* In this way he maintained that there would be no change in principle in the operation of laws passed by the Con- gress, under the Constitution, in levying taxes directly upon the people, from laws that had been passed by the Con- gress, under the Confederation in other cases. The great benefit that would flow from the extension, in the Constitu- tion, of this principle, that had been acted on to a limited extent, under the Confederation, he proceeded to explain with great force, and showed its perfect practicability under a Federal system. The point was a collection of revenues by levies on the people, instead of requi- sitions on the States. In another speech he said : "Hence, we sec, how necessary for the Union is a coercive principle. No man pretends the contrary; we all see and feel this necessity. The only ques- tion is, shall it be a coercion of law, or a coercion of arms? There is no other possible alternative. Where will those who oppose a coercion of law come out? Where will they end? A necessary con- sequence of their principles is a war of the States, one against the other. I am for coercion by law — that coercion which acts only upon delinquent individuals. This Constitution dors not attempt to coerce Sovereign bodies, States, in their political capacity. No coercion is applicable to such bodies, but that of an armed force. If we should attempt to execute the laws of the Union by sending an armed force against a delinquent State, it would involve the good and bad, the innocent and guilty, in the same calamity. But this legal coercion singles out the guilty Book II., c. tf * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 196. individual, and punishes him for break- ing the laws of the Union."* He was speaking of the great advan- tage that would result from delegating to the Congress power to pass laws that would operate directly upon the people, and not upon the States in their corporate capacities. This, he maintained, would be a great improvement in the Federal system, especially in the collection of taxes. And he contended further, that it really involved no new principle; that the Congress had, by virtue of the Arti- cles of Confederation, acted upon the same principle, so far as persons in the land and naval forces were concerned. Nothing in this speech is inconsistent with his and Mr. Sherman's joint letter to Governor Huntingdon touching the reserved sovereignty of the States. In- deed, in this very speech, he says the Constitution does not attempt to coerce sovereign bodies, States, in their political capacity. There is no trace, in the de- bates in the Connecticut Convention, of a contrary opinion being entertained. The general doctrine of all the friends of the Constitution in this Convention was, not only that it established a Federal Government, but that the rights of the States were amply secured by it. This was the judgment of Governor Hunting- don, who was a member of the Conven- tion. It was the judgment of Richard Law, who said : " Consider that this general government rests upon the State governments for its support. It is like a vast and magnificent bridge, built upon thirteen strong and stately pillars. Now, the rulers, who occupy the bridge, cannot be so beside themselves as to knock away the pillars which support the whole fabric." * ♦Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 197. f Ibid., p. zoi. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 327 Oliver Wolcott, who was afterwards Secretary of the Treasury, and the de- voted political friend of Mr. Hamilton, said : " The Constitution effectually se- cures the States in their several rights. It must secure them, for its own sake ; for they are the pillars which uphold the general system. The Senate, a con- stituent branch of the general Legisla- ture, without whose assent no public act can be made, are appointed by the States, and will secure the rights of the several States." "So well guarded is this Constitu- tion throughout, that it seems impossi- ble that the rights either of the States or of the people should be destroyed." * This is quite enough to show what the Convention of Connecticut thought of the Constitution, and hence we see in their ratification they use the same words; they adopt it as a Constitution " for the United States of America." SIXTH, MASSACHUSETTS. We now come to the State of Massa- chusetts. It is tedious to go through all these dry, musty records. But it is essential to the ascertainment of the truth of history; they are the title-deeds of our political inheritance of Constitu- tional Liberty. From them alone can the essential facts be brought to light. It would be difficult to imagine how any stronger proof could be adduced to establish the fact that Massachusetts, at the time, considered the Union perfected by the Constitution to be a Federal one between the States, than her own action on the adoption of it furnishes. First, the ratification itself. It is in these words: " Commonwealth of Massachusetts : " The Convention having impartially * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 201. discussed, and fully considered, the Con- stitution for the United States of America, reported to Congress by the Convention of delegates from the United States of America, and submitted to us by a resolu- tion of the General Court of the said Commonwealth, passed the 25th day of October, last past, and acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe in afford- ing the people of the United States, in the course of his providence, an oppor- tunity, deliberately and peaceably, with- out fraud or surprise, of entering into an explicit and solemn compact with each other, by assenting to and ratifying a new Constitution, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, in- sure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity, — do, in the name and in behalf of the people of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, assent to and ratify the said Constitution for the United States of America. "And as it is the opinion of this Con- vention that certain amendments and alterations in the said Constitution would remove the fears, and quiet the appre- hensions of many of the good people of this Commonwealth, and more effectually guard against an undue administration of the Federal government, — the Con- vention do therefore recommend that the following alterations and provisions be introduced into the said Constitution : " I. That it explicitly declare that all powers not expressly delegated by the aforesaid Constitution are reserved to the several States, to Be by them exer- cised. " II. That there shall be one repre- sentative to every thirty thousand per 328 HISTORY OF HIE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 sons, according to the census mentioned j in the Constitution, until the whole number of the representatives amount to two hundred. " III. That Congress do not exercise the powers vested in them by the 4th section of the 1st article but in cases where a State shall neglect or refuse to make the regulations therein mentioned, or shall make regulations subversive of the rights of the people to a fxec and equal representation in Congress, agree- ably to the Constitution. " IV. That Congress do not lay direct taxes but when the moneys arising from the impost and excise are insufficient for the public exigencies, nor then until Con- gress shall have first made a requisition upon the States, to assess, levy and pay their respective proportion of such re- quisition, agreeably to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as the Legislatures of the States shall think best ; and in such case, if any State shah neglect or refuse to pay its proportion pursuant to such requisition, then Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, to- gether with interest thereon at the rate of six per cent, per annum, from the time of payment prescribed in such requisition. " Y. That Congress erect no company of merchants with exclusive advantages of commerce. "VI. That no person shall be tried for any crime by which he may incur an infamous punishment, or loss of life, until he be fust indicted by a grand jury, except in such cases as may arise in the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. "VII. The Supreme Judicial Federal Court shall have no jurisdiction of causes between citizens of different Stales, un- less the matter in dispute, whether it concerns the realty or personalty, be of the value of three thousand dollars at the least; nor shall the Federal judicial powers extend to any actions between citizens of different States, where the matter in dispute, whether it concerns the realty or personalty, is not of the value of fifteen hundred dollars at least. "VIII. In civil actions between citi- zens of different States, every issue of fact, arising in actions at common law, shall be tried by a jury, if the parties, or cither of them, request it. " IX. Congress shall at no time con- sent that any person, holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall accept of a title of nobility, or any other title or office from any king, prince, or foreign State. "And the Convention do, in the name and in behalf of the people of this Com- monwealth, enjoin it upon their repre- sentatives in Congress, at all timer., until the alterations and provisions aforesaid have been considered, agreeably to the fifth article of the said Constitution, to exert all their influence, and use all rea- sonable and legal methods to obtain a ratification of the said alterations and provisions, in such manner as is pro- vided in the said article. "And that the United States, in Con- gress assembled, ma)- have due notice of the assent and ratification of the said Constitution by this Convention, it is "Resolved, That the assent and ratifica- tion aforesaid be engrossed on parch- ment, together with the recommendation and injunction aforesaid, ami with this resolution ; and that his Fxcellency, John Hancock', F.sqr., President, and the Hon. William Cushing, F.sqr., Vice-Pres- ident of the Convention, transmit the same, countersigned by the Secretary of the Convention, under their hands and ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 329 seals, to the United States in Congress assembled." * Here we see potent words. The in- strument is recognized as a new Consti- tution ! New in contradistinction to the old one ! That was the Articles of Con- federation. It is distinctly declared to be a compact to form a more perfect Union — a more perfect Union, of course, between the same parties. Those parties were the several States, or the people of the several States, in their sovereign character. We see it was adopted as " a Constitution for the United States of America " — not, as has been repeatedly said in this work, for the whole American people, but for the American States united by the compact. The govern- ment, we see, was to be Federal. The Supreme Court of the United States is styled " the Supreme Judicial Federal Court." The whole proceedings, from beginning to end, show upon their face Federal action and Federal engage- ments. The instrument ratified was di- rected to be sent " to the United States in Congress assembled." But this is not all. The Constitution was not ratified by the Convention of Massachusetts without violent opposition. What was said pro and con is upon record. These sayings at the time constitute a part of the irs gsstcz, and are to be taken with it, if necessary, for a clearer explanation of the understanding of the resolutions they came to. There were great men in that Conven- tion — men who were the lights of the age in which they lived. Samuel Adams, Fisher Ames, Rufus King, Theophilus Parsons, James Bowdoin, and John Hancock were there. The questions involved were deemed of the most momentous character. None of *See Eilioi's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 322, 323. greater importance had engaged the at- tention of Massachusetts statesmen, since the ever memorable struggles over their charter, in 1685 and 1774, and which finally ended in the war of the Revolution, and establishment of the complete independence and sovereignty of the Commonwealth. By many it was thought this sovereignty would be endan- gered by the adoption of this new Consti- tution. At the head of this class was the renowned Samuel Adams. With him stood conspicuously, Singletary, Bod- man , Widgery, Taylor, Nason, and Choate. They doubtless had in mind the insid- ious encroachments upon their ancient rights by the crown of Great Britain, through the instrumentality of a Ran- dolph and Andrews, in 1683 and 1685. The reply of the deputies of Massachu- setts to the proposition of the crown at that time was not forgotten. "The civil liberties of New England are part of the inheritance of their fathers; and shall we give that inheritance away ? Is it objected that we shall be exposed to greater sufferings ? Better suffer than sin. It is better to trust the God of our fathers than to put confidence in princes ! If we suffer, because we dare not comply with the wills of men against the will of God, we suffer in a good cause, and shall be accounted martyrs in the next generation, and at the great day! The deputies consent not, but adhere to their former bills ! " * They did not lose sight of the fact that these fathers did become martyrs, and that their self-sacrifice was amply vindicated in the revolution of 168S, and in the re-establishment of their charter. It was also fresh in their minds, how like attempts to despoil them of their liberties had been made in their own * Bancroft, vol. ii., pp. 126, 127. 330 IUS10RY OE THE UNITED STATES. Took II., c. times by George III., in 1774, and hew ! gloriously their resistance to his en- croachments had resulted. We can easily account, therefore, for the apprehensions awakened in the breasts of such men upon the prcscnta- [ tion of this new Constitution. On its face it did not reserve expressly the sover- | Secondly, then, let us sample these debates to see the prevailing sentiments on both sides. Mr. Shurtliff. "The Convention says, they aimed at consolidation of the Union." Mr. Parsons. "The distinction is be- tween a consolidation of the States and a consolidation of the Union." SAMUEL ADAMS. eignty of the States, severally, as the old I Mr. Jones, of Boston. "The word one had done. At first a very large consolidation has different ideas — as majority of the Convention were de- different metals melted into one mass, cidedly opposed to its adoption. The two twigs tied into one bundle."* session lasted for a month lacking two j Mr. Ames. "The Senators will rep- days. The debates have been published ! resent the sovereignty of the States. by order of the State Legislature and * Massachusetts Debates, published by order of make a volume of themselves. ' the State, p. 316. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 331 The Representatives are to represent the people." * Mr. Gore. " The Senate represents the sovereignty of the States," etc.f Mr. Ames again observed, "That an objection was made against the Consti- tution, because the Senators are to be chosen for six years. It has been said that they will be removed too far from the control of the people, and that, to keep them in proper dependence, they should be chosen annually. It is neces- sary to premise that no argument against the new plan has made a deeper impression than this, that it will produce a consolidation of the States. This is an effect which all good men will depre- cate. For it is obvious, that, if the State powers are to be destroyed, the repre- sentation is too small. The trust, in that case, would be too great to be con- fided to so few persons. The objects of legislation would be so multiplied and complicated that the government would be unwieldy and impracticable. The State governments are essential parts of the system, and the defence of this arti- cle is drawn from its tendency to their preservation. The Senators represent the sovereignty of the States ; in the other House, individuals are represented. The Senate may not originate revenue bills. It need not be said that they are principally to direct the affairs of wars and treaties. They are in the quality of ambassadors of the States, and it will not be denied that some permanency in their office is necessary to a discharge of their duty. Now, if they were chosen yearly, how could they perform their trust? If they would be brought by that means more immediately under the influence of the people, then they will represent the State Legislatures less, and become * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 11. f Ibid, p. 18. the representatives of individuals. This belongs to the other House. The ab- surdity of this, and its repugnancy to the Federal principles of the Constitu- tion, will appear more fully, by suppos- ing that they are to be chosen by the people at large. If there is any force in the objection to this article, this would be proper. "But whom, in that case, would they represent ? Not the Legislatures of the States, but the people. This would totally obliterate the Federal features of the Constitution. What would become of the State governments, and on whom would devolve the duty of defending them against the encroachments of the Federal government? A consolidation of the States would ensue, which it is conceded would subvert the new Consti- tution, and against which this very article, so much condemned, is our best security. Too much provision cannot be made atrainst a consolidation. The State sjov- ernments represent the wishes, and feel- ings, and local interests of the people. They are the safeguard and ornament of the Constitution; they will protract the period of our liberties; they will afford a shelter against the abuse of power, and will be the natural avengers of our violated rights. "A very effectual check upon the power of the Senate is provided. A third part is to retire from office every two years. By this means, while the Senators are seated for six years, they are admon- ished of their responsibility to the State Legislatures. If one-third new mem- bers are introduced, who feel the senti- ments of their States, they will awe that third whose term will be near expiring. This article seems to be an excellence of the Constitution, and affords just ground to believe that it will be, in 332 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 practice as in theory, a Federal Repub- lic."* Mr. Rodman (in speaking of the clause conferring the general powers of the Congress in levying and collecting taxes, etc.) remarked, " It had been said that the sovereignty of the States remains with them. He thought this section en- dangered that sovereignty, and the powers in that section ought to have been more clearly defined, as to the right or power of the government to use force in collecting taxes," etc.f Mr. Singletary "thought that no more power could be given to a despot than to give up the purse-strings of the people." X Mr. Choatc. " Gentlemen say this section (eighth, giving general powers to Congress) is as clear as the sun, and that all power is retained that is not * Elliot's Debates, vol. i:..p. 45, et st'- ereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not, by this Confederation, expressly delegated to the United States in Con- gress assembled. I have long considered the watchfulness of the people over the conduct of their rulers the strongest guard against the encroachments of power; and I hope the people of this country will always be thus watchful." * Amongst others, Fisher Ames fol- lowed, in a speech of some length, in which he said : " There was not any government which he knew to subsist, or which he had ever heard of, that would bear a comparison with the new Constitution. Considered merely as a literary performance, it was an honor to our country. Legislators have at length condescended to speak the language of philosophy ; and, if we adopt it, we shall demonstrate to the sneering world, who deride liberty, be- cause they have lost it, that the principles of our government are as free as the spirit of our people. * See Elliot's Debates, veil, ii., pp. 130, 131. Also War Between the States, vol. i., pp. 242-244. " I repeat it, our debates have been profitable, because upon every leading point we are at last agreed. Very few among us now deny that a Federal government is necessary to save us from ruin ; that the Confederation is not that government ; and that the proposed Con- stitution, connected with the amend- ments, is worthy of being adopted. The question recurs, Will the amendments prevail, and become part of the system ? In order to obtain such a system as the Constitution and amendments, there are but three ways of proceeding — to reject the whole and begin anew ; to adopt this plan, upon condition that the amend- ments be inserted into it, or to adopt his Excellency's proposition." * President Hancock concluded the de- bate. " I give my assent," said he, " to the Constitution, in full confidence that the amendments proposed wili soon be- come a part of the system. These amendments, being no wise local, but calculated to give security and ease alike to all the States, I think that all will agree to them." The Constitution was then ratified, as we have seen, by only nineteen majority. The whole number of the Convention was three hundred and fifty- five. Governor Hancock, in his message to the Legislature, 27th of February, 1 7 S S , communicating the action of the Con- vention, said : " The objects of the proposed Consti- tution are, defence against external ene- mies, and the promotion of tranquillity and happiness amongst the States. * * " The amendments proposed by the Convention are intended to obtain a con- stitutional security of the principles to which they refer themselves, and must * Elliot's Debates, Massachusetts Convention, vol. "••PP- iS5. «5 6 - ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 33$ meet the wishes of all the States. I feel myself assured that they will very early become a part of the Constitution, and when they shall be added to the proposed plan, I shall consider it the most perfect system of government, as to the objects it embraces, that has been known amongst mankind." * With this record in hand, who can doubt as to how Massachusetts under- stood what she was doing? Is it not clear, beyond question, that she ratified the new Constitution in place of the old ? That she considered it a compact, be- tween States, as much as the Articles of Confederation ? Was there a single sup- porter or advocate of it in the Conven- tion, who did not hold it to be strictly Federal in its character? Did they not all understand its great object to be, as Governor Hancock said, defence against foreign enemies, and the promotion of tranquillity and happiness among the States? Were not all their apprehen- sions quieted by the early adoption of their first great amendment, and nearly all the rest ? Can there be a reasonable doubt on the question ? But we will proceed to the next State in order. SEVENTH, MARYLAND. The action of the State of Maryland is recorded in these words : " In Convention of the delegates of the people of the State of Maryland, April 28, 1788 : we, the delegates of the State of Maryland, having fully consid- ered the Constitution of the United States of America, reported to Congress, by the Convention of deputies from the United States of America, held in Phila- delphia, on the 17th day of December, * Massachusetts Debates, published by order of the Legislature. in the year 1787, of which the annexed is a copy, and submitted to us by a res- olution of the General Assembly of Maryland, in November session, 1787, do, for ourselves, and in the name and on behalf of the people of this State, assent to, and ratify the said Constitu- tion. " In witness whereof, we have here- unto subscribed our names."* In this State there was no material division of sentiment. There was little or no discussion. The vote on it was sixty-three to eleven. f It was simply assented to, and ratified as the " Consti- tution of the United States of America." The Convention of Maryland styled it a Constitution of States. EIGHTH, SOUTH CAROLINA. The next State in order is South Car- olina. First, as to the action of her Convention. That is set forth in these words : " In Convention of the people of the State of South Carolina, by their repre- sentatives, held in the city of Charleston, on Monday, the 12th day of May, and continued by divers adjournments to Friday, the 23d day of May, Anno Dom- ini 1788, and in the twelfth year of the independence of the United States of America. " The Convention, having maturely considered the Constitution, or form of government, reported to Congress by the Convention of delegates from the United States of America, and submitted to them by a resolution of the Legisla- ture of this State, passed the 17th and 18th days of February last, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 324. •j- Ibid., vol. ii., p. 549. 35 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of the said United States, and their posterity — Do, in the name and behalf of the peo- ple of this State, hereby assent to and ratify the said Constitution. " Done in Convention, the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. "And whereas, It is essential to the preservation of the rights reserved to the several States, and the freedom of the people, under the operations of a Gen- eral Government, that the rights of pre- scribing the manner, time, and place of holding the elections to the Federal Legislature, should be forever insep- arably annexed to the sovereignty of the several States ; this Convention doth declare, that the same ought to remain, to all posterity, a perpetual and funda- mental right in the local, exclusive of the mlerfcroicc of the General Govern- ment, except in cases where the Legis- latures of the States shall refuse or neglect to perform and fulfil the same, according to the terms of the said Con- stitution. This Convention doth also declare, that no section or paragraph of the said Constitution warrants a con- struction that the States do not retain every power not expressly relinquished by them, and vested in the General Gov- ernment of the Union. "Resolved, That the General Govern- ment of the United States ought never ,to impose direct taxes, but where the moneys arising from the duties, imposts, and excise, are insufficient for the public exigencies, HOT then until Congress shall have made a requisition upon the States to assess, levy, and pay their respective proportions of such requisitions ; and in case any State shall neglect or refuse to pay its proportion, pursuant to such requisition, then Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, together with interest thereon, at the rate of six per centum per annum, from the time of payment prescribed by such requisition. "Resolved, That the third section of the sixth article ought to be amended by inserting the word ' other' between the words ' no' and ' religious.' "Resolved, That it be a standing in- struction to all such delegates as may hereafter be elected to represent this State in the General Government, to exert their utmost abilities and influence to effect an alteration of the Constitu- tion, conformably to the aforegoing res- olutions. "Done in Convention, the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth."* In these proceedings wc sec, clearly, that the understanding was that the Constitution was Federal in its character. The Congress is styled " The Federal Legislature," and, in the accompanying paper, proposing amendments, the re- served sovereignty of the several States is mentioned as a matter understood, and an express declaration that the Con- stitution had been assented to and rati- fied, with the understanding that no section or paragraph of the Constitution warranted a construction that the States did not retain every power not expressly relinquished by them. This was in the nature of a protocol, which went up with the paper, forever fixing the understand- ing of the State, with which she had entered into the compact, and the under- standing with which her ratification was accepted by the other States. * Elliot's Debates, vol, <., ■,>. j-5- ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 337 Secondly, let us look into the debates. Very few speeches made in this Con- vention have been preserved. No one disputed the character of the govern- ment. The speeches related, mostly, to particular powers delegated. From one of them we perceive, however, that there was spirited opposition made by a re- spectable minority. This was headed by Patrick Dollard, of Prince Fredericks. He said, " My constituents are highly alarmed at the large and rapid strides which this new government has taken towards despotism. They say it is big with political mischiefs, and pregnant with a greater variety of impending woes to the good people of the Southern States, especially South Carolina, than all the plagues supposed to issue from the poisonous box of Pandora." * On the question of ratification, the vote stood 149 to 73. The most important debate in South Carolina, on the Constitution, was in the Legislature, on the proposition to call a Convention to take it into consideration. In this body, as in the Convention, there was a respectable and spirited minority against the Constitution, though the call for a Convention was unanimous. In the debate on that question, Hon. Rawlins Lowndes concluded his speech by saying, " He wished for no other epitaph, than to have inscribed on his tomb, ' Here lies the man that opposed the Constitution, because it was ruinous to the liberty of America !'"f These apprehensions and forebodings were, doubtless, awakened by the utter- ance of such sentiments as those which fell from General Pinckney, in this dis- cussion, which Judge Story quotes. " He did maintain that the States sever- ally were never sovereign, but in this * Elliot's Debates, vol. iv., p. 337. flbid, p. 311. position he was not sustained, either by the Legislature, or the Convention, as we have seen by the Protocol of the latter." NINTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE. The next State in order is New Hampshire. Her action is set forth in the following words: " In Convention of the delegates of the people of the State of New Hamp- shire, June 2 1st, 1788. " The Convention, having impartially discussed and fully considered the Con- stitution for the United States of Amer- ica, reported to Congress by the Con- vention of delegates from the United States of America, and submitted to us by resolution of the General Court of said State, passed the 14th day of December, last past, and acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the supreme Ruler of the universe in afford- ing the people of the United States, in the course of His providence, an oppor- tunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud or surprise, of entering into an explicit and solemn co. lpact with each other, by assenting to and ratifying a new Constitution, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and to their posterity, — Do, in the name and behalf of the people of the State of New Hampshire, assent to and ratify the said Constitution for the United States of America. And as it is the opinion of this Convention, that certain amend- ments and alterations in the said Con- stitution would remove the fears and quiet the apprehensions of many of the good people of this State, and more effectually guard against an undue ad- 338 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. ministration of the Federal government, — The Convention do, therefore, rec- ommend that the following alterations and provisions be introduced in the said Constitution: " I. That it be explicitly declared that all powers not expressly and particularly delegated by the aforesaid Constitution are reserved to the several States, to be by them exercised. "II. That there shall be one repre- sentative to every thirty thousand per- sons, according to the census mentioned in the Constitution, until the whole number of representatives amount to two hundred. "III. That Congress do not exercise the powers vested in them, by the fourth section of the first article, but in cases when a State shall neglect or refuse to make the regulations therein mentioned, or shall make regulations subversive of the rights of the people to a free and equal representation in Congress; nor shall Congress in any case make regulations contrary to a free and equal representa- tion. " IV. That Congress do not lay direct taxes, but when the moneys arising from impost, excise, and their other resources, are insufficient for the public exigencies; nor then, until Congress shall have first made a requisition upon the States, to assess, levy, and pay their respective proportions of such requisition, agree- ably to the census fixed in the said Con- stitution, in such way and manner as the Legislature of the State shall think- best; and in such case, if any State shall neglect, then Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, together with the interest thereon, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, from the time of payment prescribed in such requisi- tion. " V. That Congress shall erect no company of merchants with exclusive advantages of commerce. "VI. That no person shall be tried for any crime, by which he may incur an infamous punishment, or loss of life, until he first be indicted by a grand jury, except in such cases as may arise in the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. "VII. All common-law cases, be- tween citizens of different States, shall be commenced in the common-law courts of the respective States; and no appeal shall be allowed to the Federal court, in such cases, unless the sum or value of the thing in controversy amount to three thousand dollars. "VIII. In civil actions, between citi- zens of different States, every issue of fact, arising in actions at common law, shall be tried by jury, if the parties, or either of them, request it. "IX. Congress shall at no time con- sent that any person, holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall accept any title of nobility, or any other title or office, from any king, prince, or foreign State. "X. That no standing army shall be kept up in time of peace, unless with the consent of three-fourths of the members of each branch of Congress; nor shall soldiers, in time of peace, be quartered upon private houses, without the consent of the owners. 11 XI. Congress shall make no laws touching religion, or to infringe the rights of conscience. " XII. Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion. "And the Convention do, in the name and in behalf of the people of this State, enjoin it u;->on their representatives in ACTION OF THE STATES OX THE CONSTITUTION. 339 Congress, at all times, until the altera- tions and provisions aforesaid have been considered, agreeably to the fifth article of the said Constitution, to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal methods to obtain a ratification of the said alterations and provisions, in such manner as is provided in the ar- ticle. "And that the United States, in Con- gress assembled, may have due notice of the assent and ratification of the said Constitution by this Convention, it is "Resolved, That the assent and ratifi- cation aforesaid be engrossed on parch- ment, together with the recommendation and injunction aforesaid, and with this resolution ; and that John Sullivan, Esqr., President of the Convention, and John Langdon, Esqr., President of the State, transmit the same, countersigned by the Secretary of Convention, and the Secretary of State, under their hands and seals, to the United States, in Con- gress assembled." * New Hampshire followed the prece- dent of Massachusetts, and adopted her form of proceedings throughout, in almost the same words. No further comment is necessary on these. What has just been said on the Massachusetts ratification is applicable with all its force to that of New Hampshire. But one speech made in the Convention of this State has been preserved, and that throws no light upon the object of our inquiry. The action of the Convention, however, abundantly shows that the new Consti- tution was understood to be Federal in its character as the old one was. TENTH, VIRGINIA. We come now to Virginia, the mother * Elliof's Debates, vol. i., pp. 325-327. of States, as she has properly been called. First, we look into her action, then into the debates. The words of her ratification are as follows : " We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, duly elected in pursuance of a recommendation from the General As- sembly, and now met in Convention, having fully and freely investigated and discussed the proceedings of the Federal Convention, and being prepared as well as the most mature deliberation hath enabled us, to decide thereon — Do, in the name and in behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make known, that the powers granted under the Constitu- tion, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them, whensoever the same shall be per- verted to their injury or oppression, and that every power not granted thereby remains with them, and at their will ; that, therefore, no right of any denom- ination can be cancelled, abridged, re- strained, or modified by the Congress, by the Senate or House of Representatives, acting in any capacity, by the President, or any department or officer of the United States, except in those instances in which power is given by the Constitu- tion for those purposes; and that, among other essential rights, the liberty of con- science, and of the press, cannot be can- celled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any authority of the United States. With these impressions, with a solemn appeal to the Searcher of all hearts for the purity of our intentions, and under the conviction that whatsoever imper- fections may exist in the Constitution ought rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than to bring the Union into danger by a delay with a 340 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c hope of obtaining amendments previous to the ratifications, — we, the said dele- gates, in the name and behalf of the peo- ple of Virginia, do, by these presents, assent to, and ratify the Constitution recommended, on the 17th day of Sep- tember, 1787, by the Federal Conven- tion, for the government of the United States, hereby announcing to all those whom it may concern, that the said Con- stitution is binding upon the said people, according to an authentic copy hereto annexed, in the words following. " Done in Convention, this 26th day of June, 1788."* The language here used by the Con- vention of Virginia, in her adoption of the Constitution, styles the instrument a Constitution for the "government of the United States." The form of expression is the same as that used by Georgia. The meaning is the same in both. It was to be a Constitution for the govern- ment of States in their foreign and inter- State affairs. It is to be noted that the Virginia Convention expressly declare and make known that the powers granted under it maybe resumed by them whenso- ever they maybe perverted to their injury. The meaning of the people of the United States here seems to be the people of the States severally. This is clear. The delegation of the powers was by the States severally. Only those who dele- gate can resume. The right to resume or recall attends all delegations of all sorts. Where there is a separate or sev- eral delegation there cannot be a joint resumption. The resumption must be by the party making the delegation. But the debates in the Convention re- move all doubts as to their understand- ing upon this point. These arc the res gest<2 that fully explain it. * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., p. 327. Secondly, then, let us look into the debates. In Virginia, as in Massachusetts, the Constitution underwent a thorough dis- cussion. The Convention was in session nearly a month. Many of the ablest men of the State were members of it. Men who had first put the ball of the Revolution in motion were there. Patrick Henry was there. George Mason, Bushrod Washing- ton, Henry Lee, of Westmoreland, George Nicholas, Edmund Pendleton, Edmund Randolph, James Monroe, James Mad- ison, and John Marshall were there. A brighter galaxy of talent, statesmanship and oratory was never assembled in the Old Dominion. The debates fill a large volume by themselves. From these dis- cussions can be gleaned the leading ideas of the advocates as well as the opponents of the Constitution on the main point of our inquiry, that is, the nature and char- acter of the government instituted by it. As in Massachusetts, so in Virginia, the opposition was able and formidable. The greatest orator of the age headed it. " This proposal of altering our Federal government," said Patrick Henry, " is of a most alarming nature ! Make the best of the new government — say it is composed by anything but inspiration — you ought to be extremely cautious, watchful, jealous of your liberty; for, instead of securing your rights, you may lose them forever. * * * " I have the highest veneration for those gentlemen ; but, sir, give me leave to demand, what right had they to say, ' We, the people f* My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public welfare, leads me to ask, who authorized them to speak the language of ' We, the people; instead of ' We, the States ? ' States are the characteristics and the soul of a Confederation ! If the ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 341 States be not the agents of this compact, it must be one great, consolidated, Na- tional government, of all the States ? " * Edmund Pendleton, President of the Convention, answered: "' 'JVe, the people ',' possessing all power, form a government, such as we think will secure happiness; and suppose, in adopting this plan, we should be mistaken in the end ; where is the cause of alarm on that quarter ? In the same plan we point out an easy and quiet method of reforming what may be found amiss. No, but, say gen- tlemen, we have put the introduction of that method in the hands of our servants, who will interrupt it from motives of self-interest. What then? We will re- sist, did my friend say ? Conveying an idea of force. Who shall dare to resist the people ? No, we will assemble in Convention ; wholly recall our delegated powers^ or reform them so as to prevent such abuse. * * * * * " This is the only government founded in real compact. There is no quarrel between government and liberty ; the former is the shield and protector of the latter."f " This Constitution is said to have beautiful features," said Mr. Henry, sub- sequently, " but, when I come to examine these features, sir, they appear to me, horribly frightful ! Among other de- formities, it has an awful squinting; it squints towards monarchy; and does not this raise indignation in the breast of every true American ?| "We are told," said he, "that this government, collectively taken, is with- out an example; that it is National in this part, and Federal in that part, etc. We may be amused, if we please, by a treatise of political anatomy. In the * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., pp. 21-22. f Ibid., p. 37. J Ibid., p. 58. brain, it is National; the stamina are Federal ; some limbs are Federal ; others National. The Senators are voted for by the State Legislatures ; so far it is Fed- eral. Individuals choose the members of the first branch ; here it is National. It is Federal in conferring general powers, but National in retaining them. It is not to be supported by the States ; the pockets of individuals are to be searched for its maintenance. What signifies it to me that you have the most curious anatomi- cal description of it in its creation ? To all the common purposes of legislation, it is a great consolidation of government. You are not to have the right to legislate in any but trivial cases ; you are not to touch private contracts; you are not to have the right of having arms in your own defence ; you cannot be trusted with dealing out justice between man and man. What shall the States have to do? Take care of the poor, repair and make highways, erect bridges, and so on, and soon? Abolish the State Legislatures at once. What purposes should they be continued for? Our Legislature will, indeed, be a ludicrous spectacle — one hundred and eighty men marching in solemn, farcical procession, exhibiting a mournful proof of the lost liberty of their country, without the power of re- storing it. But, sir, we have the consola- tion that it is a mixed government ; that is, it may work sorely on your neck, but you will have some comfort by saying, that it was a Federal government in its origin. " I beg gentlemen to consider; lay aside your prejudices. Is this a Federal government? Is it not a consolidated* government for almost every purpose? Is the government of Virginia a State government after this government is adopted ? I grant that it is a Republican 342 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 government, but for what purposes? For such trivial domestic considerations as render it unworthy the name of a Legislature. I shall take leave of this political anatomy, by observing that it is the most extraordinary that ever entered into the imagination of man. If our political diseases demand a cure, this is an unheard-of medicine. The honorable member, I am convinced, wanted a name for it. Were your health in danger, would you take new medicine ? I need not make use of these exclamations; for every member in this committee must be alarmed at making new and un- usual experiments in government."* Mr. Lee answered : " But, sir, this is a Consolidated government, he tells us; and most feelingly does he dwell on the imaginary dangers of this pretended Consolidation. I did suppose that an honorable gentleman, whom I do not now see (Mr. Madison), had placed this in such a clear light that every man Would have been satisfied with it. " If this were a Consolidated govern- ment, ought it not to be ratified by a majority of the people as individuals, and not as States? Suppose Virginia, Con- necticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsyl- vania had ratified it ; these four States, being a majority of the people of America, would, by their adoption, have made it binding on all the States, had this been a Consolidated government. But it is only the governments of those seven States who have adopted it. If the honorable gentleman will attend to this, we shall hear no more of Consoli- dation. ****** " I say that this new system shows, in stronger terms than words could declare, that the liberties of the people are secure. It goes on the principle that all power is * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., pp. 171, 172. in the people, and that rulers have no powers but what are enumerated in that paper. When a question arises with re- spect to the legality of any power, exer- cised or assumed by Congress, it is plain on the side of the governed. Is it enu- merated in the Constitution ? If it be, it is legal and just. It is otherwise arbitrary and unconstitutional. Candor must con- fess that it is infinitely more attentive to the liberties of the people than any State government. "[Mr. Lee then said, that, under the State governments, the people reserved to themselves certain enumerated rights, and that the rest were vested in their rulers ; that, consequently, the powers reserved to the people were but an incon- siderable exception from what were given to their rulers ; but that in the Federal government, the rulers of the people were vested with certain defined powers, and that what were not delegated to those rulers were retained by the people. The consequence of this, he said, was that the limited powers were only an exception to those which rested in the people, and that they knew what they had given up, and could be in no danger. He exemplified the proposition in a fa- miliar manner. Me observed, that if a man delegated certain powers to an agent, it would be an insult upon common sense to suppose that the agent could legally transact any business for his principal which was not contained in the commis- sion whereby the powers were delegated; but that if a man empowered his repre- sentative or agent to transact all his busi- ness except certain enumerated parts, the clear result was, that the agent could lawfully transact every possible part of his principal's business, except the enu- merated parts; and added, that these plain propositions were sufficient to demon- ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 343 strate the inutility and folly (were he permitted to use the expression) of bills of rights."]* Governor Randolph, who had favored a National government in the Conven- tion, replied as follows: " The liberty of the press is supposed to be in danger. If this were the case, it would produce extreme repugnancy in my mind. If it ever will be suppressed in this country, the liberty of the people will not be far from being sacrificed. Where is the danger of it ? He says that every power is given to the general government that is not reserved to the States. Pardon me if I say the reverse of the proposition is true. I defy any one to prove the con- trary. Every power not given it by this system is left with the States." f John Marshall (afterwards chief-jus- tice), in reply to Mr. Henry, said : " We are threatened with the loss of our liberties by the possible abuse of power, notwithstanding the maxim, that those who give may take away. It is the people that give power, and can take it back. What shall restrain them ? They are the masters who give it, and of whom their servants hold it" % George Nicholas said : " But it is ob- jected to for want of a bill of rights. It is a principle universally agreed upon, that all powers not given are retained. Where, by the Constitution, the general government has general powers for any purpose, its powers are absolute. Where it has powers with some exceptions, they are absolute only as to those exceptions. In either case, the people retain what is not conferred on the general government, as it is by their positive grant that it has any of its powers. In England, in all disputes between the king and people, * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 186. f Ibid., p. 203. I Ibid., p. 233. recurrence is had to the enumerated rights of the people to determine. Are the rights in dispute secured ? Are they included in Magna Charta, Bill of Rights, etc.? If not, they are, generally speak- ing, within the king's prerogative. In disputes between the Congress and the people, the reverse of the proposition holds. Is the disputed right enumerated ? If not, Congress cannot meddle with :♦- " * * * * * * " Mr. Nicholas concluded by making a few observations on the general structure of the government, and its probable happy operation. He said that it was a govern- ment calculated to suit almost any extent of territory. He then quoted the opinion of the celebrated Montesquieu, vol.i., b. 9, where that writer speaks of a Confederate Republic as the only safe means of extend- ing the sphere of a Republican govern- ment to any considerable degree." * Mr. Madison said : " The powers of the general government relate to external objects, and are but few. But the powers in the States relate to those great objects which immediately concern the pros- perity of the people. Let us observe, also, that the powers in the general gov- ernment are those which will be exer- cised mostly in time of war, while those of the State governments will be exer- cised in time of peace. I should not complete the view which ought to be taken of this subject, without making this additional remark — that the powers vested in the proposed government are not so much an augmentation of powers in the general government, as a change rendered necessary for the purpose of giving efficacy to those which were vested in it before. It cannot escape any gen- tleman, that this power, in theory, exists in the Confederation as fully as in this Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 247. 344 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. B ok II., c. Constitution. The only-difference is this — that now they tax States, and by this plan they will tax individuals. There is no theoretic difference between the two. But in practice there will be an infinite difference between them. The one is an ineffectual power; the other is adequate to the purpose for which it is given. This change was necessary for the public safety. " Let us suppose, for a moment, that the acts of Congress, requiring money from the States, had been as effectual as the paper on the table; suppose all the laws of Congress had complete compli- ance; will any gentleman say that, as far as we can judge from past experience, the State governments would have been debased, and all consolidated and incor- porated into one system ? My imagina- tion cannot reach it. I conceive that had those acts that effect, which all laws ought to have, the States would have re- tained their sovereignty." * George Mason (in opposition) said : "The objection was, that too much power was given to Congress — power that would finally destroy the State governments more effectually by insidious, under- handed means, than such as could be openly practised." f Mr. Marshall replied: "When the government is drawn from the people, and depending on the people for its con- tinuance, oppressive measures will not be attempted, as they will certainly draw on their authors the resentment of those on whom they depend. On this govern- ment, thus depending on ourselves for its existence, I will rest my safety, notwith- standing the danger depicted by the honorable gentleman. I cannot help * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., pp. 259, 260, Virginia Slate < invention. ■j- Elli it's Debates, vol. iii., p. 4 I 5 . being surprised that the worthy member thought this power so dangerous." * He then concluded by observing that "the power of governing the militia was not vested in the States, by implication, because, being possessed of it antecedent to the adoption of the government, and not being divested of it by any grant or restriction in the Constitution, they must necessarily be as fully possessed of it as ever they had been. And it could not be said that any of the States derived any powers from that system, but retained them, though not acknowledged in any part of it." f Mr. Henry again spoke, as follows : "A bill of rights may be summed up in a few words. What do they tell us? That our rights are reserved. Why not say so? Is it because it will consume too much paper ? Gentlemen's reason- ing against a bill of rights does not sat- isfy me — without saying which has the right side, it remains doubtful. A bill of rights is a favorite thing with the Vir- ginians, and the people of the other States, likewise. It may be their preju- dice, but the government ought to suit their geniuses ; otherwise its operation will be unhappy. A bill of rights, even if its necessity be doubtful, will exclude the possibility of dispute; and, with great submission, I think the best way is to have no dispute. In the present Consti- tution, they are restrained from issuing general warrants to search suspected places, or seize persons not named, with- out evidence of the commission of a fact, etc. There was certainly some celestial influence governing those who deliber- ated on that Constitution; for they have, with the most cautious and enlightened circumspection, guarded those indefeasi- * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 420. flbi.l., p. 421. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION 345 ble rights which ought ever to be held sacred." * Mr. George Nicholas, in answer, said : " That, though there was a declaration of rights in the government of Virginia, it was no conclusive reason that there should be one in this Constitution ; for, if it was unnecessary in the former, its omission in the latter could be no defect. They ought, therefore, to prove that it was essentially necessary to be inserted in the Constitution of Virginia. There were five or six States in the Union which had no bill of rights, separately and distinctly as such ; but they annexed the substance of a bill of rights to their respective Constitutions. These States, he further observed, were as free as this State, and their liberties as secure as ours. If so, gentlemen's arguments from the precedent were not good. In Vir- ginia, all powers were given to the gov- ernment without any exception. It was different in the general government, to which certain special powers were dele- gated for certain purposes. He asked which was the more safe. Was it safer to grant general powers than certain lim- ited powers ?"**** "A bill of rights," continued he, "is only an acknowledgment of the pre-ex- isting claim to rights in the people. They belong to us as much as if they had been inserted in the Constitution. But it is said that, if it be doubtful, the possibility of dispute ought to be pre- cluded. Admitting it was proper for the Convention to have inserted a bill of rights, it is not proper here to propose it as the condition of our accession to the Union. Would you reject this govern- ment for its omission, dissolve the Union, and bring miseries on yourselves and posterity? I hope the gentleman does * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 448. not oppose it on this ground solely. Is there another reason ? He said that it is not only the general wish of this State, but all the States, to have a bill of rights. If it be so, where is the difficulty of hav- ing this done by way of subsequent amendment? We shall find the other States willing to accord with their own favorite wish. The gentleman last up says that the power of legislation in- cludes everything. A general power of legislation does. But this is a special power of legislation. Therefore, it does not contain that plenitude of power which he imagines. They cannot legislate in any case but those particularly enumer- ated. No gentleman, who is a friend to the government, ought to withhold his assent from it for this reason." * Mr. Henry continued his strenuous opposition in the following language: "The honorable gentleman (Governor Randolph), who was up some time ago, exhorts us not to fall into a repetition of the defects of the confederation. He said, we ought not to declare that each State retains every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not expressly dele- gated, because experience has proved the insertion of such a restriction to be de- structive, and mentioned an instance to prove it. That case, Mr. Chairman, ap- pears to me to militate against himself. * * * They can exercise power, by implication, in one instance as well as in another. Thus, by the gentleman's own argument, they can exercise the power, though it be not delegated. * * * We have nothing local to ask. We ask rights which concern the general happi- ness. Must not justice bring them into the concession of these ? The honorable gentleman was pleased to say that the new government, in this policy, will be * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 451. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 346 equal to what the present is. If so, that amendment will not injure that part. * * " He speaks of war and bloodshed. Whence do this war and bloodshed come? I fear it, but not from the source he speaks of. I fear it, sir, from the operation and friends of the Federal government. He speaks with contempt of this amendment. But whoever will advert to the use made, repeatedly, in England, of the prerogative of the king, and the frequent attacks on the privileges of the people, notwithstanding many legislative acts to secure them, will see the necessity of excluding implications. Nations who have trusted to logical de- ductions have lost their liberty." * * " The worthy member who proposed to ratify has also proposed that what amendments may be deemed necessary should be recommended to Congress, and that a committee should be ap- pointed to consider what amendments were necessary. Hut what does it all come to at last ? That it is a vain pro- ject, and that it is indecent and im- proper! I will not argue unfairly, but I will ask him if amendments are not un- attainable ? Will gentlemen, then, lay their hands on their hearts, and say that they can adopt it in this shape ? When we demand this security of our privi- leges, the language of Virginia is not that of respect ! Give me leave to deny! She only asks amendments previous to her adoption of the Constitution. * * " He tells you of the important bless- ings which, he imagines, will result to us and mankind in general from the adoption of this system. I see the awful immensity of the dangers with which it is pregnant! I see it! I feel it! I see beings of a higher order anx- ious concerning our decision! When I see beyond the horizon that bounds human eyes, and look at the final con- Eook II., c. 9 summation of all human things, and see ■ those intelligent beings which inhabit the ethereal mansions reviewing the political decisions and revolutions, which, in the progress of time, will happen in America, and the consequent happiness or misery of mankind, I am led to believe that much of the account, on one side or the other, will depend on what we now decide ! Our own happiness alone is not affected by the event ! All nations are interested in the determination ! We have it in our power to secure the hap- piness of one-half of the human race ! Its adoption may involve the misery of the other hemisphere!"* Just at this point in Mr. Henry's speech, the heavens blackened with a gathering tempest, which burst with so terrible a fury as to put the whole House in such disorder that he could proceed no further. It was. the last speech that Patrick Henry made in that Convention. Did he possess a superhuman vision, or had he caught something of the spirit of the ancient prophets, which enabled him to see farther into the future, and understand better the workings of politi- cal systems controlled by human pas- sions, than any of his many great and equally patriotic colleagues in that re- nowned body of sages and statesmen ? Did he see further in the future than Pendleton, Madison, or Marshall, when he said, "I see it! I feel it!" Did he get glimpses of the terrible scenes of the late lamentable war, or of the still more horrible ones that may be yet ahead of us? when constitutional obli- gations and barriers may no longer be binding upon those in authority, if such an evil day shall ever come? * " Here a violent storm arose, which put the House in such disorder that Mr. Henry was obliged to con- clude." — Reporter, Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 625. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 347 Mr. Nicholas replied, by urging " that the language of the proposed ratification would secure everything which gentle- men desired, as it declared that all powers vested in the Constitution were derived from the people, and might be resumed by them whensoever they should be perverted to their injury and oppression; and that every power not granted thereby remained at their will. No danger whatever could arise ; for, says he, these expressions will become a part of the contract. The Constitution cannot be binding on Virginia, but with these conditions. ■ If thirteen individuals are about to make a contract, and one agrees to it, but at the same time declares that he understands its meaning, significa- tion, and intent, to be (what the words of the contract plainly and obviously denote), that it is not to be construed so as to impose any supplementary condition upon him, and that he is to be exonerated from it whensoever any such imposition shall be attempted, I ask whether, in this case, these conditions, on which he has assented to it, would not be binding on the other twelve. In like manner these conditions will be binding on Congress. They can exer- cise no power that is not expressly granted them."* On the question of ratification, the vote stood eighty-nine to seventy-nine, being only ten majority in its favor.f Immediately afterwards, the amend- ments, which had been agreed upon to be proposed, were taken up and adopted, without opposition. They were twenty in number — very similar, in many re- spects, to those incorporated by Massa- chusetts in her ratification. The first and most important was in these words : * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., pp. 625, 626. f Ibid., p. 654. " 1st. That each State in the Union shall, respectively, retain every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Constitution delegated to the Con- gress of the United States, or to the departments of the Federal govern- ment." * These proceedings conclusively show how the Convention of Virginia under- stood the Constitution. That is, that it was Federal in its character, and that the government under it was to be a Federal government, one founded upon compact between sovereign States. Not a mem- ber of the Convention advocated the Constitution upon any other principles. The opposition of Patrick Henry, George Mason, and others, was altogether argu- mentative, and sprung mainly from apprehensions that the Constitution would not be construed as its friends maintained that it would be, and that powers not delegated would be assumed, by construction and implication. These proceedings also show clearly, that Vir- ginia understood, by the declaration in her ratification, that her people had the right to resume the powers that they had delegated, in case these powers, in their judgment, should be perverted to their injury. ELEVENTH, NEW YORK. The next State in order is New York. First, we will see what was done by her Convention. It is in these words : "We, the delegates of the people of the State of New York, duly elected, and met in Convention, having maturely considered the Constitution for' the United States of America, agreed to on the 17th day of September, in the year 1787, by the Convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth * Elliot's Debates, vol. iii., p. 659. 34« of Pennsylvania (a copy whereof pre- cedes these presents), and having, also, seriously and deliberately considered the present situation of the United States, — do declare and make known, " That all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, and that government is instituted by them for their common interest, pro- tection, and security. " That the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are essen- tial rights, which every government ought to respect and preserve. " That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people, whensoever it shall become necessary to their happi- ness ; that every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by the said Constitu- tion clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or the departments of the government thereof, remains to the people of the several States, or to their respective State governments, to whom they may have granted the same ; and that those clauses, in the said Constitu- tion, which declare that Congress shall not have or exercise certain powers, do not imply that Congress is entitled to any powers not given by the said Con- stitution ; but such clauses are to be construed either as exceptions to certain specified powers, or as inserted merely for greater caution. " That the people have an equal, nat- ural, and unalienable right, freely and peaceably, to exercise their religion, according to the dictates of conscience ; and that no religious sect, or society, ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others. " That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-regulated militia, including the body of the people, capable of bearing arms, is the proper, HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 natural, and safe defence of a free State. " That the militia should not be sub- ject to martial law, except in time of war, rebellion, or insurrection. " That standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity, and that at all times the military should be under strict subor- dination to the civil power. " That in time of peace, no soldier ought to be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, and in time of war, only by the civil magistrate, in such manner as the law may direct. " That no person ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold ; or be exiled, or deprived of his privileges, franchises, life, liberty, or propeity, but by the due process of law. " That no person ought to be put twice in jeopardy of life or limb, for one and the same offence ; nor, unless in cases of impeachment, be punished more than once for the same offence. That every person restrained of his liberty is en- titled to an inquiry into the lawfulness of such restraint, and to a removal thereof if unlawful ; and that such in- quiry, or removal, ought not to be denied or delayed, except when, on account of public danger, the Congress shall suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual pun- ishments inflicted. "That (except in the government of the land and naval forces, and of the militia, when in actual service, and in cases of impeachment) a presentment, or indictment, by a grand jury, ought to be observed, as a necessary preliminary to the trial of all crimes cognizable by the ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 349 judiciary of the United States; and such trial should be speedy, public and by an impartial jury of the county where the crime was committed ; and that no per- son can be found guilty without the unanimous consent of such jury. But in cases of crimes not committed within any county of any of the United States, and in cases of crimes not committed within any county in which a general in- surrection may prevail, or which may be in the possession of a foreign enemy, the inquiry and trial may be in such county as the Congress shall by law direct; which county, in the two cases last mentioned, should be as near as con- veniently may be to that county in which the crime may have been committed ; — and that, in all criminal prosecutions, the accused ought to be informed of the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with his accusers and the witnesses against him, to have the means of producing his witnesses, and the as- sistance of counsel for his defence ; and should not be compelled to give evidence against himself. "That the trial by jury, in the extent that it obtains by the common law of England, is one of the greatest securities to the rights of a free people, and ought to remain inviolate. " That every freeman has a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his papers, or his property ; and, therefore, that all warrants to search suspected places, or seize any freeman, his papers or property, without information upon oath, or affirma- tion of sufficient cause, are grievous and oppressive; and that all general warrants (or such in which the place or person sus- pected are not particularly designated) are dangerous, and ought not to be granted. " That the people have a right peace- ably to assemble together, to consult for their common good, or to instruct their representatives, and that every person has a right to petition, or apply to the Legislature for redress of griev- ances. " That the freedom of the press ought not to be violated, or restrained. "That there should be, once in four years, an election of the President and Vice-President, so that no officer, who may be appointed by the Congress, to act as President, in case of the removal, death, or resignation, or inability of the President and Vice-President, can in any case continue to act beyond the termina- tion of the period for which the last President and Vice-President were elected. " That nothing contained in the said Constitution is to be construed to pre- vent the Legislature of any State from passing laws at its discretion, from time to time, to divide such States into conven- ient districts, and to apportion its repre- sentatives to and amongst such districts. " That the prohibition contained in the said Constitution, against ex post facto laws, extends only to laws concerning crimes. " That all appeals in causes determina- ble according to the course of the com- mon law, ought to be by writ of error, and not otherwise. " That the judicial power of the United States, in cases in which a State may be a party, does not extend to criminal prosecutions, or to authorize any suit by any person against a State. " That the judicial power of the United States, as to controversies between citi- zens of the same State, claiming lands under grants from different States, is not to be construed to extend to any other controversies between them, except those 35Q HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 9 which relate to such lands so claimed, under grants of different States. " That the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States, or of any other court to be instituted by the Con- gress, is not in any case to be increased, enlarged, or extended, by any faction, collusion, or mere suggestion ; and that no treaty is to be construed so to operate as to alter the Constitution of any State. "Under these impressions, and declar- ing that the rights aforesaid cannot be abridged, or violated, and that the ex- planations aforesaid are consistent with the said Constitution, and in confidence that the amendments, which shall have been proposed to the said Constitution, will receive an early and mature con- sideration, we, the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of the people of the State of New York, do, by these presents, assent to, and ratify the said Constitution. In full confidence, never- theless, that, until a Convention shall be called and convened, for proposing amendments to the said Constitution, the militia of this State will not be continued in service out of this State for a longer term than six weeks, without the consent of the Legislature thereof ; that the Con- gress will not make or alter any regula- tion in this State, respecting the times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators or Representatives, unless the Legislature of this State shall neglect or refuse to make laws or regulations for the purpose, or from any circumstance, be incapable of making the same; and that in those cases, such power will only be exercised until the Legislature of this State shall make provision in the prem- ises ; that no excise shall be imposed on any article of the growth, production, or manufacture of the United States, or any of them, within this State, ardent spirits excepted ; and that Congress will not lay direct taxes within this State but when the moneys arising from the im- post and excise shall be insufficient for the public exigencies, nor then until Congress shall first have made a requisi- tion upon this State, to assess, levy and pay the amount of such requisition, made agreeably to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as the Legislature of this State shall judge best; but that, in such case, if the State shall neglect or refuse to pay its propor- tion, pursuant to such requisition, then the Congress may assess and levy this State's proportion, together with interest, at the rate of six per centum per annum, from the time at which the same was re- quired to be paid. " Done, in Convention, at Poughkcep- sie, in the county of Duchess, in the State of New York, the 26th day of Jul)-, in the year of our Lord 1788." * A careful perusal of these proceedings leaves no doubt as to how the Con- vention of New York understood the Constitution. They recognized it as a Constitution for States. As Virginia, New York accompanied her ratification with the express declaration that the powers of government may be resumed by the people whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness, etc. " C 'nder these impressions, and declaring that the rights aforesaid (after the enumeration of many, especially the reserved rights of the people of the several States as States) cannot be abridged or violated," a majority of the members of the Conven- tion gave it their assent and ratification. So much for what was done. Secondly, let us examine the res gestcc — the debates. In New York the opposition was * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., pp. 327-329. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 351 stronger in numbers, comparatively, than in Virginia. On the final vote on the ratification, there were but three majority in its favor. Some of the ablest men of the State were in the Convention. At the head of the list may be placed the venerable Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of the State. Next to him stood Alexander Hamilton, who had been in the Philadelphia Convention. Now let us, as in the other State Con- ventions, sample the debates in this. The Constitution here, as in Massachu- setts and Virginia, was thoroughly dis- cussed. How was it understood by its advocates ? Chancellor Livingston opened the dis- cussion. After some general remarks " he next adverted to the form of the Federal government. He said that, though justified when considered as a mere diplomatic body, making engage- ments for its respective States, which they were to carry into effect, yet, if it was to enjoy legislative, judicial and executive powers, an attention as well to the facil- ity of doing business as to the prin- ciples of freedom, called for a division of those powers." * In another speech afterwards, he says: "The gentleman from Duchess appears to have misapprehended some of the ideas which dropped from me. My ar- gument was, that a Republic might very properly be formed by a league of States, but that the laws of the general legisla- ture must act, and be enforced upon in- dividuals. I am contending for this spe- cies of government. The gentlemen who have spoken in opposition to me have either misunderstood or perverted my meaning; but, sir, I flatter myself, it has not been misunderstood by the Conven- tion at large. * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 215. " If we examine the history of the Federal Republics whose legislative pow- ers were exercised only in States, in their collective capacity, we shall find in their fundamental principles the seeds of do- mestic violence and consequent annihi- lation. This was the principal reason why I thought the old Confederation would be forever impracticable." * He was for a government founded on a compact or league of States, with authority to act on the individual citizens of each State, and maintained that such was the form of government then presented. Again, he said : " Let us take a view of the present Congress. The gentleman is satisfied with our present Federal government, on the score of corruption. Here he has confidence. Though each State may delegate seven, they generally sent no more than three ; consequently thirty- * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 274. 352 IIIS 1 OR Y 01' THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 9 nine men may transact any business under the old government; while the new Legislature, which will be, in all proba- bility, constantly full, will consist of ninety-one. But, says the gentleman, our present Congress have not the same powers. I answer, they have the very same. Congress have the power of making war and peace, of levying money and raising men; they may involve us in a war at their pleasure; they may nego- tiate loans to any extent, and make un- limited demands upon the States. Here the gentleman comes forward and says, that the States are to carry these powers into execution; and they have the power of non-compliance. But is not every State bound to comply? What power have they to control Congress in the ex- ercise of those rights, which they have pledged themselves to support? It is true they have broken, in numerous in- stances, the compact by which they were obligated; and they may do it again; but will the gentleman draw an argument of security from the facility of violating their faith ? Suppose there should be a majority of creditor States, under the present government, might they not combine, and compel us to observe the covenants by which we had bound our- selves ? " We are told that this Constitution gives Congress the power over the purse and the sword. Sir, have not all good governments this power? Nay, does any one doubt that, under the old Con- federation, Congress holds the purse and the sword ? How many loans did they procure which we are bound to pay ? How man)' men did they raise whom we are bound to maintain ? How will gen- tlemen say, that that body, which is in- deed extremely small, can be more safely trusted than a much larger body pos- sessed of the same authority ? What is the ground of such entire confidence in the one, — what the cause of so much jealousy of the other? " * Mr. Williams, in opposition, spoke as follows: "Sir, I yesterday expressed my fears that this clause would tend to anni- hilate the State governments. I also ob- served that the powers granted by it were indefinite, since the Congress are authorized to provide for the common defence and general welfare, and to pass all laws necessary for the attainment of these important objects. The Legisla- ture is the highest power in the govern- ment. Whatever they judge necessary for the proper administration of the powers lodged in them they may exe- cute without any check or impediment. Now, if the Congress should judge it a proper provision for the common defence and general welfare, that the State gov- ernments should be essentially destroyed, what, in the name of common sense, will prevent them ? Arc they not constitu- tionally authorized to pass such laws? Arc not the terms, common defence and general welfare, indefinite, undcfinable terms ? What checks have the State governments against such encroach- ments? Why, they appoint the Senators once in six years. So do the Electors of Germany appoint their Emperor. And what restraint have they against. tyranny in their head? Do they rely upon anything but arms, the ultima ratio? And to this most undesirable point must the States recur in order to secure their rights." f Mr. Hamilton, on the other side said : " Sir, the most powerful obstacle to the members of Congress betraying the in- terest of their constituents, is the State * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 278, 279. t Ibid., p. 338. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 353 Legislatures themselves, who will be standing bodies of observation, possess- ing the confidence of the people, jealous of Federal encroachments, and armed with every power to check the first essays of treachery. They will institute regular modes of inquiry. The complicated do- mestic attachments, which subsist be- tween the State legislators and their electors, will ever make them vigilant guardians of the people's rights. Pos- sessed of the means and disposition of resistance, the spirit of opposition will be easily communicated to the people, and, under conduct of an organized body of leaders, will act with weight and system. Thus, it appears that the very structure of the Confederacy affords the surest preven- tions from error, and the most powerful checks to misconduct."* Again he said : " The gentlemen are afraid that the State governments will be abolished. But, sir, their existence does not depend upon the laws of the United States. Congress can ?io more abolish the State governments, than they can dissolve the Union. The whole Constitution is repugnant to it, and yet the gentleman would introduce an additional useless provision against it." "f" Mr. Lansing, doubting, expressed him- self as follows : " I know not that history furnishes an example of a Confederated Republic coercing the States composing it, by the mild influence of laws operat- ing on the individuals of those States. This, therefore, I suppose to be a new experiment in politics; and as we cannot always accurately ascertain the results of political measures, and as reasoning on them has been frequently found fallacious, we should not too confidently * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 266, 267. •}• Ibid, p. 319. 23 predict those to be produced by the new system."* Mr. Hamilton, in a general exposition of the Constitution, said: "We contend that the radical vice in the old Confedera- tion is, that the lazvs of the Union apply only to States in their corporate capacity. Has not every man, who has been in our Legislature, experienced the truth of this position ? It is inseparable from the disposition of bodies, who have a consti- tutional power of resistance, to examine the merits of a law. This has ever been the case with the Federal requisitions. In this examination, not being furnished with those lights which directed the de- liberations of the general government, and incapable of embracing the general interest of the Union, the States have almost uniformly weighed the requisition by their own local interests, and have only executed them so far as answered their particular convenience or advantage. * * * It has been observed, to coerce the States is one of the maddest projects that was ever devised. A failure of com- pliance will never be confined to a single State. This being the case, can we sup- pose it wise to hazard a civil war? Sup- pose Massachusetts, or any large State, should refuse, and Congress should attempt to compel them, would they not have influence to procure assistance, especially from those States which are in the same situation as themselves ? What picture does this idea present to our view ? A complying State at war with a non-complying State ; Congress march- ing the troops of one State into the bosom of another; this State, collecting auxiliaries and forming, perhaps, a majority against its Federal head. Here is a nation at war with itself. Can any reasonable man be well disposed towards *Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 319. 354 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. BO >K II ..'. 9 a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself — a government that can exist only by the sword ? Every such war must involve the innocent with the guilty. This single consideration should be suf- ficient to dispose every peaceable citizen against such a government. But can we believe that one State will ever suffer itself to be used as an instrument of co- ercion ? The thing is a dream; it is im- possible. Then we are brought to this dilemma — either a Federal standing arnn- is to enforce the requisitions, or the Federal treasury is left without sup- plies, and the government without sup- port. What, sir, is the cure for this great evil ? Nothing, but to enable the national laws to operate on individuals, in the same manner as those of the States do. This is the true reasoning upon the sub- ject, sir. The gentlemen appear to ac- knowledge its force; and yet, while they yield to the principle, they seem to fear its application to the government."* Again, he said: "The State govern- ments possess inherent advantages, which will ever give them an influence and ascendency over the National govern- ment, and will forever preclude the pos- sibility of Federal encroachments. That their liberties, indeed, can be subverted by the Federal head, is repugnant to every rule of political calculation. Is not this arrangement, then, sir, a most wise and prudent one? Is not the present representation fully adequate to our present exigencies, and sufficient to answer all the purposes of the Union ? I am persuaded that an examination of the objects of the Federal governments will afford a conclusive ans\ver."f Mr. Jay, afterwards chief justice of the ♦Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., pp. 231, 232, 233. f Ibid., p. 239. United States, said : " Sir, it seems to be, on all sides, agreed, that a strong, ener- getic, Federal government is necessary for the United States. It has given me pleasure to hear such declarations come from all parts of the House. If gentle- men are of this opinion, they give us to understand that such a government is the favorite of their desire; and also, that it can be instituted; that, indeed, it is both necessary and practicable; or why do they advocate it?"* Mr. R. Morris said : " I am happy, Mr. Chairman, to perceive that it is a principle, on all sides conceded, and adopted by this committee, that an ener- getic Federal government is essential to the preservation of our Union ; and that a Constitution for these States ought to unite firmness and vigor in the National operations, with the full securities of our rights and liberties." f Mr. Hamilton, again, said : " I insist that it can never be the interest or desire of the National Legislature to destroy the State governments. It can derive no advantage from such an event ; but, on the contrary, would lose an indispensable support, a necessary aid in executing the laws, and conveying the influence of gov- ernment to the doors of the people. The Union is dependent on the will of the State governments for its chief Mag- istrate, and for its Senate. The blow aimed at the members must give a fatal wound to the head ; and the destruction of the States must be at once a politie.il suicide." * * " The States can never lose their powers till the whole people of America are robbed of their liberties. These must go together : they must support each other, or meet one common fete." J * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 282. f Ibid., p. 296. I Ibid., p. 355. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 355 " With regard to 'Cat jurisdiction of the two governments, I shall certainly admit that the Constitution ought to be so formed as not to prevent the States from providing for their own existence ; and I maintain that it is so formed, and that their power of providing for themselves is sufficiently established. This is con- ceded by one gentleman, and in the next breath the concession is retracted. He says, Congress have but one exclusive right in taxation — that of duties on im- ports ; certainly, then, their other powers are only concurrent. But, to take off the force of this obvious conclusion, he immediately says, that the laws of the United States are supreme ; and that where there is one supreme, there cannot be concurrent authority; and further, that where the laws of the Union are supreme, those of the States must be subordinate, because there cannot be two supremes. This is curious sophistry. That two supremes cannot act together, is false. They are inconsistent only when they are aimed at each other, or at one indivisible object. The laws of the United States are supreme as to all their proper, con- stitutional objects ; the laws of the States are supreme in the same way. These supreme laws may act on different objects without clashing, or they may operate on different parts of the same object, with perfect harmony. Suppose both govern- ments should lay a tax of a penny on a certain article ; had not each an inde- pendent and uncontrollable power to collect its own tax ? The meaning of the maxim, there cannot be two su- premes, is simply this — two powers can- not be supreme over each other. This meaning is entirely perverted by the gentleman. But it is said disputes be- tween collectors are to be referred to the Federal courts. This is again wandering in the field of conjecture. But suppose the fact certain ; is it not to be presumed that they will express the true meaning of the Constitution and the laws? Will they not be bound to consider the con- current jurisdiction ; to declare that both the taxes shall have equal operation ; that both the powers, in that respect, are sov- ereign and co-extensive ? If they trans- gress their duty, we are to hope that they will be punished. Sir, we can reason from probabilities alone. When we have common sense, and give our- selves up to conjecture, there can be no certainty, no security in our reason- ings. " I imagine I have stated to the com- mittee abundant reasons to prove the entire safety of the State governments, and of the people." * This is quite sample enough of the debates in New York Convention (which lasted for more than a month), to show- how the leading advocates of the Con- stitution in that State understood it, and especially how Mr. Hamilton understood it. His own copious and elaborate speeches abundantly show that he con- sidered the plan, finally adopted by the Philadelphia Convention, to be a Federal Constitution. And his greatest effor; = were put forth against those who argued that a different construction might be put upon it. In all his speeches he spoke of the government as Federal, and in one he styles it a confederacy. As such he gave it his zealous support, though it was not such a one as he wished to see organized. Nor was it one in which he had much real confidence. The idea on which it was based was not his own, but failing in his own, he patriotically took the plan adopted, and threw his whole soul into its support as an experiment. * Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 355. 356 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. c. 9- TWELFTH, NORTH CAROLINA. The next State in order is North Car- olina. She remained out of the Union for sonic time. As in the other cases, we will look first into her action, and then the debates. Her ratification is in these words : " In Convention : Whereas, the Gen- eral Convention which met in Phila- delphia, in pursuance of a recommenda- ti m of Congress, did recommend to the citizens of the United States a Constitu- tion or form of government, in the fol- lowing words, namely: Resolved, That this Convention, in behalf of the freemen, citizens, and inhabitants of the State of North Carolina, do adopt and ratify the said Constitution and form of govern- ment. " Done, in Convention, this twenty-first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine." The proceedings in North Carolina are short. Upon their face there is noth- ing that would indicate the understand- ing of the members of the Convention as to the nature and character of the government instituted by the Constitu- t.on they adopted. In the debates, the points discussed related mostly to the details of the Constitution. But quite enough, however, appears in them to si low the general understanding. Secondly, let us look into the debates in this Convention, as we have in those of the other States. Mr. Davie, who was in the Phila- delphia Convention, opened the discus- sion, and, amongst other things, said : "Another radical vice in the old sys- tem, which was necessary to be cor- rected, and which will be understood without a long deduction of reasoning, was, that it legislated on States, instead o!" individuals ; and that its powers could not be executed but by fire or by the sword — by military force, and not by the inter- vention of the civil magistrate. Every one who is acquainted with the relative situation of the States, and the genius of our citizens, must acknowledge that, if the government was to be carried into effect by military force, the most dreadful consequence would ensue. It would render the citizens of America the most implacable enemies to one another. If it could be carried into effect against the small States, yet it could not be put in force against the larger and more pow- erful States. It was, therefore, abun- dantly necessary that the influence of the magistrate should be introduced, and the laws should be carried home to individuals themselves. " In the formation of this system, many difficulties presented themselves to the Convention. " Every member saw that the existing system would ever be ineffectual, unless its laws operated on individuals, as mili- tary coercion was neither eligible nor practicable. ***** " Mutual concessions were necessary to come to any concurrence. A plan that would promote the exclusive inter- ests of a few States would be injurious to others. Had each State obstinately insisted on the security of its particular local advantages, we should newer have come to a conclusion. Each, therefore, amicably and wisely relinquished its particular views. The Federal Conven- tion have told you, that the Constitution, which they formed, ' was the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual defer- ence and concession which the peculiar- ity of their political situation rendered indispensable.' I hope the same laudable- spirit will govern this Convention in their decision on this important question.. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 357 " The business of the Convention was to amend the Confederation, by giving it additional powers. The present form of Congress being a single body, it was thought unsafe to augment its powers without altering its organization. The act of the Convention is but a mere pro- posal, similar to the production of a private pen. I think it a government which, if adopted, will cherish and pro- tect the happiness and liberty of America; but I hold my mind open to conviction. I am ready to recede from my opinion, if it be proved to be ill-founded. I trust that every man here is equally ready to change an opinion he may have im- properly formed. The weakness and inefficiency of the old Confederation produced the necessity of calling the Federal Convention. Their plan is now before you ; and, I hope, on a deliberate •consideration, every man will see the 'necessity of such a system. It has been the subject of much jealousy and cen- sure out of doors. I hope gentlemen will now come forward with their objec- tions, and that they will be thrown out and answered with candor and modera- tion. * * * A consolidation of the States is said by some gentlemen to have been intended. They insinuate that this was the cause of their giving this power of elections. If there were any seeds in this Constitution which might, one day, produce a consolidation, it would, sir, with me, be an insuperable objection. I am so perfectly convinced that so extensive a country as this can never be managed by one consolidated government. The Federal Convention were as well convinced as the members of this house that the State governments were absolutely necessary to the exist- ence of the Federal government. They considered them as the great massy pillars on which this political fabric wa^ to be extended and supported ; and were fully persuaded that, when they were removed, or should moulder down by time, the general government must tumble to ruin. A very little reflection will show that no department of it can exist without the State governments. " Let us begin with the House of Representatives. Who are to vote for the Federal Representatives ? Those who vote for the State Representatives. If the State government vanishes, the general government must vanish also. This is the foundation on which this government was raised, and without which it cannot possibly exist. " The next department is the Senate. How is it formed? By the States them- selves. Do they not choose them ? Are they not created by them? And will they not have the interest of the States particularly at heart? The States, sir, can put a final period to the govern- ment, as was observed by a gentleman who thought this power over elections unnecessary. If the State Legislatures think propei, they may refuse to choose Senators, and the government must be destroyed."* Besides this act of ratification, and the speeches of Mr. Davie, we have a set of resolutions which were passed by the Convention, recommending six amend- ments to the Constitution, which fully explain their understanding of the Con- stitution. The first of these is as follows : " I. Each State in the Union shall respectively retain every power, jurisdic- tion, and right, which is not by this Constitution delegated to the Congress of the United States, or to the depart- ments of the general government; nor * Elliot's Debates, vol. iv., pp. 21 , 22, 23, 58. 358 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. shall the said Congress, nor any depart- ment of the said government, exercise any act of authority over any individual in any of the said States, but such as can be justified under some power particu- larly given in this Constitution ; but the said Constitution shall be considered at all times a solemn instrument, defining the extent of their authority, and the limits of which they cannot rightfully in any instance exceed."* This is quite sufficient to show that the people of North Carolina understood the Constitution they adopted to be Federal in its character. That is the object of our inquiry. THIRTEENTH, RHODE ISLAND. We come now to Rhode Island, the last of the States which acted upon the Constitution. Her proceedings are very voluminous. Nothing but the impor- tance of the question under consideration could justify their reproduction in this history. Their very length, however, shows how completely Federal they were, and guarding against every possible danger to their sovereignty. These are the words of her ratifica- tion : "We, the delegates of the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, duly elected, and met in Convention, having maturely considered the Constitution for the United States of America, agreed to on the seven- teenth day of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty- seven, by the Convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (a copy whereof pre- cedes these presents), and having also seriously and deliberately considered the present situation of this State, do declare and make known, — * Elliot's Debates, vol. iv., p. 249. "I. That there are certain natural rights of which men, when they form a social compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity, — among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. "II. That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees and agents, and at all times amenable to them. " III. That the powers of government may be resinned by the people whenso- ever it shall become necessary to their happiness. That the rights of the States respectively to nominate and appoint all State officers, and every other power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or to the departments of government thereof, remain to the people of the sev- eral States, or their respective State governments, to whom they may have granted the same ; and that those clauses in the Constitution which declare that Congress shall not have or exercise certain powers do not imply that Con- gress is entitled to any powers not given by the said Constitution; but such clauses are to be construed as excep- tions to certain specified powers, or as inserted merely for greater caution. "IV. That religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, and not by force and violence; and, therefore, all men have a natural, equal, and unalienable right to the exercise of religion accord- ing to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular religious sect, or so- ciety, ought to be favored or established by law, in preference to others. ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONS'TITUTJON. 359 " V. That the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers of government should be separate and distinct; and that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the public burdens, they should at fixed periods be reduced to a private station, returned into the mass of the people, and the vacancies be supplied by certain and regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former members to be eligible or ineligible, as the rules of the Consti- tution of government and the laws shall direct. " VI. That elections of representatives in Legislature ought to be free and fre- quent; and all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, ought to have the right of suffrage; and no aid, charge, tax, or fee, can be set, rated, or levied, upon the people, with- out their own consent, or that of their representatives so elected, nor can they be bound by any law to which they have not in like manner consented for the public good. "VII. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without the consent of the representatives of the people in the Leg- islature, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. " VIII. That, in all capital and crimi- nal prosecutions, a man hath the right to demand the cause and nature of his ac- cusation, to be confronted with the ac- cusers and witnesses, to call for evidence, and be allowed counsel in his favor, and to a fair and speedy trial by an impartial jury in his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty (except in the government of the land and naval forces), nor can he be compelled to give evidence against him- self. "IX. That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, privileges, or fran- chises, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the trial by jury, or by the laws of the land. " X. That every freeman restrained of his liberty is entitled to a remedy, to inquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same if unlawful, and that such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed. " XI. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial *by jury, as hath been exercised by us and our ancestors, from the time whereof the memory of mankind is not to the contrary, is one of the greatest securities to' the rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and inviolable. "XII. That every freeman ought to obtain right and justice, freely and with- out sale, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay ; and that all establishments or regulations con- travening these rights are oppressive and unjust. " XIII. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines im- posed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. " XIV. That every person has a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his papers, or his property ; and, therefore, that all warrants, to search suspected places, to seize any person, his papers, or his property, without information upon oath, or affirmation of sufficient cause, are grievous and oppressive ; and that all general warrants (or such in which 360 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II . • the place or person suspected are not particularly designated) are dangerous, and ought not to be granted. "XV. That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together, to con- sult for their common good, or to in- struct their representatives ; and that every person has a right to petition or apply to the Legislature for redress of grievances. " XVI. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of writing and publishing their sentiments. That free- doom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and ought not to be violated. "XVII. That t^ie people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-regu- lated militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free State; that the militia shall not be sub- ■' ject to martial law, except in time of war, rebellion or insurrection; that stand- ing armies, in time of peace, are danger- ous to liberty, and ought not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity; and that, at all times, the military should be under strict subordination to the civil power; that, in time of peace, no soldier ought to be quartered in any house with- out the consent of the owner, and in time of war, only by the civil magistrates, in such manner as the law directs. "XVIII. That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms ought to be exempted upon the payment of an equiva- lent to employ another to bear arms in his stead. "Under these impressions, and declar- ing that the rights aforesaid cannot be abridged or violated, and that the expla- nations aforesaid arc consistent with the said Constitution, and in confidence that the amendments hereafter mentioned will receive an early and mature considera- tion, and, conformably to the fifth article of said Constitution, speedily become a part thereof, we, the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of the people of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, do, by these presents, assent to, and ratify the said Constitu- tion. In full confidence, nevertheless, that, until the amendments hereafter pro- posed and under-mentioned shall be agreed to and ratified, pursuant to the aforesaid fifth article, the militia will not be continued in service out of this State for a longer term than six weeks, with- out the consent of the Legislature there- of; that the Congress will not make or alter any regulation in the State respect- ing the times, places and manner of hold- ing elections for Senators or Represent- atives, unless the Legislature of this State shall neglect or refuse to make laws or regulations for the purpose, or from any circumstance be incapable of making the same ; and that, in those cases, such power will only be exercised until the Legislature of this State shall make provision in the premises; that the Congress will not lay direct taxes within this State, but where the moneys arising from impost, tonnage and excise, shall be insufficient for the public exigencies, nor until the Congress shall have first made a requisition upon this State to assess, levy and pay, the amount of such requi- sition made, agreeably to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as the Legislature of this State shall judge best; and that Congress will not lay any capitation or poll-tax. " Done in Convention, at Newport, in the county of Newport, in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- tions, the twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven ACTION OF THE STATES ON THE CONSTITUTION. 361 "hundred and ninety, and in the fourteenth year of the Independence of the United States of America." * We have now gone through with the action of all the States upon the Consti- tution. We have examined the records themselves, and not mere assertions touching them. This concludes that sketch of the history of the Union, as it is called, which I proposed. In it we see that it was first formed by separate and distinct Colonies for the common maintenance of the chartered rights of each. When this failed, it became a Union of separate, distinct States, by Articles of Confederation, for the sup- port and maintenance of the Independ- ence and Sovereignty of each. The absolute right of local self-government, or State sovereignty, was the primal and leading idea throughout. We have seen that these States, as sovereign, responded to a call of a general Federal Conven- tion, to revise the first articles of Con- federation. The present Constitution was the result of their labors. We have seen that it was submitted to the Legis- latures of each State, in their separate State organizations, to be referred by them to a Convention, in each State, of the people thereof, that they, in their sovereign majesty, might approve or re- ject each, separately, for themselves, as States, and that it was to be established between such States only as should ratify it, and then only in case as many as nine should ratify it. We have seen that the State Conven- tions did so act upon it separately and severally, and adopt it as a Constitution for the States, so to be united thereby, each believing it to be a Federal Consti- tution, and that all powers not delegated were reserved to the States; but, to quiet * Elliot's Debates, vol. i., pp. 334, 335. apprehensions on this point, a majority of them, in their acts of ratification, de- manded an amendment which should make this express declaration, and it was in confidence that this should be done, that they assented to it. Which we shall see was immediately afterwards done. We have further gone into the debates in the several State Conventions, and seen what were the leading ideas of both friends and opponents as to the nature and character of the Constitution. While many apprehended danger to the sover- eignty of the separate States from con- structions and implications, yet on all hands it was universally admitted that it purported to be a Federal Constitu- tion ; and it was with this avowed under- standing of its nature, by every advocate and supporter it had in every State in the Union, even by Hamilton, Morris, Wil- son, King, Madison and Randolph, who had favored a National government pro- per, in the Federal Convention, instead of the plan embodied in the Constitution, that the States ratified it. The leading idea in all the Conventions was that a Confederate Republic was to be estab- lished by it upon the model set forth in Montesquieu. According to that model a Conventional State is created for For- eign or National, as well as inter-State purposes, and for these only, by several small Republics, Confederating for their common defence and happiness, each re- taining its separate Sovereignty, and the Conventional State so created by them being, at all times, subject to their will and power. That this Conventional State so created may be dissolved, and yet the separate Republics survive, retaining, at all times, their State organization and sovereignty. This model of a Confed- erate Republic, by Montesquieu, was the leading idea with the advocates of the }62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 1!.,c lo system, as appears from their debates, in every State where we have access to them. Now, then, after this review, is it not clear that the United States are, or con- stitute, a Confederated Republic (as Washington styled it), bound together by the solemn compact of Union, entered into by the several members thereof, under the Constitution ? Is not the Constitution, as appears, not only from the history of its formation thus given, but from its face, a compact between Sovereign States? In the next chapter we will proceed with the history of these States, under their new Articles of Union. CHAPTER X. ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. ( I7 S 9 —i797.) Inauguration at New York, 30th April, 1789 — Hon- ors 10 him en route from Mount Vernon — Grand display at Trenton — The Governor's attention — - Committee of Congress meets him — The barge of "thirteen oars" symbolical — First session of Congress under the new organization — The fir-t Cabinet— First Supreme Court Judges — Measures adi pted — The Assum] tioil and Funding Bill — Jefferson's report on the mint and decimal denom- inations of money — The division of parties on construction, not on slavery — Resolution of the House on slavery not sectional — Hamilton in the Treasury Department — United States Bank char- tered — The Apportionment Bill — Party lines drawn on it — —First Mil vetoed by Washington — Central- ists and Republicans — Accession of North Carolina; also of Rhode Island — Permanent seat of govern- ment fixed — Indian war west of Ohio — Treaty of peace with the Creeks — General St. Clair — Sur- prised and defeated with great loss — Admission of Vermont and Kentucky — Organization of militia — Whiskey insurrection — Washington's unanimous re-election — M. Genet — Washington's proclama- tion of neutrality — M. Fauchet — Eleventh amend- ment to the Constitution — Jefferson's celebrated report, and retirement from office — General Wayne in the northwest — Defeats the Indians and lays vraote their country on the Maumee — Treaty of peace made — Jay's treaty — Opportune and bene- ficial to United States — Treaty with Spain — Boundary settled — Hamilton's last celebrated re- port, and retirement from office — M. Adet — Wash- ington's reply to his address — Tennessee admitted into the Union — Washington's farewell address — Candidates for President and Vice-President — John Adams elected President, and Thomas Jeffer- son Vice-President — Comments on Washington's administration — Great prosperity. AVING traced the history of the States separately through their embryo colonial existence, and then jointly through their two successive evolutions in political development as sovereign States, we shall now proceed to trace their subse- quent history and career, under the Con- stitution of 1787. The 4th of March, 1789, was the time appointed for the government of the United States to begin its operations under its new organization ; but several weeks elapsed before quorums of both the newly constituted Houses of Con- gress were assembled. The city of New York was the place where Congress then met. Washington having been duly noti- fied of his election, left his home at Mount Vernon, on the 16th of April, to enter upon the discharge of his new duties. I le set out with a purpose of travelling privately, and without attract- ing any public attention ; but this was impossible. Every where on his way he was met by thronging crowds, eager to see the man whom they regarded as the chief defender of their liberties ; and everywhere he was hailed with those public manifestations of joy, regard and love, which spring spontaneously from the hearts of an affectionate and grateful people. At Trenton a grand display was made. A triumphal arch had been erected on the bridge spanning the THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 363 Assumpink. This arch was decorated with flowers and laurels, and bore in large letters : " December the 26th, 1776." This was in commemoration of the noted surprise of the Hessians, and his complete victory at that place. Beyond the bridge the road was liter- ally strewn with flowers, spread by the " Virgins fair and matrons grave (These thy conquering arms did save) Build for thee triumphal bowers ; Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers! "* The Governor with his staff, and other distinguished persons, accompanied them * These stanzas, or ode, were prepared by Gov- ernor Howell of New Jersey for the occasion. The WASHINGTON'S HOME AT MOUNT VERNON. hands of little girls dressed in white, who greeted him by chanting in their silvery voices the following stanzas : " Welcome, mighty chief, once more ; Welcome to this grateful shore ; Now, no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow. "white-robed choir " consisted of six small girls, whose names were : Margaret Lowry, Mary Cox, Sally Airy, Betsey Milnor, Sally Howe, Sally Collins. Mary Cox upon marriage became Mary Chesnut, and the mother of Hon. James Chesnut, ex-United States Senator, of Camden, South Carolina. The author has in his possession an exceedingly interest- 364 HISTORY 01- THE UNITED STATES. r.< -iK 11., c. n through New Jersey. A committee of Congress met him on the way, and con- ducted him to New York. On leaving the Jersey line, " they embarked in an elegant barge of thirteen oars, manned by thirteen Branch pilots." These thir- teen oars and thirteen pilots were sym- bolical of the thirteen States, over the government established by which, or to be established by all of which (the acces- sion of two of them only still being wanted), the great chief was called upon to preside. His reception in New York was marked by a grandeur and enthusi- asm never before witnessed in that me- tropolis. The inauguration took place on the 30th of April, in the presence of an immense multitude, who had assem- bled to witness the new and imposing •ceremony. The oath of office was ad- ministered by the distinguished Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When this sacred pledge was given in the presence of his fellow-citizens, with an appeal to heaven, " to the best of his ability," in the execution of the office of President, " to preserve, protect, and ing letter written by Mrs. Chesnut.in which she gave a full account of this ovation, and the reply of Gen- eral Washington on being presented with a copy of the sonata, in which he said : " General Washington cannot leave this place with- out expressing his acknowledgments to the matrons and young ladies, who received him in so novel and grateful a manner at the triumphal arch in Trenton, for the exquisite sensations he experienced in that affecting moment. The astonishing contrast between his former and actual situation at the same spot — the elegant taste with which it was adorned for the present occasion — the innocent appearance of the 'white-robed choir, 1 who nut him with the gratu- latory song, have made such an impression on his re- membrance as, he assures them, will never be effaced. "Trenton, April 21, 1 ; Mrs. Chesnut died in L864, at the advanc of eighty-nine. At tin- time ol her death she was • one of the Regents of the " Ladies' Mount Vernon ■ciatiou." defend the Constitution of the United States," he retired with the other officials into the Senate Chamber, where he delivered his inaugural address to both Houses of the newly constituted Con- gress in joint assembly. The first session of this first Congress of the States, under the new organization, continued nearly six months. It was oc- cupied chiefly in the consideration and en- actment of laws necessary to put the new Federal machinery into successful oper- ation ; and in the adoption of measures for raising revenue from duties on ton- nage and imports, which the new Consti- tution authorized. Among the first things which thus engaged their attention were the proposed amendments to the Consti- tution, which had been insisted on by a majority of the States at the time of its ratification. All the important amend- ments so insisted on were agreed to, and sent back to the States for their approval. Ten of these were soon adopted and be- came parts of the organic law.* The Fed- eral Judiciary was also organized; several necessary subordinate executive offices were likewise established. These were the offices of Secretary of State, of the Treas- ury, of War, and of Attorney-General. In the discussion of these questions, the nature and character of the govern- ment necessarily came under review. On no one of them did any decided antagonism of opinion arise. All held it to be a limited government, clothed only with specific powers conferred by delegation by the States. Those who had advocated a National Government now warmly defended the Federal sys- tem as it had been amended and enlarged. All friends of the new organization at this time assumed the name of " Fed- eralists." To fill the offices of Secretary *See Appendix D. THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. >67 tegrity, of the purest patriotism, and of a very high order of statesmanship. John Jay, of New York, was nominated Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court, with John Rutledge, of South Carolina; Wil- liam Cushing, of Massachusetts; James Wilson, of Pennsylvania; John Blair, of Virginia; and Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland, Associate Judges. Nearly all of these distinguished personages be- longed to that class, who, before the for- mation of the new Constitution, had been known as "Nationals." This awakened the anxiety of many of the opposite party, and caused them to fear, that, notwith- standing professions of attachment to the new system, an attempt would be made by them to exercise powers by" construc- tion," which the States had uniformly refused in positive language to confer. These apprehensions became realities at the next session. On the 12th of February, 1790, a petition, invoking the Federal authorities to adopt measures with a view to the ultimate abolition of African slavery, as it then existed in the respective States, was sent to Congress, headed by Dr. Franklin, who had been a very distinguished, though not a very active leader, owing to his age, in the ranks of the " Nationals," in the Phila- delphia Convention. There were then in the United States 697,897 negro slaves. They had been introduced into all the States, as we have seen, but most of them were at this time in the Southern States. This movement was looked upon with alarm everywhere by the true friends of the Federal system, as it invoked the exercise of powers not delegated by the States to Congress. After a thorough discussion on the 23d of March, 1790, in the House of Representatives, the question was quieted for the time by the passage of a resolution — " That Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them within any of the States ; it remaining with the several States alone to provide any regulations therein, which humanity and true policy may require." * This at the time was not considered at all as a sectional question, though a large majority of the slaves were at the South ; nor was it viewed at all as a conflict between the slave and anti- slave power. It was strictly a conflict on Constitutional principles. Many of the most distinguished members of the House from the North voted for the res- olution. They did so, not because they were in favor of slavery, but because the subject-matter brought before Congress was one which was not within the sphere of their constitutional powers. Among these may be specially named Gilman and Foster, of New Hampshire ; El- bridge Gerry, Benjamin Goodhue, and Theodore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts; Benjamin Huntingdon and Roger Sher- man, of Connecticut, Daniel Heister and Mr. Speaker Muhlenburg, of Pennsyl- vania, men whose characters were high above such an unjust imputation as that their votes were the result of any other in- fluence than their own convictions of duty. Indeed the majority of those who voted for the resolution were Northern members. They were all patriots. They had not been taught in that early day of our history that in politics there was a " higher law " than the Constitution of their country. In less than a month after the passage of this resolution, to wit, on the 17th day of April, 1790, the venerable and beloved Franklin passed from the theatre of human action at the advanced age of * Annals of Congress, vol. ii., pp. 1523-4. 3 68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hook II . in eighty-four years, having been born on the 6th of January, 1706. In his death the country and humanity sustained a great loss; he had risen from the hum- blest origin to the highest distinctions. He commenced life in Philadelphia as a printer-boy, and a press upon which he worked as a journeyman printer is now preserved among the treasured relics in the patent office building in Washington city. As a scientist and natural philos- opher, he had become famous through- out the civilized world. His discovery of the laws of electricity formed an epoch in that branch of science. He was the forerunner of Morse and the pioneer of the subsequent uses and ap- pliances of this wonderful and poten- tial terrestrial element, which has added so much to the advancement of civiliza- tion, and the " diffusion of knowledge among men." He took an active part on behalf of the colonies for their struggle for independence, and filled many offices of high trust, with very great ability, and unsullied honor. He was a member of a number of philo- sophical societies, not only in his own country, but in Europe, all of whom paid due honors to his memory. He left an epitaph for his tombstone, which was written by himself many years before, which was as follows : THE BODY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer, (like the cover of an old hook,) its contents torn out, and stripl of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms : yet the work itself shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition corrected and amended by '/'//<■ Author. On the 26th of May thereafter an act was passed for the establishment of a territorial government in Tennessee, without any objection because of the existence of slavery, or any motion to prohibit or restrict that institution there- in. In the meantime the cabinet minister- were all harmoniously at work. Ham ilton, with extraordinary administrative ability, soon planned and put in opera- tion the various branches of the treasury department, with its checks of auditors and comptrollers, as it still remains, with but few changes — a monument to his in- dustry, forecast and power of organiza- tion. He soon brought forward several measures which, when adopted by Con- gress, acted like magic in their effect on the public credit. Among these was the assumption by the United States of all the separate State war debts. These were debts incurred by the States sev- erally for particular local defence in be- half of the general cause. The proposed assumption was upon the broad basis of an equitable adjust- ment. The aggregate amount of the State war debts was estimated to be a little under thirty millions ; the aggregate amount of the debts of the United States on bond and contract, not includ- ing the Continental paper currency, was estimated to be something over fifty millions. The whole of this Hamilton proposed to fund, and in payment to issue new- government bonds. This plan was sus- tained by Congress, and immediately the stocks of the government rose from ten to fifteen per cent. His proposition for the regulation of commerce and the im- position of duties on imports and tonnage, and an excise on certain productions, with the view to meet punctually the interest THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 369 on the public debt, inspired confidence in the holders of all classes of government securities. Mr. Jefferson immediately gave the energies of his enlarged and philosoph- ical mind to all matters that lay within the sphere of his duties Besides the great ability with which he conducted the foreign diplomacy of the country, he gave his special attention to other sub- jects which had previously occupied so much of his research and investigations, especially the mint and coinage. He made an exceedingly able report* upon this subject, which secured the establish- ment of the silver dollar as a unit of value in the United States, with the decimal denomination of money. The benefit to American trade and commerce and all the business of life, from this ; source alone, is incalculable. The year -after this the principles of the govern- ment came up in cabinet discussion as well as in Congress. It was upon Ham- ilton's proposition to charter a bank of ten millions capital, in which two mil- lions of the public funds were to be in- vested, and eight millions of the stock to be owned by private individuals. The charter was to be for twenty years. He wished it as a fiscal agent to aid in the operations of the treasury. Washington requested the opinion of the several members of his cabinet upon the measure. Jefferson opposed it on constitutional grounds, and Hamilton sustained it with prodigious power of argument and illustration. Washington, after mature deliberation, approved the bill. Great benefits resulted from it. But the general principles of the gov- ernment, with the nature and extent of its powers, came up not long afterwards in discussion on the apportionment of the ♦American State Papers, vol. vii., Finance 1. 24 number of members to the House of Representatives, to which each State was entitled under the census of population, according to the " three-fifths " basis of the Constitution; and on the system of funding the public debt, and other finan- cial measures, including a Bank of the United States, recommended by Colonel Hamilton. On these latter measures party lines became very clearly marked between those known as "strict con- structionists," and those known as " latitudinarian constructionists." The former were for confining the action of the government strictly within its specific and limited sphere, as clearly defined by the language of the Con- stitution, while the others were for enlarging its powers by inference and implication. The latter still adhered to the popular name of " Federalists," while the former took the name of " Re- publicans," in some places, and of " Democrats " in others. Colonel Ham- ilton and Mr. Jefferson were soon recog- nized as the chief leaders respectively of these opposing ranks. General Wash- ington was regarded as holding a neutral position between them; though after mature deliberation he vetoed the first apportionment bill passed by the party headed by Colonel Hamilton, which was based upon a principle constructively leading to centralization, or consolidation. This principle was manifested in apply- ing the ratio of representation under it to the population of all the States as one mass, instead of applying it to the pop- ulation of each State severally. The latter was the only way in which it could be made upon correct Federal principles, as was insisted upon by Mr. Jefferson in a written cabinet opinion, notwithstanding large fractions of population in several of the States were left out by this mode 37° IIIS'IOKY Oh THE I'M J ED STATES. Book II., c. !<► of apportionment. This was the first i xercise of the veto power under the present Constitution. It created consid- erable excitement at the time. The veto, however, was sustained by a majority of the House. Another bill on the subject was passed in pursuance of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has been adhered to in principle in every apportionment bill which has been passed since. At the second session of the new Con- gress, Washington announced the grati- fying fact of " the accession of North Carolina" to the Constitution of 1787; and on the 1st of June, the same year, by special message, he announced the like "accession of the State of Rhode Island," with his congratulations on the happy event which "united under the General Government all the States which were originally Confederated." At this session of the Congress an act was also passed changing the seat of the Federal government. The law provided that, after the year 1790, the government should be located for ten years at Phila- delphia; and that, after the first Monday in December, 1800, it should be per- manently located on the eastern bank of the Potomac, near Georgetown, within a district of territory not exceeding ten miles square. This territory, subse- quently ceded and accepted for this pur- pose, became known as the " District of Columbia," and to the seat of govern- ment itself the name of "Washington" was given. The passage of this bill was in some way linked with the assumption and landing bills. Some of the friends of the latter, it is said, voted for the former ■ >n condition of securing strength enough t ) carry their favorite measures. In this way the compromise, as it was called, was carried. The post-office establish- ment was continued as under the old organization. So was the Federal Flag of the United States. The great seal of the Confederated Republic, with its motto of " E Pluribus Unum," * was by special act continued under the new, as under the old organization. During the year 1790, Indian troubles manifested themselves among the Creeks, in Georgia, as well as among the tribes west of the Ohio. The chiefs of the Creeks were induced to visit New York, and a treaty with them was made by Washington. But, in the Northwest, depredations continued until open war broke out. General Harmer was sent, with about fifteen hundred men, to repel these hostile incursions. He burned several Indian towns, and destroyed a large quantity of provisions; but, at the junction of the rivers St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, in Indiana, he was defeated in two battles — one fought on the 17th and the other on the 2 2d of October. After these defeats he was removed, and General St. Clair, Governor of the North- western Territory, was appointed to re- lieve him. . In September, 1791, with about two thousand men, he left Fort Washington, and, after proceeding north- ward for a considerable distance into the Indian country, on the 4th of November he was surprised in camp, and his army was routed with great slaughter. Nearly half of his men were killed. In 1791 two new States were pressing for admis- sion into the Union on an equal footing * " One composed of many ; the motto of the United States, consisting of many States Confeder- ated." — A r oah Webster. "The motto of the United States, the allusion be- ing to the formation of one Federal government out of several independent States." — Joseph E. Worcester. These are the highest American authorities as to the true sense and meaning in which the motto was adopted and preserved. THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 371 with the original thirteen. These were Vermont and Kentucky. The earlier history of each of these States possesses much of interest and not a little of what is quite romantic. A few of the essential facts only will here be stated. The territory of Ver- • COAT OF ARMS OF VERMONT. mont took its name from the principal ranges of mountains within its limits, which from earliest times received the designation of Green Mountains. Her boundaiy during her entire inchoate state was not definitely fixed. The first settlement within it was made at Fort Dummer in 1724, where is now the town of Brattleboro, by parties from Massachusetts, who considered it part of that colony. But little attention was attracted to the country until the French War of 1755, when it was traversed by soldiers from the different colonies and the rare excellence of the lands for grazing, browsing and farming was ob- served by them. Soon after the war, Governor Wentworth, of New Hamp- shire, made numerous grants of land to immigrants, claiming the territory as a part and parcel of New Hampshire. But soon the Governor of New York laid claim to the same lands by virtue of grants from Charles II. to the Duke of York. The dispute ended in a law- suit, which was finally determined on appeal to the king in favor of the Gover- nor of New York. But another party arose to the controversy. This was Ethan Allen and quite a number of set- tlers under him from Connecticut, who, having paid Governor Wentworth for their grants, utterly refused to make a second payment for them on the demand of the Governor of New York, and re- sisted by force the sheriffs who were sent by the Governor of New York, to eject them. They stood by their arms in the maintenance of what they under- stood was their just rights. The whole country was in a state of quasi war for a while. The settlers recognized the au- thority of neither New Hampshire nor New York, but set up an independence for themselves. On the meeting of the Colonial Congress, in 1.776, they desired a distinct representation in that body, but upon the persistent refusal of New York it was not allowed. During the Revolutionary War, however, as we have seen, the settlers under the New Hamp- shire grant, or " Green Mountain Boys," as they were called, were ever foremost amongst the brave in achieving independ- ence. After the independence of the several States was acknowledged, with- out any specific recognition of her, Ver- mont repeatedly made application for her admission into the Union as a State under the old Articles of Confederation, but as New York persisted in her dis- sent, nothing was finally done in the mat- ter until after the government went into operation under the new organization. It was, therefore, in the early part of Washington's administration she made her appeal for admission into the Union as a State on an equal footing with the original thirteen States under the new Constitution, and by an Act of Congress of the 4th of February, 1791, she was so admitted on the 4th of March of the same year. Kentucky, the other new State at this time pressing for admission into the 372 HiSlORY Or THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 10 Union, was a narrow belt of territory be- longing to Virginia, westward of Big Sandy river and southward of Ohio COAT OF ARMS OK KENTUCKY. river, extending down to the Mississippi river, its extreme length from east to west being 308 miles, and its extreme width from north to south being 172 miles. This vast and fertile country was very little known to the Virginians or English until some time after the ter- mination of the French War in 1763. It was then and had been for a long time — perhaps for centuries — occupied by roving tribes of Indians, who, exulting in their savage deeds of war, had given to it the name of Kentucky, which in English means " dark and bloody ground." It is believed that a pre- existing race occupied this country as well as that north of the Ohio river be- fore the tribes that were found there by the Europeans. This is the race desig- nated as the mound-builders. These ancient mounds, of which we have spoken before, abound in Kentucky as well as in the northwest, and other parts of the continent. The first English pioneer who pene- trated this wilderness was the celebrated Daniel Boone, who, in 1769, established himself where now is the town of Boonesboro. Within the next five or six years other immigrants settled in the territory, the most of them going from Virginia. The settlers, however, pur- chased their lands from the Indians. In 1775 they organized a government, es- tablished courts, and passed laws of their own, but the Legislature of Virginia re- fused to recognize the validity of this organization and pronounced the steps taken under it as null and void, though it made grants of lands to these pioneers. In 1776 the Legislature of Virginia formed this territory into a county, call- ing it the county of Kentucky, and in 1783 constituted it into a district, the decisions of whose courts were subject on the appeal to the courts of Virginia. Despite frequent and bloody incursions by the Cherokees and other Indian tribes, which made it necessary for the settlers DANI1 I 1 to go constantly armed, tin- new terri tory, during the Revolutionary War, rapidly increased in population. A san- guinary battle was fought on the 19th of .August, 1782, between the whites, num- bering only 182, and about 600 Indians, near Blue Lick Springs. In this bloody conflict of arms, Colonel Boone acted a most conspicuous part and lost a gallant son. Sixty others of the settlers also fell. After the war of the Revolution, Kentucky made repeated applications for admission into the Union as a State, but 1HE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 373 was denied. As in the case of Vermont, nized as one of the wonders of the it was not until Washington's adminis- world. This is situated near the present tration that general consent was given, railroad from Louisville to Nashville, and by Act of Congress of 18th of Feb- ; and is visited annually by thousands of ruary, 1791, she was so admitted on the tourists from our own as well as from 1st of June, 1792. I foreign lands. This new State, now the fifteenth of In May, 1792, an act was passed by the sisterhood, was then and has ever since been distinguished, not only for the richness of her soil, the variety of her the Congress, providing for the general organization and discipline of the militia of the several States under the Constitu- productions, the salubrity of her climate, | tion. SCENE IN THE MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY. and beauty of her landscapes and moun- tains, but for her geological curiosities. Several thousand square miles of her territory are of a cavernous character. Rivers flow under ground for miles. In these rivers and dark caves are found fish without eyes, which are regarded as an extraordinary phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Caverns of great dimensions have been found in different places. The most famous of these is what is known as the Mammoth Cave, which is recog- An act was also passed at the same session imposing an excise on distilled spirits. This caused great discontent in several quarters, and especially in Penn- sylvania. In the western part of this State public meetings were held, by which the measure was not only de- nounced, but the revenue officers were threatened with violence if they pro- ceeded with the collection of the tax. In May, 1792, an act was passed, au- thorizing the President to call out the 374 IIISIORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 11, c. itt militia, if, in his judgment, it should be necessary, in aid of the execution of the laws. Washington at first issued a proc- lamation, urging the people to desist from violence. This proving ineffectual, he subsequently called out fifteen thou- sand men, volunteers and militia, by which imposing military force all dis- orders were quelled without bloodshed. In this way was ended what was known as the " Whiskey Insurrection." In 1792 another Presidential election took place. Washington was very de- sirous to retire ; but yielded to the gen- eral wishes of the country, and was again chosen President by the unanimous vote of the Electoral Colleges of the States. He was again duly inaugurated for a second term on the 4th of March, 1793. Mr. Adams was re-elected Vice-Presi- dent. About this time, the French Rev- olution, and the wars growing out of it, had an important bearing on the politics of the United States. A large majority of the people throughout the Union deeply sympathized with the French people in their struggle for liberty and the right of self-government against the combined efforts of surrounding nations to impose a monarchical dynasty upon them. This sympathy prompted a strong desire for the United States to take part in the conflict in aid of France. But the policy of Washington, in which he was sustained by Mr. Jefferson, still Secretary of State, was to remain neutral among all tlic contending powers of Europe. As early as April, 1793, M. Genet, Min- ister of the French Republic to the United States, under the title of "Citizen Genet," arrived at Charleston, South Car- olina; and taking advantage of the feel- ing of the people in favor of France, en- deavored to excite them to hostile acts against Great Britain. He issued com- missions to vessels-of-war for fitting out privateers to sail from ports of the United States to cruise against the enemies of France. Upon this, Washington issued his celebrated proclamation of neutrality. M. Genet disregarded the proclamation of the President, and persisted in his course, with threats of an appeal from the President to the people. For this viola- tion of international law, Washington demanded his recall. M. Genet's com- mission was withdrawn, and M. Fauchet was appointed minister in his stead. Early in the first session of the third Congress, in 1793, an important amend- ment to the Constitution in arrest of cen- tralizing tendencies through the exercise of power by construction was proposed and adopted, with only two dissentient votes in the Senate and one in the House. It is in these words : "The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign States." * This was soon unanimously ratified by the States. It constituted the Eleventh Amendment. What called forth this amendment was the action of the Federal Judiciary in assuming, by a construction of their powers, jurisdiction of a suit brought against one of the States. This was deemed by all the States in deroga- tion of the separate sovereignty of each under the Constitution. On the 1 6th of December, 1793, Mr. Jefferson, th<- Secretary of State, made his celebrated report on the relations of the United States with foreign nations. This is one of the ablest State papers penned by him or any other man in this Sec Appendix I). THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 375 or any other country. On the 31st of the same month, much to the regret of Wash- ington, as well as that of his own party friends, he resigned his office, and re- tired to his home at Monticello, Virginia. He was succeeded by Edmund Ran- dolph, the Attorney-General ; William Bradford, of Pennsylvania, took the place of Mr. Randolph, as Attorney-General. In the fall of 1793 General Wayne, who had been appointed to conduct the war against the Indians of the northwest, after St. Clair's disaster, built Fort Recovery, near the scene of that During the year 1794 the popular feel- ing in favor of France became still stronger than it had- been before. Many persons of high distinction insisted on a war against Great Britain. While Washing- tori was desirous to preserve peace, if possible, yet the conduct of the British government greatly embarrassed the maintenance of his purpose. In disre- gard of the treaty of peace of 1783, the forts on Lake Erie, and vicinity, were still occupied by British troops, and mer- chant vessels of the United States, on their way to French ports, were seized, BATTLE OF THE MAUMEE. famous surprise. He there passed the winter, and, during the next spring and summer, advanced further into the inte- rior and built Fort Defiance. Leaving this fort, he moved down the Maumee river, and, on the 20th of August, met the enemy in battle. The Indians were signally defeated. Wayne then laid waste their country, and compelled them to make peace. His whole army amounted to about three thousand men. By the treaty finally made, the Indian title was extinguished to extensive tracts of country west of the Ohio river. and United States seamen were violently- impressed by commanders of British ships. To avert so great a calamity as war with England, which now seemed so imminent, Washington concluded to send a special envoy to that country, and to spare no effort, consistent with honor, for the attainment of his great end. For this high and extraordinary mission, John Jay, Chief-Justice of the United States, w;:s selected. Mr. Jay, resigning the Chief- Justiceship, assumed the responsibilities of the great trust. He proved himself equal to them all. As his successor on 376 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. lO the Supreme Bench, Washington ap- pointed Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut. In November following a treaty was signed. The provisions of this treaty met the approval of Washington. It was ratified the next year by the United States Senate, after a very bitter discus- sion. This treaty was exceedingly opportune and beneficial to the United States. By it a war with Great Britain at this critical period was avoided, and the honor and dignity of the United States fully main- tained, though some of its provisions, even after ratification, met with violent opposition and denunciation in several quarters. That provision which met the bitterest assaults was the one that secured payment to British creditors of debts which were due to them by citizens of the Colonies before the war of the Revo- lution. This, however, was eminently just. Some matters connected with this treaty led to a disagreement between Mr. Randolph and President Washington Which occasioned the retirement of Ran- dolph from the cabinet. Timothy Pick- ering, of Massachusetts, took his place. Another important treaty was also concluded with Spain, by which the boundaries between Louisiana and Flor- ida and the United States were definitely settled, on the 31st degree of north lati- tude from the Mississippi river to the Chattahoochee ; thence down that river to its junction with the Flint river, and thence in a straight line to the head- waters of the St. Mary's. This treaty was effected on the 27th of October, 1795, at St. Lorenzo et Real, by Thomas Pinckney, United States Envoy Extra- ordinary. By one of the provisions the right to navigate the Mississippi was granted by Spain, and the privilege of using New Orleans as a place of deposit for ten years. Peace was also made with Algiers, one of the Barbary States of Africa, and the captive citizens of the United States held by that country were redeemed. The financial report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in November, 1794, was the last official act of Colonel Ham- ilton. It was one of the ablest State papers of his life. It recommended the establishment of a sinking fund for the gradual extinction of the public debt. His recommendation in this particular was carried out by the Congress, and from it the public credit was greatly im- proved. On the 31st of January, 1795, Colonel Hamilton resigned his position as Secretary of the Treasury, and retired to private life. He was succeeded by Oliver Walcott, of Connecticut. In January, 1795, M. Adet succeeded M. Fauchet as Minister to the United States from the Republic of France. The object of his mission seems to have been to embroil the United States with the European powers with which France was engaged in war. He brought with him a flag of the French republic, which he presented to Washington, accompanying the presentation with an address which was doubtless intended more for the public than for the executive ear. A suitable response to this artful address imposed a difficult and delicate duty on- Washington, who, at all times, proved himself fully equal to the requirements of the occasion. No one sympathized more deeply than he did with the French people in their struggles; and yet no- one could be more determined than he was to pursue that course in regard to it which duty to his own country de- manded. In reply, therefore, under these embarrassments, he said : " Born, sir, in a land of liberty ; hav- THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 377 ing engaged in a perilous conflict to de- fend it ; having, in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its per- manent establishment in my own coun- try ; my anxious recollections, my sym- pathetic feelings and my best wishes are irresistibly attracted, whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation un- furl the banners of freedom. But, above all, the events of the French Revolution have produced the deepest solicitude, as well as the highest admiration. To call your nation brave, were but to pro- nounce common praise. Wonderful peo- ple ! Ages to come will read with astonishment the history of your bril- liant exploits. I rejoice that the period of your toils and of your immense sacri- fices is approaching. I rejoice that the interesting revolutionary movements of so many years have issued in the forma- tion of a Constitution designed to give permanency to the great object for which you have contended. I rejoice that liberty, which you have so long em- braced with enthusiasm — liberty, of which you have been the invincible de- fenders, now finds an asylum in the bosom of a regularly organized govern- ment; a government which, being formed to secure the happiness of the French people, corresponds with the ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the pride of every citizen of the United States by its resemblance to their own. On these glorious events, accept, sir, my sincere congratulations." In this there was the fullest assurance of the profoundest sympathy ; but not the slightest intimation of a purpose to render the United States a party to the war. The address, so timely and prudent, checked the designs of M. Adet of alien- ating the people from confidence in Washington, by representing his course as proceeding from a want of sympathy for France in her struggle. M. Adet afterwards behaved worse than " Citizen Genet" had done. He issued an address to the people of the United States, charging the Federal administration with a breach of faith to their former allies, the French. His efforts, however, availed nothing. Washington had the confidence of the people. COAT OF ARMS OF TENNESSEE. On the ist of June, 1796, Tennessee was admitted into the Union. The time was now approaching for another Presidential election. The country being at peace with the world, and in a prosperous condition, Washing- ton, against all entreaties to the con- trary, positively determined to retire. In September, 1796, he gave to his countrymen his memorable " Farewell Address."* This was a befitting and crowning glory to his illustrious life. The candidates for the offices of Pres- ident and Vice-President, of what was then styled the Federal party, were John Adams, of Massachusetts, and Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina. The Republican or Democratic can- didate for the Presidency was Thomas Jefferson ; for the Vice-Presidency the party was divided between Colonel Aaron Burr, of New York, and others. The contest resulted in the choice of John Adams for President, and Thomas Jefferson for Vice-President. The votes * See Appendix F. HISTORY OF TUT. UNITED STATES. Book II c. 13 of the electoral colleges of the several States for the office of President were seventy-one for John Adams, and sixty- eight for Thomas Jefferson. This, as the Constitution then stood, conferred the office of President upon Mr. Adams — he having the highest vote — and the office of Vice-President on Mr. Jefferson — he having the next highest. At the opening of the session, on the 7th of December, 1796, Washington delivered his annual communication upon the state of the country to both Houses, in joint assembly, in the Repre- sentative Hall. His custom from the beginning was thus to meet the Con- gress in joint assembly on the opening of each session, and give his views on public matters, not in a written message, but an oral speech. The answer of the two Houses, in their separate action, to this, his last Presidential speech, ex- pressed the grateful sense of Congress of his eminent services to his country, their deep regret at his retiring from office, and ardent wish for his future personal happiness. These answers, in spirit and substance throughout, showed the high estimation in which the retiring chief was held by men of all parties. After the 4th of March, 1/97, he retired to Mount Vernon. The administration of the government during Washington's two terms had been successful and prosperous beyond the expectations and hopes of even the most sanguine of its friends. The finances of the country were no longer in an embarrassed condition ; the public credit was fully restored; life was given to every department of industry. The workings of the new system of allowing Congress to raise revenue from duties on imports proved to be not only harmon- ious in its Federal action, but astonish- ing in its results upon the trade and commerce of all the States. The ex- ports from the Union increased from nineteen million to over fifty-six million dollars; while the imports increased in about the same proportion. Three new members had been added to the Union. The progress of the States in their new career, under their new organization, thus far was exceedingly encouraging, not only to the friends of liberty within their own limits, but their sympathizing allies in all climes and countries. CHAPTKR XL ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS. (4th March, 1797 — 4th March, 1801.) Inauguration — Cabinet of Washington retained — Relations with France more complicated — Extra session of Congress convened — President author- ized to call out militia — Stamp duties imposed — Unpopular with the people — Pinckney, Gerry, and Marshall sent special envoys to France — The " X. Y. Z. " correspondence — Pinckney's expression, "Millions for defence, not a cent for tribute" — Fail- ure of mission — All treaties with Fiance abrogated — Cities on the coast fortified — Navy Department created — Benjamin Stoddert appointed Secretary — Alien and Sedition Acts — Great popular excitement and alarm — War with France threatening — Wash- ington appointed Lieutenant-General — Naval en- gagements — Washington's last presence in the House of Representatives — Another attempt to avert war by negotiations — Three new Envoys appointed — Napoleon in power in France — Treaty of peace made — Washington's death — Honors paid to his memor) — Presidential election in 1800 — Excite- ment over the Alien and Sedition Acts — Prosecu- tion of Matthew Lyon — While in prison elected to Congress — Prosecution of Thomas Cooper — Trial of fames T. Callender — Indictment of Jared Peck — Principles of Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798-9, and Madison's report thereon — Platform of Republicans in the canvass — The Federal can- didates, Ad. mis and Pinckney — The Republican candidates, Jefferson and Burr — The result of the votes — Election made by the States in the House of Representatives — Thirty-six ballotings — Jeffer- son finally elected President and Burr Vice-Presi- dent — Retirement of Adams — Subsequent life and THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADAMS. 379 his death on the fiftieth anniversary of the Inde- pendence of the United States — His last words, " Jefferson survives." [N the 4th of March, 1797, John Adams, of Massachusetts, the second President of the United States, was duly inaugurated at Philadelphia, in the presence of both Houses of Congress, and a large concourse of distinguished persons. He was then in the sixty-second year of his age. He was dressed in a full suit of pearl-colored broadcloth, and wore his hair powdered. His inaugural address was delivered before his oath of office was taken. This was administered by Oliver Ellsworth, then Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, he having been elevated to that position en the resignation of Chief-Justice Jay. The new President retained in office the same members of the executive Cabinet left by Washington. These were, Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury; and James McHenry, Secre- tary of War. Mr. Jefferson was sworn in as Vice- President. During his term of Vice- President he did not usually attend the sessions of the Senate. He occupied the chair, however, occasionally. He prepared for the use of the Senate an admirable system of Parliamentary Law, suited to that body as well as the House of Representatives and most legislative representative bodies in this country. It was compiled chiefly from precedents, in the House of Commons of England, and is known as Jefferson's Manual. It has ever since been highly valued as the bases of the Lex Parliamcntaria in the United States. The relations existing between France and the United States were now becom- ing not only complicated but decidedly unfriendly. They occupied the earliest attention of the new administration. The conduct of M. Adet had led to a suspen- sion of diplomatic intercourse between the two Republics. France had issued orders quite injurious to the commerce of the United States. In this emergency Mr. Adams thought the immediate attention of Congress necessary, and therefore called an extra session of the two Houses, to take place JOHN ADAMS. on the 15th of May. The course pur- sued by the revolutionary government of France toward all nations was so violent and offensive, that the observance of a strict neutrality, in the opinion of the President, seemed to be impossible with a due regard to the interests of the United States. A majority of Congress, still wishing to maintain a neutral position, and to preserve peace with France as well as England, passed an act to prevent the 3 So JI I STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 11 fitting out of privateers and also to pro- hibit the exportation of arms and am- munition. Moreover, the President was authorized, if he deemed it necessary, to call out the militia and volunteers to the number of eighty thousand men. To provide means to meet and defray ex- penses which might be thus incurred, duties by way of stamps were imposed upon paper and parchment used for the various purposes of business. This measure, carried chiefly by the party still styling themselves "Federal- ists," proved to be very unpopular. It revived the old feeling of hostility to the Stamp Acts of England; and the more so from the fact that Mr. Adams' sym- pathies were generally believed to be with England, and against France in the contest then waging between them. In obedience to the popular sentiment, Mr. Adams resolved to make another attempt for an amicable adjustment of the controversy with France. In pur- suance of this policy, by and with the consent of the Senate, he appointed Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina; Elbridge Gerry, of Massachu- setts; and John Marshall, of Virginia, ial envoys to that republic. These Ministers Extraordinary met at Paris, in October, 1 797, and at once attempted to execute the duties assigned them. M. de Talleyrand, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, refused to receive them in their public capacity, but em- ployed unofficial individuals to confer with them, using instead of their proper names (which were then unknown) the letters X. V. X., and in this way the intercourse with the ministers of the United States was attempted to be car- ried on. The object was to detach the envoys from each other, and to learn the several views of each by secret interviews. It was soon disclosed that the payment of the sum of two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars would secure the official recognization of the ministers, with a settlement of all matters in dispute. It was on this occasion that Mr. Pinckney gave expression to the sentiment, " Mil- lions for defence, but not a cent for tribute ! " which met with a hearty re- sponse from the people of the United States. Two of the e-nvoys, Mr. Marshall and Mr. Pinckney, requested the Presi- dent to send them permission to return home. They were shortly afterwards ordered by the French government to quit the territories of that republic. Mr. Gerry was invited to remain and did so; but effected nothing. At the session of Congress which* began on the 13th of November, 1797, and continued over eight months, acts were passed for the protection of naviga- tion; for the defence of the seacoast, by fortifying Boston, Newport, New York, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah; for an additional land and naval force; for a loan, which was negotiated at eight per cent., and for a direct tax on real estate. All treaties with France were declared abrogated, and all commercial intercourse between her and the United States was declared suspended. At the same session, April 7th, 1798,. an act organizing a territorial govern- ment for what was then known as the Mississippi territory was passed. Also at the same session a new executive office was created, known as the " Nav\ Department," the chief officer of which was to be known as the " Secretary of the Navy," and constitute one of the President's Cabinet Counsellors. Under this act Benjamin Stoddert, of Maryland,. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADAMS. 381 was appointed Secretary of the Navy. A provisional army was also ordered to be raised, the President being authorized to organize twelve regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry and one of artillery, with engineers, to serve during the difficulty with France. He was also empowered to have built, purchased, or hired, twelve vessels of twenty guns each. These acts met with the general approbation of the people. But during the same session some other acts were passed which created great discontent and indignation. The lead- ing ones of this character were what are known as the "Alien and Sedition Acts." By one of the Alien Acts (there were two on this subject) the President at his pleasure was authorized to order any foreigner, whom he might believe to be dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, to depart out of the coun- try, under very heavy penalty for refus- ing to obey the order. By the Sedition Act it was made a crime, with a very heavy penalty, for any one "to write, print, utter or publish, any false, scan- dalous and malicious writing" against "either House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with the intent to defame, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute." These acts were looked upon by the Republican party everywhere as greatly transcending the powers of the Congress under the Federal compact. Not only so, they were regarded as a palpable violation of the amendments to that com- pact, which guaranteed the liberty of speech, and the freedom of the press, with the right of trial by jury in all cases. The Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia declared these acts to be direct and gross violations of the Con- stitution, and appealed to the other States to join in opposition to them. Numerous petitions for their repeal were presented to Congress at its next session; but without avail. This in- creased the popular excitement and ■ alarm. Mr. Jefferson, at his home, Mon- ticello, looked upon these acts of the Federal party, and the principles upon which they were based, and defended, as leading inevitably to a centralized em- pire. These views he expressed in strong and earnest language in his ex- tensive correspondence. In the event of a war with France, which seemed im- minent, all eyes were turned to Wash- ington, as a proper person to be placed at the head of the armies. He was, therefore, appointed to the command of all the United States forces with the rank of Lieutenant-General. This he ac- cepted upon the condition that Hamilton should be second in command ; which condition was complied with. But, for- tunately for humanity, it did not become necessary for him to take the field in the discharge of the duties of this responsi- ble position. No declaration of actual war was made either by France or the United States against the other, although for some time a state of quasi war existed between them on the high seas, and several engagements took place between their ships of war. On the 9th of February, 1 799, the United States frigate Constella- tion, of thirty-eight guns, commanded by Commodore Truxton, captured the French frigate L Insurgent, of forty guns. This French vessel had previously taken the United States schooner Retaliation. The Constellation, after refitting in the United States, subsequently met at sea the French frigate La Vengeance, of fifty- five guns, and in an engagement of about five hours silenced her batteries ; 3 8 2 11 1 STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II.. c. U though she succeeded in making her escape, with a loss of 156 men, in killed and wounded. At the opening of the session of Con- gress, in December, 1798, Washington was present in the hall of the House of Representatives for the last time; this was also his last visit to Philadelphia. Acting upon the principle of one of his favorite maxims, "in time of peace pre- pare for war," lie was thus actively con- ferring with the President and Cabinet officers upon matters connected with the organization of the military forces or- dered to be raised. Preparations for war were vigorously pushed forward. Several necessary acts of Congress were passed. The President was authorized to contract for building six additional ships of war, of seventy four guns each, and six sloops of war, of eighteen guns each. To meet these expenditures, one million of dollars was appropriated. But in the midst of these active move- ments, a new turn was given to affairs. Intimations having been received, though in an indirect and informal way, through Mr. Van Murray, United States Minister in Holland, that the French officials were now willing to renew diplomatic intercourse with this country, Mr. Adams determined to make an- other attempt at negotiation. I le there- fore appointed three other Envoys Ex- traordinary to France, clothed with ample powers to adjust all existing diffi- culties between the two countries. This high commission consisted of Oliver Ellsworth, then Chief-Justice of the United States, William R. Davie, one of the most distinguished statesmen of North Carolina, and William Van Mur- ray, through whom the informal intima- tion had been given. In this most im- portant act, Mr. Adams did not consult his cabinet. When Mr. Pickering and Mr. McHcnry were informed of it, they expressed their decided and earnest op- position to it. Most of those who had so far supported Mr. Adams' measures considered it inconsistent with the honor and dignity of the United States to adopt the course resolved upon by him. They insisted that proposals to treat should come directly from France. The breach between the President and several of the leaders of his party on this question became irreparable. The reasons which governed him at the time have never been clearly explained. But the most rational probable solution of it, in the absence of direct proof, is that he acted under the urgent private advice of Washington. Be that as it may, it proved to be one of the wisest and most beneficent deeds of his life. On the arrival of the envoys at Paris, they found that a great change had taken place in the government there The Directory had been overthrown, and Napoleon Bonaparte was First Consul. They were favorably received. Com- missioners were appointed to meet them ; one of these was Joseph Bonaparte. Negotiations were entered into, ami articles of a treaty were agreed upon, which were- afterwards confirmed and ratified by both governments. But in the meantime, while negotia- tions were pending, and before the con- clusion of peace, the illustrious character who was again acting so conspicuous a part in the drama of national affairs, passed from the public stage forever. Washington died at Mount Vernon, ow the 14th of December, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. lie was born on the 22d of February, 1732. The announcement of the afflicting event of his death was made in the THE ADMINISTRATION OT ADAMS. House of Representatives as soon as the news reached Philadelphia, by John Marshall, then a member of Congress from Virginia. Both houses immediately adjourned. The whole country was filled with gloom by the intelligence. Men of all parties in politics, and creeds in religion, united with Congress in 383 outward semblance of grief, but the nat- ural outbursts of the hearts of the peo- ple, prompted by the loss of a father. He was indeed everywhere regarded as the " Father of His Country." His re- mains were deposited in a family vault, on his own estate, on the banks of the Potomac, where they still lie entombed. Washington's grave, mount vernon. paying honor to the memory of the " citizen " who, in the language of the resolution of Marshall adopted by the House, "was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."* These manifestations were no mere * Annals of Congress, 61I1 Congress, p. 204. The country in the midst of its grief for the loss of Washington, early in i8oo received the gratifying news of the opening of negotiations which led to the amicable and honorable settlement of the French controversy. During the summer of this year the seat of govern- 3«4 IIiyiURY Oi- THE UXIJED S TAILS. B OK II., c. 11 mcnt was moved from Philadelphia to the then new city of Washington, where President Adams met Congress at its next session, on the 22d of Novem- ber, and was the first Chief Magistrate who occupied the White House. During this year also occurred an- other Presidential election. The contest became very exciting and heated be- Presidency, Colonel Aaron Burr, of New York. The chief issues in the contest were the principles involved in the Alien and Sedition Acts, and other like central- izing measures, with which Mr. Adams and his supporters had become identified. These measures were odious to the great mass of the common people. They be- came more so from the manner in which THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON CITY. tween the opposing parties. The candi- date of the party styling itself" Federal" for the office of President was Mr. Adams, the then incumbent; and for the office of Vice-President, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina. The candidate of the Republican or Democratic party for the Presidency ^vvas Mr. Jefferson ; and for the Yice- thcy were executed. Under the Sedition Act, several persons of high character and known integrity were prosecuted, condemned and punished. Matthew Lyon, of Vermont, was selected as the first victim. He was an Irishman by birth, an extreme Republican, and a man who did not mince phrases. He had given offence to the Federal mem- THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADAMS. 385 bers of the House by styling the Presi- dent's address " the king's speech." It was the custom of Mr. Adams, as it had been of General Washington, to make his annual communication to Congress on the state of the country in an oral address to both Houses in joint assem- bly. It was to this Presidential speech or address Mr. Lyon referred. The offences for which he was indicted, how- ever, were his having declared, in a letter published in a Vermont newspaper, that with the Federal Executive, " every con- sideration of the public welfare was swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, an unbounded thirst for ridicu- lous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice ; " and in regard to the fast-day he said, " the sacred name of religion had been used as a State engine to make mankind hate and persecute each other." These utterances were charged to have been false, scandalous, and malicious, " and made with an intent to bring the President into contempt and disrepute," in violation of the Sedition Act. He was tried before Judge Patterson, of the Supreme Court, and found guilty. The judge, after a severe reprimand, sentenced him to four months' imprison- ment and a fine of a thousand dollars. Lyon was poor and unable to pay the fine. A private lottery was made of his property, to raise the amount; but the printer of the paper in which the plan of the lottery was published was in- dicted and condemned under the same act. While Lyon was still in prison he was triumphantly elected to Congress. The fine, 51,060.90, which he had paid, was refunded to his heirs by an act of Congress of 4th of July, 1840, together with interest thereon from date of the imposition of the penalty. Thomas Cooper, one of the most 25 eminent men and writers of his day, was found guilty and sentenced to a fine and imprisonment for speaking of the act of President Adams in the case of "Jona- than Robbins" as being "without pre- cedent, without law, and against mercy," and as an act "which the monarch of Great Britain would have shrunk from." In the trial of James T. Callender the question of the constitutionality of the law was raised by the defendant's counsel before Judge Chase. He refused to hear them on the question. They threw up their briefs and left the court. Callender was found guilty and sentenced to fine and imprisonment. For this act and other like official misconduct Judge Chase was subsequently impeached, as we shall see. Jared Peck, an eminent citizen of the State of New York, was indicted under the act for circulating a petition to Con- gress for the repeal of the "Alien and Sedition Laws," in which the odious features of those acts were severely handled. The indictment was found by a grand jury in the city of New York; a bench warrant was issued; Peck was arrested in the midst of his family, and taken to the city for trial. A political historian of New York, speaking of this case, says: "A hundred missionaries in the cause of Democracy, stationed be- tween New York and Cooperstown, could not have done so much for the Republican cause as the journey of Judge Peck as a prisoner from Otsego to the capital of the State. It was nothing less than the public exhibition of a suffering martyr for the freedom of speech and the press and the right of petitioning, to the view of the citizens of the various places through which the marshal travelled with his prisoner." It was in this state of popular feeling HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 386 and excitement and alarm for public lib- erty that the Presidential election of 1800 took place. The doctrines and principles of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798,* and Mr. Madison's matchless report on those of Virginia in *799-t embodied the general views of the Republican party everywhere. Mr. Jefferson was regarded as the master- spirit from whom they all emanated. The Republican party was, however, contending against great odds; all three departments of the Federal government — the Executive, Legislative and Judicial — were decidedly against them, with all the power and influence of public patron- age. The Legislatures of all the States, also, except those of Kentucky and Vir- ginia, were against them. Of the two hundred newspapers then published in the United States, all but aboui twenty were enlisted by preference or patronage on the Federal side. The result of the votes of the Electoral Col- leges was for Jefferson, 73; Burr, 73; Adams, 65 ; Pinckney, 64, and John Jay, I. The States that cast the electoral votes of their Colleges for Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr were nine, to wit: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. Those that cast the electoral votes of their Colleges for Mr. Adams and Mr. Pinckney were seven, to wit: New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ver- mont, New Jersey, and Delaware. Rhode Island cast one vote for Mr. Jay, to pre- vent that equality of votes on the Fed- eral ticket, which resulted on the Re- publican side from the want of a like precaution on their part, and which caused so much excitement and con- Book n., c. 11 * See Kentucky Resolutions, Appendix G. j- Sec Appendix II. fusion. Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr having received an equal number of votes, there was no election by the Col- leges, as the Constitution then stood. It then devolved upon the House of Repre- sentatives, voting by States, to choose President and Vice-President between Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr — the two having the highest number of electoral votes. On the nth of February, 1801, the House proceeded to make this choice by ballot. It was well known that Mr. Jefferson was the popular choice for President and Colonel Burr for Vice- President; but a majority of the States at that time having a " Centralist " major- ity in the House, there was for some time a strong determination to defeat the popular will, if possible. On the first ballot for President, the vote by States stood: for Jefferson, 8; for Burr, 6, and 2 divided. There were then 16 States in the Union; so there was no choice, as 8 war, not a majority of all. The States proceeded to ballot nineteen times on that day with the same result. The States remained in session all night, and proceeded to the twenty-eighth bal- lot next day, when the result was the same. On the 13th they proceeded to the twenty-ninth ballot. On the 14th they proceeded to the thirty-third ballot, on the 1 6th they proceeded to the thirty- fourth ballot, when the result was the same. On the 17th they proceeded to the thirty-fifth ballot, with the same result; then to the thirty-sixth ballot, the result of which was, 10 votes for Mr. Jeffer- son, 4 for Colonel Burr, and 2 in blank. Mr. Jefferson was, thereupon, declared duly elected President for four years from and after the 4th of March, 1801. Colonel Burr became the Vice-President for the same term. THE ADMINISTRATION OF ADAMS. 387 On the last ballot the States voting for Jefferson were: Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, — ten. Those that voted for Colonel Burr were: Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, — four. The States voting blank ballots were Delaware and South Carolina, — two.* The change in the Federal vote which resulted in the election of Jefferson was effected, as believed at the time, by letters of Hamilton to some of his friends, urging them to vote for Jefferson, instead of Burr. This was, perhaps, the real cause of the subsequent personal hostility of Burr to Hamilton. During the administration of Mr. Adams the progress and prosperity of the States were considerably retarded. The taxes were greatly increased, and foreign trade and commerce were seriously injured by the difficulties with France. From these causes the industrial pursuits through- out the country were more or less affected. Foreign immigration was also checked by the Alien Acts. By one of these the period required for naturalization was extended to fourteen years. Discon- tent prevailed everywhere, and the country was brought to the verge of civil war by the tyrannical execution of those measures of the party in power, calling itself Federal, which were looked upon by a majority of the people as un- constitutional and tending to centralism and despotism. Mr. Adams, after the expiration of his term of office, and the defeat of his as- pirations for a re-election, returned to his home and a large estate at Quincy, Massachusetts, where he spent the re- * Annal of Congress, 6th Congress, pp. 1029, 1033. mainder of his long life, devoting his attention chiefly to books and agricul- ture, without taking any active part in the political questions which subse- quently agitated the country. He there quietly enjoyed that " otium cum dig- tiitatc" which is so befitting the close of a life of merited distinction, achieved in the discharge of the duties pertaining to the highest and most responsible trusts and offices. During the bitter party conflict in the presidential contest, in which Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson were arrayed against each other, as the recognized heads of the respective parties, their strong life-long personal attachments became almost as a matter of course alienated. This aliena- tion, however, did not long survive the conflict; indeed Mr. Adams was not so much to be blamed for the excesses of his party as were some of its other more violent, and, perhaps, less patriotic leaders; so doubtless thought Mr. Jeffer- son. It is believed that Mr. Adams, approved the general principles and line of policy set forth in Mr. Jefferson's in- augural, and also approved the leading measures of his administration. A friendly correspondence was opened up between them some years afterward, which added to the charms of the char- acters of both. Mr. Adams was fortu- nate in his retirement in many respects ; he lived to enjoy the gratification and honor of seeing his favorite and gifted son duly elected to the office of Presi- dent of the United States ; an honor no ex-president has enjoyed since, and per- haps no one ever will hereafter. This son had warmly espoused Mr. Jefferson's principles and measures, soon after his inauguration, and had steadfastly main- tained the leading principles of the Republican party, during Jefferson's, 3 88 11 [STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 12 Madison's, and Monroe's administrations, as we shall see. Some coincidences in the lives of Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson may be here very appropriately noted. They were the two foremost champions of the cause of Independence in 1776; they were both on the committee who drew up the Declaration of Independence; they were both on the committee appointed the day after its proclamation to prepare a device for the great seal of the newly organ- ized Confederated Republic; they were the "Castor and Pollux" of the Ameri- can cause in the darkest hours of its struggles, or, as has been suggested, they may perhaps be more properly considered the " Cleobis and Bion " of that cause. But the most striking coin- cidence of all, in their lives, was the prox- imity of the times of their death as well as the day upon which it occurred. It was on the 4th day of July, 1826, as will hereafter be more fully noted, and was the fiftieth anniversary of the day on which they had jointly taken such prominent parts in the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. The sage of Monticello died a few hours before the statesman of Quincy, but the last words of the latter were, "Jefferson survives." CHAPTER XII. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. (4th of March, 1801 — 4th of March, 1809.) Jefferson inaugurated at Washington city, in the fifty- eighth year of his age — Great anxiety to hear his inaugural — Serious apprehensions from what was supposed to be his French principles — His inaugu- ral — Gives general satisfaction — The obnoxious measures of preceding administration repealed — Convicts under Sedition Act pardoned — Flections of 1S01 favorable to the administration — Majority in both House* — Acquisition of Louisiana — Letter of Jefferson to Or. Priestly on the subject—Cession by ' ieorgia in 1 802, consummated in 1S03 — Twelfth amendment "I 1 In_- Constitution ratified — War with Tripoli— Commodore Preble, Commodore Barron — Treaty of peace — Presidential election of 1804 — Duel of Burr and Hamilton — Relations with England and France threatening— British orders in council — Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees — The affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake — British government disavow the act of the offi- cers of the " Leopard " — The Embargo Act — Presi- dential election, 1808 — Votes of the States — Re- peal of the Embargo — Retirement of Mr. Jeffer- son, with a popularity unsurpassed. R. JEFFERSON, the third Presi- dent of the United States, was inaugurated the 4th of March, i8oi,at the then new, but now known as the old capitol building in the city of Washington. He was at that time in the fifty-eighth year of his age. His accession to office was re- garded as a complete revolution in the politics of the country, effected through the peaceful and constitutional instru- mentality of the elective franchise. The doctrines taught by him and advocated by his friends during the canvass were looked upon by many as not only tending to weaken the bonds of Union between the States, but partaking of the licentious character of those which marked the Jacobins of France. In his thorough devotion to the cause of the right of every separate people to govern them- selves as they pleased, according to the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, of which he was well known to be the author, it was supposed by man)', that he lost sight of those elements of power which were necessary in all governments to make them strong enough for their own preservation. In- tense interest, therefore, was felt every- where as to the line of policy which would be indicated in his Inaugural Ad- dress. This was delivered before both THE AbMIKISTRA TION OF JEFFERSON. 389 Houses of Congress, the foreign minis- ters, and a large concourse of citizens. It was clear, pointed, and emphatic. His views of the Federal system are succinctly but distinctly given. He speaks of the United States as a nation. In his view they constitute just such a nation as he suggested they should be in his letter to Mr. Madison, in 1786; that is, the States, as to all other Powers, are one nation, while as to themselves they tect, and to violate which would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that har- mony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as During remained separate and distinct. His views on party excitements were timely | bitter and bloody persecutions and admirable, and nothing could have shown more conclusively that he was a born leader of men than his remarks made just when and where they were, that "every difference of opinion is not a differ- ence of principle," and that, "we are all Republicans — we are all Federalists." The following is a copious ex- tract from the inaugural, which deserves perpetuation in the his- tory of the country: "During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussion and of exertions had sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced ac- cording to the rules of the Constitu- tion, all will, of course, arrange them- selves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this j and peaceful shore; that this should be sacred principle, that though the will of j more felt and feared by some and less the majority is in all cases to prevail, I by others; that this should divide opin- that will, to be rightful, must be reason- ions as to measures of safety. But able; that the minority possess their every difference of opinion is not a equal rights, which equal laws must pro- j difference of principle. We have called THOMAS JEFFERSON. the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant 39° HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., C. VI by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans — we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undis- turbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government cannot be strong; that this government is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful exper- iment, abandon a government which lias so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary fear that this government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the laws, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others ? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question. " Let us, then, with courage and con- fidence pursue our own Federal and Re- publican principles, our attachment to our Union and representative govern- ment. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one-quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and thousandth gener- ation ; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own facul- ties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and confidence from fellow- citizens, revolting not from our birth but from our actions and their sense of them ; enlightened by a benign religion, pro- fessed, indeed, and practised in various forms, yet all of them including honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous peo- ple? Still one thing more, fellow-citi- zens — a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pur- suits of industry and improvements, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. " About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the gen- eral principle, but not all its limitations. Kqual and exact justice to all men, of whatever State or persuasion, religious or political : peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tenden- cies ; the preservation of the general gov- ernment in its whole constitutional vigor, THE ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 391 as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a jealous care of the right of election by the people — a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unpro- vided; absolute acquiescence in the de- cisions of the majority — the vital prin- ciple of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia — our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the su- premacy of the civil over the military authority ; economy in the public ex- pense, that labor may be lightly bur- dened ; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; the diffu- sion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus ; and trial by juries impartially selected — these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith — the text of civil instruction — the touch- stone by which to try the services of those we trust, and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety." In conclusion, he said : " Relying then on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make ; and that Infinite power which rules the destinies of the universe, lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity." The oath of office was then admin- istered to him in the Senate Chamber of the old Capitol by John Marshall, the newly appointed Chief Justice of the United States. The inaugural most agreeably disappointed a great many who JOHN MARSHALL. had earnestly opposed his election, while it received the general approval of the people throughout the country. In the organization of the new cabinet, James Madison was appointed to the office of Secretary of State ; Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, to the of- fice of Secretary of War ; Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, to the office of Attor- ney-General ; Robert Smith, of Mary- land, John Breckenridge, of Kentucky, and Caesar A. Rodney, of Delaware, sue- 392 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 12 cessively filled the office. Samuel Dexter, Secretary of the Treasury, and Benjamin Stoddert, Secretary of the Navy, under Mr. Adams, were continued in their offices for a time. After some months of this continuance, Mr. Dexter was succeeded in the Treasury Department by Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania; and Mr. Stoddert in the Navy Department by Robert Smith, of Maryland. The Sedition Act of 1798 was, by its terms, limited to the 3d of March, 1801 '; with a proviso, however, that the limitation was not to affect any prosecutions com- menced before that period, or thereafter to be commenced, for violation of it during its existence. At the time of Mr. Jefferson's inauguration, there were quite a number then suffering the penalty of the act in various jails. These prisoners he immediately ordered to be discharged, as he held the act to be " unconstitu- tional, null and void." The discharge was ordered without hesitation, under the pardoning power; he held that the three departments of government — the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial — are separate, independent, and co-ordi- nate; and each equally clothed with the exercise of supreme powers in the dis- charge of duties within its sphere, and equally authorized to judge for itself of what is and what is not constitutional, on matters within its prescribed sphere in cases properly before it ; and that no one of the three is bound by the decision of either or both of the others, on any constitutional question, cither in the same case or any other similar to it. No other prosecutions, however, for past violations of the Sedition Act, were com- menced. At the meeting of the first session of the Seventh Congress, in De- cember, 1 801, in pursuance of an an- nouncement before made, of his intention to discontinue the mode of addressing Congress on their assembling, in what was known as " the Presidential Speech," he simply sent to each House a message in writing, giving his views on public affairs and the situation of the country. His example thus set has been uniformly followed by his successors ever since. The State elections of 1801 resulted in favor of the Republican or Democratic party. Mr. Jefferson's principles and policy were so popular with the masses of the people, that his administration was cordially sustained by decided majorities, in both Houses of this Congress. They repealed all "the obnoxious measures" of their immediate predecessors. Among these were the internal taxes, the taxes on stills, distilled spirits, refined sugar, carriages, and stamped paper, etc. They also repealed the act extending the period of naturalization to fourteen years ; re- ducing it to five, in conformity with Mr. Jefferson's suggestion. They passed an act for redeeming the public debt, by which it was provided to appropriate annually seven millions three hundred thousand dollars as a sinking fund for that purpose. An act was also passed reducing the army, with its expenditures. An object which occupied the early attention of Mr. Jefferson was the secur- ing to the people of the United States from Spain the free navigation of the Mississippi river, with a depot of trade at its mouth. In 1802 he received in- formation of the cession of Louisiana to France by Spain, in a secret treaty in 1800. He immediately instituted a commission to treat with Prance upon the subject. For this purpose, Mr. Monroe was sent out as special minister, to act in conjunction with Mr. Liv- ingston, the United States resident minister at Paris. The mission was THE ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON 3J3 more successful than had been even hoped for. Napoleon was ready, not only to negotiate upon the object sought, but for a cession of the entire territory. A treaty to this effect was made on the 30th April, 1803, by which the United States were to pay fifteen million dollars, as follows — $11,250,000 in money to the French government, and $3,750,000 for the claims of American citizens for spolia- tions of their commerce by French cruisers, during the late quasi war with that country. The $11,250,000 to the French government was paid, but the $3,750,000 estimated as the amount of spoliations to American citizens has never yet been paid. The treaty also guaranteed that the Un't^d States should protect the then inhabitants, in all their rights of person and property. The population consisted of about Uincty thousand; nearly half of these were negro slaves ; the others were French ;md Spanish colonists. In this negotia- tion, Napoleon was governed both by necessity and policy. He wanted money for his European wars, and knew that an at.empt to hold Louisiana would be but an incumbrance. His remark on this occasion was characteristic of the man. " This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States, and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride." The treaty was received in the United States in July, rnd added greatly to the popularity of the administration. It was opposed by a few of the old Federal party leaders ; but was ratified by the Senate in the October following, by 24 for it to 7 against it. In the House an act for carrying the treaty into effect was adopted by a vote of 90 to 25. This acquisition added over a million of square miles to the territory of the United States, and more than doubled the extent of their original limits. In relation to it, Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. Priestley, said : " The denouement has been happy, and I confess I look to this duplication of area for the extending a government so free and economical as ours, as a great achievement to the mass of happi- ness which is to ensue. Whether we remain in one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi Confederacies, I believe not very important to the hap- piness of either. Those of the Western Confederacy will be as much our chil- dren and descendants, as those of the Eastern, and I feel myself as much iden- tified with that country in future time as with this ; and did I now foresee a sepa- ration at some future day, yet I should feel the duty and the desire to promote the Western interests as zealously as the Eastern, doing all the good for both portions of our future family which should fall within my power." On October 31, 1803, a territorial government to the entire Louisiana ac- quisition was perfected, which was sub- sequently divided into two other terri- tories ; all the southern part receiving the name of the Territory of Orleans, and the remaining portion retaining the name of Louisiana. In 1803 was consummated the ces- sion by Georgia (agreed upon in 1802) to the United States, of nearly 100,000 square miles of territory, be- tween the Chattahoochee and Missis- sippi rivers, in consideration of the sum of $1,250,000 to be paid to Georgia, and the engagement of the general govern- ment to extinguish the Indian title, in all that portion then occupied by the 394 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II , c. 12 aboriginal tribes. On the 19th of Feb- ruary of the same year (1803) the State of Ohio was admitted into the Union. COAT OF ARMS OF OHIO. At the same session of Congress an- other important amendment to the Con- stitution was proposed. It now stands as the Twelfth Amendment to that in- strument. It is that which regulates the present mode of electing the President and Vice-President, requiring the electors in the several colleges of the States to designate the person voted for for Presi- dent, and the one voted for for Vice- President. It was to prevent the recur- rence of such a state of things as took place between Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr at the last election. This amend- ment was opposed by the old Federal leaders; but was passed by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, and speed- ily ratified by all the States except three, to wit, Connecticut, Delaware and Mas- sachusetts. In November, 1 804, articles of im- peachment were presented by the House against Judge Samuel Chase, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, upon charges previously alleged against him for official misconduct in the trial of James T. Callcnder, and other cases. The Senate came to a final vote on the first day of March, 1805. On several of the charges, a majority of the Senate were for his conviction, but for a want of a two-thirds vote, he was ac- quitted upon all.* See Annals of Congress, p. 665. The Barbary powers on the coast of Africa still continued to obstruct the commerce of the United States in the Mediterranean. This led to war with Tripoli, one of them. A considerable naval force was sent against that power in 1803, under command of Commodore Preble. The Philadelphia, a ship of his squadron, ran aground near the harbor of Tripoli, and was taken by the enemy. The retaking and burning of this ship by Stephen Decatur, then a lieutenant, was one of the most brilliant naval achievements on record. This AARON BURR. feat was accomplished by him with but seventy-six men, in a small schooner, and under a constant fire of the guns of the Tripolitan fleet, as well as their land batteries. The war, however, lasted for some time. Commodore Preble was succeeded by Commodore Barron, who after several brilliant exploits brought the bashaw to terms. A treaty was then made for the future security of commerce, and by which several citizens of the United States who had been held by the Tripolitan pirates as slaves, were ransomed and restored to their homes and liberty. This was in the summer of 1805. In the mean THE ADMINISTRA TIQN OF JEFFERSON. time another presidential election had taken place. The Republicans, or Democrats, voted for Mr. Jefferson for 395 ported Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for President, and Rufus King, then of New York, for Vice-President. The result NAPOLEON I. the office of President, and for George I was one hundred and sixty-two electoral v^;lf:: Yo & fo F r r ffice of - votes for Mr - jefferson £ E5K Present. The Federals sup- and fourteen only for Mr. Pinckney and 39 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 12 Mr. King. By States the vote stood: fifteen States for the Democratic ticket and only two for the Federal. These two were Connecticut and Delaware. So popular was Mr. Jefferson's administra- tion, that the centralizing party styling itself " Federal " had become almost ex- tinct. He was inaugurated for a sec- ond term on the 4th of March, 1805. In 1804, Colonel Burr, while Vice- President, was a candidate for the office of governor in the State of New York, and was supported by many of the old Fed- eralists. Colonel Hamilton, who had no confidence in his integrity, opposed his election and he was defeated. Some remarks made by Hamilton during the canvass against Colonel Burr led to a correspondence between them, which ended in a challenge from Burr. The parties met at Weehawkcn, New Jersey, July 1 ith, 1804, and Hamilton was mor- tally wounded. This fatal duel occa- sioned general regret, and after that Burr lost caste with all parties. He sub- sequently was engaged in planning a military organization of some sort; which, from the great secrecy and mys- tery in which it was conducted, caused a suspicion that its designs were against the United States. He was arrested, indicted, and tried for treason ; but no case being made against him, he was acquitted. The course of France and England in conducting the war then fiercely raging between them was highly injurious to the commerce of the United States. The British government by its "orders in council" declared all vessels engaged in conveying West India produce from the United States to Kurope legal prizes. This was intended as a blow* to cripple France; but it fell heavily upon the in- terests of the United States, and ex- cited great indignation throughout the country. In May, 1806, further "orders in council " were passed declaring several European ports under contrel of the French in a state of blockade. This of course authorized a seizure of United States vessels with their cargoes bound for these ports. These "orders in council" by the British government were met by Napoleon in what is known as his " Berlin decree." This forbade the introduction of any English goods into any port of Europe, even by the vessels of neutral powers. This decree closed the harbors of France against any vessel which should touch at any Eng- lish port. This was followed by fur- ther "orders in council" declaring the whole coast of Europe in a state of blockade. This measure was met further by Napoleon by his famous "Milan de- cree," confiscating not only the vessels and cargoes that should violate the " Ber- lin decree" but also all such as should submit to be searched by the English. The United States were the chief suffer- ers by these extreme measures on both sides; but it was in vain that they expos- tulated with the contending powers, in insisting upon the indefeasible rights of neutrals. "Join me in bringing England to reason" was the substance of the reply of Napoleon; "Join us in putting down the disturber of the world" was the substance of the reply of England. The United States therefore was left to choose which of the belligerents she- would take for an enemy. War against both was too great an undertaking ; con- tinued neutrality between them seemed to be out of the question — it involved all the disadvantages without any of the ad- vantages of open war. Other events THE ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON 397 happened which turned the scale in the popular mind against England. In June, 1807, the British man-of-war Leopard fired into the United States frigate Chesapeake and killed three of her men, wounding eighteen more. This was near the coast of the United States, and was without provocation. The Chesapeake was not in condition for istration in any measures of retaliation or redress which might be adopted. A proclamation was issued by the President forbidding British ships-of-war to enter the waters of the United States. Satis- faction for the insult was demanded of the British government. Congress was also convened in extra session to take the subject into consideration. The OFFICERS OF THE CHESAPEAKE OFFERING THEIR SWORDS. action, and immediately struck her colors. The pretence for this outrage was the capture of certain British seamen alleged to be on board the Chesapeake. It greatly increased the existing indigna- tion against England in all the States. Meetings were held in all sections with- out distinction of party, at which resolu- tions were passed to support the admin- British government promptly disavowed the act of the officer in command of the Leopard, and also disclaimed the right of search to be extended to ships-of-war. This allayed the excitement for a time, but no redress could be obtained fi^m France or England for the violation of the neutral rights of the United States. In December, 1807, the Congress, as a 398 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. c. 12 last resort, by way of retaliation, as well as an initiative step towards war with England, passed the celebrated" Embargo Act," by which all United States trading vessels were prohibited from leaving their ports. This measure operated much more to the disadvantage of England than of France. But it operated also very injuriously, as was believed, upon the shipping interests of this country. It caused great distress and much mur- muring, especially in the New England States, were most of the shipping was owned. The political effect in that sec- tion was decidedly adverse to the Repub- lican party. In 1808 another Presidential election took place. Mr. Jefferson had signified his determination to retire from office at the expiration of his second term. Not- withstanding the disaffection in New England, on account of his policy in the matter of the Embargo, he was yet sus- tained by large Republican majorities in both Mouses of Congress. In the elec- tions for this year the anti-administration, or old Federal party revived, supported the same ticket for the offices of Presi- dent and Vice-President that they did in 1804; that is, Charles Cotesworth Pinck- ney for President, and Rufus King for Vice-President; while the administration or Republican party supported James Madison for President, and George Clinton, of New York, for Vice-Presi- dent. Candidates for these offices were then put forth by Congressional caucuses of the respective parties. The result of the election was 122 electoral votes for Madison and 47 for Pinckney, and 113 for Clinton for Vice-President and 47 for King. By States, the vote stood: 12 for the Republican ticket and five for the Federal. These five were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Isl- and, Connecticut, and Delaware. Shortly before the expiration of Mr. Jefferson's second term of office, information was given to him from a quarter which he believed to be reliable that the disaffec- tion to the Embargo was so great in some of the New England States, that they would withdraw from the Union, if it were persisted in. He therefore, with- out any change of views as to the pro- priety of the policy, but with a view to harmony between the States, recom- mended its repeal. This recommenda- tion was carried out by the Congress, and Mr. Jefferson left for his successor the settlement of the many difficult and perplexing questions then pending be- tween the United States, England, and FYancc. After the 4th of March, 1809, he retired forever from public office and returned to his residence at Monticello, with a reputation for integrity and states- manship unsurpassed even by Washing- ton. His popularity was greater at the close than at the beginning of his ad- ministration, which seldom happens to the ablest, wisest and best of rulers. He was everywhere regarded by the masses of the people, not only as the true expounder of our Federal system, but the great Apostle of Liberty on this continent. The two most important acts of his life, in their immediate as well as remote bearings upon the destinies of the country, were those connected with the Declaration of Independence, and the acquisition of Louisiana. The three which seemed to be the most fondly cherished in his own memory were his draft of the Declaration ©^Independence, the part he took in securing the statute of his State for freedom in religious worship, and the establishment of the University of Virginia. 7 HE AD MINIS THAT/OH OF MADISON. 399 CHAPTER XIII. ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON — FIRST TERM. (4th of March, 1S09 — 4lh of March, 1S13.) His Cabinet — Sketch of his character — A National in the Federal Convention, but afterwards Repub- lican — Intimate political and personal friend of Mr. Jefferson — The Non-Intercourse Act — Repre- sentation of Mr. Erskine, British Minister — About the orders in council — Proclamation of the Presi- dent in consequence — The assurance of Erskine disavowed by his Government — He is recalled and Mr. Jackson sent in his place — Correspondence soon ceases with him — Congress convened — Senti- ment for war — Assurance (rom France that their Berlin and Milan decrees were revoked — Presi- dent's proclamation — Orders in Council persisted in — Commodore Rogers on the frigate President repels an insult from the officers of the British sloop-of-war Little Belt — This arouses popular enthusiasm — The cry of " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights" — The young leaders on the Republican side, Clay, Calhoun, Cheeves and Lowndes, for war — The Cabinet divided — War feeling increased by Indian outbreaks — General William Henry Plarrison — Battle of Tippecanoe — Increase of the army and navy voted — John Henry, British agent — Burning of Richmond theatre, 181 1 — Great earth- quake of 1812 — Louisiana admitted into the Union — Death of George Clinton, Vice-President — Declaration of war, 18th of June, 1812 — Presi- dential election — The candidates and result — Sev- eral Republicans oppose declaration of war — John Randolph prominent in opposition — Admiral War- ren's proposition for cessation of hostilities — Nothing comes of it. ji'AMES MADISON, the fourth At President of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1809, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall, in the presence of a large con- course of people. The new cabinet consisted of Robert Smith, of Maryland, Secretary of State; Albert Gallatin continued in the office of Secretary of «the Treasury; William Eustis, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War; Paul Hamilton, of South Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; and Caesar A. Rodney, of Delaware, continued Attor- ney-General. In politics Mr. Madison was at this time a recognized leader of the Repub- lican or Democratic party. He had been Secretary of State during Mr. Jef- ferson's entire administration, and was a cordial supporter of his principles and measures. He was styled the " Father of the Constitution:" this was because he was the author of the Virginia Reso- lution in 1786, which proposed the call of a Convention of the States to revise the Articles of Confederation between the States, and whose work finally re- sulted in the adoption of the new Con- stitution of 1787, and not from his hav- ing originated or suggested any of the leading features of the new Constitution so formed and ratified, as we have seen. On this score no man of that day was less entitled to such an appellation; for he was one of the most prominent leaders of the National party in the Philadelphia Convention, and with Randolph, Hamil- ton, Wilson, Morris and King, endeav- ored to effect a consolidation of the States by a merger of their separate sovereignties into one; and thus out of the whole to form one single, centralized Republic. It was on his violent speech against the adoption of the first report of the Grand Committee of Compromise, that Mr. Lansing and Judge Yates, of New York, retired from that body, believing that no plan would be adopted which would not do away with the Fed- eral system. After the Nationals in that Convention found that they could not succeed in remodelling the Union on their line of a single, centralized Repub- lic, then Mr. Madison, as we have said before, with Hamilton and Wilson, came 400 HISTORY Ol- THE UXITED STATES. Book II, c. 13 into a cordial support of the amended Federal system, as it was finally agreed to and adopted; and he united with Hamilton and Jay in earnestly recom- mending the ratification of the new Con- stitution by the States, in a series of very prominent position with those then styl- ing themselves "Federalist^.'* He co- operated thoroughly with Hamilton, while the latter was Secretary of the Treasury, in several of his financial measures. But before the end of Gen- PRESIDENT MADISON. able articles, known as the "Federalist," ! cral Washington's administration he as has been stated.* leaned very strongly towards the views When the government, under the new of Mr. Jefferson ; and when party lines organization, went into operation, Mr. became clearly defined, in Mr. Adams' Madison was a member of the House administration, on the constructive and of Representatives, and at first held a { centralizing doctrines of* that period, he * See Ante, Chapter ix. | became one of the ablest champions of THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 40 r the Strict Construction or Republican side. Mr. Jefferson was on most intimate terms with him during life, and had no small influence over him, as he had over all men of intellect with whom he came in personal and social contact. Mr. Jef- ferson had drawn the celebrated resolu- tions of Kentucky, of 1798, which fact, though not generally known at the time, was most probably known to Mr. Madi- son, as well as to all his intimate political friends; and it is not improbable that the resolutions of Virginia, of 1798, if not drawn by him, at least received their in- spiration from the same master brain. Mr. Madison also, most probably, re- ceived aid from the same source when he wrote his famous report upon the lat- ter in 1799, which set forth the principles on which the revolution of parties in 1800 was effected. This celebrated re- port is one of the ablest papers, and clearest expositions of the Constitution of the United States that has ever been penned in the same compass.* It utterly annihilated the positions assumed by the consolidating and centralizing party of that day. Such is a brief sketch of the ante- cedents of the man who succeeded Mr. Jefferson in 1809, and on whom devolved the administration of Federal affairs, with the management and adjustment of the difficult questions then disturbing the foreign relations of the States with the two greatest powers on earth. The embargo had been abandoned, as we have seen, by Mr. Jefferson, in order to preserve peace and harmony between the States of the Union. In lieu of this, however, in accordance with his views, an Act of Congress was passed just be- fore his retirement, substituting for the See Appendix H. Embargo what was called a " Non-inter- course Act." This left United States shipping free to trade with all countries except England and France; and the prohibition as to these was to cease, as to them, or either of them, upon the re- peal of their " Orders in Council " or " Decrees " respectively, affecting the commerce of the United States. Very soon after Mr. Madison's acces- sion to office, Mr. Erskine, the British Minister at Washington, gave assurances that the " Orders in Council " of England would be annulled. Whereupon a proc- lamation was issued on the 19th of April, by the President, suspending the " Non- intercourse Act," as to England, after the 10th of June, following. This good news had hardly reached the most dis- tant parts of the country, before the President was informed by the British government that Mr. Erskine had ex- ceeded his powers, and his act in the as- surance given was disavowed. Another proclamation was immediately issued countermanding the first. So matters remained for some time. Mr. Erskine was recalled, and another minister sent out by England. This was a Mr. Jackson. The tone and style of his correspondence with the Secretary of State was of such a character that Mr. Madison ceased to hold communication with him, and de- manded his recall. In the meantime Congress had convened. The prevailing sentiment was for war. The President, however, and a majority of his cabinet, were for adjusting the questions by peace- able negotiations, if possible. An ex- tension with a modification of the Non- intercourse Act was adopted. In 1 8 10, the United States Minister at Paris was informed " that the Berlin and Milan Decrees were revoked, and would cease to have effect after the 1st of No- 26 402 HISTORY 01 THE UW1TLD STATES. I'..,.,K II ,C. 1* vembcr of that year." The President accordingly issued a proclamation on the it of November, 1810, declaring that the French "Decrees" were revoked, and that the " Xon-intercourse Act " would be continued as to Great Britain unless her "Orders in Council" should be revoked in three months after that date. He also urged upon the British government a revocation of its "Orders in Council " upon the ground that the French " Decrees " upon which they were based had been repealed. The British government objected on the pre- text that no sufficient evidence was furnished that the Berlin and Milan De- crees had actually been repealed, and that the President's proclamation and the Non-intercourse Acts of Congress were partial and unjust. The enforce- ment of their " Orders in Council" was still persisted in; and for this purpose, ships-of-war were stationed before the principal harbors of the United States. The course of England at this time greatly increased the war feeling in the United States against her. This feeling, i >o, was inflamed by an event similar to the attack of the Leopard on the Chesa- peake. Commodore Rogers, command- ing the United States frigate President, met off the coast of Virginia, in the dusk of the evening of the i6th of May, 1 8 1 1, a vessel which he hailed, but from which he received no answer. In a short time- lie was hailed in turn by a shot from the vessel he had hailed which struck his mainmast. He accepted the mode offered of exchanging salutations, and answered with a broadside from his own deck, which he kept up in quick succes- sion until he found his adversary was disabled; and then, on hailing again as at .first, he was informed that it was the British sloop-of-war Little Belt. She was put Jwrs de combat in the encounter, and lost thirty-two men in killed and wounded. This prompt chastisement of overbear- ing insolence was highly gratifying to the popular sentiment throughout the United States, and gave new life to the cry of the period, " Free trade and sailors' rights." The Twelfth Congress was called together by the President on the 4th of November, i8u, in advance of the regular time of meeting. This was done in view of the still more em- barrassing aspect of the relations of the United States with Great Britain. This Congress, as all since 1801 had been, was largely Republican in both Houses; and while the measures of the Adminis- tration were generally sustained by con- siderable majorities in both Houses, yet there was a strong feeling rising up among the younger leaders of the party against what they considered the weak and timid course of the President. This class was for immediate war against England. Their leaders were Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheeves, and William Lowndes, of South Carolina. Another Presidential election was approaching, and Mr. Madison was given to under- stand that if he did not yield to an ac- tive war policy, he would not receive the Republican nomination. His cabinet at this time was divided upon that question. Mr. Monroe, who was then Secretary of State, in place of Mr. Robert Smith, favored the war policy; Mr. Gallatin, in the Treasury Depart- ment, was decidedly opposed to it ; Mr William Pinckney, who was then Attor- ney-General in place of Mr. Rodney, was of opinion that the country was en- tirely unprepared for a declaration of war at that time. The other members THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 403 of the cabinet seemed to have no very decided opinions on the subject. But all the members of the administration, with the President at the head, were per- fectly willing to commit themselves to, and endeavor to carry out, any policy that might be determined upon by the Congress, as the wisest and best for the maintenance of the safety, interest, rights, and honor of the country. The feeling of hostility against Eng- land about this time was increased by Indian outbreaks in the Northwest, which were attributed to her instigation. Just before the meeting of Congress General William Henry Harrison, Gov- ernor of the Territory of Indiana, had been sent against the tribes on the Wa- bash, with a body of Kentucky and In- diana militia, with one regiment of regular troops. On the 6th of Novem- ber he encamped at Tippecanoe, near the town in which Elkswatawa, the famous " Prophet " and the triplet brother of the celebrated Tecumseh, re- sided. Harrison was here met by the principal chiefs with offers of peace and submission. But having no faith in their professions, and apprehending an attack in the night, he caused his troops to sleep on their arms and in the order of battle. At four o'clock on the morn- ing of the 7th of November, i8u,the camp was furiously assaulted and a bloody contest ensued. The issue was doubtful for some time; but the Indians were finally repulsed. Harrison lost sixty-two killed and one hundred and twenty-six wounded. The loss sus- tained by the Indians was much greater. General Harrison destroyed the Prophet's town, built some forts, and returned to Vincennes. Under the influence of the war spirit thus excited, the Congress voted an in- crease to the regular army of thirty-five thousand men, and authorized the Presi- dent to accept the services of fifty thou- sand volunteers, as well as to call out the militia, as occasion might require. They also provided for a large increase of the navy. To meet the expenses of these measures they authorized a loan of eleven millions of dollars. The policy of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison here- tofore had been Vo keep the military establishments, army and naval, on as small a footing as possible consistent with the public necessities. This policy was considered by them as most conso- nant with the spirit of a free people. The army before the increase now or- dered consisted of only about three thousand men. The navy consisted of less than twenty frigates and sloops of war in commission, and about one hundred and fifty gun-boats, with officers and men to man them. The gun-boats were suited only for harbor defence. During the same session of Congress, the President, by special message, sent to that body certain documents from which it appeared that one John Henry, a British subject, had been employed by his government as a secret agent in cer- tain intrigues, with a view to produce a disaffection in the New England States, that might result in their political con- nection with Great Britain. A committee in the House, to whom the matter was referred, reported that — " The transaction disclosed by the President's message presents to the mind of the committee conclusive evi- dence that the British government, at a period of peace, and during the most friendly professions, have been deliber- ately and perfidiously pursuing measures to divide the States, and to involve our 404 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II citizens in all the guilt of treason and the horrors of civil war." Meantime preparations for war went actively on. During the winter occurred two events of a different character, each of which produced a great sensation everywhere at the time, and both of which deserve to be noted in giving a general history of the country. One was the accidental burning of a theatre in the city of Richmon/ Virginia, during a play which had attracted an unusually crowded audience, in which several of the most prominent citizens of the State, with their families, including the gov- ernor, perished. The other was a frightful earthquake in the valley of the Mississippi. William C.C. Claiborne, adistinguished lawyer and statesman and former gov- ernor of the Territory, was one of the senators elect of the new State, and be- c line a famous member of that body. On the 8th of April, i8i2,the State of Louisiana was admitted into the Union. COAT OF ARMS OF LOUISIANA. Soon after an act was passed organizing a territorial government for all that por- tion of the Louisiana purchase lying outside of the then limits of the State of Louisiana. To this Territory the name of Missouri was given. On the 20th of April the venerable George Clinton, Vice-President of the United States, died in Washington at the age of seventy-three. His place was filled by William H.Crawford, of Georgia, who had previously been elected by the Senate President pro tempore of that bodv. We turn again to the progress of events involving the peace of the country. On the 30th of May Mr. Foster, the new British minister, resident at Washington, gave the ultimatum of his government upon all the questions in controversy between the two countries. This Mr. Madison communicated to Congress on the 1st of June, and the question was submitted to them : whether the wrongs justly complained of should continue to be borne, or whether the United States should rescrt to war. The subject was WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE. referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations, of which Mr. Calhoun was chairman. They reported in favor of a declaration of war. This was discussed in the House for several days with closed doors. An act making a declaration of war was finally passed in that body, by a vote of 79 to 49. It went to the Senate, where it likewise passed, by a vote of 19 to 13, and was approved by the President on the 18th of June, 18 12. Such was the state of affairs when the presidential election of that year took THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 405 place. Mr. Madison received the Re- publican or Democratic caucus nomina- tion for re-election, and Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, received the like nom- ination for Vice-President. Some of the more violent War Democrats, who looked upon Mr. Madison's course as too dila- tory in avenging public wrongs, put in nomination for the Presidency, De Witt Clinton, an eminent statesman of New York, and a nephew of the late Vice- President. Mr. Clinton was gener- ally supported by the anti-adminis- tration party, with Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, who had belonged to the old Federal party, for Vice- President, instead of Mr. Gerry. The result of the election was, 128 of the electoral votes for Mr. Madison, and 89 for Mr. Clinton ; for Vice-Presi- dent, the election by the colleges stood : 131 for Mr. Gerry, and S6 for Mr. Ingersoll. By States, the vote stood : for the regular Democratic can- didates, 1 1 ; and for the opposition candidates, 7. The eleven States that voted for Mr. Madison were Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor- gia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana; and the seven that voted for Mr. Clinton were New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. The active scenes and stirring events which took place im- mediately after the declaration of war will be set forth in the next chapter. It may be proper to state here that notwithstanding a declaration of war was a Republican or Democratic measure, yet it was not sustained with unanimity by that party. The act declaring war was opposed in the House of Represent- atives by the celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke, a member from Virginia (long a leader of the Republican side in that body), with great ability, vehemence and eloquence. He saw no practical good that would be likely to be accom- plished by it, but many serious ills that would attend it, and many more serious that might result from it. While he was by no means insensible of the British wrongs complained of, yet he was dis- posed to be more forbearing in exactions for immediate redross of them, in view of the desperate necessities of " mother country," from which the essential prin- ciples of our own liberty had been de- rived, in her then perilous struggle with Napoleon, whom he regarded as the public enemy of all free institutions. With that directness and boldness which marked every act of his life, he did not hesitate to aver, without regard to per- sonal considerations or popular favor, that whatever might be her faults and shortcomings, his sympathies in the ter- 4o6 HISTORY 01- TIIK UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 14 rible struggle then in its crisis for national existence, between England and France, were with the country from which his own ancestry had descended, and with the land which had given birth to Shakspeare and Milton, to Coke, Hamp- den, Sidney and Chatham. It may be proper here, also, to notice the fact, that soon after the declaration of war, England renewed her overtures for a settlement of the controversy by negotiation. This was done through Admiral Warren of the British navy, who wrote from Halifax, in September, 1812, to Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, informing him that he was authorized to enter into stipulations for a cessation of hostilities, upon the basis of a revoca- tion of the " Orders in Council." Mr. Monroe replied that the President was willing to agree to an armistice provided Admiral Warren was authorized and jwas willing to negotiate terms by which impressment of seamen from vessels of the United States should be suspended and discontinued, as experience had proved that no peace could be durable until that question was definitely and finally adjusted. The correspondence here closed, as Great Britain refused to relinquish the right of search and im- pressment. The rejection of this over- ture at the time was, perhaps, the great- est error of Mr. Madison's administration. That was the main point in the contro- versy, which Mr. Randolph did not believe was in the power of the United States to have settled according to their liking. The doctrine of the right of expatria- tion, with the accompanying rights of naturalization under the laws of the United States, as held in this country, he did not believe England could be brought to accede to. The other ques- tions he thought might be adjusted by negotiation, and that the time was near at hand for their being thus adjusted, when war, as he thought, was too hastily declared. This overture of England, to some extent, confirmed the correctness of his judgment. But being rejected, however, the war went on, and with what results we shall see. CHAPTER XIV. ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON SECOND TERM. (4th of March, 1813 — 41I1 of March, 1S17.) Two changes in the Cabinet — War prosecuted with a view to the conquest of Canada — Not much ex- pected from the navy — Generals Dearborn, Hull, Van Renssalaer — Surrender of Detroit by Hull — Lewis Cass — Hull court-martialed and sentenced to be shot — His life spared — General William Henry Harrison succeeds Hull — Battle of Queens- town — Van Renssalaer resigns — General Smyth succeeds him and resigns — Splendid naval victor)' of Captain Isaac Hull — Constitution versus (Jan- riere — Naval victory of Captain Porter, pf the Essex, over the Alert — Naval victory of Captain Jones, in command of the Wasp, over the Frolic — Captain Decatur, in command of the frigate United States, captures the Macedonia — Commo- dore Bainbridge on the Constitution captures the Jii~r m\(\ prophet, Witherford, on the occasion of his surrender to General Jackson, and as reported by him at the time, deserves perpetuation. " I am," said he, " in your power. Do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have dori£ the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight, and contend to the last. But I have none. My people arc all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation. Once I could animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallusahat- chee, Emuckfau, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. Whilst there were chances for success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. Hut my people are gone; and I now ask it for my nation and for myself." The operations on the sea in 1813 con- tinued, upon the whole, to add lustre to the infant navy of the United States. The most noted of these, the successful as well as the adverse, were as fol- lows: First. Captain Lawrence, of the United States sloop-of-war Hornet, on the 24th of February, met and captured the British brig Peacock, in a conflict that lasted only fifteen minutes. The Peacock, in striking her colors, displayed, at the same time, a signal of distress. Captain Law- rence made the greatest exertions to save her crew, but she went down before all of them could be gotten off, carrying with her three brave and generous United States seamen, who were extending their aid. Second. On the 1st of June, the British frigate Shannon captured the United States frigate ( Iicsapcakc. The Chesa- peake at this time was in the command of Lawrence. Kvery officer on board of her was either killed or wounded. Lawrence, as he was carried below, wel- tering in blood, and just before expiring, issued his last heroic order — "Don't give up the ship /" But the fortunes of battle decided other" "se.* *The dying words of the gallant Lawrence have (415) 4i6 HISTORY OF THE UXITF.D STATES. Third. The British met another like success on the 14th of August, in the capture of the United States brig Argus by the Pelican. The Argus had carried Mr. Crawford, United States Minister, to France, in the month of May; after which she made a brilliant cruise, captur- ing more than twenty of the enemy's ships, when she was in turn captured, as stated. Her colors, however, were not struck in her last engagement, until Captain Allen, in command, had fallen mortally wounded. Fourth. In September the United States brig Enterprise met the British brig Boxer, on the coast of Maine, and after an engagement of forty minutes the Boxer surrendered. The command- ers of both vessels fell in the action, and were buried beside each other in Port- land, with military honors. Fifth. During the summer Commo- dore Porter, of the frigate Essex, after making many captures of British mer- chantmen in the Atlantic, visited the Pacific ocean, where he was no less sig- nally successful. Sixth. During the 'same summer, British fleets entered 'he waters of the 1 )elaware and Chesapeake bays, under the command of Admiral George Cock- burn. All small merchant ships within their reach were destroyed, and much damage done to many of the towns on the coast. Frenchtown, Georgetown, 1 1 avre de Grace, and 1'redericktown were been commemorated appropriately in the following beautiful stanza : " ( >h ! let these words your motto be, Whatever ills befall ; Though foes beset and pleasures flee, And passion's wiles enthrall, Though danger spread her ready snare, Your erring steps to trip, Remember that dead hero's prayer, And ' Don't give up the Ship ! ' " burned. An attack was made upon Nor- folk, which was repulsed with heavy loss. After committing many barbarities at I lampton, Cockburn, with his command, sailed south. All the ports north, to the limits of the New England coast, were kept in close blockade. During the session of the Congress, which convened in December, 181 3,a com- munication was received from the British government, of the purport that, although they had declined to treat under the me- diation of Russia, yet they were willing to enter into direct negotiations either in London or Gottenburg. The offer was immediate!)' acceded to, and the latter place appointed for the meeting. Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell were added to the Commissioners who had already been sent to Europe. The place of meet- ing was afterwards changed from Gotten- burg to Ghent. The country at this time was feeling sorely the ills of war every- where. New loans had to be made ; in- creased taxes had to be levied; more troops had to be raised. The conquest of Canada was still the chief object of the administration. The plan of the campaign of 18 14 was projected by General Armstrong, the Secretary of War. The Department of War was temporarily removed to the frontier, and established at the head- quarters of the armj' on the Canada line. The operations in this quarter during this year, as those of 18 1 3, were attended with man)' marches and counter-marches, and much gallant fighting on both sides; but withi nit any decisive results on either. The most noted events connected with them may be thus summed up : First The advance of Wilkinson into Canada commenced in March, and ended with the affair at La Cole Mill, on the 31st of that month, in which he THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 417 was defeated with heavy loss. Soon after this he was superseded, and the chief command given to General Izard. Second. The battle of Chippewa, which was fought on the 5th of July by General Brown, and in which the United States forces won the day. Third. The battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane, which was fought on the 25th of July. It was here that Colonel Winfield Scott, in command of a brigade, so signally distinguished himself. Two horses were shot under him and he himself was severely wounded, but was more than compensated by the victory achieved. Congress voted him a gold medal, and he was soon promoted to a major-generalship. Fourth. The battle of Fort Erie, fought on the 15th of August, in which the British General Drummond was repulsed with great loss. Fifth. The battle of Plattsburg, which was fought on the 11th of October. This was a joint land and naval action. General Macomb commanded the United States land forces at this place; General Prevost commanded those of the British. The United States naval forces were com- manded by Commodore MacDonough; the British fleet was commanded by Com- modore Downie. The assault was com- menced by Prevost with his land forces. As CommodoreDownie moved up to assist with his fleet, he was met and engaged by MacDonough with his small flotilla. The chief interest of both armies was now diverted from the action on land to that on water, while the conflict between the fleet and flotilla lasted. It continued for upwards of two hours, and was fierce as well as bloody. It ended in the sur- render of the British fleet to Commodore MacDonough. Commodore Downie was killed in the fight, and when his flag- 27 ship struck her colors, the results of the day were decided, on land as well as on the water. Prevost immediately re- treated. This victory ended all active operations in that quarter. Meantime, during the summer of 18 14, a fleet of fifty or sixty vessels arrived in the Chesapeake bay under Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane, bringing a large land force under General Ross. The design was the capture of the city of Washington. Ross landed five thou- sand men on the 19th of August, at the COMMODORE MACDONOUGH. head of the Patuxent, and commenced his march overland. There were at the time no forces for defence near the capital. The raw militia were hastily collected and put under General Winder, who met the enemy at Bladensburg. The President and cabinet left the city. Winder with his militia was barely able to retard the advance of Ross. He en- tered Washington the 24th of August, and burned most of the public buildings, including the President's house and the capitol. The troops then returned to 4i8 HISTORY OT THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 14 their shipping, and proceeded up the Chesapeake. Landing at North Point, they advanced on Baltimore. This place was defended by General Striker, with a force consisting mostly of raw militia and volunteers. In an action which took place on the I2th of September, Ross was killed, and 'his forces retired. After an unsuccessful attack of the Brit- ish fleet under Cockburn, upon Fort Mcllenrv, which commanded the en- trance to the city, the whole army re- embarked and left the bay. During this bombardment of Fort The New England States suffered much in the same way during the summer. Stonington was bombarded, and attempts were made to land an invading force at several places, which were repulsed by the militia. The operations of the respective navies on the ocean during the year 1814 re- sulted about as they did in 181 3. The United States lost two war-ships and captured five of like character, besides many British merchantmen. Mr. Gerry, the Vice-President, died suddenly in Washington on the 23d of MACDuNOUOll's VICTORY ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. McHenry by Cockburn, which lasted a night and whole day, Francis Key, of Baltimore, then detained on board one of the British vessels, whither he had gone on some public mission, as he gazed most anxiously upon the flag of his country, Still floating triumphantly on the ramparts in the midst of the heavy cannonading, composed his soul-stirring song, in which occur the famous lines : "The Star-spangled banner! oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! " November of this year. John Gail- lard, of South Carolina, succeeded him as President of the Senate pro tem- pore. While these events were occurring on land and water, during the summer of 1 8 14, the hostility in the New England States to the Federal administration had ripened into a determination to take de- cisive steps for the maintenance of their own rights in their own way. A ma- jority of the people of these States were strongly opposed to the conquest of THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 4I9 Canada. Massachusetts and Connecti- cut, throwing themselves upon their re- served rights under the Constitution, refused to allow their militia to be sent out of their States, in what they deemed a war of aggression against others, espe- cially when they were needed for their own defence in repelling an invasion. For this course they were very severely censured by most of their sister States, and the more so from the fact that the war had been entered upon for the joint maintenance of the rights of their sea- men and commerce. Moreover, it was insisted upon by the friends of the administration, that the mode of warfare adopted was the surest for the attain- ment of the objects aimed at. But what increased the opposition of the New England States at this time was the refusal of the administration to pay the expenses of their militia, called out by the governors of their respective States for their own local defence. This refusal was based upon the ground that these States had refused to send their militia out of their limits upon a Federal call. To this may be added the new scheme of the administration for forcing the militia of the respective States outside of their limits, not by a call on the gov- ernors of the States for them, but by a general act of Federal conscription, which was considered by many able statesmen and jurists as clearly uncon- stitutional. It was in this condition of things that the Legislature of Massachusetts invited the neighboring States to meet in con- vention for mutual consultation. Ac- cordingly, a convention of delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut, met at Hartford, in the latter State, on the 15th day of December, 18 14. The deliberations of this famous body were within closed doors. What the real ultimate designs of the leading members of it were, have never been fully dis- closed. Some mystery has ever hung over it. But the resolutions adopted by- it, and the public address put forth by it at the time, very clearly indicate that the purpose was, either to effect a change of policy on the part of the Federal ad- ministration in the conduct of the war, or for these States, in the exercise of their sovereign rights, to provide for their own well-being, as they thought best, by withdrawing from the Union. The only positive results of the conven- tion were, the appointment of a deputa- tion of the body to wait upon the Fed- eral authorities at Washington, to whom in person their views were to be pre- sented, and the call of another conven- tion, to which this deputation was to report, before any further decisive action should be taken. In the meantime, it became known that a large British force — of at least twelve thousand men — had been landed at or near the mouth of the Mississippi river, under Sir Edward Pakenham. The country everywhere was in the greatest alarm for the safety of New Orleans. The command of this department was now in charge of General Jackson, with such forces as he could collect, consist- ing mostly of volunteers and militia, amounting in all to not more than half the numbers of the approaching foe. He went vigorously to work to repel this most formidable invasion. With such means of resistance as the genius of a " born general " only can improvise, he was soon in an attitude of defence. The result was the ever memorable charge of the British and their bloody repulse by Jackson on the 8th of January, 181 5. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MADISON. 421 This was the most brilliant victory achieved by the arms of the United States during the war. Two thousand British soldiers, led in a charge on Jack- son's breastworks, were left dead or wounded upon the field. Pakenham himself was killed. Major-Generals Gibbs and Keane, the two officers next in command, were both wounded, the former mortally; while Jackson's loss was only seven killed and six wounded. Upon the heels of the news of this splendid achievement, which electrified the country with joy, came the still more gratifying intelligence of a treaty of peace, which the commissioners had ef- fected at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1 8 14, fifteen days before this great battle was fought. All discontents ceased, and in the general joy at this close of the bloody scenes of two years and over, it seemed to be entirely forgotten or over- looked that not one word was said in the treaty about the right of search or im- pressment by Great Britain, which was the main point in issue at the commence- ment of the war. The treaty of peace with England was promptly ratified, and all necessary steps for a disbandment of the army were immediately taken by Congress. But further work was in store for the navy. The Dey of Algiers — in violation of the treaty of 1795 — had recently been com- mitting outrages upon American com- merce within his waters. Another war against him was soon afterwards de- clared. The gallant Decatur was sent with a fleet to the Mediterranean for the chastisement of this piratical power. He in a short time captured two Algerine ships and brought the Dey to terms. A treaty of peace was made on the 30th of June, by which the United States ob- tained, not only security for the future, but indemnity for the past. William H. Crawford, on his return from Paris, where he had been resident United States Minister for some time, was appointed Secretary of War, 1st of August, 1 81 5. The charter of the first bank of the United States having expired in 181 1, and an act for its renewal having failed to pass, several attempts afterwards were made to obtain a charter for a similar institution, which likewise failed. A bill for this purpose, which had passed both Houses of Congress, was vetoed by Mr. Madison, in January, 18 14. But on the loth of April, 18 16, another bill, of like character, received his approval, by which a new bank of the United States was in- corporated for twenty years, with a capital of thirty-five million dollars. On the 19th of April, 18 16, an act was passed for the admission of Indiana into the Union as a State. COAT OF ARMS OF INDIANA. During the fall of 18 16 another Presi- dential election took place. There was at this time considerable division among the Republicans as to who the suc- cessor should be. Mr. Madison had positively declined standing for re-elec- tion. The choice of candidates finally made by the Democratic members of Congress in caucus was : Mr. Monroe, for President ; and Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York, for Vice-Presi- dent. The Federal party, still so called, nominated Rufus King, of New York, 422 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 15 for President ; and John Eager Howard, of Maryland, for Vice-President. The result of the vote of the Electoral Col- leges was 183 for Mr. Monroe, and 34 for Mr. King; 183 for Governor Tomp- kins and 22 for Mr. Howard. The vote by States between the Democratic and Federal tickets at this election stood : 16 for the Democratic, and 3 for the Federal. The sixteen States that voted for Mr. Monroe and Mr. Tompkins were : New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland.Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, and Indiana. The three that voted for Mr. King were: Mas- sachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware. After the 4th of March, 18 17, Mr. Madison retired from office, leaving the country at peace with the world, and rapidly recovering from the injurious effects of the late war. He returned to his home at Montpclier, Virginia, where he enjoyed the society of his friends and the general esteem of his countrymen. The most distinguishing feature of his administration was the war with Great Britain. Whatever may be thought of the wisdom or policy of thaj war, or of its general conduct, the result unques- tionably added greatly to the public character of the United States in the estimation of foreign powers. The price at which this had been purchased was, in round numbers, about one hundred mil- lion dollars in public expenditures, and the loss of about thirty thousand men, including those who fell in battle as well as those who died of disease contracted in the service. Of the amount of private or individual losses no approximate estimate can be made ; and though in the treaty of peace nothing was said about the main cause for which the war was prosecuted, yet Great Britain after wards refrained from giving any offence in the practical assertion of her theor- etic right of search and impressment. Whether the same ends could have been attained by any other course which would not have involved a like sacrifice of treasure and blood, is a problem that can never be satisfactorily solved by human speculation. CHAPTER XV. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE FIRST AND SECOND TERMS. (4th March, 1817 — 4th March, 1S25.) His Cabinet — The "era of good feeling" — Internal tax abolished — Pension act passed — Admission of Mississippi — Seminole War — General Jackson in Florida — Ambrister and Arbuthnot tried and ex- ecuted by court martial — Jackson's course approved — Illinois admitted into the Union — Alabama ad- mitted into the Union — Maine admitted into the Union — The Missouri Compromise — Missouri ad- mitted into the Union — Treaty with Spain, by which East and West Florida were ceded to the United States and all claims of Spain on the Pacific coast north of 42 north latitude — Organi- zation of the Seventeenth Congress — Split in the Republican party — Protective" tariff and internal improvements by the general government — Mr. Clay the author of the "American System " — The President's able paper on internal improvements — Independence of Mexico and five South American States acknowledged and recognized — The Monroe doctrine announced — Visit of Lafayette — Honors paid him — Presidential election of 1824 — The candidates, and result of the vote by the Colleges — No one chosen President — The election decided by the States in the House — John Quincy Adams chosen President — John C. Calhoun elected Vice- President l»y the Colleges. AMES MONROE, of Virginia, fifth President of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1817, in the 59th year of his age. His inaugural address gave general satisfaction to all parties. THE ADM1XISTRATION OF MOXROE. 423 The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall. His cabinet were John Quincy Adams, of Massachu- setts, Secretary of State; William H. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, Secretary of War; William the appointment. These were all men of distinguished ability, and thoroughly identified with the Jeffersonian Republi- can or Democratic party at the time. The first session of the Fifteenth Con- gress began on the 1st of December, 1 8 17. The recommendation of the Presi- PRESIDENT MONROE. Wirt, of Virginia, Attorney-General. Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of Massa- chusetts, who was in the office during the latter part of Mr. Madison's admin- istration, was continued Secretary of the Navy, until November 30th, 18 18, when Smith Thompson, of New York, received dent met with cordial approval. The internal taxes which had been imposed during the war were abolished. A Pension Act was passed, which gave great satisfaction to the country at large, and relief to not less than thirteen thou- sand soldiers who had served in the war 4-4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Cook II., c. 15 of the Revolution, and the late war with Great Britain. On the ioth day of December, i8i7,a joint resolution was approved by the President for the admission of Mississippi as a State into the Union. This was the COAT OF ARMS OK MISSISSIPPI. dawn of a period known in the history of the United States as " the era of good feeling." Old party lines were nearly extinct. The peaceful political revolu- tion of 1800 was complete. War having; broken out with the Seminole Indians in 1 8 1 8, General Jack- son was ordered to take the field and to call upon the governors of the adjoining States for as many troops of the militia as he might think necessary to subdue them. He soon raised a force of a thou- sand men, with whom he marched into the Indian country. Believing that the hostile Indians fled to the Spanish com- mandants for protection, that they were encouraged by them, and that the safety of the inhabitants of that part of the United States required aggressive and decisive proceedings, he invaded the province of Florida ; seized the post of St. Mark's, and sent the Spanish authori- ties and troops to Pensacola. At St. Mark's he found two English traders named Ambrister and Arbuthnot; and believing they were supplying the In- dians with arms and ammunition, and inciting them to hostilities against the citizens of the United States, he had them arrested and tried by court-martial. They were found guilty and executed. The Governor of Pensacola continuing to give shelter and assistance to the Indians, Jackson took possession of that place on the 14th of May. The gov- ernor escaped and fled to Barancas. Jackson took possession of that place on the 27th, and sent the governor and troops to Havana. His conduct in this matter was made a subject of inquiry in both Houses of Congress; but upon investigation his course was approved by a large majority in each. Don Onis, the Spanish minister resi- dent in Washington, protested against his arbitrary proceedings; but as negotia- tions were then pending for the cession of Florida to the United States, the matter was not pressed. The people of Illinois were admitted as a separate State into the Union by joint resolution of Congress, approved by the President on the 3d of December, 1818. An event COAT OF ARMS OF ILLINOIS. occurred in the year 18 19 which de- serves to be noted, not only in the his- tory of the United States, but in the annals of the world. It was the passage of the first steamship across the Atlantic ocean. This exploit, so wonderful at the time, was performed by the steamer Savannah, projected and owned in Savannah, Georgia, though built in the city of New York. She left the port of Savannah in May, 1819, for Liverpool; and after making a successful voyage to that place proceeded with equal success to St. Petersburg. She was the object of great curiosity wherever she went. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 425 On the 14th of December, 18 19, the people of Alabama were admitted as a separate State into the Union. The most important and distinguishing meas- ure of Mr. Monroe's administration up to this time was what has been called the "Missouri Compromise of 1820." The people of Maine were admitted as a separate State into the Union, on COAT OF ARMS OF ALABAMA. the 15th of March, 1820, under the pro- vision of that act; but Missouri was not. The true history of this measure, so little understood and so greatly misrepre- sented, will here be fully and accurately set forth. In 18 18, at the second session of the Fifteenth Congress,* an application was made by the people of the Territory of Missouri to be admitted into the COAT OF ARMS OF MAINE. Union as a State. The Territory of Mis- souri, as is well known, was embraced in the Louisiana cession by France in 1803. In article III. of the treaty by which that whole acquisition was made it was stipulated, in behalf of the in- habitants then residing within its limits, that "the inhabitants of the ceded terri- tory shall be incorporated in the Union *Annals of Congress, 15th Congress, 2d session, p. 418. of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible according to the princi- ples of the Federal Constitution to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; and, in the meantime, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess." * Negro slaves were then held in this ter- ritory, and were embraced in the treaty as other property. Now in pursuance of this stipulation, as well as in pursu- ance of the general principles and au- thority of the Constitution of the United States, the application of the people of Missouri for admission into the Union as a State was made in the usual way in 18 18, as has been stated. The bill for this purpose came up for action in the House of Representatives on the 13th day of February, 18 19. To that bill Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, moved an amendment in these words: "And provided that the further intro- duction of slavery, or involuntary servi- tude, be prohibited, except for the pun- ishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been fully convicted; and that all children born within the said State after the admission thereof into the Union shall be free at the age of twenty- five years." f This amendment presented an issue not, as has been so often asserted, be- tween the advocates and opponents of slavery as it then existed in the States, but an issue between the advocates and opponents of the principles lying at the foundation of the Federal system. It presented the question of the power of the Federal government, as well as the * United States Statutes at Large, vol. viii., p. 202. f Annals of Congress, 15th Congress, 2d session, p. 1 170. 42G HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 15 question of the power of Congress to violate a treaty stipulation. The debate and votes upon it show that the mem- bers of the House, North and South, took their position upon it in this view of the subject, just as they did upon the subject of slavery in 1790, as heretofore stated.* The vote in committee on agreeing to it were 79 for and 67 against it.f On the report of the committee in the House, the question was divided. On the first branch the vote by "ayes," and "noes," were 87 for, and 76 against it.J On the second branch the vote was 82 for it and 78 against it. Mr. Storrs, of New York, who was opposed to the restriction, but no advo- cate of slavery, then moved to amend the bill by striking out so much as says: " that the new State shall be admitted on an equal footing with the original States ; for the very clear reason that if the bill should pass and the State be admitted under the restriction, she would not be a State in the Union on an 'equal footing' with the original States." This motion, however, did not prevail, and the bill passed the House with this restriction. When it went to the Senate, the first branch of the restriction was stricken out by a vote of 22 to strike it out against 16 to retain it; and on the second branch of the restriction the vote to strike it out was 31, while only 7 voted to retain it. § The House adhered to the restriction, and the Senate would not recede from their action upon it; so Missouri failed to be admitted at that session of Con- gress. *See Ante, chapter x. fAnnals of Congress, 15th Cong., 2d sess.,p. 1 193. J Ibid., ]>. 1214. I Ibid., p. 273. The application was renewed on the 9th December, 18 19, on the opening of the first session of the Sixteenth Congress. A bill in the usual form for the admis- sion of the State of Missouri on an equal footing with the original States was again reported.* To this bill the same restriction in effect, though not in the same words, was renewed by Mr. Taylor, of New York.f This gave rise to a renewal of the conflict of the session before, with increased spirit and vigor. Never had a discussion so thoroughly shaken the very foundation of the gov- ernment from its beginning as this did. The conflict, fierce and angry as it was, was a conflict, however, between parties taking different views as to the legiti- mate power of the Federal government over the subject-matter of debate. It may be premised here, that the whole country had considered the sub- ject of the power of Congress over slavery as settled by the resolution that was passed by the First Congress, which has been before mentioned. In the meantime, for nearly thirty years several territorial governments had been instituted, and several new States in which slavery existed had been admitted without any question on this subject hav- ing been raised, to wit: Tennessee in the administration of Washington, in 1790, the Territory of Mississippi in the admin- istration of Adams, in 1798; Louisiana and Orleans Territory, in the administra- tion of Jefferson, as heretofore noted, and also territorial governments for Missouri and Alabama, in the administration of Madison ; and the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama and Mis- sissippi, all of which had been admitted in the usual form, notwithstanding the *Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, p. 711. f Ibid., p. 1558. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 427 existence of slavery therein, without any objections on that ground. Hence it was now looked upon mainly as a political movement, as the debates show. An extract of the speech of Mr. Holmes, of Massachusetts, will first be presented. He said : " Mr. Chairman : When a man has fallen into distress, his neighbors surround him to offer relief; some, by an attempt at condolence, increase the grief which they would assuage. Others, by admin- istering remedies, inflame the disorder ; while others, in affecting all the solici- tude of both, actually wish him dead. " It is so with liberty. Always in danger — often in distress — she not only suffers from open and secret foes, but officious and unskillful friends. And among the thousands and millions that throng her temples from curiosity, pas- sion or policy, how few, very few, there are, who are her sincere, faithful, and intelligent worshippers ! "Among those few I trust are to be found all the advocates for restriction in this House ; and I readily admit that most of those out of doors, whose zeal is excited on this occasion, are of the same description. But is it not probable that there are some jugglers behind the screen who are playing a deeper game — who are combining to rally under this standard as the last resort, the forlorn hope of an expiring party ? " But while we admit this in behalf of respectable gentlemen who advocate the restriction of slavery in Missouri, we ask, nay, we demand of them the same liber- ality. We are not the advocates or the abettors of slavery. For one, sir, I would rejoice if there was not a slave on earth. Liberty is the object of my love — my adoration. I would extend its blessings to every human being. But though my feelings are strong for the abolition of slavery, they are yet stronger for the Constitution of my country ; and if I am reduced to the sad alternative to tolerate the holding of slaves in Missouri, or violate the Constitution of my country, I will not permit the doubt to cloud my choice. Sir, of what benefit would be abolition, if at the sacrifice of your Con- stitution ? Where would be the guar- antee of the liberty which you grant? Liberty has a temple here, and it is the only one which remains. Destroy this and she must flee — she must retire among the brutes of the wilderness — to mourn and lament the misery and folly of man. " Let us then proceed, with that can- dor and caution which the subject de- mands, to examine the nature of this power, and ascertain whether it is given in the Constitution of the United States. " The extraordinary doctrines which have been advanced on this subject in and out of doors, render it necessary to be exceedingly particular, and care- fully to examine the ground as we ad- vance. An American politician would scarcely have deemed it necessary to prove, at this day, that to regulate the relation between the different members of a community is an attribute of sov- ereign power. That I may not be mis- taken, I will inform the committee what I intend by sovereign power, and the sense in which I propose to use it in this discussion. It is the power of making and executing laws, to regulate the con- duct and condition of men. It is more or less absolute, as it is limited and de- fined, or unlimited and undefined. In the origin of government, if we can con- ceive such a period, the rights vested in the sovereign by the community neces- 423 HISTORY OE THE UXITED STATES. Book II.. c. 15 sarily included the power to determine the mutual dependence of the several members. The community had a right to control and establish it themselves, or delegate it to the sovereign. In either way they could establish a difference of dependence of one man upon another. The nearer equal this dependence, how- ever, the more perfect the government. Yet sovereign power can establish such a dependence as that of the slave on his master. * * * * * " Then did the revolution alter the relation ? We have been made to under- stand from very respectable authority that the Declaration of Independence proclaimed freedom to every slave in the United States. It seems then that all the slaves have been free in fact for more than forty years, and they do not know it, and we are gravely legislating to perform that which was most effec- tually performed in 1776. Why attempt to do what is already done ? Why create all this excitement if we have no slaves? Humanity might, perhaps, re- quire that we should pass a declaratory act to give notice to two millions of people that, by applying to the Supreme Court, they can be relieved from their thraldom. * * * * " Mr. Chairman : I should not have noticed this strange and ridiculous vision that the Declaration of Independence was a decree of universal emancipation, had it not issued from respectable sources and been seriously enforced upon the credulity of the public. "At the Revolution, rights of the crown rested in the States, and they suc- ceeded to all the sovereign power which until then belonged to the provinces and the mother country. There was no sus- pension or death of political power. Property was retained by the owner. Laws continued to have force, and sov- ereign power was transferred to the States and vested temporarily in their Legislatures until a more permanent government could be established, origi- nating from and effected by this tem- porary power. The doctrine that the revolution is not the origin but the per- fection of the State governments, and that the States are the successors as well of the crown as the colonies, has been so long and so well established that it is considered the foundation not only of political power, but of private right. This political power existing and having been exercised up to the Revolution, was not thereby extinguished. This also agrees with fact. Those States which were disposed to liberate their slaves did not consider it as already effected by the revolution, but found it necessary to do it by some constitutional or legislative act. Consequently this political or sov- ereign power existed after the Revolution, and, as there was no diminution of sov- ereign power from that time up to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, it existed up to that time. Did the Con- stitution of itself take it from the States? There is no such prohibition upon the States, either express or implied. More- oxer, the Constitution recognizes and confirms the right. The 3d section of the 4th article inhibits a State from pro- tecting or liberating fugitive slaves from other States, and compels it to deliver them up. The Constitution, so far from destroying, establishes this power in a State." * This is quite enough of this very able and truly patriotic speech to show its nature and the tenor and principles by which its author was governed. ♦Annals of Congress, lOth Congress, 1st session, p. 9')6. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 429 Mr. Baldwin, of Connecticut, afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Mr. Meigs, of New York, men of great ability and distinction, took the same position as that taken by Mr. Holmes. Now some samples of Southern senti- ment in the same debate will be given. Mr. Read, of Georgia, said, in speaking of slavery : " I would hail that day as the most glorious in its dawning, which should behold with safety to themselves and our citizens, the black population of the United States placed upon the high emi- nence of equal rights, and clothed with the privileges and immunities of Amer- ican citizens. But this is a dream of philanthropy which can never be ful- filled, and whoever shall act in this country upon such wild theories shall cease to be a benefactor, and become a de- stroyer of the human family." * Mr. Read opposed restriction, but, as Mr. Holmes, mainly upon constitutional grounds, and not as a slavery propagandist. Mr. Philip P. Barbour, of Virginia, afterwards one of the judges of the Su- preme Court of the United States, said : "Are we now called on to decide as an abstract question whether slavery is, or is not, justifiable ? No, sir! That ques- tion had been long settled before the formation of our Constitution : slavery existed in many of the States at that period ; its existence and its continuance were recognized by that instrument. The States surrendered to the Federal gov- ernment no power over the subject, ex- cept after a given period, to prohibit the importation of slaves from abroad. I tell you, gentlemen, then, that this is neither the time nor occasion to discuss * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, P- 1025. the abstract justice or injustice of slavery. If we were called upon in our respective State Legislatures to decide upon its continuance or abolition ; or if we were now in convention for the purpose of forming anew the Federal Constitution — in either of these cases their arguments of that kind would have some applica- tion. But who are we, and what are our functions ? We are the creatures of the Constitution, not its creators. We are called here to execute, not to make one. Let gentlemen, then, remember that it is not sufficient for them to show that slavery cannot be justified in itself; that it is, if you please, a moral and political evil ; they will yet fail to maintain their ground unless they can also show that the Constitution gives us power over it." * Mr. Ballard Smith, of Virginia, used the following language : " By treaty we are bound to admit Missouri into the Union. * * * To guarantee to her a republican form of government (that is, a government by and for the people themselves, not a gov- ernment imposed on them, nor a patri- monial government) ; and to leave her all power not delegated by the Constitu- tion to the United States nor prohibited by it to the States. Treaties are, in part, the supreme law of the land, and para- mount to the Constitution of any State ; yet you propose to violate the treaty with France by the means of a State Consti- tution which is of inferior obligation to a treaty. * * Will you be unjust, false, perfidious, because you are pow- erful ? Would it be honorable to violate a treaty because those who claim the benefits of its provisions are our own citizens? * * By your Constitution a treaty is the supreme law of the land * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, p. 1217. 450 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II, c. 15 and paramount to the Constitution which you propose to force Missouri to adopt. You may, indeed, repeal the treaty by an act of Congress, but the effect of a measure of that kind should be well considered, and you must repeal the treaty directly or by implication before the proposed measure can have the de- sired effect ; for the treaty, until it is re- pealed, is paramount to the imposed Con- stitution, and the judges would sustain it." * These samples and specimens of the character of the debate must suffice for the House. One specimen will now be presented from the Senate. This is an extract from the speech of the great Wil- liam Pinkney, of Maryland, who was well known in his day to be strongly against slavery. He said : " ' New States may be admitted by Con- gress into this Union.' It is objected * Auu.ils of Congress, i6lh Coi. n ress, 1st session,' p. 1006. that the word ' may' imports power, not obligation — a right to decide — a discre- tion to grant or refuse. " To this it might be answered that power is duty on many occasions, but let it be considered that it is discretionary. What consequence follows? A power to refuse in a case like this does not neces- sarily involve a power to exact terms. You must look to the result which is the declared object of the power. Whether you will arrive at it or not may depend on your will, but you cannot compromise with the result intended and professed. What, then, is the professed result? To admit a State into this Union. What is that Union ? A confederation of States equal in sovereignty, capable of every- thing which the Constitution docs not forbid, or authorize Congress to forbid. It is an equal union between parties equally sovereign. They were sov- ereign independently of the union. The object of the union was common protec- tion for the exercise of already existing sovereignty. * * By acceding to it the new State is placed on the same footing with the original States. It ac- cedes for the same purpose ; that is, protection for its unsurrendered sov- ereignty. " If it comes in shorn of its beams — crippled and disparaged beyond the orig- inal States — it is not into the original union that it comes, for it is a different sort of union. The first was union inter pares; this is a union between dispar- ates; between giants and a dwarf, be- tween power and feebleness, between full proportion of sovereignties and a miserable image of power — a thing which that very union has shrunk and shriveled from its just size instead of preserving it in its true dimensions. It is into ' this union,' that is the union of THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 431 the Federal Constitution, that you are to admit or refuse to admit. You can admit into no other. You cannot make the union as to the new State what it is not as to the old, for then it is not this union you open for the entrance of a new party." * So much for the samples of the speeches of leading members of the House and Senate who were opposed to the restriction, from which it appears that the opponents of the restriction had clearly the advantage. It is quite proper in this connection, and with a view of illustrating the prevailing idea of the anti-restrictionists and especially prominent men in the country at that day from the South, to present a letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Pink- ney, from whose speech an extract has just been given. Mr. Jefferson was known to be a very ardent advocate of emancipation. He did not believe, how- ever, that there was any power conferred upon Congress in the Constitution by which this great object could be accom- plished. He was for abolition to be ef- fected by separate State action. The fol- lowing is what he wrote to Mr. Pinkney : "The Missouri question is a mere party trick. The leaders of Federalism (he here uses Federalism in the sense in which it was used in 1798-99), defeated in their schemes of obtaining power by rallying partisans to the principles of monarchism, a principle of personal, not of local division, have changed their tact and thrown out another barrel to the whale. They are taking advantage of various feelings of the people to effect a division of parties by a geographical line; they expect that this will insure them on local principles the majority * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, P- 397- they could never obtain on principles of Federalism. But they are still putting their shoulder to the wrong wheel; they are wasting jeremiads on the miseries of slavery as if we were advocates for it."* It is proper in this connection to pre- sent also another letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Holmes, from whose speech an extract has been quoted. In this he says: "I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the Missouri question. It is a perfect justi- fication to them. I had for a long time ceased to read newspapers or pay any attention to public affairs, confident they were in good hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the shore from which I am not distant. But this momentous question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened me and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment, but it is a re- prieve only, not a final sentence. The geographical line coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political evil once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated, and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. I can say with conscious truth that there is not a man on earth who will sacrifice more than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach in any practicable way. The cession of that kind of property, for so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would not cost me a second thought if in that way a general emancipation and expatriation could be effected; and gradually with due sacrifice I think it might be, but as it is we have the wolf by the ears and we can neither hold * Jefferson's Complete Works, vol. vii., p. 180. 43^ HISTORY OF 'THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 16 him nor safely let him go. Justice is in the one scale and self-preservation in the other. Of one thing I am certain, that the passage of slaves from one State to another would not make a slave of a single human being who would not be so without it. So their diffusion over a greater surface would make them individually happier and proportionally facilitate the accomplish- ment of their emancipation by dividing the burden on a greater number of co- adjutors. An abstinence too from this act of power would remove the jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress to regulate the condition of different descriptions of men composing a State. This certainly is the exclusive right of every State which nothing in the Con- stitution has taken from them and given to the general government. Could Con- gress, for example, say that the non-free- men of Connecticut shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into any other State? I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776 to acquire self-government and happiness to their country is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it. * * To yourself, as the faithful advo- cate of the Union, I tender the offering of the highest esteem and respect."* These evidences, without resorting to more, show fully and conclusively that the conflict in this Missouri controversy was not one between the advocates and opponents of slavery, but between the advocates and opponents of our true Federal system under the Constitution. But to proceed with the narrative. On the 1 8th of February the House re- *' Jefferson's Complete Works, vol. vii., p. 1 59. ceived from the Senate the bill for the admission of the State of Maine, which the House had passed on the 3d of Jan- uary previous.* When the House bill was before the Senate a motion was made and carried in that body to tack on to it a like bill for the admission of Missouri. To this proposition Mr. Thomas, of Illinois, moved the following amendment : "And be it further enacted that in all that territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louis- iana which lies north of 36 30' north latitude, excepting only such part there- of as is included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited : provided always that any person escap- ing into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid." f This was the Missouri Compromise, so called. It did not come from the South, it was not moved by any member or Senator from the South; even Mr. Clay, whose name has been so errone- ously connected with it, had nothing to do with its origination. It was proposed, as stated, by Mr. Thomas, the Senator from Illinois, as an additional section to the bill providing for the admission of Maine and Missouri without any restric- tion on either, as all the other States had been admitted. It related to matter entirely extraneous to the bill; and passed the Senate on the 17th of Feb- * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, p. 49. f Ibid -» P- 427- HIE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 433 ruary by a vote of 34 to 10.* Of the 10 "noes" every one was from the South except two. Senators Noble and Taylor from Indiana also voted against it. Now what reception did the proposi- tion so amended meet with in the House? It has been said by high authority that it passed the House on a test vote by 1 34 in favor of and with but 42 against it; a greater historical error on an important matter was hardly ever committed. The House bill for the admission of Maine, which had passed that body on the 3d of January, and which, as stated, was sent back to them with these Senate amendments, was taken up in the House on the 19th day of February, and its consideration was then postponed until a future day.f In the meantime the House went on discussing o their own separate bill for the admission of Missouri. Before coming to any final vote upon that they again, on the 22d of February, resumed consideration of the Maine bill with the Senate amend- ments, and disagreed to both of them by separate votes. To the Thomas amendment, covering the proposed com- promise, they disagreed by a vote of 159 against it, to but 18 in favor of it. % They then took up and went on with their own bill for the admission of Missouri with a restriction on the State in it. On the 28th of February the House received a message from the Senate that they insisted on their amendments to the Maine bill. The message was taken up, and after insisting on their disagreement to this Thomas provision by a vote of 160 to 14, the House went on still with their own separate bill as to Missouri. § The Senate asked for a conference on * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 1st session, ]>■ 428. f Ibid., p. 1410. t Ibid., p. 1457. g Ibid., p. 1554. 28 the disagreeing vote of the two Houses on the Maine bill. This was granted by the House on the 29th of February, and Messrs. Holmes, of Massachusetts, Taylor, of New York, Lowndes, of South Carolina, Parker, of Massachusetts, and Kinsey, of New Jersey, were appointed as the House committee;* every man of them from the Northern States ex- cept Mr. Lowndes. After this the House still went on with their own Missouri bill, and on the same day adopted the restriction of Mr. Taylor by a vote of 94 to 86; and with this restriction the bill passed the House the next day, March 1st, by a vote of 91 to 82. It so went to the Senate. On the 2d of March Mr. Holmes from the Conference Com- mittee on the part of the House on the Maine bill reported. The report was that the Senate should recede from its amendments to the Maine bill, and that both Houses should pass the House bill for the admission of Missouri by striking out the House restriction of slavery on the State, and substitute in lieu of it the Thomas provision imposing a restriction on territory outside of the State, as has been stated. This it may be repeated was the Compromise, so called.f A similar report was made to the Senate on the 3d of March, and was agreed to in that body without a count. % But in the House on agreeing to the Compromise as reported by the Confer- ence Committee, the question was divided and first taken on striking out the slavery restriction on the State, as it then stood in the House Bill for the admission of Missouri. This was the test vote in that- body, and on this vote the "ayes" and "noes" as they appear upon the record * Annals of Congress, 1 6th Congress, isl session, p. 1558. f Ibid., p. 1576. % Ibid., p. 472. +54 I//STOKY Of THE UNITED STATES. Boob II . < U stood for it 90, and against it 87.* This is fir from being, as has been averred, by the authority mentioned, 134, in favor of a compromise, with only forty-two against it. Of the ninety votes in favor of striking out the restriction on the State, only fourteen were from the non-slaveholding States. These were Messrs. Hill, Homes, M 1 on, and Shaw, of Massachusetts, Foot, Stevens, of Connecticut, Eddie, >! Rhode Island, Meigs and Storrs, of New York, Baldwin and Fuller- ton, of Pennsylvania, Bloomfield, Kin- 5ey, and Smith, of New Jersey. The question then came up on concurring with the Senate in the insertion of the ["nomas amendment which provided For the exclusion of slavery from all the Louisiana cession outside of Missouri, and north of 36 30' north latitude. This is the question on which the vote stood 134 to 42. This is readily understood. Nearly all those who could not get re- striction on the State, very willingly took the- territorial restriction as the next best thing to the accomplishment of their genera] objects, without the slightest abandonment of a most determined pur- to accomplish these objects when- ever a case should arise in which they could effect them. These objects they did not intend to compromise, nor did they, as the sequel will show. This VOte of [34 tO 42 was in no sense the test vote upon the admission of Mis- souri without State restriction, in the consideration ^\ territorial restriction. If the question could then have come up for the admission of Missouri under the bill as it then stood amended, the vote would very certainly have been just as it \a upon the motion to strikeout the * Annals ol Congress, 1 « »t 1 » Congress, 1st session, P. 1586. restriction upon the State; for all knew perfectly well what would be the result of that vote. There was, however, no VOte, and could be none under the rules on the direct question of the admission of the State by the bill as it was then amended. It passed from the control of the House and became a law, SO far as they were concerned, by the vote agree- ing to the amendment. The real test vote, therefore, was on striking out the State restriction. Nearly all the forty-two noes against concurring with the Senate amendment as to this territorial restriction were from the South. They voted against it be- cause the}- believed it to be equally as unconstitutional as the restriction at- tempted to be put upon the State. They believed that Congress had no more power to control this institution in the Territories than the}' had to control it in the States. It is true, that quite a num- ber of the Southern members (a small majority of them) did vote for it as a set- tlement of the territorial controversy upon the principle of a division of the public domain between the sections. In this view the\- accepted it, agreed to it, and voted for it under the circumstances as a compromise on thai question. This clearly appears from the speech of Mr. Kinsey, of New Jersey, one of the House committee of conference. In speaking on this question, and addressing himself to the Northern side of the House to induce them to accept it, he said : "Do our Southern brethren demand an equal division of this wide-spread fer- tile region, this common property pur- chased with tin- common funds of the nation? No! They have agreed to fix an irrevocable boundary beyond which slavery shall never pass; thereby sur- rendering to the claims of humanity and THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 435 the non-slavcholding States, to the en- terprising agriculturists of the North, the; Middle and Eastern States nine-tenths of the country in question. In rejecting so reasonable a proposition we must have strong and powerful reasons to justify our refusal ; and notwithstanding you may plead your conscientious scruples, be it remembered, you must shortly account to that august and stern tribunal, the impartial history and the strict scrutiny of public opinion. Can you plead conscience in bar to such a compromise? If so, how reconcile votes you have on similar questions already given? When Mississippi, in the last session, was received into the Union your votes made slavery interminable. * :(: # * # ■% -if. " I much fear, notwithstanding all your solemn asseverations, the scrutinizing public will assign other views, other mo- tives ; and what more probable- than that unhallowed one of political ascendency? And it is to be feared that a linking am- bition, the bane of all government, has had too great an influence in this debate If so, it is time now to pause before we pass the Rubicon; to hesitate before it is too late to retract. In persisting in our restriction on Missouri, are we (haling to our brethren of the South the same measure we would be willing they should mete to us ? When, with magnanimity unparalleled, they have conceded to us nine-tenths of this great common prop- erty, can we wish to deprive them of the remainder? And whilst gentlemen on the part of the majority arrogate to themselves a greater portion of moral refinement, it would be highly honorable to exhibit greater manifestations of liberality in sentiment."* * Annals of Congress, i6lh Congress, 1st session, P- >579- With this view, looking to it as a division of the public domain between the sections, the Southern members who voted for it did accede to and support Thomas' amendment as a compromise on the question, and in no other view could have been induced to give their votes for it.* But the pertinent inquiry is, how this matter was looked upon at the time and subsequently by the restrictionists, with whom it is said that the members of the Southern States entered into a solemn compact. Did they, the restrictionists, so regard it at that time or ever afterwards? The records show that they did not. They utterly ignored and repudiated it at the very next session of Congress. Missouri was denied admission in the Union as a State in December, 1820, though she had formed her Constitution under the provisions of this bill so passed and based upon this agreement and un- derstanding, or supposed compromise, so called. I ler vote for President and Vice- President, which had been cast at the election in the following fall, was not allowed to be counted. f At the next session of Congress, Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina, offered a resolution in the House, recognizing Missouri as a State in the Union, under her Constitution adopted in pursuance of the act of Congress so passed at the session before. On this motion the vote in the House was 79 for it and 93 against itj Of these 93 votes against the ad- mission of Missouri, 72 are the identical men who voted against striking out the State restriction on the test vote in the House, as before stated, on the recom- mendation of the committee of confer- * See War Between States, vol. ii.,p. 1 55, foot-note. j- Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2d session, p. H54- J [bid., p. 669. 43 6 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II, c 15 ence on the 2d of March, of the last ses- sion, and 67 of them are the identical men who voted immediately afterward on the 2d of March, 1820, for the inser- tion of the- territorial restriction which was carried by 134 to 42, which has been styled a test vote on the Missouri Compromise. If they had entered into any such agreement, promise or cove- nant, that Missouri should be admitted without a State restriction, in considera- tion of territorial restriction adopted in lieu of it, why did they not abide by it ? If there was any breach of compact in this case, who made it? Was the com- promise, so called, of the 2d of March, 1820, held inviolate by the restrictionists for twelve months, much less for thirty years ? If so, why was not Missouri recognized as a member of the Union under it ? The pretext of this refusal was that the Constitution of Missouri as formed had directed the Legislature to pass laws to prevent free negroes and mulattoes from going to or settling in the State. It was asserted that this was in violation of the Constitution of the United States. It could, however, have been nothing but a pretext; for if the State Constitution contains anything inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, it was, of course, inopera- tive, void, and of no effect. This, there- fore, was a proper matter for the courts to determine; but the restrictionists per- sistently refused to admit Missouri into the Union, because slavery was not abol- ished therein. The conflict was again renewed, and was fiercer at this session than it had ever been before. It was at this stage of the proceedings that Mr. Clay threw himself into the breach, and exerted his transcendent powers in efforts at conciliation and harmony. He moved on the 2d of February, 1821 (after the rejection of Mr. Lowndes' motion, to admit Missouri under the act passed at the last session), that a committee of thirteen be appointed to report such action as would be proper to be taken in view of the situation. The committee consisted of himself as chairman, Messrs. Eustis, of Massachusetts, Smith, of Maryland, Seargent, of Pennsylvania, Lowndes, of South Carolina, Ford, of New York, Archer, of Virginia, Ilackley, of New York, S. Moore, of Pennsylvania, Cobb, of Georgia, Tomlinson, of Con- necticut, Butler, of New York, and Campbell, of Ohio.* Mr. Clay, as chairman of this committee, reported on the ioth of February. The report in substance was that Missouri should be recognized as a State in the Union under her Constitution as presented, upon the " fundamental condition " that her Leg- islature should pass no law in violation of the rights of citizens of other States, and that the Legislature should also by proper act give its assent to this " funda- mental condition " before the fourth Monday in November next ensuing, and that the President of the United States, upon receipt of this assent of the Legis- lature, should announce the fact by proclamation, and then the State was to be considered in the Union. f In other words this committee reported that Mis- souri should be admitted into the Union on the equal footing of the original States, upon the fundamental condition that the State government in all its de- partments should be subject to the Con- stitution of the United States as all other State governments were. This resolu- tion was rejected by a vote of 80 for it and 83 against it.J * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2d session, p. 1027. f Ibid., p. 1115. \ Ibid., p. 1 1 16. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 437 What more could the restrictionists have asked, if they had, in good faith, agreed to the compromise on the ques- tion of Congressional restriction as has been claimed ? Their action, to say nothing of other matters, in voting against Mr. Clay's proposed compromise, shows conclusively that at that time they did not consider themselves as bound by any agreement or compact as claimed in regard to the Thomas amend- ment. It shows conclusively that they did not intend to abide by it. On this rejection of Mr. Clay's proposition the parties in the main continued to stand as they stood in the beginning, and as they stood at the previous session. The passions on both sides waxed warmer as the conflict was prolonged. The excitement became intense as the debates show. The strife was really between centralism and confederation. The rejection of Mr. Clay's resolution was, however, reconsidered the next day, but when it was again put on its passage it was again lost by a vote of 82 to 88.* Discordant opinions now prevailed as to what was the real status of the people of Missouri in their relations to the Fed- eral government. Some held that they were still in the territorial condition, subject to Federal authority, while others maintained that they constituted an inde- pendent State out of the Union. Mr. Clay, undaunted by his previous failure, again came to the rescue. On the 22d of February, he moved that a grand joint committee, consisting of members of the House and Senate, should be raised to propose suitable action for the alarming crisis. The committee on the part of the House was to consist of twenty-three members. These were to * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2d session, p. 1 146. be elected by the House. His motion was agreed to.* The Senate concurred. The committee was raised ; Mr. Clay was chairman of the grand committee, and made his report from it on the 26th of February. It was a joint resolution substantially the same as that reported by him before from the committee of thirteen. The resolution is in the following words : "Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Mis- souri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition that the 4th clause of the 26th section of the 3d article of the Constitution, submitted on the part of the said State to Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto by which any citizen of either of the States in this Union shall be excluded from the enjoy- ment of any of the privileges and immu- nities to which such citizen is entitled, under the Constitution of the United States ; provided that the Legislature of said State, by a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of said State to the said fundamental conditions, and shall transmit to the President of the United States on or before the fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act ; upon the receipt whereof the President by proclamation shall announce the fact : whereupon, and without any further proceedings on the part of Con- gress, the admission of the said State into this Union shall be considered as complete." f * Congressional Records, 16th Congress, 2d session, p. 1219. f Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2d session, p. 122S. 433 This resolution passed the House the same day by a vote of 87 to 81.* It Mas sent to the Senate, and passed that body the next day by a vote of 26 to 1 5, f and was approved by the President on the 2d of March, 1S21.T The Legislature of Missouri readily passed the indicated act on the 26th of June thereafter, and on the loth day of August, 1 82 1, President Monroe issued his proclamation accordingly, declaring the admission of Missouri into the Union as being complete. § Missouri was ad- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 15 COAT OF ARMS OF MISSOURI. mitted therefore not under the act of 1820, but under Mr. Clay's resolution of 1 82 1, in which there was no reference whatever to the Thomas amendment to the act of 1820. Clay's resolution embraced the only real compromise, if it can be considered in that light at all, under which Missouri entered the Union. That was a compro- mise between the people of the State and the Congress as a State. The people of Missouri fully complied with their part of the agreement. The slavery restric- tionists, in no part of the proceedings from beginning to end, ever yielded or agreed to yield their opposition to the admission of Missouri as a slave State. In no stage of the proceedings, as the records show, did they ever yield the ground in con- * Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2(1 session, P. 1239. f [bid., p. 388. \ U- S. Statutes at Large, vol. iii., p. 645. \ Nile's Register, vol. xx„ p. 3889. sideration of the Thomas territorial re- striction. Missouri was admitted on the fundamental condition that, as a member of the Union, she would first agree to be subject to the Constitution of the United States as all the other States were. This is the substance of it, and this is the only compromise on' the subject in which Mr. Clay took any prominent part. The re- strictionists in mass even voted against this. It has no direct connection what- ever with the exclusion of slavery from any portion of the public domain. Of the eighty-seven votes for Mr. Clay's compromise resolution every one was from the Southern States except seven- teen. These seventeen were Messrs. Hill and Shaw, of Massachusetts, Eddie, of Rhode Island, Stevens, of Connecticut, Ford, Guion, Hackley, Meigs and Storrs, of New York, Baldwin, Moore, Rogers, and Udree, of Pennsylvania, Bateman, Bloomfield, Smith and Southard of New Jersey ; only three more in all from the entire North than had voted against the State restriction, on the 2d of March the year before. This is an accurate history of the Missouri Compromise, so called, up to the recognition of that State as a member of the Union. It is thus seen that it was repudiated by the majority of the House from every Northern State except Rhode Island and New Jersey, even before the consumma- tion of her admission.* A general idea prevails very exten- sively at this time, that Missouri was ad- mitted, as a slave State, in 1820, under an agreement with the Restrictionists, or Centralists, proposed by Mr. Clay, that she should be so admitted upon condition that negro slavery should be forever pro- hibited thereafter in the public domain, north of 36 30' north latitude. No * See War Between the Slates, vol. ii., p. 160, et seq. THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 439 greater error on any important historical event ever existed. If there was any bad faith in regard to Mr. Thomas's provision on the admission of Missouri at that period, or afterwards, it was not on the part of the people of the Southern States, as the records con- clusively show. During the fall of 1820 came off an- other Presidential election. Mr. Monroe and Mr. Tompkins received the Demo- cratic nomination for re-election to the respective offices of President and Vice- President; and at the election, Mr. Monroe received the vote of every State in the Union, and every electoral vote of all the colleges except one. One vote in the college of New Hampshire was cast for John Quincy Adams for Presi- dent. Governor Tompkins received every electoral vote for the office of Vice-Presi- dent except fourteen. The vote of Mis- souri, which was cast for Mr. Monroe and Governor Tompkins, was not counted because of a refusal of the House to recognize her as a Slate of the Union under the celebrated " Compromise " of March, 1820, so called, as we have seen. On the 22d of February, 1821, the President issued a proclamation announc- ing the ratification of a treaty with Spain; by which East and West Florida were ceded to the United States, and all claims of Spain to territory on the Pacific coast north of 42 of north lati- tude. This included all the Spanish claims to any portion of Oregon. For the entire cession the United States were to pay $5,000,000. The territory thus acquired by them amounted to 367,320 square miles. The 4th of March, 1821, coming on Sunday, Mr. Monroe was inaugurated for the second term on the succeeding day — Monday, the 5th of that month. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall. No immediate changes took place in his cabinet. The Seventeenth Congress held its first session from the 3d of December, 182 1, to the 8th of May, 1822. On the organization of the House at this session a marked division among the Repub- licans or Democrats manifested itself, upon the question of the limitations and powers of the Federal government. Those who favored the policy of levy- ing duties upon foreign imports, with a view specially to protect domestic manu- factures in the United States, and also of entering into a system of internal improvements throughout the States by the Federal government, put in nomina- tion for the Speakership, John W. Tay- lor, of New York, who had been the mover of the Missouri restriction. They who constituted the "straightest sect" of strict constructionists put in nomina- tion Philip P. Barbour, of Virginia, who was decidedly opposed to a protective tariff, and to any system of general in- ternal improvements to be carried on by the Federal government; he had also opposed the Missouri restriction. Mr. Barbour was elected by a majority of four votes. During this session the subjects of a protective tariff and internal improve- ments constituted the chief topics of discussion; nothing of importance, how- ever, was done upon them. The tariff movement ended with the report of the committee having that subject in charge, that any additional legislation on that subject was inexpedient. A bill was passed by Congress, making an appro- priation for continuing the Cumberland road, which contained clauses unconsti- tutional in the opinion of the President, and was returned by him with his veto 440 HISTORY OE 'I HE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 15 On the 4th of May he sent to Congress a message * on the subject of internal improvements; which was one of the ablest State papers ever issued from the Executive department, on the general nature, character and powers of the Federal government under the Constitu- tion. During the same session of Congress, in accordance with the recommendation of the President, a resolution was passed recognizing the independence of Mexico and five new States in South America, formerly under the dominion of Spain as Provinces; and $100,000 were appropri- ated to defray the expenses of envoys to these republics. It was about this time that the President, in a message to Congress, declared that, "as a principle, the American continents, by the free and independent position which they have assumed' and maintained, are hence- forth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." This principle is what has since been known as the " Monroe Doctrine." The Eighteenth Congress met the 1st day of December, 1823, and continued in session until the 26th day of May, 1824. Mr. Clay, being again returned as a member of the Mouse from Ken- tucky, was again chosen with great unanimity as the Republican or Demo- cratic Speaker. The most important subjects which engaged the attention of this Congress, as that of the last, were those relating to internal improvements and domestic manufactures. An act finally passed ordering certain surveys, on the first of these subjects, which received the President's approval. An act also was passed imposing a duty * See Journal of House) May 4th, 1822, or States- man's Manual, vol. ii., p. 492. or tariff upon several articles of foreign importation, with a direct view thereby of affording protection to manufacturers of like articles in the United States. The passage of this act was strongly opposed, and its discussion called into exercise the first talent of Congress. This, as well as the internal improve- ment measure, was carried mainly by the eloquence, influence and popularity of Mr. Clay. This policy of building up home man- ufactures by a protective tariff, and of carrying on internal improvements by the Federal government, is what at the time was called the "American System," the authorship of which was attributed to Mr. Clay. It soon made a wide and permanent split in the Republican or Democratic party. The year 1824 was signalized by the visit of Lafayette to the United States, on the express invitation of Congress. He arrived at New York the 13th of August, and became the guest of Daniel D. Tompkins, the Vice-President, who resided on Staten Island. Here he was waited upon by a committee of the State of New York and many distinguished citizens, to welcome him to this great metropolis. The escort of steamboats, decorated with the flags of every nation, brought him to the view of the assem- bled multitudes in the city, who mani- fested their joy in beholding "the man connected with both hemispheres and two generations." He was waited upon by deputations from Philadelphia, Balti- more, New Haven and many other cities with invitations to visit them. He trav- elled through all the States, and was everywhere received with the warmest demonstrations of respect and affection. He returned to Washington during the session of Congress, and remained there THE ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 44 1 several weeks. In token of their grati- tude, and as a part payment of the debt due him by the country, Congress voted him the sum of $200,000 and a township of land. At the time of his visit to the United States he was nearly seventy years of age. . Another Presidential election came off during the fall of the same year (1824). Mr. Monroe declining a re-election, the division in the Repub- lican party in their nomination for the succession became very marked. The usual Congressional caucus selected William H. Crawford, of Georgia, for President, and Albert Gallatin, of Penn- sylvania, for Vice-President. Mr. Galla- tin declining, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was subsequently run in his place. Mr. Crawford, before the election, was stricken with paralysis, from which it was supposed, in some of the States, he never would sufficiently recover to perform the duties of the office. The consequence was the caucus nomination, so far as Mr. Crawford was concerned, was not conformed to by the Electoral Colleges throughout the Union. Other distinguished Republicans were voted for instead of Mr. Crawford. The gen- eral result of the electoral vote was 99 for Andrew Jackson, 84 for John Quincy Adams, 41 for William H. Crawford, and 37 for Henry Clay, for President; and 182 for John C. Calhoun, for Vice-Presi- dent, with some scattering votes for others. The States that voted for Gen- eral Jackson were: New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, and Ala- bama — 11 in all. -Those which voted for John Quincy Adams were: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York — 7 in all. Those that voted for Mr. Crawford were: Delaware, Virginia, and Georgia — 3 only. While those which voted for Mr. Clay were: Ken- tucky, Ohio, and Missouri — being also three only. Mr. Calhoun, having received a large majority of the electoral votes, was duly declared Vice-President ; but neither of the candidates voted for, for President, having received a majority of the votes of the Electoral Colleges, the choice of one of the three having the highest de- volved, under the Constitution, upon the House of Representatives, voting by States. This choice was made on the 9th of February, 1825; when, upon counting the ballots, it was found that John Quincy Adams received the votes of thirteen States, Andrew Jackson, the votes of seven States, and Mr. Crawford, the votes of four States. The votes by States were, for Mr. Adams: Maine, New Hampshire, Mas- sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Maryland, Ken- tucky, Ohio, Louisiana, Illinois, and Mis- souri — 13. The votes by States for Gen- eral Jackson were: New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama, and Mississippi — 7. Those for Mr. Crawford were: Dela- ware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Geor- gia— 4. Mr. Adams having received, therefore, a majority of the States so cast under the Constitution, was declared duly elected to succeed Mr. Monroe. This election produced great discontent throughout the country, and most seriously affected the popularity of Mr. Clay, as the election of Mr. Adams was attributed mainly to his agency, which had been exerted, as was supposed by many, with a view to defeat the election 442 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II.. c 1C of General Jackson, who by the returns seemed to stand highest in popular favor. Mr. Monroe, after the expiration of his term of office, universally esteemed and respected by his countrymen, retired to his residence in Virginia, and took no further active part, in the politics of the country, except to serve his county in the Constitutional Convention of Vir- ginia, in 1830. CHAPTER XVI. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. (4th of March, 1825 — 4th of March, 1S29.) Great ability and experience of the new President — Jeffersonian Republican — One of the United State!; Commissioners — Treaty of peace at Ghent — His position on the Missouri question — Mr. Adams' Cabinet — Controversy with Georgia on the old and new treaty with the decks — Policy of Governor Troup, of Georgia, carried out — General Jackson nominated for the Presidency by the Legislature of Tennessee — He accepts the nomination, and re- tires from the Senate — First session of the Nineteenth Congress, December 25th — Debates become bitter — McDuffie, of South Carolina, on Mr. Clay — Trimble, of Kentucky, in reply — Investigation called for — Clay vindicated — The Panama mission — Internal improvements discussed with warmth — New party lines distinctly marked — The death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — Funeral cer- emonies in memory of the honored dead — Elections to Twentieth Congress in favor of the opposition — The protective policy the absorbing question — The tariff bill of 1828 passed — Known as the " Bill of Abominations" — Presidential election of 182S — The candidates, and result of the election — General Jackson the recognized head of (he Democratic party — Mr. Clay the leader of the National Repub- licans. i ^TOHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth 'j President of the United States. i-f^D was inaugurated on the 4th of . j March, 1825, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He was the son of John Adams, the second Presi- dent. He was a man of very great nat- ural ability ; and by education and thor- ough training had acquired a vast deal of varied knowledge. After having been United States Minister to the Nether- lands, and to Portugal, under Washing- ton, and to Berlin, during his father's administration, he was selected in 1803 by the Legislature of Massachusetts to the Senate of the United States. In this body he soon gave a cordial support to the administration of Mr. Jefferson, and became thoroughly identified with the Republican or Democratic party of that period. His support of the Embargo gave great offence to the Federalists of Massachusetts, who censured his course. He thereupon resigned, and was called to the chair of rhetoric and oratory in Harvard College. This position, how- ever, he did not continue to hold long ; for soon after the accession of Mr. Madison to the Presidency, he was nom- inated and confirmed as Minister Pleni- potentiary to Russia. This position he held for a number of years, and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of peace at Ghent. After this, Mr. Madison (in 181 5), appointed him minister to Great Britain, where he re- mained until Mr. Monroe's accession to the Presidency, in 18 17, when he was appointed Secretary of State ; which position he continued to hold until his elevation to the same office. In the agitation of the Missouri question, his influence was exerted for conciliation. Though an ardent anti-slavery man, he did not believe that, under the Constitu- tion and treaty of cession, by which the Louisiana territory, including Missouri, was acquired, Congress had the rightful power to adopt the proposed restrictions on the admission of that State ; but on the new question now dividing the Democratic party, he sided with those THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 443 who favored what was called the "Amer- ican System." In the organization of his cabinet, Mr. Adams appointed Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Secretary of State, Richqrd Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury, and James Barbour, of Vir- ginia, Secretary of War. Mr. Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey, was continued Secretary of the Navy, and Mr. Wirt was retained as Attorney-General. One of the first questions that pro- duced considerable agitation in the country, soon after Mr. Adams' acces- sion to office, was a controversy with the State of Georgia, growing out of a treaty with the Creek Indians. On the 1 2th of February, 1825, two United States commissioners, Duncan G. Campbell, and James Merriwether, had made a treaty with the principal chiefs of this tribe, at the place known as the " Indian Springs," by which the United States had procured the extinguishment of the Indian title to a large extent of Indian territory, in pursuance of the agreement with Georgia in her cession of 1802 of the Territories of Alabama and Missis- sippi. This treaty was ratified by the Senate just before the close of Mr. Mon- roe's administration ; but, under the instigation of certain white men, it was very strongly opposed by a kxv factious leaders of the tribe. They set upon Mc- intosh, the principal chief, who had signed it, and assassinated him in the night in his own house, with another who had also signed it, and called upon the Federal government to repudiate the treaty so made and ratified. This was done by the administration, and a new treaty was made by new Commissioners on the 24th of January, 1826. In the meantime the Governor of Georgia, George M. Troup, proceeded to take possession of the territory ceded by the first, or " old treaty," as it was called. He utterly refused to be con- trolled by the proceedings of the Fed- eral authorities under the second, or what was called "the new treaty." He caused the boundary line between Geor- gia and Alabama to be run according to the terms of the cession of 1802, and the lands embraced in the " old treaty" to be surveyed and disposed of accord- ing to an act of Legislature of the State. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. This was done in open disregard of orders from Washington. The arrest of the commissioners making the surveys was threatened. But upon the announce- ment of Troup in effect that force would be met by force, the surveys were per- mitted to go on, and the lands were occupied by Georgia under the " old treaty." Mr. Adams submitted the sub- ject to Congress in a very cautious and patriotic message; but no further steps were taken to arrest the action of the authorities of Georgia in the matter. 444 ///STOA'i' OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 16 The opposition to the administration, ' which had thus early manifested itself, continued to gain strength and make new developments. In October, 1825, General Jackson was nominated by the Legislature of Tennessee for the next Presidency. He accepted the nomina- tion in an address delivered before that body, and resigned a scat which he then held in the United States Senate. The first session of the Nineteenth Congress convened the 5th of Decem- ber, 1825, and continued to the 22d of May, 1826. The debates became very bitter. Mr. McDuffie, of South Caro- lina, upon one occasion censured, in strong terms, the course of Mr. Clay and his friends in the matter of the late Presidential election. Mr. Trimble, of Kentucky, and others, replied in like spirited language, and a scene of consid- erable excitement ensued. An imputa- tion affecting Mr. Clay's integrity having been made in this debate; an investiga- tion followed. A mass of testimony was produced by Mr. Clay, which was thought by his friends amply sufficient to rebut the accusations, and to justify him in voting for Mr. Adams. The object of the testimony was to show that any other course on his part would have rendered him liable to the charge of gross violation of principle. Another cause of opposition to the administration was what was known as the "Panama Mission." On an invita- tion from Peru, Chili, Colombia, Mexico, and the States of Central America, to meet in a general Congress at Panama, on the 22d of June, 1826, Mr. Adams appointed Richard C. Anderson, and John Sergeant, United States Commis- sioners, with William B. Rochester, Secretary. Mr. Anderson, who was then Minister to the Republic of Colombia, died of a malignant fever at Carthagena, on his way to Panama. Mr. Sergeant not being able to attend, the United States had no representative at this cele- brated assembly. Peru, Colombia, Mex- ico, and the States of Central America were represented. They entered into a treaty of friendship and perpetual Con- federation, to which all the other Ameri- can powers or States were invited to accede. The Congress then adjourned to reassemble in February, 1827, at Tocubaza, a village near the city of Mexico. Mr. Poinsett, United States Minister to Mexico, was appointed com- missioner, in place of Mr. Anderson, to meet this body on its reassembly. Mr. Sergeant also repaired to Mexico for the same purpose ; but the Con- gress never met again: so that matter ended. During the same session of the Con- gress of the United States the subject of internal improvements gave rise to warm and angry debate. Party lines on the new division became more distinctly marked. The 4th of July, of the year 1826, was memorable from the fact of its being the semi-centennial anniversary of the independence of the States ; but it be- came more so from the fact that two of the most prominent men connected with the movement which brought about that independence departed this life on that day, as we have before stated.* These were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. They expired within a few hours of each other; the one at Monti- cello, Virginia ; the other at Quincy, Massachusetts ; Mr. Jefferson in the 84th and Mr. Adams in the 91st year of his age. The news of the death of these two distinguished statesmen filled the * Ante, chapter iv. TBE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 445 whole country with mourning. The im- pression upon the public mind thereby was increased from the wonderful coin- cidences taken all together. In every town and village nearly, as well as in the cities, funeral ceremonies, by proces- sions and orations, were performed in memory of the honored dead. The elections to the Twentieth Con- gress showed an increase in the strength of the opposition. The administration gained somewhat in the New England States, in Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana; but lost largely in all the other States. The first session of this Congress commenced on the 3d of December, 1827, and continued to May 26th, 1828. The absorbing topic of this period was the protective policy. A, convention of manufacturers had been held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which memorialized Congress on the subject. A committee on manufactures in the House was empowered to send for persons and papers. They reported a new tariff bill, based upon the protective policy. The discussions on this bill lasted from the 1 2th of February, 1828, to the 15th of April, when, after having received various amendments, it finally passed the House by a vote of 109 to 91. This tariff was opposed upon the ground, as it was insisted, that it was clearly uncon- stitutional, and also partial in its oper- ation, being highly injurious to the in- terest of the Southern States, as they were producers of staples for export, and it was to their interest to get manufac- tures for their consumption in the cheapest markets. Duties under the protective policy, their representatives contended, were not only bounties to the manu- facturers, but a heavy tax, levied upon their constituents, and a great ma- jority of the consumers in all the States, v/hich never went into the public treasury. During the excitement produced by the discussions and passage of the Tariff Act of this year, which was called the " Bill of Abominations," and the various projected schemes of internal improve- ment, involving the appropriation of many millions of dollars, the Presiden- tial election of 1828 took place. The contest between the two parties, the ad- ministration and opposition, over the powers and limitations of the Federal government, became almost as hot and fierce as it was in 1800, between the Fed- eralists and Republicans of that day. General Jackson, without any caucus nomination, was supported by the op- position everywhere for President, and Mr. Calhoun for Vice-President. The friends of the administration put forth the utmost of their exertions for the re- election of Mr. Adams to the office of President, and Richard Rush to the office of Vice-President. The result of the vote of the Electoral Colleges was, 178 for Jackson, and 83 for Adams; 171 for Mr. Calhoun, and 83 for Mr. Rush. Seven of the electoral votes of Georgia were cast for William Smith, of South Carolina, instead of Mr. Calhoun, for Vice-President. The vote for President by States stood: 15 for Jackson, and 9 for Adams. The fifteen States that voted for Jackson were: New York, Pennsyl- vania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illi- nois, Alabama, and Missouri; the nine that voted for Mr. Adams were: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Isl- and, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. From this time the political parties in the United States took the distinctive 446 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 17 names of Democratic and National Re- publican. General Jackson, belonging to the strict construction Jeffersonian school, was now regarded as the head of the Democratic party. Mr. Clay, who had also heretofore belonged to the same school, was now recognized as the great leader of the National Republicans. Mr. Adams' administration upon the whole was distinguished for its economy and the great ability and integrity of the members of his cabinet. Many of his recommendations, which were ridiculed at that time by a partisan press, have since been carried out by Congress, and redound greatly to the honor and renown of the country. Among these may be specially named the establishment of the observatory at Washington. CHAPTER XVII. ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. (4th of March, 1S29 — 4th of March, 1S37.) Luge attendance at inauguration — Brief sketch of the man — Always Jeffersonian Republican — First Cabinet — Removal of Indians — Debate between Hayne and Webster — Veto of Maysville Road Hill — Rupture between Jackson and Calhoun — Reorganization of Cabinet — Death of President Monroe — National Republicans' Convention — Nomination of Clay and Sergeant — Anti-Masonic convention — Nominations of Wirt and Ellmaker — John Quincy Adams returns to the House; Clay and Calhoun to the Senate — Bill lo recharter Bank of the United States vetoed — Tariff bill of 1832 — The cholera — War with the Wmnebagoes — Black Hawk — General Scott — First general convention of that wing of Jeffersonian Republicans styling themselves Democratic — The two-thirds rule — General result of election — Jackson re-elected President, and Van Buren chosen Vice-President — Vote by States — Nullification ordinance in South Carolina — Jackson's celebrated proclamation — Me- diation of Virginia — Mr. Clay's compromise of 1833— The principle of protection abandoned — Clay's bill accepted by South Carolina — End of the Nullification embroglio — Debate between Calhoun and Webster — Removal of public deposits — Cal- houn, Clay, and Webster, "the great trio," united in opposition to the administration — Name of Whig assumed by combined opposition — Benton and Forsyth sustain administration — The protest — The meteoric shower — Death of Chief-Justice Marshall —Extreme winter of 1834-5 — Great fire in New York — Seminole war — Arkansas and Michigan admitted into the Union — Death of Madison — Presidential election of 1834 — Result of the vote — General Jackson's retirement — Farewell address. NDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the United States, was inaugurated the 4th of March, 1829, in the sixty-second year of his age. His inaugural address was delivered at the Capitol, before the largest audience that had ever assembled on a similar occasion since the inauguration of Washington in New York, on the 30th of April, 1789. The oath of office was administered by Chief- Justice Marshall. The tone of his in- augural, as well as its sentiments, was highly gratifying to a large majority of the people in all sections. The new President was one of the most remarkable men of the age in which he lived. He possessed a combi- nation of qualities seldom met with in any one person. Education had done but little for him ; but by nature he was fitted for the government of men, both in the field and in the cabinet. During the administration of the elder Adams, he had occupied a seat in the United States Senate from Tennessee, and gave a most cordial support to the principles of Mr. Jefferson. Resigning his place in that body, he was afterwards elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of his State. His military achievements in the wars against the Creek and Seminole Indians, and his victory over the British at New Orleans, have been stated. Be- ing now elevated to the Presidency, a great anxiety was felt everywhere as to 7 HE ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 447 the course of policy he would adopt. While he was the popular favorite, many entertained apprehensions from his well- known imperiousness of will. The first indication of his administrative purposes was manifested in the selection of his Cabinet, as all the members of the late ury; John H. Eaton, of Tennessee, Secretary of War; John Branch, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; John M. Berrien, of Georgia, Attorney- General; and, it having been determined : to make the Postmaster-General a cabi- [net officer for the future, William T. ANDREW JACKSON. Cabinet had resigned upon his accession to office. The persons selected to fill their places were : Martin Van Buren, of New York, Secretary of State ; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treas- Barry, of Kentucky, was appointed to that position. Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Branch, and Mr. Berrien, had been lead- ing supporters of Mr. Crawford in the Presidential contest of 1 824. Mr. Ingham was appointed through the influence of 448 ///S/OA'V OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 17 Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President; and Messrs. Eaton and Barry were among the original supporters of General Jackson. The first leading feature of the new administration was the policy of remov- ing all the Indian tribes cast of the Mis- sissippi to a region of country west of that river, where they would be better provided with the means of sustaining themselves, according to their modes and habits of life ; and where they would cease to be either the source or subject RORERT Y. HAYNE. of border troubles and depredations. At the first session of the Twenty-first Congress, which commenced the 7th of December, 1829, and continued to the 31st of May, 1830, an act was passed with the view of carrying this policy fully into effect, which was finally accom- plished some years afterwards. The President also recommended to this Con- gress a revision and modification of the tariff of 1828, and expressed very de- cided opinions against the protective policy. During the same session of Congress in 1830, came off the great debate in the Senate between Robert Y. Ilayne, of South Carolina, and Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, in which what was known as the " peculiar doctrines of South Car- olina " on States' Rights, came in re- view. South Carolina held, with several other States, that the protective policy was unconstitutional ; but she also held, as they did not, that it was within the reserved rights of the States to have the question of constitutionality on this sub- ject rightfully determined by the judici- ary of the States severally, each for itself, instead of exclusively by the Fed- eral judiciary. This "peculiar doctrine" is what was known at the time as " Nul- lification," and this is the doctrine which Mr. Hayne in that debate sustained with so much ability, and which Mr. Webster assailed with so much eloquence. During the same session, the question of internal improvements by the Federal government was revived. The Maysville Road bill, as it was called, passed both Houses of Congress. This the Presi- dent vetoed, on the ground that it was unconstitutional. The veto was sus- tained by the House where the bill originated. Several other similar bills, passed at the same session, were arrested by a like veto. These acts of the Presi- dent greatly gratified the strict construc- tionists everywhere. About this time, or near the close of the first session of the Twenty-first Con- gress, occurred the memorable aliena- tion between General Jackson and Mr. Calhoun. It was occasioned by a dis- closure to General Jackson that Mr. Cal- houn, in Mr. Monroe's cabinet, had taken part against him in his conduct in Florida during the Seminole campaign of 18 1 8. The rupture thus occasioned became bitter and permanent. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 449 Early in 1831 the question of the succession was agitated. The Legis- lature of Pennsylvania had put General Jackson in nomination for re-election, and he had consented to be a can- didate. About the same time the mem- bers of his cabinet, for various reasons, had ceased to be harmonious. The result of this was an entire re-organiza- tion of that body, in April, 183 1, with the exception of Mr. Barry, who was retained as Postmaster-General. In this course Jackson acted upon the prin- ciple that his cabinet should be a unit. In the new organization, Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, was made Secretary of State; Louis McLane, of Delaware, Secretary of the Treasury; Lewis Cass, of Ohio, Secretary of War; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy; and Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, Attorney-General. On the 4th day of July of this year ex-President Monroe died, in the 74th year of his age. He was, at the time, in New York, with his daughter, Mrs. Samuel L. Gouverneur. In the meantime a Convention of the "National Republicans" was called, to meet on the 12th of December, 1831, in the city of New York. At this Conven- tion Mr. Clay was nominated for the Presidency, John Sergeant, of Pennsyl- vania, for the Vice-Presidency. During the same year, a new party, styling itself "Anti-Masonic," put in nomination for the same offices, Mr. Wirt, late Attorney- General, and Amos Ellmaker, of Penn- sylvania. The year 1831 is also memorable for the election of John Ouincy Adams, from Massachusetts, late President, as a member of the House to the Twenty- second Congress, and the election to the Senate of Mr. Clay, from Kentucky, and 29 also the election to the same body of Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, he having resigned the office of Vice-Presi- dent. Among the most notable subjects which were agitated during the first ses- sion of the Twenty-second Congress — which commenced the 5th of December, 1831, and lasted to the 10th of July, 1832 — were the re-charter of the Bank of the United States, and a modification of the tariff of 1828. A bill for the re- charter of the bank passed both Houses EDWARD LIVINGSTON. of Congress, and was vetoed by the President upon constitutional and , other grounds. The veto was sustained, but lost Jackson many friends, as it brought most of the moneyed power then in the Democratic party into decided opposition to his re-election. The tariff bill of this session rather increased than dimin- ished the opposition to the protective policy; for, although it reduced the duties on many imported articles, it was yet based upon the principle of Federal protection to local interests in several 45° HISTOR V OF THE UNI1 II , c. 11 States, to the injury of the general inter- ests of the country, as was maintained by its opponents. It was on the j ist of June, 1832, that astern plague, known as the Asiatic cholera, made its first appearance in the United States, in the city oi New York. Its rapid spread produced universal panic, though it was less fatal in the South Atlantic States than in the North and in the valley oi the Mississippi. Thousands of persons oi all ages and conditions died oi it within a few months. The most robust constitutions in many became victims of its malig- nancy within thirty-six hours from its first attack. During the same year, 1832, a war broke out with the Winnebagoes and ther Western and Northw . tribes of Indians. General Scott was put in command of the forces sent against them. The war was soon ter- minal ed by the capture, on the 27th oi of "Black Hawk," the chief and si vcral subordinate warriors of note. 1 l ng die fall of this war, also, came o\'i another Presidential election. The part\ canvass against General Ja< was very bitter, on account of his opposi- tion to the protectivi y, and his s <>i the bills for internal improve- ments and the re-charter of die bank. The fust general Convention oi that wing, or branch of Jefferson ian Republi- who now assumed the distinctive name oi Democratic Republican ever held in the United States, met in Baltimore, on the 21st oi Maw [832, for tne sole purpose of nominating .1 candi- date for Vice-President to run on a ticket with Jackson for the Presidency. On the reorganization o( the cabinet as stated, Mr. Van Buren hat! been ap- ed by the President as Minister to England; but the Senate hail refused to confirm his nomination. It was under- stood that Mr. Win Buren was the ia\ orite of Genera] Jackson for the Vicc-Presi- dency; but bitterly opposed by leading men of his party in different quarters. This Convention, after organizing, es- tablished two important rules for its eminent t hie was that each State should be entitled to as many votes in the vention as it was to electoral votes 111 its college of electors. The other was that two-thirds of the should be necessary for a choice. On the vote for candidates for the Vice-Presidency, the count by States stood: for Martin Van Buren, of V •. York: Connecticut 8 votes, Illinois 2, Ohio 21, Tennessee 15, North Carolina 9, Georgia 11, Louisiana 5, Pennsylvania 30, Maryland 7, New Jersey S, Missis- sippi 4, Rhode Island 4, Maine IO, Massachusetts 14, Delaware J, N w Hampshire 7, New York 42, Vermont ~, Alabama 1 ; being in all J }'ov Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky: Illinois 2, Indiana o, Kentucky 15; in all 2 For Philip P. Harbour, of Virginia : North Carolina 6, Virginia 23, Maryland 3, South Carolina 1 1, and Alabama 6j in all 40. It appearing that Martin Van Buren had received a majority of more than two-thirds of all the \ .11 he was declared to be duly chosen. The opposition to Jackson and Van Buren was very fierce and bitter during the canvass, mainly on the grounds oi their opposition to the charter of the United States Hank, to the protective policy, and to a general system oi' in- ternal improvements by the general gov- ernment. A distinct ground of assault on the THE ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. dtt -administration was Jackson's indiscrimi- nate removal of public officers for a mere difference of political opinion, and his practice of the doctrine that "to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy." * Mr. Van Buren was also specially as- sailed, because of his instructions while- Secretary of State to the United States Minister in England relative to the trade of the United States with the British colonies. The general result of the election, with all the nominations made as stated, was 209 electoral votes for Jackson, 49 for Clay, and 7 for Wirt. For Vice-Presi- dent, the electoral votes stood: for Mar- tin Van Buren, 189; for John Sergeant, 49; for Amos Ellmaker, 7. The vote by States for the candidates for the Presi- dency stood: 16 for Jackson; 6 for Clay; and 1 for Wirt. The sixteen States that voted for Jackson were: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia,Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Mis- . sissippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, and Missouri; the six States that voted for Mr. Clay were: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky; the State that voted for Mr. Wirt was Vermont; South Caro- lina cast her vote for John Floyd, of Vir- ginia, for President; and Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. In the meantime a sovereign Conven- tion of the people of South Carolina was called, which adopted what was known as the " Nullification Ordinance." The leading features of this were a declaration that the Tariff Act of 1832, being based upon the principle of protec- tion to manufacturers, and not with a *This sentiment was attributed to William L. Marcy, of New York, a leading supporter of Jackson in the Senate. view and object of raising revenue, was unconstitutional, and, therefore, null and void ; and a provision for testing the constitutionality of this act before the courts of the State ; with a further pro- vision that, in case the measures thus adopted for the purpose stated should be forcibly resisted by the Federal authori- ties, then the State of South Carolina was declared to be no longer a member of the Federal Union. This measure was to take effect on the 12th of Febru- ary. 1 %33> if before that time the princi- ple of levying duties upon imports, not with a view to revenue, but for the pro- tection of domestic manufactures, should not be abandoned by the Congress of the States. It was in this state of things, after the elections of this fall had taken place, that the second session of the Twenty-second Congress was held in December, 1832. The President, in his annual messap; :, urged upon the Congress a reduction of the tariff. The message gave satisfac- tion to the anti-protectionists everywhere. This was followed a few days afterwards by his celebrated proclamation against " Nullification." In this he urged the people of South Carolina not to persist in the enforcement of their ordinanc •, as it would necessarily bring the Fed- eral and State authorities in conflict, so long as the State retained her place in the Union, and her citizens, who should take up arms against the United States in such conflict, would be guilty of trea- son against the United States. In speaking of the action of the Con- vention of that State he said : " The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too oppressive to be endured ; but on the strange position that any one State 452 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES. Book II , <: 1? may not only declare an act of Con- gress void, but prohibit *its execution; ind that they may do this consist- ently with the Constitution; that the construction of that instrument permits a State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of s laws than those it may choose to consider as constitutional.'' This proclamation produced great ex- citement in South Carolina and other States. Its principles, in some parts, HENRY (LAY. were thought to be inconsistent with the doctrines taught by Jefferson upon the subject of the rights of the several States ; and by many who did not approve of the course of South Carolina, the proc- 1 imation, taken as a whole, was looked r.oon as amounting in substance to a denial of the right of secession on the part of any State for any cause whatever. This was the view taken generally by the old Centralists and the extreme ad- vocates of State rights ; but the Presi- dent afterwards maintained that an er- roneous construction had been put upon those parts <>f the proclamation referred to, and in a full explanation he declared his adherence to the principles of Mr. Jefferson as set forth in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and 1799.* Soon after the proclamation was issued, Mr. Verplanck, an administration member from New York, introduced a bill for the further reduction of the tariff, and Virginia sent Benjamin Watkins Leigh, one of her most distinguished statesmen, as a commissioner of peace to South Carolina, urging her to suspend the execution of her ordinance at least until the 4th of March, as there was some prospect of having the tariff policy rightly adjusted before that time. This 1 werture was acceded to by South Carolina, and the ordinance sus- pended until the time stated. \ It was now that Mr. Clay, in the Senate, came forward with his celebrated '" Tariff compro- mise" of 1833. This was based upon the principle of an aban- donment of the protective policy, which had been with him a cher- ished object for a number of years, and constituted the basis of his "American system." The bill provided for a gradual reduction of all duties then above the revenue standard. One- tenth of one-half of all duties for protection above that standard was to be taken off annually for ten years at the end of which period the whole of the other half was to be taken off, and thereafter all duties were to be *See Congressional Globe, cited in War Between the States, p. THE ADMINISTRATIOA OF JACKSON. 453 levied mainly with a view to revenue, and not for protection. It was on this occasion that Mr. Clay displayed the highest qualities of his heart and head. His bill, in the main, was promptly accepted by Mr. Calhoun, and declared by him to be entirely satis- as a monument of American eloquence — feel much embarrassment in deciding as to which one of the contestants should be justly awarded the mastery in the ar- gument. The proceedings and debates of the Convention that framed the Con- stitution (which were held with closed factory to the people of South Carolina doors), had not, up to that time, been as well as the friends of free trade published. Since then they have been generally. This measure, with some i given to the public, and they throw a modifications, satisfactory to both sides, j flood of light upon the question in sup- soon passed the Senate, and went to the port of the position of Mr. Calhoun.* House, where it also passed, and afterwards received the executive approval, on the 2d day of March, 1833. The Convention of South Carolina was reassembled and their famous ordinance was promptly rescinded. So ended the Nullification cmbroglio. Pending this adjustment of the threatening troubles between the State of South Carolina and the Federal authorities, occurred the great debate between Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster upon the nature and character of the Federal gov- ernment. Mr. Calhoun in this senatorial conflict held, with Mr. Jefferson, that the Constitution was "a compact" between the several States as sovereign parties to it; while Mr. Webster main- tained that it was in the nature of a social compact, entered into by the people of all the States consolidated in one mass or political community. The debate was on a series of resolutions introduced into the Senate by Mr. Calhoun. Different opin- ions were entertained at the time as to the merits of the debate ; but no one, thoroughly informed on the subject, can, it would seem, at this day, after reading the speeches — which will remain forever JOHN C. CALHOUN. The subject which gave rise to the dis- cussion having been disposed of, no vote was taken in the Senate upon the resolu- *A supplement to Niles' Register, vol. xliii., issued May, 1833, contains not only the speeches of Webster and Hayne, hut a collection of the ablest debates that ever were held in Congress upon Constitutional Ques- tions, from the origin of the government up to that period, with many other most valuable political papers, which a student of history would do well to consult. The supplement in itself is a hand-book of politics. 454 JES10RY OE THE UNITED STATES. Hook II., c. IT tions. Mr. Webster's views expressed in this debate evidently underwent sub- sequent modification.* On the 4th of March, 1833, General Jackson was duly inaugurated President for another four years The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall. The country was again in perfect repose. The late adjustment of the tariff question had not only been the source of gratification, but had given general joy throughout the Soutl DAN1KI. WEBSTER. States ; while the centralizing principles, as they were considered, of the late proc- lamation, bad won for General Jackson "golden opinions" from many of his former bitterest opponents. He there- lore entered upon his second term under apparently most propitious auspices. In the spring of 1 833 he made a tour through New York and the New England States. * Sre War Between the States, vol. 1., p. 301. and Reviewers Reviewed. He was everywhere received with mani- festations of the highest esteem and en- thusiasm. The flattering compliment of the scholarly distinction of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Har- vard University. This, however, was but a deceptive and "weather-breeding" lull in the political elements. The storm soon burst forth with greater fury and violence than ever before. Soon after his return to the capital, Jackson ordered the deposits of public money to be removed from the Bank of the United States, and to be put in certain State banks. William J. Duane, who had recently been appointed S - retary of the Treasury in place of Mr. McLane, declined to ex- ecute the order. Duane was promptly removed, and Roger B. Taney made Secretary of the Treasury. This action of the President produced great sensa- tion and excitement in the country. It was the cause of an open war between the President and the Senate. In this war, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, " the Great Trio," as they were called, for the first time in their lives were cor- dially united in their assaults upon the administration. Against this array < >f talent stood the indomitable Benton, of Missouri, and the accomplished Forsyth, of Georgia. A resolution severely cen- suring the President, and declaring this act of his unconstitutional, passed that body. It was now that the united oppo- sition throughout the country assumed the party name of " Whig." It was the revival of the old revolutionary name of all those opposed to the exercise of unjust and unconstitutional power. Mr. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 45 5 Calhoun, it is believed, was the author of this party designation.* Jackson replied to this resolution of censure by the Senate, in a paper known as " The Protest." This was one of the ablest documents ever produced by him. The result of this contest was a complete triumph of Jackson. The resolution of censure was finally expunged from the Journal of the Senate by its own order to have black lines drawn around it. This was on the motion and under the lead of Mr. Benton. The whole force of the opposition at this time was exerted in favor of a re -charter of the bank ; but every effort to effect this object signally failed. During the fall of 1833 occurred a natural phenomenon of a most wonderful character. This was on the night of the 13th of November. It was what was known as the "meteoric shower," or the " falling of the stars." It was witnessed with amazement and astonishment throughout the entire limits of the United States. On the 30th January, 1835, a scene occurred at the capitol which produced a great excitement, not only in Wash- ington, but throughout the country. General Jackson with his cabinet were attending the funeral ceremonies of Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, when, as he was leaving the rotunda for his carriage, with the Secretary of the Treasury on his left arm, a pistol was snapped at him by some one in the •crowd. The cap of the pistol only had exploded with a loud noise. It was thought at first that the President had been shot. The party who was seen to snap the pistol immediately dropped it and drew another ready cocked, pulled the trigger and the cap of it also exploded. Secretary Woodbury and *See Appendix I. Lieutenant Gedney seized the person, and not only prevented his escape, but protected him from the blows of the President, who was greatly enraged, and was rushing on him furiously with his heavy uplifted cane. This unprovoked attempt upon the life of General Jackson produced a profound sensation every- where, which was intensified by the acerbity of party feeling then prevailing. It was at first thought by General Jack- son and his friends, that this assault was the result of a conspiracy against his life by his political foes. It was soon dis- covered that the party was Richard Law- rence, a painter, of Washington city, laboring under mental aberration. He was imprisoned, and brought to trial for the attempted assassination, and acquitted on a plea of insanity — was sent from the jail to a lunatic asylum, where he lived for many years an acknowledged mad man. General Jackson's escape, how- ever, on this occasion, seems to have been almost miraculous. Upon exami- nation of the pistols, they were both found to be heavily loaded with powder and balls, and as far as could be discovered; nothing was lacking to make the attempt effective, and how, under the circum- stances, both missed fire, is utterly un- accountable, except upon the hypothesis of "special Providence." On the 20th of May, 1835, the second General Convention of the Democratic party of the United States, for the purpose of nominating candidates for the office of President and Vice-Pres- ident, convened in the city of Baltimore. It was understood that General Jackson intended to retire on the expiration of his second term. By this convention, Martin Van Buren, of New York, was put in nomination for the Presidency, and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of 456 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Bo k li Kentucky, for the Vice-Presidency. In the same month William T. Barry was appointed Minister to Spain, and Amos Kendall succeeded him as Postmaster- General. On the 6th day of July thereafter, the venerable Chief-Justice Marshall died, in the eightieth year of his age, and Roger B. Taney succeeded him in office. The winter of 1834-1835 was noted for its great severity throughout the Orange trees were killed as far south as St. Augustine, Florida, and fig trees nearly a hundred years old were killed on the coast of Georgia. The ground in the interior of this State was covered with snow for several weeks. The falls of snow in Georgia, on the 14th of Janu- ary and 2d and 3d of March, averaged from eleven to thirteen inches deep. On the night of the 16th of December, 1835, occurred the great fire in the city ;L\1 I1K1. IN NKW YORK United States. On the 4th of January, I 1835, mercury congealed at Lebanon, New York, and several other places. The Chesapeake bay was frozen from its head to Capes Charles and Henry. On the 8th of February the thermometer fell to eight degrees below zero, as far south as 34 north latitude. The day before — the 7th — is remembered as the "cold Saturday" to this day. The Savannah river was coated with ice at Augusta. of New York, by which, in fourteen hours, were consumed over seventeen million dollars' worth of property. The burnt district covered several acres of ground in the most business part of the city. ( )n tin- 28th of the same month an- other war broke out with the remaining Seminole Indians in Florida, who refused to go west, and continued for several years. It commenced by the killing of THE ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 457 Hon. Wiley Thompson, United States agent to the tribe, by a party of Indians led by Osceola, their great chief. On the 28th of December, Major Dade, of the United States army, and his com- mand of about one hundred men, were massacred near Wahoo swamp, on their march from Fort Brook to join General Clinch, near the Withlacoochee. On the 15th day of June, 1836, acts COAT OF ARMS OF ARKANSAS. were passed for the admission of two new States into the Union. These were Arkansas and Michigan. COAT OF ARMS OF MICHIGAN. On the 28th day of June of the same year (1836) ex-President James Madison died at Montpelier — his residence in Virginia — in the 86th year of his age. The last year of General Jackson's administration was signalized by his re- covery from France of the $5,000,000 indemnity for spoliations on the com- merce of citizens of the United States which had been agreed upon and settled by the treaty of 1831, but the pay- ment of which the French House of Chambers had resisted for several years, and persistently refused to make any appropriation to meet it. In the Presidential election which came off in the fall of the same year, the opposition, which at one time was so formidable to the administration of General Jackson, had been so completely discomfited by him, that, in their dis- organized condition, they were unable to concentrate upon any regular candidates. The result of the election was: 170 electoral votes for Martin Van Buren, for President; 14 for Daniel Webster; 73 for William H. Harrison; 11 for Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina; and 26 for Hugh Lawson White, of Tennessee. Mr. Van Buren having re- ceived a majority was duly declared President for the next term. The vote by States in this election was: fifteen for Mr. Van Buren; seven for General Harrison; two for Mr. White, and one for Mr. Webster. The fifteen States that voted for Mr. Van Buren were: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan; the seven that voted for General Harrison were: Ver- mont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana; the two that voted for Mr. White were: Georgia and Tennessee ; the one that voted for Mr. Webster was Massachusetts. The votes of the Electoral Colleges for Vice-President were : 147 for Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky; JJ for Fran- cis P. Granger, of New York; 47 for John Tyler, of Virginia; and 23 for William Smith, of Alabama. Neither one of the persons voted for as Vice- President having received a majority of the votes of the colleges, the choice of that officer devolved, under the Consti- tution, upon the Senate. In the dis- charge of this duty the Senate chose Colonel Johnson by a vote of 33 against 16 cast for Mr. Granger. 458 HISTORY OF THE UNTIED STAVES. Book II.. c. IS- The administration of General Jack- son was distinguished for many acts of foreign as well as domestic policy which need not be here recapitulated. Taken altogether, it made a deep and lasting impression upon the policy and history of the States. On his retirement, fol- lowing the example of Washington, he issued a farewell address, in which he evinced the most ardent patriotism and the most earnest devotion to the cause of constitutional liberty. In view of the dangerous centralizing tendencies of the times, he said, in this address: " It is well known that there have always been those among us who wished to enlarge the powers of the general government, and experience would seem to indicate that there is a tendency on the part of this government to overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the Constitution. Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for the purposes for which it was created; and its powers being expressly enumerated, there can be no justification for claiming anything beyond them. Every attempt to exer- cise power beyond these limits should be promptly and firmly opposed. For one evil example will lead to others still more mischievous; and if the principle of constructive powers, or supposed ad- vantages, or temporary circumstances, should ever be permitted to justify the assumption of a power not given by the Constitution, the general government will, before long, absorb all the powers of legislation, and you will have, in effect, but one consolidated government. From the extent of our country, its diversified interests, different pursuits, and different habits, it is too obvious for argument, that a single consolidated government would be wholly inadequate to watch over and protect its interests. And every friend of our free institutions should be always prepared to maintain unimpaired, and in full vigor, the rights and sovereignty of the States, and to con- fine the action of the general govern- ment strictly to the sphere of its appro- priate duties." At the expiration of his second term he retired from the executive chair to his home, near Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent the remnant of his days with the continued confidence and affection of the people, who took pleasure in honor- ing him as the " Hero of New ( Means," and the "Sage of the Hermitage." CHAPTER XVIII. ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. (4th of March, 1837 — 4th of March, 1841.) His inauguration — Accompanied by General Jackson — The new Cabinet — Great financial panic of 1S37 — Extra session of Congress — Sub-Treasury system — Seminole war — Colonel Znchary Taylor — Os- ceola — Flag of truce violated by General Jessup — Agitation of slavery — Resolutions of Mr. Calhoun, 1837 — Analysis of the votes on them — Bequest of James Smithson — Athcrton's resolutions in the I I mse — Analysis of the votes on thcin- dential election of 1840 — The candidates and result of election — Retirement of Van Buren — Tril his administration. ARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth President of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1837, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. At 12 o'clock on that day, the weather being remark- ably pleasant, the President-elect took his seat, with his venerable predecessor,. General Jackson, in a beautiful phaeton,. made from the wood of the frigate Con- stitution, and presented to General Jack- son by the 1 )cmocracy of the city of New York. In this they proceeded from the President's house to the capitoL THE ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUR EN. 459 After reaching the Senate Chamber a procession was formed, and Mr. Van Buren, attended by the ex-President, the members of the Senate, and of the cab- inet, and the diplomatic corps, led the pose, in all matters of public policy, to follow in the " footsteps of his illustrious predecessor." His cabinet consisted of John Forsyth, of Georgia, Secretary of State; Levi Woodbury, of New Hamp- way to the rostrum erected on the ascent shire, Secretary of the Treasury; Joel r to the eastern portico. There the in- augural address was delivered, in clear and impressive tones, and in an easy and eloquent manner. At the close of the address the oath of office was adminis- tered by Chief-Justice Taney. In the MARTIN VAN BUREN. R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, Secretary of War; Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy; Amos Kendall, of Kentucky, Postmaster-Gen- eral, and Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, Attorney-General. All these gen- address Mr. Van Buren indicated his pur- J tlemen were in these offices respectively .460 J j IS 7 OA'V ( >/■ J HE I '. \ 1 7 ED S J A 1 ES. I I , c. 13 at the time under General Jackson, ex- cept Mr. Poinsett, who took the place of General Cass in the War Department, as he had lately before been appointed minister to France. Soon after Mr. Van Burcn became President occurred a great commercial crisis. This was in April, 1837, an< J wa 5 occasioned by a reckless spirit of speculation, which had, for two or three preceding years, been fostered and en- couraged by excessive banking, and the consequent expansion of paper currency beyond all the legitimate wants of the country. During the months of March and April of this year the failures in N w York city alone amounted to over I $ 1 CO.OOO.OOO. The state of affairs be- came so distressing, that petitions were sent to the President from several quar- . and a deputation of merchants and bankers of New York waited upon him in person, and solicited him to defer the immediate collection of duties, for which bonds had been given, and to rescind the treasury orders which had been issued under Jackson's administration, requiring dues to the government to be paid in specie. The) - also asked that an extra session of Congress should be called to adopt measures of relief. He granted their request so far only as to suspend suits on bonds, which had been given for the collection of duties. In a few days after his response to this depu- tation was made known in New York, all the banks in that city stopped specie payments, and their example was soon followed by nearly all the banks in all the States. In this emergency, Mr. Van Buren was compelled to convene an extra session of Congress, to provide for meeting demands on the treasure with legal currency. Me accordingly sum- moned the Twentv-fifth Congress to meet at the capitol on the 4th day ol September, 1837. The session laste.l five or six weeks. In his message to Congress, Mr. Van Buren assigned as th causes of the unhappy condition of th'' country, the excessive issues of bank- paper; the great fire in New York, in December, 1835 ; the large investments that had been made in unproductive lands, and other speculative enterprises. To meet the exigencies of the treasury, as well as to provide for the public relief, as far as to them seemed proper, Con- gress passed an act authorizing'the issue of treasury notes to the amount of $10,000,000. The policy of the administration now- adopted, for the collection and trans- mission of the public funds, was known as the " Sub-Treasury System." It was all done by and through the officers of the government without the agency of any banking institution. On this finan- cial system, characterized as a divorce of the government from the banks, Mr. Calhoun separated from Messrs. Clay and Webster in their opposition to the Democratic organization. He advocated this divorce with all his ability; while they, in like manner, opposed it. The war with the small remnant of Seminole Indians still remaining in Florida was not yet closed. Colonel Zachary Tay- lor, being chief in command at that time in that quarter, on the 5th of December, 1837, with a small force completely routed their warriors, by which he ac- quired considerable distinction ; but the retreating foe sought refuge in the Ever- glades, where they remained some time longer. Before this, Osceola, their chief, had been seized by General Jessup, with some of his subordinates who visited Jessup's camp under a flag of truce. They were ( 4 6i) II IS JOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. Bo >k I I.e. 18 ;ill retained as prisoners, and Osceola In speaking of the war lie complained of himself was sent to Fort Moultrie, near the injustice of the published reports of Charleston, S. C, where he languished | battles, and said: "The white folks had the OSCEU1.A, CHIEF OF THE SEMINOLES. in a state of melancholy, and ultimately newspapers ; the Indians had no news- died of a fever in 1838. With all his j papers ; the Indians had no fair showing." iaults, he possessed some heroic qualities. I General Jessup can hardly be excused. THE ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUR EN. 463 though he was dealing with foes known to be treacherous. A flag of truce should ever be held sacred, even when pre- sented by the lowest type of savages. Osceola himself was not of this grade, whatever some of his allies may have been. The two questions which produced the greatest excitement and agitation of the public mind during Mr. Van Buren's administration were the Sub-Treasury System, and the abolition of negro slavery, as it then existed in the District of Columbia. The opposition to the financial policy of the administration was led in the Senate by Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster, and conducted with a great deal of ability, power and eloquence. It was successfully sustained in the same body by Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Benton, and Mr. Silas Wright, of New York. The agitation of the slavery question in the District was led by Ex-President John Quincy Adams in the House. He became the great agitator on this subject soon after his entrance in the House, in December, 1831. He commenced it by presenting memorials and petitions. At first, very little attention was paid to these petitions ; but his course soon produced considerable excitement. This continued to increase, and, in 1837, it became an absorbing topic, not only in Congress, but throughout the States. The peti- tions at first presented by him related to the District ; but at this time embraced not only the District, but the States. It was pending this agitation, so produced, that Mr. Calhoun, on the 28th of De- cember, 1837, introduced into the Senate another series of resolutions, similar in substance to those submitted by him in 1833, upon the nature and character of the Federal government. At this time he pressed a vote; and after an exciting debate, the series passed that body in January, 1838. These are the resolu- tions then adopted by the Senate : " I. Resolved, That in the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the States adopt- ing the same acted, severally, as free, in- dependent, and sovereign States ; and that each, for itself, by its own voluntary assent, entered the Union with the view to its increased security against all dan- gers, domestic as well as foreign, and the more perfect and secure enjoyment of its advantages, natural, political, and so- cial. " II. Resolved, That in delegating a portion of their powers, to be exercised by the Federal government, the States retained, severally, the exclusive and sole right over their own domestic institutions and police, to the full extent to which those powers were not thus delegated, and are alone responsible for them ; and that any intermeddling of one or more States, or a combination of their citizens, with the domestic institutions and police of the others, on any ground, political, moral, or religious, or under any pretext whatever, with a view to their alteration or subversion, is not warranted by tin- Constitution, tending to endanger the domestic peace and tranquillity of the States interfered with, subversive of the objects for which the Constitution was formed, and, by necessary consequence, tending to weaken and destroy the Union itself. " III. Resolved, That this government was instituted and adopted by the sever; I States of this Union as a common agent, in order to carry into effect the powers which thc\- had delegated by the Consti- tution for their mutual security and pros- perity ; and that, in fulfilment of this high and sacred trust, this government is bound so to exercise its powers as not 464 J1IST0RY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book [I.,c. i» to interfere with the stability and security of the domestic institutions of the States that compose this Union ; and that it is the solemn duty of the government to resist to the extent of its constitutional power, all attempts by one portion of the Union to use it as an instrument to at- tack the domestic institutions of another, or to weaken or destroy such institu- tions. "IV. Resolved, That domestic slavery, as it exists in the Southern and Western States of this Union, composes an im- portant part of their domestic institutions, inherited from their ancestors, and exist- ing at the adoption of the Constitution, by which it is recognized as constituting an important element in the apportion- ment of powers among the States, and that no change of opinion or feeling, on the part of the other States of the Union in relation to it, can justify them or their citizens in open and systematic attacks thereon, with a view to its overthrow, and that all such attacks are in manifest violation of the mutual and solemn pledge to protect and defend each other, given by the States respectively, on en- tering into the constitutional compact which formed the Union, and as such, are a manifest breach of faith, and a violation of the most solemn obliga- tions. "V. Resolved, That the interference by the citizens of any of the States, with the view to the abolition of slavery in this District, is endangering the rights and security of the people of the District; and that any act or measure of Congress designed to abolish slavery in this Dis- trict, would be a violation of the faith implied in the cessions of the States of Virginia and Maryland, and just cause of alarm to the people of the slavehold- ing States, and have a direct and inevita- ble tendency to disturb and endanger the Union. ". bid Resolved, That any attempt of Congress to abolish slavery in any Terri- tory of the United States in which it exists, would create serious alarm and just apprehension in the States sustain- ing that domestic institution; would be a violation of good faith towards the in- habitants of any such Territory who have been permitted to settle with and hold slaves therein, because the people of any such Territory have not asked for the abolition of slavery therein; and be- cause, when any such Territory shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the people thereof will be entitled to decide that question exclusively for themselves." The vote on the adoption of the first of these resolutions was, per capita, 32 to 13. By States, the vote stood, in the Senate 18 for it and 6 against it; one State was divided, and one did not vote. The following is the vote by St. Ayes: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, V w York, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia — 18. Nays: Delaware, Indiana, Massachu- setts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont — 6. Divided, Ohio. Not voting, Maryland. The vote on the second of these reso- lutions stood, per capita, 31 in favor of it to 9 against it. By States the vote on this resolution was 20 for it, and only 4 against it; one divided and one not voting. The votes by States on this resolution were: Ayes: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecti- cut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Ken- tucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mis- sissippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North THE ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUR EN. *£* Carolina, New York, South Carolina, against it. On the second clause of it, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the vote by States was 19 for it and 3 Maryland — 20. Nays: Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont — 4. Divided, Ohio, I. Not voting, Rhode Island, 1.* Three- fourths of the States voted for this resolution, enough to have amended the Constitution according to its pro- vision, if they had been in convention for that purpose. against it; 3 were divided and 1 did not vote. The adoption by the Senate of these resolutions, to which he had given a cordial support, Mr. Clay thought would quiet agitation upon the subject. In this, however, he was mistaken. On the 1st of September of this year (1838}, the United States, by their agent, THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. The vote on the third resolution was, per capita, 31 in favor of it, and 1 1 against it. By States, the vote on this resolution was 16 in favor of it, and only 4 against it ; 3 were divided and 3 did not vote. On the fourth resolution the vote stood, per capita, 34 for it, and only 5 against it. By States, on this, the vote was 18 for it, and only 2 against it; 2 were divided and 4 did not vote. On the fifth resolution the vote was, per capita, 36 in favor of it and 8 * For all these votes, see Congressional Globe, 2(1 session, 25th Congress, p. 74, et seq. 30 received the liberal donation which was bequeathed to them in trust for the "general diffusion of knowledge among men," by James Smithson, an English- man, which constitutes the endowment of the Institute in Washington city that bears his name. The amount of the legacy received, in American coin, was #575.i69. The agitation of the subject of slavery in the House was renewed by the aboli- tionists with increased bitterness, at the next session of Congress, which com- 4^-5 HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES. Book II., c 15 menced in December, 1838. Early in this session, Mr. Atherton, of New Hampshire, introduced a scries of resolu- tions in that body covering the whole subject, especially the powers of the Federal government over it, which be- came quite famous at the time.* The first of his resolutions was in these words : right to do that indirectly which it can- not do directly, and that the agitation of the subject of slavery in the District of Columbia or the Territories, as a means, and with a view, of disturbing or over- throwing that institution in the several States, is against the true spirit and * meaning of the Constitution, an infringe- ment of the rights of the States affected, "Resolved, That this government is a ■ and a breach of the public faith upon government of limited powers, and that, by the Constitution of the United States, Congress has no jurisdiction whatever over the institution of slavery in the several States of the Confederacy." This resolution passed the House by a vote of 194 to 6. The six votes against it were: Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, Mr. Evans, of Maine, Mr. Everett, of Vermont, Mr. Potts, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Russell, of New York, and Mr. Slade, of Vermont. The vote on this resolution, viewed in reference to the States, shows that it re- ceived the sanction, by their duly ap- pointed representatives, of every member of the " Confederated Republic " or "Con- i^ifth and last of Mr. Atherton's resolu- federacy," as they then styled the Fed- eral Union. The second of Mr. Ather- ton's resolutions was in these words: "Resolved, That petitions for the aboli- which they entered into the Confed- eracy." The vote on this resolution was, 164 in favor of it, and 40 against it. The fourth of this series was in these words: "Resolved, That the Constitution rests on the broad principle of equality among the members of this Confederacy, and that Congress, in the exercise of its ac- knowledged powers, has no right to discriminate between the institutions of one portion of the States and another, with a view of abolishing the one and promoting the other." The vote on this resolution was, 174 in favor of it, and 24 against it. The tions was in these words : "Resolved, That all attempts on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia or the Terri- tion of slavery in the District of Jolum- torics, or to prohibit the removal of hi a and the Territories of the United slaves from State to State, or to discrim- States, and against the removal of slaves from one State to another, are a part of a plan of operation set on foot to affect inate between the institutions of one portion of the Confederacy and another, with the view aforesaid, are in violation the institution of slavery in the Southern of the Constitution, destructive of the fun- States, and thus indirectly to destroy that damental principle on which the Union institution within their limits." On this resolution the vote stood, 136 for it, and 65 against it. The third resolution was in these words : "Resolved, That Congress has no * See Congressional Glolie, December, 1838. of these States rests, and beyond the jurisdiction of Congress ; and that every petition, memorial, resolution, proposi- tion, or paper, touching or relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to slavery, as aforesaid, or the abolition thereof, shall, on the presentation thereof, THE ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUR EN. 467 without any further action thereon, be laid upon the table, without being de- bated, printed, or referred." The vote on the first branch of this resolution was, 146 in favor and 52 against it; on the second branch of the resolution the vote stood, 126 for it and yS against it. After this clear and explicit declara- tion by the unanimous voice of the States in the House, as to the powers of Congress over the subject, and after the equally explicit declaration of so over- whelming a majority of that body as to the future policy to be pursued by them in reference to it, it was again thought, not only by Mr. Clay, but by most of the public men of the country, that this exciting agitation, so materially affecting the harmony, peace, and permanency of the Union, would be abandoned. But the Anti-Slavery or Abolition party, which was organized a few years before, and which by its affiliated associations in several of the Northern States stirred up the agitation, cared nothing for con- stitutional restraints; they did not wish to preserve any Union of the States under any such Constitution. The Con- stitution as it was, the chief of their leaders openly proclaimed to be nothing but " a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell." The agitation therefore did not cease, as we shall see. Another Presidential election came off in the fall of 1840. The principal issues in this contest were the re-charter of a National Bank, the Sub-Treasury system, extravagant appropriations, defalcations, and profligacy of numerous subordinate officers. The "gold spoons" furnished the Executive mansion figured prominently in the canvass. Neither of the two great parties at that time had any avowed connection with the Anti-Slavery or Abolition agitators. The contest was an exciting one over the leading meas- ures and practices of the administration. All the opposing elements still holding the name of Whig united under that banner. This party had held a general convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December, the year before, for the purpose of nominating candidates for President and Vice-President. It was generally supposed that Mr. Clay would there receive the nomination. But his course on the tariff compromise of 1833 had greatly weakened him with the protectionists. When he adopted that course he was told it would lose him the Presidency. His reply at the time was, " I would rather be right than be President." The result of the con- vention's action was the nomination of General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, for President, and John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The Dem- ocratic party held their general conven- tion in Baltimore, on the 5th of May, 1840. The following is the platform of prin- ciples then adopted and announced : "1. Resolved, That the Federal govern- ment is one of limited powers, derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the depart- ments and agents of the government, and that it is inexpedient and danger- ous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. " 2. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements. " 3. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the Fed- eral government, directly or indirectly, to 468 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. IS assume the debts of the several States, contracted for local internal improve- ments or other State purposes ; nor would such assumption be just or expe- dient. "4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal government to foster one branch of industry to the det- riment of another, 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. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the government to en- force and practice the most rigid econ- omy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the government. "6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United States Bank ; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our repub- lican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place the busi- ness of the country within the control of a concentrated money power, and above the laws and the will of the people. "7. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Constitution to inter- fere with or control the domestic institu- tions of the several States ; and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything pertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the Con- stitution ; that all efforts, by abolitionists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarm- ing and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanence of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions. " 8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the government and the rights of the people. "9. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the op- pressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becoming citizens, and the owners of soil among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute book. "Whereas, Several of the States which have nominated Martin Van Buren as a candidate for the Presidency, have put in nomination different individuals as candidates for Vice-President, thus indi- cating a diversity of opinion as to the person best entitled to the nomination ; and whereas, some of the said States are not represented in this convention ; there- fore, "Resolved, That the convention deem it expedient at the present time not to choose between the individuals in nom- ination, but to leave the decision to their Republican fellow-citizens in the several States, trusting that before the election shall take place, their opinions will be- come so ' concentrated as to secure the THE ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON. 469 choice of a Vice-President by the elec- toral college.' " Mr. Van Buren was unanimously nominated by that body for President. But as the convention could not agree upon any candidate for Vice-President, the nomination of this officer was left to the party in each State severally. The result of the election, after a heated can- vass, was 234 electoral votes for Har- rison for President, and 234 for John Tyler for Vice-President. Mr. Van Buren received 60 electoral votes for President ; Richard M. Johnson, of Ken- tucky, received 48 for Vice-President ; Littleton W. Tazewell, of Virginia, 1 1 ; and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, 1. The vote for President by States stood 19 for General Harrison, and 7 for Mr. Van Buren. The nineteen States that voted for General Harrison were: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- cut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and Michigan ; the seven that voted for Mr. Van Buren were : New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Ala- bama, Missouri, and Arkansas. Mr. Van Buren having lost his re- election, at the close of his term, on the 4th of March, 1841, retired to his home at Kinderhook, New York. One re- remarkable feature of his administration was that the veto power was not exercised by him in a single instance. A writer of note, in speaking of his administra- tion, as a whole, says: " The great event of General Jackson's administration was the contest with the Bank of the United States, and its de- struction as a Federal institution — that of Madison's was the war — while Jeffer- son's was a general revolution of the anti-Democratic spirit and policy of the preceding administration. The great event of Mr. Van Buren's administration, by which it will be hereafter known and designated, is, the divorce of Bank and State in the fiscal affairs of the Federal government, and the return, after half a century of deviation, to the original de- sign of the Constitution." CHAPTER XIX. ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. (4th March, 1841 — 4th March, 1845.) Inauguration scenes — Harrison, a Jeffersonian Repub- lican — Extract from his inaugural — The new Cabi- net — Extra session of Congress called — Death of Harrison — John Tyler, Vice-President, becomes President — Twenty-seventh Congress known as the Whig Congress — Tyler a strict-constructionist — Di- vision of Whig party — Resignation of all the cabi- net except Webster — The new cabinet — Repeal of Sub-Treasury Act and an act of bankruptcy estab- lished — Clay, the leader of the Whigs, opposed to the administration — Rives and Wise, of Virginia, the defenders of the President — Scene in the House on motion to censure Mr. Adams for presenting the petition for the dissolution of the Unipn — Mr. Clay retires from the Senate — The Tariff Bill of 1842 — The great treaty of Washington — The Dorr rebellion in Rhode Island — Mr. Webster's retire- ment from the cabinet — Other changes in the cabinet — Mr. Adams' Pittsburgh speech in Novem- ber, 1843 — The Twenty-eighth Congress largely Democratic— Repeal of the 21st Rule — Theaccident on the Princeton — Death of two members of the cabinet — Mr. Calhoun made Secretary of State — Treaty with Texas rejected by the Senate — Presi- dential election of 1844 — The candidates and the result — The Texas question absorbs all others in the canvass — On second se>sion of Twenty-eighth Con- gress divers plans for the annexation of Texas — Milton Brown's resolution — Benton's alternate pro- position — Brown's adopted — Tyler's retirement — His administration. ILLIAM H. HARRISON, the ninth President of the Unitedi States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1841, in the 69th year of his age. The city of Washington was thronged with people, 470 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. BOOK II..C. 19 many of whom were from the most distant States of the Union. A proces- sion was formed from his hotel quarters to the Capitol. The President-elect was mounted upon a white charger, accom- panied by several personal friends, but his immediate escort were the officers and soldiers who had fought under him. The inaugural address was delivered on a platform erected over the front steps of the portico of the east front of the capitol. The oath of office was admin- istered by Chief-Justice Taney, before an audience estimated by many at Oo.COO. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. Harrison had been a warm supporter of Mr. Jefferson in 1800, though he had received and held office under the elder Adams, lie belonged to the strict con- struction school of politics of that day. But very discordant elements on political matters had united in supporting his election, and, therefore, great anxiety was felt as to what line of policy he would pursue in the executive chair on the disturbing questions which were agitating the public mind, at the time of his eleva- tion to the chief magistracy. Its indica- tion was looked for in his inaugural address. This was written and read by him; it was long, and went into a full review of all subjects of general public interest. In its delivery " his voice never flagged, but to the end retained its full and commanding tone. As he touched on successive topics lying near the hearts of the people, their sympathy with his sentiments was mani- fested by shouts which broke forth involuntarily from time to time; and when the reading of the address was concluded, they were renewed and pro- longed without restraint." Among other things in this address, which were particularly gratifying to the friends of the Union under the Constitu- tion everywhere, was the following: "Our Confederacy, fellow-citizens, can only be preserved by the same forbear- ance. Our citizens must be content with the exercise of the powers with which the Constitution clothes them. The at- tempt of those of one State to control the domestic institutions of another, can only result in feelings of distrust and jealousy, and are certain harbingers of disunion, violence, civil war, and the ultimate destruction of our free institu- tions. Our Confederacy is perfectly illustrated by the terms and principles governing a common copartnership. There, a fund of power is to be exercised, under the direction of the joint counsels of the allied members; but that which has been reserved by the individuals is intangible by the common government, or the individual members composing it. To attempt it finds no support in the principles of our Constitution." The new cabinet consisted of Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Secretary of State; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secre- tary of the Treasury; George E. Badger, THE ADMIN1S1RA1I0N OF TYLET. 4/1 of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; Francis Granger, of New York, Postmaster-General; and John J. Critten- den, of Kentucky, Attorney-General. On the 17th of March, the President issued his proclamation calling an extra session of Congress, to meet on Monday, the last day of May ensuing. He, how- ever, did not live to meet them. On the 27th of March, he was seized with a violent attack of pneumonia, or bilious pleurisy, which, baffling all medical skill, terminated fatally on the 4th of April — just one month from the day of his in- auguration. The office of President now, for the first time under the Constitution, devolved upon the Vice-President. This office was then filled, as we have seen, by John Tyler, of Virginia. He was not in the city of Washington at the time of the death of President Harrison. But im- mediately upon receiving intelligence of that sad event — which filled the whole country with gloom and mourning — he repaired thither as soon as possible; and, after taking the oath of office, pre- scribed by the Constitution for the Presi- dent, before Judge Cranch, Chief-Justice of the District of Columbia, became tenth President of the United States. On the 9th of April he issued, through the public prints, an address to the people of the United States, in the form of a usual Presidential inaugural. Mr. Tyler, at this time, was in the 52d year of his age. In this address there was no indication of a different line of policy from that announced in the inaugural of General Harrison. The same members of the cabinet appointed by General Harrison were retained in their respective positions. The Twenty-seventh Congress, which became memorable as the " Whig Con- gress," convened on the 31st of May, 1 841, under the proclamation which had been issued by General Harrison. The discordant elements of which it was composed, that had combined against the late administration of Mr. Van Buren, though largely in the majority when united, yet from opposing views among themselves upon many questions of public policy, soon came to open rup- ture. Mr. Tyler himself, who had always been a strict constructionist, soon found himself at variance in principle with a majority of both Houses of Con- gress, upon many matters of public JOHN TYLER. interest then brought forward. A bill was passed for the creation of an institu- tion known as "The Fiscal Bank of the United States." This he vetoed. The veto was sustained for lack of a two- thirds majority in favor of the bill. Another bill of like character was passed under the title of " The Fiscal Corpora- tion of the United States;" this was likewise vetoed, and in like manner failed to become a law. These vetoes were sustained generally by the strict constructionists, irrespective of party, in all sections of the country. But they led to an immediate reorganization of 472 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Cook II. c 10 the cabinet. All the members appointed by General Harrison resigned, except Mr. Webster. The persons appointed to fill their places were: Walter Forward, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treas- ury; John C. Spencer, of New York, Secretary of War; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy; and Hugh S. La Gare, of South Carolina, Attorney-General. These new members were all prominent Whigs of the strict construction school, who sustained the President. The party was now com- pletely divided, not only in Congress, but throughout the country. Mr. Clay headed the opposition to the administra- tion in the Senate, and Mr. Wa'se, of Virginia, was one of its chief defenders in the House. The session was brought to a close on the 13th day of September, after passing an act for the repeal of the Sub-Treas- ury, and an act providing uniform Rules of Bankruptcy in the United States. This latter act was very unpopular in many places on account of some of its features, which were held by many to be unconstitutional. The second session of the Twenty- seventh Congress met in December, 1841, and continued in session until August, 1842. It was the longest session ever before held, and became notable for many things. The opposing wings of the Whigs met in no good temper towards each other. Quite a scene occurred in the House on the 24th day of January. On this day Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, presented a petition from citizens of Haverhill, Massachusetts, praying the immediate adoption of meas- ures peaceably to dissolve the Union of these States, signed by Benjamin Emer- son and forty-five others, in which the reasons for the petition were set forth, "with instructions to report an answer to the petitioners, showing the reasons why the prayer of it ought not to be granted." On this ensued a running debate, full of acrimony, as to the reception of the petition, which finally resulted in a very indiscreet motion by Mr. Gilmer, a Democrat, of Virginia, declaring that "the member from Massachusetts has justly incurred the censure of the House." On the following day, January 25th, 1842. Mr. Marshall, a Whig, of Kentucky, more indiscreetly offered, as a substitute for Mr. Gilmer's resolution, a preamble and resolutions reciting his views of the nature of the Federal gov- ernment and character of the Constitu- tion, and declaring that Mr. Adams for his act in presenting the petition "might well be held to merit expulsion from the National councils," and that "the House deem it an act of grace and mercy, when they only inflict upon him their severest censure for conduct so utterly unworthy of his past relations to the State, and his present position." The subject was taken up daily and discussed, among others, by Mr. Marshall, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Wise, Mr. Gilmer, Mr. Arnold and Mr. Adams, until the 7th of February, 1842, when, upon motion of Mr. Botts, of Virginia, it was resolved to lay the whole subject upon the table. During the long and acrimonious discussion resulting from his presentation of the petition, Mr. Adams conducted his defence with great adroitness and ability. On the same day that the House tabled the resolutions of censure, it refused, by a vote of 40 yeas to 166 nays, to receive the petition. When Mr. Marshall offered his substitute for Mr. Gilmer's resolution and supported it in a speech, Mr. Adams then contented himself by way of answer to Mr. Mar- shall in asking and having read by the THE ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 473 clerk of the House the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, and saying, first repeating after the clerk " right and duty to alter or abolish it," "Now, sir, if there is a principle sacred on earth, and established by the instru- ment just read, it is the right of the people to alter, to change, to destroy their government, if it becomes oppres- sive to them. There would be no such right existing, if the people had not the power, in pursuance of that right, to petition for it." Mr. Clay, of the Senate, was the recognized leader of the majority of his party. The minority were called " Tyler Whigs," and led in the Senate by Wil- liam C. Rives, of Virginia, and in the House by Henry A. Wise, of the same State. There was no renewal of an effort to establish a bank ; but the tariff .was again agitated. This was the year when, according to the Compromise Act of 1833, the duties were to be regu- lated on a revenue standard. The protectionists, however, made a new rally. On the 31st of March, 1842, Mr. Clay resigned his seat in the Senate, and retired to his home at Ashland, near Lexington, Kentucky. A new Tariff bill, highly protective in its objects and character, passed both Houses of Con- gress. It was vetoed by the President. Another bill of like character, though with some modification, was passed. It was vetoed in like manner. After that the celebrated "Tariff of 1842" was passed, and received the executive sig- nature on the 30th of August. In this the compromise of 1833 was utterly abandoned, against the urgent protest of the opponents of the principle of levying duties with a view, not of rev- enue, but protection. The debates dur- ing all this session were animating and exciting. The Democrats and " Tyler Whigs," upon most questions, acted to- gether. In the meantime a very impor- tant treaty was made with Great Britain. It was effected under the auspices of Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, and Lord Ashburton. It is known as the " Treaty of Washington," and was ratified by the Senate on the 22d of August, 1 842. By this, for the first time, the northeast- ern boundary between the United States and the neighboring British possessions was definitely established. The line thus agreed upon was as follows : " From the mouth of the river St. Croix ascending that stream to its west- ern fountain ; from that fountain due north to the St. John's; thence with that river to its source on the water-shed be- tween the Atlantic and the St. Lawrence." By the new line agreed upon, Maine lost as well as gained some territory. Her lumber interest was mainly involved in the question, and it required the most consummate skill and statesmanship on the part of Mr. Webster to secure her acquiescence in the settlement. But in this he was as successful with the au- thorities of Maine as he was with Lord Ashburton. This treaty was regarded as one of the greatest acts of diplomacy and statesmanship of Mr. Webster during his eventful life. During this year, the internal dissen- sions in Rhode Island which had been agitating that State for years, upon the subject of changing their Constitution, in relation to the right of suffrage, cul- minated in what was known as the Dorr rebellion. The acting governor, who was duly elected under the Constitution of the State as it had existed for over a century, which was the original Williams charter, by Charles II., called upon the President for aid, to suppress an insur- 474 HISTORY OF THE UX1TED STATES. Book II, c. 19 rection. United States troops were furnished by Mr. Tyler; grave questions of constitutional law arose, which were finally settled by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Luther vs. Borden. These internal dissensions were, how- ever, finally amicably adjusted ; Dorr in the meantime by the State authorities was indicted and tried for treason, and 1842. Their term of office was to ex- pire on the 4th of March following, and nothing of special note was done by them, except the repeal of the Bank- ruptcy Act of their first session. In May, 1843, Mr. Webster resigned the office of Secretary of State, and Mr. Up- shur, of Virginia, was promoted to his place. Some other changes took place in the cabinet: George M. Bibb, of Ken- RAFT1NG LUMBER IN MAINE. sentenced to imprisonment for life; he fled from the State, but subsequently tucky, became Secretary of the Treas- ury; William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, returned and remained unmolested after Secretary of War; Thomas W.Gilmer, of all was quieted by the regular constituted Virginia, Secretary of the Navy; Charles authorities, in a legitimate way, extend- ing the right of suffrage, according to the wishes of Dorr and his adherents. The third and last session of the " Whisr Congress " met in December, A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, Postmaster- General ; and John Nelson, of Maryland, Attorney-General. The Twenty-eighth Congress com- menced its first session on the 4th of THE ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 475 December, 1843, and continued it to the 17th of June, 1844. Just before the assembly of this Congress in Novem- bei, 1843, Mr. Adams on a return from a travel through the west was met at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a recep- tion of an association of Abolitionists which amounted to an ovation ; in his response to their address, he made a speech, which surprised his auditors quite as much as it did the country gen- erally. In it, among other things, he emphatically said: "As to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, I have said that I was opposed to it — not because I have any doubts of the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District, for I have none. But I regard it as a violation of republican principles, to enact laws at the petition of one people which are to oper- ate upon another people against their con- sent. As the laws now stand the people of the District have property in their slaves." This throws much light upon Mr. Adams' character as an agitator; his object seems to have been more with a view to vindicate the right of petition than anything else. In this speech he distinctly declared that the owners of slaves in the District of Columbia had a property in their slaves, and he would not vote to deprive them of it without their consent. Such a course he said would be anti-republican. The House at this session was largely Democratic ; one of its most noted acts was the repeal at an early day of its session, of the famous 2 1st Rule of the House adopted some years before, by which Abolition petitions, after being received, were to be laid upon the table without discussion or reference. How far Mr. Adams' recent speech in which his position upon this subject was set forth may have con- tributed to this result is of course un- known, but after this there was no more agitation in the House on the subject of Abolition petitions, and Mr. Adams never after appeared in the character of an agitator upon the subject of slavery in that body. On the 28th of February, 1844, oc- curred the lamentable accident by which Mr. Upshur and Mr. Gilmer, of the cabinet, and a number of other promi- nent citizens of the country, lost their lives. The President and his cabinet, with a number of Senators and members of the House, and officers of high rank in the army and the navy, and many distinguished citizens, went as a party to visit the United States steamship-of-war Princeton, lying in the Potomac river, to witness the experimental firings of a very large, new gun on that ship, which had been named the " Peacemaker." At one of the firings the gun exploded, causing the instant death of these Secretaries, besides a gallant officer of the navy and several prominent members of the part}'. This great calamity produced a profound sensation throughout the country. After this, Mr. Calhoun, who was still in the Senate, was made Secretary of State, and John Y. Mason, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy. Very soon after Mr. Calhoun's accession to the State Department, a treaty was negotiated be- tween the United States and the Republic of Texas, for the cession of that country to the United States. This treaty was rejected by the Senate on the 8th of June following. Another Presidential election came off in the fall of 1844. The Whigs held their general nominating Convention in Baltimore, on the 1st of May, and enun- ciated their platform of principles as con- 4/6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 19 sisting of " a well-regulated national currency ; a tariff for revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the govern- ment, and discriminating with special reference to the protection of the do- mestic labor of the country ; the distri- bution of the proceeds from the sales of the public lands; a single term for the Presidency ; a reform of executive usur- pations ; and generally such an adminis- tration of the affairs of the country as shall impart to every branch of the public service the greatest practical effi- ciency, controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy." Mr. Clay was their unanimous choice for President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, formerly of New Jersey but then of New York, was selected as the candidate for Vice-Presi- dent. The like general Convention of the Democratic party met at Baltimore on the 27th of the same month, and re- affirmed the first nine of the resolutions of their platform of 1840, to which they added the following : " X. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly ap- plied to the national objects specified in the Constitution, and that we are op- posed to the laws lately adopted, and to any law for the distribution of such pro- ceeds among the States, as alike inex- pedient in policy and repugnant to the Constitution. "XI. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President the qualified veto power by which he is en- abled, under restrictions and responsi- bilities amply sufficient to guard the public interest, 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 judg- ment of the, people can be obtained thereon, and which has thrice saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the United States. "XII. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the Territory of Oregon is clear and unquestionable ; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the reoccu- pation of Oregon, and the reannexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which this Convention recommends to the cordial support of the Democracy of theUnion." * The candidates nominated by this body were James K. Polk, of Tennessee, for President, and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. At this election the Abolitionists, for the first time as a regularly organized party, put in nomination James G. Birney, of Michigan, for the office of President. The prominent issues presented in the contest by the Whigs and the Democrats were the Texas and Oregon questions. While Mr. Clay himself was in favor of the acquisition of Texas, upon proper principles and under suitable circum- stances that would not involve the United States in a war with Mexico, which he deprecated, yet an overwhelming majority of his supporters were utterly opposed to the measure in any and every form. The result of the election by the colleges was: 170 electoral votes for James K. Polk, for President, and 170 for George M. Dallas, for Vice-President; 105 for Henry Clay, for President, and 105 for Theodore Frelinghuysen, for Vice-Presi- dent. By States the vote stood: 15 for the Democratic ticket, and 1 1 for the Whig ticket. Mr. Birney received no electoral vote; but local returns showed that, out of the popular vote of upwards *Ante, THE ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 477 of two and a half millions, there were polled for him 64,653. The fifteen States that voted for Mr. Polk were : Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylva- nia, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michi- gan; the eleven that voted for Mr. Clay were: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Dela- ware, Maryland, North Carolina, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. On the meeting, in the second session of the Twenty-eighth Congress, Decem- ber, 1844, various plans for the ''Annex- ation of Texas," as it was called, were intro- duced into the House of Representatives. A few strict construction Whigs held the balance of power in that body on this question at the time, as a considerable number of Democrats in the Northern States were opposed to it, because of the extension of slavery, which, they main- tained, would attend it. It was in this state of things, and on the 13th of Jan- uary, 1845, that Mr. Milton Brown, of Tennessee — of the class of Whigs stated, introduced in the House his celebrated joint resolutions, authorizing the Presi- dent to make a proposition to Texas for the introduction of that Republic into the Federal Union as a separate State, on certain terms specially set forth, provid- ing for the settlement of all questions pertaining to slavery, so as to avoid all future agitation of that subject, and guarding against any difficulty that might arise with Mexico, growing out of matters of boundary, by leaving that subject to be amicably adjusted between Mexico and the United States. The resolutions were in these words: "Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress doth consent that the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to the Republic of Texas, may be erected into a new State to be called the State of Texas, with a Republican form of government, to be adopted by the people of said Republic, by deputies in Convention assembled, with the con- sent of the existing government, in order that the same may be admitted as one of the States of this Union. "Section 2. And be it further resolved, That the foregoing consent of Congress is given upon the following conditions, and with the following guarantees, to wit: "First. Said State to be formed, sub- ject to the adjustment of this govern- ment, of all questions of boundary that may arise with other governments; and the Constitution thereof, with the proper evidence of its adoption by the people of . said Republic of Texas, shall be trans- mitted to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress for its final action on or before the first day of January, 1846. "Second. Said State, when admitted into the Union, after ceding to the United States all public edifices, fortifications, barracks, ports and harbors, navy and navy yards, docks, magazines, arms and armaments, and all other property and means pertaining to the public defence belonging to said Republic of Texas, shall retain all the public funds, debts, taxes, and dues of every kind, which may belong to or be owing to said Re- public; and shall also retain all the vacant and unappropriated lands lying within its limits, to be applied to the payment of the debts and liabilities of said Republic of Texas; and the residue of said lands, after discharging said debts and liabilities, to be disposed of as said 4/8 IIISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. !• State may direct; but in no event are] said debts and liabilities to become a charge upon the government of the United States. " Third. New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, and hav- ing sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provis- ions of the Federal Constitution. And such States as may be formed out of that PROFESSOR MORSE. portion of said territory lying south of 36 30' north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union, with or without slavery, as the people of each State asking admission may desire. And in such State or States as shall be formed out of said territory, north of said Mis- souri Compromise line, slavery or invol- untary Servitude (except for crimes) shall be prohibited." These resolutions were violently op- posed by the slavery restrictionists, though they were based upon a distinct recognition of the dividing line of 36 30', known as the Missouri Compromise, so called. But when all other plans failed, Mr. Brown's resolutions were taken up in the House, and finally passed that body on the 25th of January, by a vote of 120 in favor to 98 against them. They were sent to the Senate, where, on motion of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, they were amended by adding an alternate proposition to be submitted to Texas, which, however, did not close the door against future agitation of the slavery question. His proposition provided that the President should choose between the House meas- ure and his alternate, in submitting the action of Congress to Texas. This was on the 27th of February. It was Mr. Benton's expectation at the time that the execution of the resolutions would devolve upon the new President. His amend- ment for an alternate proposition was agreed to in the House, and the whole measure approved by Mr. Tyler on the 1st of March, and he immediately elected the House proposition, and despatched a messenger with it to Texas, before the expiration of his term of office. On the 3d of March, 1S45, an act of Congress was approved by the President admitting the people of Iowa and the people of Florida, as separate States, into the Union. After the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Tyler retired from the seat of government to his residence in Virginia. His administration was a stormy one, but signalized by many important events. It was during this period that the electro- telegraphic system was established by THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. 479 Morse. A room was furnished him at the capitol for his experimental opera- tions in extending his wires to Balti- more ; and among the first messages COAT OF ARMS OF IOWA. ever transmitted over them was the an- nouncement of the nomination of Mr. Polk for the Presidency. It was during Tyler's administration that diplomatic communications were opened with China, the first that that ancient empire ever held with any Christian State. The set- tlement of the northeastern boundary with Great Britain was an epoch in the history of both countries. During his administration two new States were ad- mitted into the Union; and to Mr. Tyler is chiefly due the addition of the great State of Texas, with its 237,504 square miles of territory, to the Union, the ad- mission of which soon followed. His administration, as a whole, was distin- guished not only for its unpopularity, while its integrity was unassailable, but for the great ability of the many eminent men who filled his cabinet throughout his term, in the various changes that COAT OF ARMS OF FLORIDA. were made in it at different times. His nvn State papers compare favorably in point of ability with those of any of his predecessors. In reference to the asper- sions of the extreme partisans of the day, who denounced him as "a traitor to the Whig cause," it is but due to his mem- ory to give his own words : " I appeal from the vituperation of the present day, to the pen of impartial history, in the full confidence that neither my motives nor my acts will bear the interpretation which has, for sinister purposes, been placed upon them." In his retirement he enjoyed the con- fidence of his countrymen in a high degree, but took no active part in pol- itics until called to the front in the great agitation preceding the war in 1861. His voice was then for peace, union and harmony between the States. He was President of the celebrated Peace Con- vention, as we shall see. CHAPTER XX. THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. (1774—184SO Early settlements — Jesuit missionaries — The erection of a chain of forts by Spain: — Moses Austin's colony — His son, Stephen F., succeeds him — Con- dition of Texas during Colonial existence — Act of the Cortes of the Mexican Republic, May, 1S24 — Emigration increased — Bustamente's usurpation — Santa Anna, Dictator — Stephen F. Austin arrested and imprisoned — War by Mexico against Texas — Austin's release and speech — Resistance by Texas organized — Battle at Gonzales — Texan victory at Goliad — Constitutional Convention — General Sam Houston — Successful siege of Bexar — Mexicans driven from the Territory — Santa Anna renews the war — The massacre at Alamo — David Crockett killed — Santa Anna attacks Goliad and kills all the prisoners after surrender — The battle of San Jacinto — Texas triumphant — Santa Anna captured — Independence achieved — Milton Brown's prop- osition for admission into the Federal Union of the United States accepted. NTERIOR to 1 7 14, numerous un- successful efforts had been made by the Jesuits to establish mis- S%^ sionary settlements among the Indians at several places included in the present boundary of Texas. It 43o HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 20 was about this tine, however, that the Government of Spain, which claimed the territory by right of discovery, de- termined to hold it against apprehended advancements of the French, by the erection of a chain of forts from Florida to New Mexico, directly through the in- terior of Texas. At each of these forts religious missions, with settlements under their direction, were securely established. The priests labored diligently in their pious efforts to convert and civilize the Indians; in which efforts, however, they met with poor success. About the beginning of the present century pioneers from the United States began to find their way to these settle- ments. To Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connecticut, one of these ad- venturers, Texas owes its origin — first as a Spanish colony, and afterwards as an independent State. He first conceived the idea of planting a large colony of emigrants from the United States in that country. He obtained an extensive grant of land from the government of Spain in 1820 for this purpose and on this condition. He died, however, before he effected his contemplated settlement. His son, Stephen F. Austin, succeeded to the rights of his father under his grant, and, with a small party of emigrants from the United States, carefully explored the country, and selected, as the most desira- ble territory for their colony, the region lying between the Brazos and Colorado rivers, and the place for their town the site of the present city of Austin, named in honor of the founder of the colony. Austin himself, leaving the settlers in their new home, returned to the United States for other emigrants to join in the enterprise. Meantime, Mexico and other Spanish provinces had become independent of Spain, and on Austin's return he found that it was necessary for him to visit the city of Mexico, and obtain from the new government a confirmation of the grant made to his father, before he could pro- ceed in the distribution of his lands. This he succeeded in effecting. His colony soon consisted of about 300 families. They were governed by such laws as they imposed upon themselves under rules drawn up by Austin. The political condition of Texas during her colonial existence, without going into a minute detail of Mexican history, may be briefly thus set forth. The general government, located in the city of Mexico, in order to encourage settlements in the colony of Texas, declared by an act of the Cortes, a Congress, of the Republic, dated May 2d, 1824 — "That Texas is to be annexed to the Mexican Province of Cohahuila, until it is of sufficient importance to form a separate State, when it is to become an independent State of the Mexican Re- public, equal to the other States of which the same is composed, free, sovereign, and independent, in whatever exclusively relates to its internal government and administration." On the faith of this act or decree, adventurers went to Texas from all countries, especially from the United States, not only to Austin's colony, but to other settlements established in like manner. Austin's colony increased rapidly in prosperity until 1830, when it met with a sudden check. Bustamentc, having contrived by intrigue and violence to become President or Emperor of the Mexican Republic, so called, prohibited the ingress of foreigners, and made sev- eral decrees in conflict with the Consti- tution of 1S24. To carry out his THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. measures and execute his oppressive edicts, he introduced a considerable force of Mexican soldiers into the country, and thus placed Texas almost entirely under military rule. 481 self-government. Austin was selected by the Texans as their agent to proceed to Mexico, and present their petition to the Congress. He remained there nearly a year without being able to obtain any The Texans were roused to resistance reply to the application. He then wrote to many outrages of this tyrant, and his : to the authorities of Texas, recommend- mercenaries were soon forced to leave \ ing them to organize a State govern- the province. Bustamente's rule closed in \ ment, without waiting for the action of the year 1832. Early in this year Santa Anna was proclaimed President. the Mexican Congress. This proceeding was considered treasonable by the au- A VILLAGE IN TEXAS. Soon after the accession of Santa Anna to the chief magistracy, Texas petitioned to be separated from Coha- huila, and for a separate State govern- ment, according to the Constitution and act of the Cortes of 1824. The petition set forth the condition and prospects of the province ; and that it was necessary for the protection and prosperity of the inhabitants that they should be permitted to exercise the exclusive powers of local 31 thorities of Mexico j and shortly after- wards, Austin returning to Texas, was arrested at Saltillo, and carried back to that city, where he was imprisoned, and held in close confinement for over a year. In the meantime, Santa Anna had over- thrown the Constitution of 1824, and had established a central consolidated gov- ernment ; and had, in fact, become mili- tary Dictator of the " Republic of Mex- ico," so called. Some of the departments, 482 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 20 styled States, were opposed to this change, and resorted to arms, but were overcome by the Dictator. The con- stitutional authorities of Cohahuila and Texas assembled at Monclova, and earn- estly protested against the usurpation. They were driven from office by military force under General Cos, and the gov- ernment was dissolved. The governor ami members of the local legislature were imprisoned, and the central au- thority was established as supreme, contrary to the will of the people. At this juncture, Santa Anna, becoming alarmed at the demonstrations of deter- mined opposition in Texas, released Austin, and sent him back to that coun- try as a mediator. He had been absent over two years. In a speech at a public meeting, soon after his return to Texas, he gave his opinions very fully on the state of affairs, and recommended such measures as he thought advisable to be adopted. Among other things in that memorable speech, he said : " Under the Spanish government, Texas was a separate and distinct prov- ince ; as such it had a separate and dis- tinct local organization. It was one of the unities which composed the general mass of the nation, and as such partici- pated in the war of the Revolution; and was represented in the Constituent Con- gress of Mexico, that formed the Con- stitution of 1824. The Constituent Con- gress confirmed this unity by the law of May 7th, 1824, which united Texas with Cohahuila provisionally, under the ex- press guarantee of being made a State of the Mexican Confederation as soon as it possessed the necessary elements." He further said, in speaking of the revolution then progressing, that its ob- ject was: " To change the form of government ; destroy the Federal Constitution of 1824, and establish a central or consolidated government. The States are to become converted into provinces. It is my duty," said he, " to state, as General Santa Anna verbally and expressly au- thorized me to say to the people of Texas, that he was their friend ; that he wished for their prosperity, and would do all he could to promote it ; and that in the new Constitution he would use his in- fluence to give the people of Texas a special organization suited to their edu- cation, habits and situation." He also said : " Whether the people of Texas ought or ought not to agree to this change, and relinquish all or a part of their constitutional and vested rights under the Constitution of 1824, is a question of the most vital importance, and one that calls for the deliberate consideration of the people, and can only be decided by them, fairly convened for the purpose." These extracts from Austin's speech on the occasion referred to are sufficient to show the positions of Mexico and Texas, and the nature of the advice given by him at the time. In conformity with his views, committees of safety and vierilance were raised, and resolutions passed to insist on their rights under the Federal Constitution of 1824. Troops were organized, and every preparation was made to resist the forces which they believed would be sent against them. They were not disappointed. General Cos soon after arrived at Copano, from which place he marched to Bexar. The first engagement took place at Gonzales, on the 2d of October, 1835. The Mexi- cans attacked the town, but were re- pulsed with considerable loss, both in killed and wounded. Shortly after, the THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. 4*3 Texans gained a more important victory at Goliad, on the 9th of October. The town was captured, and a large quantity of military stores was taken, besides 300 stand of arms and two brass cannon. Austin was now commander-in-chief of the Texan army. On the 1 2th of November, 1835, a Convention of the people of Texas as- sembled at San Phillipe de Austin and a regular State government was or- ganized. In this body General Sam Houston made his appearance as a member, and exercised con- siderable influence in their pro- ceedings. Soon after, General Austin resigned his position in the army, and the chief command was assigned to General Sam Houston. A movement without delay was made by the Texans .against the town of Bexar, which was garrisoned by Mexican troops, under General Cos. The place was taken after a six days' siege. General Cos surrendered on the 14th of December : he with his troops, numbering over one thousand, were allowed to re- turn to Mexico under their parole of honor that they never would in anyway oppose the re- establishment of the Constitution of 1 824. The country was thus freed for the present from Mexican mili- tary rule. Henry Smith was elected governor under the State government so organized, and General Austin sent as agent or commissioner to the United States. Santa Anna, on receiving intel- ligence of the state of things in Texas, determined upon active measures for the reduction of the people to submission. He set out with an army of 7,500 .men. He reached Alamo late in Feb- ruary. This strong fort was garrisoned by 140 Texans under Colonel Travis. It was bombarded for eleven days and finally carried by storm ; but at a Mexi- can loss of 1 ,600. On the 6th of March the whole garrison was put to the sword. It was here that the brave, eccentric, and famous David Crockett, of Tennessee, was killed. The Alamo is the Texan Thermopylae. On the 17th of March the Convention adopted a Constitu- tion for an independent Republic, and CFXFK \I. HOUSTON. elected David G. Burnett, President. Ten days after Santa Anna attacked the Texan forces at Goliad, commanded by Colonel Fannin. After a hard day's fighting, and the Mexicans having re- ceived reinforcements during the night. Colonel Fannin determined to surrender, provided he could obtain honorable terms. His proposition was accepted by Santa Anna, who commanded the Mexicans «n person, and the terms of 4 8 4 UlS'lOJiY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hock II i the surrender were signed and formally- interchanged. By the terms Fannin, who was a Georgian, and his troops were to give up arms and be allowed to retire to the United States. So soon as the surrender was complete, and their arms were delivered up, the whole force, consisting of about 300 men, were im- mediately massacred by order of Santa Anna. Few instances of such barbarous treachery and cruelty are to be found in the annals of the world. This advance of Santa Anna with so strong an army, and his conduct at Alamo and Goliad, the Texans rushed to the fight with the shouts of "Remember the Alamo!" " Remember Goliad ! " More than half the Mexican forces engaged were killed, wounded, and captured, while the Texans engaged in the fight were not much over a third of their foe. Santa Anna, the Mexican President and Commander-in- chief, was himself taken prisoner. Hous- ton immediately entered into negotiations with him for the withdrawal of all Mex- ican forces from the territory of Texas. Orders were issued accordingly. The war was virtually at an end, and the in- 1'oRT ALAMO — SAM produced a temporary panic among the Texans. This was increased by the continued retreat of General Houston — first to the Colorado, next to the Brazos, and finally to the San Jacinto. The seat of government of the new Repub- lic was moved temporarily to Galveston. Santa Anna pursued Houston to the .San Jacinto, where he had taken position on the east side of the river. 1 1 ere the two armies met on the 2 1st of April, and the Texans achieved a most brilliant victor)'. The Mexicans were greatly superior in numbers, but ANTONIO, TEXAS. dependence of Texas achieved. On the 22d of October, after being duly elected, General Houston was inaugurated as the second President of the Republic. General Mirabeau B. Lamar was the third President. He came into office in 1838, and was succeeded by Anson Jones, the fourth President, in 1844. The young Republic, embracing souk- oJ the loveliest and richest regions of soil on the North American continent, dur- ing its short career was prosperous and rapid in growth. The population at this time was about 200,000. THE ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 485 On the 3d of March, 1837, the inde- pendence of this new power among the nations of the earth was recognized by the United States, in regular form. Two years afterwards it was likewise recognized by France and England, and very soon by most of the European powers. Not having fought for anything but the right of local self-government, the thoughts of her people naturally turned towards the United States, and looked to a union with them. As early as the 4th of August, 1837, unite . herself with Texas proposed to the United States. JAMES K. POLK. The proposition was at that time declined to be entertained by Mr. Van Buren, who was then President. It was not until Mr. Tyler's administration, as we have seen, that the subject was renewed by either party. The results of the renewal then made, thus far we have seen. The House proposition, or Mr. Milton Brown's resolutions, setting forth the terms of a union which President Tyler submitted to President Jones, were adopted by the people of Texas in sov- ereign Convention, on the 4th of July, 1845, an d a new Constitution formed preparatory for her admission as a State into the Federal Union. CHAPTER XXL ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. (4th of March, 1845— 4th of March, 1849.) The Inaugural, with the scenes attending it — Thr* new Cabinet— Dismissal of Blair and Rives, as the organ of the administration — The Mexican min- ister withdraws from Washington — General Taylor ordered to Texas with 5,000 troops — Death of Gen- eral Jackson — Twenty-ninth Congress largely Dem- ocratic — Texas admitted as a State in the Union — Whig tariff of 1 842 repealed —New tariff passed, without the protective principle — Sub-Treasury bill re-enacted — Smithsonian Institute established- Notice to terminate the joint occupation of Oregon given — French spoliation bill passed and vetoed — General Taylor, moves from Corpus Christi to the Rio del Norte — Massacre of Captain Thornton's Company — Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — War with Mexico declared — 50,000 vol- unteers called out — $10,000,000 appropriated — Generals Taylor, Kearney, and Wood — Monterey captured — Kearney at Santa Fe — Colonel Don- ovan, and his exploits — Colonel Fremont on the Pacific coast — Battle of Buena Vista — Great victory by Taylor — General Scott at Vera Cruz and on the road to Mexico — Battle of Cerro Gordo — Victory by Twiggs — General Worth at Pueblo — Battles and Victories of Contreras and Churubusco — Battle's of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec — Capture of Mexico — Treaty of Guadaloupe-Hidalgo — The Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Burke's amendment to Or- egon bill — Mr. Calhoun's resolutions of 1847— Wisconsin admitted into the Union — Presidential election of 1S48 — Candidates, and result of elec- tion — Gold mines of California — Immense immi- gration — Retirement of Mr. Polk — His adminis tration. AMES K. POLK, eleventh Presi- dent of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1845, m tne 50th year of his age. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Taney, in the presence of a very large assemblage of citizens, but greatly inferior in num- 4&5 HISTORY OF 'THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 2t bers to that which attended the inaugu- ration of Harrison. In his inaugural, the new President spoke favorably of the late action of Congress in relation to Texas, and asserted that the title of the United States to the whole of Oregon was clear and indisputable, and intimated his intention to maintain it by force if necessary. The new cabinet consisted of James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of State ; Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Treasury ; William L. Marcy, of New York, Secretary of War; George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, Sec- and in other respects large profits were annually derived. They had been warm supporters of the nomination of Mr. Van Buren at the Baltimore Convention, while Mr. Thomas Ritchie, of the " Richmond Enquirer," an editor of great renown, had been one of his bitterest assailants, and it was thought by the friends of Mr. Van Buren had defeated his nomination, which resulted in the nomination of Mr. Polk. Now while it is true that the friends of Mr. Van Buren, and all wings and branches of the Democratic party, North as well as South, and all oppo- nents of Mr. Clay, had earnestly united GALVESTON, TEXAS. retary of the Navy ; Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, Postmaster-General ; and John V. Mason, of Virginia, Attorney-General. Mr. Polk very early committed an ex- ceedingly impolitic act, looking to the success of his own administration, as well as the future interests of the Demo- cratic party. Philip P. Blair (the elder), and John C. Rives, editors of the " Con- gressional Globe," had from the beginning of Jackson's administration been regarded as the recognized organ of this great leader as well as of the Democratic party generally in the United States, from which position as public printers to secure his defeat by the election of Mr. Polk, yet the sting of Mr. Van Bu- ren's defeat remained in the breast of many of his able and influential friends. Mr. Polk on his accession insisted upon the retirement of Messrs. Blair and Rives, from their high and quasi official posi- tion, and that Mr. Ritchie should be brought from Virginia, and placed in charge of the paper, to be recognized as the organ of his administration. This caused great offence to the friends of Mr. Van Buren, and ultimately led to a breach in the Democratic party that was never healed. THE ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 487 General Almonte, the Mexican Min- ister resident at Washington, after re- monstrating against the course of the United States towards Texas, demanded his passports soon after Mr. Polk came into office. Mexico, never having rec- ognized the independence of Texas, still claimed that Territory as belonging to her dominions. All friendly inter- course between the United States and Mexico now ceased. Immediately after the adoption by Texas, on the 4th of July of this year, as stated, of the prop- osition of the United States submitted by Mr. Tyler, Mr. Polk, apprehending difficulty with Mexico, forthwith sent Colonel Zachary Taylor, now raised to the rank of Brigadier-General, with about five thousand troops to repel any inva- sion that might be attempted. Early in August he took position at Corpus Christi, near the mouth of the Neuces river, which was the western boundary of the civil jurisdiction of Texas at that time; though she claimed the Rio del Norte as her rightful boundary. In the meantime the country was filled with mourning at the intelligence of the death of General Jackson, who died at the Hermitage on the 8th of June, 1845, in the 79th year of his age. The Twenty-ninth Congress com- menced its first session on the 1st of December, 1845, and continued to the loth of August, 1846. It was largely Democratic. Among the first of its acts was the recognition, on the 29th of December, 1845, of Texas as a State of the Federal Union, on the terms proposed and agreed to. Other leading measures of a civil character adopted at this ses- sion were the repeal of the Whig tariff of 1842, and the enactment of another, based upon the principles of free trade; the re-enactment of the Sub-Treasury or Independent Treasury system; the es- tablishment of the Smithsonian Institute out of the funds received for this pur- pose in 1837; and a resolution for ter- minating the joint occupation of Oregon under the then existing treaty with Great Britain. Internal improvement bills, and a bill to pay citizens of the United States for French spoliations on their commerce, were vetoed by the President. In the meantime, military acts of great importance were occurring. On the 13th of January, 1846, General Taylor was ordered to advance to the Rio Grande. On the 28th of March he reached the east bank of that river, and erected a fortress called Fort Brown, directly opposite and within cannon-shot COAT OF ARMS OF TEXAS. of the Mexican city of Matamoras. On the 26th of April, General Ampudia, the Mexican commander, gave notice to General Taylor that he considered hos- tilities commenced. On the same day sixty-three men, commanded by Captain Thornton, were attacked on the east side of the Rio Grande above Mata- moras, and all were either killed or cap- tured. This was the first blood shed in the Mexican war. As the movements of the Mexicans indicated the purpose of cutting off the supplies of General Taylor by an attack on Point Isabel, about twenty miles in his rear, he marched to the relief of that place with his principal force, leaving a small gar- rison at Fort Brown. Having garrisoned Point Isabel, which was a provision 488 J JJ STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 21 depot, on the 7th of May he set out on his return to Fort Brown. About noon on the next day he found the Mexican army, consisting of about 6,000 men, drawn up in battle array across the prairie near Palo Alto, to oppose his progress. A battle immediately ensued, in which General Taylor was victorious. The Mexican loss was 100 killed. Tay- lor's loss was four killed and forty wounded. This was known as the bat- tle of Palo Alto. Among those who fell in this engagement on the side of the United States, no one was so much distinguished as Major Samuel Ringgold, lie was a native of Maryland and of eminent family. He had organized what was known as the Flying Artillery of the United States service, and was in com- mand of his battery when he received the mortal wound. He was borne from the field, but survived long enough to hear the shouts of the victory which his guns had contributed so much to achieve. He fell in the 50th year of his age, and was universally lamented by his countrymen. On the afternoon of the next day General Taylor again advanced, and about four o'clock came in sight of the Mexicans, occupying a strong position near Resaca-de-la-Palma, about three miles from Fort Brown. The battle was begun by the artillery on both sides. The Mexican guns were served much better than on the former occasion, and it was determined to capture them. Ac- cordingly, Captain May, with a squadron of dragoons, was ordered to charge them. In a few minutes the guns were in his possession, and General La Vega, who commanded the artillery, was a pris- oner. The charge was supported by the infantry, and the whole Mexican army was soon in complete rout. This was the battle of Resaca-de-la-Palma. By night not a Mexican soldier could be found east of the Rio Grande. On the next day General Taylor resumed his position at Fort Brown. In a few days he crossed the river and took possession of Matamoras. On the nth of May, 1846, Mr. Polk, in a message to Con- gress, declared that Mexico " had invaded our territory and shed the blood of our citizens on our own soil;" and Congress declaring that war existed "by the act of Mexico" authorized the President to accept the services of 50,000 volunteers and placed $10,000,000 at his disposal. The President's call for volunteers was answered by the tender of the services of more than 300,000 men. General Taylor's force was soon increased by a large number of volunteers from Texas and the adjoining States. The plan of military operations now adopted by the administration at Wash- ington was, to strike Mexico on three different lines : one was from Matamoras to the interior, under the lead of General Taylor ; another through New Mexico to California, under the lead of General Kearney, while a third column was to seize the northern States or Departments of Mexico, under the lead of General Wool. In the latter part of August, General Taylor began a forward move- ment, and on the 19th of September ap- peared before Monterey, the capital of the Department of New Leon, garrisoned by about 10,000 troops. General Tay- lor's force was only 6,500 men. He began the attack on the 2 1st of Sep- tember, and on the 24th the Mexican general submitted propositions, which resulted in the surrender and evacuation of Monterey. An armistice of eight weeks was agreed upon by the two gen- erals, or until instructions to renew hos- THE ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. •lilities could be received from their respective governments. The truce was disapproved by Mr. Polk, and on the 13th of October General Taylor was ordered to renew offensive operations. About the middle of November the division of General Worth occupied Saltillo, the capital of Cohahuila. In December, General Patterson took pos- session of Victoria, the capital of Ta- maulipas, and the port of Tampico was captured by Commodore Perry. Mean- time General Kearney made himself master of Santa Fe and all New Mexico 489 Chihuahua. But he did not find him there. Wool, being impeded in his march by lofty and unbroken ranges of mountains, had turned southward and united his forces with those of General Worth at Saltillo. Colonel Doniphan was ig- norant of this fact w*hen he set out; but he successfully accomplished his march of 1,000 miles, through the enemy's country, from Santa Fe to Saltillo. He fought two battles on the way against superior forces, in both of which he was victorious, and captured Chihuahua, a city of great wealth, containing a popu- without opposition. Having established ' lation of 40,000 inhabitants. During the A MEXICAN CATHEDRAL. a new government in New Mexico, he set out, on the 25th of November, with 400 dragoons for California. He learned on the way that California was already in possession of the United States by other forces which had been sent round by water in anticipation of a war with Mexico. So, sending back 300 of his men, he proceeded across the continent with only 100. In the early part of December, Colonel Doniphan, who had been left in command at Santa Fe, with only 900 men, set out from Santa Fe south- ward, expecting to join General Wool at preceding summer, California had been taken possession of by the United States forces under Colonel Fremont, Commo- dore Sloat, and Commodore Stockton ; and by the 22d of August, 1846, the whole vast region of California was in military possession of the United States. In December, soon after the arrival of General Kearney, the Mexican inhabi- tants of California endeavored to regain possession, but the attempt was soon suppressed. On the 22d of February, 1847. General Taylor, with an army of only about 49° HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1 , c. l\ 5.000 men, was met by General Santa Anna at Buena Vista, a few miles from Saltillo, with an army of 20,000 Mex- icans. About 1 1 a. m. Santa Anna sent in a flag of truce, with a demand for an unconditional surrender. Major Bliss, the chief of staff of General Taylor, sent in reply these words, which became famous : " General Taylor never surren- ders." That evening about 4 o'clock the Mexicans made an advance on Tay- lor's left, but no decided action took place that evening or during the night. out opposition, a short distance south of Vera Cruz. He immediately invested the city. On the night of the 27th articles of sur- render were signed, and on the 29th the flag of the United States floated over the walls. On the 8th of April General Twiggs was sent forward towards the City of Mexico. On the 1 8th was fought the battle of Cerro Gordo, in which the armies of the United States were com- pletely victorious. On the 15th of May the advance under General Worth occu- DEFEAT OF THE MEXICAN RIGHT WING- AT BUENA VISTA. Next day, the 23d, all the power of Santa Anna was thrown in his right wing upon Taylor's left, which met with a signal repulse, and with this ensued a general rout of the Mexican army. Tay- lor's victory was complete, and enabled the United States to turn their whole attention to the great design of the cap- ture of Vera Cruz and the City of Mexico. On the 9th of March, 1847, General Scott, to whom this line of operations was committed, landed 12,000 men, with- pied the city of Puebla. At Puebla, General Scott waited for reinforcements. On the 7th of August, with about 1 1,000 men, he began his march for the capital of the republic. In a k-w days they came in sight of the city. On the 20th occurred the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, in which the United States forces were again victorious, defeating an army of 30,000 Mexicans. On the morning of the 8th of September the Molino del Rey and the Caca de Moto, THE ADMLX1STRA1I0M OF POLK. 49 1 the outer defences of the castle of Cha- pultepec, were stormed and taken by General Worth; but his loss was very- great. All day long on the 12th, the battle raged near and at the gate of the city; and when night put an end to the conflict, one division of Scott's army rested in the suburbs of Mexico, and another was actually within the gates. During the night the Mexican army and all the officers of the government fled from the city, and at seven o'clock next morning the flag of the United States floated in triumph from the walls of the national palace. The conquest of the capital put an end to the war. A treaty of peace was not long after concluded between the two countries. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on the ioth of March, and by the Mexican Con- gress on the 30th of May. Mex- ico ceded to the United States all New Mexico and Upper California, and yielded also some important privileges. The United States paid Mexico $15,000,000, and as- \N§|| sumed the payment of all debts due to citizens of the United States from the Mexican gov- ernment. This is known as the treaty of Guadaloupe-Hidalgo. The immediate results of this war were the loss to the United States of about 25,000 men, and $160,000,000, with the acquisition of 632,157 square miles of territory and a very great aug- mentation of military renown. We will now return to civil affairs again. The most notable remaining events of the civil administration of Mr. Polk will be briefly stated. On the 8th of August, 1846, he sent a message to Congress, asking an appro- priation of $3,000,000, to enable him to negotiate a treaty of peace with Mexico, based upon the policy of obtaining a cession of territory outside of the then limits of Texas. It was on a bill to grant this appropriation, that Mr. David Wil- mot, of Pennsylvania, moved his cele- brated " Proviso," a restriction of slavery in any newly acquired territory, without any regard to the "Missouri Compro- mise" line, so called. The words of the amendment were as follows: GENERAL WINFIEU) SCOTT. "Provided, That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory which shall hereafter be ac- quired, or be annexed to the United States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Provided always, That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed out of said territory, to the 49- IIISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 21 person claiming his or her labor or ser- vice." The reading of the amendment again sounded "like a fire-bell at night." It produced great sensation in the House and the country. Mr. John Quincy Adams immediately arose and requested that the amendment should not be pressed. It would embarrass, petent legislative power. The amend- ment, however, was carried, and the bill with it passed the House, but was lost in the Senate. The second session of the Twenty- ninth Congress commenced on the 7th of December, 1846, and continued to the 3d of March, 1847, when it expired by the limitation of its term. DOMliARIlMI'-NT if not defeat, the appropriation asked for, which he was in favor of granting. He also expressed the opinion that the amendment was practically of no im- portance, as slavery was already abol- ished by Mexico in all the territory proposed to be acquired ; and the laws then prevailing in the acquired country would continue until repealed by com- OF VERA CRUZ. During this period the question of slavery was the chief topic of discussion and agitation, the controversy with England on the Oregon question having been amicably adjusted on a compromise line of the forty-ninth degree or parallel of north latitude. On the 15th of Janu- ary, [847, when the bill for organizing a territorial government in Oregon THE ADMINISTRATION OE POLK. 49J was pending in the House, with the I 30' north latitude." This amendment Wilmot proviso incorporated in it, it was was rejected : showing that the restrio moved by Mr. Burt, of South Carolina, I tionists did not intend to abide by that GENERAL SCOTT ENTERING THE CITY OF MEXICO. to insert, just before the restrictive I line, on the principle of a division of the clause, these words : " Inasmuch as the public domain between the two great whole of said territory lies north of 36 I sections of the Union, unnn which it was 494 HISTORY OF THE IW'ITED STATES. Book II, c. 21 originally based. This bill passed the House without any qualification of the slavery restriction, so incorporated in it. In the meantime, Mr. Calhoun, who had returned to the Senate, introduced in that body a series of resolutions, which embodied the views of strict construc- tionists. This resolution was in these words : ''Resolved, That the Territories of the United States belong to the several States composing the Union, and are held by them as their joint and common property. "Resolved, That Congress as the joint agent and representative of the States of this Union, has no right to make any law, or do any act whatever, that shall di recti}', or by its effects, make any dis- crimination between the States of this Union by which any of them shall be deprived of its full and equal right in any territory of the United States ac- quired or to be acquired. "Resolved, That the enactment of any law, which should directly, or by its effects, deprive the citizens of any of the States of this Union from emigrating with their property into any of the Ter- ritories of the United States, will make such discrimination, and would, there- fore, be a violation of the Constitution, and the rights of the States from which such citizens emigrated, and in deroga- tion of their perfect equality, which be- longs to them as members of this Union, and would tend directly to subvert the Union itself. "Resolved, That it is a fundamental principle in our political creed, that a people, in forming a Constitution, have the unconditional right to form and adopt the government which they may think best calculated to secure their liberty, prosperity and happiness, and that in conformity thereto, no other con- dition is imposed by the Federal Consti- tution on a State, in order to be ad- mitted into this Union, except that its Constitution shall be Republican ; and that the imposition of any other by Con- gress would not only be in violation of the Constitution, but in direct conflict with the principle on which our political system rests." These resolutions gave rise to ani- mated and heated debates in the Senate, but never came to a vote. The bill to organize a territorial government for Oregon also failed in the Senate at this session. The first session of the Thirtieth Con- gress commenced on the 6th of Decem- ber, 1847, and continued to the 14th of August, 1848. A majority of the House were against the administration. The Whigs had carried the preceding elec- tions. The war with Mexico was not terminated when it met. The slavery question, however, was the most agitat- ing of all others. The principles gov- erning the discussions were those set forth in Mr. Calhoun's resolution on the one side, and those embodied in the Wilmot proviso on the other. In the midst of this excitement, ex-President John Quincy Adams was stricken with paralysis at his seat in the House, on the 2ist of February, 1848. lie was borne to the Speaker's room, where he re- mained two days, and then expired on the 23d, in the eighty-first year of his age. I lis remains were escorted to his home at Quincy, Massachusetts, by com- mittees of both houses of Congress, and the highest funeral honors paid to his memory. His last intelligible words were, "This is the end of earth." While these agitations were going on, the people of Wisconsin, on the 29th of THE ADMINISTRATION OF TOLK. 495 May, 1848, were admitted as a separate State into the Union. COAT OF ARMS OF WISCONSIN. After the treaty of peace with Mexico, various efforts were made to settle the slavery question between the States, in organizing territorial governments for Oregon, California, New Mexico and Utah. Mr. Douglas in the Senate made an urgent appeal to adhere to the prin- ciple of a division of the public domain on the line of 36 30', known as the "Missouri Compromise" line. This was utterly repudiated by a controlling ma- jority from the Northern States, both in the House and Senate. A territorial government was finally organized for Oregon, with an unqualified restriction on slavery in it. All attempts to settle the question as to the other Territories utterly failed. In this state of things Congress adjourned on the 14th of August, 1848. During the fall of this year another Presidential election came off. The combined elements of opposition to the administration, in the main, continued to bear the name of Whigs, though the anti-slavery element now formed a dis- tinct organization known as " Free-Soil- ers." The Democratic party held their general Convention at Baltimore, on the 22d of May, and put in nomination for the Presidency General Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and for the Vice-Presidency General William O. Butler, of Kentucky. The Whigs held their Convention at Philadelphia on the 1st of June, and put in nomination for the Presidency General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, and for the Vice-Presidency Millard Fillmore, of New York. The Free-Soilers held their Convention at Buffalo, N. Y., on the 8th of August, and put in nomina- tion for the Presidency Martin Van Buren, of New York, and for the Vice- Presidency Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts. The result of the election was 163 electoral votes for the Whig ticket and 127 for the Democratic. The Free-Soil ticket received no electoral vote ; but local returns showed that out of a pop- ular vote of nearly 3,000,000, there were polled for it nearly 300,000 individual votes. The vote for Taylor and Fillmore by States stood fifteen ; and for Cass and Butler fifteen also. The fifteen States that voted for Taylor and Fillmore were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connec- ticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida ; the fifteen that voted for Cass and Butler were Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, South Caro- lina, Ohio, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Taylor and Fillmore, therefore, having received a majority of the electoral votes, were declared elected to the offices of Presi- dent and Vice-President, for four years after the 4th of March ensuing. During the second session of the Thirtieth Congress, which convened on the 4th of December, 1848, and expired on the 4th of March, 1849, no act of importance was passed. Several efforts were made to settle the question of slavery in the Territories. Soon after the acquisition of California, gold mines were discovered in that countrv, which 496 proved to be perhaps the richest in the world. These attracted a rapid and an immense immigration. The population soon swelled to over 100,000. An or- ganized government was greatly needed, but owing to the discordant elements of the political parties at Washington, the subject of a government for them, as well as for the people of Utah and New Mexico, was left to the councils of the incoming administration and the patri- otism of another Congress. On the 4th of March, 1849, Mr - Pol k retired to his home in Tennessee. His administration had been a stormy one. It will, however, always be distin- guished in history by its eminently wise financial and revenue policy, the settle- ment of the Oregon question with Eng- land, and the immense acquisition of territory from Mexico. During its period also, great lustre was added to the military renown of the United States. It may not be inappropriate here to add that Mr. Polk was of Scotch-hi-di stock, original!)- named Pollock ; and was a grand-nephew of Colonel Thomas Polk, celebrated in connection with the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ- ence. Samuel Polk, his father, while his son James Knox was in his minority, moved from North Carolina to Tennes- see. This was in 1806. The son grad- uated at the university at Nashville in 18 1 8. He studied law with Felix Grundy, a jurist and statesman of great distinc- tion in that State. Polk, after being admitted to the bar, settled at Columbia, Tennessee, in 1820, and rose rapidly in his profession. He soon took an active part in politics. He was elected to the Legislature in 1823, and continued a member until 1825, when he was elected to Congress, and was re-elected continu- ously until 1839. HISTORY OF HIE UNITED STATES. 0ookH..«.8E CHAPTKR XXII. ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. (4th of March, 1849 — 22t ' °f December, 1849.) The Allison letters — The inaugural and attending scenes — New cabinet — Fust object of attention — Affairs and condition of things in the Territory of California — Thomas Butler King's mission — Death of ex-President James K. Polk — Meeting of Thirty- first Congress, December, 1849; — Great excitement in the House over the election of Speaker — No party had the majority — The Whig caucus — Some Southern Whigs refused to support the nominee, Mr. Winters — Howell C'..M>, <>f ( reorgia, nominated by the Democrats — Gentry voted for by some Southern Whigs — Exciting debates in the House — Speeches of Duer, Bailey, Toombs, Stanton and others — A rule adopted cutting off debate — Toombs' denunciation of it — Plurality rule adopted for the election of the Speaker — Howell Cobb finally elected under it, his vote being nine less than a majority. HE 4th of March, 1849, coming on Sunday, Zachary Taylor was duly inaugurated as the twelfth President of the United States on the next day, Monday, the 5th of that month, in the 65th year of his age. The oath of office was admin- istered by Chief-Justice Taney, in the presence of an immense concourse of people, in front of the east portico of the capitol. He had received a majority of the electoral votes of both sections of the Union, and intense interest was felt as to the policy he would pursue in regard to the exciting questions upon the subject of slavery in the newly ac- quired territory which then aroused so much bitterness. The platform upon which he had been nominated by the Whig Convention con- sisted really of two letters that he had addressed to Captain J. S. Allison, a prominent Whig of Louisiana; one on the 1 2th of April, and the other on the 22d of May, preceding the nomination. The first of these letters is words : " Baton Rouge, April 12th, 1848. "Dear Sir: My opinions have so often been misconceived and misrepre- sented, that I deem it due to myself, if THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR in these 497 having, at the solicitation of many of my countrymen, taken my position as a can- didate, I do not feel at liberty to surrender that position until my friends manifest a wish that I should retire from it. I will then most gladly do so. I have no pri- PRESIDENT TAYLOR. not to my friends, to make a brief ex- position of them upon the topics to which you have called my attention. "I have consented to the use of my name as a candidate for the Presidency. I have frankly avowed my own distrust of my fitness for this high station ; but 32 vate purposes to accomplish, no party projects to build up, no enemies to punish, nothing to serve but my country. " I have been very often addressed by letter, and my opinions have been asked upon almost every question that might occur to the writers, as affecting the in- 498 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c 22 terests of their country or their party. I have not always responded to these inquiries for various reasons. " I confess, while I have great cardinal principles which will regulate my politi- cal life, I am not sufficiently familiar with all the minute details of political legislation, to give solemn pledges to exert myself to carry out this or defeat that measure. I have no concealment. I hold no opinion which I would not readily proclaim to my assembled coun- trymen; but crude impressions upon matters of policy, which may be right to-day and wrong to-morrow, are, per- haps, not the best tests of fitness for office. One who cannot be trusted with- out pledges cannot be confided in merely on account of them. "I will proceed, however, now to re- spond to your inquiries: " First. I reiterate what I have so often said: I am a Whig. If elected I would not be the mere President of a party. I would endeavor to act independent of party domination. I should feel bound to administer the government untram- melled by party schemes. " Second. The veto power. The power given by the Constitution to the execu- tive to interpose his veto is a high con- servative power; but in my opinion should never be exercised except in cases of clear violation of the Constitu- tion, or manifest haste and want of con- sideration by Congress. Indeed I have thought that for many years past, the known opinions and wishes of the ex- ecutive have exercised an undue and injurious influence upon the legislative department of the government; and for this cause I have thought our System was in danger of undergoing a great change from its true theory. The per- sonal opinions of the individual who may happen to occupy the executive chair ought not to control the action of Congress upon questions of domestic policy; nor ought his objections to be interposed where questions of constitu- tional power have been settled by the various departments of government, and acquiesced in by the people. "Third. Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the improvement of our great highways, rivers, lakes, and har- bors, the will of the people as expressed through their representatives in Congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the executive. "Fourth. The Mexican war. I sin- cerely rejoice at the prospect of peace. My life has been devoted to arms, yet I look upon war, at all times and under all circumstances, as a national calamity, to be avoided if compatible with the national honor. The principles of our government, as well as its true policy, is opposed to the subjugation of other nations and the dismemberment of other countries by conquest. In the language of the great Washington, 'Why should we quit our own to stand on foreign ground!' In the Mexican war our na- tional honor has been vindicated; and in dictating terms of peace, we may well afford to be forbearing and magnanimous to a fallen foe. " These are my opinions on the subjects referred to by you, and any reports or publications, written or verbal, from any source, differing in any essential particular from what is here written, are unauthor- ized and untrue. " I do not know that I shall again write upon the subject of national politics. I shall engage in no schemes, no combina- tions, no intrigues. If the American people have not confidence in me, they ought not to give me their suffrages. If THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 499 they do not, >ou know me well enough to believe me when I declare I shall be content. I am too old a soldier to mur- mur against such high authority. " Z. Taylor. " To Captain J. S. Allison." The other letter, written on the 22d of May, afterwards, in no way modified the sentiments expressed in the one of the 1 2th of April. It only embraced a few other topics, including and favoring a judicious system of internal improve- ments, etc., by the general government. But in neither of these letters was any- thing said upon the subject of slavery, the Wilmot Proviso, or the power of Congress over the subject, which then constituted the most agitating questions of the day. In the canvass he had said that he was a Whiff, but not an ultra Whirr. Hence his inaugural was looked to with intense interest in the excited state of the coun- try. It was deemed conciliatory and was satisfactory to " the friends of the Union under the Constitution." Having spent most of his life in the army, he had never taken any active part in politics, though his sympathies were well known to have been in early life with those of the jef- fersonian school. The new cabinet consisted of John M # Clayton, of Delaware, Secretary of State ; William M. Meredith, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury; George W. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of War; William B. Preston, of Virginia, Secre- tary of the Navy; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior (the new Executive Department just created); Jacob Collamer, of Vermont, Postmaster- General, and Revcrdy Johnson, of Mary- land, Attorney-General. Among the first subjects which occu- pied the attention of the new administra- tion was the state of things in California. Thomas Butler King, of Georgia, was despatched as a special agent, with in- structions to advise the people, in co- operation with General Riley, then in command there, to adopt a Constitution for their own local self-government, pre- paratory to their admission into the Union as a State. In pursuance of this policy a Convention was called, and a State government instituted. In May of this year occurred a very notable riot, at the Astor Place Opera House, in New York; it grew out of an antagonism of the friends of the two most celebrated and rival tragedian actors of that day, Edwin Forrest, of the United States, and W. C. Macready, of England. Prejudices growing out of the nationali- ties were the cause of it. The friends of Forrest, from some supposed slight he received from Macready in Europe, de- termined that he should not play at a second engagement he made in this coun- try. The first night of his appearance, the play was interrupted and Macready had to leave the stage from hisses and groans from the audience, and all sorts of yells and disorder, and the throwing of missiles and offensive liquids by the friends of Forrest from the galleries. The friends of Macready wishing the engagement to be carried out announced the play for the next evening, and called for the police and military authorities. This was but fuel to the flame. One of the greatest riots ever witnessed in New York was the result. A mob of 20,000 assembled, the military fired upon them, and great numbers were killed and wounded. Macready made his escape from the theatre unhurt, but never at- $oo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. I'l tempted further to fulfil his engagements. He soon sailed for England.* On the 15th of June, ex-President James K. Polk died in Nashville, Ten- nessee, in the 54th year of his age. The first session of the Thirty-first Congress commenced on the 5th of De- cember, 1849, and continued to 30th of September, 1850. This was the longest and stormiest session of Congress ever before assembled, not excepting those in which the Missouri agitation had excited so much alarm. It is known as the "Congress of 1850." The principle of a division of the pub- lic domain between the sections at- tempted to be established in 1820 having been entirely repudiated by the rcstric- tionists, as we have seen, within a year after the date of that act, was also de- cidedly repudiated on the admission of Arkansas in 1836^ It was again, by the same party, emphatically repudiated on the admission of Texas.J It was again as emphatically repudiated by the adop- tion of the "Wilmot Proviso " as«tated, in the House, on the 8th of August, 1846,$ and again in a vote on the Oregon bill in 1847; || and then again on the passage of the bill for the organization of territorial government in Oregon in 1848.** From this it clearly appears that so far from this principle having been en- tered into as a solemn covenant and compact between the sections in 1820, and strictly conformed to for thirty years, the record establishes the fact to be * For a full description of this extraordinary and tragic affair see "Our First Century." f Cong. Globe, 24th Congress, 1st session, pp. 434, 442. \ Ibid., 2d session, p. 192. \ Cong. Globe, 29th Congress, 1st session, p. 12 14. || Ibid., 2d session, p. 187. **Cong. Globe, 30th Congress, 1st session, pp. 1027, 1061, 1062, 1078. directly to the contrary. It is true, that during all this period a majority of the Representatives of the Southern States were willing, as a compromise for the sake of union, peace, and harmony, to accept and abide by that line of division. But a majority of the members from the Northern States rejected and repudiated it in the House and Senate whenever the question came up. Upon the meeting of the Thirty-first Congress, therefore, this whole question relating to slavery in the vast public domains, recently acquired from Mexico, came up afresh with all its fierce and disturbing ele- ments, just as it had come up before the Fifteenth Congress, as to the then unset- tled public lands. California, New Mex- ico, and Utah were still undisposed of, in any way, as we have seen. It is true, two other attempts, besides those noticed, had been made to settle the controversy as to these new acquisitions, which had both failed. One was known as the " Clayton Compromise," in 1848, and the other as the " Walker amendment," in 1849. As neither of these measures, however, had any direct bearing on the point, which we now have in hand, they may both be passed by at this time, without any inquiry into their respective merits or demerits.* The whole question, therefore, came up in 1849, as '* did in the beginning in 1 81 8. A new administration had, in the meantime, come into power. The Dem- ocratic party, under whose auspices these acquisitions of territory had been made, had lost, not only the Presidential elec- tion in 1848, but had also lost their ma- jority in the House of Representatives. Never had any Congress convened under * For the author's views on the Clayton Compro- mise, see his speech on the subject, Appendix to Cong. Globe, 30th Congress, 1st session, p. 1103. THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 50I so much excitement, or under so great responsibility as did the one on which then devolved the disposition of this question, under all the circumstances attending it. The embarrassments of the period were increased from the fact that, for the first time, Southern sen- ators and members were greatly divided, as to the proper course to pursue, in view of the question with all its bearings. Some believed the time had come for a separation of the States, and that every- thing should be done with a view to effect that result. Others believed that the Union might still be preserved upon constitutional principles, and that the object was worth the most earnest and pa- triotic efforts. This class believed, how- ever, that the time had come for a total abandonment of all old party associa- tions, and that the united South should act in party organization with those of the North only who would maintain the Federal system, as it was established by the Constitution. The principle of division having been abandoned by the North, from which side it had originally been proposed, this class maintained that the South, should now firmly and unitedly occupy their original position against the re- strictionists from the beginning of the government, and present the distinct question to the North of a continued Union under the Constitution, or an im- mediate separation. They believed that on this issue, squarely presented, a major- ity of the North would stand by the Constitution. The entire South, with few exceptions, were resolved not to submit to the " Wilmot Proviso," or, what was the same thing, a total exclu- sion from the public domain. Nearly all of the Southern States, if not every one, had passed resolutions to this effect But the particular class in Congress so mentioned, who were then of opinion that the best policy for the South was thus to make a united effort, through a reorganization of parties, to bring the ad- ministration of the government back to original principles, with hopes thus to preserve the Union, and the equality of the States, was confined at first, almost exclusively, to those known as Southern Whigs. They set the ball in motion by refusing to act further with the Whig organization as it was then constituted, when the party met in caucus to nomi- nate a candidate for Speaker of the House. A resolution, previously pre- pared on consultation, and presented by Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, was sub- mitted to this meeting, which in sub- stance was, that Congress ought not to put any restriction upon any State in- stitution in the common Territories, and ought not to abolish slavery as it then existed in the District of Columbia. Upon the refusal of this caucus even to entertain this proposition, this class re- tired from the meeting and would not act with the Whigs in the organization of the House. The class of Southern Whigs thought if all the Southern mem- bers would occupy the same position, with the view to an entire reorganization of parties, as stated, they thought this patriotic result of union and harmony could be accomplished. But no Southern Democrat favored the movement, while a majority of the Southern Whigs re- fused to sanction it. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was the Democratic nominee for the Speaker's chair, and Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, was put in* nomination for re-election by the Whigs. The class of Southern Whigs referred to voted for Meredith P. Gentry, of Ten- nessee.* But neither of these two * See Appendix I. $02 HISTORY OF THE UN1TKD STATES. Book II., C. M great parties, then so called, as matters stood at the time, had a majority in the House. Besides the Southern Whigs, who had thus separated themselves from their former party organization, there were fourteen extreme restrictionists from the North, composed partly of Whigs and partly of Democrats, who refused to support either of these nomi- nees. In this way the election of a Speaker was prevented for nearly a month, and would have been prevented from ever taking place on old party lines, if the entire South had united with this separate Southern organization in their purpose, or if the rules of the House had not been violated by the passage of a resolution declaring that a bare plu- rality of votes cast for any one, instead of a majority of the whole, should con- stitute an election. This subsequent events clearly proved. The position and views of these Southern Whigs, as well as the temper of the times, can best be known from a sample of the debates in the House, on the question of the elec- tion of a Speaker. Mr. Toombs took the lead in this matter, in behalf of his associates. At- tention will first be called to what he said in the midst of the confusion and excitement attending the organization of the House. It was on the 13th of De- cember, after nine days had been con- sumed in unsuccessful ballotings for Speaker. But before taking up this speech, it is proper to add to what has been said, a few words more in further explanation. The Democrats, having become satisfied that in no event could they concentrate a majority of votes upon their regular candidate (Mr. Cobb), had informally taken his name down, and run up that of Mr. William J.- Brown, of Indiana. On the 12th of December, after Mr. Brown had received a full ma- jority of all the votes in the House, but before the result was announced, what was characterized as a very discreditable arrangement between him and certain members belonging to the extreme re- strictionists referred to, then known as " Free-Soilers," by which he had pledged himself to constitute three important committees in such way as they had re- quired, was exposed, when Southern Democrats immediately withdrew their votes, and he failed of an election. Mr. Albert G. Brown, of Mississippi, then in- troduced a resolution declaring Mr. Cobb the Speaker. It was amidst the confusion growing out of this state of things that Mr. Duer, of New York, next day addressed the House at some length. Amongst othci things, he said : " The gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Brown] had introduced a proposition, declaring the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Cobb] to be the Speaker of this House; in other words, a proposition calling upon his (Mr. D.'s) side of the House (the Whig side) to make an un- conditional surrender. It appeared to him that this was asking altogether too much ; for his own part, so anxious was he that an organization should be ef- fected, that he was willing to organize in almost any way, by electing to the Speaker's chair cither a Whig or a Democrat, or a Free-Soilcr — any one, in short, except a disunionist. He never would give his vote for any man whom he believed to be inimical to the Union. " Mr. Bayley, of Virginia (interposing), said : There are no disunionists in this House. " Mr. Duer. — I wish I could think so, but I fear there are." * In this speech, Mr. Duer made no *Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 27. THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. co- special mention of the Southern Whigs, who thus stood aloof, and did all in their power to prevent an organization, under circumstances then existing; but he evi- dently referred to them, in his remarks about not voting for a disunionist ; for the position of these Whigs was well known at the time to be for a separation of the States, or the abandonment by Congress of the general territorial re- striction. It was now that Mr. Toombs, in his own behalf, as well as in behalf of these Southern Whigs, who up to this time had been silent, rose, and in his bold, dashing, impromptu, Mirabeau strain, delivered himself in these words : " The difficulties in the way of the organization of this House are apparent and well understood here, and should be understood by the country. A great sectional question lies at the foundation of all these troubles. The disgraceful events of yesterday, and the explanations consequent upon their exposure, prove conclusively that the Democratic party and the Free-Soilers were both acting in reference to it. The Southern Demo- crats were satisfied, from the public course and private assurances both of the member whom they supported and his friends, that he was worthy of trust upon these important sectional issues. The disclosures which were made proved that they were mistaken ; and, with a promptness honorable to them, they instantly withdrew their support, and left the discredit to fall where it properly belonged. The Free-Soilers, who were engaged in the discreditable conspiracy, secretly and dishonorably sought to ac- quire advantages in the organization of the House by private pledges, concealed and intended to be concealed from the great majority of those whose votes were necessary to elect the person for whom they voted. They sought, by a discred- itable trick, to secure those advantages in the organization which they had not the courage or the boldness openly to demand. They affected to rely on a written pledge which they knew was given in fraud and treachery. I leave the morality and honesty of this party to be tested by the simple fact of this transaction, with the single remark that these are the men whose consciences have no rest on account of what they ROBERT TOOMBS. call the sin of slavery. The Whig party presented their nominee, who has re- ceived the support of the great majority of that party. No pledges were asked by the Northern members of that party, for the very sufficient reason that, being in a majority of nearly three to one, they were abundantly able to take care of themselves. I did not act with them, because the events of the past, of the present, and the prospect of the future, force the conviction on my mind that the interests of my section of the Union arc 504 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 22 in danger, and I am therefore unwilling to surrender the great power of the Speaker's chair without obtaining secur- ity for the future. "We have just listened to strong ap- peals upon the necessity of organizing the House. I confess I do not feel that necessity. From the best lights before me, I cannot see that my constituents have anything to hope from your legis- lation, but everything to fear. We are not impatient to have the doors of your treasury thrown open, and $40,000,000 of the common taxes of the whole nation thrown into the lap of one-half of it. We ask for none of it ; we expect none of it ; therefore, gentlemen must pardon my want of sympathy for their impa- tience. By giving you the control of the treasury, we increase your ability to oppress. I want grievances redressed, and security against their further perpe- tration before I am willing to give you power over the supplies. Sir, I do not regret this state of things in the House. It is time we understood one another ; that we should speak out, and carry our principles in our foreheads. " It seems from the remarks of the gentleman from New York, that we are to be intimidated by eulogies upon the Union, and denunciations of those who are not ready to sacrifice national honor, essential interests, and constitutional rights upon its altar. Sir; I have as much attachment to the Union of these States, under the Constitution of our fathers, as any freeman ought to have. I am ready to concede and sacrifice for it whatever a just and honorable man ought to sacrifice. I will do no more. I have not heeded the aspersions of those who did not understand, or desired to misrepresent my conduct or opinions in relation to these questions, which, in my judgment, so vitally affect it. The time has come when I shall not only utter them, but make them the basis of my political action here. I do not, then, hesitate to avow before this House and the country, and in the presence of the living God, that if by your legislation you seek to drive us from the Territories of California and New Mexico, pur- chased by the common blood and treas- ure of the whole people, and to abolish slavery in the District, thereby attempt- ing to fix a national degradation upon half the States of this Confederacy, / am for disunion; and if my physical courage be equal to the maintenance of my con- victions of right and duty, I will devote all I am and all I have on earth to its consummation. "From 1787 to this hour, the people of the South have asked nothing but justice — nothing but the maintenance of the principles and the spirit which con- trolled our fathers in the formation of the Constitution. Unless we are un- worthy o^our ancestors, we will never accept less as a condition of Union. A great constitutional right which was de- clared by a distinguished Northern Justice of the Supreme Court (Judge Baldwin) to be the corner-stone of the Union, and without which, he avers, in a judicial decision, it would never have been formed, has already practically been abrogated in all the non-slavehold- ing States. I mean the right to reclaim fugitives from labor. I ask any and every Northern man on this floor, to answer me, now, if this is not true — if this great right, indispensable to the formation of the Union, is any longer, for any practicable purpose, a living principle? There are none to deny it. You admit you have not performed your constitutional duty; that you withhold THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 505 from us a right which was one of our main inducements to the Union; yet you wonder that we look upon your eulogies of a Union whose most sacred principles you have thus trampled under foot as nothing better than mercenary, hypocriti- cal cant. This District was ceded im- mediately after the Constitution was formed. It was the gift of Maryland to her sister States for the location of their com- mon government. Its municipal law main- tained and protected domestic slavery. You accepted it. Yourhonor was pledged for its maintenance as a national capital. Your faith was pledged to the mainten- ance of the rights of the people who were thus placed under your care. Your fathers accepted the trust, protected the slaveholder and all other citizens in their rights, and in all respects faithfully and honestly executed the trust; but they have been gathered to their fathers, and it was left to their degenerate sons to break their faith with us, and insolently attempt to play the master where they were admitted as brethren. I trust, sir, if the representatives of the North prove themselves unworthy of their ancestors, we shall not prove ourselves unworthy of ours; that we have the courage to de- fend what they had the valor to win. "The Territories are the common prop- erty of the people of the United States, purchased by their common blood and treasure. You are their common agents ; it is your duty, while they are in a terri- torial state, to remove all impediments to their free enjoyment by all sections and people of the Union, the slaveholder and the non-slaveholder. You have given the strongest indications that you will not perform this trust — that you will ap- propriate to yourselves all of this terri- tory, perpetrate all these wrongs which I have enumerated; yet, with these decla- rations on your lips, when Southern men refuse to act in party caucuses with you, in which you have a controlling majority — when we ask the simplest guarantee for the future — we are denounced out of doors as recusants and factionists, and in- doors we are met with the cry of ' Union, Union.' " Sir, we have passed that point. It is too late. I have used all my energies, from the beginning of this question, to save the country from this convulsion. I have resisted what I deemed unneces- sary and hurtful agitation. I hoped against hope, that a sense of justice and patriotism would induce the North to settle these questions upon principles honorable and safe to both sections of the Union. I have planted myself upon a national platform, resisting extremes at home and abroad, willingly subjecting myself to the aspersions of enemies, and, far worse than that, the misconstruction of friends, determined to struggle for, and accept any fair and honorable adjust- ment of these questions. I have almost despaired of any such, at least from this House. We must arouse and appeal to the nation. We must tell them, boldly and frankly, that we prefer any calami- ties to submission, to such degradation and injury as they would entail upon us, that we hold that to be the consumma- tion of all evil. I have stated my posi- tions. I have not argued them. I re- serve that for a future occasion. These are the principles upon which I act here. Give me securities that the power of the organization which you seek will not be used to the injury of my constituents, then you can have my co-operation ; but not till then. Grant them, and you pre- vent the recurrence of the disgraceful scenes of the last twenty-four hours, and restore tranquillity to the country. Re- 506 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 22 fuse them, and, as far as I am concerned, ' let discord reign forever ! ' "[Several times during the delivery of these remarks, Mr. T. was interrupted by loud bursts of applause.]" * This speech produced a profound sensation in the House and in the coun- try. It received rounds of applause from the floor and the galleries. It did hot, however, assuage, in the slightest degree, either the bitterness or the de- termination of the restrictionists. This is apparent from the fact that, the next day, a resolution was passed prohibiting all further debate, and also from another specimen of the proceeding on the 22d of December, which deserves special notice. But before referring to this specimen, it is proper to state that after the disclosure of the arrangement which Mr. Brown had entered into, his name was immediately withdrawn by the Democrats, and that of Mr. Cobb again put up; but no election had taken place, and it was evident that none could take place under the rules without an aban- donment of the then party organizations. The Whigs and the Democrats, in order to get over the difficulty, and to elect a Speaker without corning to the terms of these Southern Whigs, as stated, had come to a joint resolution, which was presented to the Mouse by Mr. Stanton, of Tennessee, from the Democratic side of the conference committee between the two great parties, on the 226. of December, and which declared in sub- stance, that that person should be Speaker who should receive the largest number of votes, barely, on a certain ballot, provided the number so received should be a majority of a quorum, though it fell short of a majority of the House. This was a plurality mode of election in *Cong. Cilobc, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 27. direct violation of the rules of the House. The scenes which occurred when it was presented constitute the specimen of the proceedings on that day to which atten- tion is now called, and in which Mr. Toombs again figured in the style we shall see. It is unnecessary to do more than give an extract of this speech, a sample of the most striking points in the general prevailing disorder. The parts omitted have no material bearing upon those here reproduced: " Mr. Stanton, of Tennessee, rose and said, that he desired to present a prop- osition to the House. He presumed that under the rule which had been adopted, it would not be in order to de- bate it. He would, however, be per- mitted to say, that it was a proposition known to have been presented on the part of the committee appointed by the Whig caucus, to confer with a similar committee appointed by the Democratic caucus. "Mr. Toombs inquired of the gentle- man from Tennessee [Mr. Stanton] if he yielded the floor?" Mr. Stanton. — " I do, if it is understood that I am to have the floor, as soon as the question is decided." Mr. Toombs (still remaining upon the floor) said : " I desire to be heard, to show this House, that they have no right to pass such an order, as they adopted on the 14th instant; that, ac- cording to the Constitution and the act of Congress of 1789, this House [in its present condition] has not the right to pass that or any other rule." Mr. Duer. — "I am willing to hear the gentleman from Georgia, and I propose that the unanimous consent be given to allow that gentleman and all other gen- tlemen to discuss the point." Mr. Baker. — " I move that by unani- THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 507 mous consent the gentleman from Geor- gia be allowed to debate this question." Mr. Inge called attention to the fact that the motion of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Baker) could not be re- ceived, as there was already a question pending upon his motion, to rescind the resolution of the 14th instant. The Clerk (to Mr. Toombs).— "Will the gentleman from Georgia allow me to put the question upon the motion to rescind the rule?" Mr. Toombs. — "No. I have the floor. I deny the constitutional right of this House to pass that resolution, or any other rule or resolution. It is an unauthorized infringement of the great right of freedom of speech. The Constitution and the law of 1789 — " [Loud cries to order.] Mr. Toombs. — "You may cry order, gentlemen, till the heavens fall; you cannot take this place from me. I have the right to protest against this transac- tion. It is not with you to say whether this right shall be yielded, and when it shall be yielded. I desire, then, gentle- men of the House, to show that you are without rules, and that no orders can — " [Cries to order — "Sit down; you have no right to debate."] Mr. Toombs (continuing). — " I am at- tempting to show to you that no man can rise to order — " [Calls to order.] Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania". — " I call the gentleman to order." Mr. Toombs (continuing). — "I say that, by the law of 1789, this House, until a Speaker is elected, and gentlemen have taken the oath of office, has no right to adopt any rules whatsoever." [Loud cries of "Order!"] Mr. Toombs. — " Gentlemen may amuse themselves by crying 'order — ' " [Calls to order.] Mr. Toombs. — "But I have the right, and I intend to maintain the right to — " Mr. Van Dyke. — "I call upon the clerk to put the question, and let us see whether the gentleman will disregard the order of this House." Mr. Toombs. — " I have the floor, and the clerk cannot put the question. I submit that — " [Calls to order.] Mr. Toombs (continuing). — " The clerk has not the right to put the question of order." ["Order! order!"] Mr. Toombs (continuing). — " That can- not be done. The House has no right. Gentlemen may cry 'order,' and inter- rupt me. It is mere brute force, at- tempting, by the power of lungs, to put down a gentleman in the exercise of his right." [Cries to order.] Mr. Toombs (continuing). — "But gen- tlemen cannot deprive me of my rights. I shall insist upon them to the last ex- tremity." Mr. Van Dyke. — " It is for the House to decide whether the gentleman is in order or not." The Clerk. — "The gentleman from New Jersey rises to a question of order. The question submitted to the House is — " Mr. Toombs. — " I deny the right of the clerk to put the question. I am upon the floor, and it is my right to — " [Calls for the yeas and nays from various parts of the House.] The Clerk (Mr. Toombs still upon the floor). — "The yeas and nays are de- manded upon the motion of the gentle- man from Alabama (Mr. Inge). Gentle- men, you, who are in favor of agreeing to the motion, will, when your names are called, say 'aye;' those of a con- trary opinion will say 'no.' The clerk will call the roll." Mr. Toombs (continuing). — " I deny 508 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 22 the right of these gentlemen to — " [Cries of " Order! " " Call the roll ! "] Mr. Toombs. — " I shall debate the question whether you call the roll or not." [Great confusion.] Mr. Breck. — " I move that this House do now adjourn." Mr. Toombs (continuing). — "I keep upon the floor. Shall the clerk deprive me of my constitutional rights ? [' Order ! order!'] Shall members, by crying 'order,' deprive me of those rights? I desire to show my rights under the Constitution. You do well to call the roll, and to cry 'order :'" [loud calls to order,] " but I deny the right of any and every man to interrupt me." [Cries of "Go it, Toombs." "Call the roll;" "order," and great confusion.] In the midst of this, and while Mr. Toombs was still addressing the House, the clerk commenced to take the yeas and nays, on the motion of Mr. Inge. Mr. Toombs continued to speak. Great confusion prevailed. He said: " If you seek," by violating the common law of Parliament, the laws of the land, and the Constitution of the United States, to put me down, ['order! order!' ' Call the roll,'] you will find it a vain and futile attempt. [' Order ! order ! '] I am sure I am indebted to the ignorance of my character of those who are thus disgracing themselves, [' order ! order ! '] if they suppose any such efforts as they are now making will succeed in driving me from the position I have assumed. ['Order! order!'] It is too strongly planted in the very founda- tions of public liberty. ['Order! order!'] I stand upon the Constitution of my country, upon the liberty of speech, ['order! order!'] which you have treach- erously violated, and upon the rights of my constituents, and your fiendish yells may be well raised to drown an argument which you tremble to hear. You claim and have exercised the power to prevent all debate upon any and every subject ; ['order! order!'] yet you have not even as yet, shown your right to sit here at all. I will not presume that you have any such right. ['Order! order!'] I will not suppose that the American peo- ple have selected such agents to repre- sent them ; and I therefore demand that they shall comply with the act of 1789, before I shall be bound to submit to their authority." [Loud cries of " Order ! order!"' "The second section of that act is [in] these words : " ' That at the first session of Congress after eveiy general election of Repre- sentatives, the oath or affirmation afore- said shall be administered by any one member of the House of Representa- tives to the Speaker, and by him to all the members present, and to the clerk, previous to entering on any other busi- ness' " This you have not done. [' Order ! order ! '] Your power to make rules for your own government does not belong to you in your unorganized condition. [Cries of ' Order ! '] You must first be sworn to obey the Constitution, before you can bind me, or yourselves, or any other citizen, by your rules. [Loud cries of ' order ! order ! '] " You refuse to hear either the Con- stitution or the law, or the comments upon it. Perhaps you do well to listen to neither ; they all speak a voice of con- demnation to your reckless proceedings. But if you will not hear them, the country will. Every freeman, from the Atlantic to the Pacific shore, shall hear them, and every honest man will con- sider them. They are the securities for his rights as well as mine. You cannot THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 509 stifle the voice that shall reach their ears. The electric shock shall proclaim to the freemen of this Republic ['order! order!'] that an American Congress, having con- ceived the purpose to violate the Con- stitution and the laws, to conceal those enormities, have disgraced the record of their proceedings by placing upon it a resolution that their Representatives shall not be heard in their defence ; and finding this illegal resolution inadequate to secure so vile an end, have resorted to brutish yells and cries, to stifle the words of those whom they cannot intimidate. ['Order! order! '] The law is clear, plain, and conclusive. You cannot answer it. It has been solemnly affirmed by an American Congress, in 1839. ['Order! order!'] I read from the Congressional Globe, page 56: On motion of Mr. Dromgoole, of Virginia, to adopt the standing rules and orders of the (then) last House of Representatives, as the rules and orders of that House, it was moved by Mr. Louis Williams to lay the resolution on the table. Mr. W. C. Johnson here made a point of order, that by the act of 1789, to which I have re- ferred, the House had no power to adopt rules until they were sworn. The Speaker (Mr. R M. T. Hunter) suggested that the better way of deciding the ques- tion would be on the motion (of Mr. Williams) to lay it on the table. The yeas and nays were called, and the reso- lution was laid upon the table by the casting vote of the Speaker; Congress thus deciding that, even after a more advanced stage of the proceedings, after a Speaker was elected, the House could not, before its members were sworn, even adopt rules for their own government. [The clerk still continued to call the roll, a few members were answering ; others inquiring what was the question ; others demanding that their names should be called, and great confusion ; during all of which Mr. Toombs held on in his re- marks.] "I ask [said Mr. T.] by what au- thority that man (pointing to the clerk's desk) stands there and calls those names ? By what authority does he interfere with the rights of a member of this House? [The clerk continued to call.] He is an intruder, and how dares he to interrupt members in the exercise of their consti- tutional rights ? Gentlemen, has the sense of shame departed with your sense of right, that you permit a creature, an interloper, in nowise connected with you, to stand at that desk and interrupt your order ? [' Order ! order ! '] " I have shown you that the House of Representatives decided this question in 1839, pending the New Jersey contested election. At the head of the names af- firming it stands that of John Q. Adams — a gentleman distinguished at least for his vast and varied knowledge of con- stitutional law and the science of gov- ernment. The members of the House whose seats were not contested having decided (before they were sworn or or- ganized) that the vote of certain mem- bers of New Jersey should not be counted, and the validity of that decision being insisted upon, Mr. Adams said, ' That decision was illegal, unconstitu- tional, null and void, on the ground, also, that the House, in its then unorganized state, had no power under the Constitu- tion, to decide any question.' The history of that whole controversy shows such to have been the general opinion of the House, as I am prepared to show from the debates now before me, but as the House seems to be a little more patient, I will not inflict further quota- tions upon them. The House continued, 5io HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 22 without making any new rules, for days, until it was finally organized, and the members were sworn ; then rules were adopted for its government. "If, then, the House, before its or- ganization, could decide no question, how can it enact a law, binding upon its members, abridging the liberty of speech ? I venture to say that no such rule was ever before adopted in any de- liberative assembly. It is without a precedent in the annals of civilization. Even the revolutionary tribunals of France, during the Reign of Terror, did not soil their blood-stained records with an order denying the liberty of speech. This deed was reserved for you, Repre- sentatives of a free people. • [' Order ! order! '] What, then, is your condition? — what your rights, and what your du- ties, in your present condition ? Under the Constitution you have the right to choose your Speaker and other officers. This must be done in conformity to ex- isting laws, for you cannot now make a new law. The general parliamentary law, the common law of Parliament, as fir as it is not inconsistent with your Constitution and statute law, is your law. By it you are bound, until you are in a condition to make others. It is amply sufficient for all legitimate pur- poses of organization. Thirty Con- gresses have met and been organized unde>-i.jn, p. 198. On the next day, February the 28th, Mr. John Bell, of Tennessee, introduced into the Senate a series of resolutions, setting forth in substance what was then considered a modified form of the exec- utive policy for a proper adjustment, which he supported in a two days speech of great length, and with all the powers he could command. On the 4th of March Mr. Calhoun's sentiments on the crisis were delivered in the Senate. He was too feeble to speak, but he was present, and Mr. Mason, of Virginia, read what the great Carolina senator had written for the oc- casion. In this speech he manifested strong attachment to the Union under the Constitution, but maintained that all the dangers which then threatened its continuance arose from the centralizing tendency of the government. This had, by its tariffs, and by several other measures specified by him, given a preponderance to the population of the non-slavcholding States, and the tendency was towards con- solidation. He said : " What was once a Constitutional Fed- eral Republic is now converted, in re- ality, into one as absolute as that of the Autocrat of Russia, and as despotic in its tendency as any absolute govern- ment that ever existed." He alluded to the ligaments of the Union from the beginning. They were chiefly ecclesiastical, social and political. The two former had already been broken. Most of the churches North and South had separated. " The political ties only remained, and these too, as the tendency was, must soon be broken, except the sections were held together by force. Force might keep them connected, but the combination would partake more of the character of subjugation on the part of the weaker to the stronger, than the union of free, independent, sovereign THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 517 States in one Confederation, as they stood in the early days of the government, and which only is worthy the name of union. There was only one way in which the Union could be preserved, and that was by adopting such measures as would satisfy the States belonging to the South- ern section, that they could remain in the Union consistently with their honor and safety." "It" [the Union, said he] "cannot, then, be saved by eulogies on the Union, however splendid or numerous. The cry of 'Union, Union, the glorious Union!' can no more prevent disunion than the cry of ' Health, health, glorious health ! ' on the part of the physician can save a patient lying dangerously ill. So long as the Union, instead of being regarded as a protector, is regarded in the opposite character, by not much less than a majority of the States, it will be in vain to attempt to conciliate them by pro- nouncing eulogies on it. " Besides, this cry of Union comes commonly from those whom we cannot believe to be sincere. It usually comes from our assailants. But we cannot be- lieve them to be sincere; for, if they loved the Union, they would necessarily be devoted to the Constitution. It made the Union, and to destroy the Constitu- tion would be to destroy the Union. But the only reliable and certain evi- dence of devotion to the Constitution is to abstain, on the one hand, from vio- lating it, and to repel, on the other, all attempts to violate it. It is only by faithfully performing these high duties that the Constitution can be preserved, and with it the Union. " But how stands the profession of devotion to the Union by our assailants, when brought to this test? Have they abstained from violating the Constitu- tion ? Let the many acts passed by the Northern States to set aside and annul the clause of the Constitution, providing for the delivery up of fugitive slaves, answer. I cite this, not that it is the only instance (for there are many others), but because the violation in this par- ticular is too notorious and palpable to be denied. Again, have they stood forth faithfully to repel violation of the Constitution ? Let their course in refer- ence to the agitation of the slavery question, which was commenced and has been carried on for fifteen years, avowedly for the purpose of abolishing slavery in the States — an object all ac- knowledged to be unconstitutional, an- swer. Let them show a single instance during this long period, in which they have denounced the agitators or their attempts to effect what is admitted to be unconstitutional, or a single measure which they have brought forward for that purpose. How can we, with all these facts before us, believe that they are sincere in their profession of devotion to the Union, or avoid believing their profes- sion is but intended to increase the vigor of their assaults, and to weaken the force of our resistance! " Nor can we regard the profession of devotion to the Union, on the part of those who are not our assailants, as sin- cere, when they pronounce eulogies upon the Union, evidently with the in- tent of charging us with disunion, with- out uttering one word of denunciation against our assailants. If friends of the Union, their course should be to unite with us in repelling these assaults, and denouncing the authors as enemies of the Union. Why they avoid this, and pursue the course they do, it is for them to explain. " Nor can the Union be saved by in- 5 i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. •:.■* voking the name of the illustrious Southerner, whose mortal remains re- pose on the western bank of the Poto- mac. He was one of us — a slaveholder and a planter. We have studied his history, and find nothing in it to justify submission to wrong. On the contrary, his great fame rests on the solid founda- tions that, while he was careful to avoid doing wrong to others, he was prompt and decided in repelling wrong. I trust that, in this respect, we profited by his example. " Nor can we find anything in his his- tory to deter us from seceding from the Union, should it fail to fulfil the objects for which it was instituted, by being permanently and hopelessly converted into the means of oppressing, instead of protecting us. On the contrary, we find much in his example to encourage us, should we be forced to the extremity of deciding between submission and dis- union. * ****** " I lavine now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to the question with which I commenced. How can the Union be saved ? There is but one way by which it can, with any certainty, and that is, by a full and final settlement on the principle of justice, of all the ques- tions at issue between the two sections. The South asks for justice, simple jus- tice, and less she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer but the Constitution, and no concession or sur- render to make. She has already sur- rendered so much, that she has little left to surrender. Such a settlement would go to the root of the evil, and remove all cause of discontent, by satisfying the South she could remain honorably and safely in the Union; and thereby restore the harmony and fra- ternal feelings between the sections which existed anterior to the Missouri agitation. Nothing else can, with any certainty, finally and forever settle the questions at issue, and terminate agita- tion, and save the Union. " It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly avowal on all sides, as to what is intended to be done. If the question is not now settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can hereafter be ; and we, as the Representatives of the States of this Union, regarded as governments, should come to a distinct understanding as to our respective views, in order to ascertain whether the great questions at issue can be settled or not. If you, who represent the stronger por- tion, cannot agree to settle them on the broad principle of justice and duty, say so; and let the States we both represent agree to separate and part in peace. If you arc unwilling we should part in peace, tell us so, and we shall know what to do, when you reduce the ques- tion to submission or resistance. If you remain silent, you will compel us to infer by your acts what you intend. In that case California will become the test question. ***** " I have now, Senators, done my duty in expressing my opinions fully, freely, and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In doing so, I have been governed by the motives which governed me in all the stages of the agitation of the slavery question, since its commencement. I have exnted myself, during the whole period, to arrest it, with the intention of saving the Union, if it could be done, and if it could not, to save the section where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which I sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side. Having faithfully done my duty to the THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 519 best of my ability, both to the Union and my section, throughout this agita- tion, I shall have the consolation, let what will come, that I am free from all responsibility." * In this speech Mr. Calhoun also sug- gested, as a further security for the permanency as well as the strength of the Union, for the future, in case the then questions should be settled upon right principles, a constitutional amend- ment providing for a dual executive. The idja was barely presented, not elaborated. But it was that the execu- tive office should be filled with two instead of one. One of these two to be selected by the slaveholding States, and the other by the non-slaveholding" States, who, upon all sectional questions, should have the same check upon each other as that which existed in the amended Constitution of Rome between the Consuls and the Tribunes. This he thought would be necessary for har- mony, which he considered as essential for strength, after the equality then ex- isting between the number of slavehold- ing and non-slaveholding States would be destroyed by the admission of Califor- nia. But he lived to see the end of none of these measures. He died twenty-five days afterwards, on the 31st of March. In his death passed away one of the ablest, truest, and most patriotic public men this country ever produced. He was a close reasoner, a clear and pro- found thinker, a model of sobriety, temperance, and morals in every respect. The science of government was his favor- ite study; and in his day he had few equals and no superior in all the elements of real statesmanship. The two survi- vors of the illustrious trio referred to both did honor to themselves, in their *Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 453. feeling tributes to his memory on the occasion of his funeral obsequies. But we must proceed with a rapid glance at facts, with their dates, during this stormy as well as momentous ses- sion. On the 7th of March, three days after Mr. Calhoun's speech, Mr. Web- ster addressed the Senate. What he then said has become famous as his 7th of March speech, or " Union speech." In it he took, for the first time, decided ground against Congressional restriction in the Territories. The speech made a profounder sensation upon the public mind throughout the Union than any one ever delivered by him before. The friends of the Union under the Constitu- tion were strengthened in their hopes, and inspired with renewed energies by its high and lofty sentiments. Mr. Douglas addressed the Senate on the 13th of March, on the same line, and with great power and eloquence. On the 1 8th of April, a resolution, pre- viously offered by Mr. Henry S. Foote, of Mississippi, an active and zealous co- operator with Mr. Clay in his general objects, was passed in the Senate, to raise a select committee of thirteen, to whom the resolutions of Mr. Clay and Mr. Bell were referred. This committee was chosen by that body the next day. The chairmanship of it was, by almost unanimous consent, awarded to Mr. Clay. The other members of the com- mittee consisted- of General Cass, of Michigan, Mr. Dickinson, of New York, Mr. Bright, of Indiana, Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, Mr. Phelps, of Vermont, Mr. Cooper, of Pennsylvania, Mr. King, of Alabama, Mr. Mason, of Virginia, Mr. Downs, of Louisiana, Mr. Mangum, of North Carolina, Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, and Mr. Berrien, of Georgia. On the 8th of May, Mr. Clay, as chair- 520 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 23 man of this committee, reported to the Senate one bill (which afterwards was known as the "Omnibus"), covering all the matters embraced in his resolutions on the 29th of January before ; that is, for the admission of California, territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, the settlement of the question of bound- ary with Texas, the rendition of fugitive slaves, and the abolition of what was called the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Those portions of the bill providing territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico were identical with the separate bills on the same sub- jects introduced by Mr. Douglas, in the Senate, on the 25th of March, as before stated, except in one particular; that is, after the words in his bill declaring that the territorial legislatures should pass " no law interfering with the primary disposal of the soil," the committee had added, " nor in respect to African slavery." This amendment, in the opinion of many Southern men, was tantamount in legal effect to a positive Congressional exclusion of the South ; for, by the law of Mexico, slavery was prohibited in these Territories at the time of their acquisition, and if the legislative power there were restrained by Congress from ever changing this law then in force there, no Southern man could ever colo- nize any of this portion of the public domain with his slaves. Mr. Clay said this amendment had been put in by a majority of the committee against his wishes ; but he did not regard it as an insuperable objection to the bill, as it was not, in his opinion, a positive Congres- sional restriction. He said slavery was now abolished by Mexican law in these Territories at the time of their acquisi- tion, and he never would vote to change it. Mr. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, on the 1 6th of May, moved an amendment to the words added by the committee, which he afterwards, on the 27th of May, modified so as to read as follows: "That nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to prevent said terri- torial legislature from passing such laws as may be necessary for the protection of the rights of property of every kind, which may have been, or may be here- after, conformably to the Constitution and laws of the United States, held in or introduced into said Territory." The object of this amendment, as he understood its legal effects, was evidently to clear this Territory open alike for settlement and colonization by citizens of all the States, with their property of every kind, while in a territorial condi- tion, without any restriction or discrim- ination one way or the other. His amendment, however, was rejected on the 5th of June, by a vote of twenty-five to thirty. Mr. Douglas then moved to strike out the select committee's amend- ment to his original bill, which left the territorial legislature free to pass all laws consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and the provisions of the act. 1 1 is motion, too, was lost, but the same motion was renewed by Mr. Nor- ris, of New Hampshire, on the 31st of July, when it was adopted — which ac- complished, in the opinion of the South- ern Whigs referred to, all that Mr. Davis' amendment would have clone. We turn now to the House again. In that body on the nth of June, Mr. Doty's bill, regularly introduced on the 27th of February, as stated, came up for action in that body, and was discussed, from day to day, in committee of the whole. Mr. Green, of Missouri, moved as an amendment the recognition of the THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 521 Missouri line through all the newly acquired territory. This was rejected by a large majority. Mr. Stanton, of Tennessee, on the 13th of June, offered the following amendment : "Provided, however, that it shall be no objection to the admission into the Union, of any State which may be hereafter formed out of the territory lying south of the parallel of latitude of 36 30', that the Constitution of said State may author- ize or establish African slavery therein." This proposition was rejected upon a count by tellers — yeas, 78; nays, 89. This was almost exclusively a sectional vote. The debates grew warmer and more excited. Speeches on the question, under an order of the House, were now limited to five minutes. The 14th of June was consumed in the same way. On the 15th of June, the question was put, in debate, to the ultra Northern ad- vocates of the admission of California, if they would ever, under any circum- stances, vote for the admission of a slave State into the Union. They refused to say that they would. It was in this condition of affairs that Mr. Toombs took the floor and spoke as follows: " Mr. Toombs renewed the amend- ment, and said the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Vinton, had just charged that the opposition to California with her present Constitution, by the South, was founded upon the anti-slavery clause in her Con- stitution, and therefore, in the denial of this right of a people forming a State Constitution, to admit or exclude slavery. Mr. Toombs denied the fact, and de- manded proof. On the contrary, he asserted that the South had uniformly held and maintained this right. That in 1820, on the Missouri question, the North denied it, but the South unanimously affirmed it. From that day till this, the South, through all her authorized ex- ponents of her opinions, has affirmed this doctrine; her legislatures, her gov- ernors of States, her members upon this floor, and even her primary assemblies, have all affirmed it; and the gentleman from Ohio cannot point to a single par- ticle of evidence to support his un- founded charge. The South can proudly point to her whole political history for its refutation. But how stands the case with the North ? She denied the truth of this great principle of constitutional right in 1820, acquiesced in the com- promise then made as long as it was to her interest, and then repudiated the compromise and reasserted her right to dictate Constitutions to Territories seek- ing admission into the Union. She put her anti-slavery proviso upon Oregon, and at the last session of Congress, when the present Secretary of the Navy. [William Ballard Preston, of Virginia] in- 1 troduced a bill to authorize California to form a State government and come into the Union, leaving her free to act as she pleased upon the question of slavery, the North put the anti-slavery proviso upon this State bill. I know of no Northern Whig who voted against that proviso. A few gentlemen of the Democratic party from the northwest, and my friend from Illinois among them [Mr. Richard- son], boldly and honestly struck for the right, and opposed it; but they were powerless against the torrent of Northern opposition. The evidence is complete; the North repudiated this principle, and while, for sinister and temporary pur- poses, they may pretend to favor the President's plan, which affirms it, they will not sustain it. They will not find a right place to affirm it until they get California into the Union, and then they will throw off the mask and trample it HISTORY OF THE U XI TED STATES. 522 under foot. I intend to drag off the mask before the consummation of that act. We do not oppose California on account of the anti-slavery clause in her Constitution. It was her right, and I am not even prepared to say that she acted unwisely in its exercise — that is her business; but I stand upon the great principle that the South has right to an equal participation in the Territories of the United States. I claim the right for her to enter them all with her prop- erty and securely to enjoy it. She will divide with you, if you wish it; but the right to enter all, or divide, I shall never surrender. In my judgment this right, involving, as it does, political equality, Is worth a thousand such Unions as we have, even if they each were a thousand times more valuable than this. I speak not for others, but for myself. Deprive us of this right and appropriate this common property to yourselves, it is then your government, not mine. Then I am its enemy, and I will then, if I can, bring my children and my constituents to the altar of liberty, and like Hamilcar I would swear them to eternal hostility to your foul domination. Give us our just rights, and we arc ready, as ever hereto- fore, to stand by the Union, every part of it, and its every interest. Refuse it, and for one, I will strike for independence/"* In sampling these debates with the view to present the tone and temper of the times, speeches made by Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Toombs have been purposely selected, because they have been gen- eral 1)' regarded as the cxtremest of the ultras on that side, and have both been very greatly misrepresented on this sub- ject. No man was ever more so than Mr. Toombs. It has been the object of many to hold him up as the embodiment Book II., c. 23 of slavery propagandism. Even Jiistoiics have been written in which the statement is made that he had declared that he would yet call the roll of his slaves on Bunker Hill. This has been done, too, without a particle of proof, and after the most positive denial by him of his ever having made such a declaration. But to proceed. This speech of Mr. Toombs, delivered on the 15th of June, produced the greatest sensation in the House that was made by any speech in that body during these exciting times. It created a perfect commotion. Several Southern Whigs who had not before sympathized with the class first alluded to now openly took sides with them. The House adjourned without coming to any further vote. The excitement in the House increased that in the Senate. It extended to the city, and the subjects discussed in the House became the topics of heated conversations on the streets and at the hotels. This was Sat- urday. Monday, Mr. Doty made another effort to get a resolution passed, requiring the committee of the whole to report his bill. The effort failed. In the Senate, on the same day, the 17th of June, the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the excitement was no less than it was in the House. It was at this stage of the proceedings that Mr. Soule, of Louisiana, offered to Mr. Clay's compromise bill an amend- ment to the first section which related to the territorial government of Utah, in these words: "And when the said Territory, or any portion of the same, 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."* *Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 1216. | * Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 1239. THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 523 This presented to that body the issue squarely, as it had been presented by Mr. Toombs in the House, on Saturday, and covered one of the essential points made by the Southern Whigs referred to in the beginning. When the Missouri line was thus, for the last time, voted down in the House, by the almost solid North, the South fell back in almost solid column to their original position anterior to the legislation of 1 820. They now maintained that there should be no Congressional restriction of slavery, either north or south of 36 30'. On this principle alone would they now settle. This amendment, therefore, of Mr. Soule was the turning point, and upon its adoption everything depended, so far as concerned Mr. Clay's proposed compromise. When Mr. Soule's propo- sition was submitted and read, perfect silence prevailed in the Senate; upon its rejection, in the state of the public mind, depended consequences which no human forecast could see. This was the prevailing feeling of all. The interest was enhanced, from the great uncertainty and doubt as to the probable result of the vote upon it. Several Northern Senators, who had before yielded the question of positive restriction — that is, the "Wilmot Pro- viso" — had given no indication of how they would act upon this clear declara- tion, that the people of the Territories might, in the formation of their State Constitutions, determine this question for themselves. Among these was Mr. Webster. Just before the question was put, and while anxiety was producing its most torturing effects, this most re- nowned statesman from New England arose to address the Senate. An im- mense crowd was in attendance. The lobby was full, as well as the galleries. All eyes were instantly turned toward him, and all ears eager to catch every word that should fall from his lips upon this, the most important question, per- haps, which had ever been decided by an American Senate. His own vote, even, might turn the scale. The con- cluding portion of that speech will be here presented : "Sir, my object is peace — my object is reconciliation. My purpose is not to make up a case for the North, or to make up a case for the South. My object is not to continue useless and irri- tating controversies. I am against agi- tators North and South; I am against local ideas North and South, and against all narrow and local contests. I am an American, and I know no locality in America. That is my country. My heart, my sentiments, my judgment, de- mand of me that I shall ever pursue such a course as shall promote the good, and the harmony, and the Union of the whole country. This I shall do, God willing, to the end of the chapter." The reporter says: "The honorable Senator resumed his seat amidst the general applause from the gallery." Every heart beat easier. The friends of the measure felt that it was safe. The vote was taken — the amendment was adopted. The result was soon com- municated from the galleries, and, find- ing its way through every passage and outlet to the rotunda, was received with exultation by the crowd there; with quick steps it was borne through the city; and in less than five minutes, per- haps, the electric wires were trembling with the gladsome news to the remotest parts of the country. It was news well calculated to make a nation leap with joy, as it did, because it was the first 524 HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES. Book II., c. 23 decisive step taken towards the establish- ment of that great principle upon which this territorial question was disposed of, adjusted, and settled in 1850. The per capita vote on this amend- ment, thus establishing the new principle of no Congressional intervention any- where in the Territories, in lieu of the former principle of a division of the public domain, and thus bringing the government back to the original posi- tion of the South upon the whole ques- tion, was 38 yeas to 12 nays. The 12 nays against it were: Messrs. Baldwin, of Connecticut; Chase, of Ohio; Clark, of Rhode Island; Davis, of Massachu- setts; Dayton, of New Jersey; Dodge, of Wisconsin; Green, of Rhode Island; Hall, of New Hampshire; Miller, of New Jersey; Smith, of Connecticut; Upham, of Vermont; and Walker, of Wisconsin. By States, the vote for and against the new principle was 20 yeas; 6 nays; 2 divided, and 2 not voting. The yeas were Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkan- sas, Louisiana, and Texas. The 6 nays were, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, and Wis- consin. The two States divided were New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The two not voting were Maine and New York. Mr. Seward, of New York, was within convenient distance, but voted neither one way nor the other. Thus two-thirds of the States in 1850 did affirm the original position of the South upon the territorial question. This was the gist of that compromise. We have now to follow the progress of this principle, thus established by the Senate on the 17th of June, to its final consummation. However, in the midst of these agita- tions, two important events took place. One was the exchange of ratifications of what is known as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty at Washington on the 4th of July. This was the pet piece of diplomacy on the part of John M. Clayton, Secretary of State. He prided himself greatly on the success of the achievement It was a convention between the United States of America and her Britannic Majesty relative to a ship-canal by way of Nica- ragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America. Nego- tiations toward this object were com- menced soon after the inauguration of President Taylor. It was agreed to by the Senate, May 22d, 1850; ratified by the President, May 23d, 1850; and the exchange of ratifications proclaimed July 5th, 1850. The first article of the treaty, which gives a clear outline of its objects, nature, and effects, is in these words : "article 1. "The governments of the United States and Great Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over said ship-canal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicara- gua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America ; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords or may afford, or any alli- ance which either has or may have to or with any State or people, for the purpose of erecting or maintaining any such for- tifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or THE ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR. 525 colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same; nor will the United States or Great Britain take ad- vantage of any intimacy, or use any the one any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal which shall not be offered on the same terms to the citizens or subjects of the other." There was very little discussion upon • PRESIDENT alliance, connection, or influence that either may possess, with any State or government through whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or in- directly, for the citizens or subjects of FILLMORE. the merits of this treaty at the time either in Congress or by the public press of the country. But it subsequently gave rise to an exceedingly animated de- bate in the Senate, in which Mr. Doug- las greatly distinguished himself in his 526 II I SI OR V OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II , c 23 arraignment of the statesmanship of Mr. and then another, until nothing of it was Clayton in effecting its execution. It is , left but that portion providing a govern- still a matter of grave discussion between eminent statesmen of the country; and as very different constructions are put upon several parts of its details, it. is likely at no distant day to become a serious question of controversy between the United States and Great Britain. The other great event that occurred about this time, and to which allusion has been made, was the death of Presi- dent Taylor. He died at the executive mansion, after a few days of illness, from a malignant fever, on the 9th day of July, 1850. The whole country was shocked and filled with mourning at the announce- ment of this great public calamity. The office of President, now for the second time in our history, devolved upon the Vice President. Mr. Fillmore, who was in cordial sympathy with Mr. Clay in his efforts at adjustment of all these ex- citing questions, immediately assumed the duties of the executive chair, and be- came the thirteenth President. General Taylor's cabinet having all resigned on his death, Mr. Fillmore filled their places by appointing Mr. Webster, Secretary of State ; Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; Charles M. Conrad, of Louisiana, Secretary of War; William A. Graham, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Virginia, Secretary of the Interior; Nathan K. Hall, of New York, Postmaster-General ; and John J. Critten- den, of Kentucky, Attorney-General. Mr. Doty's bill for the admission of California was not again taken up in the House. Mr. Clay's bill continued the subject- matter of angry discussion in the Senate, until the 31st of July, when it was so amended by striking out first one part meat for the Territory of Utah, with the select committee's amendment stricken out, and the Soule amendment of the 17th of June incorporated in it, as stated. This bill so passed the Senate the 1st of August, and went down to the House. In this way Mr. Clay's M Omnibus Bill," as it was called, went to pieces on the 31st of July, but the Senate immediately took up the separate parts, passed them in separate bills, and sent them down to the House in like manner, where they took their regular place on the Speaker's table. In that body, on the 28th of August, the Senate Utah bill was reached. It was referred to the committee of the whole without debate. The next one of the Senate bills reached, the same day, was the one for the settlement of the boundary between Texas and New Mex- ico. When this came up, Mr. Boyd, of Kentucky, offered an amendment pro- viding for a territorial government for New Mexico with the Soule amendment in it. This amendment so offered by Mr. Boyd, in other respects, was sub- stantially the same bill prepared for New Mexico by Mr. Douglas and Mr. McCler- nand, as before stated. On this the great sectional contest was now fought in the House as it had been in the Senate. It may not be uninteresting to notice in detail the various phases of the conflict as it progressed. We will therefore rapidly review some of the scenes. Civic conflicts have their interest as well as conflicts of arms. Though bloodless and less exciting, yet the lessons they teach, in a historic view, are quite as in- structive. On the 4th of September,* then, when * For the scenes here described, see Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, 1st session, p. 1746, et seq. THE ADMINISTRATION OF FILLMORE. $27 this Senate bill with Mr. Boyd's pro- posed amendment to it, and also an amendment proposed by Mr. Clingman, of North Carolina, providing another territorial government for a portion of the country which he designated as " Col- orado," came up for consideration under a special order, a motion was made to refer the bill with the pending amend- ments to the committee of the whole on the state of the Union. The previous question was seconded, and the main question on this reference was ordered by a vote of yeas 133 to nays 68. On the question of reference the vote was 101 to 99. So the motion to refer was carried. Mr. Walden, of New York, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill and amendments had been referred. Mr. Root, of Ohio, moved to lay that motion on the table. The vote to lay the motion to recon- sider on the table was 103 to 102. The Speaker, Mr. Cobb, voted in the negative. So the vote stood 103 to 103, and the motion to lay on the table the motion to reconsider was not carried. The question to reconsider then oc- curred. Upon it the yeas were 104, the nays 98 ; so the vote by which the bill had been referred was reconsidered. The question, then, again recurred upon the reference of the bill with amend- ments. The vote now stood 101 to 103. So the House refused to refer the bill with amendments to the committee of the whole. The first question, then, was on Mr. Clingman's amendment to Boyd's amend- ment. The vote on this was 69 to 130. So his amendment was lost. Mr. Thomson, of Mississippi, said that as no amendment under the previous question was now in order, he moved as a test vote to lay the whole thing on the table. Mr. Bayley, of Virginia, protested against its being considered a test vote. Mr. Vinton, of Ohio, wished to know if the motion to lay on the table was in order after the previous question was ordered. The Speaker said that it was. Mr. Wentworth, of Illinois, wished to know if there was any amendment pend- ing. The Speaker said there was. Mr. Wentworth wanted to know if the " Wilmot Proviso " was in it. He was info'rmed that it was not — the amendment pending was Mr. Boyd's, which did not contain it. Mr. Thomson, of Mississippi, with- drew his motion to lay on the table. Mr. Ashe, of North Carolina, re- newed it. Mr. McClernand, of Illinois, asked the yeas and nays : when four or five mem- bers had answered to their names on the call of the roll, the confusion in the hall became so great, the clerk could not proceed. The call was suspended. Mr. Disney, of Ohio, rose to a ques- tion of order. The Speaker decided it was too late, as several members had answered to their names on the call. The call of the roll was then resumed and completed, when the vote stood 61 for laying on the table, to 141 against it — so the bill was not laid on the table. The question then came on Boyd's amendment. Mr. Gott, of New York, demanded the yeas and nays. The vote stood 98 to 106; so the amendment was re- jected. Mr. Schenck, of Ohio, moved to re- consider the vote by which Boyd's 528 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II, c. 23 amendment had been rejected, and to lay that motion on the tabic. Mr. McLean, of Kentucky, called for the yeas and nays. Mr. Bokee, of New York, called for a division of the question. It then came up, first, to lay on the table the motion to reconsider. Mr. Schenck withdrew his motion to reconsider. Mr. Cartter, of Ohio, renewed it. Mr. Root moved to lay Mr. Carttcr's motion to reconsider on the table. Mr. Boyd moved that the House ad- journ. On this question the vote stood 71 to 128. Mr. Cartter then withdrew his motion to reconsider. The question came then on ordering the bill to be engrossed without the Boyd amendment. On this the vote stood, yeas, 80; nays, 126. So the bill was not ordered to be engrossed, and passed to a third reading, which was in effect its defeat. Great confusion pre- vailed in the hall. Many members ad- dressed the Speaker at the same time. Mr. Boyd, of Kentucky, was recognized. He moved to reconsider the vote by which the engrossment of the bill had been rejected. Mr. Burt, of South Carolina, moved to lay Mr. Boyd's motion to reconsider on the table. Mr. Harris, of Illinois, moved that the House adjourn, which motion prevailed. In this position of affairs night closed upon the parties. So ended the first day's action. The next day, September the 5th, the motion to lay Mr. Boyd's motion to re- consider on the table was the first ques- tion in order. On this the vote stood 71 to 135. So the motion to reconsider was not laid on the table. The pre- vious question was seconded on Mr. Boyd's motion to reconsider — the main question was ordered. Mr. Ilolloway, of New York, in- quired of the Speaker if the vote should be reconsidered, whether the bill would then be open for amendment. The Speaker said it would. The vote on Mr. Boyd's motion to reconsider the vote by which the en- grossment of the bill had been re- jected was then taken, and stood 131 in favor, and 75 against it. So the mo- tion prevailed. Mr. Grinnell, of Massachusetts, then moved to reconsider the vote by which Mr. Boyd's amendment had been re- jected the day before, and called the previous question, which was seconded. Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The vote stood 96 to 108. The question then came up on Mr. Grinnell's motion to reconsider. The vote stood, yeas, 106; nays, 99. So the rejection of Mr. Boyd's amendment was reconsidered. Man}' members now again addressed the chair at the same time. Mr. Boyd was recog- nized. He called the previous ques- tion. Strong appeals were made to him to withdraw it. Cries came from all sides of the House, " Question ! question ! " Mr. Meade, of Virginia, inquired if it was then in order to move to refer the whole matter to the committee of the whole on the state of union. The Speaker said it was not, pending the demand for the previous question. Mr. Preston King, of New York, asked if it was in order to move an amendment to the bill? The Speaker said not, pending the motion for the previous question. Mr. King asked if the chair had not THE ADMINISTRATION OF FILLMORE. 529 decided that it would be open for amend- ment if it was reconsidered ? The Speaker said he had, and it would be now, but for the demand for the pre- vious question ; if the demand for the pre- vious question was voted down, the sub- ject-matter would beopenforamendment. On the demand for the previous ques- tion, the vote was in favor of sustaining it 88, and against it 99. So the previous question was not ordered. Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, obtained the floor, and moved an additional section, in these words: "And be it further enacted, That no citizen of the United States shall be de-' prived of his life, liberty, or property in said Territory, except by the judgment of his peers and the laws of the land, and that the Constitution of the United States, and such States thereof as may not be locally inapplicable, and the com- mon law as it existed in the British Col- onies of America, until the 4th day of July, 1776, shall be the exclusive laws of said Territory, upon the subject of Afri- can slavery, until attested by the proper authority." Mr. Toombs said he had no desire to debate the question or to close debate on it, and would not move the previous question. Several members addressed the chair. Mr. Wentworth was recognized. He inquired whether it would be in order to move a substitute for Mr. Toombs' amendment. The Speaker said it would not be, as that was an amendment to an amend- ment already pending. Mr. Wentworth inquired if it was in order to move to commit. The Speaker said it was. Mr. Wentworth. — Is it in order to move to commit with instructions ? 34 The Speaker said that it was. Mr. Wentworth then moved to commit the bill with the following instructions: "So to amend the amendment as to exclude slavery from all the territory acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo eastward of Califor- nia." Several members addressed the chair. Mr. Wentworth, holding the floor, in- quired of the Speaker whether he could adopt other instructions that might be suggested to him, and after his demand for the previous question, whether separate votes could be taken on the dif- ferent sets of instructions. The Speaker said the motion to com- mit with instructions was indivisible; but upon the instructions a separate vote could be called, so as to leave with the motion to commit a separate and distinct proposition. Mr. Wentworth then ac- cepted from Mr. Howard, of Texas, cer- tain instructions relating to boundary and the settlement proposed to be made between the United States and Texas, and moved the previous question ; but yielded the floor to Mr. Featherstone.who wished an additional instruction, to wit, "strike out all of the original bill after the enacting clause, and insert as fol- lows: "That the boundaries of the State of Texas, as defined and established by the act of the Texas Congress, passed De- cember 19th, 1836, for that purpose, are hereby recognized by the government of the United States." He renewed Mr. Wentworth's call for the previous question. Great confusion prevailed. Many inquiries were ad- dressed to the chair, as to what would be the effect of ordering the previous question, and what would be the order of voting, if the previous question should 530 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Took II., c 23 be sustained. In answer the Speaker said : "The chair will state the question. If the previous question should be sustained, and the main question ordered, the ques- tion will be first on the amendment to the instructions offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Featherstone). Secondly, on the motion to commit with instructions (amended or not, as the case may be). If the House should refuse to commit with instructions, the question then recurs on the amendment of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Toombs), and then on the amendment of the gen- tleman from Kentucky (Mr. Boyd), amended or not, as the House may de- termine, and then on ordering the bill to a third reading. After the vote shall have been taken on the last mentioned proposition, and not before, the previous question will be exhausted." The call for the previous question was sustained by a vote of 102 to 40. The question on Mr. Featherstone's instructions was then decided by a vote of 71 yeas to 128 nays. The question then to commit with Mr. YYentworth's instructions coupled with Mr. Howard's, was decided by a vote of 80 yeas to 121 nays. So the motion to commit with instructions failed. The question then recurred upon Mr. Toombs' amendment. On this a division was called. The first branch of his amendment was agreed to without a count. The second branch was rejected by a vote of 64 yeas to 1 2 1 nays. The question then came up for a second time upon agreeing to the amend- ment of Mr. Boyd. Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, moved a division of the question. The Speaker held it to be indivisible. The question on Mr. Boyd's amendment was then decided by 106 yeas to 99 nays. So Mr. Boyd's amendment, as amended, was agreed to ; and the ques- tion recurred on ordering the bill, as it stood amended, to be engrossed for a third reading. Mr. Gott called for the yeas and nays. Mr. Inge moved that the House ad- journ. The House refused to adjourn. Mr. Inge moved to lay the whole sub- ject on the table. The House decided against the motion without division. The question then recurred on order- ing the bill as amended to be engrossed for a third reading. The roll was called. Intense excitement prevailed. The Speaker arose and very slowly was about to announce the result. Cries of " Re- port ! report ! report ! " came from all sides of the hall. Mr. McDowell, of Virginia, rose, and said he desired to know of the Speaker, in the event of the bill being lost by the present vote, if it would be open to re- consideration. Cries of " Order ! order ! " The Speaker made no reply. Mr. McDowell still remained on the floor. The Speaker inquired if the gentleman from Virginia desired to vote. Mr. Mc- Dowell said he had voted. Cries from all sides, " Report! report ! " etc. The Speaker commenced his an- nouncement by saying, " upon ordering the bill to be engrossed, the vote is 97-" Mr. Cabell, of Florida, rose, and said he desired to have his name called. The Speaker inquired if he was within the bar of the House when his name was called on the roll. He said he was. His name was then again called, and he responded "Aye." Demands were again made upon the Speaker to report. Mr. Potter, of Ohio, rose, and asked THE ADMINISTRATION OF FILLMORE. that his name be called. The inquiry was made if he was within the bar of the House when his name had been called. He answered he was. His name was again called, and he also voted "Aye." Mr. McLean insisted that order should be restored in the hall before the result was announced. The area was then cleared, and order restored. The Speaker arose and announced the vote. Yeas, 99; nays, 107. So the en- grossment of the bill was again lost. Mr. Howard, of Texas, moved a re- consideration of the vote. Mr. Inge moved to lay the motion on the table. The Speaker decided that the motion to reconsider was not in order, as a mo- tion to reconsider the vote on the third reading of the bill had been once recon- sidered. Mr. Howard appealed from the decis- ion. The question was, Shall the de- cision of the chair stand as the judgment of the House? Pending this question, on motion of Mr. McClernand, an ad- journment took place. So closed the second day upon the scenes of strife. On the 6th of September, the question recurring upon the appeal from the de- cision of the chair, Mr. Duer moved to lay the appeal on the table. On this question the yeas were "/J, and the nays 123. So the appeal was not laid on the table. The question then was, "Shall the decision of the chair stand as the judg- ment of the House ? " On this the yeas were 83, and the nays 123. So Mr. Speaker Cobb's decision was overruled. The question now was, Shall the vote by which the House refused to order the bill as amended to be engrossed for a third reading be reconsidered? The 531 vote was, yeas, 122 ; nays, 84. So the re- jection of the engrossment of the bill was again reconsidered. The question then recurred, Shall the bill as amended be ordered to be engrossed for a third reading ? Mr. Howard demanded the previous question. On ordering it, there were yeas, 1 1 5 ; nays, 91 — and upon the engrossment of the bill for a third read- ing, the yeas now were 108 ; nays, 98. So Boyd's amendment was thus finally adopted! The anti-restrictionists had won the day at last ! The hall was in a general uproar! Mr. Burt moved to lay the bill on the table. The vote was, yeas, 97 ; nays, 108. The bill as it then stood amended was put upon its passage, and was carried by a vote of 108 yeas to nays 97. Such are some of the scenes and struggles through which this new princi- ple, established in the Senate on the 17th of June, passed before its final consum- mation in the House on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1850. This was the compromise of that year. The other associated measures all depended upon it. The Senate concurred in the House amend- ments thus made to their bill. The other measures were all soon afterwards taken up and passed — the Utah bill ; the bill for the admission of California; the fugitive slave bill ; and the bill forbidding slaves to be introduced into the District of Co- lumbia, for the purpose of offering them in public market for sale. It is proper here to state that the Utah bill thus passed embraced within the boundaries of that Territory a portion of the Louisiana cession to which the old Missouii restriction applied. It em- braced that portion of this cession lying on the head-waters of the Colorado river, known as the Middle Park, " so glowingly described by Colonel Fremont," while $32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 23 the New Mexico bill embraced a degree and a half of latitude, and nearly four degrees of longitude, of that portion of territory north of 36 30', which was covered by the Congressional exclusion of slavery, as provided by the resolutions under which Texas became incorporated as a State into the Union. This is seen by a perusal of these acts.* The new principle now established removed these old restrictions so far as they came within the range of its action, at the time, and the establishment of this new terri- torial principle was the real and only Compromise of 1850. The other meas- ures, except the District slave-trade bill, were but cognate accompaniments. In procuring the establishment of this new principle there was no other threat, menace, or bluster, on the part of South- ern Senators and members, except the firm and determined declaration that their States would not remain in the Union, when it became a fixed fact that COAT OF ARMS OF CALIFORNIA. the principle of a division of the public domain between the opposing sections had been forever repudiated, unless ter- ritorial restriction by Congress should be totally abandoned, and unless the princi- ples of the Federal Constitution should be adhered to in good faith on this ques- tion on the part of their Northern con- federates. The compromise was an agreement on the part of the slavchold- ing States to continue in the Union, in * United States Statutes at Large, vol. ix., pp. 447 "J 453- consideration of these renewed pledges on the part of the non-slaveholding States, through their members and Sena- tors, to abide by the Constitution. It is true, Southern members and Senators were far from being unanimous in favor of this compromise. A protest against the admission of California was pre- sented to the Senate, the 14th of August, signed by Messrs. Hunter and Mason, Senators of Virginia; Messrs. Butler and Barnwell, of South Carolina; and Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, and some others; while thirty members in the House, from the South, voted against the bill, which we have just traced through its perils to its final passage, and which embraced the principle of the compro- mise, as we have seen. An analysis of this vote in the House, close as it was, presents some interesting facts, when made cither by States ox per capita. Analyzed by States, it shows that in that body the vote stood fifteen States for it, thirteen States against it, with two divided. The States voting for it were: New Hampshire, Pennsyl- vania, Illinois, Iowa, Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Indiana — five Northern and ten Southern. The States voting against it were: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ver- mont, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana — eight Northern and five Southern. The two States divided were Maine and Rhode Island, both North- ern. The per capita view of the vote is in- teresting only as it exhibits the position of the two great nominal parties upon the then living issues of the day — North as well as South. The 108 votes by THE ADMINISTRATION OF FILLMORE. 5-1 ■> which the compromise was carried were composed of 59 Democrats and 49 Whigs. Of these Democrats, 32 were from non-slaveholding States, and 27 from slaveholding States. Of the 49 Whigs, 24 were from the non-slavehold- ing States, and 25 from slaveholding States. Of the 97 votes against the compromise, 46 were Democrats, and 51 W T higs. Of the 46 Democrats, 17 were from non-slaveholding States, and 29 from slaveholding States. Of the 5 1 Whigs, 50 were from non-slavehold- ing States, and I from a slaveholding State. This exhibition of itself is quite enough to. show that those Southern Whigs, to whom allusion has been made, were right in their opinion at the begin- ning of the session, that the time had come for a reorganization of parties. This was the conclusion to which Mr. Clay and Mr. Cobb, and many other dis- tinguished opposing party leaders, came when the struggle was over. This ap- pears from a paper drawn up and signed by them with over forty others and pub- lished as a manifesto to the country, that they would in future support no man for office, either State or Federal, who would not agree to stand by and support the principles established by these measures. The effect of this paper, together with the action of the Georgia State Convention in December, 1850, and the elections in this State and Mississippi, in 185 1, which were carried by overwhelming majorities under a new party organization styled the Constitu- tional Union party, showed clearly to the two old parties that their days were numbered, unless they in their Conven- tions should proclaim their determina- tion to abide by the settlement so made. The Sovereign Convention of Georgia had, in December, 1850, set forth her position on all these questions in a series of resolutions which became famous as the Georgia platform, and gave to her the appellation of the Union State, as well as the Empire State of the South.* We have thus given a full and accurate history of the Congressional legislation of 1850, upon the subject of slavery, on what is generally known as Mr. Clay's "Compromise Measures," of that year. CHAPTER XXIV. fillmore's administration — Continued. (September, 1850 — 4th of March, 1853.) Second session of Thirty-first Congress, December, 1850 — The country comparatively quiet — Mr. Fill- more's message meets with general favor — Im- portant decision of Speaker Cobb on the subject of Federal time — The adjustment measures of 1850 not universally acquiesced in in the South — Conventions called in several States — South Caro- lina, Georgia, Mississippi — Georgia platform of 1850 — Elections in 1 85 1 in Georgia and Missis- sippi — Laying corner-stone of the capitol extension 4th of July, 1851 — Mr. Clay's death and funeral — Lopez's second expedition and disastrous results — Grinnell's second expedition to the Arctic Seas in search of Sir John Franklin — The elections to Thirty-second Congress favorable to the adjust- ment measures — Lynn Boyd, the leading advocate of the measures, chosen Speaker by a large major- ity—Presidential election in fall of 1S52 — Party platforms, with candidates and results of elections — Death of Mr. Webster — Retirement of Mr. Fill- more after the 4th of March, 1853. HE second session of the Thirty- first Congress met in December, 1850. Everything was compara- tively quiet. Mr. Fillmore's mes- sage, which suggested many new and important measures, was received with almost unanimous favor. Many of these were adopted, while others were not acted upon. The most important of the former was the passage of the cheap * See Appendix K. 534 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Bo.-k II, c. 24 postage system, by which a uniform rate of three cents was charged upon all letters throughout the United States; and an act providing for the settlement of disputed land claims of California. His recommendation also, that the ad- justment measures should be received as a settlement, in principle and sub- stance, of the matters therein embraced, met with general favor and approval. On the last day of the Thirty-first Congress, Mr. Speaker Cobb made a decision which deserves especial notice; it was in relation to the time at which the Congressional term expired; uni- formly from the beginning of the govern- ment to that time, it had been held that the Congressional term expired at 12 o'clock on the night of the 3d day of March — Cobb decided that it expired at noon on the 4th. The House sustained the decision, and it has been acquiesced in ever since. Twelve o'clock noon is now considered as the beginning and end of the political day, and official term of the members of Congress, and the President of the United States; as the evening and the morning constituted the first day, according to the Mosaic ac- count, so it does now in our Federal vocabulary. The term of a member of Congress begins on the 4th of March, at noon, and terminates on the same day two years thereafter. The Presidential term also begins at noon on the 4th day of March, and terminates at noon on the same day, four years thereafter. The settlement of the sectional ques- tions, as set forth in the last chapter, gave to the country generally peace and quiet, as stated, throughout the limits of the States. There was some agitation and excitement, however, at the South on the part of the extreme men, who had opposed the adjustment measures, espe- cially in South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. A convention was called in several of the Southern States to con- sider the compromise measures, and to resist the admission of California. In Georgia on this call there was a thorough discussion throughout the State ; the result of which was the election of an overwhelming majority of delegates op- posed to any resistance, and the adop- tion of a series of resolutions known as the Georgia platform.* In South Caro- lina it was determined to take no sepa- rate action, but co-operate with sister States. The agitation, however, was re- newed in 185 1, both in Georgia and Mississippi. The result was the tri- umphant election of Howell Cobb as Governor of Georgia as a constitutional Union man, who was the distinguished Speaker of the House of Representatives in Congress, as a Democrat, under the old party organization, over Charles J. McDonald, who had been twice governor, and thought to be personally the most popular man in the State. While Henry S. Foote, an ardent supporter of the compromise measures in the United States Senate, was elected in Mississippi, Governor of that State, by an equally triumphant majority over Jefferson Davis, who was supported and voted for by those who opposed the settlement of 1850. South Carolina still held her position not to take the lead, but to hold herself in readiness to co-operate on any line of action that might be adopted by her sister States. On the 4th day of July, 185 1, the corner-stone of the two new wings of the capitol was laid. Mr. Webster de- livered a speech on the occasion which was considered one of the greatest of his life. It was delivered to an immense * See Appendix K. VIEW OF THE NATIONAL CAPITOI. AT WASHINGTON. (535) 53^ HISTORY 01 THE UNITED STATES. Hook II., c 24 audience, on a platform erected on the east side of the capitol. In it, among other tilings, he said : " If it shall hereafter be the will of God that this structure shall fall from its base — that its foundations shall be upturned, and the deposit beneath this stone be brought to the eyes of men — be it then known that on this day the Union of the United States of America stands firm, that this Constitution still exists unimpaired, and, with all its use- fulness and glory, is growing every day stronger in the affections of the great body of the American people, and at- tracting more and more the admiration of the world." This exhibits a striking illustration of Mr. Webster's devotion to the Union of the States under the Constitution. Mr. Clay's prominence in effecting the adjustment of the sectional controversy, as related in the last chapter, was con- sidered the crowning glory of his life. The party animosities of former years were forgotten. lie now had the confi- dence, friendship and admiration of free- traders and protectionists, of bank Whigs, and Jackson Democrats. He never more took an active part in public affairs ; but continuing to hold his seat he returned to Washington in the winter of 1 85 i, where he remained, gradually failing in health with the infirmities of age, until the 29th of June, 1852, when, after having passed the 75th anniversary of his birth, he gradually and quietly Sink to his last rest, at his quarters in the National hotel, leaving the country at peace with the world, and at peace with itself. The midday of the life of but few public men was ever more stormy than his had been, while that of none ever closed with a more tranquil and glorious sunset. His funeral services, held in the cap- itol, were of the most impressive char- acter. Eulogies of the highest order of eloquence and the most touching pathos were pronounced by Senators and mem- bers, as well as officiating clergymen. The funeral procession presented a pa- geant the like of which had never been seen in Washington before. His remains were escorted by a committee of the Senate and House to his residence at Ashland, Kentucky, and were finally deposited in the cemetery at Lexington, near by, where a beautiful and appro- priate marble monument has been erected to his memory. This year was noted for the last of the filibustering expeditions of the celebrated General Marciso Lopez against Cuba. He was a Spanish officer of distinction, having served in the war against Ven- ezuela, and afterwards took up his resi- dence in Cuba, when he sympathized with the people against what he consid- ered the unjust exactions of the mother country. He became the prominent leader of an insurrectionary movement to throw off the dominion of Spain and establish the independence of his adopted island. He was a man of great ardor of temperament, with but little judgment or wisdom. His reliance was upon foreign aid, without any well-organized resistance at home. His first attempt in 1849 was a failure, so was his second in 1850. The enterprise of 185 I was inaugurated with more hopeful prospect of success. He raised a party of 400 of select daring young men from the United States, who enlisted under his banner and success- fully set out on what they considered a most patriotic enterprise. According to Lopez's arrangement, his whole plan and all his movements upon landing in Cuba were to be kept secret, known only to THE ADMINISTRATION OF FILLMORE. 537 himself and his co-operators on the island. But the Spanish authorities in Cuba by their great vigilance and espion- age came in possession of the whole plot, and the expedition on landing at Cardenas, so far from being met there by friends hailing them as deliverers, as they expected, was overpowered by superior Spanish forces under command of the Captain-General of Cuba, who was awaiting them. They were all captured, with their vessels, provisions, arms, and other munitions of war. Lopez and other Spanish leaders were immediately garroted, with several of the more prominent American adventurers, among whom was the lamented nephew of the then Attorney-General of the United States. The news of the dis- astrous result of this expedition, and the summary execution of the prominent actors in it, produced a great sensation in the United States. This execution occurred on the ist of September, 185 1. At this critical period the United States Consul at Havana w r as Allen F. Owen, a Georgian, who had served with distinc- tion in Congress, and who conducted his intercession in behalf of his unfortunate countrymen with a faithfulness and ability which did credit alike to his heart and his head. They had knowingly and openly violated the laws of their own country as well as those of a neighbor- ing power. His appeal for mercy in their behalf, however, led to a protracted correspondence between the authorities of the United States and the Spanish government, which ultimately ended in a release and pardon of all the prisoners, except those who had been executed soon after their capture. In this year also was fitted out the second Arctic expedition gotten up by Mr. Henry Grinnell, under the auspices of the government of the United States, for the search of Sir John Franklin's party. Mr. Grinnell fitted up the ships and was at all the expense. The govern- ment supplied the naval officers in com- mand. Mr. Grinnell's first expedition was in 1850. In command of this was put Lieutenant Edwin J. DeHaven, of the United States navy, with Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, also of the navy, as surgeon. This expedition returned without having accomplished anything satisfactory as to the objects of the search. Mr. Grinnell, not being discouraged ' by the failure, sent out this second expedition, which was put under the command of Dr. Kane, who was the surgeon of the first. This was absent several years, and though nothing positive or satisfactory as to the fate of Sir John Franklin and his com- rades was ascertained by it, yet Dr. Kane's report disclosed many interesting facts unknown before to men of science, connected with the climate and geogra- phy of these Northern Seas. During the fall of this year (1852) another Presidential election took place. The two great parties, Whig and Demo- cratic, still held their nominal organiza- tions, and both held their nominating Conventions at Baltimore this year. The Democratic Convention met on the 1st of June, and put in nomination for the Presidency General Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, a strict constructionist of the " straightest sect " of the Jeffer- sonian school; and for the Vice-Presi- dency William R. King, of Alabama, of the same class of statesmen. The Whigs met on the 16th of June, and put in nomination for the Presidency Gen- eral Winfield Scott, the " Conqueror of Mexico;" and for the Vice-Presidency, William A. Graham, of North Caro- lina. §** HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 24 The Democratic platform on this sub- ject was in the following words : "Resolved, 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 every- thing 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, or to take in- cipient steps in relation thereto, are cal- culated 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 perma- nency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our polit- ical institutions. "Resolved, That the foregoing propo- sition covers, and was intended to em- brace, the whole subject of slavery agita- tion 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 last Congress — ' the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor,' included ; which act being de- signed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency." The Whig Convention, which met at the same place on the 16th of June, gave the compromise measures an indorsement in words even more pointed and explicit. The language used by that is as follows : " i. That the government of the United States is of a limited character, and it is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the Consti- tution, and such as maybe necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution ; and that all powers not thus granted, or necessarily implied, are expressly reserved to the States re- spectively, or to the people. ******* " 7. That the Federal and State gov- ernments are parts of one system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace, and security, and ought to be re- garded alike, with a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, and the acqui- escence in just constitutional measures of each, are duties required by the plainest considerations of National, of State, and of individual welfare. " 8. That the series of acts of the 31st Congress, known as the compromise measures of 1850 — the act known as the Fugitive Slave Law included — are re- ceived and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance, of the danger- ous and exciting questions which they cm- brace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them, and insist on their strict enforcement, until time and expe- rience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation, to guard against the evasion of the laws on the one hand, and the abuse of their powers on the other — not impairing their present efficiency; and we deprecate all further agitation of the questions thus settled, as dan- gerous to our peace, and will discounte- nance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union." These resolutions Mr. Greeley styles the " Southern platform," and speaks of THE ADMIXISTRATION OF FILLMORE. 539 it as having been " imposed " upon the convention by the "Southern delegates." According to his idea, it was but an- other dictation of the " slave power." * This is certainly a very great mistake ; the truth is, that it was drawn up by Mr. Choate, and other Northern dele- gates in consultation with Mr. Webster at his house in Washington. Mr. Web- ster called at the quarters of the author of this history, who lived in an adjacent house to his, while Mr. Choate was still with him, and submitted to the author a series of resolutions prepared to be offered to the convention. The author was known by Mr. Webster to be an earnest advocate of his nomina- tion. They were substantially the reso- lutions which were adopted at Baltimore. The eighth one in particular is just as it then was, with one exception. The words, " in principle and substance," were not in it when submitted. Having been struck with the point and force of these words, which he had used in a letter published some time before, and the great appropriateness of the same words in Mr. Fillmore's message, in December, 185 1, the writer of this sug- gested to him to put them in this reso- lution after the word " settlement." He instantly assented, and interlined them himself in the writer's presence, saying, "that is perfectly right," or words to that effect. They were afterwards pub- lished in the report of the committee of the convention on resolutions as they now stand. Mr. George Ashman, of Massachusetts, was chairman of that consulted, but they did nothing in rela- tion to them which could be justly styled as imposing them upon the con- vention. Mr. Ashman, chairman of the com- mittee on resolutions, in his speech on reporting the whole series, stated that they had been agreed to by the commit- tee by an almost unanimous vote. Mr. Dayton, of New Jersey, who in his place in the Senate had been a most decided and earnest advocate of territorial re- striction, while that question was open, now as a member of this convention, gave this resolution his emphatic in- dorsement. The published proceedings show these striking facts. On the adop- tion of the whole platform, with this resolution in it, the per capita vote stood 227 yeas to 65 nays.* By States the vote in convention stood 27 States for the platform, three States only against it, and one State divided. The three States against it were New York, Ohio, and Michigan. The State equally divi- ded — four delegates for and four against it — was Maine. Every other State of the Union, by the votes of their delegates in that convention, affirmed and indorsed it. How in the face of these facts Mr. Greeley could have stated, as a historic truth, that the platform was imposed upon the convention by Southern dele- gates, it cannot be well imagined. An- other equally singular error is made by him in stating that General Scott, who was nominated, " made haste to plant himself unequivocally and thoroughly committee. There can be no question I on the platform thus erected." The that these resolutions were prepared by truth is, General Scott refused to express the Northern friends of Mr. Webster, at any direct approval of the platform, his house, and met with his full concur- when he knew that the support of a large rence. Southern friends were doubtless class of persons at the South, including * American Conflict, vol. i., p. 223. * National Intelligencer, June 19th, 1S52. HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 540 that class of Southern Whigs referred to and other members of Congress who had, before 1850, acted with the Whig party, depended upon his giving an un- equivocal indorsement of that portion of it relating to the compromise, lie acted, as was supposed, under the ad- visement of Mr. Seward, then in the Senate, from New York, who was on intimate terms with him — was one of his most active friends in procuring his nomination, and who was known to be very much opposed to the platform. To this refusal of General Scott " to plant himself unequivocally and thor- oughly on the platform thus erected," his great defeat was unquestionably owing.* Mr. Pierce, who received the Democratic nomination, gave these meas- ures his cordial approval, as well as another resolution of the Democratic Convention, reaffirming the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798-99. He, it is known, carried every State in the Union except four. Was there ever a more general and decided popular approval of any measure than that given by the people and States of this Union in that election, to the es- tablishment of this new principle on the territorial question ? The anti-slavery agitators also held a Convention at Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, on the nth of August, at which they put in nomination for the Presidency John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and for the Vice-Presidency George W. Julian, of Indiana. The result of the election by the col- leges was: 251 electoral votes for Pierce and King; and 42 for Scott and Graham; by States, 27 for Pierce and King, and 4 for Scott and Graham. The States which voted for Pierce were: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connec- Book II., c. 24 * See Appendix I. ticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylva- nia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wiscon- sin, California. Those that voted for Scott were, Massachusetts.Vermont, Ken- tuck}-, and Tennessee. The anti-slavery ticket received no electoral vote, but out of the popular vote of nearly 3,500,- 000, it polled 155,825 individual votes, being little over half of what it polled at the previous election. During the canvass preceding this election the whole country was again thrown into mourning by the announce- ment of the death of Mr. Webster, the last survivor of the great senatorial "trio." He expired at his residence at Marshfield, Massachusetts, on the 24th of October, 1852, in the 71st year of his age. He was decidedly the favorite of a large portion of the people of the United States for the Presidency in the election of 1852, and many thousands at the polls voted a ticket headed by his name, even after he was dead. Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Web- ster were regarded as the three greatest statesmen of the country in their day. They were all men of very great ability, of very different characters of mind, as well as styles of oratory, as heretofore stated. They differed also widely on man}' questions of public policy. Put they were all true patriots in the highest sense of that term, and were all thor- oughly devoted to the Union under the Federal Constitution. The Thirty-second Congress met in December, 1852. The elections to this Congress had resulted in a large majority in favor of the adjustment of 1850. Lynn Boyd, of Kentucky, the leader in THE ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE. 54* the House upon those measures, was chosen Speaker by a large majority. The executive message met with general favor and approval. After the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill- more retired to his residence, in Buffalo, New York. His administration was dis- tinguished for what was known as the "Compromise Measures of 1850," which restored peace and harmony to all sec- tions of the Union for the time. CHAPTER XXV. ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE. (4th of March, 1853 — 4th of March, 1857.) The Inaugural scenes — Pierce a most accomplished orator — New cabinet — Acquisition of Arizona — Agitators change the arena of their operations — Act of Congress nullified by State laws — Personal liberty bills — Resistance in the House to the pas- sage of the Nebraska bill — Mr. Sumner leads the opposition to it — The charge that it was a violation of the Missouri Compromise — Not so in fact — It only carried out in good faith the settlement of 1850 — Bill passed by large majorities, with Kansas added — Whig party becomes extinct — Armed re- sistance organized in the Territory — The Kansas war — The " Know- Nothing " organization — In Thirty-fourth Congress no party has a majority — Nathaniel P. Banks elected Speaker under plurality rule — Slavery agitation at its highest pitch — Presi- dential election in fall of 1854 — The candidates and result of election — Buchanan chosen President and Breckinridge Vice-President — Tariff of 1857 — Bill to admit Kansas as a State — Retirement of Mr. Pierce. N the 4th of March, 1853, Frank- lin Pierce, of New Hampshire, the fourteenth President of the United States, was duly inau- gurated in the 49th year of his age. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Taney, in the midst of a violent eastern snow storm, before a very large audience in front of the east portico of the capitol, the usual place for ceremonies of this character. Gen- eral Pierce was a much more accom- plished orator than any of his predeces- sors, and his inaugural, notwithstand- ing the inclemency of the weather, was delivered in his happiest style, in a tone of voice that was distinctly heard at a great distance. It was responded to by shouts from the surrounding multitudes. He strongly indorsed the adjustment measures of 1 850. FRANKLIN PIERCE. The new cabinet consisted of William L. Marcy, of New York, Secretary of State ; James Guthrie, of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury ; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, Secretary of War ; James C. Dobbin, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; Robert McClel- land, of Michigan, Secretary of the In- terior; James Campbell, of Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General ; and Caleb Cush- ing, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General. Among the first things that occupied the new administration was the dispute that had arisen with Mexico on a ques- tion of boundary. This was settled by negotiation, and resulted in the acquisi- 542 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 25 tion by the United States of the region now known as Arizona. This brought to the Union about 30,000 square miles of additional territory, known at that time as " Gadsden's Purchase," at the cost of $10,000,000. In the summer of 1853, under the direction of the War Department, various expeditions were organized and sent out to explore routes for a railroad from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean. After the settlement of the slavery question by the measures of 1850, which had quieted the excitement for a time, as we have stated, the agitators changed the arena of their operations. They abandoned the halls of Congress for a season, and in their organizations directed their un- ceasing efforts to accomplish their ob- jects by controlling local elections. The " Fugitive Slave Law," as it was called, of 1850, was now the main point of their assaults. The execution of this in various places was openly resisted by mobs and riots, gotten up at their instance. The Legislatures of several of the Northern States were induced by them to nullify the Federal law by the passage of State acts, known as personal liberty bills. Several of the States, by these acts, declared all fugitive slaves escaping to their States to be free, and made it criminal for anybody in their limits to aid in their reclamation or return. By these the act of Congress on the subject was rendered inoperative for all practical purposes within the limits of these States, through the instrumentality of their respective judiciary systems. A decision by the Federal judiciary, that the act of Congress was constitutional and necessary to carry out one of the obligations of the common compact be- tween the States, had no effect upon the agitators, except to cause them to de- nounce the court that rendered the de- cision, and any Union founded upon any such compact. While little was said in Congress upon the subject, this was the exciting topic in the local elections in most of the Northern States, and unpre- cedented gains were thereby made to the anti-slavery party. Every one who stood by the obligations of the Consti- tution was denounced by these agitators as a pro-slavery advocate. This was the state of things in De- cember, 1853, when the first session of the Thirty-third Congress met. On the 4th of December, Mr. Dodge, of Io»va, introduced into the Senate a bill for the organization of a territorial government for Nebraska, embracing a portion of the territory acquired from Louisiana, lying north of the line of 36 30' north lati- tude ; as well as a portion of a territory from Texas, lying north of the same line. This was referred to the committee on Territories, of which Mr. Douglas was chairman. At this time the Senate was changed in its personal composition very mate- rially from what it was four years before. Several of the great lights then in it had departed. Some had gone down never more to shed the splendor of their in- tellects upon subjects of earthly investi- gation. Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Webster, as we have seen, were of this number. William R. King, of Ala- bama, who had been elected Vice-Presi- dent on the Pierce ticket, was also no more. Others who added lustre to the Senatorial galaxy in 1850 were now filling other posts of honor and trust. Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, was Secretary of War. Mr. Benton, who had been beaten for the Senate in Missouri, mainly on account of his vote to recede on the disagreeing vote between the two Houses THE ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE. 543 nn the Oregon bill in 1848, was now a member of the House of Representatives. Mr. Berrien was in private life. General Cass, General Houston, of Texas, and Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, of all the most distinguished characters of the former generation of statesmen, who were in the Senate in 1850, were the only ones who at this time still continued to occupy their seats in that body. Of the younger memb:rs, however, a goodly number were still there. Amongst those may be mentioned Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, who had in the meantime added greatly to his fame. For mental vigor and power of debate he had al- ready received the general ap- pellation of "the Little Giant." Messrs. Hunter and Mason, of Virginia, Mr. Seward, of New York, Mr. Chase, of Ohio, Mr. Pierce, of Maryland, Mr. Badger, of North Carolina, who were all men of great ability, were also still there. Besides these, and others who might be named, the vacated seats had been filled by men of a very high order of genius and eloquence. Amongst ( ^ the latter class may be mentioned \^ Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, Mr. Andrew Pickens Butler, of South Carolina, Mr. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and Mr. Toucey, of Con- necticut. So the Senate of the United States was still, notwithstanding the changes, a most august body — not in- ferior to that of Rome in her palmiest clays. This is but a glance at the gen- eral character of that assembly, at the time we are now to enter upon an exam- ination of their proceedings. Nor is this notice at all out of place, consider- ing the grave charge which has been brought against their acts. To go on then with the narrative. On the 4th of January, 1854, Mr. Douglas, chairman of the committee to whom Mr. Dodge's bill was referred, re- ported it back favorably to the Senate. Upon the subject of slavery, in the bill as reported by him, he used the same language as that set forth in the Utah and New Mexico bills of 1850. He was careful to adhere faithfully to the territo- rial principle and policy then estab- lished, and which both of the two great CHARLES SUMNER. parties were pledged to maintain. Then it was that the restrictionists and agita- tors again raised great excitement in the halls of Congress. Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the 17th of January, introduced into the Senate a memorial against slavery, and gave notice of his intention, when the Nebraska bill came up, to offer an amendment reaffirming the old slavery restriction of 1820 over this portion of the Louisiana cession. 544 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 23 This opened dc novo the whole terri- torial question that had been settled in 1S50. The sectional controversy was thus again opened in the Federal councils, with all its fierceness and bitterness. The restrictionists and agitators now spoke of the old Missouri line of division as a " sacred pledge " and " solemn com- pact " between the two great sections of the Union, which " the slavery propa- gandists " were about " most ruthlessly and wickedly to violatj." When the Nebraska bill came up for STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. action, it was amended in the Senate by the organization of two governments instead of one — a government for the Territory of Kansas as well as that of Nebraska. Upon the subject of slavery, the same words were used in the organi- zation of both governments, with only slight amendment in each, to make the object and policy of Congress more clearly to appear to be in strict con- formity with the principle of non-inter- vention established in 1850. To add to the fury of the assaults made upon this bill while pending in Congress was the famous memorial of 3,000 New England clergymen expressing their anathemas against it as a breach of faith and viola- tion of the solemn compact of 1820. Mr. Greeley (for whom the author of this work ever entertained, personally, the highest respect, but whose zeal often upset a well-balanced judgment), then having the control of the ablest paper of the anti-slavery party of the United States, the New Y<>rk "Tribune," uttered the following most exciting, extravagant and incendiary language: " We urq;e, therefore, unbending de- termination on the part of the Northern members, hostile to this intolerable out- rage, and demand of them, in behalf of peace — in behalf of freedom — in demand of justice and humanity — resistance to the last. Better that confusion should ensue — better that discord should reign in the National councils — better that Con- gress should break up in wild disorder — nay, better that the Capitol itself should blaze by the torch of the incendiary \ or fall and bury all its inmates beneath its crumbling ruins, than that this perfidy and wrong should be finally accom- plished." But notwithstanding all the denunciations thus hurled against the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska bill pending its progress, after a thorough discussion in both Houses of Congress, it passed the Senate on the 3d of March, 1854, by a majority of nearly two to one ; the yeas were 27, and the nays 14. By States, in that body, the vote stood: for it, 21, and against it, only 7 ; three States were divided. The same bill, with one or two slight amendments, not changing the substance or any of the main points, passed the House on the 20th of May by a vote of 113 in favor of it, and 100 THE ADMINISTRATION OF PIERCE. 545 against it. By States in the House, the vote on this bill stood: 18 for it, and 13 against it. It received the prompt ap- proval of the President, and is known as the Kansas and Nebraska Act. This is the legislation of 1854, about which so much has been said and written, and which constitutes the distinguishing feature of General Pierce's administration. It was •charged as a repeal of the Missouri com- promise. In fact, it did no such thing. Its object was to carry out in good faith, the adjustment policy of 1850 ; but it was used by the agitators in connection with the Fugitive Slave Act, another measure of that adjustment, in arousing the Anti-Slavery element everywhere to its intensest fury. A remnant of the Whig party, without regard to their solemn pledge to maintain the adjust- ment of 1850 "in principle and in sub- stance," being now in opposition to the administration, rather favored than op- posed the agitation which ensued. In- deed, some of the leading men of this remnant took the lead in the agitation. Under the territorial policy of 1850, the public domain was to remain open and free alike for settlement and colonization by citizens of all the States, with their " bondsmen " or property of every kind, without any discrimination for or against any class of persons, and the settlers were to regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way, with the perfect right of local self-government, without any limitations except such as are prescribed in the Constitution of the United States. The plan of operations adopted by the agitators immediately after the passage of the Kansas and Ne- braska Act was to create trouble and dissensions among the settlers in these Territories. For this purpose Emigrant -Aid Societies were formed by them in 35 the Northern States; moneys were col- lected ; arms were purchased and put into the hands of their mercenary emi- grants, whose object was not colonization so much as agitation. Civil strife soon ensued, and what was known as the " Kansas war " followed. In this the cel- ebrated John Brown obtained his first no- toriety. The administration, however, suc- ceeded in preserving the general peace Di- strict and faithful maintenance of the laws. It may here be properly noted that in the month of June of this year were published, it is believed for the first time in the history of the world, telegraphic weather reports. They were based upon the meteorological theory of James T. Espy, who was then in the employment of the government, for the purpose of testing the correctness of his system of meteorology connected with rain an I storm. These reports* were the initia- tive of the present United States Signal Service Bureau. The author of this work took an active part in the inaugu- ration and establishment of this system of reports. About this time a new political party sprung up, which soon extended through- out the Union. It was organized on principles of secrecy. Its distinctive features were opposition to the election of Roman Catholics, and persons of foreign birth, to any office. The name assumed was the American party ; though it was most generally at the time desig- nated by the appellation of " Know- Nothing." In this state of things the elections of 1854 resulted adversely to the administration. Those of 1855 were more favorable; but the combined oppo- * How this system of reports originated, which now extends not only throughout the United States, bu' the continent of Europe, may be seen by reference to Johnson's Encyclopaedia, article James P. Espy. 546 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c 25- sition returned a large anti-administra- tion majority to the House in the Thirty- fourth Congress, which met in Decem- ber, 1855. Owing to the discordant elements of which this House was composed, no organization took place until the 1st of February, 1856, when Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, was declared Speaker, under a resolution similar to that adopted for the organization of the Thirty-first Congress. In politics he was an Anti-Slavery American, or " Know- Nothing," as the part\- was commonly called, though he was not the regular nominee of that party. The Kansas difficulties were the chief subjects of discussion at this session. The seat of John W. Whitfield, a Democrat, who had been returned as a delegate to the House from Kansas, was contested by R. P. Flenniken, one of the agitator emigrants, and whose claims to his seat were zealously supported by them in the 1 louse, upon the ground of fraud and violence resorted to by Whitfield's party at the election. A committee was raised and sent to Kansas to make an investi- gation and report. Every means were resorted to to increase the excitement. The report consisted of over 1,100 pages. The result was that Whitfield was ulti- mately, by vote of the House, declared to be entitled to his seat, by a very de- cided majority of an anti-Democratic House. In this state of things the Presidential election of the fall of 1856 took place. The Democratic party in the House organized themselves upon the principle of adhering to the terri- torial policy of 1850, as carried out in the legislation of 1854. The General Nominating Convention of this party met at Cincinnati on the 2d day of June, and presented the name of James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, as their candidate for the Presidency, and that of John C. Breckinridge, of Ken- tucky, as their candidate for the Vice- Presidency. After repeating their pledge to adhere to the adjustment of the questions of slavery as made in 1850, they declared their distinct approval of the legislation of Congress of 1854, in carrying out the territorial policy thereby established. All the elements of the Anti-Slavery party met in Convention at Philadelphia on the 17th of June, and organized for the first time under the popular name of "Republicans." They put in nomina- tion for the Presidency, John C. Fre- mont, of California; and for the Vice- Presidency, William L. Dayton, of New Jersey. In their platform they pro- claimed it to be "both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the Ter- ritories those twin relics of barbarism — Polygamy and Slavery." The "American Party," so called, had previously held their Convention at Philadelphia, and nominated for the Presidency, Mr. Fillmore; and for the Vice-Presidency, Andrew J. Donelsmi. of Tennessee. The chief feature in their platform was opposition to what was called "Alien Suffrage." They affirmed the principles- of the adjustment measures of 1850. Thus were presented the prominent issues in the canvass. The result was the elec- tion of Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Breckin- ridge. The vote by the colleges was: 174 electoral votes for Buchanan and Breckinridge; 114 for Fremont and Dayton; and 8 for Fillmore and Donel- son. The vote by States was: 19 fo.' the Democratic ticket; 1 1 for the Repub- lican, and 1 for the American. The nineteen States that voted for Mr. Bu- THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. S47 chanan were: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Ten- nessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, and California. The eleven that voted for Fremont were : Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The one that voted for Mr. Fillmore was Maryland. To the Thirty- fifth Congress a very large Democratic majority was returned. This was not only a very emphatic popular re-in- dorsement of the territorial policy es- tablished in 1850, but a like popular approval of the legislation of 1854, carrying it out. The last session of the Thirty-fourth Congress, which met the 1st of Decem- ber, 1856, was distinguished for two measures. One was a further reduction of the tariff, on the principle of opposi- tion to prohibitory protective duties but for all necessary revenues, with discrimin- ations allowing incidental protection to home industries, which was approved on the 3d of March, 1857, and is known as the "Tariff of 1857." A fact worthy of note connected with it is, that every Senator and member from the States of South Carolina and Massachusetts united in its support. The other was an act of Congress authorizing ihe people of Kan- sas to organize a State Constitution, preparatory to admission into the Union. This act was exceedingly well guarded in its provisions for a full and fair ex- pression of the popular will. After the expiration of his term of office, on the 4th of March, 1857, General Pierce re- tired to his home in Concord, New Hampshire, with the confidence and es- friends of the Union under the Consti- tution in all sections of the country. CHAPTER XXVI. ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. (4th March, 1857 — 4th November, i860.) The inaugural — The new cabinet — The troubles in Utah and Kansas — The Mormons — Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston's expedition against them — Su- preme court decision in the Dred-Scott case — Against the constitutionality of territorial restric- tion of slavery by Congress — The old Missouri line null and void from the beginning — Denunciations against the chief-justice by agitators for the deci- sion — Affairs in Kansas — Commission of Robert J. Walker — Lecompton constitution tolerating slavery — Excitement in both Houses of Congress — Dis- agreement upon the admission of Kansas — Com- mittee of conference — Matter adjusted — Minnesota admitted — Mormon war ended— The submarine telegraph — Messages across tbe Atlantic — The great comet of 1858 — Oregon admitted — Death of Washington Irving — John Brown's raid in Virginia — His seizure of Harper's Ferry — Arrested, tried, and executed — Thirty-sixth Congress meets De- cember, 1859 — Sectional agitation intense — Mr. Davis' resolutions in the Senate — Passed by over- whelming majorities — Presidential election of i860 — Candidates and result of election — Abraham Lincoln constitutionally chosen — Excitement in the Southern States — Conventions called. AMES BUCHANAN, of Penn- sylvania, the fifteenth President of the United States, was inau- gurated on the 4th of March, 1857, in the 66th year of his The oath of office was adminis- tered by Chief-Justice Taney. His inau- gural was conciliatory, and approbatorv of the principles of the Kansas and Ne- braska bill upon which he had been elected. These were, in his opinion, as declared in his letter accepting his nomi- nation, founded upon principles as an- cient as free government itself. The new cabinet consisted of Lewis age. ix-en> of a large majority of the true J Cass, of Michigan, Secretary of State; 54 ! 55o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. i>>'<* ii., c n government of the United States gener- ously came to their aid, by furnishing Apaches and Mexicans. They elected to remain; and early in 1849 formed a them an escort to their destination.* State government of their own. They When by the treaty of Guadaloupe- called it the " State of Deseret." Con- Hidalgo in 1848, Utah became a part of | gress ignored their action by the & DEATH OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE FOUNDER OF THK MORMON SECT. the Territory of the United States, the I legislation of 1850, and created a ier- question arose with them whether they ritorial government for Utah in Sep- should remain where they were, or migrate southwestward among the ♦See Life of A. S. Johnston, p. 198. tember of that year, as we have seen. Brigham Young was appointed gov- ernor. He took the oath of office in THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 551 February, 185 1. President Fillmore -made the appointment by the recom- mendation of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, brother to the famous Arctic explorer. Two of the judges appointed were not of the Mormon sect; of the remaining officers, one Judge, the District- Attorney, and the Marshal, were Mormons. Har- mony did not exist in the administration. A rupture soon took place between Judge .Brocchus, the District Judge, not of the sect, and Brigham Young, Governor. and put the government of the Territory entirely in the hands of Gentiles so called. Alfred Cumming, of Georgia, was appointed Governor; D. R. Eckles, Chief-Justice; John Cradlebaugh ami Charles E. Sinclair, Associate-Justices; John Hartnett, Secretary, and Peter K. Dotson, Marshal. Brigadier-General Harney, with a de- tachment of United States troops, was ordered to escort the Federal appointees and act as a posse comitatus in enforcing THE MORMON HAND-CART COMPANY CROSSING THE PLAINS. the laws. The forces placed under hi; Judge Brocchus and his associate non- Mormon Judge soon resigned their com- missions, and returned to the States. Their successors, after short experience, imitated their example — thus leaving the affairs of the Territory exclusively under Mormon control. This was the condition of affairs when Buchanan assumed the duties of the executive chair; he at once determined to remove Brinham Youncf from office command were the Fifth and Tenth Regiments of Infantry, the Second Regi- ment of Dragoons, Phelps's Light Artil- lery, and Reno's Battery. The Second Dragoons were detained in Kansas on account of the troubled state of affairs existing there, and General Harney placed in command of that department ; thus his brief connection with the ex- pedition ended. Colonel Albert Sidney 55^ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c 21 Johnston was appointed to the command in his stead. He set out with his expe- dition early in the summer of 1 8 5 7 . Questions connected with the Kansas troubles (the other matter that was press- ing on the consideration of the adminis- tration) assumed a new aspect. A few days after the inauguration of the new President, the Supreme Court of the United States had, in a case before it, given a judicial decision upon the con- highest judicial tribunal of the country, thus pronounced upon the long vexed question, so far from quieting the agita- tors, only tended to arouse and inflame them. The strongest terms of abuse and vituperation were by them hurled against the court, and especially against the accomplished and venerable Chief-Justice Taney, by whom the judgment had been delivered. Every effort was now made bv them to brine on a conflict of arms stitutionality of "the old Missouri Re- striction," which embraced the Territory of Kansas. This Court held that Con- gress had no power to prohibit slavery in any of the Territories of the Union ; and that the restriction incorporated in the Missouri Act of 1820, whether as a compromise or not, was utterly inopera- tive and void from the beginning. This judgment was rendered in the famous * Dred-Scott " case. The decision of the in Kansas; while the Legislatures of Northern States were goaded to further acts of nullification of the fugitive slave law. The plan of operations in Kansas adopted by them was to take no part in the. organization of a State government under the late act of Congress; but to form a separate " Free State Constitution," as they called it. The policy of the admin- istration in this state of things in that quarter was harmony; and Mr. Robert THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 553 J. Walker, a statesman of great emi- ?ience, who was in sentiment opposed to slavery, was sent as a special agent to persuade and induce the Abolitionists in Kansas to desist from their factious should be ratified by a majority of the popular vote of the Territory before it would be submitted to Congress. This also, so far from conciliating, only ren- dered the agitators more desperate. They l'OKTRAITS OF LEADING MORMONS. course, and to unite with all parties in the formation of a State Constitution took no part in the formation of a Con- stitution under the act of Congress, nor under the act of Congress; assuring | any part in the vote on its ratification, them that the Constitution so formed i when it was submitted to all the lesral 554 HISTORY OF THE LXllED STATES. Book II., c. 20 voters of the Territory for adoption or rejection. The result was, the formation and rat- ification, by a popular vote, of a Consti- tution tolerating slavery. Under this Constitution, so made, the people of Kansas applied for admission into the Union at the first session of the Thirty- fifth Congress, which assembled on the 7th day of December, 1857. On this application, the scenes in the halls of Congress were more exciting, perhaps, than they had ever been before. A bill to admit the State under the Constitu- tion, known as the " Lecompton Consti- tution," regularly formed under the law tolerating slavery, passed the Senate by a majority of eight on the 23d of March, 1858. In the House a substitute was adopted in lieu of the Senate bill, on the 30th day of April, by a majority of nine. Both Houses adhering to their previous votes, a committee of conference was finally raised. They reported a new bill for the admission of Kansas under con- ditional terms as to boundary and public domain, first to be approved by them. The report of the conference committee was agreed to by both Houses ; and thus the Kansas controversy was ended at that time. No serious difficulty arose in the Territory afterwards. It was on the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution that a disastrous split took place in the Dem- ocratic party. Notwithstanding the in- tense anti-slavery agitation at the pre- ceding elections, this party had a large majority, both in the House and Senate, at this time. The causes and reasons of the division which now occurred would require too much space to be set forth here in detail. It must suffice to say, that it was founded upon no practically essential principle, and might easily have been healed if considerations of public interests had prevailed over those of a personal character. On the nth of May, 1858, the people of Minnesota were admitted as a separate State into the Union COAT OF ARMS OF MINNESOTA. Soon after this, the "Mormon war," as it was called, was brought to a close, under the auspices of Colonel Johnston, and peace and order again prevailed in Utah. The iCth day of August, 1858, is notable for an important event in the annals of the world. This was the suc- cessful accomplishment of the submarine electro-telegraphic enterprise, bringing the people of the Eastern and Western hemispheres into instant communication with each other. It was on this day salutations between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan were sent among the first messages over the wires. This month also is notable for the ap- pearance of one of the largest and most magnificent comets of which we have any account. When its nucleus was near the horizon, its brilliant train stretched to the mid-heavens. The second session of the Thirty-fifth Congress was as distinguished for its quiet as the first had been for its excite- ment. Various efforts were made to effect a personal reconciliation between prom- inent leaders of the Democratic party, and to repair the breach that had been made, as before stated. These, however, failed. J HE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 555 The most important measure of this session was the admission of the people of Oregon as a separate State into the Union. It was consummated on the 14th of February, 1859. •J3L52- COAT OF ARMS OF OREGON. Two notable events of this year should not escape special mention. They are, however, of a very different character. One was the death of the great American writer and author, Washington Irving, who may be considered as the father of American literature. He was bred a lawyer, but his tastes and aptitudes led him into other fields for the acquisition of both fame and wealth. He com- menced writing for the press at the early age of nineteen. His first sketches were under the nom de plume of Jonathan Old- style, then came his " Knickerbocker's History of New York ; " but it was the " Sketch Book " which " laid the foun- dation of the fortune, and the permanent fame of Irving ; the legends of ' Sleepy Hollow ' and ' Rip Van Winkle ' at once took rank as modern classics, while the pictures of English life and customs were so genial, artistic, and withal so faithful, that they fairly took the reading world by storm." This work was brought out in England in good style by the publisher, Murray, in 1820, upon the recommendation of Sir Walter Scott. A writer in " Johnson's Cyclopaedia " says, that after this publication, " a new phe- nomenon had appeared in the world of letters — the first American author had gained an honorable name in Albemarle street and Paternoster Row. Hence- forth the path of Irving was smooth, and his subsequent writings appeared with rapidity." This great author was born in New York city, 3d of April, 1783, and died at his residence, Sunnyside, Tarrytown, on the Hudson, on the 28th of November, 1859, in the 77th year of his age. The house in which he lived is a quaint old edifice. It has become one of the shrines of American pilgrim- age. The other notable event of this year which made a deep impression on the WASHINGTON IRVING. popular mind, North and South, and which was attended with political re- sults of the greatest importance, was the raid of the celebrated John Brown upon Harper's Ferry. This occurred on the 17th of October, 1859. Instigated by the agitators, and with moneys furnished by them, he raised arms and men, and concealing his move- ments under cover of night, succeeded in seizing the United States arsenal there located. His design was, with this 556 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 11 _. stronghold in his possession, to stir up and carry on a general servile war from Virginia south. Though he succeeded in getting possession of the arsenal and armory, yet his other efforts utterly failed. None of the slaves of the vicin- ity joined him. His forces were soon routed. He was arrested, prosecuted for his crime, and hung under the laws of Virginia. This act greatly inflamed the Southern mind, especially as it was lauded by the official authorities of those Northern States which had refused to comply with their obligations under the Constitution in the matter of the rendition of fugi- tives from service. • It was in this state of things that the first session of the Thirty-sixth Congress convened on the 5th of December, 1859. The discussions between the agitators and the advocates of the maintenance of the Federal Union under the Consti- tution, with all its obligations and guar- antees, were fierce and bitter. Very little attention was given to any other subject of importance, either domestic or foreign. Southern Senators and members openly proclaimed that the nullification acts of the Northern States referred to were a palpable breach of the Constitu- tion; and in the language of Mr. Web- ster in 1S51, upon tins identical point, that "a bargain cannot be broken on one side, and still bind the other," they asserted the reserved sovereign rights of the States; and declared that if those States north which had proven them- selves faithless to the Federal compact should persist in their course, the States south would withdraw from the Union. At this session all considerations nearly were merged in the questions of slavery, the relations of the States of the Union towards each other under the Federal compact, and the approaching Presiden- tial election, which was to come off in the ensuing fall. Mr. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, submitted to the Senate on the 29th of February, 1859, a series of resolutions upon the agitating questions, which were in the following words: " 1. Resolved, That in the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the States adopting the same acted severally as free and independent sovereignties, dele- gating a portion of their powers, to be exercised by the Federal government for the increased security of each against dangers, domestic as well as foreign ; and that any intermeddling by any one or more States, or by a combination of their citizens, with the domestic institu- tions of the others on any pretext what- ever, political, moral or religious, with a view to their disturbance or subversion,, is in violation of the Constitution, insult- ing to the States so interfered with, en- dangers their domestic peace and tran- quillity, objects for which the Constitu- tion was formed — and, by necessary con- sequence, tends to weaken and destroy the Union itself. " 2. Resolved, That negro slavery, as it exists in fifteen States of this Union, composes an important portion of their domestic institutions, inherited from their ancestors, and existing at the adoption of the Constitution, by which it is recog- nized as constituting an important ele- ment in the apportionment of powers among the States, and that no change of opinion or feeling on the part of the non-slaveholding States of the Union, in relation to this institution, can justify them or their citizens in open or covert attacks thereon with a view to its over- throw; and that all such attacks are in THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 557 manifest violation of the mutual and solemn pledge to protect and defend each other, given by the States respec- tively on entering into the constitutional compact which formed the Union, and are a manifest breach of faith, and a violation of the most solemn obligations. "3. Resolved, That the Union of these States rests on the equality of rights and privileges among its members; and that it is especially the duty of the Senate, which represents the States in their sovereign capacity, to resist all attempts to discriminate, either in rela- tion to persons or property in the Terri- tories, which are the common posses- sions of the United States, so as to give advantages to the citizens of one State which are not equally assured to those of every other State. "4. Resolved, That neither Congress nor a territorial legislature, whether by direct legislation or legislation of an in- direct and unfriendly character, possesses power to annul or impair the constitu- tional right of any citizen of the United States to take his slave property into the common Territories, and there hold and enjoy the same while the territorial condition remains. "5. Resolved, That if experience should at any time prove that the judicial and executive authority do not possess means to insure adequate protection to consti- tutional rights in a Territory, and if the •territorial government should fail or refuse to provide the necessary remedies for that purpose, it will be the duty of Congress to supply such deficiency. "6. Resolved, That the inhabitants of a Territory of the United States, when they rightfully form a Constitution to be admitted, as a State, into the Union, may then for the first time, like the people of a State, when forming a new Consti- tution, decide for themselves whether slavery as a domestic institution shall be maintained or prohibited within their jurisdiction; and they shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery as their Constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission. " 7. Resolved, That the provision of the Constitution for the rendition of fugitives from service of labor, without the adop- tion of which the Union could not have been formed, and the laws of 1793 and 1850, which were enacted to secure its execution, and the main features of which, being similar, bear the impress of nearly seventy years of sanction by the highest judicial authority, should be honestly and faithfully observed and maintained, by all who enjoy the bene- fits of our compact of Union, and that all acts of individuals or of State legisla- tures to defeat the purpose or nullify the requirements of that provision, and the laws made in pursuance of it, are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect." These resolutions passed the Senate by large majorities; upon the first, the vote was 36 in favor, and 19 against it — they were 2 to I on the per capita vote. When viewed in relation to the States, it was equally decisive: 19 States voted for it, with only 10 against, while 2 were divided, and 2 did not vote. The States that voted for it were; Alabama, Arkan- sas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Missis- sippi, Minnesota, Maryland, North Caro- lina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Caro- lina, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia — 19. The States that voted against it were: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachu- setts, Michigan, New York, New Hamp- shire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wis- 558 consin — 10. The States that were di- vided were Ohi > and New Jersey — 2. Those not voting were Delaware and Illinois — 2. Had the two absent States, Delaware and Illinois, been present, the vote would have been 20 for it, and io against it, with 3 divided. For Douglas, of Illi- nois, would have voted for it, and Trum- bull, his colleague, would have voted against it. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hook II , c.26 divided among themselves as they were at this time. They ran three tickets in- stead of one; this was occasioned by the disastrous rupture of the Democratic party at their nominating Convention at Charleston, South Carolina, in April, 1 86o. One wing of the Democratic part}- put in nomination Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, for the Presidency, and Her- schel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for the Vice-Presidency. EDWARD EVERETT. The vote on the 7th resolution, per capita, was, yeas, 36, and nays but 6; by States the vote on this resolution was: 20 for it, and only 4 against it, with 8 not voting.* On the subjects of the Presidential election, most unfortunately for the country, the friends of the Union under the Constitution were never before so * See Journal of the Senate. Another wing of the same party put in nomination John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for the Presidency, and Gen- eral Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for the Vice-Presidency. That portion of conservatives known as the American party put in nomina- tion for the Presidency, John Bell, of Tennessee, and for the Vice-Presidency, Edward Everett, of Massachusetts; while THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 559 the agitators in the main rallied in mass and with enthusiasm under the banner of the " Republicans," as the party of the agitators then styled themselves, who had put in nomination Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and for the Vice- Presidency, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. The result was the election of the Re- publican ticket. The electoral vote by the colleger stood: 180 for Lincoln and Hamlin; 72 for Breckinridge and Lane; 39 for Bell and Everett; and 12 for Douglas and Johnson. By a plurality count of the popular vote, Mr. Lincoln carried 18 States; Mr. Breckinridge, 11 ; Mr. Bell, 3; and Mr. Douglas but 1. The eighteen States carried by Mr. Lincoln were all north of what is known as " Mason and Dixon's line; " the elec- tion therefore was entirely sectional. The popular vote cast for him in the aggregate amounted to 1,857,610; while the aggregate vote cast against him (divided between the three other candi- dates) amounted to 2,804,560. This shows how differently the result might have been if the opponents of the schemes of the agitators had united upon one ticket. As it was, Mr. Douglas carried but one State on the plurality count, though of the aggregate popular vote he carried 1,365,976. The eighteen States that voted for Mr. Lincoln, under the plurality count of the popular vote, were: Maine, New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi- gan, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minne- sota, and Oregon. The eleven that voted for Mr. Breckinridge were : Dela- ware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas. The three that so voted for Mr. Bell were : Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennes- see ; and the one that so voted for Mr.. Douglas was Missouri. Mr. Lincoln did not receive the majority of the popu- lar vote in but sixteen of the thirty-three States then constituting the Union; so he had been constitutionally elected, without having received a majority of the popular vote of the States or of the people. Most of the public men in the Southern States looked upon this election as an expression of a declared purpose on the part of the States North referred to, under the con- trol of the agitators, to continue their breach of faith in the matter of the ren- dition of fugitives from service, and as indicating such a tendency to a general centralization of the government as ren- dered a longer continuance in the Fed- eral Union perilous to their rights, security and safety.* When the result of the election was known, the people generally of the Southern States, without respect to past party associations, were thrown into the most intense state of excitement. Con- ventions were called in several of them, to take action as to their future safety. But of these we will speak in the next chapter. CHAPTER XXVII. Buchanan's administration — Continued. (4th November, 1S60 — 4th February, 1S61.) South Carolina passes ordinance of secession — Its. language, and reasons assigned for it — Breach of faith on the part of thirteen Northern States, in the matter of the rendition of fugitives from service — Refusal of the State of Ohio and Iowa to return fugitives from justice — In the matter of the John Brown raid — The meeting of the second s<*^,, in of the Thirty-sixth Congress, December, i860 — Conciliatory message of the President — While he denied the right of the State to secede, he also de- nied the power of Congress, under the Constitu- * See Appendix L. 560 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 27 tion, to coerce the withdrawing State — Pro] of Mr. Criitenden for compromise by constitutional amendment — This meets with no favor from the agitators — Telegram of Mr. Davis, Toombs, and others to the people of the Southern States, advis- ing secession — Speech of Mr. Toombs in the Sen- ate, 7 1 h January, 1S61. g> OUTH CAROLINA no longer waited for the co-operation of her sister Southern States ; she took the lead in the call of sep- arate State conventions, and on the 20th day of December, i860, her convention being in session, passed the ordinance of secession. It was styled, "An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled ' The Constitution of the United States of America;'" and declared: "That the ordinance adopted by us in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying amend- ments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed ; and that the Union now sub- sisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dis- solved." The ordinance was based expressly on the grounds that " the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa" (all of which had voted for Mr. Lincoln) had enacted laws which either nullified the acts of Congress for the rendition of fugitives from service, or rendered use- less any attempt to execute them, and that Iowa and Ohio had refused to sur- render fugitives from justice charged with murder, and with inciting servile insurrection in the John Brown raid, as well as the danger to be apprehended from the centralizing doctrines and prin- ciples of the party soon to come into power in the executive department of the Federal government. It is proper to note that in the mean- time the second session of the Thirty- sixth Congress had assembled. Mr. Buchanan in his message made special reference to the alarming condition of the country. While he maintained in strong terms that no State could right- fully withdraw from the Union, yet he held that there was no power in Con- gress to coerce any one of them, which might do so. He urged, therefore, con- cession and conciliation. Mr. Crittenden in the Senate, at an early day in the session, again brought up and presented as the basis of the settlement the famous Missouri compro- mise line of 36 30' north latitude, as a division of the public domain ; and as the Supreme Court had decided that slavery could not be prohibited in any of the Territories by act of Congress, he pre- sented his proposition of compromise in the form of a constitutional amendment. Great numbers of petitions from the North were sent in almost daily in favor of the adoption of his proposition, as a final settlement and adjustment of the sectional question. Mr. Davis, Mr. Toombs, and the extremest Southern senators, with Mr. Douglas and all the Northern conservative senators, were openly in favor of this compromise for future peace and harmony. But when it was ascertained that not a single one of the Northern agitators, or a single one of the party who had voted for Lincoln, would agree to support and stand by the proposed settlement, Mr. Daris, Mr. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 5 6l Toombs, and nearly all the other Southern Senators, united in a telegram to the people of the Southern States, that their only safety lay in withdrawing from the Union. Such was the state of things at Wash- ington. Excitement was at the highest pitch in both Houses of Congress. On the 7th of January, more than two weeks after South Carolina had passed her ordi- nance of secession, Mr. Toombs made a speech in the Senate, which deserves to be perpetuated. In the history of this country, it deserves a place side by side of that of Pericles, in exposition of the causes of the Peloponnesian war in Greece. In speaking of the action of the people of South Carolina and the Seces- sionists of the South generally, in this assemblage of the ambassadors of the States, he said : " Inasmuch, sir, as I have labored earnestly, honestly, sincerely, with these men to avert this necessity, so long as I deemed it possible, and inasmuch as I heartily approve their present conduct of resistance, I deem it my duty to state their case to the Senate, to the country, and to the civilized world. " Senators, my countrymen have de- manded no new government ; they have demanded no new Constitution. Look to their records at home, and here, from the beginning of this strife until its con- summation in the disruption of the Union, and they have not demanded a single thing except that you shall abide by the Constitution of the United States ; that constitutional rights shall be re- spected, and that justice shall be done. Sirs, they have stood by your Constitu- tion ; they have stood by all its require- ments ; they have performed all of its duties unselfishly, uncalculatingly, disin- terestedly, until a party sprang up in this 36 country which endangered their social system — a party which they arraign, and which they charge before the American people and all mankind with having made proclamation of outlawry against thousands of millions of their property in the Territories of the United States, with having aided and abetted insur- rection from within and invasion from without, with the view of subverting their institutions, and desolating their homes and their firesides. I shall proceed to vindicate the justice of their demands, the patriotism of their conduct. I will show the injustice which they suffer, and the rightfulness of their resistance. " The discontented States of this Union have demanded nothing but clear, dis- tinct, unequivocal, well-acknowledged constitutional rights — rights affirmed by the highest judicial tribunals of their country ; rights older than the Constitu- tion ; rights which are planted upon the immutable principles of natural justice; rights which have been affirmed by the good and the wise of all countries and of all centuries. We demand no power to injure any man. We demand no right to injure our Confederate States. We demand no right to interfere with their institutions, either by word or deed. We have no right to disturb their peace, their tranquillity, their security. We have de- manded of them simply, solely — nothing else — to give u? equality, security, and tranquillity. Give us these and peace restores itself. " I will now read my own demands, acting under my own convictions. They are considered the demands of an ex- tremist. I believe this is the appellation these traitors employ. I accept their reproach rather than their principles. Accepting their designation of treason and rebellion, there stands before them 562 HISTORY Or THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 27 as good a traitor and as good a rebel as ' ever descended from revolutionary loins. What do these rebels demand ? " First. ' That the people of the United States shall have an equal right to emigrate and settle in the present, or any future acquired Territories, with whatever prop- erty they may possess (including slaves), and be securely protected in its peaceable enjoyment until such Territory may be admitted as a State into the Union, with or without slavery, as she may determine, on an equality with all existing States ! That is our territorial demand. We have fought for this Territory, when blood was its price. We have paid for it, when gold was its price. We have not pro- posed to exclude you, though you have contributed very little of either blood or money. I refer especially to New Eng- land. We demand only to go into those Territories upon terms of equality with you, as equals in this great confederacy, to enjoy the common property of the whole Union, and receive the protection of the common government until the Territory is capable of coming into the Union as a sovereign State, when it may fix its own institutions to suit itself. "The second proposition is: 'that property in slaves shall be entitled to the same protection from the govern- ment of the United States, in all of its departments everywhere, which the Con- stitution confers the power upon it to extend to any other property, provided nothing herein contained shall be con- strued to limit or restrain the right now belonging to every State to prohibit, abolish, or establish and protect slavery within its limits.' We demand of the common government to use its granted powers to protect our property as well as yours. Ought it not to do so? You say no. Every one of you upon the committee said no. Your Senators say no. Your House of Representatives say no. Throughout the length and breadth of your conspiracy against the Constitution, there is but one shout of no! This recognition of this right is the price of my allegiance. Withhold it and you do not get my obedience. "W r e demand in the next place, 'that persons committing crimes against slave property in one State, and fleeing to an- other, shall be delivered up in the same manner as persons committing crimes against other property, and that the laws of the State from which such persons flee shall be the test of criminality.' That is another one of the demands of an extremist and rebel. The Constitu- tion of the United States, article IV., section 2, says: 'A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.' But some of the non-slaveholding States, treacherous to their oaths and compacts, have steadily refused, if the criminal only stole a negro, and that negro was a slave, to deliver him up. It was refused twice on the requisition of my own State, as long as twenty-two years ago. It was refused by Kent and Fairfield, Governors of Maine; and representing, I believe, each of the then Federal parties. We appealed to fraternity, but we submitted, and this constitutional right has been, practically, a dead letter from that day to this. # " The next case came up between us and the State of New York, when the present senior Senator (Mr. Seward) was the Governor of that State ; and he re- THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 563 fused it. Why? He said it was not against the laws of New York to steal a negro, and therefore he would not com- ply with the demand. He made a simi- lar refusal to Virginia. Yet these are our confederates — these are our sister States. There is the bargain ; there is the compact. You have sworn to it. Both these governors swore to it. The Sena- tor from New York swore to it. The Governor of Ohio swore to it when he was inaugurated. You cannot bind them by oaths. Yet they talk to us of treason. It is natural we should want this provision of the Constitution carried out. By the text and letter of the Con- stitution, you agreed to give them up. You have sworn to do it, and you have broken your oaths! "The next stipulation is, that fugitive slaves shall be surrendered. Here is the Constitution: 'No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim' of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.' This language is plain, and everybody understood it the same way for the first forty years of our government. In 1793, in Washing- ton's time, an act was passed to carry out this provision. It was adopted unanimously in the Senate of the United States, and nearly so in the House of Representatives. Nobody, then, had invented pretexts to show that the Con- stitution did not mean a negro slave. It was clear, it was plain. Not only the Federal courts, but all the local, courts in all the States, decided that this was a constitutional obligation. " How is it now ? I have heretofore shown that this plain constitutional pro- vision has been violated by specific acts in thirteen of these States. " The next demand made on behalf of the South is, 'that Congress shall pass efficient laws for the punishment of all persons, in any of the States, who shall, in any manner, aid and abet invasion or insurrection in any other State, or commit any other act against the laws of nations tending to disturb the tranquillity of the people or govern- ment of any other State.' "That is a very plain principle. The Constitution of the United States now requires, and gives Congress express power, to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations. When the honorable and distinguished Senator from Illinois (Mr. Douglas) last year introduced a bill for the pur- pose of punishing people thus offending under that clause of the Constitution, Mr. Lincoln in his speech at New York, which I have before me, declared that it was a 'sedition bill;' his press and party hooted at it. So far from recognizing the bill as intended to carry out the Constitution of the United States, it re- ceived their jeers and gibes. The Re- publicans of Massachusetts elected the admirer and eulogist of John Brown's courage, as their governor, and we may suppose he will throw no impediments in the way of John Brown's successors. " We demand these five propositions. Are they not right ? Are they not just ? Take them in detail, and show that they are not warranted by the Constitution, by the safety of our people, by the prin- ciples of eternal justice. We will pause, and consider them; but mark me, we will not let you decide the questions for us. " But we are told by well-meaning but simple-minded people that, admit 564 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 27 your wrongs, your remedies are not justifiable. Senators, I have little care to dispute remedies with you, unless you propose to redress my wrongs. If you propose that in good faith, I will listen, with respectful deference; but when the objectors to my remedies propose no adequate ones of their own, I know what they mean by the objection. They mean submission. But still I will as yet argue it with them. "These thirteen Colonies originally had no bond of Union whatever — no more than Jamaica and Australia have to-day. They were wholly separate communities, independent of each other, and dependent on the crown of Great Britain. All the Union between them that was ever made is in writing. They made two written compacts. One was known as the Articles of Confederation, which declared that the Union thereby formed should be perpetual — an argu- ment very much relied upon by ' the friends of the Union,' now. Those Arti- cles of Confederation, in terms, declared that they should be perpetual. I believe that expression is used in our last treaty with Billy Bowlegs, the chief of the Seminoles. I know it is a phrase used in treaties with all nations, civilized and savage. Those that are not declared eternal are the exceptions; but usually, treaties profess to be for 'perpetual friend- ship and amity,' according to their terms. So was that treaty between the States. After a while, though the politicians said it did not work well, it carried us through the revolution. The difficulty was, that after the war there were troubles about the regulation of commerce, about navigation, but above all about financial matters. The government had no means of getting at the pockets of the people; and but for that one difficulty this present government would never have been made. The country is deluded with the nonsense that this bond of Union was cemented by the blood of brave men in the revolution. Sir, it is false. It never cost a drop of blood. A large portion of the best men of the revolution voted against it. It was carried in the Con- vention of Virginia by but ten majority, and among its opponents were Monroe and Henry, and other men who had fought the war, who recorded their judgment that it was not a good bond; and I am satisfied to-day that they were the wiser men. Some of the bravest, and the boldest, and the best men of the revolution, who fought from its beginning to its end, were opposed to the plan of Union. Are we to be deterred by the cry, that we are laying our unhallowed hands on this holy altar ? Sir, I have no hesitation in saying that a very large portion of the people of Georgia, whom I represent, prefer to remain in this Union, with their constitutional rights — I would say ninety per cent, of them — believing it to be a good government. I think it had but little to do with their prosperity beyond securing their peace with other nations, and that boon has been paid for at a price that no free man ought to submit to. These are my opinions; they have been announced to my constituents, and I announce them here. Had I lived in that day, I should have voted with the minority in Virginia, with Monroe, Henry, and the illustrious patriots who composed the seventy-nine votes (in the Virginia Convention) against the adoption of the present plan of gov- ernment. In my opinion, if they had prevailed, to-day the men of the South would have the greatest and most power- ful nation of the earth. Let this judg- ment stand for future ages. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 565 "Senators, the Constitution is a 'com- pact.' It contains all our obligations and duties of the Federal government. I am content, and have ever been con- tent to sustain it. While I doubt its perfection ; while I do not believe it was a good compact; and while I never saw the day that I would have voted for it as a proposition de novo ; I have given to it, and intend to give to it, unfaltering sup- port and allegiance; but I choose to put that allegiance on the true ground, not on the false idea that anybody's blood was shed for it. I say that the Consti- tution is the whole compact. All the obligations, all the chains that fetter the limbs of my people, are nominated in the bond, and they wisely excluded any con- clusion against them, by declaring that the powers not delegated by the Consti- tution to the United States or forbidden by it tothe States, belonged to the States respectively or the people. Now I will try it by that standard; I will subject it to that test. The law of nature, the law of justice would say — and it is so ex- pounded by the publicists — that equal rights in the common property shall be enjoyed. Even in a monarchy, the king cannot prevent the subjects from enjoy- ing equality in the disposition of the public property. Even in a despotic government this principle is recognized. It was the blood and the money of the whole people (says the learned Grotius, and say all the publicists) which acquired the public property, and therefore it is not the property of the sovereign. This right of equality being then, according to justice and natural equity, a right belonging to all States, when did we give it up ? You say Congress has a right to pass rules and regulations concerning the territory and other property of the United States. Very well. Does that exclude those whose blood and money paid for it ? Does ' dispose of ' mean to rob the rightful owners? "But you say, try the right. I agree. But how? By our judgment? No; not until the last resort. What then ? by yours? No; not until the same time. *How then try it? The South has always said by the Supreme Court. But that is in our favor, and Lincoln says he will not stand that judgment. Then each must judge for himself of the mode and manner of redress. But you deny us that privilege and finally reduce us to accepting your judgment. We decline it. You say you will 'enforce it by executing laws; that means your judg- ment of what the laws ought to be. The Senator from Kentucky comes to your aid, and says he can find no constitu- tional right of secession. Perhaps not; but the Constitution is not the place to look for State rights. If that right be- longs to independent States, and they did not cede it to the Federal government, it is reserved to the States or to the peo- ple. Ask your new commentator where he gets your right to judge for us. Is it in the bond ? "The Supreme Court has decided that by the Constitution we have a right to go to the Territories, and be protected there with our property. You say we cannot decide the compact for ourselves. Well, can the Supreme Court decide it for us ? Mr. Lincoln says he does not care what the Supreme Court decides, he will turn us out anyhow. He says this in his debate with the honorable Senator from Illinois (Mr. Douglas). I have it before me. He said he would vote against the decision of the Supreme Court. Then you do not accept that arbiter. You will not take my construc- tion; you will not take the Supreme HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 566 Court as an arbiter; you will not take the practice of the government; you will not take the treaties under Jefferson and Madison; you will not take the opinion of Madison, upon the very question of prohibition in 1820. What, then, will you take? You will take nothing but your own judgment; that is, you will* not only judge for yourselves, not only discard the court, discard our construc- tion, discard the practice of the govern- ment, but you will drive us out simply because you will it. Your party says that you will not take the decision of the Supreme Court. You said so at Chicago ; you said so in committee; every man of you in both Houses says so. What arc you going to do? You say we shall submit to your construction. We shall do it, if you can make us; but not otherwise, or in any other manner. That is settled. "You have no warrant in the Consti- tution for this declaration of outlawry. The Court says you have no right to make it. The treaty says you shall not do it. The treaty of 1803 declares that the property of the people shall be pro- tected by the government, until they are admitted into the Union as a State. That treaty covers Kansas and Nebraska. The law passed in 1804, or 1805, under Mr. Jefferson, protects property in slaves in that very Territory. In 1820, when the question of prohibition came up, Mr. Madison declared it was not warranted by the Constitution, and Jefferson de- nounced its abettors as enemies of the human race. Here is the court ; here are our fathers; here is contemporaneous exposition for fifty years, all asserting our right. The Republican party says, ' We care not for your precedents, or practices; we have progressive politics, as well as a progressive religion.' Book II., c. 27 "But no matter what may be our grievances, the honorable Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) says we cannot secede. Well, what oan we do ? We cannot revolutionize; he will say that is treason. What can we do? Sub- mit ? They say they are the strongest and they will hang us. Very well, I suppose we are to be thankful for that boon. We will take that risk. We will stand by the right; we will take the Constitution; we will defend it by the sword with the halter around our necks! Will that satisfy the honorable Senator from Kentucky? You cannot intimidate my constituents by talking to them about treason. They are ready to fight for the right with the rope around their necks ! "But although I insist upon this per- fect equality in the Territories, yet, when it was proposed, as I understand the Senator from Kentucky now proposes, that the line of 36 30' shall be extended, acknowledging and protecting our prop- erty on the south side of that line, for the sake of peace — permanent peace — I said to the committee of thirteen, and I say here, that with other satisfactory provisions I would accept it. " Yet, not only did your committee refuse that, but my distinguished friend from Mississippi (Mr. Davis) — another moderate gentleman like myself — pro- posed simply to get a recognition that we had the right to our own ; that man could have property in man; and it met with the unanimous refusal even of the most moderate, Union-saving, compro- mising portion of the Republican party. They do not intend to acknowledge it. " Very well ; you not only want to break down our constitutional rights; you not only want to upturn our social system; your people not only steal our slaves, and make them freemen to vote THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 567 against us; but you seek to bring an in- ferior race in a condition of equality, socially and politically, with our own people. Well, sir, the question of slavery moves not the people of Georgia one-half as much as the fact that you insult their rights as a community. You Abolition- ists are right when you say that there are thousands and tens of thousands of men in Georgia, and all over the South, who do not own slaves. A very large portion of the people of Georgia own none of them. In the mountains there are comparatively but few of them; but no part of our people are more loyal to their race or country than our bold and brave mountain population; and every flash of the electric wires brings me cheering news from our mountain tops, and our valleys, that these sons of Geor- gia are excelled by none of their coun- trymen in loyalty to the rights, the honor, and the glory of the common- wealth. They say, and well say, this is our question; we want no negro equality, no negro citizenship; we want no mongrel race to degrade our own ; and as one man they would meet you upon the border with the sword in one hand, and the torch in the other. We will tell you when we choose to abolish this thing ; it must be done under our direction, and according to our will; our own, our native land, shall determine this question, and not the Abolitionists of the North. That is the spirit of our freemen. " I have already adverted to the prop- osition in regard to giving up criminals who are charged with stealing negroes, and I have referred to the cases of Maine, New York and Ohio. I come now to the last specification — the re- quirement that laws should be passed punishing all who aid and abet insurrec- tion. These are offences recognized by the laws of nations as inimical to all society; and I will read the opinions of an eminent publicist, when I get to that point. I said that you had aided and abetted insurrection. John Brown cer- tainly invaded Virginia. John Brown's sympathizers, I presume, are not Demo- crats. Two of the accomplices of John Brown fled — one to Ohio, one to Iowa. The governors of both States refused to give up the fugitives from justice. The party maintained them. I am aware that, in both cases, pretexts were gotten up, to cover the shame of the transac- tion. I am going to show you that their pretexts were hollow, unsubstantial, not only against constitutional law, but against the law of nations. I will show you that it was their duty to seize them under the law of nations, and bring them to their Confederate States, or even to a friendly State. The first authority I will read is ' Vattel on the Law of Nations.' If there had been any well-founded ground, if the papers had been defective, if the case had been defectively stated, what was the general duty of a friendly State without any constitutional obliga- tions? This general principle is, that one State is bound to restrain its citizens from doing anything tending to create disturbance in another State; to ferment disorders; to corrupt its citizens, or to alienate its allies. Vattel says, page 162: " 'And since the latter (the sovereign) ought not to suffer his subjects to molest the subjects of another State, or to do them an injury, much less to give open, audacious offence to foreign powers, he ought to compel the transgressors to make reparation for the damage or in- jury, if possible, or to inflict on him an exemplary punishment; or finally, ac- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 568 cording to the nature and circumstances of the case, to deliver him up to the offended State, to be there brought to justice. This is pretty generally ob- served with respect to great crimes, which are equally contrary to the laws and safety of all nations. Assassins, in- cendiaries, and robbers, are seized every- where at the desire of the sovereign in whose territories the crime was com- mitted, and are delivered up to his jus- tice. The matter is carried still further in States that arc more closely connected by friendship and good neighborhood. Even in cases of ordinary transgressions, which are only subjects of civil prosecu- tion, either with a view to the recovery of damages, or the infliction of a slight civil punishment, the subjects of two neighboring States arc reciprocally ob- liged to appear before the magistrate of the place where they are accused of having failed in their duty. Upon a re- quisition of that magistrate, called letter- rogatory, they are summoned in due form by their own magistrates, and ob- liged to appear. An admirable institu- tion, by means of which many neighbor- ing States live together in peace, and seem to form only one Republic ! This is in force through all Switzerland. As soon as the letters-rogatory are issued in form, the superior of the accused is bound to enforce them. It belongs not to him to examine whether the accusa- tion be true or false ; he is to presume on the justice of his neighbor, and not to suffer any doubts on his own part to impair an institution so well calculated to preserve harmony and good under- standing between the Stat " That is the law of nations, as de- clared by one of its ablest expounders ; but, besides, we have this principle em- bodied in the Constitution. We have Book II., c. 27 there the obligation to deliver up fugi- tives from justice; and though it is in the Constitution, though it is sanctioned, as I said, by all ages and all centuries, by the wise and the good everywhere, our Confederate States are seeking false pretexts to evade a plain, social duty, in which are involved the peace and security of all society. If we had no Constitution, this obligation would devolve upon friendly States ; if there were no Constitution, we ought to de- mand it; But, instead of giving us this protection, we are met with reproaches, reviling tricks, and treachery, to conceal and protect incendiaries and murderers. "This man, Brown, and his accom- plices, had sympathizers. Who were they ? One of them, as I have before said, who was, according to his public speeches, a defender and laudator of John Brown, is Governor of Massachu- setts. Other officials of that State ap- plauded Brown's heroism, magnified his courage, and no doubt lamented his ill success. Throughout the whole North, public meetings, immense gatherings, triumphal processions, the honors of the hero and conqueror, were awarded to this incendiary and assassin. They did not condemn the traitor; think you, they abhorred the treason ? " Yet, I repeat, when a distinguished senator from a non-slaveholding State (Mr. Douglas) proposed to punish such attempts at invasion and insurrection, Lincoln and his party come before the world and say, ' I [ere is a sedition law.' To carry out the Constitution, to protect States from invasion, and suppress insur- rection, to comply with the laws of the United States, is a 'sedition law,' and the chief of this party treats it with con- tempt ; yet, under the very same clause of the Constitution which warranted this THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. important bill, you derive your power to punish offences against the laws of na- tions. Under this warrant you have tried and punished our citizens for med- itating the invasion of foreign States ; you have stopped illegal expeditions, you have denounced our citizens as pirates, and commended them to the bloody vengeance of a merciless enemy. " Under this principle alone you pro- tect our weaker neighbors of Cuba, Honduras, and Nicaragua. By this alone are we empowered and bound to prevent our people from conspiring to- gether, giving aid, giving money, or arms, to fit out expeditions against any foreign nation. Foreign nations get the benefit of this protection ; but we are worse off in the Union than if we were out of it. Out of it we should have the protection of the neutrality laws. Now you can come among us ; raids may be made ; you may put the incendiary's torch to our dwellings, as you did last summer, for hundreds of miles on the frontier of Texas ; you may do what John Brown did, and when the mis- creants escape to your States, you will not punish them ; you will not deliver them up. Therefore, we stand defence- less. We must cut loose from the accursed ' body of this death,' even to get the benefit of the law of nations. " You will not regard confederate obligations ; you will not regard con- stitutional obligations; you will not regard your oaths. What, then, am I to do ? Am I a freeman ? Is my State a free State ? We are freemen. We have rights ; I have stated them. We have wrongs ; I have recounted them. I have demonstrated that the party now coming into power has declared us out- laws, and is determined to exclude thou- sands of millions of our property from 569 the common Territories ; that it has de- clared us under the ban of the Union, and out of the protection of the laws of the United States everywhere. They have refused to protect us from invasion and insurrection by the Federal power, and the Constitution denies to us in the Union the right either to raise fleets or armies for our defence. All these charges I have proven by the record ; and I put them before the civilized world, and demand the judgment of to- day, of to-morrow, of distant ages, and of heaven itself, upon the justice of these causes. I am content, whatever it be, to peril all in so noble, so holy a cause. We have appealed, time and time again, for these constitutional rights. You have refused them. We appeal again. Restore us these rights as we had them, as your court adjudges the in to be just as our people have said they are ; redress these flagrant wrongs, seen of all men, and it will restore fraternity, and peace, and unity to all of us. Refuse them, and what then ? We shall then ask you, ' Let us depart in peace.' Refuse that, and you present us war. We accept it ; and, inscribing upon our banners the glorious words, ' Liberty and Equality!' we will trust to the blood of the brave, and the God of battles, for security and tranquillity."* On the 29th of January, 1861, the people of Kansas were admitted as a COAT OF ARMS OF KANSAS. separate State in the Federal Union, without any excitement. * See Congressional Globe, 7th January, 1861. 5/-o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c, -8 On the same day, an informal Peace Congress of all the States was called by the Legislature of Virginia, to meet in Washington, on the 4th of the ensuing February, an account of which will be given hereafter. CHAPTER XXVIII. Buchanan's administration — Continued. (4th November, i860 — 4th February, 1S61.) Events in Georgia — Old champions of the Union now for secession — Toombs, the brothers Cobb, Thomas W. Thomas, and others — Speech of Alexander II . Stephens, before the State Legislature, November 14th, i860 — The secession convention, 16th Janu- ary, 1S61 — The speech of Alexander H. Stephens in that body — Position of Ilerschel V. Johnson — Ordinance of secession passed — Linton Stephens' resolutions — State sends delegates to the Mont- gomery convention — Alexander H. Stephens one of the delegates — Resolution offered by him, and adopted before his acceptance of the trust. EFORE proceeding to the con- sideration of the action and results of the Peace Congress, we will now notice some ante- cedent facts, which may prop- erly be here presented, in connection with the current events of this period. After the election of Messrs. Lincoln and Hamlin was known in November, i860, the excitement in Georgia was quite as great perhaps as in any other State. Several of the most prominent men, who had in 1S51 thrown all their influ- ence and exerted their utmost energies for the maintenance of the Union on the principles of the Georgia platform adopted the year before, were now the un- qualified, open, bold, and eloquent advo- cates of immediate secession, unless some guarantee against threatening dangers should be secured. Among these may be named Mr. Toombs, Mr. Howell Cobb, his junior brother, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Thomas W.Thomas, Eugenius A. Nesbit, Asbury Hull, and many others of high character and great influence. In the midst of this excitement the Legislature of the State being in session, the author, while at his home, received an urgent invitation from a large number of the members and others to go to Mil- lcdgeville, the seat of government, and address them upon the condition of public affairs. To this request he yielded, though he had voluntarily retired from Congress in March, 1859, with the deter- mination never again to be connected with politics. The crisis at this time, however, was so alarming that he felt it to be his duty to respond to the call that had been made upon him. That response was made in the following extempore address on the night of the 14th of No- vember, i860, before an immense audi- ence, whose passions had been aroused almost to fury by previous addresses on previous nights by Mr. Thomas R. R. Cobb, Mr. Toombs and others. " Fellow-Citizens : I appear before you to-night at the request of members of the Legislature and others, to speak of matters of the deepest interest that can possibly concern us all, of an earthly character. There is nothing, no question or subject connected with this life, that concerns a free people so intimately as that of the government under which they live. We are now, indeed, surrounded by evils. Never since I entered upon the public stage has the country been so environed with difficulties and dangers that threatened the public peace and the very existence of our institutions as now. I do not appear before you at my own instance. It is not to gratify any desire of my own that I am here. Had I con- sulted my personal ease and pleasure, I should not be before you ; but believing THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. that it is the duty of every good citizen, when called on, to give his counsels and views whenever the country is in danger, as to the best policy to be pursued, I am here. For these reasons, and these only, do I bespeak a calm, patient, and atten- tive hearing. " My object is not to stir up strife, but to allay it ; not to appeal to your pas- sions, but to your reason. Let us, there- fore, reason together. It is not my pur- pose to say ought to wound the feelings of any individual who may be present ; and if, in the ardency with which I shall express my opinions, I shall say anything which may be deemed too strong, let it be set down to the zeal with which I advocate my own convictions. There is with me no intention to irritate or offend. " I do not, on this occasion, intend to enter into the history of the reasons or causes of the embarrassments which press so heavily upon us all at this time. In justice to myself, however, I must barely state upon this point that I do think much of it depended upon ourselves. The consternation that has come upon the people is the result of a sectional election of a President of the United States, one whose opinions and avowed principles are in antagonism to our in- terests and rights, and we believe, if carried out, would subvert the Con- stitution under which we now live. But are we entirely blameless in this mat- ter, my countrymen ? I give it to you as my opinion, that but for the policy the Southern people pursued, this fearful result would not have oc- curred. "The first question that presents itself is, shall the people of Georgia secede from the Union in consequence of the election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States ? My countrymen, 571 I tell you frankly, candidly, and earnestly, that I do not think that they ought. In my judgment, the election of no man, constitutionally chosen, to that high of- fice, is sufficient cause to justify any State to separate from the Union. It ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the Constitution of the country. To make a point of resistance to the government, to withdraw from it because any man has been elected, would put us in the wrong. We are pledged to maintain the Constitu- tion. Many of us have sworn to support it. Can we, therefore, for the mere elec- tion of any man to the Presidency, and that, too, in accordance with the pre- scribed forms of the Constitution, make a point of resistance to the government, without becoming the breakers of that sacred instrument ourselves, by with- drawing ourselves from it? Would we not be in the wrong ? Whatever fate is to befall this country, let it never be laid to the charge of the people of the South, and especially to the people of Georgia, that we were untrue to our national en- gagements. Let the fault and the wrong rest upon others. If all our hopes are to be blasted, if the Republic is to go down, let us be found to the last moment standing on the deck with the Constitu- tion of the United States waving over our heads. [Applause.] Let the fanatics of the North break the Constitution, if such is their fell purpose. Let the re- sponsibility be upon them. I shall speak presently more of theii acts ; but let not the South, let us not be the ones to commit the aggression. We went into the election with this people. The result was different from what we wished ; but the election has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of re- sistance to the government and go out of the Union merely on that account, 572 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 28 the record would be made up hereafter against us. " But it is said Mr. Lincoln's policy and principles are against the Constitu- tion, and that, if he carries them out, it will be destructive of our rights. Let us not anticipate a threatened evil. If he violates the Constitution, then will come our time to act. Do not let us break it because, forsooth, he may. If he does, that is the time for us to act. [Applause.] I think it would be inju- dicious and unwise to do this sooner. I do not anticipate that Mr. Lincoln will do anything to jeopard our safety or security, whatever may be his spirit to do it; for he is bound by the constitu- tional checks which are thrown around him, which at this time render him pow- erless to do any great mischief. This shows the wisdom of our system. The President of the United States is no Emperor, no Dictator — he is clothed with no absolute power. He can do nothing, unless he is backed by power in Congress. The House of Representa- tives is largely in a majority against him. In the very face and teeth of the majority of the electoral votes, which he has obtained in the Northern States, there have been large gains in the House of Representatives, to the conservative constitutional party of the country, which I here will call the National Dem- ocratic party, because that is the cogno- men it has at the North. There are twelve of this party elected from New York, to the next Congress, I believe. In the present House there are but four, I think. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana, there have been gains. In the present Congress there were one hundred and thirteen Republicans, when it takes one hundred and seventeen to make a majority. The gains in the Democratic party in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, and other States, notwithstanding its dis- tractions, have been enough to make a majority of nearly thirty, in the next House, against Mr. Lincoln. Even in Boston, Mr. Burlingame, one of the noted leaders of the fanatics of that sec- tion, has been defeated, and a conserva- tive man returned in his stead. Is this the time, then, to apprehend that Mr. Lincoln, with this large majority in the House of Representatives against him, can carry out any of his unconstitutional principles in that body? " In the Senate he will also be power- less. There will be a majority of four against him. This, after the loss of Bigler, Fitch, and others, by the unfor- tunate dissensions of the National Dem- ocratic party in their States. Mr. Lin- coln cannot appoint an officer without the consent of the Senate — lie cannot form a cabinet without the same consent. He will be in the condition of George the Third (the embodiment of Toryism), who had to ask the Whigs to appoint his ministers, and was compelled to re- ceive a cabinet utterly opposed to his views; and so Mr. Lincoln will be com- pelled to ask of the Senate to choose for him a cabinet, if the Democracy or that party choose to put him on such terms. He will be compelled to do this, or let the government stop, if the National Democratic Senators (for that is their name at the North), the conser- vative men in the Senate, should so determine. Then how can Mr. Lincoln obtain a cabinet which would aid him or allow him to violate the Constitution? Why then, I say, should we disrupt the ties of this Union, when his hands arc tied — when he can do nothing against us ? THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 573 " I have heard it mooted, that no man in the State of Georgia, who is true to her interests, could hold office under Mr. Lincoln. But I ask, who appoints to office ? Not the President alone; the Senate has to concur. No man can be appointed without the consent of the Senate. Should any man, then, refuse to hold office that was given him by a Democratic Senate ? [Mr. Toombs interrupted and said, if the Senate was Democratic it was for Breckinridge.] " Well, then," continued Mr. Stephens, " I apprehend that no man could be justly considered untrue to the interests of Georgia, or incur any disgrace, if the interests of Georgia required it, to hold an office which a Breckinridge Senate had given him, even though Mr. Lin- coln should be President. [Prolonged applause, mingled with interruptions.] "I trust, my countrymen, you will be still and silent. I am addressing your good sense. I am giving you my views, in a calm and dispassionate manner, and if any of you differ with me, you can on some other occasion give your views, as I am doing now, and let reason and true patriotism decide between us. In my judgment, I say, under such circum- stances, there would be no possible disgrace for a Southern man to hold office. No man will be suffered to be appointed, I have no doubt, who is not true to the Constitution, if Southern Senators are true to their trusts, as I cannot permit myself to doubt that they will be. " My honorable friend who addressed you last night (Mr. Toombs), and to whom I listened with the profoundest at- tention, asks if we would submit to Black Republican rule ? I say to you and to him, as a Georgian, I never would submit to any Black Republican aggression upon our constitutional rights. " I will never consent myself, as much as I admire this Union, for the glories of the past or the blessings of the pres- ent ; as much as it has done for civiliza- tion ; as much as the hopes of the world hang upon it; I would never submit to aggression upon my rights to maintain it longer; and if they cannot be main- tained in the Union standing on the Georgia platform, where I have stood from the time of its adoption, I would be in favor of disrupting every tie which binds the States together. I will have equality for Georgia, and for the citizens of Georgia, in this Union, or I will look for new safeguards elsewhere. This is my position. The only question now is, Can this be secured in the Union? That is what I am counselling with you to-night about. Can it be secured ? In my judgment it may be, yet it may not be ; but let us do all we can, so that in the future, if the worst comes, it may never be said we were negligent in doing our duty to the last. " My countrymen, I am not of those who believe this Union has been a curse up to this time. True men, men of in- tegrity, entertain different views from me on this subject. I do not question their right to do so ; I would not impugn their motives in so doing. Nor will I undertake to say that this government of our fathers is perfect. There is nothing perfect in this world of human origin; nothing connected with human nature, from man himself to any of his works. You may select the wisest and best men for your judges, and yet how many defects are there in the administra- tion of justice? You may select the wisest and best men for your legislators, and yet how many defects are apparent 574 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 28 in your laws? And it is so in our gov- ernment. But that this government of our fathers, with all its defects, comes nearer the objects of all good govern- ments than any other on the face of the earth, is my settled conviction. Contrast it now with any on the face of the earth. [" England," said Mr. Toombs.] " Mr. Stephens. — England, my friend says. Well, that is the next best, I grant ; but I think we have improved upon England. Statesmen tried their apprentice hand on the government of England, and then ours was made. Ours sprung from that, avoiding many of its defects, taking most of the good, and leaving out many of its errors, and from the whole our fathers constructed and built up this model Republic — the best which the history of the world gives any account of. Compare, my friends, this government with that of France, Spain, Mexico, the South American Re- publics, Germany, Ireland — (are there any sons of that down-trodden nation here to-night?) — Prussia; or if you travel further cast, to Turkey or China ? Where will you go, following the sun in its circuit round our globe, to find a government that better protects the lib- erties of its people, and secures to them the blessings we enjoy? [Applause.] I think that one of the evils that beset us is a surfeit of liberty, an exuberance of the priceless blessings for which we are ungrateful. We listened to my hon- orable friend who addressed you last night [Mr. Toombs] as he recounted the evils of this government. The first was the fishing bounties, paid mostly to the sailors of New England. Our friend stated that forty-eight years of our gov- ernment was under the administration of Southern Presidents. Well, these fishing bounties becran under the rule of a Southern President, I believe. No one of them during the whole forty-eight years ever set his administration against the principle or policy of them. It is not for me to say whether it was a wise policy in the beginning; it probably was not, and I have nothing to say in its de- fence. But the reason given for it was to encourage our young men to go to sea, and learn to manage .--hips. We had at the time but a small navy. It was thought best to encourage a class of our people to become acquainted with sea- faring life ; to become sailors, to man our naval ships. It requires practice to walk the deck of a ship, to pull the ropes, to furl the sails, to go aloft, to climb the mast ; and it was thought by offering this bounty, a nursery might be formed, in which young men would be- come perfected in these arts, and it ap- plied to one section of the country as well as to any other. The result of this was that, in the war of 1S12, our sailors, many of whom came from this nursery, were equal to any that England brought against us. At any rate, no small part of the glories of that war were gained by the veteran tars of America, and the ob- ject of these bounties was to foster that branch of the national defence. My opinion is, that whatever may have been the reason at first, this bounty ought to be discontinued — the reason for it at first no longer exists. A bill for this object did pass the Senate the last Congress I was in, to which my honorable friend contributed greatly, but it was not reached in the House of Representa- tives. I trust that he will yet see that he may with honor continue his connec- tion with the government, and that his elo- quence, unrivalled in the Senate, may here- after, as heretofore, be displayed in having this bounty, so obnoxious to him, repealed and wiped off from the statute book. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN 575 " The next evil that my friend com- plained of was the tariff. Well, let us look at that for a moment. About the time I commenced noticing public mat- ters, this question was agitating the country almost as fearfully as the slave question now is. In 1832, when I was in college, South Carolina was ready to nullify or secede from the Union on this account. And what have we seen ? The tariff no longer distracts the public councils. Reason has triumphed ! The present tariff was voted for by Massa- chusetts and South Carolina. The lion and the lamb lay down together — every man in the Senate and House from Mas- sachusetts and South Carolina, I think, voted for it, as did my honorable friend himself. And if it be true, to use the figure of speech of my honorable friend, that every man in the North, that works in iron and brass and wood, has his muscle strengthened by the protection of the government, that stimulant was given by his vote, and I believe every other Southern man. So we ought not to complain of that. [Mr. Toombs. — " That tariff lessened the duties."] " Mr. Stephens. — Yes, and Massachu- setts, with unanimity, voted with the South to lessen them, and they were made just as low as Southern men asked them to be, and those are the rates they are now at. If reason and argument, with experience, produced such changes in the sentiments of Massachusetts from 1832 to 1857, on tn e subject of the tariff, may not like changes be effected there by the same means, reason and argument, and appeals to patriotism on the present vexed question ? and who can say that by 1875 or 1890, Massachusetts may not vote with South Carolina and Georgia upon all those questions that now dis- tract the country and threaten its peace and existence ? I believe in the power and efficiency of truth, in the omnipo- tence of truth, and its ultimate triumph when properly wielded. [Applause.] "Another matter of grievance alluded to by my honorable friend was the Navi- gation Laws. This policy was also com- menced under the administration of one of these Southern Presidents, who ruled so well, and has been continued through all of them since. The gentleman's views of the policy of these laws and my own do not disagree. We occupied the same ground in relation to them in Congress. It is not my purpose to defend them now. But it is proper to state some matters connected with their origin. "One of the objects was to build up a commercial American marine by giving American bottoms the exclusive carrying trade between our own ports. This is a great arm of national power. This ob- ject was accomplished. We have now an amount of shipping not only coast- wise but to foreign countries which puts us in the front rank of the nations of the world. England can no longer be styled the mistress of the seas. What Ameri- can is not proud of the result ? Whether those laws should be continued is another question. But one thing is certain, no President, Northern or Southern, has ever yet recommended their repeal. And my friend's effort to get them re- pealed has met with but little favor North or South. " These were three of the grievances or grounds of complaint against the gen- eral system of our government and its workings; I mean the administration of the Federal government. As to the acts of several of the States, I shall speak presently, but these three were the main 5 ;6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 28 ones urged against the common Head. Now suppose it be admitted that all of these are evils in the system; do they overbalance and outweigh the advantages and great good which this same govern- ment affords in a thousand innumerable ways that cannot be estimated ? Have we not at the South, as well as the North, grown great, prosperous and happy under its operation? Has any part of the world ever shown such rapid progress in the development of wealth, and all the material resources of national power and greatness, as the Southern States have under the general government, not- withstanding all its defects? [Mr. Toombs. — " In spite of it ! "' " Mr. Stephens. — My honorable friend says we have, in spite of the general government; that without it I suppose he thinks we might have done as well, or perhaps better than we have done. This grand result is in spite of the govern- ment ! That may be, and it may not be; but the great fact that we have grown great and powerful under the govern- ment, as it exists, is admitted. There is no conjecture or speculation about that; it stands out bold, high, and prominent, like your Stone mountain, to which the gentleman alluded, in illustrating home facts, in his record — this great fact of our unrivalled prosperity in the Union as it is, is admitted — whether all this is in spite of the government — whether we of the South would have been better off with- out the government, is, to say the least, problematical. On the one side we can only put the fact against speculation and conjecture on the other. But even as a question of speculation, I differ from my distinguished friend. What we would have lost in border wars without the Union, or what we have gained, simply by the peace it has secured, is not within our power to estimate. Our foreign trade, which is the foundation of all our prosperity, has the protection of the navy which drove the pirates from the waters near our coast, where they had been buccaneering for centuries before, and might have been still, had it not been for the American navy, under the com- mand of such a spirit as Commodore Porter. Now, that the coast is clear, that our commerce flows freely, out- wardly and inwardly, we cannot well estimate how it would have been, under other circumstances. The influence of the government on us is like that of the atmosphere around us. Its benefits are so silent and unseen, that they are seldom thought of or appreciated. "We seldom think of the single ele- ment of oxygen, in the air we breathe, and yet, let this simple, unseen, and unfelt agent be withdrawn, this life-giving element be taken away from this all-per- vading fluid around us, and what instant and appalling changes would take place, in all organic creation ! "It may be, that we are all that we are, in 'spite of the general government,' but it may be that without it, we should have been far different from what we arc now. It is true, there is no equal part of the earth with natural resources su- perior, perhaps, to ours. That portion of this country known as the Southern States, stretching from the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande, is fully equal to the picture drawn by the honorable and eloquent Senator, last night, in all natural capacities. But how many ages, centuries, passed before these capacities were de- veloped to reach this advanced stage of civilization? There, these same hills, rich in ore, same rivers, same valleys and plains, are as they have been since they came from the hand of the Creator. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. S77 Uneducated and uncivilized, man roamed over them, for how long no history in- forms us. "It was only under our institutions as they are, that they were developed. Their development is the result of the enterprise of our people under operations of the government and institutions under which we have lived. Even our people, without these, never would have done it. The organization of society has much to do with the development of the natural resources of any country or any land. The institutions of a people, political and mora!, are the matrix in which the germ of their organic structure quickens into life, takes root, and develops in form, nature, and character. Our institutions constitute the basis,, the matrix from which spring all our characteristics of development and greatness. Look at Greece ! There is the same fertile soil, the same blue sky, the same inlets and harbors, the same yEgean, the same Olympus — there is the same land where Homer sung, where Pericles spoke — it is, in nature, the same old Greece ; but it is ' living Greece no more.' [Ap- plause.] " Descendants of the same people in- habit the country ; yet what is the reason of this mighty difference ? In the midst of present degradation we see the glorious fragments of ancient works of art — temples with ornaments and inscrip- tions that excite wonder and admiration, the remains of a once high order of civilization, which have outlived the lan- guage they spoke. Upon them all Icha- bod is written — their glory has departed. Why is this so ? I answer this, their institutions have been destroyed. These were but the fruits of their forms of government, the matrix from which their grand development sprung ; and when 37 once the institutions of our people shall have been destroyed, there is no earthly power that can bring back the Prome- thean spark to kindle them here again, any more than in that ancient land of eloquence, poetry, and song ! [Ap- plause.] The same may be said of Italy. Where is Rome, once the mis- tress of the world ? There are the same seven hills now, the same soil, the same natural resources ; nature is the same ; but what a ruin of human greatness meets the eye of the traveller throughout the length and breadth of that most down-trodden land ! Why have not the people of that heaven-favored clime the spirit that animated their fathers ? Why this sad difference ? It is the destruc- tion of her institutions that has caused it. And, my countrymen, if we shall, in an evil hour, rashly pull down and de- stroy those institutions, which the patri- otic hand of our fathers labored so long and so hard to build up, and which have done so much for us, and for the world ; who can venture the prediction that similar results will not ensue ? Let us avoid them if we can. I trust the spirit is amongst us that will enable us to do it. Let us not rashly try the experiment of change, of pulling down and destroy- ing ; for, as in Greece and Italy, and the South American Republics, and in every other place, whenever our liberty is once loet, it may never be restored to us again. [Applause.] " There are defects in our government, errors in our administration, and short- comings of many kinds, but in spite of these defects and errors, Georgia has grown to be a great State. Let us pause here a moment. In 1850 there was a great crisis, but not so fearful as this, for of all I have ever passed through, this is the most perilous, and requires to 578 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c 28 be met with the greatest calmness and deliberation. " There were man)' amongst us in 1850 zealous to go at once out of the Union — to disrupt every tie that binds us together. Now do you believe, had that policy been carried out at that time, we would have been the same great peo- ple that we are to-day ? It may be that we would, but have you any assurance of that fact ? Would we have made the same advancement, improvement, and progress, in all that constitutes material wealth and prosperity, that we have? " I notice in the Comptroller-General's report, that the taxable property of Georgia is 5670,000,000 and upwards — an amount not far from double what it was in 1850. I think I may venture to say that for the last ten years the mate- rial wealth of the people of Georgia has been nearly if not quite doubled. The same may be said of our advance in education, and everything that marks our civilization. Have we any assurance that had we regarded the earnest but misguided patriotic advice, as I think, of some of that day, and disrupted the ties which bind us to the Union, we would have advanced as. we have? I think not. Well, then, let us be careful now, before we attempt any rash experiment of this sort. I know that there are friends whose patriotism I do not intend to question, who think this Union a curse, and that we would be better off without it. I do not so think, if we can bring about a correction of these evils which threaten, and I am not without hope that this may yet be done. This appeal to go out with all the promises for good that accompany it, I look upon as a great, and I fear, a fatal temptation. " When I look around and see our prosperity in everything — agriculture, commerce, art, science, and every de- partment of progress, physical, mental, and moral — certainly, in the face of such an exhibition, if we can, without the loss of power, or any essential right or inter- est, remain in the Union, it is our duty to ourselves and to posterity to do so. Let us not unwisely yield to this temp- tation. Our first parents, the great pro- genitors of the human race, were not without a like temptation when in the garden of Eden. They were led to be- lieve that their condition would- be bettered — that their eyes would be opened — and that they would become as gods. They, in an evil hour, yielded — instead of becoming gods, they only saw their own nakedness ! "I look upon .this country with our institutions as the Eden of the world, the Paradise of the universe. It may be that out of it we may become greater and more prosperous, but I am candid and sincere in telling you that I fear if we yield to passion, and without sufficient cause shall take that step, that instead of becoming greater or more peaceful, prosperous, and happy — instead of be- coming gods, we will become demons, and at no distant day commence cutting one another's throats. This is my appre- hension. Let us, therefore, whatever we do, meet these difficulties, great as they are, like wise and sensible men, and con- sider them in the light of all the conse- quences which may attend our action. Let us see first, clearly, where the path of duty leads, and then we may not fear to tread therein. " Now, upon another point, and that the most difficult, and deserving your most serious consideration, I will speak. That is, the course which this State should pursue towards those Northern States which, by their legislative acts, THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 579 have attempted to nullify the fugitive slave law. " Northern States, on entering into the Federal compact, pledged themselves to surrender such fugitives ; and it is in disregard of their constitutional obliga- tions that they have passed laws which even tend tc hinder or inhibit the fulfil- ment of that obligation. They have violated their plighted faith. What ought we to do in view of this? That is the question. What is to be done ? By the law of nations, you would have a right to demand the carrying out of this article of agreement, and I do not see that it should be otherwise with respect to the States of this Union ; and in case it be not done, we would, by these prin- ciples, have the right to commit acts of reprisal on these faithless governments, and seize upon their property, or that of their citizens, wherever found. The States of this Union stand upon the same footing with foreign nations in this respect. "Suppose it were Great Britain that had violated some compact of agreement with the general government — what would be first done? In that case our ministers would be directed, in the first instance, to bring the matter to the at- tention of that government, or a commis- sioner be sent to that country to open negotiations with her, ask for redress, and it would only be after argument and reason had been exhausted in vain that we would take the last resort of nations. That would be the course toward a foreign government, and to- ward a member of this Confederacy, I would recommend the same course. Let us not, therefore, act hastily, or ill- temperedly in this matter. Let your committee on the state of the republic make out a bill of grievances; let it be sent by the governor to those faithless States; and if reason and argument shall be tried in vain — if all shall fail to induce them to return to their constitu- tional obligations, I would be for retalia- tory measures, such as the governor has suggested to you. This mode of resist- ance in the Union is in our power. " Now, then, my recommendation to you would be this: In view of all these questions of difficulty, let a Convention of the people of Georgia be called, to which they may be all referred. Let the sov- ereignty of the people speak. Some think that the election of Mr. Lincoln is cause sufficient to dissolve the Union. Some think those other grievances are sufficient to justify the same; and that the Legislature has the power thus to act, and ought thus to act. I have no hesitancy in saying that the Legislature is not the proper body to sever our Federal relations, if that necessity should arise. " I say to you, you have no power so to act. You must refer this question to the people, and you must wait to hear from the men at the cross-roads, and even the groceries; for the people of this country, whether at the cross-roads or groceries, whether in cottages or palaces, are all equal, and they are the sovereigns in this country. Sovereignty is not in the Legislature. We, the people, are sovereign ! I am one of them, and have a right to be heard ; and so has every other citizen of the State. You legislators — I speak it respectfully — are but our servants. You are the servants of the people, and not their masters. Power resides with the people in this country. The great difference between our coun- try and most others is, that here there is popular sovereignty, while there sov- ereignty is exercised by kings or favored 58o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 28 classes. This principle of popular sov- ereignty, however much derided lately, is the foundation of our institutions. Constitutions "are but the channels through which the popular will may be expressed. Our Constitutions, State and Federal, came from the people. They made both, and they alone can rightfully unmake either. " Should Georgia determine to go out of the Union, I speak for one, though my views might not agree with them, whatever the result may be, I shall bow to the will of her people. Their cause is my cause, and their destiny is my destiny; and I trust this will be the ultimate course of all. The greatest curse that can befall a free people is civil war. "As to the other matter, I think we have a right to pass retaliatory measures, provided they be in accordance with the Constitution of the United States ; and I think they can be made so. But whether it would be wise for this Lee- islature to do this now, is a question. To the Convention, in my judgment, tli is matter ought to be referred. Before making reprisals, we should exhaust every means of bringing about a peace- ful settlement of the controversy. Thus did General Jackson in the case of the French. He did not recommend re- prisals until he had treated with France and got her to promise to make indem- nifications, and it was only on her refusal to pay the money which she had promised, that he recommended reprisals. It was after negotiation had failed. I do think, therefore, that it would be best before going to extreme measures with our Confederate States, to make the pre- sentation of our demands, to appeal to their reason and judgment to give us our rights. Then if reason should not triumph, it will be time enough to make reprisals, and we should be justified in the eyes of a civilized world. At least, let these offending and derelict States know what your grievances are, and if they refuse, as I said, to give us our rights under the Constitution, I should be willing, as a last resort, to sever the ties of our Union with them. , [Ap- plause.] "My own opinion is, that if this course be pursued, and they are informed of the consequences of refusal, these States will recede, will repeal their nullifying acts ; but if they should not, then let the con- sequences be with them, and the respon- sibility of the consequences rest upon them. Another thing I would have that Convention to do. Reaffirm the Geor- gia Platform with an additional plank in it. Let that plank be the fulfilment of these constitutional obligations on the part of those States — their repeal of these obnoxious laws as the condition of our remaining in the Union. Give them time to consider it, and I would ask all States South to do the same thing. " I am for exhausting all that patriotism demands, before taking the last step. I would invite, therefore, South Carolina to a conference. I would ask the same of all the other Southern States, so that if the evil has got beyond our control, which God in his mercy grant may not be the case, we may not be divided among ourselves [cheers] ; but if possi- ble, secure the united co-operation of all the Southern States, and then, in the face of the civilized world, we may justify our action, and, with the wrong all on the other side, we can appeal to the God of battles, if it comes to that, to aid us in our cause. [Loud applause.] But do nothing in which any portion of our people may charge you with rash or THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN 5 8l hasty action. It is certainly a matter of great importance to tear this govern- ment asunder. You were not sent here for that purpose. I would wish the whole South to be united, if this is to be done; and I believe if we pursue the policy which I have indicated, this can be effected. "In this way our sister Southern States can be induced to act with us; and I have but little doubt that the States of New York, and Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and the other Western States will compel their Legislatures to recede from their hostile attitude, if the others do not. Then, with these we would go on without New England, if she chose to stay out. [A voice in the assembly — " We will kick them out."] " Mr. Stephens — No: T would not kick them out. But if they chose to stay out, they might. I think, moreover, that these Northern States, being principally engaged in manufactures, would find that they had as much interest in the Union, under the Constitution, as we, and that they would return to their constitutional duty — this would be my hope. If they should not, and if the Middle States and Western States do not join us, we should, at least, have an undivided South. I am, as you clearly perceive, for maintaining the Union as it is, if possible. I will exhaust every means, thus, to maintain it with an equality in it. My position, then, in conclusion, is for the maintenance of the honor, the rights, the equality, the security, and the glory of my native State in the Union, if possible; but if these cannot be maintained in the Union, l'ien I am for their maintenance, at all lrizards, out of it. Next to the honor ;md glory of Georgia, the land of my birth, I hold the honor and glory of our common country. In Savannah, I was made to say by the reporters, who very often make me say things which I never did, that I was first for the glory of the whole country, and next for that of Georgia. I said the exact reverse of this. I am proud of Georgia, of her history, of her present standing. I am proud even of her motto, which I would have duly respected, at the present time, by all her sons — ' Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation.' I would have her rights and those of the Southern States main- tained now upon these principles. Her position now is just what it was in 1850, with respect to the Southern States. Her platform, then established, was sub- sequently adopted by most, if not all the other Southern States. Now I would add but one additional plank to that platform, which I have stated, and one which time has shown to be necessary, and if that shall likewise be adopted in substance by all the Southern States, all may yet be well. But, if all this fails, we shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we have done our duty, and all that patriotism could require. " Mr. Stephens then took his seat, amidst great applause." This speech shows how earnestly de- voted the author was to the sovereignty of the several States, as well as to the Union of the States, based upon that sovereignty. It shows how profoundly he was impressed with the belief, that the happiness and prosperity of all the States depended greatly upon the continued maintenance of the Federal Union, upon the principles upon which it was founded; and that he did not then despair of so maintaining it, if the real and true friends of the Union, on these principles, every- where, could but be brought to unite their energies and patriotic efforts to that 582 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Hook II., c A object. It shows also that he then did not despair of the prospect of bringing about such united effort. This speech was the occasion of the following correspondence between the author and Mr. Lincoln, the President elect. Springfield, III., Nov. 30, i860. Hon. A. H. Stephens: My Dear Sir: — I have read, in the newspapers, your speech recently de- livered (I think) before the Georgia Legislature or its assembled members. If you have revised it, as is probable, I shall be much obliged if you will send me a copy. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. [Original draft copy of MSS. sent.] Crawfordville, Ga. Dec. 14, i860. My Dear Sir : — Your short and polite note of the 30th ulto. asking for a revised copy of the speech to which you referred was not received until last night. The newspaper report of the speech has never been revised by me. The notes of the reporter were submitted to me and cor- rected to some extent before being pub- lished, but not so thoroughly as I would have wished. The report was substan- tially correct. If I had had any idea that it would have been so extensively circulated as it has been, and been repub- lished in so many papers throughout the country as it has been, I should have prepared a copy for the press in the first instance. But I had no such thought, and therefore let the report go as it did. There are several verbal inaccuracies in it, but the main points appear sufficiently clear for all practical purposes. The country is certainly in great peril, and no man ever had heavier or greater respon- sibility resting upon him than you have in the present momentous crisis. Yours, most respectfully, Alexander H. Stephens. Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, III. {For your own eye on/y.) Springfield, III., Dec. 22, i860. Hon. A. H. Stephens : My Dear Sir: — Your obliging answer to my short note is just received, and for which please accept my thanks. I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of respon- sibility on me. Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Repub- lican administration would, directly or indirectly, interfere with the slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not as an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended, while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rule. It certainly is the only substantial differ- ence between us. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. The copy retained of the author's second letter to him, of the 30th, after the usual heading and address, is in these words : " Yours of the 226, instant was received two days ago. I hold it and appreciate it as you intended. Personally I am not your enemy — far from it — and however widely we may differ politically, yet I THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 583 trust we both have an earnest desire to preserve and maintain the Union of the States, if it can be done upon the prin- ciples and in furtherance of the objects for which it was formed. It was with such feelings on my part, that I suggested to you in my former note the heavy re- sponsibility now resting on you, and with the same feelings I will now take the liberty of saying in all frankness and earnestness, that this great object can never be attained by force. This is my settled conviction. Consider the opinion, weigh it, and pass upon it for yourself. An error on this point may lead to the most disastrous consequences. I will also add, that in my judgment the people of the South do not entertain any fears that a Republican administration, or at least the one about to be inaugurated, would attempt to interfere directly and immediately with slavery in the States. Their apprehension and disquietude do not spring from that source. They do not arise from the fact of the known anti-slavery opinions of the President elect. Washington, Jefferson, and other Presidents are generally admitted to have been anti-slavery in sentiment. But in those days anti-slavery did not enter as an element into party organizations. " Questions of other kinds, relating to the foreign and domestic policy — com- merce, finance, and other legitimate ob- jects of the general government — were the basis of such associations in their day. The private opinions of individ- uals upon the subject of African slavery, or the status of the negro with us, were not looked to in the choice of Federal officers any more than their views upon matters of religion, or any other subject over which the government under the Constitution had no control. But now this subject, which is confessedly on all sides outside of the constitutional action of the government so far as the States are concerned, is made the ' central idea ' in the platform of principles announced by the triumphant party. The leading ob- ject seems to be simply, and wantonly, if you please, to put the institutions of nearly half the States under the ban of public opinion and national condemna- tion. This, upon general principles, is quite enough of itself to arouse a spirit not only of general indignation, but of revolt on the part of the proscribed. Let me illustrate. It is generally con- ceded, by the Republicans even, that Congress cannot interfere with slavery in the States. It is equally conceded that Congress cannot establish any form of religious worship. Now, suppose that any one of the present Christian churches or sects prevailed in all the Southern States, but had no existence in any one of the Northern States — under such cir- cumstances suppose the people of the Northern States should organize a polit- ical party — not upon a foreign or do- mestic policy, but with one leading idea of condemnation of the doctrines and tenets of that particular church, and with the avowed object of preventing its ex- tension into the common Territories, even after the highest judicial tribunal of the land had decided they had no such constitutional power! And sup- pose that a party so organized should carry a Presidential election ! Is it not apparent that a general feeling of re- sistance to the success, aims and objects of such a party would necessarily and rightfully ensue ? Would it not be the inevitable consequence ? And the more so, if possible, from the admitted fact that it was a matter beyond their con- trol, and one that they ought not in the spirit of comity between co-States to at- 5 §4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 28 tempt to meddle with. I submit these thoughts to you for your calm reflection. We at the South do think African slavery, as it exists with us, both morally and polit- ically right. This opinion is founded upon the inferiority of the black race. You, however, and perhaps a majority, of the North think it wrong. Admit the dif- ference of opinion. The same difference of opinion existed to a more general ex- tent amongst those who formed the Con- stitution, when it was made and adopted. The changes have been mainly to our side. As parties were not formed on this difference of opinion then, why should they be now ? The same differ- ence would of course exist in the sup- posed case of religion. When parties or combinations of men, therefore, so form themselves, must it not be assumed to arise not from reason or any sense of justice, but from fanaticism? The mo- tive can spring from no other source, and when men come under the influence of fanaticism, there is no telling where their impulses or passions may drive them. This is what creates our discontent and apprehension. You will also allow me to say that it is neither unnatural nor unreasonable, especially when we sec the extent to which this reckless spirit has already gone. Such, for instance, as the avowed disregard and breach of the Constitution, in the passage of the statutes in a number of the Northern States against the rendition of fugitives from service, and such exhibitions of madness as the John Brown raid into Virginia, which has received so much sympathy from many, and no open condemnation from any of the leading men of the present dominant party. For a very clear statement of the prevailing sentiment of the most moderate men of the South upon them, I refer you to the speech of Senator Nicholson, of Tennes- see, which I inclose to you. Upon a review of the whole, who can say that the general discontent and apprehension prevailing is not well founded ? " In addressing you thus, I would have you understand me as being not a per- sonal enemy, but as one who would have you to do what you can to save our common country. A word ' fitly spoken ' by you now, would indeed be ' like apples of gold, in pictures of sil- ver.' I entreat you be not deceived as to the nature and extent of the danger, or as to the remedy. Conciliation and harmony, in my judgment, can never be established by force. Nor can the Union, under the Constitution, be main- tained by force. The Union was formed by the consent of independent sovereign States. Ultimate sovereignty still re- sides with them separately, which can be resumed, and will be, if their safety, tranquillity and security in their judg- ment require it. Under our system, as I view it, there is no rightful power in the general government to coerce a State, in case any one of them should throw her- self upon her reserved rights, and re- sume the full exercise of her sovereign powers. Force may perpetuate a Union. That depends upon the contingencies of war. But such a Union would not be the Union of the Constitution. It would be nothing short of a consolidated des- potism. Excuse me for giving you these views. Excuse the strong language used. Nothing but the deep interest I feel in prospect of the most alarming dangers now threatening our common country could induce me to do it. Consider well what I write, and let it have such weight with you as, in your judgment, under all the responsibility resting upon you, it merits." THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN 585 Mr. Lincoln's injunction, " For your own eye only," was strictly observed. The correspondence was never made public, or alluded to by the author to but a very few friends, until after his death and the war was over. The Legislature of Georgia at this session subsequently passed an act call- ing for a sovereign Convention of the people of the State, to be represented by delegates, duly elected on the first Mon- day in January, 1861 ; and the Conven- tion to meet on the 16th day of the same month at the seat of government. The author was returned, as a delegate, to that Convention, with his well-known opinions in decided opposition to seces- sion as a mode of redress for the griev- ances complained of. The Convention was full. Every county in the State was represented. The whole number of del- egates was 301. Several of the ablest men of the State, representing both sides of the question, were in the body. The most prominent on the anti-secession side was Herschel V. Johnson, who had been United States Senator, twice Governor of the State, and had been run as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency in the recent Presidential election, on the Douglas ticket. Benjamin H. Hill, Au- gustus H. Kennon, and others of high distinction in the State, were also present on the same side. While on the seces- sion side were Mr. Toombs, Mr. Thomas R. R. Cobb, brother of Mr. Howell Cobb, who had just retired from the Secretaryship of the Treasury of the United States, Mr. Eugenius A. Nesbit, Francis Bartow, Asbury Hull, and others. It was soon ascertained that a decided majority of the delegates were in favor of secession, especially as it was known that South Carolina on the 20th of De- cember previous, Mississippi on the 9th | of January (1861), Florida on the loth, Alabama on the nth, had passed ordi- nances of secession. On the 18th of January, Mr. Nesbit offered two resolu- tions : the first declaring that the State had a right to secede, and ought to secede ; the second authorizing the appointment of a committee to report an ordinance to that effect. To these resolutions a sub- stitute was offered by ex-Governor John- son. It was an elaborate paper, pre- pared by, and expressing the views and policy of the anti-secessionists.* The test vote on Mr. Johnson's substi- tute showed a majority of thirty-one against it. It was while this substitute was under consideration, that the author made the following speech, which was the only one made by him in that con- vention : "Mr. President: It is well known that my judgment is against secession for existing causes. I have not lost hope of securing our rights in the Union and under the Constitution. My judgment on this point is as unshaken as it was when the convention was called. I do not now intend to go into any arguments on the subject. No good could be effected by it. That was fully considered in the late canvass, and I doubt not every delegate's mind is made up on the question. I have thought, and still think, that we should not take this ex- treme step before some positive aggres- sion upon our rights by the general gov- ernment, which may never occur; or until we fail, after effort made, to get a faithful performance of their constitu- tional obligations, on the part of those Confederate States which now stand so derelict in their plighted faith. I have been, and am still opposed to secession as a remedy against anticipated aggres- *\Var Between the States, vol. ii., p. 301. 586 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 28 sions on the part of the Federal execu- tive or Congress. I have held, and do now hold, that the point of resistance should be the point of aggression. " Pardon me, Mr. President, for tres- passing on your time but for a moment longer. I have ever believed, and do now believe, that it is to the interest of all the States to be and remain united under the Constitution of the United States, with a faithful performance by each of all its constitutional obligations. If the Union could be maintained on this basis, and on these principles, I think it would be the best for the security, the liberty, happiness, and common prosperity of all. I do further feel confident, if Georgia would now stand firm, and unite with the border States, as they are called, in an effort to obtain a redress of these grievances on the part of some of their Northern Confederates, whereof they have such just cause to complain, that complete success would attend their efforts; our just and reasonable demands would be granted. In this opinion I may be mistaken, but I feel almost as confident of it as I do of my existence. Hence, if upon this test vote, which I trust will be made upon the motion now pending, to refer both the propositions before us to a committee of twenty-one, a majority shall vote to commit them, then I shall do all I can to perfect the plan of united Southern co-operation, submitted by the honorable delegate from Jefferson, and put it in such a shape as will, in the opinion of the Convention, best secure its object. That object, as I understand it, does not look to secession by the 16th of February, or the 4th of March, if redress should not be obtained by that time. In my opinion, it cannot be obtained by the 16th of February, or even the 4th of March. But by the 16th of February we can see whether the border States and other non-seceding Southern States will respond to our call for the proposed Congress or Convention at Atlanta. If they do, as I trust they may, then that body, so composed of representatives, or delegates, or commis- sioners as contemplated, from the whole of the slaveholding States, could and would, I doubt not, adopt either our plan or some other, which would fully secure our rights with ample guarantees, and thus preserve and maintain the ultimate peace and Union of the States. What- ever plan of peaceful adjustment might be adopted by such a Congress, I feel confident would be acceded to by the people of every Northern State. This would not be done in a month, or two months, or perhaps short of twelve months, or even longer. Time would necessarily have to be allowed for a con- sideration of the questions submitted to the people of the Northern States, and for their deliberate action on them in view of all their interests, present and future. How long a time should be allowed would be a proper question for that Congress to determine. Meanwhile, this Convention could continue its exist- ence, by adjourning over to hear and decide upon the ultimate result of this patriotic effort. "My judgment, as is well known, is against the policy of immediate Seces- sion for any existing causes. It cannot receive the sanction of my vote; but if the judgment of a majority of this Con- vention, embodying as it does the sovereignty of Georgia, be against mine; if a majority of the delegates in this Convention shall, by their votes, dissolve the compact of Union which has con- nected her so long with her Confederate States, and to which I have been so THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 537 ardently attached, and have made such efforts to continue and perpetuate upon the principles on which it was founded, I shall bow in submission to that deci- sion." Upon the direct vote on the passage of the ordinance of secession, taken after the rejection of Johnson's substitute, there were 288 in favor of its adoption, and 89 only against it. After the result of this vote was announced, Mr.- Linton Stephens, a brother of the author — his junior by eleven years — who had voted against the adoption of the ordinance, and who, after his recent resignation of his position as one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State, had become a prominent actor in all of these events,* drew up a preamble and resolutions, which were adopted without a count. They are in these words : "Whereas, The lack of unanimity in the action of this Convention, in the passage of the Ordinance of Secession, indicates a difference of opinion amongst the members of the Convention, not so much as to the rights which Georgia claims, or the wrongs of which she com- plains, as to the remedy and its applica- tion before a resort to other means of redress : "And whereas, It is desirable to give expression to that intention which really exists among all the members of this Convention, to sustain the State in the course of action which she has pro- nounced to be proper for the occasion, therefore, "Resolved, That all members of this Convention, including those who voted against the said ordinance, as well as those who voted for it, will sicfn the * See Life of Linton Stephens, by James D. Wad- dell, and War Between the States, vol. ii v pp. 316 and 317. same as a pledge of the unanimous de- termination of this Convention to sustain and defend the State, in this her chosen remedy, with all its responsibilities and consequences, without regard to indi- vidual approval or disapproval of its adoption." The ordinance was accordingly signed by every delegate present except six. These six entered upon the journal a statement wherein they declared their purpose to "yield to the will of the JUDGE LINTON STEPHENS. majority of the people of the State as expressed by their Representatives," and "pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the defence of Georgia," etc. The names of these six are James P. Simmons, of Gwinnett, James Simmons, of Pickens, Thomas M. McRae, F. H. Latimer, Davis Whelchel, and P. M. Byrd. Thus the Convention became unani- mously bound to go with their State and abide her fortunes. 588 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. The author will here add that he did not attach any serious importance, during these agitations, to the fact that the equality which had so long been main- tained in the number of the non-slave- holding and slaveholding States no longer existed. It is true the loss of that equilibrium, or balance of power, as it was called, caused many at the time to come to the conclusion that the slave- holding States could not, with safety to themselves, remain longer in the Union without some additional guarantee. This we have seen was the belief of Mr. Cal- houn. In this view the author did not concur. The only true equilibrium be- tween the institutions of the several States was their recognized sovereignty. The doctrine of the M Irrepressible Conflict " was the embodiment of centralism. The Federal government, in his judgment, so far from being weakened, was strengthened by the heterogeneous interests of the sev- eral States. Nothing tends more to cen- tralization of power, even in a separate State or Nation, than homogeneousness of interests on the part of its constituent elements. All progress in governments, as well as progressive developments in everything else, is marked by successive steps from the "simplex to the complex" from the homogeneous to the hetero- geneous. This is the true law of pro- gress in all things — in nature, in art, and in science in all their departments. The chief safeguards of liberty, in every political organization, owe their origin to a diversity of pursuits and a conflict of interests between its various members. This Convention, amongst other ordi- nances, passed one for the election of delegates by the body to represent the State of Georgia in the proposed Con- gress of such States as might secede from the Union, to be held at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 4th of Feb- ruary ensuing. The number of dele- gates so determined to be sent was equal to the number of Senators and mem- bers of the House to which the State was then entitled in the Congress of the United States. It was under this reso- lution, very much to his surprise, that the author was unanimously elected a delegate to the Montgomery Congress. It was a matter of several days' serious reflection with him, whether he should accept the trust or not. His final deter- mination was not made until after the Convention, on the 28th of January, with great unanimity, adopted the following resolutions, which he had drawn up and offered for their consideration on that day: "Resolved, That the delegates sent from this State, by this Convention, to the proposed Congress to assemble at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th day of February next, be fully authorized and empowered, upon free conference and consultation with delegates that may be sent from other seceding States, to said Congress, to unite with them in forming and putting into immediate operation, a temporary or provisional government, for the common safety and defence of all the States represented in said Congress. Such temporal)' or pro- visional government not to extend be- yond the period of twelve months from the time it goes into operation, and to be modelled as nearly as practicable on the basis and principles of the government of the United States of America. The powers of the delegates so appointed by this Convention, in this particular, being hereby declared to be full and plenary. "Be it further Resolved, That said dele- gates be likewise authorized, upon like THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 58g conference and consultation with the delegates from the other States in said Congress, to agree upon a plan of per- manent government for said States, upon the principles and basis of the Consti- tution of the United States of America, which said plan or Constitution of per- manent government shall not be binding or obligatory upon the people of Geor- gia, unless submitted to, approved, and ratified by this Convention." We will now return to where we left off in the last chapter, and trace the great historic events in their rapid pro- gress elsewhere. CHAPTER XXIX. Buchanan's administration — Continued. (4th of February, 1861 — 4th of March, 1861.) The Peace Congress — Twenty- one States represented — Mr. Chase appears as a delegate from Ohio — His speech — Its effect — Unequivocally declares that the party that elected Mr. Lincoln never would regard the decisions of the Supreme Court, upon the subject of the powers of Congress to ex- clude slavery in the Territories ; and that they never would comply with their obligations under the Constitution to return fugitives from service — The result of the Congress was to widen instead of healing the breach between the sections — The moral view of slavery — Was it a sin or not ? — Dr. Draper's view of what the Southern States had to contend against — Invitation of South Carolina for Southern Congress to meet at Montgomery, the 4th of February, 1861 — The assemblage of that Con- gress — The States represented — Provisional gov- ernment organized for a year — Officers elected under it — Jefferson Davis, President — Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President — The provisional and permanent Constitution adopted — The changes in these from the Philadelphia Constitution of 1787 — All conservative — Mr. Davis' inaugural address — His cabinet — Commissioners sent to Washington — Commission of South Carolina — Mr. Buchanan's refusal to receive them officially — Spirited conver- sation between him and them, which was abruptly broken off by him — Major Robert Anderson dis- mantles Fort Moultrie, spikes the guns, and se- cretly at night takes possession of Fort Sumter — Changes in the cabinet at Washington — Mr. Cobb, General Cass, Mr. Floyd, Mr. Thompson, retire — The country in a most unsettled condition — Mr. Buchanan's retirement. E now come to the consideration of matters connected with the Peace Congress referred to in the chapter before the last. In the alarming state of affairs the Legislature of Virginia was convened on the 7th day of January, 1 861, to devise some means of conciliation, if possible, either by the adoption of the Crittenden proposition, or some other mode of peaceful settlement. On the 19th of January, that ancient commonwealth passed a resolution requesting all the States of the Union to send delegates to a Convention or Congress, to meet in Washington on the 4th day of February, to take into consideration the affairs of the country, and devise some plan if possible by which the Union under the Constitution would be preserved, and harmony once more restored. To this call twenty-one States responded by sending delegates, and the Congress as- sembled at Washington on the day designated. This was known as the Peace Congress. The States represented were : Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Delaware, Mary- land, Virginia, North Carolina, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Kansas. The venerable John Tyler, ex-Presi- dent of the United States, was chosen president. On assuming the chair, he made a very able and patriotic address, in behalf of the Union, peace, and har- mony, upon the principles of the Con- stitution. Among his colleagues from Virginia were William C. Rives, John W. Brockenborough, George W. Som- 59° HISTORY OF THE UN J TED STATES. Book II., c. 2'j mers, and James A. Seddon, all men of ability and distinction. Senator Salmon P. Chase appeared as a delegate from the State of Ohio. It was generally under- stood at the time that he was to be Sec- retary of the Treasury under Mr. Lincoln, the incoming President. In view of this fact and his universally recognized su- perior ability, very great interest was felt as to the course he should pursue and the line of policy he would indicate as proper to be taken for harmony. He SALMON P. CHASE. had from the beginning been one of the 1 most distinguished leaders of the agita- tors or anti-slavery party, and for several years had stood foremost among these leaders in the United States Senate. Two days after the meeting of the Congress, on the 6th of February, this Ajax Tel- emon of the incoming administration took the floor in the Peace Congress, and all eyes were turned to him with the intensest interest. His speech came far short of meeting the hopes of the anxious advocates of the Union, who had been active in getting up the Congress. In all the candor of his nature he declared most emphatically to the members of the Congress from the Southern States, that the Northern States never would fulfil that part of the Constitution which re- quired the return of fugitives from ser- vice. This whole speech was exceed- ingly interesting as one of the footprints of the momentous events of that day. Space will not allow the repro- duction on this occasion of but a part of it; the truth of history, however, forbids the omission of that portion of it which is here set forth. He said : " The result of the national can- vass which recently terminated in the election of Mr. Lincoln, has been spoken of by some as the effect of sudden impulse, or to some irregular excitement of the popular mind ; and it has been somewhat confidently as- serted, that upon reflection and consideration, the hastily formed opinions which brought about that election will be changed. It has been said, also, that sub- ordinate questions, of local and temporary character, have aug- mented the Republican vote and secured a majority which could not have been obtained upon the National ques- tions involved in the respective platforms of the parties which divided the country. " I cannot take this view of the result of the Presidential election. I believe, and the belief amounts to absolute con- viction, that the election must be re- garded as a triumph of the principles cherished in the hearts of the people of the free States. These principles, it is THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN 591 true, were originally asserted by a small party only, but after years of discussion, they have, by their own value, their own intrinsic soundness, obtained the delib- erate and unalterable sanction of the people's judgment. " Chief among these principles is the restriction of slavery within the State limits ; not war upon slavery within those limits, but fixed opposition to its exten- sion beyond them. Mr. Lincoln was the candidate of the people opposed to the extension of slavery. We have elected him. After many years of earnest ad- vocacy and of severe trial, we have ?.chieved the triumph of that principle. By a fair and unquestionable majority we have secured that triumph. Do you think we, who represent this majority, will throw it away ? Do you think the people would sustain us if we undertook Lincoln would not regard this decision of the Supreme Court; but then he went on to say : "Aside from the territorial question — the question of slavery outside of the slave States — I know of but one serious difficulty. I refer to the question con- cerning fugitives from service. The clause in the Constitution concerning this class of persons is regarded by almost all men, North and South, as a stipulation for the surrender to their masters of slaves escaping into free States. The people of the free States, however, who believe that slaveholding is wrong cannot and will not aid in re- clamation ; and the stipulation becomes therefore a dead letter. You complain of bad faith, and the complaint is retorted by denunciations of the cruelty which has dragged back to pondage the poor to throw it away ? I must speak to you slave who has escaped from it. You, plainly, gentlemen of the South ; it is not in my heart to deceive you. I there- fore tell you explicitly, that if we of the North and West would consent to throw away all that has been 'gained in the recent triumph of our principles, the people would not sustain us, and so the consent would avail you nothing ; and I must tell you further that under no in- ducements, whatever, will we consent to surrender a principle which we believe so sound and so important as that of re- striction of slavery within State limits." This part of the speech was in refer- ence to the claims of power on the part <>f the Federal government to prevent the people of the Southern States from going into the common territory with thinking slavery right, claim the fulfil- ment of the stipulation ; we, thinking slavery wrong, cannot fulfil the stipula- tion without the consciousness of parti- cipation in a wrong. There is a real difficulty, and it seems to me not in- superable. It would not do for us to say to you, in justification of non-per- formance, the stipulation is immoral, and therefore we cannot execute it ; for you denied the immorality, and we cannot assume to judge for you. On the other hand you ought not to exact from us the literal performance of the stipulation when you know that we can- not perform it without conscious culpa- bility. A true solution of the difficulty seems to be attainable by regarding it their slaves, and which power the Su- as a simple case where a contract, from preme Court had decided, four years be- j changed circumstances, cannot be ful- fore, the general government had no right filled exactly as made. A court of to exercise. He here deliberately as- equity in such a case decrees execution serted that the party which elected Mr. as near as maybe. It requires the party 592 HISTORY OF THE CXI TED STATES. Book II, c. C9 who cannot perform to make compensa- tion for non-performance. Why cannot the same principle be applied to the ren- dition of fugitives from service ? We cannot surrender — but we can compen- sate. Why not then avoid all difficul- ties on all sides and show respectively good faith and good-will by providing and accepting the compensation where masters reclaim escaping servants, and prove the right of reclamation under the Constitution ? Instead of a judgment II. SEWARD. for rendition, let there be judgment for compensation determined by the true value of the services, and let the same judgment assure freedom to the fugi- tive. The costs of the national treasury would be as nothing in comparison with the evils of discord and strife. All par- ties would be gainers." This speech, backed as it was by a. large majority of the delegates from the Northern States, blasted all hopes oi'the most ardent friends of the Confess of any good results attending it. The truth is, instead of healing the breach between the States, it tended greatly to widen it. Whatever might have been thought of his suggestion in relation to fugitives from service as a proposed compromise to induce the Southern States to remain in the Union, no one could doubt its une- quivocal declaration that the non-slave- holding States, then in the majority, would not comply with their acknowfc edged obligations under the Constitu- tion. It was the opinion of one high in authority that that part of the Constitu- tion was regarded by the party coming into power as a dead letter; and besides this it was a clear and unequivocal declaration that they never would re- gard on this subject the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest arbiter on all questions of that sort. Many leading, prominent men at the South looked upon this speech made, quasi ex cathedra, as an unqualified dec- laration that the party coming into power would hold this provision of the Consti- tution as a dead letter, and that the Southern States were, therefore, ab- solved from all further obligation on their part to the compact of union.* This to many appeared conclusive on well-settled principles of public law. They recollected well, also, that Mr. Seward, who was to be Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of State, had announced simi- lar sentiments in the Senate as early as March nth, 1850. In speaking of the compact of union between the States requiring the rendition of fugitives from service, he had said : " The law of nations disavows such compacts ; the law of nature, written on the hearts and consciences of freemen, * See Appendix I. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 593 repudiates them. I know that there are laws, of various sorts, which regulate the conduct of men. There are consti- tutions and statutes, codes mercantile and codes civil ; but when we are legis- lating for States, especially when we are founding States, all these laws must be brought to the standard of the law of God, must be tried by that standard, and must stand or fall by it. To conclude on this point ; we are not slaveholders. We cannot, in my judgment, be either true Christians or real freemen if we im- pose on another a chain which we defy all human power to fasten on ourselves."* Mr. Seward, it was understood, was to be Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of State. From these speeches, as well as from divers other sources of reliable informa- tion, it was quite apparent that the minds of a large class of people in the Northern States were thoroughly and deeply im- pressed with the full consciousness that slavery as it existed in some of the States of the Union, and had from the beginning, was a great crime in the sight of man, as well as in the sight of God. It was, in the language of many, the " consumma- tion of all iniquity." They had formed their fixed determination not to fulfil or to allow to be fulfilled within the limits of their States their obligations under the Constitution in the matter of the rendi- tion of fugitives from service. This they held would be a violation of their con- sciences. They looked upon all public men who did stand by the Constitution as time-servers, who paid no regard to the higher law by which God governed the world and to which all human ac- tions and laws were subject. On the other hand the people of the Southern States, it may here be affirmed, * Greeley's Am. Conflict, vol. i.,p. 48; also appen- dix to Cong. Globe, vol. xxii., part I, p. 263. 38 knew of no Christian code regulating conscience and morals other than that which was set forth in the recognized oracles of God himself. The ablest and best of them saw nothing sinful or vio- lative of the moral law in the relation of master and slave as it existed in the Southern States, notwithstanding wrongs frequently resulted from the abuse of that relation. They felt that such wrongs were not different in principle or character from like wrongs resulting from abuses of other relations which re- ceived the most general and sacred sanction; such as the relations of mar- riage, husband and wife, parent and child, guardian and ward, and master and apprentice, and other like relations of servants for a term of years. The re- lation of master and slave at the South was not an exception to this universal rule. The intelligent Southern mind recognized fully that the standard of the law of God should prevail in all human governments; and that this law should be the foundation of all human institu- tions. They believed that this standard! was to be found in the divine oracles as- prescribed in the Old and New Testa- ment. By that standard the relation of master and slave, even in a much more abject condition than existed in the Southern States, was clearly justified and not condemned as founded in sin, or in a violation of the law of God; at least so Southern Christians interpreted the sacred text. Abram, afterward called Abraham, the "father of the faithful," with whom was made the divine cove- nant for the salvation and redemption of man from the dominion of sin, was a slaveholder. He was enjoined to im- part the seal of his everlasting covenant not only to those who were born in his house, but to those who were " bought 594 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STAIES. Book II., c. 20 with his money." It was into his bosom in heaven that the poor man who died at the rich man's gate was borne by an- gels, according to the parable of the Saviour. Job certainly was one of the best men we read of in the Bible; he was a large slaveholder. So, too, were Isaac, Jacob, and all the patriarchs. The great moral law which defines sin, the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, written on stone by the finger of God himself, according to the creed of all Christian associations, ex- pressly recognized slavery, and enjoins certain duties of masters towards their slaves. The chosen people of God, by the Levitical law proclaimed under divine sanction, were authorized to hold slaves, not of their own race — (of these they were to hold bondmen for a term of years) — but of the heathen around them — they were authorized to buy slaves, " bondmen and bondwomen," for life, who would be to them an "inheri- tance and possession forever." Slavery existed when the gospel was preached by Christ and his apostles, and where they preached it was all around them ; and though the scribes and Pharisees were denounced by Christ for their hy- pocrisy, and robbing widows' houses, and divers other sins, yet not a word did he utter, as far as we are informed, against the sin of slaveholding. On the •contrary, he said he had not found so ■great faith in all Israel as in the slave- holding centurion. In no place in the New Testament or in the Old is the relation of master and slave spoken of as sinful. Several of the apostles alluded to it, but not one of them condemned it as sinful in itself, as violative of the laws of God, or even of Christian duty. They enjoined the rel- ative duties of both masters and slaves. Paul sent a fugitive slave, Onesimus, back to Philemon, his master. He did not consider it in violation of his con- science to do this, even when he was under no stipulated obligation to do it. He frequently alludes to slavery in his letters to the churches, but in no case speaks of it as sinful. What he says in one of his epistles is quite pertinent on this occasion in connection with what Mr. Chase said of the consciousness of the Northern people which forbid them to fulfil their obligations under the Con- stitution of the United States. In the first five verses of chapter vi. of Paul's First Epistle to Timothy, he wrote: " ist. Let as many servants " {doidoi — slaves) " as are under the yoke " (the most abject slaves)* "count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. " 2d. And they that have believing masters " (from Messrs. Chase and Sew- ard's idea it would seem that the Northern mind could not tolerate such a thing as a slaveholding believer; but so, it seems, did not think Paul) " let them not de- spise " [Katapkroneitosan, that is, as it might better be rendered, " think lightly of" or "neglect") "them because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. " 3d. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness ; " 4th. He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, and evil surmises, " 5th. Perverse disputings of men of * See Robison's Greek Lexicon. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 595 corrupt minds, and destitute of truth, suppose that gain is godliness : From such withdraw thyself." It is not the purpose or object of the writer of this history to renew the dis- cussions upon the subject of slavery, either as to the right or wrong of the institution or its evils, or what would have been the best mode of removing those evils and the amelioration of that class of society at the South deemed to be most deeply interested in it. These were the slaves. Southern statesmen and philanthropists looked upon the subject of African servitude, as it existed with them, more in the light of a polit- ico-economic question than that of a moral one. They endeavored to establish that relation between the two races reg- ulated by law, which would promote and secure the best interests and greatest happiness of both. These matters are here presented not to revive any discus- sion on these " dead issues," but his- torically to show in what light the pre- vailing ideas of the Northern States of the Union on the then pending questions between the sections were considered by the people in the Southern States. The main object of Southern statesmen was the preservation of the Union of the States under the Constitution — each State faithfully performing its obliga- tions assumed by its ratification of that compact. The morality of that com- pact they did not regard as a subject for discussion. No one, North or South, doubted, as Mr. Chase said, that accord- ing to the bonds of that Union, fugitives from service were to be rendered up on proper claim. The Southern States did not require or request of their Northern confederates to do anything in violation of their conscience. All they asked of them was that if they could no longer fulfil their part of the compact, to let their Southern sisters depart in peace. They could not well understand how the consciences of such men as Mr. Chase and Mr. Seward and that large class they represented could be violated by refusing an admitted obligation, and not touched with the slightest scruples by an open disregard of their oaths vol- untarily taken to support the Constitu- tion. But after this speech of Mr. Chase, the prevailing sentiment among all in- telligent and patriotic men of the South- ern States was that no alternative was left them but to let those States at the North who desired it follow the dictates of their conscience, and to let those of the South do the same.* Mr. Chase's proposition to pay for fugitives, by the Southern members in Congress, and by the South generally, was not regarded as at all fair or just. His reference as a parallel to the acts in chancery courts in cases upon contract where there is change of circumstances, was by no means in point. In the matter of the rendi- tion of fugitives from service there was no change in circumstances. There was nothing but a change of opinion. The parties stood just as they did at the be- ginning. One party had changed its opinion on a subject in a moral aspect of the question, while the other remained on that question as it was when the con- tract was made. The parallel was with- out foothold. But the proposition to pay for the dereliction of duty on the part of faithless Confederates out of the Federal treasury amounted to an offer to increase the wrong. In that way the people of the Southern States would have become equally burdened as those of the Northern with the taxes required to make good the shortcomings of the *See Appendix I. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 596 latter. No good came of the Peace Congress. Its results rather widened than healed the sectional breach. "In this connection, as a part of the history of those eventful times, and as evidence of the strange infatuation and dementation of the popular mind," it may not be out of place to quote the resolution which passed the House of Representatives some time afterward and after the war commenced. It is quite characteristic of that period ; it is in these words: "Resolved, That as our country and the very existence of the best govern- ment ever instituted by man, are imper- illed by the most causeless and wicked rebellion that the world has ever seen, and believing, as we do, that the only hope of saving this country and preserv- ing this government is by the power of the sword, we are for the most vigor- ous prosecution of the war until the Con- stitution and laws shall be enforced and obeyed in all parts of the United States; and to that end we oppose any armis- tice, or intervention, or mediation, or proposition for peace from any quarter, so long as there shall be found a rebel in arms against the government; and wc ignore all party names, lines and issues, and recognize but two parties in this war — patriots and traitors. "* This resolution passed by a vote of ninety-four in favor of it to sixty-five against it. The ninety-four votes all belonged to that party for which Mr. Chase spoke. Was there ever an in- stance in the history of the world of such inconsistency? If the Federal arms had been directed against those who resisted the enforcement of the Constitution and laws of the United States, with the purpose of preserving Book II., c. C9 • McPherson's History of the Rebellion, p. 298. the " best government ever instituted by man " as it was founded, and as they were sworn to support it, it is exceed- ingly wonderful that those should have voted for this resolution who would have been the very first subjects of slaughter. They acknowledged that the Constitution, " founding the best govern- ment in the world," provided for the rendition of fugitives from service. They had sworn to support that Consti- tution. They positively refused to do it. Their States had openly and defiantly, as far as they could, nullified and repu- diated that obligation. In Vermont, for instance, an act was passed by her Leg- islature declaring that " every person who may have been held as a slave, who shall come or may be brought into this State with the consent of his or her al- leged master or mistress, or who shall come or be brought, or shall be in this State, shall be free." " Every person who shall hold or at- tempt to hold, in this State, in slavery, as a slave, any free person, in any form, or for any time, however short, under the pretence that such person is or has been a slave, shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the State prison for a term not less than five years, nor more than twenty, and be fined not less than 51,000, nor more than 510,000." Thirteen States of the North had passed similar acts. As to matters of good faith between the States, impartial history must make up the record that the breach was on the part of the North- ern States. The South asked nothing of her confederates but to defend and to maintain the Constitution, as made by the fathers, according to its known provi- sions, as adjudicated by the highest judicial tribunal in the land. Perhaps, after all, it might be as well, since the THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 597 conflict is over and the result settled, that the North and South should both as well as the world accept as the true solution what Ur. Draper so philo- sophically announced in his "History of the Civil War of America," vol. i., p. 25 : "There is a political force in ideas, which silently renders protestations, promises, and guarantees, no matter in what good faith they may have been given, of no avail ; and which makes Con- stitutions obsolete. Against the uncon- trollable growth of the anti-slavery idea the South was forced to contend." It was under these circumstances, per- haps, that in the madness, the mania of the times, good faith, obligations, con- stitutional restraints, and everything of a moral character were lost sight of under that blinded conscience which ignored not only human law and human govern- ment, but that standard of right between man and man set forth in the book of Divine revelations. So much for this digression. We will now return to the narrative of events. To keep these as closely connected as possible, it is" proper here to note that South Carolina, in her ordinance of secession, had invited all her Southern sister States who might secede, to join her in sending delegates to a Congress, to be assembled in Montgomery, on the 4th day of February, 1861. The States of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and South Carolina had passed ordinances of secession, as stated in the last chapter, and all had sent delegates equal in number to their Senators and Representatives in Congress of the United States. It is proper here to note that all the Senators and members in the Federal Congress, of each of the seceding States, resigned their positions as soon as they were informed of the actions of their States respectively, except one: this was Mr. Bouligney, of Louisiana. He re- mained in his seat until the expiration of his term. This proposed Congress met in Mont- gomery, Alabama, on the day of the as- sembling of the Peace Congress at Wash- ington. The delegates from the several States were as follows: Alabama — Richard W. Walker, Robert H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, John Gill Shorter, William Parish Chilton, Stephen F. Hale, David P. Lewis, Thomas Fearn, and Jabez L. M. Curry. Florida — Jackson Morton, James B. Owens, and J. Patton Anderson. Georgia — Robert Toombs, Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Benjamin H. Hill, Howell Cobb, Augustus R. Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Augustus H. Kenan, and Alex- ander H. Stephens. Louisiana — John Perkins, Jr., Alex- ander de Clouet, Charles M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, Edward Sparrow, and Henry Marshall. Mississippi — W. P. Harris, Alexander M. Clayton, W. S. Wilson, James T. Harrison, Walker Brooke, William S. Barry, and J. A. P. Campbell. South Carolina — R. Barnwell Rhett, R. W. Barnwell, Lawrence M. Keitt, James Chesnut, Jr., Christopher G. Mem- minger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J. Withers, and William W. Boyce. Texas — Thomas M. Waul, William- son S. Oldham, John Gregg, John H. Reagan, W. B. Ochiltree, John Hemp- hill, and Louis T. Wigfall. Of the personnel of this body of men, the author may be excused for saying, in passing, that, taken collectively, he never was associated with an abler one. There was in it no one who, in ability, was not 59« HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 20 above the average of the members of the House of Representatives of any one of the sixteen Congresses he had been in at Washington ; while there were several who may be justly ranked, for intellectual vigor, as well as acumen of thought and oratorical powers, amongst the first men of the continent at that time. They were not such men as revolutions or civil commotions usually bring to the surface. The) - were men of substance, as well as of solid character — men of education, of reading, of refinement, and JEFFERSON DAVIS. well versed in the principles of govern- ment. They came emphatically within the class styled by Carlyle, "earnest men." Their object was not to tear down, so much as it was to build up with the greater security and permanency. The debates were usually characterized by brevity, point, clearness, and force. On assembling, Howell Cobb, of Georgia, who had filled the Speaker's chair in the Thirty-first Congress with such rare ability, was chosen the presid- ing officer of the body, and J. J. Hooper, of Alabama, who had acquired an ex- tensive reputation from his connection with the press and literary publications, was elected Secretary. One of the first subjects which en- gaged the attention of the body after its organization was the formation of a tem- porary provisional government for the States thus assembled. The result of their labors in this respect was a new Constitution, to be of force for 6ne year, which received the unanimous sanction of the States assembled, on the 8th day of February.* The next step was the election of offi- cers under that provisional government; the result was the unanimous choice of Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, as Presi- dent, and of Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. Mr. Davis being in Mississippi, sev- eral days elapsed before he reached Montgomery. His inauguration did not take place until the iSth of February. Meanwhile the Congress went on in the preparation of a Constitution for a per- manent government, which was likewise unanimously adopted by the Congress. The Constitution tor the permanent gov- ernment was to take effect on the 22d day of February, 1862.* From its terms and provisions, it will be seen it was based on the general principles of the Federal Constitution framed by the Phil- adelphia Convention in 1787, with the amendments thereafter adopted. Sev- eral changes in the details are noticeable — some of the most important of these may very properly be specially set forth : The first is in the preamble. In this, the words " each State acting in its sov- ereign and independent character" were * See Appendix M. f Ibid. THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 599 introduced to put at rest forever the argument of the centralists, drawn from the preamble of the old Constitution, that it had been made by the people of all the States collectively, or in mass, and not by the States in their several sovereign character. The official term of the President was extended, in the new Constitution, to six years instead of four, with a disquali- fication for re-election. The question of the " Protective Policy," as it was called, under the old Constitution, was put to rest under the new, by the express declaration that no duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations should be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry. Under the new Constitution, export duties were allowed to be levied with the concur- rence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress. In passing acts of bankruptcy, it was expressly declared that no law of Con- gress should discharge any debt con- t acted before the passage of the same. Considerable controversy had existed on this point under the old Constitution. The President, under the new Consti- tution, was empowered to approve any appropriation, and disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill, returning to the House those portions disapproved as in other like cases of veto. The impeachment of any judicial or other Federal officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any State, was allowed by a vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof, as 'well as by the House of Representatives of Congress ; the Senate of the Confed- erate States, however, still having the sole power to try all such impeach- ments. No general appropriation of money was allowed, unless asked and estimated for by some one of the heads of depart- ments, except by a two-thirds vote in both branches of Congress. The object of this was to make, as far as possible, each administration responsible for the public expenditures. All extra pay or extra allowance to any public contractor, officer, agent, or servant, was positively prohibited, as well as all bounties. Great abuses had grown up under the old system in this partic- ular. Internal improvements by Congress, another subject which had given rise to great controversy under the old, were prohibited by the new Constitution, but Congress was empowered to lay local duties, to support lights, beacons, buoys, and for the improvement of harbors, the expenses to be borne by the navigation facilitated thereby. The general power of the President to remove from office was restricted to the extent that he could remove for special cause only, and in all cases of removal he was required to report the same to the Senate, with his reasons, ex- cept in the case of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, and all persons connected with the dip- lomatic service. These, and these only, he could remove at pleasure, and with- out assigning any reasons therefor. Citizens of the several States, under the new Constitution, were not permitted to sue each other in the Federal courts, as they are under the old Constitution. They were left to their actions in the State courts. The right of any citizen of one State to pass through or sojourn in another with his slaves or other property, with- ont molestation, was expressly guaran- teed. 6oo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 11., c. 29 The admission of other States into the Confederacy required a vote of two- thirds of the whole House of Represent- atives, and two-thirds of the Senate, the Senate voting by States, instead of a bare majority in each. A Convention of the States to consider proposed amendments of the Constitu- tion was to be assembled for that pur- pose upon the call of any three States L-gally assembled in their several Con- ventions ; and if a Convention so called should agree to the proposed amend- ments, the vote on them being taken by States, and the same should afterwards be ratified by the Legislatures of two- thirds of the several States, or by Con- ventions in them, then the proposed amendments were to form a part of the Constitution. Congress was authorized by law to grant to the principal officer in each of the executive departments a scat upon the floor of either House, with the priv- ilege of discussing any measures apper- taining to his department. And, lastly, the power of Congress over the Territories was settled, in ex- press language, in opposition both to the doctrine of the centralists and the doc- trine of " squatter sovereignty," so called. These are the more prominent of the changes made. Several others will be seen upon a close examination ; some of them, however, verbal merely. Most of the prominent ones noticed emanated from Mr. Rhett, the chairman ; a few of them from Mr. Toombs. Those pro- posed by Mr. Toombs were the ones pro- hibiting bounties, extra allowances, and internal improvements, with some others of less importance. The leading changes proposed by Mr. Rhett were the ones in relation to the protective policy, the Presidential term, the modification upon the subject of removal from office, and the mode provided for future amend- ments. The clause in relation to the admission of new States occupied the special attention of Mr. Perkins, of Lou- isiana. The change in the old Constitu- tion, which authorized Congress to pass a law to allow cabinet ministers to oc- cupy seats in cither House of Congress, and to participate in debates on subjects relating to their respective departments, was the one in which Mr. Stephens took most interest. The clause, as it stands, did not go so far as he wished. He wanted the President to be required to appoint his cabinet ministers from mem- bers of one or the other Houses of Con- gress. This feature in the British Con- stitution he always regarded as one of the most salutary principles in it. But enough on this subject. All of these amendments were de- cidedly of a conservative character. It is true he did not approve of all of them. They were all, however, such as in the judgment of a majority of these States, the experience of seventy years had shown were proper and necessary for the harmonious working of the system. The whole document utterly negatives the idea which so many have been active in endeavoring to put in the enduring form of history, that the Convention at Montgomery was nothing but a set of "conspirators," whose object was the overthrow of the principles of the Con- stitution of the United States, and the erection of a great "Slavery oligarchy," instead of the free institutions thereby secured and guaranteed. This work of the Montgomery Convention, with that of the Constitution for a provisional government, will ever remain not only as a monument of the wisdom, forecast, and statesmanship of the men who con- THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 601 stituted it, but an everlasting refutation of the charges which have been brought against them. These works together show clearly that their only leading ob- ject was to sustain, uphold, and perpet- uate the fundamental principles of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution for the permanent government was adopted unanimously by the seven States represented, on the nth of March, 1861. In the meantime, however, while the Convention was going on with their work, Mr. Davis, the President elect under the provisional government, had arrived. He in his inaugural address on the 18th was highly conservative.* This afforded additional evidence, if any were wanting, to show the objects aimed at by the Confederate States in their separation from their former associates. It clearly showed, as the acts of the Convention showed, that these States had quit the Union only to preserve for themselves at least the principles of the Federal Constitution of 1787. Among other things he said: "With a Constitution differing only from that of our fathers, in so far as it is explanatory of their well-known intent, freed from the sectional conflicts which have interfered with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not unreasonable to expect that States from which we have recently parted may seek to unite their fortunes with ours, under the gov- ernment which we have instituted. For this, your Constitution makes adequate provision; but beyond this, if I mistake not the judgment and will of the people, 9 reunion with the States from which we have separated is neither practicable nor desirable. " Should reason guide the action of * See War Between the States, p. 341-2-3. the government from which we have separated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world, the Northern States in- cluded, could not be dictated by even the strongest desire to inflict injury upon us; but if otherwise, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the suffering of millions will bear testimony to the folly and wickedness of our aggressors. "We have changed the constituent parts, but not the system of our govern- ment. The Constitution formed by our fathers is that of these Confederate States, in their exposition of it; and, in the judicial construction it has received, we have a light which reveals its true meaning. "Thus instructed as to the just inter- pretation of the instrument, and ever remembering that all offices are but trusts held for the people, and that dele- gated powers are to be strictly construed, I will hope, by due diligence in the per- formance of my duties, though I may disappoint your expectations, yet to retain, when retiring, something of the good-will and confidence which wel- comed my entrance into office." At an early date Mr. Davis organized his cabinet. The Department of State was filled by Mr. Toombs, of Georgia. The Treasury Department by Mr. Christopher G. Mcmminger, of South Carolina. The Post-Office Department by Mr. John H. Reagan, of Texas. The Navy Depart- ment by Mr. Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida. The Department of War by Mr. Leroy P. Walker, of Alabama. The Department of Justice (a new department which Congress had created, and which was quite an improvement on the Washington organization) was filled by Mr. Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, under the title of Attorney -General. Go2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 1 1 Mr. Toombs reluctantly consented to take the State Department, but ultimately yielded on the condition that he was to hold it temporarily only. On the 15th of February, before the arrival of Mr. Davis, Congress had passed a resolution declaring its sense, " that a commission of three persons be appointed by the President elect, as early as may be convenient after his in- commissioners were appointed and sent to Washington very soon after the inau- guration of Mr. Davis. This commission was constituted of the very best ma- terial to accomplish the object, if it could be done. It consisted of Mr. John For- syth, of Alabama, Mr. Martin J. Crawford, of Georgia, and Mr. A. B. Roman, of Louisiana. Mr. Forsyth was the son of the renowned Georgian of the same FORT Mol'l.TRIE. auguration, and sent to the government of the United States of America, for the purpose of negotiating friendly relations between that government and the Con- federate States of America, and for the settlement of all questions of disagree- ment between the two governments, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith." In pursuance of this resolution, three name, who had at one time been envoy and minister plenipotentiary to Spain, and had afterwards w on such distinction as the leader of General Jackson's ad- ministration in the Senate of the United States, in 1834 and 1835, against the combined assaults of the great trio, Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, and Mr. Webster. This commissioner had also, himself, been in the diplomatic service of the i^^o INAUGURATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. (6o 3 ) 604 HJS10RY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book 11., c '.3 United States, as minister to Mexico. Mr. Crawford was a member of the pro- visional Congress from Georgia. He had served several years in the old Con- gress with marked ability and distinction. Mr. Roman was ex-Governor of Louisi- ana, and was a gentleman of fortune, of education, and most agreeable manners. These commissioners were clothed with plenary powers to open negotiations for the settlement of all matters of joint property, forts, arsenals, arms, or prop- erty of any other kind within the limits now before proceeding further to note some facts that had transpired before and elsewhere. South Carolina, soon after her ordinance of secession, had sent a like commission to that which Georgia had just sent to Washington. They went for the purpose of peacefully negotiating with Mr. Buchanan's admin- istration for the evacuation of the Fed- eral forts within her limits. A short time before the passage of her ordi- nance of secession by South Carolina, several members of Congress from that FORT SUMTER IN lS6l. of the Confederate States, and all joint State called upon Mr. Buchanan to give liabilities with their former associates, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith. Messrs. Crawford and Forsyth left Montgomery for Washington immedi- ately on their appointment. Mr. Ro- man joined them soon afterward. The result of this mission will be treated of hereafter. him assurance, in anticipation of the State secession, that there would be no attempt to interfere with the United States forts and arsenals within her limits, until the matter should be ami- cably adjusted, and inquired if in the meantime he would let matters remain as they were, until a peaceful adjustment should be made as stated. They under- Mcantime while these events were stood him to say that all things should transpiring at Montgomery, it is proper j remain as they were ; that is, that the THE ADMINISTRATION OF BUCHANAN. 5qk existing status in a military point of j and Buchanan, that the military status view should not be changed by him. j should not be changed at least until a After the ordinance of secession, when proposition for a peaceful adjustment the State, by virtue of her eminent do- between the Confederate States and the main, had assumed her right of jurisdic- United States government could be tion over all these forts and arsenals, and sent her commissioners, Messrs. Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams and James L. Orr, to Washington to negotiate upon the subject as above stated ; these commissioners on their arrival there, on the 26th day of December, were very submitted and decided. This change of status, therefore, was the first thing that occupied the atten- tion of the commissioners. Mr. Bu- chanan refused to receive them in their official character. But a spirited, unoffi- cial correspondence ensued, which it is much surprised and astonished to learn ' needless to set forth here in detail ; suf- FORT PICKENS. that after they had set out on their mis- sion, Major Robert Anderson, who had been occupying Fort Moultrie with a small force for some time, had secretly at night changed his position by evacua- ting Fort Moultrie, spiking his guns, burning his gun carriages, etc., and taken possession of Fort Sumter, the strong- est fortification in the harbor of Charles- ton. This movement had created great excitement in Charleston, and through- out the State ; they regarded it as a viola- tion of the understanding between the South Carolina members of Congress fice it to say it was broken abruptly off by Mr. Buchanan on the first day of January, 1861. A little before and about this time also, several changes took place in the Cabinet; Mr. Howell Cobb resigned the Treasury; General Cass, the State De- partment, and Mr. Floyd, the War De- partment ; Mr. Thompson, the Interior Department, and Jeremiah Black was transferred from Attorney-General to State Department, everything showing an unsettled state of the public mind with ominous portents for the future. 6o6 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II c. 30 The debates in the House and Senate also continued with an increase rather than an abatement of excitement. The seceded States had in the mean- time peacefully taken possession of all the forts within their limits except Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, and Fort Pickens at Pensacola, in Florida, which they had transferred to the Confederate States. No attempt was made by the Federal Government to take or repossess them. Such was the state of things in Washington and the country generally when Mr. Buchanan's term expired on the 4th of March, i86l, after which he at once retired to Wheatland, his country home, in Pennsylvania. CHAPTER XXX. ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN — FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. (4th March, 1861 — 1st January, 1S62.) 1 1 is inaugural — The cabinet — Confederate commis- sioners' note to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State — Mis reply to Judge Campbell, of the Supreme Court — Commissioners deceived — Fleet fitted out at New York to relieve Sumter in violation of pledge given the commissioners — Commissioners leave Washington — Judge Campbell resigns place on Supreme Court bench — Bombardment of Fort Sumter — Beauregard commands Confederate forces — Major Robert Anderson commands the Federal garrison — Anderson capitulates — President Lin- coln issues proclamation for 75,000 troops and for an extra session of Congress — Charge on the Fed- eral side that the Confederates had begun the war — Confederates maintain that the war was begun v hen the hostile fleet was sent to reinforce Fort Sumter, " peaceably, if permitted, but forcibly, if necessary " — " The aggressor in a war not the force who uses force, but the first who renders force necessary" — President Lincoln's call for troops met by a similar call by the government at Mont- gomery for volunteers to repel aggressions — Presi- dent Lincoln's call without authority of law — Creates great excitement in the border States — Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkan- sas secede from the Federal Union and join the Confederate — Riot in Baltimore — A second and third proclamation by President Lincoln, ordering a blockade of the ports of the seceded States, and increasing the regular army and the navy without authority of law — These were succeeded by a fourth, suspending habeas corpus in certain locali- ties — Great number of citizens arrested — The case of John Merryman — The decision of the chief- justice defied by the military — Lettres de Cachet by cabinet officers — Mr. Seward's remark to Lord Lyons — Seat of Confederate government trans- ferred to Richmond — The death of Stephen A. Douglas — His last words — Opposed to the policy of Mr. Lincoln — Federal Congress meets 4th July — His last speech in the Senate — President Lin- coln's acts not legalized, but excused by the Fed- eral Congress — 525,000 men and $500,000,000 appropriated by Federals to prosecute the war — Death of Ellsworth at Alexandria — Engagements at Grafton, Phillipi, Big Bethel, Rich Mountain, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Acary Creek, and the first great battle of Manassas — Confederate Con- gress at Richmond — Toombs resigns secretaryship of State — Appointed brigadier-general — Robert M. T. Hunter succeeds him — General Scott re- lieved from further active duty — His place filled by McClellan — Victories of Federals in North Carolina — Victory of Confederates at Leesburg and at Cheat Mountain Pass — Federals take Port Royal, South Carolina — State of things in Mis- souri — Confederate victories at Carthage and Oak Hill — General Lyon killed — General Price takes Lexington — Battle at Belmont — Confederate elec- tions for President and Vice President, under con- stitution for permanent government — General Rob- ert Lee assigned to duty for South Carolina and Georgia — The affair of the Trent — Slidell and Mason, Confederate commissioners, seized by Cap- tain Wilkes, United States Navy — Federal govern- ment disavows the act — Commissioners released — Provisional government in Kentucky — Confederate privateers — No exchange of prisoners — Every proposition with this object made by Confederates rejected by the Federals — Close of first year of the war. KJJIftBRAHAM LINCOLN, of Illi- nois, Sixteenth President of the United States, was duly inau- gurated on the 4th of March, 1 86 1, aged fifty-two years and twenty days. Borne in an open carriage, he was escorted and guarded from Wil- lard's Hotel to the Capitol, by an armed military force, under the direction of THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 607 Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the army of the United States. The oath of office was administered by Chief- Justice Taney, in the presence of an audience estimated at 10,000. His in- augural address was read from a manu- script. It indicated no decisive policy, except the maintenance of the " Union," which he claimed to be " older than the States," and his purpose to collect the public revenues at the ports of the seceded States, as well as to " hold, occupy, and possess " all the forts, arse- nals, and other public property before held by the Federal authorities. The new cabinet consisted of William H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Sec- retary of the Treasury ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, Secre- tary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior; Mont- gomery Blair, of Maryland, Postmaster- General ; and Edward Bates, of Missouri, Attorney-General. On the 1 2th of March the Confederal States commissioners, who had reached Washington, as stated, not in time to hold communication with the outpoint! President, waited until the 12th of April, when they addressed a note to Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, setting forth the character and object of their mission. In it they said : " The undersigned are instructed to make to the government of the United States overtures for the opening of ne- gotiations, assuring the government of the United States that the President, Congress, and people of the Confederate States earnestly desire a peaceful solu- tion of these great questions ; that it is neither their interest nor their wish to make any demand which is not founded in strictest justice, nor do any act to in- jure their late confederates." This was replied to verbally and in- formally, through Mr. Justice John A. Campbell, of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was a citizen of Ala- bama, on terms of personal friendship with the commissioners, and exceedingly anxious to effect a reconciliation, if pos- sible. Mr. Seward selected him as a proper intermediary. In this way the commissioners were given to understand, by the most positive assurances, that ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Mr. Seward was " in favor of peace," and that an immediate official answer to the note of the commissioners would " be productive of evil, not of good ;" that " Fort Sumter, in Charleston har- bor, would be evacuated in less than ten days, even before a letter could go from Washington to Montgomery;" and, "as regarded Fort Pickens, in Florida, notice would be given of any design to alter 6o8 HISTORY OF THE UNTIED STAVES. Book II., c "0 the status there."* Forts Sumter and put to sea, under sealed orders, from that Pickens were the only ones at this time | port and Norfolk, early in April. When held by the Federal authorities within j this became known also, as it did in a the limits of the Confederate States that few days, apprehensions were immedi- they felt anxious about. Relying im- ately entertained by the commissioners plicitly on these assurances, the commis- and others that it was intended for the sioners forebore to press an immediate reinforcement of Fort Sumter. The corn- reply to their note.f In the meantime, , missioners waited upon Judge Campbell however, it became known that the most I to know if he could get any information upon this point. On the 7th of April Judge Camp- bell addressed a letter to Mr. Seward, asking if the assurances which he had given were well or ill- founded. Mr. Seward's reply was : " Faith as to Sumter fully kept ; wait and see." This was after the fleet had put to sea, and when it was near the harbor of Charleston for the purpose of reinforc- ing and provisioning Fort Sumter, "peaceably, if permitted ; otherwise, by force." The actual state of things was not known to the commissioners until the 8th of April. On the next day, the 9th, they addressed Mr. Sew- ard another note, in which they said that the sending of the fleet to reinforce Fort Sumter, arrival of PRESIDENT Lincoln at the capitol. under the circumstances, active war preparations were going on in I was viewed by them, and could only the navy-yard at New York. A squad- ! be received by the world, as " a decla- ron of seven ships, carrying two hundred I ration of war against the Confederate and eighty-five guns and two thousand four hundred men, was fitted out, and * See copy of entire correspondence, Appendix N. f See also War between the States, vol. ii., pp. 346, y\1,et seq. States." From subsequent disclosures, it ap- pears that it was the intention of Mr. Lincoln to withdraw the Federal forces from Fort Sumter, at an early day, when THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. assurance to that effect was given ; but when this intention became known in party circles, the governors of seven of the Northern States, which were under the control of the agitators, as- sembled in Washington, and prevailed on him to change his policy. It was after this that the war preparations men- tioned were secretly commenced and carried on ; and " faith as to Sumter " was only so far " kept " as to give notice, on the 8th of April, not to the Confed- erate Commissioners, but to Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, of a change of the policy of the administration in regard to the assurance given, and after the fleet was on its way to reinforce the fort, as stated. Judge Campbell com- plained of the treatment he had received of Mr. Seward, but could get no reply or explanation. Believing in the right- fulness of the Southern cause, he soon after resigned his seat on the Supreme Court bench. Fort Sumter at the time was commanded by Major Robert An- derson, of the United States army, as stated, with a force less than one hundred and with a very short supply of pro- visions. General Gustave T. Beauregard was in command of about 6,000 Confederate volunteer troops in Charleston at the time, collected for the purpose of defend- ing the place. Governor Pickens in- formed him of the notice he had received. This was telegraphed by Beauregard to the authorities at Montgomery. The Secretary of War there replied, by order- ing Beauregard, " if he had no doubt of the authenticity of the notice of the intention of the Washington government to supply Fort Sumter by force, to de- mand at once its evacuation ; and if this should be refused, to proceed to reduce it." On the 1 ith of April the demand 39 609 for its evacuation was made. Major Andersen, in writing, stated that the demand would not be complied with ; but added verbally to the messenger, " I will await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we will be starved out in a few days." This written reply, as well as the verbal remarks accom- panying it, was forthwith sent by General Beauregard to the Secretary of War at Montgomery, who returned the following response : " Do not desire needlessly to bombard Fort Sumter. If Major An- derson will state the time at which, as indicated by himself, he will evacuate, and agree that, in the meantime, he will not use his guns against us, unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid the effu- sion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort as your judg- ment decides most practicable." This was communicated to Major Anderson. He refused to accede to the terms. The fleet was approaching; some of Beaure- gard's batteries and forces were between it and Fort Sumter. Should it arrive, while Anderson still held the fort, they would be exposed to attack in the rear as well as in the front. He therefore gave Major Anderson notice that he would, at an early specified hour, proceed to compel him to withdraw from the fort. He accordingly opened fire upon it at 4.30 on the morning of the 12th of April. This was returned by the guns of the fort. The fleet came near, but took no part in the action. The bombardment lasted for thirty-two hours. Major An- derson then agreed to capitulate. Most liberal and honorable terms were granted ; the entire garrison, eighty in all, officers and men, were permitted to be marched out with their colors and music; all private as well as company property was 6io HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. B' ok II., c. 30 allowed to be taken by those to whom it belonged. As Providence ordered it, not a life was lost in this memorable and most frightful combat. The firing, on both sides, at some times, particularly at . was represented by those who witnessed it as " most grand and terrific." It was but the precursor, however, of many scenes of like character, not less grand and terrific, but infinitely more frightful and memorable, from the loss of life and effusion of blood attending them. This was the beginning of a war be- tween the States of the Federal Union, which has been truly characterized as " one of the most tremendous conflicts on record." The din of its clangor reached the remotest parts of the earth, and the people of all nations looked on, bur years and upwards, in wonder and amazement, as its gigantic propor- tions loomed forth, and its hideous en- gines of destruction of human life and everything of human structure were ter- ribly displayed in its sanguinary pro- gress and grievous duration. Much lias been said about the begin- ning of this war: upon this point there has been crimination and recrimination; Confederates have been charged by the Federals with having begun it, by firing the first gun on Sumter, while the Confederates have always main- tained that, in personal or national con- flicts, it is not he who strikes the first blow or fires the first gun that inaugu- rates or begins the conflict. On their i ide stands the high authority of Hallam, who maintains that the aggressor in a war — " that is, he who begins it" — " is not the first who uses force, but the first who renders force necessary."* The * Hillam's Constitutional History of England, vol. 11.. p. 219. Confederates maintained that the war was inaugurated, though no blow had been struck, when the hostile fleet styled the relief squadron, before referred to, with a heavy force and armament, set out from New York and Norfolk, with their orders from the authorities at Washington, to reinforce Fort Sumter, "peaceably," if permitted, but "forci- bly " if necessary, which the Confederate commissioners had announced to Mr, Seward they regarded as a declaration of war. But about this war — its origin, causes, conduct, guilt, crimes, consequences, and results, as well as its sufferings, sacrifices, and heroic exploits — many volumes have already been published, and many more will doubtless b'e published. It is the purpose of the author of this work, how- ever, as an actor in the scenes, to give, in this connection, a clear and accurate account of all those great events, civil and military, which marked this great historic epoch, with such comments as will be proper for an elucidation of its social results and effects upon the organic structure of the government. The telegraphic announcement of the fall of Sumter enabled the agitators to inflame the minds of the people of the Northern States under their influence to a higher pitch than ever, and to add tu their ranks large accessions from the ranks of the Democratic and American parties. A cry was now raised by them for a maintenance of that Union which many of them had before denounced as " a covenant with death, and an agree*) ment with hell," and which was founded upon a compact with the acknowledged obligations of which Mr. Chase had solemnly declared that the)' on their part could never conscientiously comply. Upon the Confederates was charged the PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CONFEDERATE GENERALS. (611) 6l2 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. B« OK II. c. 30 j^uilt of a desecration of the national within its limits — that the Federal au- flag, and with it the crime of treason, thorities had no rightful military juris- The beginning of the war, with all its re- diction over the soil upon which Fort, sponsibilitics, was laid at their door as Sumter was erected, except by the con- stated. Mr. Lincoln, on the 15th of sent of the State of South Carolina. April, issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 troops, and convening Congress to meet in extra session on the 4th of July. Thus stood the case on one side. On the other, the Confederates main- tained that the silencing by them of the guns of Sumter was only an act of de- fence in anticipation of an approaching attack from a hostile fleet, as announced by the notification to Governor Pickens This was 'expressly stipulated in the constitutional compact, and when South. Carolina had reassumed her sovereign jurisdiction over her entire territory, the possession of this fort (erected by her consent, for the protection of her own chief city, as well as the common defence of the other States) justly belonged to her. They maintained further that she and her new confederates had the rieht. of the intention of the Federal authori- [ legally and morally, to claim and take possession of it, and that any at- tempt by force to resist the exer- cise of this right by any other power was an act of war upon her and them. Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, therefore, was met by the government at Montgomery by a similar call for volunteers to re- pel aggressions. So matters stood' on both sides. The Congress also adopted a Confederate flag, which differs THE CONFF.DFRATK FLAG. y C iy little from tllC flag of the ties to " reinforce Fort Sumter, peaceably, ' United States. Instead of thirteen stripes, if permitted, but forcibly, if necessary." it consisted of but three large bars. The This they regarded as a declaration of blue-ground was the same. On the war, already initiated by the Federals as Confederate flag, seven stars appeared,, stated. They held that the war was, in designating the number of the States in fact, begun when this fleet put to sea for their Union, just as the stars of the Fed- the purpose stated, and that it was for- eral flag represent the number of the mally declared by the notification given. States in the Federal Union. They held that under the Constitution ; Mr. Lincoln's call for troops without of 1787, by which the previously exist- authority of law excited no less alarm ing Federal Union between the States than indignation in the border States of had been strengthened and made " more Mankind, Virginia. North Carolina, Ten- perfect," the sovereignty of the several ncssee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mis- states was still reserved by the parties , souri. Denunciatory replies were made respectively, and with it the right of to this call by the governors of most of eminent domain was retained bv each them. Four of these, to wit, Virginia PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS. (613) 614 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. O "ii the 17th of April), Arkansas (on the 6th of May), North Carolina (on the 20th of May — the eighty-sixth anniver- sary of her celebrated Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence), and Ten- nessee (on the 8th of June), by sovereign Conventions of their people, withdrew from the Federal Union, and subse- quently became separate members of the new Confederation. The reply of Gov- ernor Letcher, of Virginia, to Mr. Lin- coln's call for the quota of Virginia was that "it would not be furnished for any- such purpose — an object which in his judgment was not within the purview of CAPITOL AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. the Constitution or the laws." Governor McGoffin, of Kentucky, replied : " Ken- lucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." Governor Harris, of Tennessee, replied : " Tennessee will not furnish a man for the purposes of coer- cion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for the defence of our rights and those of our Southern brothers." Very different was the effect of the Federal executive's call for troops else- where. It was promptly responded to by the " seven governors " of the North- ern States before mentioned. Within a feu days, their organized, equipped and trained bauds were on their way to the seat of war, with all the speed that steam could afford. As some of them passed through Baltimore, a bloody riot oc- curred between them and citizens of that place on the 19th of April, in which several lives were lost on both ides. On the same day of the riot in Balti- more, Mr. Lincoln issued another proc- lamation, ordering a blockade of all the ports of the seceded States. This was succeeded on the 3d of May by a third proclamation ordering an increase to the regular Federal army of 64,748 men, and an increase to the navy of 18,000 sea- men. This was followed by a fourth proclamation on the 10th of May, author- izing the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in certain local- ities. Similar authority was soon after given to most of the Federal generals commanding in their respective districts. Under these executive orders, great numbers of citizens were arrested and put in close confinement without any charge or accusation. Application for redress was made to the venerable Taney, Chief-Justice of the United States, in the case of John Merryman. This high judicial officer held the executive edict j to be unconstitutional, and ordered the discharge of the prisoner. The decision was set at defiance. Members of the cabinet issued "Let/res de cachet" at will. It was about this time that Mr. Seward is reported to have said to Lord Lyons. tin- British minister at Washington, " I can touch a bell at my right hand, and order the arrest of a citizen of Ohio ; 1 can touch the bell again, and order the arrest of a citizen of New York. Can Queen Victoria do as much ? " Some time after, the Legislature of Mar) land was prevented from meeting by the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. arrest and imprisonment of its most prominent members by order of the Sec- retary of War. No criminal charge was then or afterwards brought against them. On the 2 1 st of May, after the secession of Virginia, the seat of government of the Confederate States was transferred to Richmond, the capital of that State. Mr. Toombs, soon after, in pursuance of the understanding when he accepted it, resigned his position in the cabinet, and took a commission as brigadier- general in the army. Mr. Robert M. T. Hunter succeeded him in the State De- partment. On the 3d of June of this year the country sustained an irreparable loss in the death of Stephen A. Douglas. After a short illness, he died at his residence in Chicago, in the prime of manhood, at forty-eight years of age. His last words were expressed in a message to his two sons, Robert and Stephen, then at col- lege, " to obey the laws and support the Constitution of the United States." In his last great speech on the 15th of March before, in the Senate, against the coercive policy, avowed by the Republi- can party at the time, amongst other things, he said : "But we are told that the President is going to enforce the laws in the seceded States. How? By calling out the mili- tia and using the army and navy ! These terms are used as freely and as flippantly as if we were in a military government where martial law was the only rule' of action, and the will of the monarch was the only law to the subject. Sir, the President cannot use the army, or the navy, or the militia, for any purpose not authorized by law; and then he must do it in the manner, and only in the manner, prescribed by law. What is that ? If there be an insurrection in any State 615 against the laws and authorities thereof, the President can use the military to put it down only when called upon by the State Legislature, if it be in session, or, if it cannot be convened, by the gov- ernor. He cannot interfere except when requested. If, on the contrary, the in- surrection be against the laws of the United States instead of a State, then the President can use the military only as a posse comitatus in aid of the marshal in such cases as are so extreme that judicial authority and the powers of the marshal cannot put down the obstruc- tion. The military cannot be used in any case whatever, except in aid of civil process to assist the marshal to execute a writ. I shall not quote the laws upon this subject; but if gentlemen will refer to the acts of 1795 and 1807, tne y will find that, under the act of 1795, the militia only could be called out to aid in the enforcement of the laws when resisted to such an extent that the marshal could not overcome the obstruction. By the act of 1807, the President is authorized to use the army and navy to aid in en- forcing the laws in all cases where it was before lawful to use the militia. Hence the military power, no matter whether navy, regulars, volunteers, or militia, can be used only in aid of the civil authorities. " Now, sir, how are you going to create a case in one of these seceded States, where the President would be authorized to call out the military? You must first procure a writ from the judge describing the crime; you must place that in the hands of a marshal, and he must meet such obstructions as render it impossible for him to execute it; and then, not till then, can you call upon the military. Where is your judge in the seceded States? Where is your mar- (6i6^ PORTRAITS <-F SOME OF THE r.ENFRAI.S OF THE ARMY OF THE I THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. shal ? You have no civil authorities there, and the President, in his inaugural, tells you he does not intend to appoint any. He said he intended to use the power confided to him, to hold, occupy, and possess the forts, and collect the revenue; but beyond this he did not in- tend to go. You are told, therefore, in the inaugural, that he is going to appoint no judges, no marshals, no civil officers, in the seceded States, that can execute the law; and hence, we are told that he does not intend to use the army, the navy, or the militia, for any such pur- pose. Then, sir, what cause is there for apprehension, that the President of the United States is going to pursue a war policy, unless he shall call Congress for the purpose of conferring the power and providing the means ? I presume no Senator will pretend that he has any authority, under the existing law, to do anything in the premises except what I have stated, and in the manner I have stated. If I am mistaken in regard to these laws, I shall be obliged to any Senator who will correct me. I have examined them carefully, and I think I have stated them accurately ; but if not, T should like to be corrected. "But it may be said that the President of the United States ought to have the power to collect the revenue on ship- board, to blockade the ports, to use the military to enforce the law. I say, it may be said he ought to have that power. Be that as it may, the President of the United States has not asked for that power. He knew that he did not pos- sess it under the existing laws — for we are bound to presume that he is familiar with the laws which he took an oath to execute. We are bound to presume that he knew, when he spoke of collecting revenue, that he had no power to collect 617 it on shipboard, or elsewhere than at the ports. We arc bound to presume that, when he said he would use the power confided to him to hold, occupy, and possess the forts and other property of the United States, he knew he could not call out the militia for any such pur- pose, under the existing law. We are bound to presume that he knew of this total absence of power on all these ques- tions." * In this speech Mr. Douglas was no less accurate in his facts than he was correct in his position upon the laws and the Constitution. In clearness of con- ception, in logical conclusions, with un- yielding inflexibility to principle, and in patriotic devotion to the Union of the States, under the Constitution,' Mr. Douglas had no superior in this country in his day. The Federal Congress, in pursuance of the proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, as- sembled in Washington on the 4th of July. Attempts were made to pass reso- lutions legalizing President Lincoln's proclamations. These failed. But his acts were excused on the ground of the " necessities of war." This Congress, however, promptly passed acts authoriz- ing the raising of and putting in the field 525,000 men, and appropriating over $500,000,000 for equipping and provisioning this immense force; as well as fitting out a most formidable navy, for the prosecution of the war. They. also passed a resolution in which they de- clared "that this war is not prosecuted on our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or sub- jugation, nor for the purpose of over- throwing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those (the * See Cong. Globe, part 2, special session of the Senate, Thirty-seventh Congress. 6i8 HISTORY OF THE UXJTED STATES. Book II , c. 30 Southern) States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitu- tion and all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; that as onel Elmer E. Ellsworth, in command of a regiment of New York Fire Zou- aves. On that day he advanced from Washington to Alexandria. He first took possession of the Marshall House, the principal hotel in that city, and while GENERAL M'CLELLAN. soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease." Meantime large armies were marshall- tearing down the Confederate flag float- ing over it, and hoisting the Federal flag in its stead, was shot dead by James W. ing on both sides. Virginia was to be Jackson, the proprietor, who was him- the theatre of active operations. The | self instantly killed in turn by the sol- first movement for an invasion was made diers, but the city of Alexandria im- on the 24th of May. This was by Col- mediately surrendered to the Federal lerai THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 619- authorities. This was the first blood shed in the war. This movement of Federal troops was soon followed by the engagements at Grafton, the 29th of May ; at Phillippi, the 3d of June; at Big Bethel, the 10th f North Carolina, with sixty-five guns and six hundred and fifteen prisoners. ( >n the ■ I >i tober was fought the- batl ! burg, Virginia, where the Confeder- ates achieved another signal victory under General Nathan G. Evans. On the next day, th.' 3d, the federal forces under General Reynolds met with a dis- astrous repulse al Cheat Mountain Pass, * Sec Appendix O. by the Confederates under General I lenrv R. Jackson. On the 7th of No- vember the Federals took possession of the forts at Port Royal, South Carolina. While these things were going on in the East, military operations in the West were not less active or potent, politically. Governor Jackson and the State authorities of Missouri had at- tempted at first to maintain a neutral position between the parties at war ; but Captain Lyon, the Federal officer in command at St. Louis, believing that they would ultimately join the Confeder- ates, seized the State arsenal and arms on the 25th of April, and routed the State militia at Camp Jackson on the 10th of May. On the 20th of June, raised to the rank of brigadier-general, he took possession of Booneville, then held by Colonel Marmaduke, of the State troops. Civil war commenced in Missouri. Governor Jackson and those acting with him saw that the position of armed neutral ity could not be maintained. They were compelled to take sides with the Confederates or Federals. They cast their fortunes with the Confederates. General Sterling Price, in command <>f Missourians, and General Ben Mc( ulloch, in command of a Confederate force from Texas and Arkansas, met the Federals at Carthage on the 5th of July, where the\- achieved a victory. < hi the 10th of August their success was much more signal at Oak Hill. It was in this battle that General Lyon was killed. On the 20th of September Price took Lexing- ton, with upwards of 3,000 prisoners. On the 7th of November, the day on which the Federals took Port Royal, South Carolina, was fought the battle of Belmont, in Missouri, in which the Con- federate^- carried the day. On the 6th of November, an election LEST OF MASON AND SLIDKLL ON THE BRITISH 5T1 628 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. I i k II.. c. 305 was held in the Confederate States for .'resident and Vice-President, for a term «'f six years, to begin on the 22d of Feb- luary, 1862, under their Constitution for anent government. Mr. Davis and ] Ir. Stephens received the unanimous \otc of the Electoral Colleges lor these offices respectively. As soon as the fall of the fortresses at Port Royal was known in Richnu n I, General Robert E. Lee was despatched to take command on the sea- coast of South Carolina and Georgia. About this time occurred an event at s -a which came near involving the h deck. The Governor and State authorities in Kentucky, as those of Missouri, had at first attempted to hold the position of "armed neutrality " between the States al war, but this attempt failed in this in- stance, as it had in the other. A pro- visional government was organized by a portion e." the | .' Kentucky, headed by John C. Breckinridge, who had retired from the United States Senate, William Preston, Humphrey Marshall, and other distinguished statesmen, which, during the fall, allied itself with the Southern cause. In this way, before the close of the year, the States of Missouri and Kentucky were both, under their pro- visional governments, recognized as equal members of the Confederate States. The Confederate naval operations dur- ing this period deserve special notice, though it must be brief. The Federals at the beginning of the war having pos- session of the entire common navy, the Confederates at first had no resort in this particular but the enlistment of armed JOHN SLIDELL. ships under letters of marque. Very soon quite a number of small vessels were thus put in commission, and reached the high seas by running the blockade. Among these were the Calhoun, the/W/v/, the Spray, the Ivy, the Webb, the Dixie, the Jeff Paris, the Bonita. the Gordon, the Coffee, the York, the McRae, the Sa- vannah, the Nina, the jfackson, the Tus- earora, besides others. The Savannah, a schooner of fifty tons, after running the blockade at Charleston, on the 2d <>t June, 1861, and capturing one merchant brig laden with sugar from Cuba, was soon captured by the United States brig /' . and the officers and crew were all r >3° . THE UNITED STATES. \\ . , c. 3T. sent to Philadelphia, where they were ■ harged and tried for piracy; their exe- cution was prevented by an announce- ment by Mr. Davis in a letter to Mr. Lincoln, sent by special flay; of truce, t!iat if the}- were executed, he should ite by the execution of an equal number of United States prisoners then in the hands of the Confederates. They were afterwards exchanged as other pris- oners of war. In 1 n a month more than twenty prizes were taken and iun into Southern ports. The steamers Sumter and NaJiville were fitted out by i he government, and went to sea as soon as possible, under the command of reg- ie ir officers, who had resigned their positions in the Federal navy. The Sumter ran the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi, on the 30th of )unc, in charge of Commander Raphael Sem- mes. It soon made many captures of merchant vessels. The Nashville was ait in command of Captain Robert B. im, who, at a later day, got his ship out of the port of Charleston. By this little navy, so put afloat, several millions' worth of merchandise was captured, which produced a great sensation throughout the Northern States. Their foreign trade was not only crippled, but nearly driven from the ocean. The foregoing presents .1 brief sketch oi the rapid progress of great events, and the general state of affairs at the end of December, [861. The contest, upon the whole thus far, was greatly to the advantage of the Confederates, in view o! the number of victories achieved and pn ners captured. Of the latter the was largely on their side. No I of exchange had yet been a upon, though Mr. Davis had made re- peated and earn I Mbit- t.> bring about a conformity in til ul.tr with the s of civilized nations. Every prop- osition of this sort made by him the administration at Washington had re- fused even to entertain. This brings us to the close oC a period which, for the better understanding of dates and events, we shall, in this history, designate as. the first year of the war. CHAPTER XXXI. administrate >n of Lincoln — Continued. (ist January, 1862 — 1st January, 1S63.) The Second Yearoftht War. Comparative numbers of the two sides in the field — Confederates about 300,000, and Federals about 800,000 — Stanton, Federal Secretary of War- Federal programme of operations — Richmond tht. objective point from Washington — McClellan in command — Of movements southward from (aim. under Halleck — Programme of Confederate — I • seph E. Johnston to oppose McClellan — Albert Sidney Johnston, with headquarters at Bowling Green, Kentucky, to oppose Halleck — Firsl move ment by Halleck — Battle of Fishing Creek, Ken tucky — Defeat ol Zollikoffer by George II. '1 I — His death and character — Fall of Foils Henry and Donelson — Retreat of Sidney Johnston from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Corinth, Mississippi — Fall of Nashville, with loss of immense Confed* erate stores — Second inauguration of Mr. I>a\i- as President, and Mr. Stephen- as Vice-President— Federals at Pittsburgh Landing — Battle of Elkhorn — Fall of McCulloch— Battle of Shiloh— Fall of Sidney Johnston — Confederate victory the first day — Federals get the better the second day — Con- federate force vacates Tupelo, Mississippi- uation of Fort Pillow— Memphis taken by the Fed- erals — Beauregard succeeded by Bragg in com- mand of the army of the Tennessee — Met lellan moves -\n army of 120,000 against Richmond — Joe ton, with 30.000 men only, at Manas tires before the opposing hi si — McClellan changes the line of his — I In- Peninsula cam- paign—Stonewall J '• ley campaign — Battles of Williamsburg, Seven Bine-, and seven days' fighting aboul Richmond Thedefeal in relieved, and Pope succeeds to command ol Fi deral army — The battle of Cedar Run — Victory of Stonewall Jackson over Banks — The great second battle of Manassai — Drtlliant. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 63I Confederate victory— Lee in command — Federals routed — McClellan restored to the command of the Federal army around Washington — Movement of Bragg into Kentucky — Battles of Richmond and Perryville, Kentucky — Great victory of E. Kirby Smith — Bragg retires from Murfieesboro, Tennes- see — Rosecrans succeeds Buell in command of Federal army — The bloody drawn battle of Mur- freesboro — Swinton's comments — Lee, after second battle of Manassas, moves into Maryland — Battle^ of Boonesborough or South Mountain, and Cramp- ton's Gap — Harper's Ferry captured by Stonewall Jackson, with 11,000 prisoners and immense army stores — The great drawn battle at Sharpsburg, or Antietam — Lee returns to Virginia — The seven governors meet at Altoona — Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation (see Appendix P) — McClellan superseded by Burnside — War prosecuted for emancipation — Battle of Fredericksburg — Confed- erate victory — Naval operations for the year — Ro- anoke Island captur.ed by Federals — The Virginia^ the Confederate iron-clad war vessel, attacks Fed- eral fleet 8th March — McCabe's account of the engagement — Newbern, North Carolina, taken by Federal fleet — Island No. 10, in the Mississippi river, taken by Federals, 7th April — Fort Pulaski taken by Federals, 12th April — Forts Jackson and St. Phillip's, at the mouth of the Mississippi river — Farragut's fleet passed them — New Orleans cap- tured — Fort Mason, in North Carolina, taken by Federal fleet — Attack by Federal fleet, led by monitors, on Confederate works at Drewry's Bluff — Attack unsuccessful — The Confederate war-ships Florida and Alabama put to sea from English port. N January, 1862, at the opening of the second year of the war, the Confederates had in the field, distributed at various points, including all branches of service, in round numbers, about 300,000 men ; while the Federals, in like manner and in like round numbers, had not less than 800,000. About this time Edwin M. Stanton was put at the head of the War Department at Washington, in place of Cameron. It is a matter worthy of special note here, that up to this time the Federals had utterly refused to enter into any cartel or agreement for the exchange of prisoners, though urged to do so by the Confederates from the beginning. In the month of February, however, of this year, when the Confederates had a very large excess of Federal prisoners, the authorities at Washington, under a very great pressure of public sentiment in the Northern States, were induced to enter into a cartel for an exchange, on a basis usual between belligerents ; this arrange- ment was entered into on the 14th of February, by General Howell Cobb on the part of the Confederate States, and General John E. Wool, on the part of the United States. According to the cartel then made, the privateersmen of the Savannah, who had been tried for piracy, but not executed, were put upon the footing of other prisoners of war; this cartel, however, was soon broken by the Federals. On the fall of the Forts Henry and Donelson, a few days after the cartel was entered into, when the Federals had an excess of prisoner.^, they refused to carry out the cartel, for the exchange of prisoners agreed upon, in several respects, and especially in re- fusing to send forward the privateersmen of the Savannah. The programme of the ensuing cam- paign, on the part of the Federals, was another movement on Richmond from the Potomac, and a general inva southward, from the junction of the ( >hio and Mississippi rivers. For this purpose two large armies had been organized — one at Washington, under the immediate direction of General McClellan; and th : one in the West, under General Halleck. To meet these, the Confederal collected what forces they could in Vir- ginia, under command of General Joseph E. Johnston, still at Manassas; and in like manner had collected what forces they could in the West, under the * (632) PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CONFEDERATE GENERALS. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. <>33 •mand of General Albert Sidney John- ston, whose headquarters were at Bowl- ing Green, Kentucky. Their other forces were kept mainly in defence of the extensive sea-coast, besides a small trans-Mississippi army. A very interesting and, upon the whole, accurate account of this campaign is given by Mr. Wilson, the writer on the Federal side before referred to, from which we give the following extensive quotation : " Early in the month of January, Gen- eral Thomas came into collision with the Confederate forces stationed at Mill Spring. The battle lasted the greater part of Sunday, the 18th, and was fought with great spirit on both sides. Early in the fight the Confederate General Zollikoffer was killed, and before the close of the day the National arms were completely victorious, the Confederates being driven from their position and com- pelled to retreat towards their camp in the wildest confusion. In the struggle the Nationals lost 247 men, of whom 39 were killed, the remainder wounded ; the Confederates lost 349, of whom 192 were .killed, 62 wounded, and the remainder made prisoners. As the spoils of victory, General Thomas captured and carried with him twelve pieces of artillery, with their caissons packed, two army forges, one battery wagon, a large quantity of arms and ammunition, over a thousand horses and mules, together with wagons, commissary stores, intrenching tools, and a considerable amount of camp equipage. It was felt to be a 'damaging blow by the South, as it broke their line in Kentucky, and opened a door of deliverance for East Tennessee. It was hailed as a great victory by the North, and called forth a spirited proclamation from the Secretary of War, who declared it to be the purpose of the war 'to pursue and destroy a rebellious enemy, and to de- liver the country from danger.' ' In the prompt and spirited movements and daring at Mill Spring,' he said, ' the na- tion will realize its hopes. It will also delight to honor its brave soldiers.' " In Zollikoffer the Confederates lost one of their ablest generals.* Of Swiss origin, he was born in North Carolina in 18 1 2. At an early age he emigrated to Tennessee, where he worked as a printer and afterwards became an editor. In 1834 he edited and published the ' Columbian Observer; ' and from 1835 to 1837 he held the profitable place of State printer of Tennessee. In 1842 he had editorial charge of the ' Nashville Banner;' and through the influence of that partisan journal he succeeded in ob- taining several political offices. At the beginning of the secession movement in Tennessee, Zollikoffer was opposed to it; but he was finally induced to yield ; and on joining the army he was appointed a brigadier-general. He had only joined the secession force at Mill Spring a feu hours before the battle. The - chief in command was General Crittenden ; but the attack at Mill Spring has generally been attributed to Zollikoffer, who vt man of great energy and courage. "General George II. Thomas, who *This officer, of great civic distinction, w of North Carolina, hut of Swiss origin, whose grand father was in the colonial forces, with the rank of captain, in which he was a zealous advocate for the cause of independence. The son was an old Southern Clay Whig; had filled many important and high offices in the Slate; he had also attained distinction as a member of Congress, was utterly opposed to se- cession, until after the result of the Peace Coi was known, and a coercive policy against the S uth- ern States was adopted at Washington. H possessed of the highest moral qualities, and as a j ui nalist m Nashville for several years, h in the Southern States; his 1"- was universally la- mented throughout the South.— Tht 0}4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 31 on that day at Mill Spring first chained victor)' to the Union standard, and ; that series of brilliant and substantial achievements with which his name is iated, was a man of another mould. A Virginian by birth, he was educated at West Point, and in [841 was appointed a lieutenant of artillery. During the Mexican war he rose to the rank of major. In 1850 he accepted the position of teacher of artillery and cavalry at West Point. At the beginning of the war, Thomas, who held the rank of major of the Second Cavalry, waspro- moted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment, and a little later he became colonel. On the 17th of August, 1861, he was made brigadier-general; and after having served under Generals Anderson and Sherman, he was appointed by General Buell to the command of the Tenth Division. " It will be observed that the battle of Mill Spring was fought and won before the date of the President's general order for the forward movement of all the armies; and there can be little doubt that the spirited conduct of the National troops on that occasion gave the spur to that impatience of further delay which President Lincoln shared with the rest of the Northern people. The President was not more anxious for immediate action than were the officers in the field and the rank and file under their care. We have seen that the victory at Mill Spring broke the Confederate right, and by opening a door of deliverance for East Tennessee, prepared the way for the aggressive and successful efforts which were to follow. The Confederate line, however, remained strong and in- tact from Bowling Green to Columbus. The ground was also well guarded from Bowling Green to Nashville, further to the south. At Bowling Green there was an intrenched camp. Fort Henry, on the east bank of the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the west bank of the Cumberland, were bastioned earthwork-, about twelve miles apart and connected by a well-constructed road. There were redoubts on Island No. 10, in the Mis- sissippi river; and Columbus, which was still in charge of General Polk, had been so strengthened as to be proudly spoken of as the Gibraltar of America. To de- fend this line the Confederate commander had under him at least 60,000 men. The forcing of this line by the National armies had become a necessity, if any serious effort was to be made to bring the South back to its allegiance. The question was how to strike and where. Various plans had already been sug- gested ; but there is some difference of opinion as to who is entitled to credit for the plan which was ultimately adopted, and which proved completely successful. It is known that General Buell had sug- gested some such plan as that adopted, in a communication made to General Halleck early in the month of January, 1862. It is also known that about the same time, or shortly afterwards, Gen- eral Grant, without any knowledge of what Buell had done, wrote to Halleck and asked permission to carry out the plan which was afterwards accomplished. It is recorded that one evening late in December, 1 861, Generals Halleck, Sher- man, and Collum were together at the Planters' Motel in St. Louis, when the conversation turned upon the proper line of invasion. ' Where is their line ?' asked Halleck. 'Why, from Bowling Green to Columbus,' replied Sherman. ' Well, then, where is the true point of attack?' ' Naturally the centre.' 'Then let us see in what direction it should be made.' A THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 6 35 map was at hand. With a blue pencil, Halleck drew a line from Bowling Green to Columbus, past Forts Donelson and Henry. He drew another line perpen- dicular to its centre. The latter line coincided nearly with the Tennessee river. ' There,' said Halleck, 'that is the true line of attack.' After all, it was the natural and obvious course to follow; and it is more than probable that to the minds of each of these men, educated in military tactics and experienced in military affairs, the same plan at the same time was independently suggested. One thing is absolutely certain regarding this matter: Grant had written his second letter to Halleck, urging the propriety of his allowing him to proceed at once by land and water against Fort Henry, to take and hold it as a base for other operations, before the order of the 30th came authorizing the desired move- ment. " It has already been shown that the Confederate line stretched from Bowling Green to Columbus, and that the strength of the entire force holding the line was about 60,000 men. The Confederate general in command was Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the oldest and most ex- perienced officers on the American con- tinent. The garrison of Fort Henry, which was 2,734 strong, was under the immediate charge of General Tilghman. The armament of the fort consisted of seventeen guns. Johnston's headquar- ters were at Bowling Green, where he was confronted and held in check by General Buell, an able officer, who held the chief command of the army of the Cumberland. " Immediately on receiving permission from Halleck to proceed with his pro- posed plan, Grant made arrangements for the attack on Fort Henry. He had at his disposal some 17,000 men. It was arranged that flag-officer Foote, with a flotilla of seven gunboats, should move along the Ohio, steer up the Ten- nessee, and open the attack, while Grant, on the land side, should render what assistance was necessary and cut off all retreat. On Monday, the 2d of Febru- ary, Foote left Cairo, and on the morn- ing of Tuesday he was a few miles below Fort Henry. Grant, in the meantime, with the divisions of McClcrnand and C. F. Smith, had embarked in transports which were convoyed by the flotilla. These landed a few miles below the fort ; and Foote proceeded up the river, hav- ing orders from Grant to move slowly and shell the woods, in order to discover whether there were any concealed bat- teries. On the morning of the nth it was understood that everything was in readiness for the attack, which was to be made simultaneously on land and water. A heavy thunder-storm had rag< d the previous night; and, as a consequence, the roads were heavy and the streams so swollen that bridges had to be built for the passage of the artillery. The land forces, thus encountering unlooked-for obstacles, were considerably delayed. Shortly after 12 o'clock Foote opened fire upon the fort. Beginning at 1,000 yards distance, he gradually ran his ves- sels to within 600 yards of the enemy. The firing for a time was vigorously re- turned ; but Foote pressed forward with irresistible bravery, and his men worked with a will and as if they meant to win. It was evident to Tilghman from the first that it was next to impossible for him to hold the fort. He neveitl: exerted himself to the utmost, encourag- ing his men alike by word and example, going so far as to work one o\ the guns himself. A scries of accidents, mean- <3 3 6 while, occurred inside the fort. A rifled 24-pounder hurst, killing and wounding a number of the men. A 42-pounder burst prematurely, and killed three of the gunners. In a short time the well- directed fire from the gunboats had dis- mounted seven of the guns and made 1 useless ; the flag-staff also was shot away. The garrison became completely demoralized. It was in vain that Tilgh- nian attempted to replace the exhausted gunners. The troops in the camp out- side the fort made good their escape, some by the Dover road, leading to Fort Donelson, others on board a steamer which was lying a little above Fort Henry. Foote had promised to reduce the fort within an hour. When he made that promise he counted on assistance from the forces on the land side. With- out any such aid — for the land forces had not yet arrived on the scene — he made good his word ; for the hour had scarcely expired when the white flag was raised. There was no unnecessary The main body of his troops having made good their escape, Tilgh- man, with his. staff and some sixty artil- lerists, surrendered to the victorious Foote. In killed and wounded the Con- federate loss was twenty-one men. The only serious damage sustained by the fleet in the river was on board the iron- clad Essex. A shot from the enemy had penetrated her boiler; and some twenty-nine officers and men, includ- ing Commander Porter, were seriously ■led. " The capture of Fort Henry was felt by the South to be a damaging blow; and it led to bitter murmuring and even loud complaints against the authorities at Richmond. It was justly regarded by the North as a victory of great im- portance. It was full of instruction, in- H I STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II.. c. tf. asmuch as it proved the value of gun- boats on the narrow rivers of the West, especially when acting in conjunction with land forces. It inspired hope, inas- much as it reclaimed lost territory and restored the old flag. " Fort Henry is ours !" said Halleck in his despatch to McClellan. " The flag of the Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed." Foote was formally thanked by the Secretary of the Navy. " The country," he was told, " appreciates your gallant deeds, and this department desires to convey to you and your brave associates its profound thanks for the service you have ren- dered." "After the fall of Fort Henry, prepara- tions were made for an attack on Fort Donelson with as little delay as possible. General Halleck felt it to be his duty to do his utmost to strengthen the army under Grant's command ; and accordingly reinforcements were hurried forward from Buell's army, from St. Louis, Hal- leck's headquarters, from Cincinnati, and from Kansas. " Fort Donelson, as has already been stated, was distant from Fort Henry about twelve miles, and was situated near the town of Dover, on the west bank of the Cumberland, on a platform of elevated ground, which at its highest point rises from the river about 100 feet. It was about forty miles above the point where the Cumberland, after draining the highlands of southeastern Kentucky and northeastern Tennessee, empties its waters into the Ohio. The entire work covered 100 acres. The country around was rugged and heavily wooded. Nat- urally a strong position, everything had been done which art and science could accomplish to make it impregnable. On the water side it was especially strong, THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 637 the batteries being admirably planned and well mounted. Including the light artillery, there were in the fort at the moment of the attack not fewer than ninety-five pieces. With the men who had made good their escape thither from Fort Henry, the strength of the garrison amounted to 21,000 men. All around the works on the land side, abatis had been formed by felling timber and half chopping off the smaller trees." "As soon as it became evident that Fort Donelson was likely to be attacked, Johnston exerted himself to the utmost to make the position invulnerable. Re- inforcements were hurried forward from Bowling Green ; the work was pushed day and night ; and a fortified line two and a half miles in length, enclosing the town of Dover, was drawn along the high ground, which commanded the avenues of approach. Gideon J. Pillow arrived with his command on the 10th and took control. Simeon B. Buckner, at the head of the reinforcements from Bowling Green, arrived on the nth. On the 13th John B. Floyd, who had fled from Virginia with his followers, in obedience to orders received from John- ston, appeared upon the scene, and, out- ranking Pillow, took the chief command. " Meanwhile Grant was not idle. On the evening of the day which witnessed the capture of Fort Henry, a flotilla, under Lieutenant Phelps, sailed up the Tennessee river, for the purpose of as- certaining the condition of the banks in the upper waters. The reconnoissance was completely successful. It was found that there was no real hindrance to a southward movement. The country was comparatively unprotected ; and the people seemed impatient to be delivered from the dreadful tyranny under which they were groaning. On the 1 Ith a council of war was held, and the ques- tion was put, "Shall we march on Don- elson, or shall we wait for further rein- forcements?" The decision was in favor of immediate action. Foote was busy getting ready with his gunboats; and the delay hitherto was mainly on that account. It was all important that the gunboats should participate in the at- tack; but it was felt that every hour was adding to the enemy's strength. At the head of 15,000 men, on Wednesday, the 1 2th, Grant moved from Fort Henry upon Donelson. The foremost brigade advanced by the telegraph road ; the others moved by the road which leads to Dover. For the month of February, the day was beautiful. The atmosphere was warm and balmy, like a day in spring. In their march over the hills- country, the advancing troops experi- enced but little difficulty. Before sun- down Grant was before the fort; and what remained of daylight he spent in bringing his troops into position. Dur- ing the night there was little idleness. Batteries were posted, and the line of battle was formed. Meanwhile Foote was moving up the Cumberland with his gunboats, convoying transports which were to constitute Lewis Wallace's Third division. It was Grant's intention, should the gunboats arrive, to begin the attack in the morning. McClemand's di\ i consisting of the four brigades of Og- lesby, Wallace, McArthur and Morrison, was posted on the right. C. F. Smith's division, composed of the brigades of Cook, Lanman and M. L. Smith, was posted on the left. Lewis Wallace's division, so soon as it arrived, was to take its position in the centre. The line extended some four miles, the right sweeping round almost to Dover, the left resting on Hickman's creek, where, 638 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 31 at the house of a Mrs. Crisp, Grant es- tablished his headquarters. " .Morning dawned, but there was no sign of the gunboats. Grant was un- willing to hazard a general engagement until the expected forces arrived. Early in the forenoon, however, a cannonade was opened; and some lively work was done by Berge's sharpshooters, who, concealed behind the trees, picked off not a few of the Confederate gunners. About noon an attempt was made to effect a lodgment upon the Confederate intrenchments. McClernand ordered Colonel Wallace to capture a formidable battery, known as the Middle Redoubt. The troops employed for this purpose were Illinois regiments — the Seventeenth, Major Smith; the Forty-eighth, Colonel I [ayn ; and the Forty-ninth, Colonel Morrison, McAllister's battery covering them. Hayn, being the senior colonel, command of the attacking party. The attack was made in the most spirited manner. But the enemy was strongly posted; and although the National troops behaved with the utmost gallantry in the presence of overwhelming numbers, and under a most galling fire, they were ulti- mately repulsed. An equally unsuccess- ful effort was made on the left by a por- tion of Lanman's brigade. In both cases tin' National loss was heavy. When the darkness came on, the troops, not a little dispirited, had fallen back to the ground ■occupied by them in the morning. "The night of the 13th presented a striking contrast to the beautiful spring- like morning. The afternoon had be- come chilly; and towards evening rain fell in torrents. The rain was succeeded by sleet and snow; and at midnight a severe frost set in, the mercury falling to a very low point. The besieging force was without tents, and many of the soldiers were not even provided with blankets. Fires were not permitted, as they would prove marks for the enemy's guns. Scantily supplied with food, and with the pitiful cries of the wounded calling for water resounding in their eai . they were compelled to spend the weary hours, resting on their arms. It was one of those sad nights, often, alas! rejaeat ■! before the war reached its close. "The morning of the 14th dawned with apparently brightening prospects for the Federal arms. Fully realizing the peril of the situation and the neces- sity of using every available man, Grant had, at the close of the contest the night previous, sent a courier to General Lewis Wallace, who had been left be- hind with a small garrison at Fort Henry, commanding him to hasten at once to the scene of action. Wallace, with his garrison, which consisted of the Eleventh Indiana, the Eighth Missouri, and Company A, Chicago Artillery, in charge of a battery, was ready by the break of day. After such a night, the ground was not in the best condition for the movement of artillery and infantry ; but the men were in excellent spirits ; and in spite of the drifting frost which blew in their faces, they made good time, Wallace being able to report at Grant's headquarters before the hour <>l noon. On their arrival, Lewis Wallace's little band found the Union soldiers in high hope and expectation. During the course of the night, Foote with the gun- boats and transports, the latter bringing the Third or Wallace's division, about ton thousand strong, had arrived. Their landing had been safely effected; they were already around Grant's head- quarters ; and when Wallace appeared on the scene he was immediately placed in command, and took his position in the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. centre, with Smith on the left, and McClernand on the right. By this fresh accession of strength, Grant was enabled to complete the investment of the fort and its outworks ; and for the first time since he commenced to grapple with the enemy, he had the advantage of superior numbers. Supplies having arrived in abundance, rations were liberally sup- plied to the half-famished men, and preparations were made for a general assault. " The experience of the previous day had been such that, even with largely increased forces, General Grant was un- willing to make any rash attack from the land side. The fort was powerfully mounted, and without the aid of earth- works and trenches, an attack made from the land side, whether upon a par- ticular point or on the entire enemy's works, however it might result finally, could not fail to be attended by an enor- mous sacrifice of life. Grant's instruc- tions to his generais were that they should preserve the line of investment intact, being ready to repel any attempt which the enemy might make, either in the way of assault or escape. " The gunboats had done so well at Fort Henry that perhaps too much was expected of them at Fort Donelson. At all events, it was arranged that the £un- boats should have the honor of opening the assault. At three o'clock in the afternoon Foote moved forward with four ironclads and two wooden boats. In addition to these, there was the gun- boat Carondelet, Commander Walke, which had arrived two days before. The armored vessels moved in front. While yet a mile and a half distant, the gunboats opened fire, the batteries on the fort remaining perfectly silent. It was not the silence of a helpless, par- 639 alyzed foe ; it was the silence of con- scious strength — of a determined and deadly purpose. Onward the little fleet moved, still belching forth destruction, but meeting with no response. Sud- denly, however, when within four hun- dred yards of the batteries, a plunging fire was opened upon it by twenty heavy guns, placed high on the hillside, the shot falling with dreadful precision and effect. In face of this terrific fire, Foote pressed closer and closer. The well- directed fire of the gunboats had silenced the upper battery of four guns. The fighting, however, was not equal. The columbiad and 32-pound rifle now told with fatal effect on the ironclads, while the shot and shell from the ships fell powerless on the heavy sand-banks which protected the enemy's guns. A heavy shot had cut away the rudder- chains of the Louisville, and she drifted helplessly down the current. The flag- ship St. Louis was soon in a similar plight, Commodore Foote himself being wounded. The other two armored ves- sels had suffered severely, a heavy rifled cannon having burst on board the Ca- rondelet. The battle had lasted one hour and a half. It was useless to pro- long the struggle. Orders were given to withdraw; and as the flotilla moved back down the river, it received some severe parting blows from the shore batteries, some of the fugitives from which had returned and resumed their guns. It was another failure. The strength of the place had not been prop- erly gauged. What was practicable and easy at Fort Henry was impossible at Fort Donelson. In the attack the Na- tionals lo>t fifty-four men in killed and wounded. The Confederates lost not a man, nor were their batteries in any way injured. Fifty-nine shots had struck the 640 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 3t St. Louis; thirty-five the Louisville; thirty-five the Carondelet, and twenty-one the Pittsburgh. " Two days had now been wasted, and two experiments in the way of attack had been made, with signal want of suc- cess. All had been done on the river side which could be done with the means now at Grant's command. Any fresh attempt made on the land side was certainly as perilous as ever; nay, it seemed to involve even greater risks, for the Union commander could no longer count with confidence on the gunboats, which he had hoped would greatly aid him in the accomplishment of his diffi- cult task. The original plan had failed. " While the Union commanders were thus deploring their ill-fortune and making arrangements for future and more effective operations, events had taken a peculiar turn inside the Confed- erate lines. Floyd, the commander-in chief, was not in the least elated by the effective resistance which he had been ible to offer to McClernand's attack on the 13th, or by the defeat of the gun- boats on the 14th. lie felt that, in spite of his strength, he was effectually hemmed in. There was not a point within the intrenchments which might not be reached by the enemy's artillery from the boats on the river or from the batteries on land. It would be easy, by passing a column above him on the iiver, to cut off at once his only source of supply and his only means of egress. Moreover, he had s^cn that day a fleel jf transports arrive bringing a power- ail addition to the ranks of the enemy; md he knew that the whole available 1 nion force in the Western States could be speedily concentrated against Fort Donelson. It y/as Floyd's opinion that the fort could not be held with a gar- rison of less than fifty thousand men. At a council of war, held on the evening of the 14th, it was unanimously resolved to abandon the place, force a way past Grant's right, and pass into the open country around Nashville. "From the position enclosed within the Confederate lines two roads led to- wards Nashville — the Wynn's Ferry road, running from Dover through Charlotte; and the other an obscure and at best an undesirable road, cross- ing the flats of the Cumberland. The latter road was submerged by the over- flow of the river. There remained, therefore, but the one way of escape, if escape was to be attempted, and that was the Wynn's Ferry road. But this road was effectually covered by McCler- nand's division, the right wing of the Union army. What was the Confed- erate plan of attack ? Pillow's division, which formed the Confederate left, was to make a vigorous attack upon the Union right flank; and Buckner's di- vision, drawn from the right, a few men being left in the intrenchments to main- tain an appearance, was to strike at the same time the right flank of the Union centre; which rested upon the Wynn's Ferry road. It was hoped that if Pil- low's attack should prove successful, McClernand's division, the Union right, would be forced back upon Wallace's division, the Union centre, and that Buckner, striking the divided masses in Hank, would roll both divisions batk in confusion on that of Smith, the Union left. In such a case, the Wynn's Ferry road would be effectually opened as a waj of escape, and possibly Grant's forces might be routed and driven to their transports. It was a daring and well-conceived plan; and, as we shall THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 64I by and by see, so far as it was faithfully executed, it was a complete success. " On the morning of Saturday, the 15th, at the early hour of five o'clock, Pillow's column, eight thousand strong, accompanied by Forrest's cavalry, thirty heavy guns, and a full complement of artillery, was already in motion. Pillow was resolved, as he said in his high- sounding style, 'to roll the enemy in full retreat over upon General Buckner,' and then, by an attack in flank and rear, to 'cut up the enemy and put him com- pletely to rout.' He went to his work with a will, and as if he meant to make his purpose good. McClernand was well posted to resist the assailants; but although this point has been disputed, there can be no reasonable doubt that he was taken by surprise. His division was arranged in three brigades — Mc Ar- thur's on the right, Oglesby's in the centre, W. H. L. Wallace's on the left. Pillow's onslaught was swift and furi- ous. It fell mainly upon the two right brigades, McArthur's and Oglesby's. The Confederate line covered the front of these brigades, and extended some distance beyond the right flank. In the struggle which ensued, there was no lack of heroism on either side. At a critical moment, timely and effective assistance was rendered by the sister brig- ade of W. H. L. Wallace, Colonel John A. Logan, at the head of his brave regi- ment, the Thirty-first Illinois, exerting himself by word and deed to sustain and cheer the men. In such a strug- gle, however, enthusiasm is but a sorry compensation for lack of numbers. The soldiers did their best. Inch by inch the ground was contested.. Overpow- ered, however, and outflanked, the two brigades were turned and forced from their position. Meanwhile Buckner, 41 who had moved his troops over from the extreme Confederate right, formed them in front of McClernand's left brigade, Colonel W. H. Wallace. It will thus be seen that the whole hostile mass — the entire concentrated strength of the Confederate army — was pressing upon McClernand's division, the right wing of the Union army. The left brigade soon followed the example of the other two — it fell back from its position; and by nine o'clock the entire position occupied in the beginning of the contest by the right wing of the National army was in the possession of the Confederates. The Wynn's Ferry road was opened. " The tide was still in favor of the Confederates. So far they had boldly carried out their plan, and successfully accomplished their purpose. The Na- tional army was, indeed, at this particu- lar moment in a very critical condition. The situation was all the more alarming that the general-in-chief, who had not been present all the morning, was not yet on the field. At 2 A. m. he had gone on board a gunboat to hold a consulta- tion, with Commodore Foote, who, it will be remembered, was wounded in the struggle the day previous. It is more than possible that if Grant had been on the field from the commence- ment of the contest, McClernand would have been able to hold his ground. In the absence of the*general-in-chief there was no officeV, during all those preg- nant hours, who could assume the right to combine and direct the entire forces in the field. The division next to McClernand was that of Lewis Wallace. When Wallace first. heard the firing, he concluded that McClernand had resumed the attack. At about 8 a. m. he received a message from McClernand asking as- 64 2 sistance. Not knowing what to do, he sent the message to headquarters ; but General Grant was still absent. Later he received another message from Mc- Clernand, disclosing the fact that his men were being pressed back by over- whelming numbers. Thereupon Wallace detached two brigades, and sent them under Colonel Cruft. Cruft, however, was in some way misled too far to the right, and being forced to fight his way, he arrived only in time to share the fate of the whole right wing. Seeing flocks of fugitives crowding up in the rear of his own line, Wallace promptly put in motion his remaining brigade under Colonel Thayer. The column had marched but a short distance when McClernand's brigades were met retir- ing to the left — retiring in good order and slowly, complaining of many things, but complaining most of all that their ammunition was exhausted. The brave fellows seemed to feel as if they had no right to be in that position. The enemy was following but slowly. Wallace had time to deploy his brigade on the crest of a hill which crossed the line along which the enemy was moving towards the left. Here he presented a firm front at right angles to his former front, and behind him the defeated troops of the right wing rallied and reformed. In this position they awaited the approach of Pillow and Buckner. Mortified with the defeat of the morning, troops of the right wing had no sooner filled their cartridges than they took their places and were ready for action. When, therefore, the Confederates advanced and began to ascend the crest, so terrific was the fire that they reeled and staggered and broke, falling back in wild confusion. A second time they attempted to charge; but the second repulse was more disas- IIISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 31 trous than the first. The men could not again be brought into line. Some of them fled precipitately to their works ; the remainder were brought to a stand on the ground occupied by the National right wing in the early morning. " Grant had now appeared on the field. It was about noon when the Confeder- ates were driven back to their trenches. The battle had lulled ; but everything was yet in confusion. The chief must have bitterly regretted the fact of his own absence from the scene of action in the early part of the day. But it was no time now for idle and worthless lamenta- tion. It was action that was needed — prompt, decided, vigorous action. Grant was not slow to come to a conclusion, although it is simply absurd to say that in this instance he made up his mind at once. About three o'clock in the after- noon he called McClernand and Wallace aside for consultation. They were all on horseback. Grant held in his hand some despatches, to which now and then he nervously turned his eyes. His face was flushed and revealed high excite- ment. He was evidently swayed by strong emotions. He said something about the necessity of falling back and intrenching — about waiting for reinforce- ments and Foote's new flotilla. It was suggested by one of the other two that in consequence of McClernand's defeat the road to Clarksville was uncovered, and that the enemy might escape if he chose. Whether Grant had merely been sounding the opinions of his subor- dinates, or whether new light at the moment dawned upon him, we know not ; but all of a sudden he gave orders that the right wing should retake the ground which it had lost in the morning, and that the left wing, under Smith, should make a simultaneous attack on the Con- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 643 federate right. General Grant has since given us his own reason for the course which he resolved to pursue. ' On rid- ing upon the field,' he says, ' I saw that either side was ready to give way if the other showed a bold front. I took the opportunity, and ordered an advance of the whole line.' " The orders were promptly executed. Wallace took charge of the troops which had been engaged and which had suf- fered so much in the morning and early part of the day, and whose duty it was to resume lost ground. The ground was rough and badly blocked with wood. There were, besides, bloody memorials of the morning's struggle. The Nation- als, however, pressed on, the Confeder- ates vigorously resisting. For more than an hour the conflict raged fiercely, and the result seemed doubtful. Ul- timately, however, the Confederates yielded to the fierce energy of their assailants, and were compelled to retire within their own intrench ments. In the hour of victory almost complete, when within 150 yards of the enemy's works, Wallace was astonished by an order from the general-in-chief, commanding him to halt and retire his troops, as a new plan of operations had been arranged for the morrow. He felt satisfied that Grant was ignorant of the success which had attended his movement. Darkness, however, was at hand. He contented himself, therefore, with holding the ground he had taken, and disobeyed orders only to the extent of bivouacking on the field of victory. Smith was equally successful in his attack on the Confederate right. Buckner, who in abandoning the left made it the easy prey of Wallace, arrived too late at his old position on the right to save it from the dashing energy of Smith. In spite of all that he could do, the Confederate^ wert to make an attack. The tide of bat- tle was thus, by a fatal infelicity, turned ! before the battle was commenced. It was only two days since the proud words 69S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 3* were uttered ; yet the boastful National commander was already on the defensive. The ground selected was by no means so well adapted, either for attack or de- fence, as the ground which he had abandoned. It was commanded by high grounds, and surrounded on all sides by the forest. In this new position, how- ever, the disposition of the troops was not unskilfully made. Not knowing from what direction the blow might come, and resolved to preserve his com- munications with the river, Hooker ar- ranged his forces in a form which, for the benefit of the reader, has been compared lot inaptly to the letter U. The limbs of the U pointed towards the Rappahan- nock, the one side facing to the east, and the other to the west. The eastern side was held by Meade and one division of Couch ; the centre was held by Slocum and one division of Sickles; and the right by Howard. Every effort was made to strengthen the front by rifle-pits and abatis. Howard, who little dreamed of an attack on his side, took too little pains to prevent a surprise. Two di- visions of the Second and two divisions of the Third corps were held in reserve. Pleasanton, with his cavalry, was also on the right. Such was the position of the National army on the night of Friday, the 1st of May. " Let us now see what the Confederates were doing in the interval since the Na- tional troops began to move on the 27th of April. It has been claimed by South- ern writers that Lee was aware of Hooker's movements and plans, if not from the commencement, at least from a much earlier date than is commonly believed. There can be no doubt, we think, that up until the 29th, he was dis- posed to believe that the real attack was to be made from Falmouth and by the lower Rappahannock. The feeble effort. 1 made by Sedgwick on the morning of that day, and his subsequent inactivity must have filled Lee's mind with doubt, if it did not convince him that the threatened movement from that quarter was intended only as a feint. We know that, on the afternoon of the 29th, he re- ceived from Stuart definite information of the fact that heavy columns of Na- tionals had crossed the upper Rappahan- nock, and that they were marching to- wards Germania and Ely's fords. An- derson, who was hurried forward to Chancellorsville, occupied that place on the night of the 29th. Learning that the National troops had crossed the Rapidan in great force, he withdrew on the following morning. On the morning of the 30th, Jackson's corps was still in line of battle at Hamilton'.., Crossing his left extending for upwards of a mile towards the northwest, his right resting on the Rappahannock, at the mouth of Massaponax creek. McLaws' division, of Longstreet, was still in its camp, his line extending from Fredericksburg some two or three miles up the river. Barksdale's brigade occupied the town. Pendleton's reserve artillery was under orders to take position at Massaponax Church. Stuart, with Fitz Lee's brigade of cavalry, having crossed the Racoon Ford during the night, was moving to harass the National advance. There was another strong Confederate brigade at Culpepper, in Stoneman's front. Ander- son had taken up a line perpendicular to the plank and turnpike roads, near their junction with the old Mine road. At midnight, McLaws was ordered to move his division, with the exception of Barks- dale's brigade, in the direction of Ander- son, and take position on his right. Jackson was ordered to move at daylight, THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. on the 1st of May, with three of his di- visions, in the same direction, and to take command of the field. Early was left to defend the works from Hamilton's Crossing to Fredericksburg. The force under his command for this purpose, as stated by a Confederate authority, con- sisted of his own command, Barksdale's brigade, of McLaws', Andrew's battalion of artillery, and a part of the reserve artillery under General Pendleton, and amounted to 8,500 muskets and thirty guns. From the resistance which Franklin experienced, as we shall see by and by, the presumption is that this force was much stronger. McLaws reached Anderson by the early dawn. Jackson came up at eight o'clock, and ordered a general advance. It thus hap- pened that both armies were in motion at the same time, but in opposite directions. Jackson was moving towards Chancellorsville ; Hooker was moving his army towards Fredericksburg; and each was prepared to offer the other battle. This advance movement of Jackson explains the resistance which the National centre ex- perienced on the old turnpike road, on Friday, the 1st of May. " On the night of the 1st, Gen- eral Lee had come to the conclusion that the National position was too strong to be taken in front. ' The enemy,' he said in his report, ' had assumed a position of great natural strength, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest, filled with a tangled undergrowth, in the midst of which breastworks of logs had been constructed, with trees felled in front, so as to form an almost impenetrable abatis. His artillery swept the few narrow roads by which the position 699 could be approached from the front, and commanded the adjacent woods.' What was to be done ? Was an at- tack more practicable on the National right? The ground was reconnoitered. Hooker's line was reported to be vul- nerable in that direction. The next question was whether there existed a practicable route by which, with speed and secrecy, the movement could be accomplished. This question also was satisfactorily answered. If a route did GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. not exist, a route could be made. Seated on cracker boxes, the Confeder- ate leaders consulted as to what should be done. Jackson was familiar with the locality. With a map before him, he described the ground, suggested that a circuitous march of fifteen miles be made towards the extreme right of the National army, and proposed to strike a deadly blow, before the opposing hosts should be aware of his presence. It was a bold experiment ; but it was just yoo III STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 the kind of experiment which Jackson delighted to make. If it succeeded, he would certainly produce a panic in Hooker's army — he might even seize his communications with United States Ford, on which the National commander relied in case of retreat. 'With what force will you attempt this ? ' asked General Lee. ' With my whole corps present,' replied Jackson. ' What, in that case, would be left to resist an ad- vance of the enemy towards Fredericks- burg?' Lee again asked. 'The divi- sions of Anderson and McLaws,' was the prompt and confident answer. It was a most audacious plan, and in open violation of the first principles of the military art. As things were, the Con- federate commander was confronted by superior numbers. With 42,000 mus- kets, he was in the presence of 60,000 or 70,000. Lee reflected for a moment. His army was already divided in two. If he consented, his army would be cut up into three parts. And then, what if Jackson failed ? It would be ruin — hopeless, irretrievable ruin. But Lee had faith in his brave and adventurous lieutenant. He gave his consent; and orders for the march were immediately given. " On Saturday morning, Jackson, with some 22,000 men, set out on his peril- ous expedition. He moved with great secrecy and with a speed almost incredi- ble, considering the nature of the ground he had to traverse. Stuart's cavalry was employed to conceal his column from view, and to distract the attention of the National troops. Lee, too, made frequent demonstrations, so as to engage attention in front. Hooker, however, was not without warning, nor was he wholly without suspicion. On Friday night the Confederates were observed cutting a road past the Na- tional picket lines on the right. On Saturday morning, trains and ambu- lances were seen passing over a hill in Sickles' front. When informed of the movement of Jackson, Hooker sent orders to the officers commanding on the right, to be on their guard against an advance of the enemy on their flank, and directed them to strengthen that portion of their line to meet such an emergency. Birncy reported to Sickles that he saw, in the direction of what was called the Furnace, a Confederate col- umn, as it marched down the hill and crossed Lewis' creek. Sickles went for- ward in person, and satisfied himself of the truth of the report. He saw the trains of artillery wagons and ambu- lances which followed in Jackson's rear; but he concluded that the Confederates were in full retreat. A battery was pushed forward, and the moving column was shelled at a distance. As it soon disappeared, it was believed that the movement, whether of attack or re- treat, had been abandoned. It soon again reappeared ; and Sickles was or- dered to push forward two divisions to develop the strength or the intentions of the enemy. This force, which consisted of the divisions of Birney and Whipple, with Barlow's brigade, of Howard's corps, soon came up with the enemy. A sharp skirmish ensued ; and, by the aid of Randolph's battery, some 400 men, including several officers of the Twenty- third Georgia regiment, were captured. Information received from the prisoners removed all doubt as to the character or purpose of the mysterious column. It was Stonewall Jackson's corps ; its re- doubtable chief was at its head; and it was moving, with hostile intent, to the flank and rear of the National right. It THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 70I was no time now for trifling. Jackson, it was evident, meant business. Sickles, therefore, pressed forward with fresh energy, and with the view of intercept- ing the train in Jackson's rear. Wil- liams, who was ordered to co-operate, advanced at the same time with his division, of Slocum's corps, and com- menced a vigorous flank movement on Jackson's right. It was believed for a moment, that the Confederate general would be caught in his own trap — that, if not captured, he would be compelled to retreat. It was a mistaken belief. A Confederate battalion of artillery, under Colonel Thompson Brown, happened to be close at hand. Brown got his guns into position, and supported them by such companies of infantry as could be got together. Meantime, Archer, with his own and Thomas' brigade, of A. P. Hill's division, hearing of the capture of the Georgia regiment, fell back to the menaced point. By these means Sickles was held in check, and Jackson's train was enabled to pass on. What was more important still to the Confederates, time was gained. Jackson was now beyond reach. While this skirmishing was going on, on his flank and rear, he was pushing forward through the tan- gled wilderness with incredible speed. Obstacles seemed to disappear as he advanced. Where there was no opening in the woods, a passage was soon created, the sturdy forest trees yielding to the vigorous blows of his hardy pioneers. When Sickles, who, after the Confed- erates retired, held possession of the road in the neighborhood of the Furnace, was preparing to follow up Jackson and strike him in the rear, the Confederate chieftain, having reached his chosen ground, was about to burst like a whirlwind on his unsuspecting foe. "After passing the Furnace, and plung- ing into the forest, Jackson, being under complete cover of the woods, pursued his way unmolested. As he moved around, he was continually feeling the National lines. On reaching the plank- road, he halted for a time, and, from a commanding eminence, surveyed the position and works of his antagonist. Fitz Lee's cavalry, supported by Pax- ton's brigade of infantry, was ordered forward on the plank road. Jackson himself, with the mass of his command, pushed on through the jungle to the old turnpike. He was now near the outskirts of the National encampment. Secrecy had become more important than ever. The knowledge of his whereabouts, on the part of the National commanders, before he was fully prepared to strike the decisive blow, might, at the last moment, mar all his plans. Orders were, therefore, given in a low tone ; the firing of guns was forbidden ; no cheering was allowed as the general passed by ; and the well-trained bat- talions, disciplined almost to perfection, moved along slowly, silently, and with cat-like caution. Arrived at the turn- pike, he turned to the right, and moved along that road to some distance in the direction of Chancellorsville. Here he arranged his troops in three lines of battle, perpendicular to the turnpike, and extending about one mile on either side. Rodes, with his own brigade and that of Iverson on the left, and those of Doles and Colquitt on the right, occu- pied the first line. Colston, who com- manded Trimble's division, with his own brigade and those of Nicholls and Jones, took position 200 yards in the rear of Rodes. A. P. Hill's division, as it came up, was formed into the third line. Two pieces of Stuart's artillery moved along 702 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 the turnpike with the first line. The second and third line was to support the first when necessary, without wait- ing for specific instructions. " It was now after five o'clock. Let us look within the National lines. Hooker was still at his headquarters at Chancellorsville ; and, although watch- ful of his whole line, he had a special care of his front and the side looking towards Fredericksburg. In this latter direction, as we have seen, Meade and Couch kept guard — Sickles and a por- tion of Slocum's troops were at the Furnace, preparing to follow Jackson. The right of the National army was protected by the Eleventh corps, Gen- eral Howard, one of the bravest officers in the National army. The outworks at this point ran parallel to the plank and turnpike roads, and faced to the south. Steinwehr was on the left, Schurz in the centre, and Devens on the right. De- vens' position was near Talley's House. It was now near six o'clock. All fear of danger for the day had been aban- doned. Their arms were stacked, and the men were cooking or eating their evening meal. All of a sudden there is a commotion in the woods. Startled game, as if disturbed in their quiet retreats, appear in large numbers, and rush to and fro in wild bewilderment. Deer leap over the works, and dash through the National lines into the woods beyond. Jackson has given the signal to advance ; and these scared creatures of the wood, frightened by the presence of man, and running they know not whither, are but an emblem of what is soon to be witnessed, on a far grander scale, on the right wing of the great and invincible army of the Potomac. A second more, and the bugles are heard. Then a mighty cheer, followed by a terrific volley, the deadly missiles com- ing crashing through the trees, and falling like hail among the unarmed and unsuspecting Unionists, and it is known that 'Stonewall' Jack-on is upon them. It is an instant panic. The high and commanding ground at Talley's is at once abandoned, Devens' men fleeing precipitately and in the wildest confu- sion, many of them without having picked up their muskets. Schurz's men behave even worse — joining in the rout without even waiting for the attack. In vain does the brave Devens, a second time wounded, in vain docs the heroic Howard, gallopiag among the broken columns, urging them by voice and ges- ture, and waving, banner-like, his empty sleeve, attempt to rally the fugitives, and turn them against their pursuers. Once and again a regiment is halted, but it is only to be torn to pieces by the merciless fire of the on-rushing and now triumphant Confederates. Suddenly, however, a halt is made on the part of both pursuers and pursued. The works at Melzi Chancellor's or Dowdall's Tav- ern, on Howard's extreme left, have been reached. Into these works Stein- wehr has thrown Bushbeck's brigade, his other brigades being absent with Sickles. Bushbeck has been joined by some of Schurz's regiments, which have been rallied and brought to order. At this point a gallant resistance is made. The Confederates are held in check, but it is only for a brief period. Jackson, impatient of resistance, pushes forward his legions. Rodes, who has been held at bay, is speedily joined by Colston ; and their united divisions, already flushed with success, and uttering their ac- customed yell, rushed bounding into the works, shivering to pieces the last solid remnant of Howard's splendid corps. PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS. (703) 7°4 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Eook II , c. 32 The rout of the right wing was now complete. All semblance of organiza- tion was gone. Heedless of the dead and dying who lay crowded on the turnpike and in the adjoining woods, and flinging from them their muskets, their knapsacks, and every other en- cumbrance, the routed troops rushed pell-mell towards Chancellorsville. Ar- tillery, wagons, ambulances, pack-mules and cattle, all inextricably commingled, were being hurried along in the same direction. It was a scene of the wildest confusion. No such scene had been witnessed since the first battle of Bull Run. " It was now seven o'clock, one brief hour since the attack commenced, and darkness was coming on. The situation was critical in the extreme. Jackson was in full possession of the breast- works, and within half a mile of Hooker's headquarters. It was necessary for the National commander to form a new line of battle. This, however, was a task of peculiar difficulty. Lee was pressing Hooker hard, both on his left and centre; and the tornado-like rush of the retreat- ing hosts had all the effect of an invading army. Hooker, on hearing of the dis- aster to I loward, sent forward the choicest iivision of the army — a division which ne himself had created, and which he had often led to victory, and now under the command of General Berry. The batteries of this division, under Captain Best, posted on a ridge across the turn- pike, having opened a most murderous fire, checked the Confederate advance. At this point the battle raged fiercely. Sickles was recalled from the Furnace, where he had been joined by Pleasanton, with I, OCX) cavalry, his instructions being that he should attack Jackson in flank. lie at once hurried forward Pleasanton and Birney. Pleasanton, with two of his regiments and his battery, arrived at Hazel Grove — where Sickles had been compelled to leave a portion of his ar- tillery — just as Howard's corps was hur- rying past in full retreat. Comprehend- ing the situation at a glance, he hurled the Eighth Pennsylvania on the pursuing columns. The regiment was over- whelmed, and its commander instantly killed. Disastrous as the charge was to the regiment, it nevertheless accom- plished its object. The Confederate onrush was temporarily checked. In a few minutes, what with his own battery of horse artillery, some guns belonging to the routed corps, and those which Sickles had left behind him, he had thirty- pieces in position. A heavy cannonade was opened by Colonel Crutch field, from the Confederate batteries on the plank road, his object being to prevent the National troops from reforming. Pleas- anton replied with tremendous energy ; and as often as the Confederates came up to the charge, their ranks were decimated by his double-shotted guns. During this encounter, General Crutchfield was wounded, and some of his guns were silenced. " It was now night. The daylight had sped, but it was not dark ; for the moon was bright and full. There was no dis- position on either side to discontinue the contest. It was absolutely necessary that Hooker should, before morning, re- connect his broken lines, and re-establish his communications. It was necessary, in fact, that he should take a new posi- tion. Jackson, on the other hand, felt the importance, if not necessity, of push- ing the advantage he had won. The relative positions of both armies were much the same as at nightfall. Lee con- tinued to claim a large amount of THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 70S Hooker's attention on the left. Jackson held the advanced positions he had won on the old turnpike and plank roads. Berry kept the ground he had taken towards the close of the evening's con- test. His artillery, under Best, crowned the crest at the western end of the clear- ing around Chancellorsville. Birney had come up and taken position on the left. Ward's brigade, of his division, was ordered to be ready to make an attack on the enemy's lines at 1 1 o'clock. Meanwhile Jackson was impatiently awaiting the arrival of A. P. Hill, to re- place the divisions of Rodes and Col- ton, which, after the severe work of the afternoon, and because of the thick and tangled woods in which much of the fighting was done, had fallen into confu- sion. At the appointed time, Best opened a tremendous fire on the Confederate lines, and Ward's men rushed to the charge with terrific fury. It was again and again repeated. In one of these charges, a portion of the artillery lost by General Howard was gallantly re- taken. This almost midnight attack has been described as presenting one of the grandest and most soul-rousing scenes of the war. ' The moon,' says an eye- witness, ' shone bright, and the foe could be seen at good musket range. The air was very still, and the roar and reverber- ation of the musketry and artillery ex- ceeded all conception. Malvern Hills was a skirmish compared to this, except in the degree of slaughter. The attack was completely successful, the Confed- erates having been driven back half a mile. The battle ceased ; but there was little repose in either camp during that anxious night. "At the very commencement of the night attack, a terrible calamity befell the Confederate army. General ' Stone- 45 wall ' Jackson, the author of that day's splendid achievement, in many respects the greatest soldier of the Confederacy, fell mortally wounded. While waiting for Hill, and just before the batteries of Best opened fire and Ward made his attack, he rode forward to reconnoitre the ground. He was accompanied by a portion of his staff, couriers and other officers. On setting out, he gave posi- tive orders to his troops not to fire unless cavalry approached from the direction of the enemy. He advanced to a con- siderable distance beyond his own pickets. When near what was called the Van Wert House, some one re- marked to him, 'General, you should not expose yourself so much.' 'There is no danger,' he said. 'Go back and tell General Hill to press on.' When returning, and as he approached his own lines, he and his escort, mistaken for Fed- eral cavalry, were received with a volley of musketry. Several of the party fell, some of them killed, others of them severely wounded. Turning aside,, the party entered a thicket, still moving towards the Confederate lines. A mo- ment more, and being still mistaken for Federal cavalry, they were again fired upon, and at a distance of not more than thirty or forty yards. Jackson received" three balls, one in the right hand, and two in the left arm, one of which shat- tered the bone two inches below the shoulder, and severed the artery. Half of his escort, including Captain Boswell* of his staff, were killed or wounded His frightened horse rushed towards the National lines. Quickly recovering him- self, he managed, with his bleeding hand, to rein it up and turn it into the plank road. Captain Wilbourn, of his staff, now rushed to his aid. Bleeding and fainting, the general was taken from his "00 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. horse, carried to the road side and laid under a tree. It was at this moment the guns of Best opened fire ; and the Na- tional troops, coming up in great force, charged over Jackson's body. The Na- tionals again falling back, he was placed upon a litter; but Berry's guns were now sweeping the road; and one of the litter- bearers being shot down, the wounded general fell to the ground, receiving a severe contusion on his right side. As the firing continued, the whole party lay 'flat on the ground, till the storm of grape and canister was turned in another direction. He was soon afterwards con- veyed safely to the hospital in the rear. It was found necessary to amputate the arm. Jackson died on Sunday, the ioth of May. He lived to see the fruit of this day's work. His death was a great blow to the Confederate cause. It was equal to a National victory. General Stonewall Jackson will live in history as the hero of Chancellorsville.* * " In an ably-written paragraph, which is evidently intended to be eulogistic of General Stonewall Jack- son, Swinton, yielding to a spirit of detraction, which is too common a characteristic of Northern writers, makes some remarks which are scarcely just to the Confederate soldier. He speaks of Jackson as ' devoid of high mental parts, and destitute of that power of planning and combination, and of that calm, broad, military intellect which distinguished General Lee.' He has just described him as 'es- sentially an executive officer.' Without referring to General Jackson's entire military career, we have no hesitation in saying that such remarks were singularly inapplicable to the man, after the first day's righting at Chancellorsville. The Chancellorsville plan of battle was Jackson's throughout. It was his con- ception; and it was he who gave it development, and determined its success. It is not too much to say that but for the death of Jackson, the National army might have been captured or cut to pieces. It would certainly have been placed in great peril. Such was Jackson's own opinion, 'If I had not been wounded,' he said, ' I would have cut the enemy off from the road to United States Ford; we would have had them entirely surrounded ; and they would have been obliged to surrender or cut their way out " I Till came to the front just as Jackson was wounded, and prepared to assume the command. Scarcely, however, had he issued his first instructions, when he too was disabled, having received a severe contusion from a piece of shell. General J. E. B. Stuart was the officer next in rank; but he had moved off in the direction of Ely's Ford, his inten- tion being to seize that place and occupy it. Such was part of General Jackson's plan. In the circumstances, and until the arrival of Stuart, who was at once recalled, the command of the Confed- erate left devolved upon Brigadier-Gen- eral Rodes. It was a trying moment. Jackson had fallen, mortally wounded; Hill had been disabled; and Stuart was some miles distant. This, however, was not all. Berry was repeating his tre- mendous assaults; and his artillery, under the direction of Best, was main- taining a fierce cannonade. It is not wonderful that Rodes should have hes- itated to make any attack or run any serious risk until the morning. In this view of the case Stuart, on his arrival, concurred. It had the approval, also, of Hill, who, although disabled and placed on a litter, had not been removed from the field. Stuart sent a messenger to Jackson, asking for instructions. Jack- son was so feeble and suffering so much, that he could only give for answer: 'Tell General Stuart that he must use — they had no other alternative.' Nor do we think it fair to characterize Jackson as a ' fanatic in re- ligion.' The word ' fanatic ' has come to have an offensive meaning. In the sense in which it is now generally used, it certainly cannot be applied t>> Jackson. In the sense in which Jackson was a fana- tic, so was Oliver Cromwell ; so, too, in a milder sense, was George Washington. Thus applied, the epithet is not opprobrious ; but, in this latter sense, it is now rarely used. He was certainly a religious enthusiast; but a fanatic, in the offensive sense, he was not. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 707 his own judgment' The night was spent by the new commander and his staff in visiting the different parts of his line, in locating his troops, and in making the other necessary arrangements for the coming day. '■ It had already become apparent to the different officers of the National army — it must have been apparent to General Hooker himself — that a great blunder had been committed on the Thursday, when no effort was made to bring up the three corps under Sedgwick at Fredericksburg, so as to make the army a unit, and that, if possible, a still greater blunder was committed on the Friday, when the entire right wing, hav- ing advanced towards Fredericksburg by three different roads, and having gained advantageous positions in the clear, open country beyond the woods, was compelled by the mere will of its chief to fall back, and wait for the onset of the enemy in the tangled jungles of the wilderness. These blunders — one or other or both — had brought about all the sorrows of Saturday ; and superior as were the Nationals in numbers, and excellent as was the spirit of the troops, it was a doubtful question with many whether greater sorrows were not in store for them. The discipline of the army, however, was well preserved. Hooker, showing no indecision, adopted his course with firmness, and after the disasters of the afternoon and evening, made his arrangements for the morrow. On the evening of that day, Reynolds, with his corps of some 17,000 men, hav- ing come up from before Fredericksburg and crossed the United States Ford, joined the forces immediately under Hooker, and by their presence more than compensated for the losses sus- tained by the Eleventh corps. Sedgwick was still below Fredericksburg with his own entire corps, which numbered some 24,000 men. Late on Saturday night, Hooker sent instructions to Sedgwick to put himself in motion immediately, to occupy Fredericksburg, to seize the heights in the rear, to gain the plank road leading thence to Chancellorsville, and to move out, fighting his way, as best he might, with the view of joining the main body by daylight on Sunday morning. It was, beyond all question, of the utmost importance, that Sedgwick should be able to accomplish the task thus assigned him. The best results might naturally enough be expected to flow from it. But it was an almost impossible task. Hooker made little account of the more than possible diffi- culties to be encountered in seizing the heights in the rear of Fredericksburg — difficulties of which he himself had had so bitter an experience in the Burnside campaign. It would have been more wise if the order had been given at an earlier hour, or on an earlier day. It was not unwise to give it now ; but most certainly it was the duty of the gcneral- in-chief to think of the obstacles which might hinder the progress of his lieuten- ant, and by every conceivable means to facilitate his advance. " During the night, the National com- mander succeeded in rearranging his lines, and taking a new position. 1 1 is new line resembled somewhat the letter V or rather a triangle slightly pro- longed at the apex, the left leg being considerably larger than the right, and both extremities reaching close to the river, thus covering United States Ford. His lines were contracted, as compared with those of the previous day, and he had drawn nearer the river. He held possession of the heights between Melzi ;o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 Chancellor's and Fairview, including Hazel Grove — an eminence which com- manded the apex, and the holding of which was essential to the safety of the new position. Reynolds was on the extreme right, at the upper end of the left limb of the triangle. Meade's forces came next ; then those of Sickles, com- manding the line on the left of the apex; then those of Slocum on the right of the apex ; and then, connecting with Slo- cum, but more to the north on the right limb of the triangle, came Howard's corps, which, with marvellous rapidity, had been brought together, and restored to something like order. On the left limb of the triangle, the National forces were heavily massed. In the centre of the triangle or V, an ^ almost behind Meade, was stationed Couch, that he might be able to act in either direction, as occasion might require. Reynolds and Meade were some distance on the north of the turnpike. Sickles covered the road ; Berry, with Whipple in his rear, being on the north side ; and Bir- ney, with Williams, of Slocum's corps, in his rear. Slocum, with his other division, that of Geary, guarded the apex. Hancock's division of Couch was on Slocum's left, and stretched out to- wards Howard. Sickles' artillery, under Best, was massed on the ridge in the centre of the open ground, all the guns pointing west, so as to command the ap- proaches to the turnpike. Hooker had 60,000 infantry immediately available at Chancellorsville. The combined forces of Lee and Jackson were far short of that number, not much exceeding 40,000 men. Hooker had, besides, the prospect of being joined by Sedgwick, whose corps, some 24,000 strong, was equal to a large army. Sedgwick was only ten miles distant. He had, it is true, some difficulties in his way; but these might be overcome. If Sedgwick should come up in time, might not Hooker yet be able to destroy first the Confederate right, and then fall back with all his force and deal a deadly blow to the Con- federate left ? If such is to be the re- sult, the National commander must exhibit at once more skill and nerve than he has revealed since the fighting commenced. " The Confederate commander had been equally active during the night. He had drawn up his men in three lines of battle. Hill's division was in advance. Its different brigades were arranged across the road in the following order: Archer's, McGowan's, and Lane's were on the right of the road ; Pender's and Thomas' were on the left. Hill's brig- ade was in reserve, supporting Lane and Pender; Archer and McGowan were thrown back, somewhat obliquely, so as to confront Sickles. The rest of the line was perpendicular to the road. Colston's division formed the second line, and that of Rodes the third. The ridge, occupied by the right of the corps, was covered by artillery. Such was the disposition of the left wing of the Con- federate army, on the morning of Sun- day, the 3d of May. Lee, meanwhile, had concluded to effect a junction, if at all possible, of his right and left wings; and instructions were given to Stuart, McLaws, and Anderson, that they should direct their movements accord- ingly. It will be remembered that Sickles held a commanding position at Hazel Grove. It was the key-point of the battle-ground, and advantageous, not only because it commanded the enemy's flank, but because if occupied by the enemy, it would imperil the safety of Slocum's entire line. Sickles, who was THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 709 naturally proud of the position, had been at great pains to strengthen and turn it to the best account. It was not, therefore, without mingled surprise and pain that he received orders from Hooker, before daylight on Sunday morning, to the effect that the ground, the holding of which he deemed of so much importance, should be immediately abandoned. It was another of those inexplicable blunders which Hooker had been making since the moment he first felt the pressure of his antagonist. Quick as lightning, and with the earliest dawn, Stuart saw the advantage which the blundering mismanagement of his opponent had given him, and immedi- ately occupied the abandoned position. In so doing he became engaged with Sickles' rear. The crest, however, was seized; thirty pieces of artillery were got into position ; and a heavy fire was opened at once on the open ground around Chancellorsville House. The battle of the 3d of May was begun. In a few seconds, it was raging along the whole line. ' Charge, and remember Jackson!' was the Confederate battle- cry ; and never was battle-cry more effective in evoking military enthusiasm. With a fury which seemed to be blind, with an energy which was irresistible, and with a purpose and determination which death only could restrain, on came the brave Confederates. Jackson was not with them ; but, it was evident, his spirit was there. Brave as they were, however, they were about to en- counter foemen worthy of their steel — men who feared no foe, who knew how to resist and how to attack. Sickles was on hand with his well-trained and war-hardened veterans — Berry on the right, Birney on the left, Whipple and Williams supporting — ready to receive the onslaught. Best's forty pieces of artillery were all pointed to the road along which the attacking column was approaching. As the Confederates came forward, they were received with a per- fect tempest of lead, which burst upon them, tornado-like, from the firm lines of Berry and Birney, and also from Whipple and Williams, who had already been pushed to the front. Reckless of this tempest of lead, and reckless, also, of the more destructive tempest of grape and canister, which bursts upon them from the batteries on the hill, the col- umn still advances. It is cut up and gashed, as if 'pierced, scarred, ploughed by invisible lightning.' Companies, whole regiments even, seem to melt away; but still they come. No such bravery, in assault, has been exhibited by the Confederates since the famous battle of Corinth, when they advanced against the storm of bullets ' with faces averted, like men striving to protect themselves from a driving storm of hail.' Will nothing check their forward rush? Berry and Birney, now massing their troops, rush upon them with the weight and impetus of an avalanche. The shock is terrific. Like waves driven by contrary winds, the opposing hosts dash and roll against each other, but dash and roll apparently in vain. Neither prevails: neither > »dds. It seems an endless, wasteful struggle. Now the Nationals fall back ; and it seems as if the Confederates are about to win the victory. It is only, ho\. ever, for a moment. The Nationals charge again; the batteries pour forth their de- structive fire; and Jackson's men, their ranks literally torn to pieces, their dead and wounded lying in groups on the field, are driven back to their origi- nal position. Again there is a Confed (7i°) STUART'S CAVALRY CUTTING TELEGRAPH WIRES. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 711 erate charge ; again a terrific shock and stubborn resistance ; again victory oscil- lates, yielding now to the one side, and now to the other; and so the battle rages until about eight o'clock, when Stuart putting forth all his disposable strength on that point, drives the Na- tionals back and back, and captures the works in Sickles' front. " The struggle, however, is not yet abandoned. The Confederates have undoubtedly gained an important ad- vantage. They have pressed the Na- tionals back from their first line of works. It is, in a qualified sense, a Con- federate victory. But Sickles, if dis- couraged, is not yet dismayed. He has already sent for reinforcements. If these should arrive in time, he may yet turn the tide of battle. He, therefore, boldly holds his ground. The battle rages again with tremendous fury. The works, are repeatedly taken and retaken. The Confederates, becoming more con- fident, press upon the National columns with increasing energy. As it has be- come dangerous or impossible to make any very effective use of the National artillery in his front, Sickles is com- pelled to depend on the resisting power of the bayonet. As yet, no response is made to his repeated calls for assistance. In obedience to orders from headquar- ters, French has sent out some regi- ments, under Carroll; but these, instead of moving to the aid of Sickles, have moved to the south of Meade, and struck the enemy's flank. These regi- ments are quickly repulsed ; and Stuart, again massing his troops, falls upon Sickles with his entire weight and with undivided strength. Sickles had done his utmost. He had used his men wisely; and they had nobly responded to his every call. Berry's division, formerly Hooker's own, had sustained its high character. The men fought like heroes of the olden time. The same was true, also, of Birney's division. But they were confronted by a body of men who, for discipline, dash and en- durance, were perhaps never surpassed in the whole history of war ; and they were overpowered by superior numbers. And so it came to pass that while the corps of Reynolds and Meade and Howard, numbering together some 40,000 men, were doing nothing, Sickles, after having resisted for hours the per- sistent attacks of Jackson's battalions, and after having held at bay, suc- cessively, his first, his second and his third lines, was compelled, at last, to fall back in the direction of Chanccllors- ville, only, however, to offer a fresh resistance under cover of the guns at Fairview. " While these things were taking place on Hooker's right, the Confed- erates were not idle on his front, or at the apex of the triangle. Slocum, as we have seen, was holding the apex on the eastern side, with Geary's di- vision, Hancock, of Couch's, being on his left. On this point, Lee, from an early hour, had been directing all his disposable strength. We have already mentioned that instructions had been sent to Anderson and McLaws to direct their movements so as to form a junc- tion with Stuart's right, and thus unite the Confederate line. The Confederate guns at Hazel Grove had madeSlocum's position almost untenable from the com- mencement of the fight in the early mortiing. Anderson, having been pushed along the plank road, which connects Chancellorsville with Freder- icksburg, fell with tremendous weight on Slocum. McLaws, moving in a 712 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. , c 32 direction a little farther north, pressed heavily upon Hancock. After repeated attacks and repeated failures, McLaws not only found it impossible to make any impression on Hancock, but was handsomely repulsed. Anderson's ef- fort was attended with better success. Pressing with great stubbornness on Slocum at the point of the triangle, he contrived to throw around his left, and thus, by a thin line, to form a junction with Stuart. The object, so ardently desired by Lee, was at last effected. His army, which had been divided since the morning of the 2d, was again united. His two wings thus brought together, Lee bore in upon the Nationals with his whole line. Sickles and Slo- cum were forced back ; and the National line seemed to melt away, Hancock alone holding his position, and resisting, with great firmness and determination, the fierce and persistent onslaughts of the already triumphant Confederates. Hooker ordered the troops to fall back upon Chancellorsville ; and here again, at the angle of the woods, the battle for a time raged with great fury, the artil- lery on both sides doing terrible execu- tion. The Chancellorsville House, which was still General Hooker's headquarters, was now discovered to be on fire, and had to be abandoned. " The National line, in this new posi- tion, began to waver ; and the Confed- erates, already flushed with success, see- ing their opportunity, made a tremen- dous dash, and, springing forward with wild yells, captured Chancollorsville, with a considerable number of prisoners. It was now a few minutes past ten o'cTock. The battle had lasted, almost without intermission, for more than five hours. The Nationals, although pressed vigor- ously by the triumphant Confederates, whose guns were sweeping the open ground around Chancellorsville, fell back- in good order, and took a new and well- fortified position about a mile nearer the river. The new line was still in the form of a triangle, or V, but shorter and some- what flatter than before. The apex was at Bullock's House. The left limb ex- tended along the Ely's Ford road, to- wards the mouth of Hunting Run. The right extended along Mineral Spring road, towards what is known as Scott's Dam. Thus ended the second great battle at Chancellorsville, fought on the 3d of May, 1863. Among the many brave men who perished that day was General Berry. " At an early stage of the contest a severe misfortune befell the National army. While the conflict was at its height, General Hooker was standing on the balcony of the Chancellorsville House, leaning against one of the pillars. The pillar was struck by a cannon-ball ; and the general was thrown down by the violence of the .concussion. He was stunned and stupefied, and rendered in- capable of command. This misfortune goes far to explain some of the mysteries of that mysterious day, when Sickles and French and Slocum were struggling against the superior numbers of the enemy, and vainly calling for reinforce- ments, while 40,000 men, composing the corps of Reynolds and Meade and How- ard, were doing nothing. Hooker was still insensible, and unfit for duty. The responsibilities of general-in-chief, at this supreme crisis, and in these peculiar circumstances, devolved upon General Couch, who, from some as yet unex- plained cause, did not prove himself equal to the requirements of the situa- tion. Had these 40,000 men, who were unused, and, therefore, useless in the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN 7*3 fight, been hurled against the foe at the different points of attack, there can be no reasonable doubt that the tide of victory would have rolled in an opposite direction. The Nationals, in such a case, would certainly have fully engaged Lee's attention, and occupied his army. The plank road would have been preserved ; and Sedgwick, if his arrival at the point of destination must still have been a little late, would at least have been able to march comparatively unmolested from Fredericksburg toChancellorsville. The mystery of Chancellorsville will, perhaps, never be explained. It is certainly but little likely to be explained during the lives of the principal actors in the great and tragic drama. The accident which befell Hooker was undoubtedly a mis- fortune to the National army. It explains much ; but it does not explain all. " Sunday, the 3d of May, was yet young. Sacred as was this day, and severe as had been the work already accomplished, there was no disposition to rest on either side. Hooker, now partially recovered, busied himself in strengthening his line, and preparing for another attack, as well as securing his lines of communication with the United States and Ely's Fords, in the event of further retreat being judged necessary. Howard and Slocum were stationed on his left ; Meade and Rey- nolds were on the right ; and, at Bul- lock's House — a commanding plateau, the vertex and key of the position — Sickles and Couch were massed with a large number of pieces of artillery. " Lee had not been less active. He had already displayed his army on the plateau at Chancellorsville. The scat- tered regiments, brigades, and divisions which had been broken in the confusion of battle, were again brought together. A line of battle was formed along the plank road to the west of Chancellors- ville, and extending down the old turn- pike to the cast of that place. Rodes, with his right on Chancellorsville, ex- tended up the plank road. On his left was Pender, with half of the division of A. P. Hill. To the east of Chancellors- ville was Colston, with Anderson and McLaws in order on his right. " There was quiet on the battle-field, but everything indicated preparation and readiness for a resumption of the fight. While the armies were in this expectant condition, a fire broke out in the forest, on the north side of the plank road, where the battle had raged in the morning. In consequence of the dryness of the leaves and the brushwood, it spread with great rapidity. The wood was filled with the dead and wounded of both armies; the wounded were most the objects of anxiety and care ; but it was found impossible to remove them in time to save them from the flames. The smoke arising from the burning material had a strange, offensive odor. It was a sad sight. It revealed the demon of war in one of his most horrid aspects. In spite of all this, however, Lee, resolved to push his advantage, was hurrying for- ward his preparations for a fresh attack on the National army behind its rear line of works. His troops and artillery were ordered into position, and reconnois- sances were made of the National line. It was evidently Lee's intention to strike at Hooker a deadly blow before Sedgwick could have time to come up from Fred- ericksburg. If he could drive Hooker from behind his new line of fortifications, force him towards the river, he might, in the confusion which must result from any attempt at crossing, succeed in capturing or destroying the greater portion of the National army. Success was not to at- 7i4 /MS TO A' i' OF HIE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 tend him from such calculations. His arrangements were all but completed ; his arm was, so to speak, uplifted and ready to strike, when the blow was ar- rested, and his purpose changed by a despatch, which informed him of the capture of Marye's Hill, and of the ad- vance of Sedgwick. " Leaving the army of Hooker and the army of Lee in the positions which we have described, let us now turn our attention to certain important movements which have been made, or which are just about to be made, in the immediate neighborhood of Fredericksburg. In an earlier part of this chapter, we have shown how, and for what purpose, Sedg- wick was left behind at Falmouth, with his own corps — the Sixth — and also with the First and Third. We have seen how, after the demonstration successfully made on the 29th of April, the Third corps, under Sickles, advanced by the north bank of the river, crossed at United States Ford, and joined Hooker at Chan- ccllorsvillc. We have seen how the First corps, under Reynolds, following the same path, joined the main army on the night of the 2d of May. We have also seen how, on the same night, after the fatal surprise by Jackson, Sedgwick, who had already crossed the Rappahan- nock below Fredericksburg, was ordered to put his troops in motion immediately, to occupy Fredericksburg, by Gibbon's division, of Couch, which had been left behind at Falmouth, to seize the heights in the rear of the city, to gain the plank- road leading to Chanccllorsville, to move along that road towards the main body of Hooker's army, and to be at the place assigned by daylight the following morn- ing. It remains to be seen how this order was executed. " It was past eleven o'clock, on the night of Saturday, the 2d, when the order was received. The officers and men had already gone to sleep ; and it was midnight before the instructions to advance were fully communicated. Sedg- wick was lying on the south bank of the river, about three miles below Fredericks- burg. Without delay, he put his corps in motion by the flank, proceeding to- wards the town. It was a critical march. On the right was the river, about a mile distant ; on the left was the range of heights on which the watch- fires of the enemy could be distinctly seen. The column was long, and ex- posed along its whole flank to the enemy on the heights. It was moonlight; but a heavy fog had settled over the low ground and the river. Newton led the advance; and his instructions were that, in the event of any attack being made, the regi- ments attacked should face the hills and charge without further instructions. The head of the column had advanced but a short distance, when it encountered the Confederate pickets. There was some slow marching, and some little delay was experienced ; but the Confederates fell back. On the outskirts of the town, on the banks of a small creek, the Confed- erate skirmishers were again encoun- tered ; but they were driven back with- out much difficulty. The column was now within a short distance of Marye's Heights. At two o'clock, General War- ren arrived from Hooker's headquarters, his object being to hasten forward the movement. It was near dawn when the head of the column entered Fredericks- burg. Here Sedgwick was joined by Gibbon, with his division of the Second corps. "We have already mentioned what provision Jackson made for the protec- tion of Fredericksburg and the heights, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS. (715) 716 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hook II., c. 32 when he set out to meet Hooker at Chancellorsville. He left behind him Early's division of four brigades, with Barksdale's brigade, of McLaw's division. Barksdale was charged with the protec- tion of the heights immediately in the rear of the town, including Marye's Hill and the stone wall, made famous by the Burnside campaign. His brigade con- sisted of some 1,400 men. It was dis- posed as follows: seven companies of the Twenty-first Mississippi were posted be- tween the Marye House and the plank- road ; the three remaining companies of the Twenty-first were posted on the tel- egraph road, at the foot of Marye's Hill; his other two regiments were on the hills farther to the right. Batteries were set up at Lee's Hill, and at the Harrison House ; while four pieces of General Pendleton's artillery were stationed at the Marye House, two on the right and two on the left. As soon as Early was made aware of Sedgwick's movement, he sent Hays' brigade to reinforce Barks- dale. The Confederates, it is manifest from the small number of troops left at this point, had perfect confidence in their ability to hold the heights. "As soon as the opening dawn per- mitted it, Sedgwick moved forward four regiments from the town in the direction of the heights. As they advanced stealthily over the ground, so sadly memorable, not a sound disturbed the death-like stillness of that dull, dark Sabbath morning. The stillness, how- ever, is not to be of long duration. A few paces more, and the regiments will have reached the fatal stone wall. Sud- denly, and simultaneously, light flashes from the summit of the hill and from the rifle-pits at the base. The Confederates have opened upon them with both artil- lery and musketry. The regiments fall back under cover of the fog, but not without considerable loss. This attempt having failed, Sedgwick now resolved to turn the Confederate position. Howe was ordered to advance on the left of Hazel Run, and to attack the Confeder- ate right, while Gibbon was ordered to move up the river and make a vigorous attack on the Confederate left. Howe found his progress barred by the strength of the works in his front; and the stream deterred him from moving to the right and attacking in flank the works at Marye's Hill. Gibbon, who attempted to carry out Sedgwick's instructions on the extreme right, had no better success. Having advanced by the river road, he found the canal impassable; and the vig- orous fire which was opened upon him from Taylor's Hill, where Wilcox, who had hurried up from Banks' Ford, had planted two pieces of artillery, coirpclLd his men to seek shelter in the cuts of the road. These experiments were so far unsuccessful ; and yet it would be unjust to pronounce them failures ; for it is oftentimes only by such experiments that a knowledge of what it is right to do can be arrived at. It was by such experiments that General Grant was, at last, to make himself master of Vicks- burg. Benefiting by the experience thus acquired, and knowing at least what could not be done, Sedgwick felt that he was left no alternative but to make a powerful, concentrated effort, and take the works by storm. " It was now near ten o'clock. Pre- cious time had unavoidably been lost. If this work was to be done, it must be done without further delay. Newton was ordered to send forward two storm- ing columns against Marye's Hill and the adjoining works. . Howe, who was more to the left, was ordered to repeat THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 717 his attack up Hazel Run, on the second line of heights. Newton's right-hand column was composed of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania, and Forty-third New York, supported by the Sixty-seventh New York and the Eighty-second Penn- sylvania, and was commanded by Colonel Spear, of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania. His left was composed of the Seventh Massachusetts, and Thirty-ninth New York, and was commanded by Colonel Johns, of the Seventh Massachusetts. These columns moved up the plank road, and to the right. Colonel Burnham, with four regiments, at the same time moved to the left of the plank road, and directly against the rifle-pits at the base of Marye's Hill. The National columns meet with but little resistance, until they are within three hundred yards of the Confederate works. At this point, the guns on the hill pour from their murder- ous throats a tremendous shower of canister. Nothing dismayed, the columns push on, until within close musket range. Here the Confederate infantry, rising from behind the stone wall, open upon them a terrific fire. The Nationals reel and stagger, and threaten to break. Quickly rallied, they rush again to the attack. The storm of lead abates not. The volleys are swifter and more sure. Nothing, however, can damp the courage, check the enthusiasm, or arrest the pro- gress of these heroic men. Right, left and centre, each emulous of the other, nerved by the same purpose, and inspired by the same hope, press eagerly forward. Spear falls; but Shaler is at hand. The right is rallied; and the attack is re- sumed. Johns is wounded; but Colonel Walsh, of the Thirty-ninth New York, takes the brave fellows in charge; and the left, in the rivalry and onward rush, The supporting column vies with the other two; and Burnham, of the Sixth Maine, performs deeds of daring, which command at once admiration and envy. It is a race for a prize; and the prize is on the summit of the hill. The stone wall has been cleared ; the rifle-pits have been seized and silenced; but the artil- lery on the hill still thunders and belches forth its murderous shell and canister. Ploughed through and through, and torn to pieces, their comrades falling in dozens by their side, these gallant fel- lows rush fearlessly on. There is a lull in the thunderstorm of artillery. There is a loud-resounding cheer. It is the shout of victory. The race is run; the task is accomplished; and the Union flag waves proudly on the crest of Marye's Hill. " While Newton has been carrying the National standard to victory in the centre, success not dissimilar has been attending Howe on the left. When pressing for- ward on the left of Hazel Run, he was vigorously confronted by the Confederate skirmishers, who were intrenched in rifle- pits behind the embankment of the Rich- mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad. Lee's Hill and the adjacent heights, which constituted Howe's ob- jective point, were occupied by the Con- federate artillery, and by their main line of infantry. Howe advanced with two columns — six regiments composing that on the right, three that on the left. There was a third column, which moved still further to the left, and which was instructed to strike the Confederate posi- tion in the rear, and then co-operate with the others when they should have carried the works in front. Three regiments of the principal column to the right, getting separated from the others, crossed the resumes and maintains its proud position, j Run, and took part in the attack on 718 IIJSIORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., C. 3! Marye's Hill. The remainder pushed forward, and soon obtained a firm footing on Lee's Hill. Here, for a time, the struggle was vigorously maintained. After the capture of Marye's Hill, Lee's Hill and the adjoining heights were no longer tenable. The Confederates, there- fore, abandoned the works, and fell back by the telegraph road. In addition to the actual gain of the position, five guns and a considerable number of prisoners rewarded this brilliant feat of arms. Karly hurried up from Hamilton's Cross- ing, and the pursuit of the retreating Confederates was discontinued; but the entire range of hills in the rear, and to the south of Fredericksburg, was in Sedgwick's possession. " It was as yet only eleven o'clock. In this brief struggle, there had been a fearful loss of life. In the space of ten minutes, when the conflict raged most fiercely at the base of Marye's Hill, nearly I, ooo men were killed or wounded. The Confederates suffered as severely, as they bravely fought. The rifle-pits were full of dead and dying men, who fell, many of them, in a hand-to-hand strug- gle. In addition to the loss of the rank and file, the Nationals lost some of their ablest officers, among whom was the gallant Colonel Spear, and Majors Bas- sett, Faxon and Haycock. But the sac- rifice had not been made in vain. The heights had been carried; the Confed- erate forces were divided; and the plank- road which led direct to Chancellorsville was open. Sedgwick was now free to advance to the assistance of Hooker. He did not know that the latter had al- ready been driven behind his last line of intrenchments. " It was this alarming state of things which was reported to Lee when, elated with success, he was about to strike a final blow at Chancellorsville. Lee found himself in a most critical situa- tion. There were several courses open to him ; but every one of them was be- set with difficulty. He might carry out his original purpose, and fall on Hooker with all his might, cripple or destroy him, and then give his attention to Sedgwick ; but in that case he would expose himself to the risk of being at- tacked by Sedgwick in flank and rear. He might fall back towards Fredericks- burg, meet and demolish Sedgwick, and, being relieved from all danger in this direction, face about and press matters to a final issue with Hooker; but in that case he would be exposing him- self to a similar and even greater risk ; for Hooker might sally forth from his intrenchments and fall with crushing effect on his rear. He might remain in his present position, defer his meditated attack on Hooker, detach a sufficient number to check or destroy Sedgwick, leaving events themselves to determine in which direction the first crushing blow should be dealt ; but in that case he would run the risk of being com- pelled to fight two battles at once, if, in- deed, he was not caught as in a vice, between two powerful armies. The last course, perilous as it was, was the one he adopted. It was a course justi- fied by the highest principles of the military art, and sanctioned by some of the greatest examples of the past. Never over-bold, Lee had an advantage over most of the generals, either in the Confederate or National armies, in cool- ness of head and clearness of vision. He had, also, great steadiness of pur- pose. In some of these qualities he was approached by McClellan ; but the un- questionably great talents of that gen eral were ruined by his excess of cautior THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 719 In all that made Lee a great general, he was equalled only by Grant; but Grant surpassed him in self-reliance, in strength of will, in deep intensity of purpose, and in a certain bull-dog tena- city of grip. In the present instance, as the result proved, Lee's judgment stood him in good stead. He had wisely measured Hooker. He believed that, with a reasonable show of force, he could keep him behind his intrench- ments. Without delay, therefore, he detached McLaws, with his own three brigades — those of Wofford, Semmes and Kershaw — together with Mahone's brigade, of Anderson's division, with instructions to advance towards Fred- ericksburg, to co-operate with Wilcox and Barksdale, and the other troops under Early, with a view to the inter- ception or destruction of Sedgwick. "After the capture of the heights, Sedgwick pursued the retreating Con- federates about two miles along the tele- graph road ; but at that point, Early, who had come up from Hamilton's Crossing, halted the commands of Barks- dale and Hays, and reinforced them with three regiments of Gordon's brig- ade. Sedgwick had no motive in pushing along the telegraph road. His destination was Chancellorsville. He, therefore, discontinued the pursuit, and turned towards the plank road. He had advanced but a little way when he found the Confederates in some strength on the ridge, which stretches along the road from Guest's to Stansbury. It was Wilcox's brigade. Wilcox, it will be remembered, was at Taylor's Hill, when the attempt was made by Gibbon to cross the canal and turn the Confederate left. Hays was at Stansbuty's Hill. When the combined attack was made on Marye's Hill and to the left, they had been ordered to come up, but they had not had time; and so rapid was the advance of Sedgwick, that they found themselves — Wilcox with his whole bri^- ade, and Hays with a portion of his — cut off from the main body of the Con- federates, and left on the north side of the plank road. Hays, by retreating parallel to the road, succeeded in get- ting round the head of the National advance, and rejoining Early. Wilcox remained behind; and, yielding to the instincts of a true soldier, as well as re- solved to make the best use possible of the means at his disposal, drew up his brigade in line on the ridge above referred to, and placed in position four pieces of artillery. Sedgwwck was now advancing slowly, and with great caution. Wilcox, for a time, offered a spirited resistance, and greatly annoyed the National ad- vance. The Nationals coming up in greater force, Wilcox, fearing lest he should be surrounded, fell back to the river road, about half a mile in rear of Taylor's House. Sedgwick was stil advancing with slow and cautious steps. "Taking courage from the leisurely movement of the National troops, and determined to retard their progress as much as possible, Wilcox again pushed forward his brigade, with the artillery, this time taking position in the neigh- borhood of Salem Church, some five miles distant from Fredericksburg. The heights in the vicinity of the church, extending on both sidjs of the road, and about 250 yards to the east, were thickly wooded. Beyond the wood, and on slightly lower ground, there were cleared fields spreading out on both sides of the road, and reaching as far as and beyond the toll-gate, which was dis- tant from the church about 1,000 yards. Advancing his troops to the toll-gate, J2G HIS TORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 and placing two rifled pieces on the road, Wilcox awaited the approach of Sedg- wick. He had not long to wait ; for Collins and the cavalry skirmishers came up almost immediately. The artillery on both sides opened fire at once. Meanwhile, McLaws, who had come up with his three brigades, was taking posi- tion on the high ground in the rear of Wilcox, and to the right and left. As soon as McLaws came up, he ordered Wilcox to fall back on Salem Church. " It was now four o'clock. The Con- federates were well posted. The ground was high, and, as we have seen, well wooded. McLaws had drawn up his line of battle perpendicular to the road. Mahone was on his extreme left, then Semmes, then Wilcox — who, having fallen back, crossed the road, having three regiments on the right or south of it, and two on the left — and then Kershaw. Wofford came up later, and took position on Kershaw's right. The artillery was so disposed as to command the road, and to cover both flanks. On the road, in the front of his centre, Wilcox had four guns. Troops were posted in the church, and also in the school-house, some sixty yards in ad- vance. Scarcely had these arrange- ments been completed, when the Na- tionals came up in force. Sedgwick threw forward Brooks' division, which had moved up the road and on both sides of it. Brooks was followed by Newton, in support. Bartlett's brigade was on the National left, and the First New Jersey on the right. Getting his guns into position at the toll-gate, Sedg- wick opened a terrific fire, shelling the woods to the right and to the left. The Confederate artillery for some minutes replied with great spirit. Gradually, however, the fire slackens ; and the skirmishers fall back, first to the wood and then to their line of battle. The 'Nationals, having passed on to the edge of the road, uttered a loud and tri- umphant cheer, and then rushed forward to the charge. When within about eighty yards of the opposing line, the Confeder- ates, who had reserved their fire, opened upon them a tremendous volley. The effect was dreadful. The National line wavered, but it was only for a moment. Bartlett dashed forward ; and, in a second, the school-house was surrounded, and the garrison captured. A few min- utes more and he has fallen with crush- ing weight on the line in the rear, and nearly demolished a whole regiment. The Confederates waver and break, yielding the ground to the advancing and triumphant Nationals. The crest has been won. At this point, however, the tide of victory turned. Wilcox had still in reserve the Ninth Alabama regi- ment. At this supreme moment, when all seemed lost, he hurled this regiment upon the advancing Nationals. Firing at close quarters, the Alabamians charged with great fury. The shock was irre- sistible. The Nationals yielded, and fell back in terror. In vain did Bartlett strive to hold the advantage he had won. At this point the struggle was most fierce. Sedgwick hurried forward his second line ; but it was to little purpose. The fury of the Confederate onset, the weight of the pressure, was irresistible. Step by step the Nationals were driven back — back behind the school-house, which was recaptured and reoccupied by the Confederates — back through the open fields, in which it was found impossible to make a fresh stand — back to the toll-gate, where the retreating columns were sheltered, and the enemy's advance was checked by the well-directed THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. fire of Tompkins' batteries. It was now night ; and neither the one side nor the other seemed anxious to prolong the contest. Sedgwick had not been de- feated ; but he had met with a bloody repulse. " Sunday, the 3d of May, in spite of the ray of promise revealed on the heights of Fredericksburg, was a day of disaster to the National cause. All the plans of the morning had been frustrated. Lee, in place of being crushed between the two wings of the National army, had whipped first the one and then the other- and while Hooker, with his splendid army, was shut up, prisoner-like, behind his own intrenchments, Sedgwick was being effectually hindered from coming to his relief. " On Monday, the 4 th, the opposing armies found themselves in a peculiar plight. The final upshot of the campaign was revealing itself more and more clearly. But it could not be said that on either side the danger was past; nor •could it be predicted with confidence which should win the victory. Lee, so far, had been successful in wooing or forcing the favors of fortune. But his hands were full. Hooker was evincing no signs of a disposition to resume the offensive, and was, to all appearance, 721 ever, was not slow to decide. His final success seemed to him to depend on his first crushing Sedgwick, or driving him across the Rappahannock, and then fall- ing back with his whole weight and deal- ing a decisive blow on Hooker. Early was, therefore, ordered up from below Fredericksburg, with instructions to retake the heights in the rear of the town, and to press on against Sedgwick's right. At the same time, leaving three of Jackson's divisions to hold Hooker in check, Lee pushed forward the three remaining brigades of Anderson in the direction of Salem Church. Thus strengthened, the Confederate force in front of Sedgwick amounted to 23,000 men. The rival forces in this direction were now about equal. Anderson was to take position on McLaws" right, with the view of forming a connection' with Early. Lee went forward in person to direct operations. "On Monday morning Sedgwick found himself confronted by McLaws, and threatened in the rear by Early. The latter had experienced little diffi- culty in recapturing the heights. Sedg- wick, although not yet aware of the approach of Anderson and Lee in per- son, telegraphed to General Hooker that large masses of the enemy were moving - -rr --, *"«*>- '"-•'" w. m<_ enemy were moving contented to remain inactive behind his from his right to his left, and asking hnf=>Q of Pin ,-.^^1 1 ,..:ii_ 1.1,.... o lines at Chancellorsville ; but he had under him a mighty army, whole divi- sions of which had taken no part in the contest. Sedgwick had been checked; but his numbers were considerably greater than those by which he was opposed ; and any attempt made by Lee to strengthen his right wing would neces- sarily weaken his left, already too weak to resist a vigorous sortie, if Hooker should make up his mind to rush from behind his 46 whether the main army could support him. The answer was that no support must be expected. Sedgwick, cut off from Fredericksburg by the advance of Early, formed his line so as to cover Banks' Ford and the pontoon bridge near that point. Howe was upon his left; Brooks was upon the right of Howe, and at right angles to him on the plank- road ; and Newton was on the right of the line, perpendicular to the road, much ^ — -W.U8U11UU] cue uiic, pcipeiiuieuiar co tne road, much intrenchments. Lee, how- 1 as he had been the previous evening. /--- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. 33 It was noon before Anderson arrived at Salem Church. Preparations for the attack were not completed until about six o'clock, although there had been skirmishing, both on the National right and left, from an early hour. Sedgwick, perceiving that he was about to be attacked both in front and rear, had notified Hooker that his position was untenable, and that the bridges might be sacrificed, and had received for answer that he must not cross the river ' unless compelled to do so.' At the appointed time — it was close upon six o'clock — the signal was given, and the Confed- erates moved to the attack along the whole line. It was made with great impetuosity. The Nationals resisted with great stubbornness ; but they were compelled to fall back towards the river, Sedgwick still holding possession of Banks' Ford. The fighting was severe, both armies suffering terribly. Dark- ness ensued ; and the nature of the coun- try was such that the Confederates were prevented from following up their advan- tage. Under cover of the night, having received permission to withdraw, Sedg- wick recrossed the river at Banks' Ford with his whole force.* The last brigade "At one o'clock A. M., on the 5th, in reply to a despatch sent to Hooker at 11.45 on tne night of the 4th, General Butterfield wrote to Sedgwick to ' with- draw under cover.' The movement to recross was at once commenced, and by five o'clock on the fol- lowing morning the troops were all on the other side, and the bridges taken up. When the last brigade wa-> crossing, an order was received from Hooker countermanding the withdrawal. This latter order was based on a despatch of Sedgwick, sent in the afternoon, stating that he could hold a position south of the Rappahannock — a despatch which reached I looker subsequent to the one which called forth the permission to withdraw. We subjoin the last order and the reply : " -May 5, 1863 — 1.20 A. M. « 'General Sedgwick : '• • Yours received one A. M. saying that you should had crossed before day-break. In the three engagements — the storming of the heights, the battle of Sunday, and the battle of Monday — Sedgwick had lost 5,000 men. " It was, no doubt, a great misfortune that Sedgwick did not succeed in form- ing a junction with Hooker. That he did his best to accomplish this object, no impartial mind, in view of all the facts, can refuse to admit. It is greatly to be regretted that General Hooker, in his testimony before the Committee of Con- gress on the conduct of the war, should have so far forgotten himself as to at- tribute his defeat at Chancellorsville to the failure of Sedgwick to join him on Sunday morning. The reader of these pages, unless we greatly mistake, must have come to another and very different conclusion; and we do not see how the cruel and most unjust charge of Hooker can ever be indorsed by the impartial historian. ' In my judgment,' says Hooker, 'General Sedgwick did not obey the spirit of my order, and made- no sufficient effort to obey it. His movement was delayed so long that the enemy discovered his intentions; and when that was done, he was necessarily delayed in the further execution of the order.' It is unnecessary to repeat what we have already said, believing, as we do, that our narrative is sufficient dis- proof of these assertions. We agree with Swinton — whose observations, at hold position. Order to withdraw countermanded. Acknowledge both. '"Joseph Hooker, " ' Major-General Commanding.' " To this Sedgwick replied, at 5 A. M. : " ' The bridges at Banks' Ford are swung, and in process of being taken up. The troops are much exhausted. The despatch countermanding my move- ment over the river was received after the troops had crossed.' " THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 723 the close of his account of the battle of Chancellorsville, reveal the keen sense of the military critic, and whose argu- ments are unanswerable — in pronouncing this statement of Hooker to be ' a cruel charge to bring against a commander, now beyond the reach of detraction; whose brilliant exploit in carrying the Fredericksburg Heights, and his sub- sequent fortitude in a trying situation, shine out as the one relieving brightness, amid the gloom of that hapless battle.' " It was felt by both parties that the struggle and defeat of Sedgwick on Monday had decided the contest. Some of the National generals were willing, and even anxious, to make another effort. All fight, however, seemed to have passed out of Hooker; and he resolved to re- tire his troops to the north bank of the river. Preparations for this movement were begun on the morning of Tuesday, May 5th. The engineers were ordered to prepare a new line near the river, so as to cover the crossing. The roads and bridges were, in consequence, repaired; and an interior line of works was con- structed from Scott's dam to the mouth of Hunting Run, on the Rapidan, a dis- tance of three miles. Lee, eager to push the advantage he had gained, and im- patient to deal a deadly blow before his antagonist should have time to escape, left Early's division and Barksdale's brigade to guard the river from Banks' Ford to Fredericksburg and the cross- ings below, and ordered Anderson and McLaws to hurry back to Chancellors- ville. Early in the afternoon, a violent rain-storm broke out. It continued during the remainder of the day, deluging the spongy soil, swelling the streams to overflow, and covering the low flats with water. It was late, in consequence, when the Confederate troops had reached their destination at Chancellorsville. As the storm continued to rage, nothing could be done till the following morning. The elements on this occasion, while they delayed the Confederates, and made an attack impossible on the National position, were scarcely less unkind to the Nationals. The river was rising rapidly, and the bridges were in peril. The Na- tional generals were divided as to the course which should be pursued. Some of them were in favor of an advance. Others deemed it more prudent to with- draw. The attempt was made. Straw and branches were laid on the bridges, to deaden the noise of the trains, which were sent over first. The trains having been safely transported, the troops fol- lowed in order; and so, during a night in which nature seemed strangely in sympathy with the situation, fretting and fuming, and as if scowling upon defeat, the great army of the Potomac, which was to put the enemy to inglorious flight, found itself, after a feeble campaign of six days, ingloriously transported to the northern banks of the Rappahannock. In the morning, when Lee advanced to attack, he found that his enemy was gone. " The losses in the battle of Chancel- lorsville were heavy. The Confederate loss, according to General Lee, amounted to 13,000, of whom 1,581 were killed, 8,700 wounded, and nearly 3,000 prison- ers. Hooker's loss was 17,197, of whom 5,000 were unwounded prisoners. He had lost, also, 14 pieces of artillery and 20,000 stand of arms. "It will be remembered that it was Hooker's intention that the cavalry I of his army should play an important part in this campaign. We mentioned in the earlier portion of this chapter that the entire cavalry force of the army of 724 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 the Potomac had been organized in four divisions, making one distinct and sepa- rate corps, under the command of Gen- eral Stoneman. His four division offi- cers were Plcasanton, Buford, Averill and Gregg. The corps numbered from 10,000 to 13,000 sabres. Neither at Chancellorsville nor at Fredericksburg nor at Salem have we seen much of this branch of Hooker's army. Some ac- count of the operations of this corps is necessary, to complete the story of the Chancellorsville campaign. "As early as the 12th of April, Stone- man went forth on his expedition, the principal object of which was to destroy the railroads, bridges, and other means of communication in Lee's rear, and so cut him off from Richmond He rode up the Rappahannock, and attempted to effect a crossing. On the 14th he had succeeded in throwing over one divis- ion; but a violent storm coming on, and the low grounds becoming flooded, the division was recalled, the horses taking to the water, and bravely swim- ming to the opposite bank. As the weather did not improve, and the upper Rappahannock was still flooded, Stone- man remained inactive until the general advance movement of the whole army was commenced on the 27th. On the 28th he crossed the Rappahannock at Kelley's Ford, at the same time with the main body. On the following day, he crossed at Morton's Ford and at Racoon Ford. In the meantime, by order of General Hooker, Stoneman had divided his troops into two columns. One col- umn, which consisted of about 4,000 men, under General Averill, was ordered to move on the Orange and Alexandria railroad; the main body, under Stoneman in person, being charged with the destruc- tion of theRichmond and Fredericksburg railroad. Averill encountered a cavalry force, under W. H. F. Lee, on the 1st of May, near Rapidan Station. Lee, after burning the bridge over the river, retired to Gordonsville. Averill moved to the north along the railroad as far as Cul- pepper, dispersing some Confederate troop* who were there assembled, and de- stroying a large quantity of the enemy's stores. On the 2d, he was recalled, and ordered to join Hooker at Chancellors- ville. At 10.30 that night he reached Ely's Ford. Later the same night he was surprised by the Confederate cavalry; and it is more than probable that he would have suffered severely, had it not been that the fall of Jackson and the accident which befell Hill al- most immediately afterwards, compelled Stuart to return with all haste, and take command of the Confederate troops near Chancellorsville. finding it diffi- cult, or, as he thought, impossible, from the character of the country, to operate cavalry on the Confederate left, he re- mained inactive in camp, taking no part in the engagements of Sunday, the 3d of May. Hooker, on account of this, displaced him, and turned over his command to General Pleasanton. " It was the 3d of May before Stone- man reached Louisa Court-Housc, and before the important line of communica- tion by the Richmond and Fredericks- burg railroad was struck-. The troops were divided into six bodies, and, hav- ing received special instructions, were sent out in all directions. Colonel Wyndham, with his party, proceeded to Columbia, on the James river. Here the river is crossed by the Lynchburg and Richmond canal. An attempt was made to destroy the aqueduct. It was not successful ; but the canal was greatly damaged, and much public property PORTRAITS OF FEDERAL CAVALRY COMMANDERS. (72.S) 726 HISTOR\ OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 82 destroyed. Fitz-Lee, hearing of what was being done in that direction, made a rush towards Columbia. Wyndham re- tired down the river, and then, changing his course, rejoined Stoneman at Thomp- son's Cross-Roads at ten o'clock the same night. Colonel Kilpatrick, who was ordered to move in the direction of the Chickahominy, having travelled all day and all night Sunday, reached Hungary Station, on the Fredericksburg railroad, at daylight on Monday. At this point, he destroyed the depots and tore up the railroads. Crossing to Brook Turnpike, he advanced to within two miles of Rich- mond. He then moved to Meadow Bridge, where the Central railroad crosses the Chickahominy. Having de- stroyed this bridge, and an engine which he intercepted, he crossed the Pamun- key at Harristown, to avoid pursuit. On the 7th, after having crossed the Mattapony, and having raided through Essex and the neighboring counties, he reached Gloucester Point, having encoun- tered by the way but little opposition. Colonel Davis, who was sent down the South Anna, struck the Fredericksburg railroad at Ashland on Sunday evening. He first captured an ambulance, filled with the wounded from Chancellorsville. Having destroyed the engines and torn up a portion of the railroad, he pushed on towards Hanover Court-House, on the Central railroad. Here he burned the depot and tore up the rails. At Tun- stall's, near the White House, he en- countered a small body of infantry, with some artillery, and fell back upon Gloucester Point, reaching it without much further difficulty. Colonel Gregg destroyed the bridge across the South Anna, on the road from Columbia to Spottsylvania; thence he moved east, and destroyed the road to Beaver Dam Station. On Tuesday, the 5th, the whole command, except Davis and Kil- patrick, was concentrated at Yancey- ville, on the South Anna; and, on the evening of that day, the retrograde movement commenced. On the 8th the whole force recrossed Kelley's Ford, on the Rappahannock. " This raid must be pronounced a fail- ure. No doubt it did much damage to Confederate property ; and it must have struck terror into the hearts of the peace- ful inhabitants. But it failed of its ob- ject. It did not seriously interfere with General Lee's operations. It did not affect his commissariat to any appreciable extent. It did not cut him off for any length of time from his communications with Richmond ; for in three or four days the railroad was repaired and in excellent running order, and navigation on the canal was resumed. This was all that was accomplished by that splen- did army of mounted troops — in appear- ance one of the most magnificent bodies of cavalry that ever went forth to battle. Employed as they were, they contributed nothing towards the possible success of the campaign ; they won no glory, for they found no foe ; and, when General Hooker most needed them, they were not available. "On Wednesday, the 6th of May, the army of the Potomac — with the excep- tion of the cavalry, which, as we have seen, did not cross the river till two days later — resumed its old quarters at Fal- mouth. On that day — and with a bad taste which was only in keeping with his blundering conduct since the moment he first felt the enemy, in the advance towards the open ground in the rear of the heights at Fredericksburg — Hooker issued the following address to his arm)- : THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 72/ " ' Headquarters Army of the Potomac, "'May 6, 1863. " ' The major-general commanding ten- ders to this army his congratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it has not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons are well known to the army. It is sufficient to say they were of a character not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or re- source. " ' In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock, before delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given renewed evidence of its confidence in itself, and its fidelity to the principles it represents. On fighting at a disadvantage, we would have been recreant to our trust, to ourselves, our cause, and our country. Profoundly loyal, and conscious of its strength, the army of the Potomac will give or decline battle whenever its interest or honor may demand. It will also be the guar- dian of its own history and its own arm. By your celerity and secrecy of move- ment, our advance and passage of the rivers was undisputed ; and, on our withdrawal, not a rebel ventured to follow. " 'The events of last week may swell with pride the heart of every officer and soldier of this army. We have added new lustre to its former renown. We have made long marches, crossed rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrench- ments, and, wherever we have fought, have inflicted heavier blows than we have received. We have taken from the enemy 5,000 prisoners; 15 colors; cap- tured and brought off 7 pieces of artil- lery; placed hors de combat 18,000 of his chosen troops; destroyed his depots, filled with vast amounts of stores ; de- ranged his communications ; captured prisoners within the fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear and consternation. We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave companions, and in this we are consoled by the conviction that they have fallen in the holiest cause ever sub- mitted to the arbitrament of battle. "'By command of " ' Major-General Hooker. "'S. Williams, " 'Assistant Adjutant-General.' "General Lee, who had certainly more reason to use boastful language, issued an address to his soldiers on the 7th ; but he writes with a dignity and modesty becoming the occasion. " ' Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, " 'May 7, 1863. "'With heartfelt gratification, the gen- eral commanding expresses to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and men, during the arduous operations in which they have just been engaged. " ' Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm, you attacked the enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, and, by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields, forced him once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to the only Giver <»t victory, for the signal deliverance He has wrought. It is, therefore, earnestly recommended that the troops unite, on Sunday next, in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due His name. Let us not forget, in our rejoicing.-, the brave soldiers who have fallen in defence of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 728 their country ; and, while \vc mourn their loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example. The army and the country alike lament the absence, for a time, of one to whose bravery, energy and skill they are so much indebted for success. "'The following letter from the Presi- dent of the Confederate States is com- municated to the army as an expression of his appreciation of its success : " I have received your despatch, and reverently unite with you in giving praise to God for the success with which I le has crowned our arms. " In the name of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself, and the troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented series of great victories which your army has achieved. " The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered among the killed and wounded." "' R. E. Lee, General.' " On the 8th, the following despatch was sent by the Secretary of War to the governors of the Northern States : "'Washington, May 8, 1863. " • The President and general-in-chicf have just returned from the army of the Potomac. The principal operations of General Hooker failed, but there has been no serious disaster to the organiza- tion and efficiency of the army. It is now occupying its former position on the Rappahannock, having recrossed the river without any loss in the movement. Not more than one-third of General Hooker's force was engaged. General Stoncman's operations have been a bril- Book 11., c. :t2 liant success. Part of his force advanced to within two miles of Richmond, and the enemy's communications have been cut in every direction. The army of the Potomac will speedily resume offensive operations. "'E. M. Stanton, " 'Secretary of War! " On the same day, President Lincoln issued the famous proclamation, an- nouncing his intention to enforce the law of enrolment and draft, which had been passed by Congress at its previous session. All able-bodied male citizens and persons of foreign birth, who, al- though not yet citizens, had declared their intention to become such, were proclaimed to constitute the National forces, and to be liable to perform mili- tary duty in the service of the United States, when called out by the President for that purpose. It was evident that, if the Confederates had acquired fresh courage and fresh hope from this latest triumph, that the government at Wash- ington had become more resolved than ever to put down the rebellion and to restore the Union. The spirit which prevailed at Washington was the same spirit which, except among certain classes who had never been in favor of the war, pervaded and animated the whole people. " Such, then, is the story of the great but, to the National forces, disastrous battle of Chancellorsville — a battle in which, as has been well said, 'the rank and file had been foiled without being fought, and caused to retreat without the consciousness of having been beaten.' After the battle, General Hooker's rep- utation suffered an eclipse from which it has not yet fully recovered." * *" General George Hiram Berry. — This brave and talented officer was killed, as has been men- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 729 While the two great armies were thus confronting each other on opposite hanks of the Rappahannock in Virginia, the utter failure at Washington thus far to carry out their contemplated cam- paign caused uneasiness and dissatisfac- tion in the popular mind at the North. Even the new organized war party instigated by the seven governors at Altoona, Pennsylvania, with the avowed object not of preserving the Union under the Constitution, but for the utter abolition of slavery in the Southern States, became evidently despondent, in view of the situation. The opposers of Mr. Lincoln's policy had carried the New York State elec- tions, notwithstanding a most vituperative denunciation, and tyrannical acts in im- prisoning those whose only offence was the freedom of speech in arraigning for censure what they thought to be wrong. Greater liberty of speech was allowed than had been during the two previous years. The " Old Guard," a publication by C. Chauncey Burr, of the Jefferson school of politics, in New York, was tioned in the text, during the second day's fighting at ("hancellorsville. It was his division, formerly 1 looker's own, which, on the first day, saved the National army from destruction. The situation was already desperate when Hooker ordered forward this choice division. 'Go in, general,' said Hooker; ' throw your men into the breach ; don't fire a shot — they can't see you — but charge home with the bayo- net.' Never was a charge more nobly made or more gallantly sustained. For three hours, almost albne, this division resisted, and even repelled, the fierce onslaughts of the already triumphant enemy. On the ground which he had won, Berry resumed the battle early the following morning. Determined to drive the Confederates back, he thrust his brigades forward, making several successful charges. In one of these, while at the head of his men, and cheering them on, he was instantly killed. Berry was a native of Rockland, Maine, where he was born on the 27th of August, 1824. Bred a carpenter, he subsequently devoted himsell to navigation. Later, now permitted, without molestation, to make its appearance in unqualified de- nunciation of the principles and pur- poses of the centralists, or war party. At a public meeting in the city of New York, resolutions for peace were adopted. In Philadelphia a peace con- vention had been called. Vallandigham, the ablest member of the Democratic party, after the death of Douglas, at the North, had been nominated for the gov- ernorship of Ohio, with good prospect of success. He was the leader in the lower House of Congress, against the acts of the administration; openly .md avowedly against law, in the conduct of the war in the subjugation of the Southern States. It is true the pros- pect of this tribune of the people be- coming governor of the giant State of the West was more than the powers at Washington could bear. He had been seized and exiled by mili- tary orders, but that only tended to in- crease the rising popular enthusiasm in his favor. This, then, was the existing he cultivated a taste for military affairs, and was the originator of the Rockland Guard — a volunteer com- pany which, before the war, had attained a high state of efficiency. He was several times elected to the State legislature by his fellow-townsmen, and Mas once mayor of Rockland. When the war broke out, he entered the volunteer service as colonel of the Fourth Maine regiment. He fought at Bull Run. He was raised to the rank of brigadier-general in April, 1862. He was in the peninsula with Md 'let- Ian, and, as commander of the Third brigade of the Third division, of Heintzelman's corps, took pari in most of the engagements. He followed the fortunes of Pope in Virginia, and those of Burnside .it Fred- ericksburg. At the latter battle, he greatly distin- guished himself. In March, 1863, his nomination as major-general of volunteers was confirmed by the Senate ; and he was placed in command of the Second division of the Third army corps, then under Sickles. In this capacity he fought at Chancellorsville. Berry was greatly lamented by the army and by the n ition at large." ■ 73 o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 military as well as the political statu-; of public affairs on the 12th of June, 1863, when Mr. Stephens, the Vice-President of the Confederate States, then at his home in Georgia, Congress not being in session, addressed a letter to Mr. Davis, which will be presented below; a day or two before he had seen what purported to be a letter from General David Hunter, then commanding United States land forces in South Carolina, addressed to Mr. Davis, which appeared to Mr. Ste- phens to be of an extraordinary character, and might lead, if correctly reported, to the most deplorable consequences. There had been no exchange of prisoners since the Federals had broken the cartel made the year before by Generals Cobb and Wool. In the letter of General 1 lunter to Mr. Davis, he used the follow- ing language : " In the month of August last you declared all those engaged in arm- ing the negroes to fight for the country to be felons, and directed the immediate execution of all such as were captured. * * I now give you notice that, unless this order is immediately revoked, I will at once cause an execution of every rebel officer, and every rebel slaveholder, in my possession." On reading this letter, apprehending the approach of a horrible state of things, Mr. Stephens addressed Mr. Davis, as 1 ; after the usual superscription, his letter was in these words: " Dear Sir: — I have just seen what purports to be a letter addressed to you, by Major-General D. Hunter, command- ing the Federal forces at Port Royal, S. C, bearing date the 23d of April last. Of the extraordinary character of this paper, its tone, temper, and import, whether genuine or not, it is not my purpose to speak. It may be a forgery.* * It was genuine. All I know of it is from its publication as we have it in our newspapers. But it has occurred to me if it be genuine, this, together with other matters of contro- versy I see likewise in the papers, in il- lation to the future exchange of certain classes of prisoners of war, may neces- sarily lead to a further conference with the authorities at Washington, upon the whole subject. In that event 1 wish to say to you briefly, that if you think mv services in such a mission would be of any avail, in effecting a correct under- standing and agreement between the two governments, upon those questions in- volving such serious consequences, they are at your command. " You will remember while we were at Montgomery, when the first commis- sioners were sent to Washington with a view to settle and adjust all matters of difference between us and the United States, without a resort to arms, you de- sired me to be one of those clothed with this high and responsible trust. I then declined, because I saw no prospect of success — did not think, upon a survey of the whole field, that I could effect any- thing good or useful in any effort I could then make on that line. You will allow me now to say, that at this time, I think pos- sibly I might be able to do some good — not only on the immediate subject in hand; but were I in conference with the authorities at Washington on any point in relation to the conduct of the war, I am not without hopes, that indirectly, I could now turn attention to a general adjustment, upon such basis as might ultimately be acceptable to both parties, and stop the further effusion of blood in a contest so irrational, unchristian, and so inconsistent with all recognized Amer- ican principles. " The undertaking. I know, would be a THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 73* great one. Its magnitude and responsi- bility I fully realize. I might signally fail. This I also fully comprehend ; but still, be assured, I am not without some hopes of success ; and whenever or wherever I see any prospect of the possi- bility of being useful or of doing good, I am prepared for any risk, any hazards, and all responsibilities commensurate with the object. Of course, I entertain but one idea of the basis of final settle- ment or adjustment ; that is, the recog- nition of the sovereignty of the States, and the right of each in its sovereign capacity to determine its own destiny. This principle lies at the foundation of the American system. It was what was achieved in the first war of independ- ence, and must be vindicated in the second. The full recognition of this principle covers all that is really involved in the present issue. That the Federal government is yet ripe for such acknowl- edgment, I, by no means, believe ; but that the time has come for a proper pre- sentation of the question to the authori- ties at Washington, I do believe. Such presentation as can only be made in a diplomatic way. While, therefore, a mission might be despatched on a minor point, the greater one could possibly, •with prudence, discretion, and skill, be opened to view and brought in discus- sion, in a way that would lead eventually to successful results. This would de- pend upon many circumstances, but no little upon the character and efficiency of the agent. It so occurs to me, and so feeling, I have been prompted to address you these lines. My object is, solely, to inform you, that I am ready and willing to undertake such a mission, with a view to such ulterior ends, if any fit opportunity offers in the present state of our affairs in relation to the exchange of prisoners, or any other matter of con- troversy growing out of the conduct of the war; and if also, you should be of opinion that I could be useful in such position. I am at your service, heart and soul, at any post you may assign me, where I see any prospect of aiding, assisting or advancing the great cause we are engaged in, and of securing with its success the blessings of permanent peace, prosperity and constitutional liberty. " Should the present position of affairs, in your opinion, be suitable, of which I am not so well informed as you are, and this suggestion so far meet your approval as to cause you to wish to advise further with me on the subject, you have but to let me know — otherwise no reply is necessary, and none will be expected. " With best wishes for you person- ally, and our common country in this day of her trial, I remain yours, etc., "Alexander H. Stephens." From this very clearly appear the nature and objects of the proposed mis- sion, and the line of policy therein in- dicated. It did not contemplate any direct offer or overture on the subject of peace as has been represented. Mr. Lincoln, it is well known, would receive no one commissioned on such an errand, and it was considered doubtful whether he would hold a renewed conferen a special commissioner, even on the matter of the exchange of prisoners. But if Mr. Lincoln could be prevailed on to agree to such a conference, in view of the character of General Hunter's announcement, and the horrors that might result, then the object was, besid fecting if possible the general ameliora- , tion of prisoners, and the mitigation <»t the cruelties of war on both side-, t<> u>e 732 HISTORY OF -THE UNITED STATES. !■ k II, c. 32 the occasion for effecting also, if possi- ble, the other ulterior results which might open tJic way for future negotia- tions that might eventually lead to ulti- mate peace and harmony. In the ac- complishment of these ulterior ends, the idea was not so much to act upon Mr. Lincoln, and the then ruling author- ities at Washington, as through them, when the correspondence should be published, upon the general mass of people in the Northern States, who were becoming sensitively alive to the great danger of their own liberties.* It is believed that, in a conference of this character, such a course could be pur- sued in the discussion of the questions directly in hand as to deeply impress the growing constitutional parties at the North with a full realization of the true nature and ultimate tendencies of the war, and to show all who were anxiously inquiring what was to be their condition, in case the Southern States should be subjugated, that the surest way to maintain their liberties was to allow the people of the Southern States to enjoy theirs — that the surest way to preserve self-government at the North was not to allow it to be overthrown at the South. The line of policy indi- cated depended greatly upon the military status of affairs at the time, as well as the tone and temper of the public mind at the North, after the disastrous result, which had attended the last gigantic effort of" the finest army on the planet." The result of wars generally depends quite as much upon diplomacy as upon arms — upon the proper use of the pen as of the sword. There is a time for each. It is a matter of the utmost im- portance to know when and how to use both. The Confederate armies, officers * See Judi;e Curtis' address, published in Boston. and men, for two years and upwards had nobly and gloriously performed their part. With less than five hundred thou- sand in all from the beginning up to this time, they had brought the enemy, num- bering more than a million, during the same period almost to a stand-still. Gen- eral Grant, it is true, was still " pegging away," in his slow approaches upon Vicksburg, but on no other line were any active movements being made. It seemed therefore to Mr. Stephens that the time had now come, in view of the situation, both politically at the North, and militarily on both sides, as matters stood in the early part of June, 1863, for the civil authorities to essay something in their department, and on the line indicated in his letter to the President. This letter was responded to by tele- gram on the 1 8th or 19th of June. This was received on the 19th. The response was for Mr. Stephens to go on imme- diately to Richmond. This he did. On reaching there on the 22d or 23d, he found an entire change in the military aspect of affairs, from his understanding of it on the I2th of June, when his letter was penned, and with a special view to which the line of policy therein set forth was suggested. Lee was no longer rest- ing quietly on the Rappahannock. Mr. Stephens knew nothing of the contem- plated movement into Pennsylvania. On the 23d, in an interview with Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, he was in- formed that a portion of the Confederate army was already across the Potomac, on an invasion of Pennsylvania. He was also then informed by him, greatly to his surprise, that Grant was pressing Pcmberton closely at Vicksburg, and that the surrender of that place was inevitable. It was only a question of time. There was no hope of raising the THE ADMINISTRATION OE LINCOLN 73: siege or giving succor, and that the post could not be held longer than the sup- plies on hand would last. These were thought to be sufficient for some weeks to come. This was the first intimation Mr. Stephens had of any serious appre- hensions of any such final result as to Vicksburg. He also had an interview with the President (Mr. Davis"), as soon as it could that line. The movement of the Confed- erate army into Pennsylvania would greatly excite the war spirit and strengthen the war party — effects di- rectly opposite to those which he had hoped to produce, while Lee was re- maining quiet after his recent vict and with the then state of feeling at the North. He stated that it was a question of doubt with him, when his offer was VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI . be obtained. They talked freely over the subject of his letter, as well as the then position of affairs in the military view. Mr. Stephens explained to him more fully than he had done in the letter the ulterior objects he had hopes of effecting when it was written ; but stated that the change in the military aspect, since the letter was written, had entirely changed his views as to the propriety or policy of then undertaking anything on made, whether he would be received by Mr. Lincoln in the character of such commissioner as was proposed, but he now considered it almost certain that any application of the sort would be rej< under existing circumstances ; and his judgment, in consequence of the changes referred to, was as decidedly against the policy of making the proposal then, as it was in favor of it when the letter wa> written. 734 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 Mr. Davis agreed entirely in the doubts expressed by him as to his recep- tion by the Washington authorities to confer or to enter into any agreement upon the subjects proposed; but was very decided in the opinion that the probabilities of the reception were rather increased than lessened by the present position of General Lee's army. He thought Mr. Lincoln would more likely receive such commissioner if General Lee's army was actually threatening Washington City, than if he was lying quietly south of the Rappahannock. In this view Mr. Stephens could not concur, and gave it as his opinion that the pro- posed mission had better be postponed. Mr. Davis suggested a cabinet consulta- tion upon the subject, and requested Mr. Stephens to attend it. This consultation was held the same day. Every one of the cabinet, while expressing doubts as to the reception, was very decided in the opinion expressed by the President, that the prospect of success was increased by the position and projected movements of General Lee's army. They all thought the existing state of affairs, militarily, both in the East and West, rendered the occasion most opportune for making the effort for the conference suggested. They were all indulging in the most hopeful expectations of the results of General Lee's campaign coming in aid of their views. Indeed, their ideas in the matter evidently sprung from these sanguine expectations. Mr. Seddon was particularly anxious that there should be no postponement or delay in the busi- ness, but that whatever could be done, if anything, in the matter of prisoners, should be done before the fall of Vicks- burg with its garrison of something over 30,000 men. Urged in this way, Mr. Stephens' views were yielded to theirs, and he assumed the mission and under- took to do what he could in the matter of prisoners, and the conduct of the war, when it was thought there was a proba- bility as well as a possibility of his being able to effect something on these impor- tant subjects; though Mr. Stephens stated to the President and the cabinet that he never would have made the offer he did under such circumstances as he found existing on his arrival at Richmond. The mission undertaken, therefore, was not the one proposed by him, nor was it, as undertaken, in any sense, an attempt to offer terms of negotiation for peace.* At first, the arrangement was for him to proceed by land in the route taken by General Lee's army, and communicate with the Washington authorities from his headquarters. Excessive rains, bad- ness of roads, and tardiness of travelling in consequence, caused a change in this arrangement. A small tug-steamer was put in readiness by orders of Mr. Mal- lory, of the Navy 'Department, and Mr. Stephens, with Mr. Robert Ould, the distinguished agent for the exchange oi prisoners on the Confederate side, a gentleman of high accomplishments and attainments, who had been appointed secretary to the commission, set out in this way directly for Washington City, if they should be permitted to pass the Federal lines at Fortress Monroe. The sequel is known. The great battles of Gettysburg were fought before they reached Newport News. Their arrival at that point and proposal were telegraphed to Washington by Acting Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, of the United States navy, commanding the blockade squadron at that point. They were detained two days while the proposition for the conference was held under con- •* The commission will be seen in A] pendix !''_• THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 735 sideration at Washington. In the meantime Vicksburg was surrendered by General Pemberton, on the 4th day of July — earlier than was expected. The reply from Washington then came, that no special commissioner, on the subjects embraced in the proposed con- ference, would be received. This is an accurate history of the whole " There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries." At the time these events were tran- spiring Mr. Stephens thought if General Lee had remained quietly on the defen- sive, south of the Rappahannock, if all the forces he had collected, over and FORTIFICATIONS IN AND AROUND WASHINGTON CITY. matter. Whether the views of Mr. Stephens, or those of Mr. Davis, were the better is not now a subject of inquiry, or one upon which judgment is sought to be passed. In the retrospect, however, the author may be excused for saying that it appears to him now, as it did then, that this was one of the turning points in the fate of the Confederate cause : above what were necessary to hold his position there, had been sent in aid of General Joe Johnston in raising Grant's siege of Vicksburg, instead of making the movement into Pennsylvania; if the cav- alry excursions of General John Morgan into Ohio about the same time had not taken place, which could have no effect so sure as that of arousing the war spirit in that and other Northern States, then 1736) THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 737 drooping and pining, that it would have been greatly better for the Confederate cause; and in that state of things Mr. Stephens thought that the conference suggested would most probably have been agreed to, and also that the results looked to in its projection would also most probably have eventually ensued. This was but one view of the subject — on the other hand, if Mr. Davis' expecta- tions of General Lee's operations in Pennsylvania had been realized ; if the Federal armies who took Hooker's place on his being removed had been defeated at Gettysburg, and that had not been a drawn battle, as it was ; if Washington City had actually been put in imminent danger by the approach of the victorious Confederates, then perhaps Mr. Lincoln might have been most un- willingly brought to entertain a proposi- tion to treat not only on the exchange of prisoners, but upon terms of peace, as Mr. Davis hopefully expected, notwith- standing the fall of Vicksburg. Upon these questions the world must form its own judgment. We turn now to the operations going on meantime in the West. Grant com- menced his movements first against Vicksburg. This was early in the year. During February and March he tried unsuccessfully several lines of approach to the coveted stronghold : first by way of Holly Springs ; then by Chickasaw Bayou; then by Williams' Canal; then by Lake Providence ; then by Yazoo Pass ; then by Steele's Bayou ; then by Milliken's Bend, and New Carthage Cut- off; and finally adopted the plan of sending his army down the west side of the Mississippi to Grand Gulf, some distance below, and boldly running his transports past the Vicksburg batteries down to the same point, where his army 47 would cross the river, and, coming up from below, attack Vicksburg in the rear. In this enterprise, which was under- taken against the judgment of a council of war, he succeeded, and made one of the most brilliant military exploits dur- ing the war, not excepting Joe John- ston's movements by which he effected a junction with Beauregard's forces at the first battle of Manassas. His trans- ports passed the batteries on the night of the 22d of April. From Grand Gulf he moved up towards Vicksburg, and after several engagements — at Port GENERAL JOHN C. PEMBERTON. Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, PLdwarcFs Depot, and at the Big Black — and after being joined by Sherman with his forces from Haines' 'Bluff, he laid a regular sie^e to Vicksburg, held by the Con- federates under General Peniberton with a force of about 30,000. Grant's whole army now, on water and land, amounted to not less than 150,000. The siege lasted for months. Meantime, while these events were occurring in the V we turn again to what was going on in the East. First, it is proper to note that the people in forty-eight counties of western and northern Virginia, who sided with the Federals, and had formed 738 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 31 a provisional government for that por- tion of the State, were admitted into the Federal Union as a separate State, on the 20th of April. This was consummated by a proclamation, issued on that day by President Lincoln. But the business we have in hand at present relates mainly to events of a military character. With these we proceed. Early in June, Lee, feeling strong enough, with his army increased to near 8o,000, to undertake a Confed- erate aggressive movement, set out on an invasion of Pennsylvania. En route he recovered Winchester from Mil- roy, and Martinsburg, occupied by the Federals. At these places he captured thirty-four large guns, many small arms, and upwards of 5,000 prisoners. He crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and Williamsburg. Hooker followed him. Several cavalry engagements ensued without any important results. Lee himself crossed the Potomac on the 25th of June. Hooker was superseded on the 27th of June, and succeeded by General George G. Meade as the commander of the Federal army. The object of Lee's movement seems to have been, first, to obtain subsistence for his troops; and, secondly, to relieve Pember- ton in Vicksburg by drawing off large numbers of the besieging forces to arrest his progress. Advanced detachments of his army reached and took York and Carlisle in Pennsylvania. Meade hastened with an immense army, now collected by the Federals, not less than 100,000, to repel the invasion. The two armies encountered each other on the 1st of July, 1863, near Gettysburg. Here were fought the great battles xvhich take the name of that place. The Federals held an exceedingly strong position well selected for defence. This the Confederates attacked with great valor and fury on the 2d, but were re- pulsed with heavy loss. They renewed the attack with equal spirit and energy on the 3d; but were again compelled to retire, after immense slaughter. Meade held the field and won the day. The Federal loss was about 25,000; that of the Confederates was, in killed, wounded, and missing, not less than 30,000 — a loss which they were ill able to repair. Lee returned to Virginia, and took position on the south side of the Rapidan. Meade followed him. Several encounters took place between detachments of the two armies — one at Centreville, one at Bristow Station, one at Mine Run, at different times during the fall; but no general engagement between these two armies occurred again in this year. Of Lee's campaign into Pennsylvania, and of the results of the battles at Gettysburg, McCabe has thus chronicled events : "On the 3d of June, 1863, he began his forward movement, and marching through the valley of Virginia, captured Winchester, which was held by General Milroy's command, on the 14th, taking 4,000 prisoners, and twenty-nine pieces of cannon. On the 22d of June the Potomac was crossed at Williamsport, and the Confederate army moved towards Hagerstown, Maryland. General Hooker had followed Lee from the Rappahannock, and had manoeuvred his army so as to interpose it between the Confederates and Washington. On the 23d the advanced corps of Lee's army under General Fwell occupied Cham- bersburg, Pennsylvania, and on the 25th and 26th General Hooker crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry, and marched to Frederick, Maryland. He was THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 739 anxious to withdraw the garrison of Harper's Ferry, which had retired from that place to the Maryland Heights, opposite the town, but the War Depart- ment refused to allow him to do so. Hooker thereupon relinquished the com- mand of the army, and was succeeded by Major-General George G. Meade, senior corps commander, and a soldier of genuine ability. General Lee now moved his army east of the mountains, and directed his advance towards Gettys- burg. In ignorance of his adversary's design, General Meade hastened forward to occupy the same point. " The invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederate army aroused the most intense excitement in the North. Presi- dent Lincoln called out 100,000 militia to serve for six months, unless sooner discharged, and as far north as New York preparations were made to receive the Confederate army with a stubborn resistance should it succeed in penetrat- ing so far. Every effort was made to raise troops and forward them to General Meade in time to be of service to him. "On the morning of the 1st of July the left wing of the army of the Potomac under General Reynolds and the advance corps of Lee's army under Generals A. P. Hill and Ewell en- countered each other at Gettysburg. General Reynolds was forced back and killed. General Hancock was at once sent by General Meade to assume the command of the left wing, and upon his arrival he at once recognized the im- portance of the position at Gettysburg, and occupied it. He was promptly reinforced by General Meade, and by the afternoon of the 2d of July the army of the Potomac was securely posted on the heights known as Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate army took position on the opposite hills known as Seminary Ridge. Between the two armies lay the battle- field on which the engagement of the 1st of July was fought. ! leavy skirmish- ing prevailed throughout the day on the 2d, the advantage being with the Con- federates. On the 3d of July General Lee made a general attack upon the Federal position on Cemetery Ridge, which, very strong by nature, had been rendered impregnable by intrench ments. His attack was made with determination, and was a splendid exhibition of Ameri- can courage, which won for his troops the generous admiration of their ad- versaries ; but it was unsuccessful. The grand charge of the Confederates was made in the afternoon, and was repulsed with terrible slaughter. Still Lee's position was so strong, and the morale of his army so unimpaired, that General Meade deemed it best to remain satisfied with his victory, and not to risk its fruits by an attack upon the Confederate lines. The victory was decisive. It put an end to the Confederate invasion. On the night of the 4th of July General Lee withdrew from Seminary Ridge and re- treated to the Potomac, which he crossed on the 13th and 14th without serious opposition from the Federal army. On the 15th Lee moved back to Win- chester. The Federal loss at Gettysburg was 23,000, and that of the Confederates about the same." With the object of presenting to the readers of this work an impartial history of these great events, we now give the Federal view as set forth by the same historian, Wilson, so copiously quoted from before : " The state of things which existed after the battle of Chancellorsville wa.- not unlike that which supervened upon the defeat of Pope, in August of the HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 74O previous year. Now, as then, it seemed as if fortune were smiling on the South, and as if a favorable opportunity had arisen for abandoning the defensive, and striking a final and decisive blow. The Confederate troops, were in excellent spirits; and General Lee was not to be blamed if he shared their feelings. In two great battles, although confronted by superior numbers, they had come off victorious, and inflicted terrible punish- ment on the National forces. If victory was so easily won on their own territory, might not simil ir success attend them on the territory of their enemy ? They had twice over repelled an invading army, which was supposed to be invincible: were they not justified in playing the part of invaders in turn? The morale of Lee's army could never again be higher. If, therefore, a bold and vigorous effort were not made now, the opportu- nity might be lost forever. It was well known to General Lee, and to the author- ities at Richmond, that Hooker's army had been largely reduced, because of the extensive out-mustering of short-term troops. Lee's army, on the other hand, had gained in strength. Longstrect had come up from the south of the James, where he had been operating at the time of the battle of Chancellorsville ; and a rigidly enforced conscription had brought up the total of the army to over 70,000 men. The resources of arbitrary power had been exhausted to clothe, equip and otherwise put the army in a condition to undertake what some were sanguine enough to hope might prove a successful and final campaign. The army of Northern Virginia had never before been so well provided with all the essentials of war. It was, in the words of Long- street, ' in condition to undertake any- thing.' If there was deficiency anywhere, Book II., c. S3 it was in the commissariat ; but this was the less an inconvenience that, in the rich granaries of Pennsylvania, which awaited their approach, there was enough and to spare. In addition to these va- rious reasons, which prompted the Southern leaders to immediate and vigorous action, there was unquestionably this other: there was the inspiring hope that a successful campaign in the free States of the North would take from foreign governments their last excuse for refusing to recognize the independence of the Confederation. By the end of May, Lee's army, reorganized into three separate army corps, commanded respec- tively by Longstrect, Hill, and Ewell, was ready to launch forth on what seemed a promising, but in reality, as the result proved, an ill-starred expedition. " The two armies, since the battle of Chancellorsville — the one paralyzed, and unable to strike, the other in seeming idleness, and apparently without plan or purpose — lay encamped on the opposite sides of the Rappahannock. Hooker was at Falmouth, his left extending several miles down the river. Lee, on the south and west of the river, occupied that line of impregnable earth-works which, from one extreme to the other, dotted the country for thirty miles. On neither side had any demonstration been made. Behind this mask of idleness, there was real activity in the Confederate ranks. Lee was busy perfecting his ar- rangements for his projected movement toward the North. Hooker was ignorant of the plans of his antagonist ; but he was watchful and not unprepared to act, as soon as the movements of the enemy should reveal his purpose. " It was now the 3d of June. On thai day, Lee began to move his troops, Mc- Laws' and Hood's divisions, of Long THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 741 street's corps, being pushed forward in the direction of Culpepper Court-House. On the 4th and 5th, Ewell's corps was marched in the same direction. In order to disguise his movement, and to keep the National commander off his guard, Lee left the corps of A. P. Hill to occupy the lines of Fredericksburg. It was not possible, however, that so gigantic a movement, as that which Lee contem- plated, could be conducted for any length of time in secrecy. Discovering signs of more than ordinary activity in the camp of the enemy, and suspecting its cause, Hooker sent instructions to Sedg- wick, on the 6th, to throw a portion of his troops across the Rappahannock at Franklin's Crossing, and make a close reconnoissance of the enemy's position. The reconnoissance was made accord- ingly. Hill held his position with such tenacity, and made such a display of strength, that Sedgwick and Hooker were, for the time, deceived. It was the conviction of both that, whatever might be Lee's immediate purpose, the Con- federate forces had not, as yet, in any very large numbers, been removed from their old encampments. " It soon became manifest, however, that Lee was bent on a movement to the North. On Tuesday, the 9th, General Pleasanton, taking with him two divis- ions of cavalry, under Buford and Gregg, with two picked brigades of infantry, under Russel and Ames, crossed the Rappahannock at Kelley's and Beverley's Fords, his intention being to move by converging roads on Culpepper. It was known that Stuart was already at Cul- pepper; and it was Hooker's expecta- tion that, by sending his whole cavalry corps forward, he might succeed in breaking up Stuart's camp. Stuart, meanwhile, had moved on from Cul- pepper to Brandy Station, his object being to form the advance, and to cover the flank of the main movement. Hav- ing crossed at Beverley's Ford, Buford came immediately into contact with a Confederate brigade, under General Jones. This brigade he drove back for a couple of miles, when he found himself checked by the brigades of W. H. F. Lee and Wade Hampton, who had come to the support of their companion in arms. At this point, some severe fight- ing ensued. Meanwhile, Gregg had crossed at Kelley's Ford ; and, having pushed on toward Brandy Station, he was about to fall with effect on Stuart's rear. Stuart was compelled to draw off from Buford's front, so as to face this new foe. Getting into position, Stuart fell with tremendous force upon Gregg. A spirited contest at once took place for the possession of the heights. For a time the battle raged with great fierce- ness. It was one of the very few genu- ine cavalry engagements during the whole war, and possessed additional interest from the fact that it was between the entire mounted force of both armies. Gregg carried the heights : but finding that the other column was not able to come up and form a junction with him, he fell back toward his right and rear, and united with Buford. Pleasanton then retired his whole command across the Rappahannock, but not until he had discovered, through captured corre- spondence, that Lee was present in force at Culpepper, and that the object of the Confederate leaders was the invasion of the North. In this engagement the loss on each side was about 600. Among the wounded on the Confederate side was W. H. F. Lee. " There was now no longer any doubt as to the intention of the enemy. His. 742 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. C. 32 object was invasion. It was still uncer- tain, however, whether Lee meant to move on Washington or to push his way into Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was known that the Confederates felt sore because of the raids of Grierson in Mississippi, and of Davis and Kilpatrick in Virginia; and threats had been made against both the States above named. At the same time, Washington would be a rich prize to the Confederates ; and it was not improbable that an attempt would be made to capture the National capital. Hooker's first move was to throw his army along the line of the Rappahannock, his right being advanced so as to cover the fords of that river. While Hooker was thus occupied, Lee had actually turned his right, and thrown the head of a column into the Shenan- doah valley. Hill was left in his old position at Fredericksburg; Longstrcet remained at Culpepper ; while Ewell, on the ioth, was pushed forward to the west and north. Striking the Blue Ridge, he moved along the eastern side of that range until he reached Chester's Gap. Passing through the gap, he crossed the Shenandoah at Front Royal. Bursting into the valley, he advanced by forced marches toward Winchester, at which place he arrived on the evening of the 13th, having accomplished the distance from Culpepper, some seventy miles, in three days. "While Ewell was making this rush towards Winchester, Hooker was still guarding the fords of the Rappahannock. It was not until the 13th that he was made aware of the march which his an- tagonist had stolen upon him. The in- telligence fell upon him like a thunder- bolt. Abandoning his camp on the Rappahannock, he fell back towards Washington, taking positions which would enable him, if necessary, to defend the capital, while at the same time he could watch the development of Lee's plan of operations. On the 15th and 1 6th he had fallen back as far as Fair- fax and Manassas. Here, for sonic days, he remained. As soon as Hill, who had been left behind at Fredericks- burg, observed the disappearance of the Union army, he marched towards Cul- pepper, where Longstrcet still held po- sition. Jenkins, with his cavalry brigade, was ordered forward to Winchester to co-operate with Ewell. Imbodcn, with his troops, was sent out in the direction of Romney, his instructions being to cover Winchester, and to prevent rein- forcements arriving by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Ewell had detached Rodes' division to Berryville, with the view of cutting off communications be- tween Winchester and the Potomac. General Milroy, then in command at Winchester, had under him a force of 7,000 men, with three pieces of field- artillery, and six siege-pieces in a fort. Milroy held out against the vigorous and persistent attacks of the rapidly in- creasing forces of the enemy during the 13th and 14th, repelling some of the assaults with great spirit ; but, on the night of the 14th, discovering that the whole corps of Ewell and of Longstrcet were at hand, he attempted to retreat. It was too late. He was almost sur- rounded. Only a small portion of his troops managed to effect their escape, some finding their way to Harper's Ferry, and some to Pennsylvania. His losses were 4,000 taken prisoners, 29 guns, 277 wagons, and 400 horses. General Milroy was severely taken to task by some for his conduct at Win- chester: he was vindicated by others. President Lincoln, pronouncing on the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 743 evidence laid before him by the judge- advocate-general, declared that neither Milroy nor Schenck, his immediate su- perior, and between whom the blame must be divided, were seriously to blame, and that a court-martial was not neces- sary in the case. The mistake was in not abandoning the place at an earlier day. It is doubtful whether Milroy could have held out until succor reached him ; but certainly defeat and surrender could not have been more disastrous than was the retreat. " Berryville and Martinsburg, at the same time, yielded to the attacks of Gen- eral Rodes; and the garrison at Harper's Ferry withdrew to Maryland Heights. The valley was thus cleared of National troops. "Judged from a high military stand- point, General Hooker's line of action, after he was made aware of the surprise at Winchester, is open to severe criticism. It was clearly the duty required by the situation to interpose between Hill at Fredericksburg and Longstreet at Cul- pepper. A blow vigorously dealt ought to have resulted in the capture or destruction of Hill. Even if neither of these results followed, the presumption is that such a movement would have brought Lee back to the assistance of his lieutenant, and so made an end of the invasion. It is only just to Hooker to say that, if we are to judge from the • correspondence which took place be- tween him and Halleck and President Lincoln, a short time before Lee began his Northern movement, the course which Hooker did adopt was opposed to his own better judgment. The course which we have indicated as the right course to follow in the circumstances was the course which he actually sug- gested, in the event of Lee moving as he did. It was condemned by Halleck, and, in the most emphatic and characteristic manner, discouraged by Lincoln. ' If Lee,' said the President, 'should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, he would fight you in intrenchments, and have you at dis- advantage; and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would, in some way, be getting an ad- vantage of you northward. In a word, I would not take any risk of being en- tangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or to kick the other! * " The disaster at Winchester, and the appearance of Confederate troops on their borders, created the wildest excite- ment in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The excitement was shared, in fact, by the whole of the Northern States. Ap- peals to the people were published by the governors of Maryland and Pennsyl- vania; and, on the 15th of June, a proc- lamation was issued by the President, calling for 120,000 militia. Pennsylva- nia was to furnish 50,000; Ohio, 30,000; Maryland, 10,000; West Virginia, 10,000; New York, 20,000. These calls were promptly and heartily responded to. Meanwhile, lively scenes were being witnessed in the larger towns, threatened by the invading troops. Of some of those scenes stirring descriptions have been preserved. The 16th, in Harris- burg, is thus described by an eye-wit- ness: 'The morning broke,' he tells us, ' upon a populace all astir, who had been called out of bed by the beat of the alarming drum, the blast of the bugle, and the clanging of bells. The streets were lively with men, who were either * Despatch from President Lincoln to General Hooker, June 51k. 744 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Boor II ,c. 32 returning from a night's work on the fortifications, or going over to relieve those who were toiling there. As the sun rose higher, the excitement gathered head. All along the streets were omni- buses, wagons and wheelbarrows taking in trunks and valuables, and rushing them down to the depot, to be shipped out of rebel range. The stores, the female seminaries and almost every private residence were busy all of the forenoon in swelling the mountain of freight that lay at the depot. Every horse was impressed into service, and every porter groaned beneath his weight of responsibilities. The scene at noon at the depots was indescribable, if not disgraceful. A sweltering mass of hu- manity thronged the platform, all furious to escape from the doomed city. At the bridge, and across the river, the scene was equally exciting. All through the day a steady stream of people, on foot and in wagons, young and old, black and white, was pouring across it from the Cumberland Valley, bearing along with it household gods and all manner of goods and stock. Endless trains, laden with flour, grain and merchandise, hourly emerged from the valley, and thundered across the bridge and through the city. Miles of retreating baggage wagons, filled with calves and sheep tied together, and great, old-fashioned furnace wagons, loaded with tons of trunks and boxes, defiled in continuous procession down the pike and across the river, raising a dust that marked the outline of the road as far as the eye could see/ * * * "While Hooker remained at Fairfax and Manassas, there were occasional cavalry skirmishes in the neighborhood of Ashby Gap. In some of these the fighting was severe ; in all of them the National troops distinguished them- selves for dash and daring, not only holding their own, but driving the enemy before them. These encounters, however, exercised no perceptible influ- ence on the campaign. Lee was not hin- dered from posting himself in strength in the Shenandoah Valley, where he was ready to meet Hooker, if he should deem it prudent to attack him, and where also he could send foraging par- ties into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Jenkins' troopers had already penetrated as far as Chambersburg, and ravaged the country for miles around, frightening the peaceful inhabitants, and carrying off much booty, particularly in cattle and horses. On the 22d, Hill and Long- street having come up and relieved him in the valley, Ewell, at the head of the invading columns, passed into Maryland, Imboden moving to the west, and break- ing up the lines of communication by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. The whole region of Western Pennsylvania, up to the Susquehanna, was now open to the invaders. On the 24th and the 25th, Longstreet and Hill followed Ewell. The objective point of the Confederates was Chambersburg. On the 26th, the entire Confederate army had crossed at Williamsport and Shepherdstown. On the same day, Hooker, no longer in doubt as to Lee's plan, led his army across the Potomac at Edward's Ferry, and moved towards Frederick. This, as we shall see, was a wise and politic movement on the part of the National commander. It led to the happiest re- sults, although Hooker himself was not to reap the glory. "At this conjuncture there occurred an unlooked-for circumstance, which might have had a most disastrous effect on the campaign and on the prospects THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 745 of the North. On the 27 th, when | were astounded by the intelligence that Hooker had marched upon Frederick, | Genera. Hooker had resigned^ con, THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY, THE SCENE OK SEVERAL IMPORTANT CAMPAIGNS. and when it became manifest that a great battle was imminent, the public mand of the army of the Potomac, and that the important and somewhat peril- ; 4 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II..C.8S ous trust had been committed to General | Meade. What was it that brought about this sudden, unexpected, and, to all j appearance, untimely change? The j story can be briefly told. At the time- Lee began his movement northward, the National forces in the east were divided into several separate and independent commands. General Heintzclman com- manded the department of Washington, with a force of 36,00x2 men ; General Schenck had charge of the middle de- partment, including the garrisons at Harper's Ferry, Winchester, and other contiguous places ; and General Dix, with a considerable force, lay idle on the peninsula. Hooker, who had expressed a strong desire that the troops of Heint- zelman and Schenck should be placed under his control, had at length so far overcome the scruples of Commander- in-Chief Halleck, that he obtained a reluctant consent. Hooker had sent General Slocum to Harper's Ferry, with the understanding that he should bejoined by the 10,000 or 11,000 troops stationed there under French, and that the united force should make a demonstration on Lee's rear by a movement up the Cum- berland valley. Such an arrangement implied the evacuation of Harper's Ferry, but to this Halleck would not consent. It was in vain that Hooker reasoned, showing that the place was compara- tively of no importance, that it com- manded no ford of the Potomac, that the removal of the troops would not affect the fortifications, that it was without public stores, and that there was only a very small likelihood that the enemy would think of taking possession. He was met by the reply, ' Maryland Heights have always been regarded as an im- portant point to be held by us, and much expense and labor incurred in fortifying them. I cannot approve of their abandon- ment, except in case of absolute neces- sity.' Hooker requested to be relieved from the command of the army. His request was at once complied with. Hooker has been severely blamed for deserting his post at this critical junc- ture. " It was a perilous experiment to change the commander in the field, on the eve of what, it was evident, must prove a great and decisive battle. It does seem, on the surface, as if Hooker allowed personal considerations to tri- umph over what he ought to have re- garded as the welfare of the nation. But, undoubtedly, Hooker had other reasons for the course he took than that which he openly assigned. His relations with the government had not been cordial from the first. His claims, after the re- moval of McClcllan, had been passed over in favor of Burnsidc; and when, after the battle of Fredericksburg, it was found impossible longer to ignore him, the command of the army of the Potomac was grudgingly given him. He had scarcely entered upon his duties, when the President wrote him, informing him of strange charges which were rumored against him, such as ambition to play the role of dictator, reminding him that the most effective method of securing the gratification of desires so ambitious was to overthrow the insurgents, and make an end of the rebellion, and assuring him that, if he allowed disaster to befall the army of the Potomac, he would never be at the head of the American or any other government. Hooker's relations with the government were not improved by his failure at Chancellorsville. On the 14th of May, Lincoln wrote him : ' I must tell you that I have some fearful intimations that some of your corps and THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 747 division commanders are not giving you their entire confidence. This would be ruinous, if true.' These things being known, it is not much to be wondered at either that, in the circumstances, Hooker should have resigned or that his resigna- tion should have been so promptly ac- " ' Headquartkrs Army of the Potomac, "•Frederick, Md., /ttne 28, 1863. " ' In conformity with the orders of the War Department, dated June 27th, 1863, I relinquish the command of the army of the Potomac. It is transferred to Major-General George G. Meade, a brave GENERAL MEADE. cepted. On the morning of the 28th of \ and accomplished officer, who has nobly June, an order arrived from Washington, transferring the command of the army to Major-General Meade, of the Fifth army corps. On the same day appeared the two following orders : earned the confidence and esteem of the army on many a well-fought field. Im- pressed with the belief that my useful- ness as the commander of the army of the Potomac is impaired, I part from it. 74 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., -. 32 yet not without the deepest emotion. The sorrow of parting with the comrades of so many battles is relieved by the con- viction that the courage and devotion of this army will never cease nor fail ; that it will yield to my successor, as it has to me, a willing and hearty support. With the earnest prayer that the triumph of its arms may bring successes worthy of it and the nation, I bid it farewell. "'Joseph Hooker, " ' Major-General.' "'Headquarters Army of the Potomac, " 'June 28, 1863. " ' By direction of the President of the United States, I hereby assume command of the army of the Potomac. As a soldier, in obeying this order — an order totally unexpected and unsolicited — I have no promises or pledges to make. The country looks to this army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile invasion. Whatever fatigues and sacrifices we may be called upon to un- dergo, let us have in view constantly the magnitude of the interests involved, and let each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an all-controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It is with just diffidence that I relieve, in the com- mand of this army, an eminent and ac- complished soldier, whose name must ever appear conspicuous in the history of its achievements ; but I rely upon the hearty support of my companions in arms to assist me in the discharge of the duties of the important trust which has been confided to me. " ' George G. Meade, " ' Major-General Commanding.' "The change produced some surprise in the army ; but the appointment of General Meade was generally well re- ceived. The report of the change soon extended to the several corps, and their commanders hastened to bid farewell to General Hooker. By three o'clock a large number of officers had assembled, and, soon after, the general appeared in the avenue before his tent. Some time was spent in social intercourse, and, to the last, all formalities were dispensed with. The parting was painful to every one, par- ticularly to those who had become en- deared to the general by old associations. General Hooker was deeply grieved. He had been identified with the army of the Potomac, he said, since its organiza- tion, and had hoped to continue with it to the end. It was the best army of the country, worthy of the confidence of the nation, and could not fail of success in the approaching struggle. He spoke of his successor as a glorious soldier, and urged all to give him their earnest sup- " To Meade was granted a large amount of authority — much larger than had been enjoyed by Hooker. The President waived in his favor all the powers of the executive and the Con- stitution. Meade, in fact, was untram- melled. But he made a wise and cautious use of the power entrusted to him. He made as few changes as possible, and only those which were absolutely necessary. * " On the morning of the 29th, Meade put his army in motion. Giving up the idea of moving to the west of the South Mountain, he took a course due north, ascending the course of the Monocacy towards the Susquehanna. The army moved in three columns, covering, as it advanced, the lines of approach to Balti- more and Washington. The First and Eleventh corps were directed on Emmettsburg ; the Third and Twelfth on Taney town ; the Second on Frizzle- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 749 burg ; the Fifth to Union ; and the Sixth to Windsor. On the evening of the 29th the National army was in position — its left at Emmettsburg and its right at Windsor. " The same day on which Meade put his army in motion General Lee had completed all the necessary preparations for an advance on Harrisburg. On that day, however, he learned for the first time by means of a scout, that the Na- tional army, having crossed the Poto- mac, was advancing northward, and that the head of the column had reached the South Mountain. Lee's ignorance of the whereabouts of the National army is explained by the fact that Stuart, on whom he depended for in- formation, had been left behind to guard the passes of the mountains, and to obstruct, as much as possible, the pro- gress of the enemy. In the event of the Nationals succeeding in crossing the Potomac, his instructions were to follow, crossing the river to the east or west of the Blue Ridge, as he deemed the more convenient, and take position on the Confederate right. Unable to hinder the Nationals from crossing the river, and anxious to execute the remaining portion of his instructions, Stuart was compelled to make a wide detour to the east by the way of Fairfax Court-House. When, on the evening of the 27th, he reached the Potomac at the mouth of Seneca creek, he found the river greatly swollen by recent rains ; and it was only by tremendous exertions he gained the Maryland shore. He then learned that the Nationals, having crossed the day before, were on their way to Frederick. The National army thus lay between him and Lee; and he was compelled to arrived on the 30th of June. It was Hooker's misfortune to fight without his cavalry, at Chancellorsville. A similar misfortune had now befallen Lee. Without those eyes of the army, he had been moving about in ignorance of the whereabouts of his antagonist. " The intelligence of the near approach of the National army fell upon Lee like a thunderbolt. Dreading an irrup- tion of the National forces into the Cumberland valley, and foreseeing the peril which thus threatened his com- munications, Lee resolved to concen- trate on the east side of South Moun- tain, and prevent, if possible, the fur- ther progress of the opposing army. The movement on Harrisburg was, in consequence, countermanded. Long- street and Hill were directed to proceed from Chambersburg, defiling through the South Mountain range towards Gettysburg; and Ewell was ordered to countermarch from York and Carlisle, on the same point. " On the 30th, Meade was still ignor- ant of the change of purpose on the part of Lee. It was his belief that the Confederates were pressing northward to the Susquehanna. He had little doubt, however, that a collision was imminent. On that day he pushed his right forward to Manchester, his left still remaining at Emmettsburg, where three corps— the First, Eleventh and Third— were under orders of Major-Gcneral Reynolds. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he issued to the army the following order: "'Headquarters AmfY of the Potomac, " 'June 30, 1S63. " ' The commanding general requests that, previous to the engagement soon march northward, through Westminster, expected with the enemy, corps and all to Hanover, in Pennsylvania, where he | other commanding officers address their 75o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 troops, explaining to them the immense issue involved in the struggle. The enemy is on our soil. The whole coun- try looks anxiously to this army to de- liver it from the presence of the foe. ( )ur failure to do so will leave us no such welcome as the swelling of mil- lions of hearts with pride and joy at our success would give to every soldier of the army. Homes, firesides and do- mestic altars are involved. The army has fought well heretofore. It is be- lieved that it will fight more desperately and bravely than ever, if it is addressed in fitting terms. Corps and other com- manders are authorized to order the instant death of any soldier who fails to do his duty at this hour. " ' By command of " ' Major-General Meade. *"S. Williams, " 'Assistant Adjutant-General.' " It was not until the night of the 30th that Meade became satisfied that Lee was concentrating his forces on the east side of South Mountain. He at once proceeded to select a position on which he might make a rapid concentration of his troops,. and so receive battle on ad- vantageous terms. The general line of Pipe creek seemed to offer the advantage sought ; but its final adoption was left to be determined by the necessities which micrht arise. Orders were issued for an immediate advance of the different corps. The Sixth corps, Sedgwick's, forming the right wing of the army, was ordered to Manchester, in rear of Pipe creek; headquarters and Second corps, Han- cock's, were directed to Taneytown ; the Twelfth corps, Slocum's, and the Fifth corps, Sykcs', forming the centre, were to move on Two Taverns and Hanover; and the left wing, consisting of the First, Reynolds', Third, Sickles', and Eleventh, Howard's, all under General Reynolds, was ordered to Gettysburg. The move- ment of the left wing was intended only as a mask, behind which the army could take position at Pipe creek. It was not the intention of either Lee or Meade to make Gettysburg the battle-field; but, unconsciously to both, a collision was becoming more and more inevitable in the immediate neighborhood. "The little town of Gettysburg, which was soon to be rendered immortal as the theatre not only of the greatest battle of the civil war, but of one of the greatest battles of modern times, is about ten miles cast of the South Mountain range. The topographical features of the neigh- borhood are peculiar, presenting a series of ridges which, for the most part, run parallel with South Mountain, and give to the landscape a rolling and diversified character. Some of the streams flow to the northeast, and empty themselves into the Susquehanna; others flow south- ward, and find an outlet into the Poto- mac. The town is built at the base of one of the ridges, and is the centre from which radiate a large number of roads. There is the Chambcrsburg road, leading to the northwest; the Carlisle road to the north; the Harrisburg road to the northeast; the Baltimore road to the southeast; and others, which lead in the direction of the Potomac to the south- west. To the immediate south of Get- tysburg, and extending some four or five miles, is a ridge which bears a close re- semblance to a fish-hook. The point of the hook is known as Wolf's Hill; the barb is known as Gulp's Hill; while the stem — a succession of ridges — ending in Little Round Top and Round Top, bears the general name of Cemetery Ridge. Little Round Top is about 280 feet high. THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS POSITIONS OF THE ARMIES DURING THE SECOND AND THIRD DAYS. frsO 752 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 Round Top, which shoots up from the former, reaches a height of some 400 feet. These two elevations constitute the military keys of Cemetery Ridge. At their base runs a marshy stream, called Plum Run. Between Wolf's and Culp's Hills flows what is called Rock- creek. The nearer part of the bend, which fronts the town, had been used as a cemetery — hence the generic name of the ridge. The broken character of the ground, abounding with rocky ledges and covered with huge boulders, make it a sort of natural fortification. It is an admirable position for defensive opera- tions. On the west side, the ground falls off into a cultivated valley, which it commands, and then gradually rises until, nearly a mile distant, it forms another and a parallel crest, called Seminary Ridge — from a theological school which crowns one of its heights and forms a conspicuous feature of the landscape. This ridge is covered with oaks, and is locally known as Oak Ridge. In the valley between Seminary and Cemetery Ridges is the Emmetts- burg road. Such was the ground on which, for three consecutive days, the contending hosts of North and South were about to strive, in bloody and merciless contest, for the mastery of the Republic. " On the morning of Wednesday, the rst of July, General Ruford, who had been occupying Gettysburg for the two days previous, passed through the town with his cavalry, and, advancing beyond Seminary Ridge to the next ridge, more to the west, about two miles distant, took position on the near side of Wil- loughby Run. His line was drawn up across the Chambersburg road, along which Longstrect and Hill were advanc- ing. It was about nine o'clock. All of a sudden, he found himself in collision with the leading division of Hill, under Heth. It was the commencement of the battle of Gettysburg. Knowing that Reynolds, who had bivouacked the night before at Marsh creek, only four miles off, was within striking distance, Ruford resolved to hold the Confederates in check until the arrival of his chief. It was a perilous undertaking; but by skilful deployments, he accomplished his task. He had fallen back somewhat; but his ranks were unbroken, and his men were offering a spirited resistance when, at about ten o'clock, Reynolds ar- rived with Wadsworth's division. " Reynolds had no instructions to bring on a battle; but the necessities of the situation supplied the place of in- structions. Ruford was sorely pressed, and he must support him. Swinton suggests that, probably, his fine military eye took in at a glance the features of the rocky ridge of Gettysburg as an eminent vantage-ground for a defensive battle, and that his object in bringing on the battle was to hold the enemy in check beyond the town, and thus give the army time to concentrate on the fastness of hills. This, of course, is mere conjecture; and whether he had such thoughts, and was influenced by such motives, we shall never know. Rut for his own untimely loss, there would be little cause for regret that he acted as he did. Wadsworth's troops were imme- diately deployed ; and Reynolds sent instructions to Howard to advance as promptly as possible. Wadsworth was ordered to place his only battery — that of Hall — in position by the side of the road leading to Cashtown. Cutler's brigade was thrown into position on the right, while Doubleday, who had just come up with the van of the infantry, THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. was ordered to move Meredith's iron brigade, as it was called, to the left of the road, into a piece of wooded ground which skirted Willoughby Run. Deter- mined to bring matters to an immediate issue, Reynolds, with animating words, gave the regiments in the skirt of the woods the command to charge. The order was being gallantly obeyed, when, shot through the neck, he fell mortally wounded, dying before he could be re- moved from the field. The command now devolved on Doubleday. There was no pause in the battle. The iron brigade fell with tremendous force on the flank of Archer's brigade, which was pushing its way across Willoughby Run, capturing Archer himself and several hundreds of his men. While these events were taking place, there was des- perate fighting on the right. Hall's battery, left for a time unsupported, was in imminent danger of being captured, when the Fourteenth Brooklyn and the Ninety-fifth New York, joined by the Sixth Wisconsin, having made a change of front, charged to the relief of the guns. Such was the impetuosity of the onset, that Davis' two Mississippi regiments were driven for shelter into the cut of an unfinished railroad, surrounded and cap- tured, with their battle-flags. So far, success had been with the Nationals. "The tide of battle was destined soon to turn. Reinforcements, in increasing numbers, were coming up and joining both of the contending parties. The Nationals were strengthened by the ar- rival of the two remaining divisions of the First corps, under Rowley and Rob- inson, the former having taken command of Doubleday's men. Robinson's di- vision remained for a time in reserve on Seminary Ridge ; but the other division was pushed forward at once to the assist- 4 8 753 ance of the sorely pressed left. These fresh troops were in excellent spirits. One of the brigades of Rowley's division, commanded by Colonel Roy Stone, hav- ing been assigned to a position danger- ously exposed to the fire of the enemy's artillery, Stone remarked to his men, 1 We have come here to stay.' The say- ing was promptly taken up. ■ ' We have come here to stay ! ' resounded through- out the ranks. The words were too truly prophetic; for a very large number of the brave fellows never left the ground. The battle continued to rage with great fierceness, the Nationals still firmly maintaining their position. Meanwhile, Hill was reinforced by another division, under General Pender. It was now past noon. The sun had been blazing since early morning. The heat was intense. About one o'clock, General Howard ar- rived on the battle-ground, and took command of the field. He had brought with him the divisions of Schurz and Barlow, the former now commanded by Schimmelpfenig, Schurz being in charge of the corps. These divisions Howard posted to the right of the First corps^ and in such a manner as to prolong the general lines and cover the approaches- to Gettysburg from the north and north- west. The other division, under Vorr Steinwehr — an experienced and skilful officer, who had been bred in the service of Prussia, and who had done good work on that fatal first day at Chancellorsvillc r when Jackson fell on Howard's corps with the force of an avalanche — he had left as a reserve on Cemetery Ridge. It was a wise and prudent step, as the result proved, and was taken, it is under- stood, in obedience to the instructions of Reynolds. "It was now about two o'clock. Howard had had little more than time 754 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 32 to get his men in position, when the spectator on Cemetery Hill might have seen a long, gray line, serpent-like, creeping down the pike, and near the railroad on the northeast side of the town. They were 'Stonewall' Jack- son's men — led now by General Ewell, Jackson's most trusted and loved lieu- tenant — who were hurrying from York and Carlisle to decide the issues of that day. Their march seems to quicken as they approach the battle-ground. Be- fore three o'clock, they have come up from the York road, debouched into the woods, and, with their old, wild battle-yell, fallen with crushing effect on Howard's right. Early's division, of Ewell, was thrown upon the right face of the Eleventh, commanded by Barlow. Rodes' division, of the same corps, moved further round and formed a con- nection with the left of the corps of General Hill. There was a commanding height, called Oak Hill, opposite the National line, where the left of the Eleventh and the right of the First corps approached each other, but did not meet. With the eye of a skilful gen- eral, Rodes perceived that this was the key-point of the field, and seized it immediately. The Eleventh, confronted by their old antagonists, seemed resolved to redeem the honor lost at Chancellors- ville. They fought with the utmost bravery. But the battle had now be- come unequal — it was 50,000 men against 21,000 ; and Howard had fallen into an error not uncommon during the war. He had attempted to cover too much. It was impossible for his ex- tended line, attenuated almost to feeble- ness, to resist the persistent attacks and now overwhelming numbers of the enemy. From his high vantage ground, where he had planted artillery, Rodes poured an oblique and destructive fire on the left of the Eleventh. A general advance was ordered about three o'clock. Rodes having massed his infantry, came sweeping down through the opening of the National line in his front, breaking and cramping the left of the Eleventh, and turning and forcing back the right of the First. Early, at the same mo- ment, fell with equal energy on the right of the Eleventh. The gallant Barlow made a stubborn resistance near the almshouse ; but, in the midst of the struggle at this point, he was wounded, and fell helpless into the hands of the enemy. Schimmelpfenig was also taken prisoner, but he subsequently contrived to escape and rejoin his regiment. The National right was thus driven back in confusion into Gettysburg. The troops on the right of the First, or National left, were in a similar plight. They, too, were driven into the town, where they became entangled with Howard's corps. Ewell pursued the disordered mass into and through the streets of Gettysburg, capturing some five thousand prisoners and occupying the place. " Such was the state of things on the National right, and on the right of the National left, at a comparatively early hour in the afternoon of July 1st. How was it on the extreme left of the National line ? These troops had been under fire from the commencement of the fight — some of them for five, some for six hours. At the same moment that Ewell, with the two divisions of Rodes and Early, came thundering down upon the Eleventh, A. P. Hill, strengthened by Ewell, renewed the attack upon the heroic and not yet completely exhausted First. Robinson and Doubleday and Wadsworth did their best to keep their men in position, THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 755 and to hold the enemy at bay ; but they, too, began to feel themselves weak under the fierce and persistent pressure of superior numbers. ' We have come to stay,' was still the watch-word and battle-cry of many of the men. They were willing to wait and fight to the bitter end. But when it became known that the right of their corps had been turned, and that the Eleventh had been routed, the conviction of danger in their present position was forced upon them. It was with a stubborn reluctance they began to retire, and not until they had suffered most severely. They had saved and moved to the rear all their artillery, with the exception of one piece, and all their ambulances, before they let go their hold on Seminary Ridge. When they fell back behind the town, they did so in something like order. Doubleday handled his men during this crisis with marvellous ability. In managing affairs on the National left, he had received little or no assistance from Howard, whose attention was engrossed from the first with his own corps and the general state of things on his right. The fight- ing, as we have seen, was severe on the left during the whole day. There were special moments, however, when the firing was terrific. Some of the men had been through all the great battles of the East. They had been in the Peninsula, and under fire at Malvern Hills ; with Pope, and under fire at Cedar Mountain, at Manassas, and at Centreville ; with Burnside, and under fire at Fredericks- burg ; with Hooker, and under fire at Chancellorsville ; and they gave it as their opinion that the firing of that day was the most terrific they had ever ex- perienced. In one brigade alone — that of Cutler — in the brief space of twenty- minutes, every staff-officer had his horse shot under him. Some of them lost two, some three horses. In thirty minutes, not a horse was left to the general or his staff, but one, and that one was wounded. " The remnants of the two shattered corps, reduced to one-half of then original strength, found a refuge and a resting-place on Cemetery Hill. The wisdom of leaving Steinwehr behind to strengthen and fortify the position was now apparent to all. Steinwehr had made excellent use of his time. His guns were admirably posted, so as to guard the approaches to the heights ; and behind every ledge of rock, every stone wall, every building, there was a living barrier — an abatis of bayonets. When the disordered masses were pour- ing through Gettysburg and towards the ridge, Hancock had arrived on the ground. Meade was still at Taneytown, some thirteen miles distant. So soon as he was made aware of the battle, and of the death of Reynolds, he sent Han- cock forward to take command. He was to use his own judgment as to whether the forces should be retained at Gettysburg, or retire to the line of Pipe creek. If he found the ground advantageous, he was so to advise the commander, and the troops would be ordered up at once. Hurrying forward in an ambulance, and studying the map by the way, Hancock arrived on the field at about half-past three o'clock. ' I found,' he says, ' that practically the fight was over. The rear of our column, with the enemy, was then coming through the town of Gettysburg. General How- ard was on Cemetery Hill, and there had evidently been an attempt on his part to stop and form some troops there. 1 Hancock was a great favorite with the rank and file of the army of the Potomac. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 756 His fine personal presence, and the magnetism of his manner, did much to- wards restoring the confidence of the men and re-establishing order. There was a nucleus of order in Steinwehr's division, and in the cavalry of Buford, which, having been deployed in the plain to the left of the town, and in front of the ridge, presented a bold and firm front. Buford has been described as the good angel of Gettysburg. He certainly per- formed heroic services on the morning of that first day, and also at this supreme moment, when weakness or hesitation would have been ruin. Never were cavalry more superbly handled. Never did mounted men more heartily or more effectively obey the behests of their chief. As the routed Nationals came up, Hancock quickly formed them into line. He was soon able to present what seemed a formidable front to the enemy. The National army, however, was really in great peril. The day was yet young ; several hours had to elapse before sunset. If Lee had made a vigorous attack with all the forces at his command, it is scarcely possible that Hancock could have offered an effective resistance. To his surprise, and no doubt to his delight, the Confederate skirmishers, who were already breasting the hill, were recalled ; and thus ended the first day's fighting at Gettysburg. General Lee made a mistake in not pressing the advantage he had won. But he acted up to the best of his knowledge. ' The attack was not made that after- noon,' he tells us, ' because the enemy's force was unknown, and because it was considered advisable to await the arrival of the rest of our troops.' It was a fatal pause — fatal to the hopes of Lee him- self, and to the plans and purposes of the Confederate rulers. Book 11., c. 32 " Hancock lost no time in reporting to Meade. Soon after arriving, he sent a message informing him that he could hold the ground till dark. Shortly after five o'clock, he sent the following despatch : ' When I arrived here, an hour since, I found that our troops had given up the front of Gettysburg and the town. We have now taken up a position in the cemetery, which cannot well be taken; it is a position, however, easily turned. Slocum is now coming on the ground, and is taking position on the right. But we have, as yet, no troops on the left, the Third corps not having yet reported ; but I suppose that it is marching up. If so, his flank march will, in a degree, protect our left flank. In the meantime, Gibbon [who had been left in command of the Second] had better march so as to take position on our right or left to our rear, as may be necessary, in some commanding posi- tion. * * * The battle is quiet now. I think we shall be all right until night. I have sent all the trains back. When night comes on, it can be told better what had best be done. I think we can retire ; if not, we can fight here, as the ground appears not unfavorable, with good troops.' Having completed his dispositions, and having turned over the command to Slocum, who outranked him, and who had just arrived, he went back to Tancytown to see Meade person- ally. Meade had already made up his mind ; and he set his army in motion at once. "The Twelfth corps, Slocum's, which had been urgently summoned by Gen- eral Howard during the afternoon, and which had been pushed forward with as little delay as possible, arrived before six o'clock. It was immediately put into position. The Third corps, Sickles', THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 757 which had also been summoned up by Howard, arrived some of them that night at sunset, and the remainder dur- ing the night and following morning. The Second corps, Hancock's, which had only to travel from Taneytown, a distance of thirteen miles, came up shortly after midnight. The Fifth corps, Sykes', was at Union Mills, twenty-three miles distant, when the order was given, but it was on the ground at an early hour in the morning. The Sixth, Sedg- wick's, was at Manchester, thirty-two miles distant. It was known that its commander would hurry forward with all possible despatch ; and it was confi- dently expected that he would reach the field in time to take part in the fight of the following day. Meade, himself, as soon as he had received Hancock's rep- resentations, broke up his headquarters at Taneytown, sent his trains to West- minster, and hastened to Gettysburg, which he reached at one o'clock on the morning of the 2d. Soon after he arrived on the ground, he fixed his headquarters at a little frame house on the Taneytown road, in rear of and to the south of Zeigler's Grove. It was sheltered from infantry fire by a swell in the ground ; but there was nothing to prevent it from becoming a target for the enemy's artillery. " With the earliest light Meade was up, inspecting the ground, and making arrangements for the disposition of his troops. Some of the corps were already in position. The others were placed as they came up. The Eleventh retained its position on Cemetery Hill, and was supported by Robinson's and Double- day's divisions, of the First, now com- manded by General Newton. On the extreme right was the Twelfth, which, with the division of Wads worth, also of the First, held Culp's Hill. The Second and Third were ordered to occupy the continuation of Cemetery Ridge, to the left of the Eleventh. The Fifth was held in reserve. When Sedgwick came up, he was to be placed on the extreme left, behind the Round Tops. The order, from right to left, was, therefore, as follows: Slocum, Newton, Howard, Hancock, Sickles. The entire army was concentrated on an area of about three square miles. The reserve forces were within thirty minutes march of any part of the line. Batteries were posted along the crest; and rock-ledges, improvised earth-works and stone walls in the rear gave shelter to the soldiers. "On the morning of Thursday, the Confederate prospect was not quite so bright as it had been the night before. True, Longstreet had arrived ; but it was manifest at a glance that the National army had been largely reinforced, that it occupied a position of formidable strength, and that to attempt to dislodge it meant a tremendous expenditure of force, as well as a fearful sacrifice of life. At early dawn, Lee, Longstreet and Hill were in eager consultation on Seminary Ridge. The summits of the ridge were covered with oak and pine trees ; so, also, was its western slope, thus affording excellent concealment for the troops. Along this ridge, and round to the east of Gettysburg, in the form of a vast crescent, over five miles in length, its concavity facing the National line, the Confederate army was arranged. The eastern slope was dotted thickly with artillery, which looked frowningly over the intervening valley. Longstreet was on the right, Hill in the centre, and Ewell on the left. Between Ewell and Hill there was a gap of nearly a mile. The army was about 80,000 strong, 758 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 3£ numerically equal to that on the opposite heights, even if Sedgwick should get up in time. Lee's one inconvenience was the extent of his line, and the consequent difficulty of communication. Meade had the advantage of compactness ; and com- munication was easy. " It was evident already that the at- tack, if there was to be an attack, would come from the .Confederates. Meade's position was merely defensive. It was for this purpose, and this purpose alone, that Cemetery Ridge had been occupied and strengthened. It was no part of his intention at this particular juncture to initiate aggressive measures. It had not been the original intention of Lee to fight so far from his base, unless attacked by the enemy; but it had become diffi- cult, next to impossible, to withdraw his troops now that they had come into actual contact with the National army, and tasted somewhat of the sweets of victory. It may well be doubted whether, if an order had been given for retreat, his men, elated as they were w-ith past successes, and flushed as they were with the fresh triumphs of yesterday, would have calmly submitted. General Lee was not ignorant of the difficulty and danger of assaulting a powerful foe be- hind intrenched lines, and in so com- manding a position as that now occu- pied by the National army. Still, as he himself tells us, a battle had become, in a measure, unavoidable; and, 'encour- aged by the successful issue of the engagement of the previous day, and in view of the valuable results which would ensue from the defeat of the army of General Meade, it was thought advisable to renew the attack.' The Confederate commander, however, made one mistake when he paused, on the eve of victory, on the afternoon of the ist. He made another mistake when he delayed his at- tack on the morning and forenoon of the 2d. A vigorous assault made on the afternoon of Wednesday, or even on the early hours of Thursday, could scarcely have failed of success. Bent on invasion as he was, he flung away his opportuni- ties. By delaying as he did, he gave the National forces not only time to come up and concentrate in strong posi- tions in his front, but time to enjoy, after the fatigues of their march, some hours of refreshing rest. " It was still, however, early morning. The Confederate generals had not yet completed their plans. Meade was un- certain on what part of his line the first blow would be dealt, but he was guard- ing every point with scrupulous care. All was calm and still. There was a balmy sweetness in the summer air ; music in the woods; beauty in the land- scape. As the eye of the spectator on the heights fell upon the valley below, it was attracted by blooming orchards, by smiling fields, already growing yel- low with rich crops of ripening grain, by contented cattle grazing at will on the meadow, or lazily resting in the shade. Nature seemed all-unconscious of the terrible tempest of human wrath which was about to burst forth, and which was so soon to convert those scenes of peace and happiness into scenes of tumult and horror, to fill the air with the sounds of destruction and the shrieks of agony, to cover the val- ley and the hillsides with the ghastly bodies of the slain, and to deluge those fields and redden those streams with blood. " It was four o'clock in the afternoon before Lee had completed his arrange- ments for attack. There had been some lively skirmishing earlier in the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 759 day. In the morning, Ewell's move- ments created the impression that an attack was about to be made on Culp's Hill ; and General Meade was disposed for a time to assume the initiative at that point ; but the ground being found unfavorable, and the enemy not making further demonstrations, the purpose was abandoned. General Sedgwick arrived on the field, with the Sixth corps, about two o'clock, having accomplished his long march with marvellous rapidity ; and General Meade immediately there- after directed Sykes, who, with the Fifth corps, had been in reserve on the right, to move over and take position as a reserve on the left. Meantime, General Lee had decided on his plan of assault. ' It was determined,' he tells us, ' to make the principal attack on the enemy's left, and endeavor to get a position from which it was thought that our artillery could be brought to bear with effect. Longstreet was directed to place the divisions of Hood and McLaws on the right of Hill, partially enveloping the enemy's left, which he was to drive in. General Hill was ordered to threaten the enemy's centre, so as to prevent rein- forcements from being drawn to either wing, and to co-operate with his right division in Longstreet's attack ; General Ewell was instructed to make a simul- taneous demonstration on the enemy's right, to be converted into a real attack, should opportunity offer.' " Let us now see how this plan was carried out. It was Meade's intention, in posting his troops, to occupy the ridge continuously from Cemetery Hill to the Round Tops. Sickles had been instructed in the morning to form his corps in line of battle on the left of tend to the Round Top, occupying it, if practicable. At the point indicated, there is a depression on the ridge ; and General Sickles, believing that he would be more advantageously posted on the intermediate crest, about three-quarters of a mile in front, and along which runs the Emmettsburg road, assumed the responsibility of occupying that position It was not till within a few minutes of four o'clock, when General Meade ar- rived at this part of the ground in per- son, that he discovered the perilous position in which Sickles had placed himself, his men, and, indeed, the entire National army. Instead of connecting with the left of Hancock, Sickles had thrown his right flank forward some four hundred yards in front, thus leaving a gap between his right and Hancock's left ; his left, instead of being near the Round Top Mountain, was in advance of it; and his line, instead of being a prolongation of Hancock's line, made an angle of about forty-five degrees with that line. Meade expressed his disap- pointment, Sickles his regret; but it was too late to make any radical change. Sickles, undoubtedly, meant well ; but it was a weak, exposed, and otherwise faulty position. Round Top was really the key of the battle-ground ; and it was at once uncovered and unoccupied. Lee discovered at once the blunder which had been committed. In his report he says : ' In front of General Longstreet, the enemy held a position from which, if he could be driven, it was thought that our army could be used to advan- tage in assailing the more elevated ground beyond, and thus enable us to reach the crest of the ridge.' Sickles, who was thus singled out as the special Hancock's corps ; his right flank to rest j object of attack, was to pay dearly for on Hancock's left; and his left to ex- I his temerity. His interview with Meade HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 760 had not ended ; the latter, in fact, was just expressing his fear that the enemy would not permit him to withdraw, and that there was no time for any further change or movement, when the Confed- erate batteries opened upon the position, and the action was commenced. " It was, as we have said, about four o'clock in the afternoon when the signal for battle was given. The signal came in the character of a terrific cannonade from the Confederate artillery. The National guns soon hurled back defiance. The din was deafening, and the air was alive with missiles of every description. This, however, was but the prelude to more desperate work. Meade did not lose his self-possession. Assuring Sickles of every assistance possible, he hurried off to give more general direction. Sickles' right, commanded by Humphrey, was disposed along the Emmettsburg road. On Humphrey's left the line was continued by Graham's brigade, of Bir- ney's division, as far as the Peach Orchard. At this point the remaining brigades of Birney's division — those of De Trobriand and Ward — were refused, and thrown back obliquely towards Round Top. The salient or apex of the angle was Sickles' weakest point. It was the point which most invited attack, and the driving in of which offered the greatest advantages. Under cover of a heavy artillery fire, and partially con- cealed by the smoke, Longstreet was seen to be pressing forward with his whole corps — nearly one-third of the Confederate army. Batteries were quick- ly got into position ; and Sickles was already under a most murderous fire, both of artillery and musketry. The Confederate flank, it was observed, ex- tended far beyond the National left. As Longstreet came up, with his warrior Book II., c. 32 columns, defiance in their eyes and de- struction in their firm and steady tramp, his extreme right, under Hood, was seen to bend in towards the National left, and in the direction of Little Round Top. As the Confederate line draws near, it bends in more and more. It is evidently Longstreet's intention to overlap Sickles' left, and to fall with accumulated force on the extremity of his line. His pur- pose is quickly revealed. Rushing for- ward at the double-quick, the men in gray fell with tremendous energy upon Ward's brigade, who held the extremity of the National line. Ward was not un- prepared. This was the point which was struck first ; but Hood's men kept closing in along the whole of Birney's front, until the battle raged from the orchard to the base of Little Round Top. At the orchard, and along the refused line towards Little Round Top, the waves of battle surged and rolled for weary hours, victory now inclining to the one side and now to the other. Ward and De Trobriand and Graham performed prodigies of valor; Birney, too, and even Sickles, were ever at the point of danger, cheering the men by their words, and inciting them by their example; but no amount of valor or self- sacrifice could atone for the inherent weakness of the position. " Little Round Top was the objective point of this well-directed Confederate attack. It was the prize which the Con- federates wished to win, and which the Nationals wished to keep. We have already described this hill, and pointed out its connection with the general range, on the crest of which the National forces, for the most part, were posted. It is a steep and rocky spur of the loftier Round Top. It is bald and naked, its summit and its sides being cut up into ledges, THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 761 and covered with mighty boulders. This hill was destined to be the scene of one of the most heroic, and, at the same time, most savage encounters, during that awful, yet glorious, 2d of July, at Gettysburg. While the battle was raging along Birney's front, the fiery and impetuous Hood had discov- ered that Little Round Top was not occupied, and that only a thin curtain of soldiers — the Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania — hung in its front. If that position were in his hands, the whole army of Meade could not again dislodge him. Nay, more : the battle of Gettysburg would be the crowning triumph of the Confederate cause. Selecting his chosen band of Texans, his most trusted soldiers, he pointed out the black and rugged mass, and sent them on their mission. With the speed of lightning, they rushed forward to give effect to the behests of their chief. But they were too late. The path was blocked when they reached Plum Run, a stream which skirts the base of the hill on its western side. " Let us see how this came about. When the battle commenced, General Warren, Meade's chief-engineer, after having inspected Sickles' position in company with the general commanding, proceeded to Little Round Top, whence he had a magnificent view of the whole field of battle. He saw the first fierce onset of the enemy, and how nobly it was resisted by the division of Birney. But it was not that which fixed his atten- tion and engaged his thoughts. It was the unprotected condition of Little Round Top, the key of the National position, and the terrible consequences which must inevitably follow, if it should fall into the hands of the Confederates. There was no time for delay. The hill had been used as a signal-station ; and the signal-men, when they beheld the onward rush of the Confederate masses, commenced to fold their flags and other- wise to prepare for retiring. At this moment, the head of Barnes' division, of Sykes* corps, was approaching at the double-quick to reinforce Sickles. War- ren assumed the responsibility of detach- ing Vincent's brigade from that division, and ordering it upon Little Round Top. Hazlitt's battery, also, was immediately ordered up ; and by almost superhuman efforts, it was raised to the crest of the hill, and placed in position. Vincent so disposed his men around the base of the hill, that the approaches were guarded at every point. " The arrangements were completed not a moment too soon. Scarcely had Vincent's regiments — the Sixteenth Michigan, Lieutenant-Colonel Welch ; the Forty-fourth New York, Colonel Rice ; and the Twentieth Maine, Colonel Chamberlain — taken position behind the huge boulders, when, in the words of one of the officers present, there was heard ' a loud, fierce, distant yell, as if all pandemonium had broken loose and joined in the chorus of one grand, universal war-whoop.' Three lines deep, at double-quick, on they came. Hazlitt's battery opens upon them its murderous fire ; musketry blazes forth from behind every boulder ; but in vain. Those im- petuous Texans will not be checked. On, on they come in ever-increasing numbers. Assault follows assault ; but each time they are driven back, broken, bleeding and thinned, their dead and dying comrades left lying in heaps among the rocks. For over half an hour the savage contest lasted ; but Vincent's men stood firm; and being joined by Weed's brigade, of Ayres' division, also of the Fifth corps, the Confederates were y6i HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 driven from the slope and over the rocky ledges, and the position was secured. Not yet, however, was the struggle ended. Clinging to the rocky hollow which divides the Round Tops, they pressed forward, and, although received by a withering musketry fire, succeeded in turning the left flank of the brigade. At this stage, the fighting was furious. Chamberlain's Twentieth Maine fell upon their assailants with the energy of despair, and, with the butts of their muskets, clubbed them to death. The enemy was repulsed, but not destroyed. They still clung to the rocky hollow. Chamberlain's left flank was dangerously exposed. He called for help, but in vain. Suddenly the enemy began to show some signs of weakness ; and Chamberlain, finding his opportunity, rising to the dignity of the occasion, and yielding to the severe requirements of the emergency, ordered his men to fix bayonets, and, sweeping like a whirl- wind upon the now dispirited Texans, he drove them before him in utter rout. At this opportune moment, a brigade of the Pennsylvania reserves charged up the hill, under the personal leadership of General Crawford ; and the enemy, believing that heavy reinforcements had arrived, gave up the contest. The hollow ground between the Round Tops was cleared of the foe. Little Round Top, the key of the position, was secured. The victory was complete ; but it had been won at a great sacrifice. The slaughter had been terrible. It recalled the memory of Ball's Bluff, and the valley of the shadow of death, at Pitts- burgh Landing. The dead were found piled in heaps behind the rocks ; and the narrow valley was literally covered with the mangled bodies of the dead and wounded. The gallant Vincent had yielded up his life. Weed, too, had been killed ; and Hazlitt, when bending over the prostrate form of his chief, had received his death-wound. " While this struggle was going on for the possession of Little Round Top, there was even more severe fighting on Birney's right, and at the salient in the Peach Orchard. We have already seen that at the same time that Hood pushed his men on Birney's left, and worked his way through the gap between the left and the Round Top, he drew his line steadily in, and pressed more closely upon Birney's right, until the battle raged between the Round Top and the Peach Orchard. In this attack on Birney's right, and particularly on the salient at the orchard, Hood was assisted by McLaws, and eight regiments of Anderson's division, of Hill's corps Longstreet's great object was to break Sickles' line at the salient, or, as it may be called, the centre, and obtain possession of the orchard. The onset of Hood and McLaws on Birney's front was made with great vigor; and such was the pressure that Sickles was com- pelled immediately to send for reinforce- ments. It was in response to this call that Barnes' division, of Sykes', was sent forward. Vincent's brigade of this divis- ion was, as we have seen, detached by General Warren, and sent to hold Little Round Top. The other two brigades — those of Tilton and Sweitzer — hastened to the support of Birney. The struggle at this point was fierce and terrible. The Nationals made a gallant and deter- mined fight. The Confederates, how- ever, getting their guns into advanced positions, were able to enfilade the Na- tional line. The pressure was now irresistible. Sickles' men fell back. The National line was broken ; and the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. much coveted orchard was in possession of the enemy. " Birney, still resisting fiercely, made a gallant stand on a new position on wooded ground adjoining the wheat field, and intermediate between his last front and the Round Top. De Trobriand's brigade, which had fought most bravely since the first moment of the attack, and which had offered a most stubborn re- sistance to the advance of the enemy, after the occupation of the orchard, had by this time melted away. The battle was now at its height, and Sickles, who fearlessly exposed himself, was wounded and carried from the field. The com- mand, for the time being, devolved upon Birney. In his new position, he placed Sweitzer on his left and Tilton on his right. Here again, for a time, the battle raged with great fury. Attempts were again and again made to regain lost ground, and to repel the enemy's ad- vance. It was all in vain. Birney's original front had already been pierced ; and Barnes' brigades, after some stubborn fighting, had been compelled to fall back. Not yet, however, was the struggle to be abandoned. Hancock, made aware of the distressed condition of Birney, de- tached from his front Caldwell's splendid division, and sent it to his aid. Arrived on the already blood-stained wheat field, Caldwell pushed his men into action. Cross and Kelley were in advance, and were soon in the thick of the fight. The Confederates, as if gathering fresh strength, fell upon them with destructive fury. Both brigades were terribly pun- ished ; and the gallant Cross, whose bravery had been exhibited on many a battle-field, was killed. Caldwell then advanced his other two brigades, those of Brooke and Zook. At this moment, as one has put it, the ' hot battle boiled 763 and bubbled as though it were some great hell caldron.' Zook fell, mortally wounded, as he led his men into action. Brooke was more fortunate. He ad- vanced gallantly against the enemy, ami drove him from a strong position which he held under cover of the woods. Cald- well's troops performed deeds of valor ; and, for a moment or two, it seemed as if the tide of battle would be turned. But no. The Confederates come rushing forward in tremendous force, through the opening made at the Peach Orchard, and, falling upon him with resistless energy, envelop his right and penetrate almost to his rear. After losing one-half of his men, Caldwell, like Birney and Barnes, is compelled to retire. The victo- rious Confederates now rush through the woods, fall upon Sweitzer, who has joined in this last attack, and hurl him before them. Ayres has just come up, with two brigades of regulars, from the Fifth corps. In their onward and triumphant rush, the Confederates strike his right and rear and almost completely envelop him. It was only with great difficulty, and after much sacrifice, that he was able to fight his way back to his original line of battle. Ayres was thus made to share the fate of Birney, of Barnes, and of Caldwell. The Confederates have now reached the base of the hill. Here they halt, and well they may ; for the heights are crowned by the battalions of the Fifth and Sixth corps. Disorganized by their advance, and suffering terribly, al- though for the moment victorious, they hesitate as to what to do. The moment is opportune for a parting blow. Craw- ford, now on the heights with his brave Pennsylvania reserves, sees his opportu- nity, and turns it to account. Stealing down the heights, he flings his men on the triumphant but now baffled foe. A ?6 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 32 severe struggle ensues for the possession of a stone wall. For a time, the battle rages at this point again with tremendous fury. The Confederates, eager to hold the position, offer a most stubborn re- sistance ; but they are ultimately driven back to the woods, beyond the wheat field, where they rest for the night. " Such was the end of the struggle, which for hours raged so fiercely on Sickles' left and left centre. The posi- tion held by that wing at the commence- ment of the contest, and which had been defended by Birney with so much valor, had been finally abandoned. In the original disposition of Sickles' troops, as we have seen already, Humphrey's divis- ion, with the brigade of Graham, held the right, above and beyond the salient, and facing to the west. Humphrey's position had been peculiar from the commencement of the fight. It will be remembered that on his right, in con- sequence of the advanced position of the corps, there was a gap of nearly half a mile between him and Hancock. For a time, after the action commenced on the left, Humphrey was left unassailed. When Birney was sorely pressed, and when the combined strength of Hood and McLaws was brought to bear upon the salient at the Peach Orchard, Hum- phrey was able to send assistance to the sister brigade. The Peach Orchard had been taken ; the Confederates had rushed through the gap in the National line; Birney had fallen back to the new posi- tion at the wheat field, where, reinforced first by Caldwell and then by Ayres, the tide of battle again surged and rolled like a tempest-tossed sea; but still Hum- phrey was unassailed. Why was this ? Let us see. In the disposition of his troops, as has already been noticed, Gen- eral Lee had so far extended his right beyond the National left, that it was able to overlap or outflank the latter by at least two brigades. The result of this was that Longstreet's left was pushed so far to the right that Humphrey was con- fronted not by Longstreet, but by Hill. Lee's instructions to Hill were that, in the first stages of the contest at least, he should content himself with making demonstrations against the enemy's centre, so as to prevent reinforcements being drawn to the assistance of either the right wing or the left. Thus it was that, while the battle raged most fiercely on his left, Humphrey remained un- touched. About six o'clock in the evening, and when Birney was about to fall back from his position facing south — a position which was nearly at right angles with the division on his right — Birney notified Humphrey that Sickles had been wounded, and that he was in command of the corps, and requested him also to fall back, so as to connect with his right. This meant that Hum- phrey, while holding on to the crest on the Emmettsburg road with his right, should swing back with his left, so as to make change of front, and at the same time keep the line intact. It was a most difficult operation; but it was performed with skill and success. As the im- mediate result of this manoeuvre, Hum- phrey's right was thrown entirely out of position; and when, finally, the whole left, and the troops which had been sent in support, were driven back, and the forces of Hood and McLaws came rush- ing through the gap thus created, his right was fearfully exposed, his own coolness and intrepidity alone saving it from complete destruction. Hancock — who was now in command of Sickles' corps, as well as his own — ever watch- ful, and seeing the exposed condition of THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 765 Humphrey's right, sent to its support two regiments, the Fifteenth Massachu- setts and the Eighty-second New York from Gibbon's division; and to protect him on the left, he pushed forward Willard's brigade, of Hays' division. At the same time that the triumphant Confederates, having pierced Sickles' line, were falling heavily on the left, Hill, abandoning his passive attitude, came down like a thunderbolt on the right. Humphrey was thus caught be- tween two fires. ' I was attacked,' he says, 'on my flanks, as well as on my front. I never have been under a hotter artillery and musketry fire combined. I may have been under a hotter musketry fire. For a moment, I thought the day was lost. I did not order my troops to fall back rapidly because, so far as I could see, the crest in my rear was vacant, and I knew that when troops got to moving rapidly, it was exceedingly difficult to stop them just when you wanted to stop them. At that moment, I received an order to fall back to the Round Top Ridge, which I did slowly, suffering a very heavy loss.' " Humphrey, in truth, was for some time in most difficult and critical cir- cumstances. His division, when left alone by the retirement of Birney, bore a general resemblance to the one side and the two ends of a parallelogram ; and, upon both his front and flanks, the enemy was rushing with demon-like fury. The attacking party, consisting of the brigades of Wilcox, Perry and Wright, from Anderson's fresh division, had not been engaged in the previous struggles of the day, having been held in readi- ness for this supreme effort, when the proper time should come. Humphrey was most savagely attacked by Wright ; but he cautiously retired his men until he reached the ridge in his rear, which was still, in consequence of the original mistake of Sickles, imperfectly protected. So fierce were the attacks, and so great was the pressure, that he was compelled to leave behind him three of his guns, the horses having been killed. Back to the base of the hill and up the crest he was compelled to move, the enemy still pressing heavily on his front. Wilcox and Wright were both well advanced. Cemetery Ridge, it will be remembered, is at this point slightly depressed. It was also, as we have pointed out al- ready, in consequence of the advanced position taken by Sickles, but imperfectly defended. Determined to effect a lodg- ment here, the Confederate battalions rush up the hill, past the National guns, and threaten to take possession of the ridge. A little more success, especially if well supported, and they will be almost masters of the position. Their apparent success, however, is to be their ruia. They are now within range of the musketry of the Second corps, which lies concealed behind a stone wall. The men of the Second rise before them like an apparition. The stone wall seems to blaze. The Confederates, reeling and staggering under the terrific volley, fall back, leaving their comrades in slaughtered heaps on the blood-stained ground. " Not yet, however, was the contest abandoned. The Confederates seemed confident in the thought that the attack would become general, and that thus they would be able to hold their ad- vanced position. In this expectation, they were doomed to disappointment. Posey and Mahone, of Anderson's divis- ion, did not advance. Pender's divis- ion and that of Hcth to his left re- mained inactive. Perry's brigade had 766 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 been driven back ; but the brigades of Wilcox and Wright kept their face to the foe, and performed prodigies of valor. But it was all in vain. The National position was momentarily gain- ing strength. Meade had been busy filling up the gap between the corps of Hancock on the right and that of Sykes on the left. Both those corps were drawn upon largely to meet the emer- gency. A large portion of the First corps and the greater portion of the Twelfth were brought over from the right, to strengthen the weak and men- aced left. Sedgwick's troops, too, al- though weary and footsore with the long march which they had just accom- plished, gladly responded to the call which was made upon them, and came to the front. The series of charges and counter-charges, made at this part of the line for the possession of the ridge, gave to some of the regiments and brig- ades splendid opportunities for winning distinction. The First Minnesota, com- ing up at a critical and most opportune moment, performed gallant service, and mightily increased its already rapidly rising reputation. The same was true, to a greater or less degree, of the Thir- teenth Vermont, of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth and One Hundred and Fiftieth Pennsylvania regiments; and Lockwood's Maryland brigade, of Ru- ger's division, of the Twelfth corps, on that second day of July, on the National left, covered itself with glory. The Con- federates had now well-nigh exhausted themselves. Their losses had been heavy. Some of their best and most daring officers had fallen. Barksdale, the most impetuous leader of the bold- est attack which had been made in that direction, was lying, in his death-agony, inside the National lines. Gathering up his strength for another and closing effort, Hancock fell upon the persistent foe with tremendous energy. It was all that was needed. The Confederates were driven back, with great loss and in much confusion ; and, as it was now dusk, the fighting ceased. In this final charge, Humphrey's little band took part; and the general had the satisfaction of recap- turing and bringing back his lost guns. Thus ended the great struggle on the National left. The position held by Sickles in the forenoon was lost ; but Little Round Top had been secured, and the enemy had failed to effect a lodg- ment on Cemetery Hill. What the Con- federates had now won was but sorry compensation for what they had lost. Before morning, Little Round Top will be rendered all but impregnable ; and what with the shattered remnants of Sickles' divisions, and the divisions of Doubleday and Robinson, from the First corps, and a powerful detachment, under Williams, from the Twelfth, a new line will be formed where the original line ought to have been, and the National front will be closed. " Such was the issue of events on the National left. Let us now turn our attention to the National right. This position, it will be remembered, was held by Slocum, by Wadsworth's divis- ion, of the First corps, and by How- ard, and in the order named, Slocum being on Culp's Hill, at the extreme right. Opposed to these, on the Con- federate left, were the forces of General Ewell. According to the order given by General Lee to his corps command- ers, Ewell, when Longstreet had fallen on the National left, was to attack ' directly the high ground on the ene- my's right, which had already been ' partially fortified.' For some unex- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 76; plained reason, the attack was not made until about six o'clock. During the two hours which had elapsed since the fighting commenced on the left, Meade, discovering no signs of any aggressive movement on the part of Ewell, sent detachment after detachment to the as- sistance of the left. The whole of the Twelfth corps, with the exception of Greene's brigade, of Geary's division, had thus been hurried away. The re- sult was that the forces on the right were greatly reduced, and that the po- sition was comparatively unprotected. But for the nerve of Greene, this unfor- tunate arrangement might have proved ruinous to the National army, and de- cided the fortunes of the day. Between Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill there is a little ravine or depression which marks the end of the one hill and the beginning of the other. To the left of this ravine, and extending around the breast of Cemetery Hill, was Howard's corps, under cover of the stone wall, the summit of the hill being crowned by the batteries of Wiedrich and Rick- etts. To the right of the ravine, and on the extreme left of Culp's Hill, guarding the ravine and the approaches from the town, was Stevens' Maine battery, which had done some excellent work during the action of the first day. On the right of the battery was the breastwork which had been thrown up by Wadsworth, and which, being carried around the hill, was taken up by Greene. Greene had re- fused his right and carried his breast- work back so as to protect his flank. On Benner's Hill, a little to the north- east of Culp's Hill, Ewell had planted his advance batteries. "About six o'clock, the Confederate guns on Benner's Hill opened a tre- mendous fire. The National guns were quickly got in range ; and an eye- witness has told us that in about twenty minutes the batteries on Benner's Hill were ' knocked into pi! The sun was already near his setting, and the fire of the Confederate guns was noticeably slackening, when Ewell pushed forward from the town the two divisions of Early and Johnson — the former on Cemetery, the latter on Culp's Hill. Early's columns consisted of the brigades of Hays and Hoke, and were headed by the famous Louisiana Tigers. On they came in magnificent array. A terrible reception they knew awaited them ; but there was neither fear in their looks nor trembling in their footsteps. When within eight hundred yards, Stevens opened upon them with all his guns, Wiedrich and Ricketts speedily joining in the chorus. Quickly wheeling into line, they dash up the hill, a very tempest of shrapnell and canister falling upon them, and ploughing huge gaps in their un- masked front. Fearless of the death- dealing batteries, and heedless of the cries of agony which come from com- rades falling by their side, on they press. They are now within musket-range of the stone wall. W r hile the batteries arc being fired at the rate of four shots a minute, Howard's men leap from their concealment, and pour volley after volley into their already decimated ranks. On their left, and at the centre, the Con- federates are beaten back. Their right, however, pushes on with a stubbornness which is heroic, and with an energy which is irresistible. With one wild leap, and uttering their accustomed yell, they clear the stone walls. Nationals and Confederates are now mixed up in inextricable confusion. Stevens, fearful lest he should be killing friend as well as fo?, is compelled to cease firing. 768 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book li., c. 32 Wiedrich's battery is overrun, his sup- ports and his own men being swept away as with the force of a whirlwind. At Rickett's battery, a tremendous struggle takes place. It is man to man — hand to hand. Bayonets are crossed ; guns are clubbed, and when these fail, hand- spikes, rammers, stones are freely used. ' Death on our own State soil, rather than give up the guns ! ' — such was the cry of the brave cannoneers. "The situation really had become critical. Howard's men had been broken and demoralized by the fierceness of the onset. At this critical moment, help arrived. Carroll's brigade, voluntarily sent by Hancock when he heard the firing, rushed upon the scene. The Con- federates, surprised by this fresh opposi- tion, fell back in confusion; and Ricketts' men, again at their guns, gave them a parting salute in the form of double- shotted canister. Such was the end of Early's grand charge, led by the famous, and hitherto invincible, Louisiana tigers. The tigers went back bravely, 600 strong, and were never afterwards known as a separate organization. " While this daring and desperate but unsuccessful effort was being made for the possession of Cemetery Hill, a no less daring and equally desperate effort was made for the possession of Culp's Hill, on the extreme right of the Na- tional line. The attack was made, as we have already indicated, by Johnson's division, of Ewcll's corps, and was led by the redoubtable ' Stonewall brigade.' The position, as we have seen, was held by Wadsworth's division, of the First corps, and by Greene's one brigade of the Twelfth. In the absence of the greater portion of the Twelfth corps, the works which had here been thrown up, and which were of considerable strength, were peculiarly at the mercy of a daring antagonist. Sweeping across Rock- creek, which at this season of the year is easily fordable, the attacking columns, fired with the spirit of their former leader, rushed through the woods, which spread out from the base of the hill and down towards the creek. As yet, they have encountered no resistance ; for the Na- tional skirmishers, thrown out towards the front, yield and fall back at the first touch. They are now in full view, and within musket-range of the breastworks, behind which Greene and Wadsworth are intrenched. The breastworks blaze; and there is heard the sharp, clear rat- tling, as of thousands of musket shots. Volley succeeds volley with amazing rapidity; and before this murderous fire, the Confederate battalions for a moment recoil. Discovering that the breast- works to Greene's right are unoccupied, they make another tremendous rush, and, almost unresisted, gain a foothold within the National lines. The burden of the attack now falls upon Greene. This veteran soldier had but few men ; yet he had a brave heart and an enduring spirit ; and happily, too, he had strongly secured his right flank by a powerful earthwork. On this point, the Confed- erate leader concentrates his strength. Assault after assault is made, but in vain. Greene makes a gallant resistance, repelling every advance of the foe with tremendous loss; and Wadsworth, no longer so sorely pressed on his front, comes nobly to his aid. Such was the state of things when darkness fell upon the scene, and Ewell, happily for the National army, discontinued the contest. Greene still held his position ; and John- son's men occupied the vacated breast- works. So ended the second day's fight- ing at Gettysburg. Both sides had 49 (769) HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II.. c. 32 suffered severely. General Meade lost 10,000 men. The Confederate loss must have been much greater. " General Lee was not dissatisfied with the result of the day's fighting. It was his belief that, from the success which had attended the efforts of the day, ' he would ultimately be able to dislodge the enemy.' It was his determination, there- fore, to continue the assault next day. Nor, it must be admitted, was General Lcc without good reason for so regard- ing the situation. Longstreet, if he had not been completely successful, had driven the Nationals before him, and oc- cupied the whole front held by Sickles and his Third corps at the commence- ment of the fight ; Ewell, having thrust his extreme left inside the breastworks on the National right, held a position from which, if he was not driven, he might be able to take Meade's entire line in reverse ; and although the losses on the National side could not be greater than his own, they had been so heavy as to warrant the opinion that.they would have a demoralizing influence on the troops. On the whole, Lee was not to be blamed if he arrived at the conclusion that fortune was on his side. If he had known more, he would have known that the battle was lost when Ewell allowed the darkness to interrupt the *fighting ; for, knowing what we know now, there is scarcely room for doubt that, if that general had pushed his advantage, he might have played havoc with the trains, and forced the whole National army into an inglorious retreat. As it was, Lee's inferences were more reasonable than just or correct: for the position gained in front of the National left was a gain more apparent than real ; and, before the morning light, the front of the left will be restored, and made strong and secure in what was intended to be its original position, and the troops with- drawn on the previous day, unwisely, and at serious peril, will be massed again on the exposed and almost de- fenceless right. It was not, therefore, without good reason that, while Lee was counting with confidence on victory on the morrow, Meade and his generals, in council assembled, should have resolved to abide in their position, and to ' fight it out at Gettysburg.' "During the darkness, Johnson's force, which had gained a position of advantage, held close to Culp's Hill. His numbers were largely increased; and the position was strengthened. Meade, however, determined to con- tinue the fight, was not idle. A large number of guns were got into position, so as to bear upon the point entered and held by the enemy. Geary's division, in obedience to orders, returned to occupy the abandoned works. When moving towards them, all unsuspicious of dan- ger, the advance was suddenly arrested by a volley from behind a stone wall. It was not until then that Geary became aware that the works were in the posses- sion of the enemy. He then took posi- tion on the right of Greene ; and his men, disturbed only by the occasional firing of skirmishers, slept on their arms. Later, Williams' division, of the same corps, now under Ruger — Williams hav- ing assumed chief command — came up, and was posted on the flank and rear of the enemy. "As early as three o'clock on the morning of the 3d, there were signs of activity in the enemy's front. It was evident that an attack was intended ; and Geary, having been informed by General Kane, who commanded his first brigade, of what was going on, resolved to seize THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 7/1 whatever advantage might be gained by- opening the battle himself. His men were aroused ; and at twenty minutes before four o'clock, he gave the signal for attack by discharging his pistol. The battle, at once became general. A fear- ful struggle ensued. A heavy artillery fire was opened at once on the enemy's position. But, as the ground was rugged and broken and also covered with trees, and as every advantage was taken of places of shelter and concealment, the fight partook very much of the character of sharpshooting on a grand scale. As the battle progressed, the contestants got intermingled ; and it became more and more difficult to use the artillery. The Confederates not only held their position, but charged again and again, in heavy masses, on the National lines, only, however, to be repulsed with tremendous loss. The slaughter was terrible. The sun arose ; the day ad- vanced ; the air became clouded with dust and smoke ; the heat became almost intolerable ; but still the battle raged. At last there is a lull in the long-continued tempest. Then, sud- denly, there is a fierce yell from thou- sands of throats ; and Ewell's men, hav- ing gathered up their strength for a final effort, are seen rushing forward with tremendous fury. They are allowed to come within easy musket-range, when the men in blue, springing to their feet, pour in upon them a deliberate volley. It was the last charge on this part of the line. Discomfited and discouraged, torn and bleeding, their dead and wounded companions piled in heaps on the ground where they fell, the survivors drew back through the woods towards Rock creek, fighting, as they retired, with a courage which commanded the admiration of their foes. Shouts of victory now filled the air. ' Men,' says one who was present, and shared in the triumph, ' cheered themselves hoarse, laughed, rolled themselves on the ground, and threw their caps high in air, while others shook hands with com- rades, and thanked God that the Star corps had again triumphed.' Geary, not disposed to allow the Confederates to reform, as soon as this charge was repelled, made a vigorous countercharge ; and the enemy yielding easily, the breast- works were reoccupied, and the riyht flank secured. Thus ended the fi and left, Pickett's brave Virginians were pressing forward vigorously towards Gibbon's front and were about to fall with all their weight on Owen's brigade, now temporarily commanded by General Webb. This brigade comprised the Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania — Owen's own — composed mostly of Irishmen, re- nowned for their gallantry in the Penin- sula ; the Seventy-first, originally re- cruited and led by Baker, who perished at Ball's Bluff, and now commanded by Colonel R. Penn Smith ; and the Seventy- second, commanded by Colonel Baxter. It was a veteran brigade, and was now to be sorely tested. General Gibbon, to allow the artillery to play upon the ad- vancing column with grape-shot, had ordered this brigade to fall back behind the batteries. The Sixty-ninth and the Seventy-first took position behind a low stone wall, with a slight breastwork in front : the Seventy-second was behind the crest, some sixty paces in the rear, and was so placed as to be able to fire over the heads of those in front. In spite of the dreadful fire of artillery and musketry which was mowing down their ranks, Pickett's men rush bravely on. They are now close to the stone wall. The two National regiments in front yield and fall back to the regiment in the rear. Webb and his officers are at hand ; the retreating regiments are quickly rallied and re-formed ; and the second line is held. But the Confederates have pushed themselves over the breastworks, and planted their battle-flags on the wall. The struggle now becomes fierce and terrific in the extreme. It is a hand-to- hand conflict, man facing man, and fight- ing with the energy of despair. The clothes of the men are actually being burned by the powder of the exploding refusing to retire, are clubbed and bay- oneted at their guns. Pickett, however, is now left entirely alone. The forces which were intended to cover his left have been defeated, captured, or driven from the field. Wilcox, whose duty it was to come up and cover his right, has failed to advance. The right of his own division has been badly cut up and de- stroyed. Hancock, who this day revealed all the qualities of a great commander in actual conflict, now massed his men on the point which was in danger. Hall and Harrow, who had now no longer an enemy in their front, were brought over with their brigades to reinforce the centre. The Nineteenth Massachusetts, Colonel Devereux, and Mallou's Forty- second New York, both of Gates' brig- ade, of Doubleday's division, of the First corps, were moved in the same direction. Stannard, at the same time, moved for- ward two of his Vermont regiments to strike the enemy on the right flank. The situation, Hancock tells us, had now be- come very peculiar. ' The men of all the brigades had, in some measure, lost their regimental organization, but, indi- vidually, they were firm. The ambition of individual commanders to cover the point penetrated by the enemy, the smoke of the battle and the intensity of the en- gagement caused this confusion. The point, however, was covered. In regular formation, our line would have stood four ranks deep.' Pickett's men were now pressed on all sides. The colors of the different National regiments were well advanced. Cheered by the words, and fired by the example of their officers, the men pressed bravely forward. It is the climax of the fight ; but the end is at hand. Pickett's men had done their best and their utmost — they had fought cartridges ; and the National cannoneers, like true heroes ; but now, utterly over 7/6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. powered, and reduced to the last stage of desperation, they give up the fight. Flinging their arms from them, many of them raise their hands in token of sur- render ; others fall upon the ground to escape the destructive fire ; the remainder seek safety in flight. " In this last struggle, Gibbon's divis- ion took 12 colors and 2,500 prisoners. So far, Hancock had captured 27 battle- fl igs and 4,500 prisoners. It was a magnificent trophy. The losses on both sides were very heavy. The face of the hill and the low ground was literally covered with the dead and wounded. In no previous battle had the officers suf- fered so severely. On the National side, large numbers had been struck down, WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK. Generals Gibbon and Hancock being among the wounded. The Confederates left on the field fourteen of their field- officers, only one of that rank escaping unhurt; and, of the three brigade com- manders, of Pickett's division, Garnett was killed, Armitage fell within the National lines, fatally wounded, and Kemper was carried off the field, dangerously hurt. * * " What remained of the broken and shattered Confederate columns, after hav- ing been driven across the lower ground and terribly punished by the National artillery, was at length covered by Wright's brigade, which had been moved forward by Lee for that purpose, and was thus finally brought back within the lines on Seminary Ridge. Lee did not choose to resume the attack ; and Meade did not follow up the victory. The armies, when night came, had resumed their respective positions on the opposing heights. Thus was fought, for three weary days, and thus was ended, the famous battle of Gettysburg — 'the greatest in respect of its proportions, and the weightiest in respect of the issues involved, of all the actions waged during four years, between the mighty rival armies of the East.' The losses alone entitle it to rank with the first-class battles of history. The Confederate loss reached the enormous aggregate of 36,000 men, of whom 5,000 were kilied, and 23,000 wounded. The National loss was 23,000, of whom 2,834 were killed, 13,733 wounded, and 6,643 missing. * * " Lee's disappointment, by the com- plete failure of his attack on the 3d, must indeed have been great. His dream of invasion was at an end. A second time he had entered the Northern States in triumph. A second time he had been compelled to abandon his purpose, and to fall back towards Richmond. This time, he had confidently believed that victory was within his grasp. After an effort so mighty and so persistent, and after a failure so decided, he could hardly hope for another opportunity. One of his colonels, who was present at his headquarters when, on the third day, the attacking columns broke and fell back in wild disorder, says, speaking of Lee: ' If Longstreet's behavior was admirable, that of General Lee was perfectly sub- lime. He was engaged in rallying and THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN 777 encouraging the broken troops, and was riding about, a little in front of the wood, quite alone — his staff being engaged in a similar manner, further to the rear. His face, which is always placid and cheerful, did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, care or annoy- ance ; and he was addressing to every soldier a few words of encouragement, such as, 'All this will come out right in the end: we will talk it over afterwards; but, meanwhile, all good men must rally.' lie had words of kindness for the wounded, many of whom, as they were carried past, took off their hats and cheered him. 'Wc cannot expect,' he said, 'always to win victories.' To Wil- cox, when he came up with his shattered division, he said, 'All this has been my fault; it is I who have lost this battle." Imboden has preserved for us a touching picture of the general, as he saw him about one o'clock on the morning of the 4th of July. He had been sent for by Lee, who directed him to wait for him at his own headquarters. When Lee joined him, there was not even a sentinel on duty, and no one of his staff was about. ' The moon was high in the heavens, shedding a flood of silvery light, almost as bright as day, upon the scene. When he approached and saw us, he spoke, reined up his horse, and essayed to dismount. The effort to do so betrayed so much physical exhaustion that I stepped forward to assist him; but before I reached the saddle, he had alighted. He threw his arm across his saddle to rest himself, and, fixing his eyes upon the ground, leaned in silence on his equally weary horse, the two forming a striking group, as motionless as a statue. The moon shone full upon his massive features, and revealed an ex- pression of sadness I had never seen upon that fine face before, in any of the vicissitudes of the war through which he had passed. I waited for him to speak until the silence became painful and em- barrassing, when, to break it and change the current of his thoughts, I remarked, in a sympathetic tone, and in allusion to his great fatigue : " General, this has been a hard day on you." This attracted his attention. He looked up and replied, mournfully: "Yes, it has been a sad, sad day to us," and immediately relapsed into his thoughtful mood and attitude.' A little later, he turned to Imboden, and, straightening himself to his full height, with energy and excitement in his man- ner, and in a voice tremulous with emo- tion, said: 'General, I never saw troops behave more magnificently than Pickett's division of Virginians did to-day in their grand charge upon the enemy. And if they had been supported, as they ought to have been — but, for some reason un- known to me, they were not — we would have held the position they so gloriously won, at such a fearful loss of noble lives, and the day would have been ours.' After a moment, he added, in a tone almost of agony: ' Too bad ! too bad ! ! oh, too bad ! ! ! ' Into the inner agonies of that noble soul, at that trying moment, it is not for us to penetrate. ' We must cro back to Virginia,' he soon afterwards exclaimed; and Imboden received his instructions to guard the trains in their backward course. " It was Lee's conviction that another attack would be beset with serious danger. He puts it mildly, in his re- port, when he says : ' The severe loss sustained by the army, and the reduction of its ammunition, rendered another attempt to dislodge the enemy unad- visable.' He, therefore, made immediate preparations for a retreat. Ewell was HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 77* drawn back, on the morning of the 4th, from the base of Culp's Hill and from Gettysburg; and a strong line of works was thrown from the seminary towards the northwest ; while another line was formed on the right flank, per- pendicular with the general front, and extending back as far as Marsh creek. In this position he remained over the 4th, burying his dead, sending off the wounded, not disposed to resume the aggressive, but, according to good and reliable authority, not unwilling to be attacked. The day was similarly spent by the National army. It had been Lee's intention to retire his whole army on the night of the 4th.- But a severe storm had come on shortly after midday; and the rain fell in torrents during the afternoon, and continued far into the night. The condition of the roads made a rapid retreat impossible. It was not, therefore, until the forenoon of Sunday, the 5th, that Ewell's corps, which brought up the rear, left its position near Gettysburg. After a difficult and toil- some march, by the Chambersburg and Fairfield roads, through South Moun- tain, the Confederate army reached Hagerstown, on the afternoon of the 6th and the morning of the 7th of July. "As soon as the Confederates had abandoned their position at Gettysburg, General Meade made preparations to follow up the retreat. There were two courses open : he might make a direct pursuit, pass through the South Moun- tain in their rear, and press them down the Cumberland Valley ; or he might make a flank movement by the east side of South Mountain, defile through the Boonsboro' Passes, and either head off the enemy or take him in flank. Sedgwick's corps, the freshest in the army, was ordered to follow the enemy Book II, c 32 by the Fairfield road, and harass his rear. On the evening of the 6th, Sedg- wick overtook the Confederates at the Fairfield Pass ; but they were so strongly posted that he deemed it unadvisuble to attack. Meanwhile, Meade had made up his mind to pursue the other route; and Sedgwick was recalled. General French, who since the evacuation of Harper's Ferry had been occupying Frederick, was thereupon ordered to seize the lower passes of South Mountain in advance, and also to repossess himself of Harper's Ferry. All this he did ; and, in addition, by pushing forward a cavalry force, he succeeded in destroying a Confederate pontoon bridge which, at that point, had been thrown across the Potomac. When Lee's army reached Williamsport, the river was still greatly swollen, and the pontoon bridge had been destroyed. On the 12th, when Meade came up with his whole army, Lee had taken a strong position on the Potomac, extending from Williamsport to Falling Waters, and had thrown up intrenchments along his whole line. Meade had once more an opportunity of striking the enemy in what seemed advantageous circumstances. But the reasons which prevailed and prevented an attack after the battle of the 3d, pre- vailed again, and prevented an attack on the 1 2th. On the 13th, Lee's engineers had succeeded in throwing over another pontoon bridge ; and the waters had fallen so much that, at a certain point, they were fordable. By the aid of the bridge and the ford, the Confederate army was safely pushed across to the southern side of the Po- tomac. Meade crossed the river im- mediately afterwards ; but Lee, still re- fusing battle, fell back to the banks of the Rapidan, where the opposing armies THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 779 SJ^f " 1 TWS " 3S ' he Cnd ° f tHe I mSnCed WS retreat from Gettysburg Gettysburg campa.gn.- | Vicksburg was surrendcred to J am * MAP SHOWING VICKSBURG AND ITS APPROACHES. We turn once more to the progress capitulation, as before stated, with over of events in the West. On the 4th of 200 guns and near 30,000 prisoners, who July, 1863, the same day that Lee com- by the capitulation were paroled. This 780 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 32 was another loss the Confederates were ill able to repair. After the surrender of Vicksburg, efforts were no longer made to hold Port Hudson. This place was surrendered to the Federals on the 9th of July. The Mississippi river was now opened, and the Confederate States cut in twain by this high road, thus secured to the Federals. We left the armies of Rosecrans and Bragg at the close of the last year sullenly facing each other, after their direful con- flict at Murfreesboro'. Bragg fell back to Tullahoma, Tennessee, where he remained for some time. Rosecrans made no active movements until June, 1863. On his advance then made, Bragg continued to retire and fall back from place to place until he reached Georgia. There was no renewal of regular conflict be- tween these two armies until September. Rosecrans had been largely rein- forced ; and after Lee had taken his po- sition on the Rapidan, in Virginia, as stated, he ventured to weaken his force there to the extent of about 5,000 men, which he sent under Longstrect, to aid Bragg in repelling Rosecrans' further ad- vance. Soon after the arrival of this re- inforcement to Bragg the great battles of the Chickamauga were fought. The Federal forces amounted to not less than 55,000 men, while the Confeder- ates numbered not more than 40,000. These battles commenced on the morning of the 19th of September by an attack of the Confederates under Bragg, against the Federal army com- manded by Rosecrans. General Mc- Cook commanded the right wing of the Federals ; Thomas, the left ; and Crit- tenden held the centre. General Polk commanded the right wing of the Con- federates ; and Hood, the left. The first object of the Confederates was to turn the extreme left of the Federals, and thus gain the main road leading to Chatta- nooga. The conflict on the left wing of the Federals was severe and prolonged, but during the day the fighting became general all along the lines. Night closed without any material advantage on either side. Before the morning of the 20th, Thomas had received large reinforce- ments, and had strengthened his portion by hastily erected breastworks. The Confederates renewed the attack early on the 20th, against the Federal left and centre, and " the tide of battle ebbed and flowed throughout the day, with heavy losses on both sides, but without material advantage to either ; but Bragg was un- able to turn Thomas' flank and occupy the coveted passage to Chattanooga." Rosecrans had ordered, upon Thomas' call for aid, Negley's and Van Clcve's divisions from the right and centre. Wood was also directed to close up on Reynolds on the right centre, and Davis to close on Wood. These orders, by some mishap, were not carried out as designed. Wood supposed he was to support Reynolds, and attempted to do so, and by this movement opened " a gap in the line of battle, which being quickly perceived by Longstrect, a decisive charge was made, striking Davis in flank and rear, and throwing the whole division into confusion. Pouring in through this gap, the Confederates cut off the Federal right and centre, and attacking Sheri- dan's division, which was advancing to the support of the left, compelled it, after a gallant struggle, to give way." * The Federal army now, on the right and part of the centre, was broken and put in confusion, and flew in disorder to Chattanooga with very heavy loss. Rosecrans being unable to join Thomas, * bee Johnson's Cyclopaedia. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. proceeded to Chattanooga, to put that place in a state of defence, in case there should be an entire rout of his army, as 78: tain, but on his receiving large reinforce- ments in the evening, Longstreet desisted from further aggressive movements and MAP ILLUSTRATING THE CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA CAMPAII seemed imminent. General Thomas still I retired. During the night Thomas also held his position. His flanks were sup- abandoned his position and withdrew ported by the lower spurs of the moun- , to Chattanooga. The result of the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 782 two d iys' fighting was a great victory to the Confederates. It arrested the proposed advance of the Federal army into Georgia. The loss on both sides in wounded, killed, and prisoners, was very great; according to best reports, 18,000 Federals, 1 6,000 Confederates. The Confederates captured 36 guns, 8,500 small-arms, and large quantities of ac- coutrements. Beyond the arrest of the Federal army in its progress into Georgia, and the capture of guns, small-arms, and munitions of war, this great victory was but of little avail to the Confederate side. Chattanooga and East Tennessee — the great prizes at stake — were still in posses- sion of the Federals. The leading Gen- erals on the Federal side were Rose- crans, Thomas, McCook, Crittenden (the three latter commanding corps), Rey- nolds, Baird, Brannan, and Neglcy under Thomas; G. VV. Johnson, Sheridan and Davis under McCook ; Palmer, Woods, and Van Cleve under Crittenden. The principal commanding generals on the Confederate side were Bragg, Longstreet, Polk, D. H. Hill, Hood, and Benning. Among the heavy losses of officers and men on the Confederate side none per- haps was lamented more than the gallant Major Peyton Colquitt, son of the for- mer United States Senator from Georgia and brother of the present Governor of that State. Rosecrans fell back to Chattanooga, and sought refuge in his fortifications. Bragg confronted him on Missionary Ridge for some time. Grant was soon put at the head of the southwestern Federal forces, and brought large reinforcements from the West to relieve Chattanooga, now in a state of siege. These reinforcements were brought within the neighborhood of Chattanooga and placed in a position so Rook II, c. 32 skilfully as that their presence and movements escaped the observation of the Confederate scouts. In the meantime Bragg's forces were greatly weakened by sending Long- street's corps on an expedition against Knoxville. This was the situation of affairs when, on the morning of the 25th of November, the Federals commenced their attack on Bragg's weakened lines, which ended in the memorable battles of Missionary Ridge. These will ever stand among the most heroic and deci- sive of the war. Of these conflicts, Wil- son, the Federal historian heretofore quoted from so copiously, says : " Far almost as the eye could reach, the sun fell upon the compact lines of polished steel. In front, towering up the huge form of Missionary Ridge, i'.j precipitous sides defying attack, its sum- mit swarming with armed men, and crowned with artillery ; away to the right, and standing out clear and well defined, the bold outlines of Lookout Mountain ; Hooker's men spread out in the valley below to the right, Sherman's massed in compact phalanx above to the left, while Thomas' well-trained bands, eager and ready for the fray, are gathered together in close array around the head- quarters of the chief — such was the sight which met the eye of the beholder, as he stood on Orchard Knob, on the morn- ing of the day which was to witness the final struggle, and the crowning National victory at Chattanooga. It was a mag- nificent spectacle,' and one which it rarely falls to the lot of mortals to witness. "At an early hour the preparations were complete. The sun had arisen, however, before the bugle sounded ' For- ward ! ' Hooker had received orders to move on the Confederate left ; Sherman was to move against the right ; while the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 733 centre, under the immediate eye of Gen- eral Grant, was to advance later in the day, and whenever the developments made on either wing should justify the attack. Shortly after sunrise, Hooker, who has left a small force on Lookout Mountain, is seen, with the mass of his troops, moving down the eastern slope of the mountain, and sweeping across the valley. Sherman moves at the same time on the Confederate right ; and it soon begins to be evident that BrasfG'. believing that the main attack is to be made on his right, is massing his troops on Sherman's front. A fierce artillery duel at once commenced between Or- chard Knob and Missionary Ridge. Hooker, pressing on towards Rossville Gap, encountered an unexpected obstacle at Chattanooga creek. The bridge had been destroyed by the Confederates as they retired from the valley in the early morning. It was an unfortunate circum- stance, necessitating as it did a delay of three hours. As soon as the bridge was completed, the troops were pushed over. Rossville Gap was quickly occupied ; and Hooker, moving Osterhaus along the east side of the ridge, Geary at its base, with the batteries on the west side, and Cruft on the ridge itself, marched northward, driving the enemy before him. The Confederates did not yield without offering a stubborn resistance. It was found impossible, however, to withstand the energy and dash of the National troops. The skirmishers were speedily driven in and pressed back upon the main body. Cruft, now forming his column in battle-line, fell with all his weight on the front line of the enemy, Geary and Osterhaus, on both flanks, opening a murderous fire. The fighting continued till sunset, when the Confed- erates, having been driven steadily back- ward from one strong position to another, although they resisted nobly, broke and fled in wild confusion. The fugitives who sought safety by running down the eastern slope fell into the hands of Os- terhaus ; those who tried to escape by the western slope fell into the hand-, of Geary ; while those who retreated along the ridge ran helplessly into the ranks of Johnson's division of the Fourteenth corps, and were captured. Shortly after sunset, the victory on the National right was complete. * * * * '" Let us now see what was going on towards the left and at the centre. On the morning of the 25th, Sherman was in the saddle before it was light. During the night he had strongly intrenched his position. His order of battle was similar to that of Hooker. General Corse, with three of his own regiments and one of Lightburn's, moved forward on the crest of the hill ; General Morgan L. Smith, with his command, advanced along the eastern base; while Colonel Loomis, supported by the two reserve brigades of General John E. Smith, ad- vanced along the western base. The brigades of Cockercll and Alexander, and a portion of Lightburn's, remained behind, holding the position first occu- pied. Almost from the commencement of the forward movement, the advancing columns were exposed to the guns of the enemy. Without experiencing any very great inconvenience, Sherman's troops descended the hill on which they had been drawn up in battle order, crossed the valley in their front, ;\\u\ rushed up the opposite hill, which they seized and held. At this point it was discovered that the ground to be trav- ersed was not SO free from obstructions as had been supposed. It was not a continuous ridge, but rather a chain of 784 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II.. c. 32 hills, each well wooded and fortified. This secondary crest, on which Corse had obtained a foothold, was commanded by a higher hill, and thus exposed to a plunging fire. Between these hills was a deep gorge, through which passed the railroad tunnel, and in which the Confed- erate commander sheltered his masses until they could be brought into action. Corse called forward his reserves, and asked for reinforcements. The ridge, however, was narrow; and as the enemy, from his superior position, could bring to bear upon the assaulting columns a destructive, enfilading fire of artillery and musketry, it was not well to crowd the men. A severe hand-to-hand con- test ensued, and continued for more than an hour. The tide of battle ebbed and flowed, victory now leaning to the one side and now to the other. " It was a desperate grapple, and the loss of life was terrible. No decided progress was being made on either side. Corse found it impossible to carry the works in his front ; the Confederates were equally unable to drive him from the position he had won. The columns which, under Loomis and Smith, moved along the sides of the ridge, encountering fewer difficulties, were attended with better success. Smith kept gaining ground on the left spur of Missionary Ridge, while Loomis on his side got abreast of the tunnel and the railroad embankment. The fire of the one ami the other, striking the Confederates on both Hanks, and slightly in rear of their front, had the effect of withdrawing attention, and thus to a certain extent of relieving the assaulting party on the crest of the hill. " It was now about three o'clock. The battle was raging with tremendous fury. Column after column of the enemy came streaming down upon Sherman's men, gun upon gun pouring upon them its concentrated shot from every hill and spur, as they vainly struggled in the valley and attempted to force their way to the further height. Neither, however, was gaining any advantage. Almost at the crisis of the fight, it seemed to the anxious watchers at Chattanooga as if Sherman was losing ground. There was, indeed, a backward movement. It had seemed to General J. E. Smith that Col- onel Wolcott, who now commanded on the crest — Corse having been wounded early in the day — was sorely pressed, and in danger of being overpowered. He therefore sent to his aid the two re- serve brigades of Runion and Mathias. Having crossed the intervening fields and climbed the hillside, in spite of a most destructive fire of artillery and musketry, they effected a junction with Wolcott. The ridge, however, being narrow, they were forced to take position on the western face of the hill, where, being exposed to attack on right and rear, the enemy, rushing from the tunnel gorge, fell upon them in overwhelming numbers, driving them down the hill and back to the lower end of the field. There they were re-formed ; and the Confeder- ates, who had ventured to pursue, were struck heavily on their flank, and com- pelled to retire to the shelter of their works on the wooded hills. It was this backward movement of Smith's brigades which, being seen at Chattanooga, created the impression that a repulse had been sustained by the National left. Sherman has taken some pains to correct this false impression, and informs us that the ' real attacking columns of General Corse, General Loomis, and General Morgan L. Smith, were not repulsed,' but, on the contrary, held their ground, and strug- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 7»5 gled 'all day persistently, stubbornly, and well.' " Long and wearily had Sherman waited for the attack in the centre. An occasional shot from Orchard Knob, and some artillery and musketry fire, away in the direction of Lookout, were the only signs of activity in the National ranks on his right. It was not until shortly after three o'clock that he saw a white line of smoke in front of Orchard Knob — the line extending further and further to the right. It was evident that something decisive was happening. He had faith in the result; for he knew that, by his repeated and persistent at- tacks, he had compelled Bragg to con- centrate large masses of his troops on his own right. He had thus weakened the Confederate centre, and created the opportunity for Grant and Thomas. " During these hours of sore trial and deep anxiety, Grant's attention was quite as much directed to the left as was that of Sherman to the centre. Grant's head- quarters, as we have seen, were at Or- chard Knob. He had a commanding view of the entire battle-ground. He knew, that Bragg was concentrating on his own right, and, determined to pene- trate the National left and force his way to Chattanooga, was hurling against Sherman his well-disciplined legions in overwhelming masses. He feared lest his trusted lieutenant, sorely pressed, should be yielding to impatience, because of the continued inaction at the centre. But it was necessary to wait for Hooker, who, as has been stated, had been delayed three hours in reconstructing the bridge across Chattanooga creek. It was de- sirable, at least, that the Confederate left should be well engaged, as well as the Confederate right, before the decisive blow was dealt at the centre. With anyj his centre to 50 other commander on his left, Grant might have risked too much by leaving him so long, unaided or unrelieved, to struggle against the strong position and the ever- increasing numbers of the enemy. Grant, however, had not forgotten Shiloh. He remembered how, on that day, at the foot of the bridge over Snake creek, Sherman had stood like a wall of adamant, his men massed around him, and presenting to the almost triumphant foe what seemed a huge and solid shield of shining steel, effectually resisting, and ultimately turn- ing the tide of battle. What he had done then, he had, on many a battle-field since, proved his ability and willingness to do again. Grant was asking much from his lieutenant ; but he felt con- vinced that Sherman would not be found wanting. Meanwhile, he had the satis- faction of perceiving that his plan was working admirably. Bragg, completely out-generalled, was weakening his own centre, and preparing for him his oj tunity. "It was now half-past three o'clock. Grant was pacing to and fro on ' )r~ chard Knob. Concerned for the welfare of Sherman, seeing his opportunity rapidly ripening, and impatient to strike, yet unwilling by premature action to imperil the hoped-for and what seemed now the inevitable result, he kept turn- ing his eyes wistfully in the direction in which Hooker should make hi pearance. Still there were no signs of his coming. Hooker, as the r< knows, was successfully moving along the ridge and driving the enemy before him. But Grant was, as y t, ignorant at once of the cause of his delay, and of the progress he had made. I he opportune moment, however, had come. He saw that Bragg had greatly w eakened upport his right; and 786 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 32 having faith that Hooker must be close at hand, he gave Thomas the order to advance. The thunderbolt was hurled. The signal-guns were fired — one — two — three — four — five — six ; and the di- visions of Wood, Baird, Sheridan and Johnson, long since impatient of delay, advanced with firm and steady step. These were preceded by a double line of skirmishers, drawn mostly from the divisions of Wood and Sheridan. The orders were to carry the rifle-pits at the base of the ridge, and then to re-form and push their way to the summit. The whole movement was conducted with the regularity and precision of clock-work. The skirmishers dashed forward, the main body following within easy sup- porting distance. Missionary Ridge all at once seems ablaze. On all the forts and batteries the heavy guns open fire ; and from their hollow mouths they bel- low harsh thunder, and vomit forth their missiles of destruction. Full thirty guns are pouring shot and shell into the ad- vancing columns. Nothing, however, can cool the ardor or restrain the impet- uosity of the National soldiers. ' Roll- ing on the foe,' on moves this 'fiery mass of living valor.' The picture of the poet becomes here a living reality. The brigades of Hazel) and Willich are al- ready at the base of the mountain. Like ' bees out of a hive,' to use the expres- sive words of General Grant, the gray- coated Confederates are seen swarming out of the rifle-pits, and rushing up the hillside. Fired now with the wildest enthusiasm, the brave Nationals, scarcely taking time to re-form, push their way up the steep and rugged sides of the mountain. They are fully exposed now to a terrific fire from the enemy's guns, on the heights above them. Shell, can- ister, shrapnell, bullets are falling upon them with deadly effect. Nothing daunted, however, on they press; and, from Orchard Knob, the National colors are seen fluttering higher and still higher, and gradually nearing the summit. Or- der now begins to disappear. The brig- ades, partly because of the nature of the ground, and partly because of the sever- ity of the fire, break up into groups. There is, however, neither lack of pur- pose, nor lack of enthusiasm. Every group has its flag, and, in wedge-like form, each eager to be first and emulous of the other, is seen pressing onward and upward. It seems as if the color-bearers are running a race. To plant the first color on the summit appears to be the ambition of every brigade, of every group, of every soldier. Now they are clambering over the rugged ledges, now they are seeking momentary shelter in the ravines or behind the overhanging rocks ; but they are ever, in spite of the heavy guns and the murderous volleys of musketry from the rifle-pits, nearing the summit. " Meanwhile, the work of destruction had been terrible. The color-bearers had suffered fearfully. The first to reach the summit was a group of men from the First Ohio, and a few others from other regiments, under the lead of Lieutenant- Colonel Langdon. Six color-bearers of this party had fallen, when Langdon, waving forward his men, and leaping over the crest, was instantly shot down. The breach, however, had been made; and the brigades of Hazen and Willich w< re soon on the summit. These were quickly followed by the brigades of Sheridan's division — Sheridan himself taking an active part, and specially com- manding the attention of General Grant. The National advance was within a few hundred yards of Bragg's headquarters. -:, -TTTiT-7 (787) ?8$ There were still desperate hand-to-hand struggles after the Nationals had reached the summit. But, as the shouting vic- tors came pouring into the works, bay- ou ting the cannoneers at their guns, the bold and resolute front gave way. " It was now sunset. The Con- federates were in full retreat, their own guns turned upon them by the triumphant Nationals. It was only with difficulty that Bragg was able to make good his escape, along with Breckinridge, who by this time had joined him. ' Missionary Ridge was now occupied and held by the National troops. Hooker, as we have seen, had been victorious on the right ; Sherman had held his ground, and, after a gallant and protracted struggle, against superior numbers, had driven the enemy from his front; and now the brave and well-trusted soldiers of the army of the Cumberland had pierced and routed the Confederate centre. The battle of Chattanooga had been fought and won. It was another great victory for General Grant. Bragg was. one of the most trusted leaders in the Confederate army, and a special favorite of Jefferson Davis. He was defeated, not by superior numbers, not by superior bravery, but by sup rior tactics. He was defeated, because he was out-generalled. lie committed his first mistake when he detached Longstreet, with his command, and sent him to operate against Burnside, at Knoxville. He committed his second mistake when he weakened his centre, and moved his troops to the right to operate against Sherman. Both were serious blunders. It is surprising how a general of Bragg's experience could have committed the one or the other, in the presence of such a commander as Grant. The first blunder encouraged immediate actum, concentration, and HISTORY OF THE VMTED 6TATES. Book II., c. '62: aggressive effort against Missionary Ridge. The second blunder provoked the attack on the Confederate centre, which decided the battle. In the glory resulting from the victory, Sherman and Hooker and Thomas were fully entitled to share. Each had accomplished the task assigned him, nobly and with complete success. It was a victory of which the whole ami}-, from the general in command down to the humblest of the rank and file, had reason to be proud. ' Impartial history,' says Coppec, whose description of Chattanooga sometimes rises to the grandeur of an epic, ' will be just to all the acts and the actors, but above them all will shine, in golden characters, the name of the great com- mander, who, upon the heels of one great conquest, transformed a beleaguered army of starving soldiers into fiery columns of attack, and snatched an im- mortal victory out of the jaws of disaster and anticipated ruin. That man was Grant.' The modesty of the man — the utter absence of vain-glory — is strikingly revealed in the despatch which he sent to General Halleck immediately after the battle. 'Although the battle lasted,' he says, 'from early dawn till dark this evening, I believe I am not premature in announcing a complete victory over Bragg. Lookout Mountain top, all the rifle-pits in Chattanooga Valley, and Missionary Ridge entire, have been carried, and are now held by us.' " The final struggle of the day was in the neighborhood of the tunnel on Thomas' left and in Sherman's front. At that point the Confederates made a most obstinate resistance. This resistance, and the darkness which intervened, prevented an immediate pursuit. Dur- ing the night, Missionary Ridge blazed with Union camp fires, the Confederates THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. having fallen back in the direction of Ringgold, by way of Chickamauga Station. Bragg left behind him some 600 prisoners, besides a large number of stragglers, forty guns, upwards of 7,000 small arms, and a large quantity ■)f ammunition, " Next morning Sherman, Palmer and Hooker were in eager pursuit. Sherman pushed on towards Greysville, passing 789 resistance. The battle lasted the greater part of the day, both sides suffering severely. Cleburne did not retreat until he had inflicted on the Nationals a loss of 432 men, of whom sixty-five were killed, some of them being most valuable officers. The Confederate.-, left on the field 130 in killed and wounded. The pursuit was now discontinued, as Grant felt it to be his first and most important duty to THE ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER BY THE MONITOR FLEET. Chickamauga Station, where he found ■everything in flames. Palmer and Hooker advanced by the Rossville road, intending to strike the railroad between Greysville and Ringgold. At the latter place, Hooker came into contact with the Confederate rear, under Cleburne, who was covering Bragg's retreat. A severe encounter took place, Cleburne -turning and offering a most stubborn relieve Burnside, who was at that time closely besieged in Knoxville by tin I federate forces, under Long-.tri.-et. Bra army continued the retreat to Da where it established a fortified camp. The Nationals fell back towards Chattam and the campaign against Bragg ended "The immediate result of the vie* Chattanooga was the relief of Knoxville." Bragg was soon, at his own request, 79Q HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 relieved of the command of his routed and disorganized army. He was suc- ceeded by General Joseph E. Johnston. Longstreet's movements against Knox- viil e availed nothing. An attack he made on the fortified works was repulsed with heavy loss, and he was compelled to retire upon the approach of reinforce- ments from Grant. Naval operations in the meantime on the Federal side, though of a stupendous character, practically amounted to noth- ing, except in the continued blockade of Southern ports. Their other naval efforts were directed chiefly against Fort Sumter and Charleston, and resulted in battering Sumter to pieces ; but the Confederates still held and occupied the ruins. The Confederate fleet was still actively at work in the destruction of Federal com- merce, but having no port into which they could carry their prizes, it resulted in .10 available material benefit to their cm se. So closed the scenes on both sides at the end of the third year of the war. CHAPTER XXXIII. administration of Lincoln — Continued. (ist of January, 1S64 — 15th of April, 1S65.) Invasion of Florida — Battle of Olustee or Ocean F'. >ud — Victory of Confederates — Victory at Oko- lona, Miss., by Forrest — Danks' expedition from New < Orleans to Texas — Battles of Mansfield and !' mi Hill — Banks' retreat — Events in the East — Cavalry raids of Kilpatnck and Dahlgren into Virginia — Sherman transferred to Chattanooga — Two campaigns developed by the Federals: one agunst Richmond, under Grant, and the other against Atlanta, in Georgia — Lee opposed to (ir.ini in Virginia — And Johnston opposing Sherman in 1 ! irgia — < irant's plan ofmovemenl — < irook's expe- dition up the Kanawha — Sigel in the Shenandoah valley — Butler's movements up the Janus river, with a view of attacking Petersburg on the south of Rich- mond — Grant's plans — Grant moves on the 4th of May — Lee opposes him, and checks his advance — Battles of Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor — Grant swings- around to the James river, ami takes position at City Point — Butler's co-operative movements on the south side — Battle of Walthall Junction — Resulted in a victory for the Confederates under Gen- erals Bushrod Johnson and Hagood — Butler's re- treat to Bermuda Hundreds, where he was " bottled up" during the remainder of Grant's campaign — Crook and Sigel's defeat in the valley — Battle of New Market — Sigel superseded by Hunter — Battle of Lynchburg — Hunter defeated by Early — Early'-. expe lition into Maryland against Washington — His withdrawal — Battle of Winchester and Cedar Creek — Grant's operations against Petersburg — Powder mine explosion — Events in Georgia — Sherman's advance on Atlanta — Battles of Resaca, New Hope, and Kennesaw — Johnston's masterly strategy — He falls back to Atlanta — And is super- seded by Hood — Battles of Atlanta under Hood — Evacuation of Atlanta — Hood's Tennessee cam- paign — Battles of Franklin and Nashville — Sher- man's grand march to the sea — Engagement at Griswoldville — Naval operations — The Alabama sunk by the Kearsarge — Loss of the Albemarle— Capture of the Florida — Admiral Farragut's expe- dition to reduce the forts at Mobile — Loss of the Confederate ram — Evacuation and capitulation of Forts Powell, Gaines, and Morgan — Ex] edition of Porter and Butler against Fort Fisher — Ten .lie bombardment without success — The Shenandoah at sea — Admission of Nevada as a State — Flection for President and Vice-President — The candidates, and vote, with result — Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson elected — Thirteenth amendment to the Constitution — Hampton Roads Conference — Second expedition of Admiral Porter against Fort Fisher — The fort falls — Death of General Whiting on the Federal side, and Colonel John T- Lofton, and wounding of Colonel William Lamb, commander of the fort, of the Confederates — Sher- man's march from Savannah through South Caro- lina — Burning of Columbia — Sumter finally passes into the hands of the Federals — General Johnston reinstated — Battle of Averasboro, and Bentonville — Fee's lines broken about Petersburg — Severe- battles fought — Lee's surrender — Fall of Richmond — Mr. Davis and cabinet retiring to Danville — The " Sherman-Johnston " Convention — Assassination of Lincoln — Johnson becomes President — Capitu- lation of General Johnston's army — Surrender of E. Kirby Smith in Texas, on the 26th of May — Mr. Davis arrested — Arrest of Mi Stepl 'ns and Reagan, and other prominent Confederates — Sum- mary of losses in the war on both sides — Cavalry exploits. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 7 9 I 1864, the fourth year of the war, active military operations began in February. They were commenced by the Federals by an invasion of Florida, from Jack- sonville, with an army under General Seymour. On the 20th of this month was fought the battle of Olustee, or Ocean Pond. Here the Confederates gained a brilliant victory under Colquitt and Fin- egan. Twenty-five hundred prisoners were taken, with three Napoleon guns, two ten-pounder Parrotts, and 3,000 stand of arms. Florida was saved by the action. On the 22d of February, the Confederate cavalry, under Forrest, achieved a great to return after having lost in the expedi- tion 14,000 men, besides thirty-five pieces of artillery, 20,000 small arms, 1 boat and three transports. The Confed- erate forces, operating against Banks, in all did not exceed 25,000 men. Their losses were small. While these events were occurring in the South and West others of a stir- ring character were taking place in the East, which deserve special notice. The raids of Kilpatrick and Dahlgren in Virginia were the most important of this character. These officers set out from the Federal lines in the latter part of February, on a cavalry expedition against bailey's red river ham. victory at Okolona, Mississippi. By this, Sherman's expedition from Vicksburg to Mobile, with 50,000 men, was checked and stopped at Meridian, Mississippi. He returned to Vicksburg. This was suc- ceeded by other triumphs of considerable importance west of the Mississippi. In the early part of March, General Banks had set out from New Orleans for Texas, ^by way of Shreveport, with forces in his command numbering in all not less than 40,000. Detachments of these were success- fully attacked by the Confederates at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, and the invasion arrested. Banks was compelled Richmond. The object, as appeared from papers that fell into Confederate hands, was to enter the city, release the Federal prisoners, and leave them to burn the city, and kill the Confederate President and cabinet. They both reached the vicinity of Richmond on the 1st of March. Their forces had dn and taken different routes. Kilpatrick came up first, and being met by a force that he did not venture to encounter, retired, and made his escape down the Peninsula. Dahlgren, during the night of the same day, coming up and m< with a similar repulse, attempted to make his escape in the same manner, but was PORTRAITS OK SHERMAN AND SOME OF HIS COMMANDERS. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 793 (killed by citizens of the country in his retreat. We now proceed with operations on a grander scale. Not long after the return of Sherman and his army from Meridian to Vicksburg, he was trans- ferred to the chief command of the Federal forces at Chattanooga. Two grand campaigns were now clearly de- veloped by the Federals for the summer of 1864, as in 1863 — one against Rich- mond, to be under Grant himself; the other against Atlanta, in Georgia, under Sherman. To Grant's movements Lee was opposed in Virginia ; and to Sherman's, Johnston, in Georgia. To the move- ments of these two great Federal armies the chief attention and energies on both sides were henceforth directed. We will look first at Virginia. Grant had under his immediate control an army of not less than 200,000 men. Early in May he put about 6,000 of these in motion, under General Crook, up the Kanawha'; about 10,000 under Sigel from Winchester, with a view of taking Staunton and Lynchburg, and operating on Lee's rear. At the same time he sent General Butler up the James river, with 30,000, to take Petersburg, and approach Richmond on the south ; while he himself, with about 100,000, set out simultaneously on an overland march to attack the Confederate capital on the north, leaving the rest in the rear to be drawn on as reinforcements might be re- quired. The powerful army under his immediate command reached and crossed the Rapidan on the 4th of May. Lee, with about 60,000 men, set himself to work to check, thwart and stay the advancing host in its movements on the Confederate capital. This he did in a -series of battles, beginning on the 6th ol May and ending on the 12th of June, as Grant, with his overwhelming num- bers, continued to pass his right — first in the Wilderness, then at Spottsylvania Court-Mouse, then at North Anna, and lastly at Cold Harbor — which will stand among the most memorable of his- tory. Grant, being unable to dislodge him from his fortifications in and around Richmond, which he had thus reached, was compelled finally to seek a n^w base of operations on James river, as Mc- Clellan had done before. He estab- lished his headquarters at City Point about the middle of June. I lis losses by the time he reached his new head- quarters were not much, if any, under 60,000 — a number equal to Lee's entire army. In the meantime his co-operative movements, so set on foot, had been equally checked and thwarted. First, Butler, in his movements, with his 30,000 men landing at" Bermuda Hun- dreds on the 6th of May, the same day that the fighting between Lee- and Grant commenced at the Wilderness, with a view to attack Richmond on the south side of the James river — while Grant should be pressing on the North, was entirely checked and thwarted. But- ler's first object after landing was to seize the Petersburg and Richmond rail- road at Walthall junction ; this road being the strategic key for a move- ment on Richmond from the south side. This was checked by the quick move- ment of troops under the command of Beauregard, who had been ordered to hasten up from Charleston with all Un- available forces under his comman soon as Butler's approach was known. Colonel R. M. Graham, of General Johnson Hagood's South Carolina I 794 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Rook II., c. 33 ade, with about 300 men, reached Walthall j unction j ust before the advanced forces of of the Twenty-first South Carolina vol- unteers, who had reached this place a few MAF OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, SHOWING FREDERICKSBURG, CHANCELLORSVILLE, SPOTTSYLVANIA, THE WILDERNESS, ETC., ETC. the enemy on this point on the evening of the 6th, where he found about 300 men hours previously ; with this force he repelled successfully the first advance (795) 79 6 of Butler against the railroad at that point; on the 7th of May, when Butler made a more formidable attack with five brigades under Brooks, General Hagood and General Bushrod Johnson, with con- siderable reinforcements, were also on the ground, when a very important battle HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 concentrated at Petersburg by Beaure- gard, sufficient to repel any attack that might be made upon that city. By these active movements, as stated, Petersburg and Richmond were sa\ <1 from the grasp of Butler, whose forces retired back to Bermuda Hundreds. GENERAL SHERIDAN. •ensued and Brooks was repulsed with where they remained " bottled up," as heavy loss. After this Butler made no j Grant expressed it, during his progress further attempts on the railroad at j from the Rapidan to City Point. It was Walthall junction, but moved towards all accomplished by the superior skill Petersburg in another direction ; in the \ and strategy of Beauregard, and the meantime large reinforcements had been | gallantry of the officers and men under THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. his command, with a force of less than half the number of his adversary. The only engagement of importance that took place between them afterwards was on the 16th of July, in which Beau- regard achieved a great success. But- ler's loss was about 5,000 men, in killed, wounded, and captured, while Beaure- gard's was comparatively small. Sec- ondly, the conjoint movement of Crook and Sigel was arrested by Breckinridge, who met Sigel at New Market, on the 15th of May, and with a greatly inferior force completely routed his command. Sigel was superseded by Hunter. He, with the rallied forces of Sigel, Crook, and Averill, was, on the 18th of June, met at Lynchburg by Early, whom Lee had despatched to that point. Hunter was here routed, as Sigel had been. Grant, being thus baffled in his entire plan, ceased all active operations except laying close siege to Petersburg. In this state of things, Lee sent Early with his small command on an expedition into Maryland, northward of Washing- ton. This was intended to threaten, and, if possible, perhaps seize the Fed- eral capital, supposed at the time to be bare of forces ; or, at least, to compel a withdrawal of a portion of Grant's army around Petersburg and the vicinity of Richmond. Early was met at Monocacy by a Federal force, which he routed ; but on approaching the works around Washington he found them too strong to be successfully assailed by him. He returned after securing a large supply of provisions. Grant sent Sheridan after Early. Two battles ensued between the forces under these generals : one at Winchester, on the 19th of September, in which Early was defeated ; the other at Cedar Creek, on the 19th of October. Here Early attacked Sheridan's forces, 797 he being absent at the time, and com- pletely routed them. Sheridan arrived late in the day, rallied his men, and routed the Confederates in turn. I [e then proceeded to lay waste and de- vastate the rich and fertile valley of the Shenandoah — destroying everything within his reach upon which man or domestic animals could subsist. Some of the most daring and romantic acts of the war were by the cavalry ser- vice on both sides. On the Confederate side may be mentioned Stuart's, Forrest's, Wheeler's, Morgan's, and Mosby's. The capture of the bridge-burners on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, in Geor- gia, by Capt. Wm. A. Fuller (holding no position but a railroad conductor , was one of the most wonderful achievements in the annals of war. On the Federal side, Ellsworth's, Stoneman's, Kilpat- rick's and divers others may be named. In the meantime Grant was incessant in his operations against Petersburg. Many gallant exploits were performed on both sides, in making and repelling attacks upon the works. The most notable of all the events attending the siege this year was the horrible powder- mine explosion under one of the Con- federate forts. This was resorted to by the Federals as means to break the Confederate lines. It was fired on the 30th of July, and resulted much more disastrously to the Federals than the Confederate side. About 5,000 Federals, who rushed into the breach, in hop thus entering within the lines of their adversary, were hurled and driven by that adversary into the frightful 1 and there put to slaughter. For a more extended account of tl operations around Petersburg, and a graphic portrayal of this deadly mine explosion, we extract as follows from the "^^^^~~^ °f) " c u sr Eft W ^ Wc ™S5§r PORTRAITS OF FEDERAL CAVALRY COMMANDERS. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 799 history of Mr. Wilson, the same Federal historian quoted from heretofore : " Petersburg was now the immediate object of Grant's attention. In any at- tempt to approach Richmond from the south, the occupation of Petersburg must be an important preliminary step. The holding of that city would sever the enemy's communications southward, and afford many material advantages in the investment of Richmond. Grant had wished to gain possession of it in the outset ; and in his grand plan of cam- paign he had arranged that it should be taken and held by the army of the James, which, however, had proved in- adequate to the task. Situated on the right or south bank of the Appomattox, at a distance of twenty-two miles south of Richmond, and ten miles southwest of the James at City Point, and having a population at the beginning of the war of over 18,000, Petersburg ranked as the third town in Virginia. It was the focus of convergence of five railroads: the Richmond road running north ; the Weldon road running south to the Car- olinas ; the South Side road running west to Lynchburg ; the Norfolk road running southeast, and the short road running northeast to City Point. The town was defended by a series of skil- fully constructed earth-works, consisting not only of square redoubts, but also of well-established rifle-trenches, extending around it in a semicircle, both ends rest- ing on the river, the northern extremity being strengthened by batteries on the opposite side of the stream. " General Butler, it will be remem- bered, had already made a demonstra- tion against Petersburg. Having been frequently informed by deserters that the garrison was much weakened by the withdrawal of troops to reinforce Lee, he, early in the month of June, made preparations for sending a force in that direction. A pontoon bridge was con- structed, to be thrown across the Appo- mattox, and gun-boats were sent up the river to reconnoitre. The expedition was placed under the charge of General Gillmore, who led the infantry column, about 3,500 men, consisting of I [awley's brigade of the Tenth corps, and a brig- ade of colored troops under General Hinks. The cavalry, 1,400 strong, was commanded by Kautz. It was arrai that Gillmore, having crossed to thi bank of the Appomattox by the pontoon bridge, should proceed by the turnpike road towards the town, and attack it from that direction, while Kautz, also crossing the river, should fetch a wide circuit and make his attack on the south or southwest side of the town; the move- ments of the two bodies of troops to be- so timed that they should enter the place- simultaneously at different points. It was hoped that the town might thus be captured, and that if not held, at least all its supplies and stores of ammunition might be destroyed. Butler was to make a demonstration in the meantime against Fort Clifton. " On the 8th of June, shortly after dusk, the pontoon bridge was laid down near Point of Rocks, and about midnight Kautz's cavalry crossed by it, quickly followed by Hawley's brigade, which was soon afterwards joined by the col- ored brigade of I links. Before eight o'clock in the morning, Follett's batten- was brought up in front of the woods near Point of Rocks, and began to shell the Confederate line- near Fort Clifton. The gun-boats Commodore Perry and General Putnam also opened tire on the same position. A brisk tire was kept up thus till noon. A battery which the Soo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 'Book II., c. 33- enemy brought down, and which threw thirty-pounder shells at General Weitzel's signal station, was soon silenced. In the meantime Gillmore and Kautz had pressed on, making a detour so as to avoid the fire of Fort Clifton, and were rapidly approaching Petersburg. The infantry met with no serious opposition till within about two miles of the town, when the Confederate skirmish lines encountered, but quickly driven back. Arrived in front of the town, and sufficiently near to be able to examine the fortifications critically, Gillmore came to the conclusion that they were too strong to be attempted by the force under his command. He, therefore, withdrew his troops about noon, and got back to camp the same evening. In the mean- time Kautz on his side had forced the intrenchments and actually engaged the enemy in the streets. But the Confed- erates concentrated against him what force they had; and he was compelled to retire, although he carried off with him forty prisoners. His loss was only about twenty killed and wounded. "At one o clock on the morning of the 15th, the Eighteenth corps, which had arrived at Bermuda Hundred on the previous evening, in transports, by way of Fortress Monroe, set out for Peters- burg. Kautz's cavalry in the advance crossed the Appomattox by the pontoon bridge near Point of Rocks. Brooks' and Martindale's divisions followed, to- gether with Hinks' two brigades of colored troops. The route taken was the same as that pursued a week pre- vious by Gillmore and Kautz. Soon after daylight, Kautz, advancing along the City Point road, encountered skir- mishers, and drove them out of a small earth-work. The troops of Hinks and Brooks followed rapidly, and soon after- wards, near Harrison's creek, a line of rifle-trenches with two twelve-pounders was discovered, from which solid shot flew over the head of the column. Hinks deployed skirmishers, scattered the en- emy through some neighboring woods, and finally secured a position near Bay- lor's farm, from which the Fifth and Twenty-fifth colored regiments carried the enemy's works, capturing one of the guns and turning it on the retreating Confederates. The division of Brooks now moved up, with Burnham's brigade in the advance and entered a strip of woods which concealed the main outer line of the defences of Petersburg, about two miles from the town. Hinks then moved his division towards the left, on the Jourdan Point road, while Martin- dale, with Stannard in the advance, moved on by the river road. A line was thus formed in front of the Peters- burg intrenchments, in which Martindale held the right, Brooks the centre, and 1 links the left. Active skirmishing went on while these positions were being taken, and the fire of the sharpshooters told severely on the troops. Just before sunset, the order was given to carry the enemy's works by assault ; and the whole line rushed forward, swept the entire range of rifle-pits in spite of a heavy artillery fire, and drove the enemy from the intrenchments. Sixteen guns, a battle-flag, and 300 prisoners were taken. I lad an adequate supporting force been at hand, the second line of works might have been taken with com- parative ease. The National loss was about 500 men. The Second corps be- gan to arrive in the evening, and before morning the whole of it had reached the scene of action. During the night Bir- ney's division held the captured earth- works, against which the enemy, knowing THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 80 1 their value, made demonstrations, but in vain. While the infantry were thus "operating towards Petersburg from the northeast, Kautz, on the extreme left, with Spear's brigade in the advance, moved against the enemy's works near the Norfolk railroad and on the Baxter road. After a brisk cannonade on the position, which was well fortified with artillery, a charge was made by Kautz's men armed with carbines ; but the work proved too strong to be carried, and Kautz was compelled to retire. So far Petersburg had been defended by its local garrison, but the Confederate troops in the neighborhood were rapidly con- centrating to its aid. " On the morning of the 16th, General Butler having learned that a portion of the Confederate forces in front of his intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred had been hurried off to Petersburg, sent out General Terry with a part of the Tenth corps to reconnoitre. The Confederates gave way before them ; and the reserves coming up, their line was broken through, and finally the railroad was reached near Walthall Junction. While a working party tore up the track and pulled down the telegraph for about two miles, the main body of General Terry's force moved along the road by which it was supposed Lee's advance was ap- proaching. But the Confederates at length came down upon them in force and compelled a retreat. The result of the movement was, that travel by the railroad was interrupted for about a day. " In the meantime the National troops were gathering around Peters- burg. Early on the morning of the 1 6th, Birney sent Colonel Egan's brigade against a redoubt on his left, which was carried and held, with the loss of about 51 100 men. An attempt was made to push forward the picket lines, when skir- mishing and artillery firing ensued. But reinforcements for the Confederates were now rapidly arriving from various quarters, and in such numbers that it was thought advisable not to push the troops forward till the arrival of Burn- side's corps. Kautz, however, had moved out with his cavalry to the left across the Norfolk railroad, to occupy ground for the Ninth and Fifth corps. In the afternoon Burnside, having crossed the James by the pontoon bridge, came up with the Ninth corps, after a severe forced march from ( 'harles City Court-House. Line of battle was then formed, with the Second corps in the centre, the Eighteenth corps on the right, and the Ninth corps on the left. Birney's division held the right of the Second corps, General Barlow's the left. To the left of Barlow was General Pot- ter's division of the Ninth corps. The ground between the opposing lines, though broken and rugged, was rather open, with here and there fields of grain. At six o'clock the attack was com- menced and kept up for three ho Birney's division carried the crest in irs front, and held it. Barlow's advanced brigade found more difficulty, the enemy being somewhat concentrated in its front. At length Miles' brigade of Barlow's division and Griffin's of Pot- ter's division, charging in face of a de- structive artillery fire, succeeded in gaining a foothold in the rifle-pits out- side of the stronger works. The ti being here annoyed by the enemy's fin-. Barlow determined to make an assault on his main works; and Burnside pre- pared a column to make the attempt in connection with him. But the enemy having opened a severe fire upon Burn- 802 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 side's troops, thus cutting off a skirmish I ing was about 500 men. Potter's divis line of 300 men in Barlow's front, the j ion in its charge on the rifle-pits lost MAP SHOWING THE POSITIONS OF THE ARMIES NEAR PETERSBURG, VA. assault was deferred till morning. Bir- | about the same number. The right ney's loss during the three hours' fight- | had not taken an important part in the THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 803 contest and had suffered but little. The total National loss since the beginning of the action was between 1,500 and 2,000, while that of the Confederates, owing to their advantage of position, was comparatively small. "On the morning of the 17th, at four o'clock, Burnside ordered Potter's division to take the works in its front ; and Griffin's brigade, supported by Curtin's, carried it with a rush, capturing six guns, sixteen officers, 400 men. and a stand of colors. A pause then occurred in the assault; but sharp skirmishing was carried on by the picket lines, and the artillery on both sides kept up a steady fire. In the afternoon Potter's division was relieved by the divisions of Wilcox and Ledlie. An advance by Ledlie's division was then ordered; and the charge was gallantly made, covered by a brisk artillery fire. The intrench- ments were reached ; after a short but bloody contest over the breastworks, the Confederates were driven out of them and the position was carried ; and although several attempts were made by the enemy to recover the lost ground, it was firmly held. Burnside, now so near, was actually able to throw shot into the town. The other portions of the line had, during the day, been engaged in skirmishing, but without attempting any decisive assault. The enemy's position, opposite the Second corps — temporarily commanded by Birney, in the absence of Hancock, who was suf- fering from an old wound — was deemed the position it had carried; and rccrossin-g the pontoon bridge over the Appomattox at night, it regained the intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred in the morning. The divisions of Hinks and Martindale, on the extreme right, remained, as they could not be withdrawn to advantage. The Fifth corps, under Warren, cam on the left, and was massed there in the rear of Burnside. About nine o'clock at night the enemy appeared in fori Birney 's front, but was driven back. Somewhat later, under cover of a vigorous shelling from the Confederate batteries, the enemy suddenly reapp in two columns, one in front, the other in flank, and made a desperate and finally successful effort to recover the works taken by Burnside during the afternoon. Leaping the defences in the dark, the Confederates succeeded in driving out the National troops. "On the same day, carl}* in the morn- ing, a body of the enemy, consisting of parts of the divisions of Pickett and Field, attacked the National lines near the James. Foster's division of the Tenth corps, which held a line extend- ing from near Ware Bottom Church towards the Appomattox, was pushed back some little distance. "It was now the morning of the [8th. The National line in front of Petersburg was disposed as follows, from right to left: two divisions of the Eighteenth corps, under Martindale and I links; the Sixth under Wright; the Second under Birney; the Ninth under Burnside; and too strong to be attacked with any hope j the Fifth under Warren. It had been of success. Barlow's division, on the j intended to make another assault at left of the Second corps, had taken part four o'clock in the morning; but in Burnside's charge in the morning, and skirmishers having been sent out, rendered efficient service. On the right, the greater part of the Eighteenth corps, found that the enemy had abami the works immediately in front for an under General Smith, was relieved from | inner scries of defences. New combina 804 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 tions, therefore, became necessary. Skirmishing and artillery firing went on while the enemy's new defensive line was being reconnoitred. A general ad- vance of the three corps on the left was ordered at noon. Gibbon's division of the Second corps was pushed forward, while the rest of the corps threw out double lines of skirmishers to divert the enemy's attention. Gibbon's troops moved promptly up towards rfie works, which were near the railroad to City Point; but when t'.iey got out from under cover they were suddenly struck by a murderous enfilading fire on the left. For a time the men pressed vigor- ously forward; but their ranks were so swept by incessant volleys, that at last even the veterans recoiled. The breast- works were not even reached when the men began to retire, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. At four o'clock in the afternoon another storm- ing party was organized. It consisted of Mott's division, with detachments from the two other divisions, all of the Second corps. Shortly before five in the after- noon, Mott moved out his force in two columns, and the two leading brigades burst upon the enemy in gallant style; but in spite of an exhibition of the most resolute bravery, they were forced back with terrible loss, by a concentrated artillery and musketry fire. The Sixth and Ninth corps were little more success- ful than the Second ; Martindale's divis- ion of the Eighteenth corps, although at first attended with some success, shared the same experience as the others. The fighting was continued into the night, but gradually died away in picket firing. The losses during the day had been very heavy, especially on tii': part of the Second corps. During th - whole operations from the 15th to the 1 8th of June, the estimated loss in killed, wounded and missing was not under 9,000 men. The four days' assaults had had no other result than the decimation of the storming columns. "During the 19th, arrangements were made under a flag of truce for burying the dead, and carrying off the wounded between the lines. The Sixth corps, which had been on the north side of the Appomattox, near Port Walthall, was relieved by the Eighteenth corps, and moved into line on the right. General Ferrero's division of the Ninth corps also arrived, and was posted in the front. Three Confederate rams descended the James, nearly as far as Dutch Gap, but were soon driven back by the fleet. The Confederates continued to intrench on the west side of the Appomattox as industriously as the National troops did on the east side; and having no appre- hensions of immediately losing Peters- burg, they made some movements in other directions. Beauregard in his hurry to reinforce Petersburg had hastily deserted his old lines in front of Ber- muda Hundred; and the Tenth corps, as has been stated, made use of the op- portunity to cut the Petersburg and Richmond railroad; but when they were driven back, the Confederates rcoccupied their works, and from these lines made a slight demonstration in front and some raiding movements in the neighborhood of the James. On the night of the 19th, they succeeded in destroying the wharves at Wilcox's and Westover Landings, and sent small bodies of troops along the river to do whatever other mischief they could. They also threw up earthworks near Turkey Bend; but they were easily shelled out o r them by the gun-boats. "On the 2 1st, active movements were THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 805 again commenced by the main army, and once more by the left flank, with the object of severing the communica- tions to the south of Petersburg by the Weldon railroad. On the previous night the Second corps had been moved from its position in the right centre of the line to the left, the gap thus formed being closed up by the extension of the ^Ninth corps and part of the Eighteenth. It then struck across the Norfolk rail- road, and marched rapidly southward, though under an intensely hot sun and through clouds of stifling and blinding dust, with the steadiness which had so often characterized it during flank marches in the presence of the enemy. Griffin's division of the Fifth corps was detached to follow; the Sixth corps was also moved out in support. Before noon the main column halted; but in the afternoon Barlow's division of the Second corps, with sharpshooters skir- mishing in advance, was sent forward, and struck the enemy's lines in the neigh- borhood of the Jerusalem road, which runs southward from Petersburg, about midway between the Norfolk and Wel- don railroads. The division was then halted and put into position, and skir- mishers were advanced. These met a stout resistance from dismounted cavalry pickets; and almost immediately, infan- try were discovered in force with artillery planted in earthworks. It was evident that the enemy understood the value of the Weldon railroad, and was prepared as well as determined to defend it. After a severe skirmish Barlow's ad- vanced line withdrew and rejoined the main column. Gibbon had in the mean time reconnoitred towards Petersburg, but without result. On the extreme left the enemy's movements were so threatening that a squadron of cavalry was sent round to protect that flank. The Second corps was then retired to form in position for the night, with liar- low's division on the left, Mott's in the centre, and Gibbon's on the right. Beyond Gibbon's division was Griffin's of the Fifth corps. The Sixth corps was intended to be posted between the Second corps and the Weldon railroad. Rickett's division came up and took ,1 position on Barlow's left, and the other division followed. There was a little cavalry skirmishing on the extreme left, and the Confederate scouts made a slight dash in the evening towards the National position; but the day closed without any more important movement. The fight in the afternoon took place on what was known as Davis' Farm, about three miles from the city and within a mile of the railroad. "The day was comparatively quiet in the lines cast of Petersburg. The Con- federates, early in the morning, op fire towards the headquarters of the Sixth corps, which had not at that time moved out ; and there was more or less firing during the day, especially toward-, the right. The bridges over the Appo- mattox, connecting Petersburg ami Po- cahontas, now underwent a daily shell- ing from the National batteries. The fire directed on the railroad bridge caused great annoyance to the enemy, as it tended materially to obstruct the passage of cars. "Some important movements took place during the day, to the north of Petersburg. Early in the morning Fos- division, of the Tenth corps, cro to the north side of the James river, by a pontoon bridge laid by General Weitzel on the previous evening, to a poinl tween Aiken's Landing and Four Mile Creek. Foster advanced towards the 8o6 HISTORY OF THE U XII ED STATES. Book II., c. 33 Kingsland road, drove in the enemy's pickets and intrenched at Deep Bottom, about ten miles from Richmond. On the opposite side of the river was the bat- tery of the enemy, known as Howlett's. Near this point a fi^jht between the moni- tors and Confederate rams took place ; but though the latter were aided by the battery, they were driven back to their usual position on the west side of Dutch Gap. The heavy Dahlgrcn guns soon silenced the battery ; and in the evening they were opened on the enemy manoeuvring in front of Foster. Foster was thus enabled to hold his own for some time without molestation. Meanwhile the Eighteenth corps again left its camp near Bermuda Hundred, once more crossed the pontoon bridge, marched to the lines in front of Peters- burg, and took the position vacated by the Sixth corps. The result of the various army movements on the 2ist was, that at night the different com- mands lay as follows : Foster's division was north of the James, at Deep Bottom ; the remainder of the Tenth corps being with Butler, at Bermuda Hundred. In the intrenchments east of Petersburg, the right was held by Smith, the centre by Burnside, the left by Warren. Three or four miles to the south, threatening the Weldon railroad, were the corps of Hancock and Wright, with Griffin's di- vision of Warren. " The movement against the Weldon railroad was resumed early on the 22d. Now that the capture of Petersburg had come to be considered out of the ques- tion for the present, the severance of the Weldon railroad became a primary ob- ject. The Sixth corps, the whole of which had come up during the night, prepared to move, in conjunction with the Second corps, directly against the railroad. The position of the Second corps was near the Jerusalem road, Gib- bon's right resting on the left of the road, with Griffin's division, of the Fifth, on the further side. Gibbon's troops were already well up to the enemy's works, and needed only to go into posi- tion and intrench, as any further ad- vance on their part might bring on a general engagement before the line wa^ properly established. The left of the line, therefore, consisting of the Sixth corps, with the divisions of Barlow and Mott, of the Second, was ordered to ad- vance, the movement to commence at daybreak. By some misunderstanding the march was delayed. At last the two corps began to move, at the same time, though independently of each other, each commander having been cautioned to protect his flank well, in case connection were not made with the other corps. The line had been deployed in rather an open style, and covered a wide extent of ground, which being dif- ficult and intricate, and the movement made in presence of the enemy, it was thought desirable to mass more closely. Accordingly Barlow, who held Han- cock's left, pressed well in to the right, and threw two brigades into reserve, the remainder of his troops forming the ad- vance line. But on entering the woods a gap began to form between his left and the right of the Sixth corps, and he placed some regiments to guard his flank. Meanwhile, Mott had, without difficulty, obtained the position indicated for him, and had begun to intrench ; Gibbon was already in position; and Barlow, having moved forward suffi- ciently, was also about to intrench, when the startling sound of musketry was heard on his flank, and soon afterwards in his rear. With a view of checking THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 80: the movement against the railroad, the Confederate force under Hill was ap- proaching in several columns, preceded by a dense cloud of skirmishers. The Sixth corps was far distant on the left and rear. A wide gap was thus left in the National line ; but it was happily filled up in time to prevent fatal results. Quick to take advantage of the mistake committed, Hill pushed on an entire di- vision, with Mahone's brigade in the advance, into the intervening space. The attack was made with tremendous energy. Barlow was the first to feel the weight of the onset. His division bending under the blow, was quickly rolled up, thus ex- posing Mott's left flank. Mott in turn was struck heavily, and fell back, leav- ing exposed the left of Gibbon. Gibbon shared the fate of Mott and Barlow. The intrenchments of each of the three divisions were captured. Such was the suddenness and impetuosity of the at- tack, and so great was the confusion resulting from it, that several whole regiments were swept off and captured almost without a fight. McKnight's battery, which had been ably handled, was surrounded and captured entire. The career of the enemy, however, was now checked by the firmness of the Twentieth Massachusetts, under Captain Patton, who executed a change of front with remarkable coolness, courage, and skill. The broken corps was at length rallied. Miles' reserve brigade, of Bar- low's division, was brought up ; Clark's New Jersey battery, on the right of the Jerusalem road, withstood successfully the concentrated fire of the enemy ; Gib- bon's division, or rather what was left of it, was also rallied, and the beginning of a new line was soon formed. " It was now towards evening. After an unsuccessful effort made by Gibbon to capture the lost battery, Meade came to the front. Observing that the enemy's troops were not in sufficient number to cope with his own if well handled, Meade again sent forward the Second and Sixth corps. The Sixth met with little oppo- sition, and attained the position aimed at earlier in the day. The Second corps went through the woods in strong skirmishing lines, and succeeded, though not without some effort, in regaining a part of the ground from which it had been driven. It then went into intrench- ments, and passed the night in throwing up works and placing batteries for the protection of the line. The division of Griffin also came up and covered the right. The loss sustained in this un- fortunate and unskilfully managed affair was principally in prisoners, some 2,000 having been taken by the enemy, in- cluding 50 or 60 officers; the number of killed and wounded was only about 500. Four guns also were lost and several colors. Picket firing was kept up all night, as the last advance had placed the opposing lines in close prox- imity. A reconnoissance and advance made at daylight disclosed the fact that the Confederates were strongly in- trenched along the east side of the Weldon railroad. To the east of Peters- burg a sharp artillery and musketry fire was kept up all night ; but on neither side was an advance attempted. "On the 33d, Wright moving out to the extreme left, found that the enemy's lines did not extend far in that direction. He sent a reconnoitring force to the railroad, which was reached without opposition, And the telegraph wires were cut. The Vermont brigade, consisting of three regiments, was at once pushed forward with instructions to hold the road ; but the troops had hardly reached 8o8 HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. Book II, c. 33 their destination when a division of the flushed with success, after pushing back enemy under Anderson came down upon j the Vermont brigade to the main body, DIAGRAM I. -M5' ^^Jfe* SHOWING ilia. POSITIONS Of THE AKMIES A 1 nil-. BATTLE OK MISSIONARY RIDGE. their flank and drove them back, captur- 1 commenced a general attack. The result ing several hundred prisoners, and then, j was that Wright withdrew his line to- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 809 wards evening to the cover of breast- works. Little else of importance occurred during the day. " On the 24th the enemy opened a furious artillery fire in front of the Eighteenth corps. At its close, a charge was made by Hoke's brigade on Stan- nard's division of the Tenth corps. The attack fell chiefly on the brigade of Colonel Henry, who, observing that the attacking force was not large, drew in his skirmishers ; and when the enemy commenced to run over his rifle-pits he caused the Fortieth Massachusetts, armed with the Spencer repeating-rifle, to open fire upon them. This, with artillery in flank, easily separated the enemy's skirmishing line from his re- serve; and about 150 prisoners fell into Henry's hands. On the evening of the same day, Sheridan's cavalry was attacked while on the march from White House to rejoin the main army. A brigade of infantry was sent to his relief; but the affair was very bloody, and the rear- guard suffered severely. The enemy was beaten off at length ; and the wagon train, several miles in length, was saved, but not- before a loss of 500 or 600 had been sustained. Sheridan's force crossed the James in safety on the 25th, four or five miles above Fort Powhatan, at a point where the pontoon bridges could be guarded by gun-boats. " During the 25th the enemy was busily engaged in repairing the Weldon railroad, and the National forces in strengthening their positions. All along the line, owing to the proximity of the opposing pickets, there was skirmishing, with occasional artillery firing, but no serious fighting. About ten o'clock at night a sharp attack was made on the right of the Fifth corps and on the left of the Ninth. It was commenced by a heavy artillery fire, which lasted about an hour, followed by the advance of a strong skirmish line up to the National breastworks ; but the enemy was easily repulsed, and the loss was not great on either side. " From the 26th to the 29th, com- parative quiet prevailed in the camps, broken occasionally by picket firing, skirmishing near the working pari and desultory cannonading. From the front of Smith's corps a thirty-pounder Parrott shell was thrown into the city every five minutes, and with such regu- larity that it came to be called the ' Petersburg express.' The earthworks along the National lines underwent con- stant improvement until they became almost impregnable. About eleven o'clock on the morning of the 27th, the Confederates, much annoyed by the regular fire of the thirty-pounder Parrott on the city, opened from their heavy guns on the west side of the Appomattox. The batteries in Smith's front, where many guns were now in position, opened in reply, and shelled the city, as well as the enemy's batteries beyond the river, till noon. The opposing pickets along some parts of the line entered into an agreement not to fire upon each other, and the result was an unusual degn quiet for a little while ; but Birney found it necessary to prohibit the more intimate intercourse which this state of things had a tendency to bring about. By the Second corps on the left, some m ments were made with the view of guarding against hostile demonstral on tin- flank. Hancock, nowconvales- cent, resumed command of this corps in the evening. At one o'clock in the morning of the 28th there was a. false- alarm ; and the Eighteenth corps got underarms. About this time some very 8io HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II.. c. 33 heavy siege guns were got into position, and a bombardment of the city was com- menced by bursting a shell over it every quarter of an hour during the night. This fire was continued for some time, and on the night of the 30th it caused a conflagration in the town. The weather, which for many days and nights had been intensely hot, causing great suffering to the men, whether on the march or in camp, now grew a little cooler. The excessive heat had been severely trying to the wounded. The agents of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by these days of comparative quiet to distribute vegetables and luxuries among the troops, and in other ways to contribute to their comfort. " In the movement against the Weldon railroad, it had been arranged that Wil- son and Kautz should co-operate with a strong cavalry force. About two o'clock in the morning of the 22d of June, Wil- son and Kautz set out from Blackwater creek, a little south of Prince George Court-House. Wilson was in command. The united force numbered 6,000 to 8,000 men, with three batteries of four guns each, half-rifled ordnance, and half light twelve-pounders, besides a battery of four small mountain howitzers. The column struck the Weldon railroad at Reams' Station, tore up and burnt the track for several hundred yards, and de- stroyed the water tank, depot and public buildings, as well as a saw-mill at Dutch Cross-roads. Moving westward as far as Dinwiddie Court-I louse, the command proceeded northward to the Petersburg and Lynchburg railroad, striking it at Sutherland Station, and marching thence westward to Ford's Station, about twenty- two miles from Petersburg, the brigade of Kautz being in the advance. At this point, which was reached before even- ing, several miles of the track were de- stroyed as well as two locomotives and sixteen cars; the depot and some stores were also burnt. All this was accom- plished before midnight, when the com- mand bivouacked. In the morning, about two o'clock, Kautz again set out in advance, and by rapid marching soon left a wide gap between his portion of the column and that under Wilson. His course lay along the railroad in the direction of Burkesville, the point of intersection of the Lynchburg and Dan- ville railroads. He reached Wilson's Station about four o'clock, Black and W r hite about seven o'clock, and Notta- way at noon, whence he hurried on to Burkesville. At this place the depots, cars, and similar property were destroyed, as well as several miles of the track east- ward and westward. The railroad he re- was constructed of strap rails laid on longitudinal stringers of dry yellow pine. While the rear was engaged in burning and otherwise destroying the depots and other buildings along the road, advanced parties collected dry rails, piled them up against the stringers and set the whole on fire. This was done with so much method and celerity that miles of the railroad were burning at once. "The main part of the column, some miles in the rear, near Nottaway Court- House, encountered about three o'clock in the afternoon, a Confederate force on its right flank, consisting of two regi- ments under Colonel Barringer and Gen- eral Dearing. The Second brigade, under Colonel Chapman, was formed in line; and a sharp fight ensued, which lasted till nightfall, when the enemy withdrew, carrying off thirty-four pris- oners. The loss on each side was about sixty. Wilson's troops bivouacked at THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 811 Nottaway; Kautz bivouacked not far from Burkesville. Both commands marched towards Meherrin in the morn- ing — Wilson's across the country, Kautz's along the railroad — formed a junction there, and moved on to Keysville, where the column bivouacked for the nisrht. Kautz's men having worked hard all day on the railroad, of which they destroyed eighteen miles of the track, besides other railroad property. The march and the work of destruction were resumed early on the 25th; and the whole column pressed rapidly forward till about three o'clock in the afternoon, when the ad- vance came up to the covered bridge over the Staunton river. From Burkes- ville to this bridge, a distance of about thirty-five miles, the railroad track had been thoroughly destroyed. Eastward of Burkesville the track had also been torn up, making an aggregate of fifty miles of railroad put out of running order. It was very desirable that the bridge also should be destroyed, as it would consume much time to replace it. But the Confederates were well aware of its value; and while Wilson and Kautz had been destroying the track, they had collected in the neighborhood of the bridge a considerable force of Vir- ginia and North Carolina militia, some of whom had been brought up from Danville. They had also made such good use of their time as to throw up intrenchments in front of the bridge, and construct earth- works, in which they had placed some artillery. They had, besides, placed a piece of ordnance on an armored car, which could be moved on the railroad. On the approach of the National troops the enemy opened fire with grape and canister. Kautz's four regiments at once deployed on the right and left of the main road. Sharp skirmishing, with considerable loss on the side of Kautz, was kept up for some time ; but it soon became evident that under the circum- stances the National troops could ac- complish nothing without suffering dis- astrously ; and they were compelled to withdraw, after having burnt the railroad depot. The chief object of the raid had, however, been now accomplished ; and at night the column moved eastward, reaching Weylsburg about daylight on the 26th. After an hour's halt the line of march was again taken up, the route chosen for the return lying through Christianville and across Meherrin creek, and thence to Double Bridges on the Not- taway. The enemy's cavalry brigade again appeared, this time on the left flank, and some unimportant skirmishing fol- lowed. The Nottaway river was reached about noon on the 28th at Double Bridges ; and the pickets stationed there were easily driven across the bridge by Mcintosh's second brigade, which was in the advance. It had been intended to cross the Weldon railroad at Jarrett's Station ; but informa- tion having been received that a large force composed of militia and regulars from Weldon had been collected there, the route was changed to Stony creek, about midway between Jarrett's and Reams' Stations. Mcintosh's brigade, with the Second Ohio and Third Indiana, dashing across the bridge, met at once a spirited resistance. Nevertheless, the men all got over, and Mcintosh formed line of bat- tle ; but a considerable Confederate force was found lying on the road to the sta- tion. After some skirmishing, the Na- tional troops found it necessary to act on the defensive ; ami they got together as rapidly as possible a breastwork of rails, loers and earth, in the usual manner. It was not long before they had to repel several charges. 8l2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 " Wilson, now fearing that if he re- mained long in that vicinity, the enemy micrht gather about him a force from which he could not escape, determined to withdraw ; and about eleven at night he sent off the command of Kautz with the wagons and ammunition trains, and between i.ooo and 2,000 negroes, col- lected on the march, towards Reams' Station. Wilson himself followed before daylight with the remainder of his force, with the exception of three regiments 1 ft in the intrenchments to do what they could towards detaining the enemy. Kautz, on approaching Reams' Station, found the Confederates posted in great strength, and was at once pressed in front and rear by both cavalry and artil- lery. When Wilson came up with the bulk of his force, he attempted to form line of battle ; but he was very soon atl icked and defeated, arid his entire force thrown into confusion. Of course the detachment left at Stony Point could not long hold out ; it was flanked and partly cut off. The situation of Wilson's col- umn now became extremely critical ; it was almost entirely surrounded by a greatly superior force; and it soon be- came a question, not whether the National cavalry could hold theirground, but whether they could not be captured in a body. The plan finally adopted, perhaps the best under the circum- stances, was for each regiment or squadron to make its escape separately as it best could. Kautz turned off nearly due south with his command. 1 )etachments moved in various directions; and a general stampede was made for thj lines near Petersburg, over ditches and fences, through swamps and woods, and along concealed by-paths, to escape the fiercely pursuing foe, who chased the fugitives close up to the National lines. On the night of the 28th, the main part of Kautz's command reached the picket reserve in a state of terrible exhaustion and excitement, and re- mained there through the night. They did not reach their old camp till the evening of the 30th. Squads and solitary horsemen continued to straggle back within the lines for two or three daws. Badly as Kautz's troops had fared they might have had much worse fortune had it not been for their com- mander's intimate knowledge of the country, which enabled him to get his men through rapidly. But the}- were all thoroughly used up, some of the men coming in asleep in their saddles. "Wilson was so long without being heard from, that it was feared he had been captured with all his men. The main part of his force did not ride in till the 1st of July. He had retreated in the night by the road leading south- eastward towards Suffolk, and making a wide circuit, secured safety at the ex- pense of a long route. He crossed the Nottaway about thirty miles from Peters- burg, and the Blackwater at the County Road bridge ; turning then northward he made his way to Cabin Point, and rode thence into the Union lines about five miles from Fort Powhatan. His entire force was in wretched plight when it returned. Both men and horses were worn out and jaded to the last degree. Their clothing and accoutrements were torn and spoiled, and their horses hardly able to walk. They had lost their all. The enemy had got possession of the entire wagon train — sixteen guns, nearly all their caissons, and main- horses. The total loss in men was about 1,500. Of the large number of negroes col- lected, the greater part were recaptured. The ambulances, filled with sick and THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. wounded, had been left on the field at Reams' Station, under a hospital flag. Notwithstanding the unfortunate termin- ation of the expedition, Grant expressed himself satisfied with the result, inas- much as the Danville railroad had re- ceived so much damage that considerable time must elapse before it could be restored to working order. The Sixth corps, which had set out for Reams' Station in the hope of relieving General Wilson's force, did not arrive until all was over. The Confederates had disap- peared from that point ; and the troops took advantage of their absence to de- stroy the railroad and telegraph for some miles. Many fugitive negroes, who had followed Wilson's cavalry, took refuge with the Sixth corps. "It was now the 1st of July. Little of moment occurred during the day in the lines before Petersburg. About ten o'clock, however, a heavy musketry fire from the Confederates broke out in front of the Ninth corps, followed presently by a charge upon an earth- work which General Ledlie had for some days been engaged in throwing up. After a sharp but short conflict the Con- federates were driven back with con- siderable loss, as the position was well defended by flanking batteries. The firing continued at intervals through the night. About three o'clock in the afternoon of the 2d of July a sharp artillery fire was opened by the enemy on the line of the Eighteenth corps, and was warmly responded to by the National batteries. This continued for about two hours, without any important result. On the evening of the 3d there was some firing on the right centre. " The 4th of July was celebrated in the lines before Petersburg by a national salute of thirty-four shots from a thirty- 8i3 pounder Parrott in front of Smith's position, followed by a general play of artillery on the steeples of Petersburg. The military bands also played National airs all along the line. "Comparative quiet reigned until the 7th, when a battery of heavy guns in front of the Fifth corps opened fire upon a body of Confederates who were observed to be throwing up a new work. A general cannonading and a fire of sharpshooters followed. In the morning and early part of the 8th there was little firing. About four o'clock in the after- noon, however, the Confederates, spring- ing suddenly to their feet, with their ac- customed battle-yell, poured a volley of musketry into the intrenchments in front of Turner's division, on the left of the Eighteenth corps. They then quickly deployed a skirmishing line, and moved rapidly on the works along the front of Martindale and Stannard. The entire space between the opposing lines was soon covered with a dense cloud of mingled smoke and dust ; and the musketry firing was very sharp for a time ; but the enemy was driven back without having reached the breastworks. In the meantime the batteries all along the front of the three corps on the right were opened ; and shot and shell wen- thrown not only into the space which the Confederates had attempted to cross, but into the city and over the Appomat- tox. The superior weight of metal of the National batteries soon overpowered those of the enemy. The loss in this affair was not very great on cither side, although the Confederates got the \ of it, as they were uncovered in their unsuccessful charge, while their oppo- nents were well protected. The cannon- ading was all over at dusk "After this, there was again for some 814 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 days a pause in the fight. It was not I until the i8th,that hostilities took again any very active shape. On that day, a thirteen-inch mortar, which after some difficulty had been got into position in front of the Eighteenth corps, began to throw its huge shells into the enemy's works. On the following day there was steady artillery firing in front of the Ninth and Eighteenth corps, as well as from the batteries of the Fifth. A heavy rain, the first of any account since the army left Spottsylvania Court- House, began to fall early in the morn- ing, and continued all day and into the night. Its cheering influence on the army was of great value. There was enough of it to lay and thoroughly penetrate the dust, which, owing to the long-continued drought and the ceaseless tread of many feet, had become several inches deep in the camps. "On the same day General Grant rescinded an order of the War Depart- ment by which General Butler was relieved of his command. Grant not only restored Butler, but in addition to the Tenth ami Eighteenth corps, he gave him command of the Nineteenth corps, just arrived at Fortress Monroe from the South, and of which General Emory's division had gone to aid in the defence of Washington. Not long after this, General Smith was relieved of the command of the Eighteenth corps, and was succeeded temporarily by General Martindale, and then permanently by General Ord. General Gillmore also, who had been relieved of the command of the Tenth corps, was succeeded temporarily by General Brooks and Terry, and permanently by General Birney, formerly of the Second corps. "About ten o'clock in the forenoon of the 20th, the fire of the thirteen-inch mortar was directed across the river. This was responded to by a concentrated artillery fire from the enemy, which in its turn was replied to by the National thirty-pounders and eight-inch mortars, together with the light batteries. This lasted four hours without any important result. The Confederates had estab- lished a battery of Whitworth guns at Strawberry Plains, about a mile from the pontoon bridge over the James, from which they were able to deliver an en- filading fire on the gun-boats, and had disabled the Moidota. A Maine regi- ment was moved out to occupy the position, which it succeeded in doing on the 2 1st, but was driven out of it again at night. With the help of the gun-boats, the Nationals quickly re- covered the position. Cannonading was kept up for the next four or five days ; but there was no general engage- ment. "At this date there was completed an important work which had been com- menced by Burnside just a month before, and when the conviction had been forced upon the National com- manders by the disastrous repulse of several storming columns, that the de- fences around Petersburg were impreg- nable against direct assault. This was nothing less than a great mine which had been constructed under one of the most important of the enemy's works. The idea of this mine originated with Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, who, as well as many men of his regiment, had been familiar with mining o r _rations before the war. To the men of this regiment the construction of the mine was intrusted and by them completed. The work of excavation was begun on the 25th of June, with the utmost pre- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 815 cautions as to secrecy, in the side of a ravine surmounted by an earthwork in front of the position of the Ninth corps, and was perseveringly pushed on towards the doomed fort, situated about 2,000 yards from the city. The dis- tance to be mined was about 500 feet. The mine was constructed in the usual manner, the surface having been first carefully measured by triangulation. As the excavation went on, the earth was brought out and thrown on works, so as not to give rise to inquiries by being allowed to accumulate in great luaps. The gallery was made in the usual shape, about four feet wide at the bottom and sloping upwards so as to be narrower at the top. The height was about four and a half feet. The ground rose towards the fort, and the tunnel was so cut as to slope in an upward direction. Difficulties in the shape of water and quicksands were encountered and over- come, though the mine remained very damp. When the locality of the fort was reached, there was only about twenty feet of the earth intervening; and the sound could be distinctly heard overhead of the nailing of planks and timbers, indicating that the occu- pants of the fort were making a floor for their artillery. Wings were then extended to the right and left, in which eight magazines were formed, four in each gallery, carefully 'tamped' or sep- arated by packings of sand-bags and wood. Wooden pipes were laid along the tunnel to within 100 feet of the mag- azines. The ventilation of the mine was effected by sinking, just within the ex- terior line of works to the side of the of air was caused. The smoke issuing from the top of the shaft of course could not be concealed, but attention was diverted from it by keeping fires at va- rious places along the line. Finally, when all was complete, the chambers were charged with about four ton gunpowder. To keep the enemy from obtaining a knowledge of what was going on, intercourse between the oppos- ing picket lines was strictly prohibil and an incessant skirmishing and artil- lery fire was kept up in front of the Ninth corps, even while all along the rest of the line there was comparative inaction. The plan of assault was, to explode the mine and immediately after- wards open a cannonade from all the guns along the line, numbering nearly 100. Then, before the enemy could recover from the confusion and dismay which would be naturally created by the explosion and sudden burst of a tremen- dous artillery fire, a strong storming party was to rush through the gap which it was supposed would be made in the line of the enemy's works, and endeavor to carry the position beyond — a very strongly fortified crest, called Cemetery Hill, completely commanding the city, and the key of the enemy's position. The National lines had for a long time been gradually pushed for- ward till they were now not more than 150 yards distant from those of the enemy, the nearest point being the un- dermined fort. The intervening ^pace was swept by the enemy's artillery; and near the fort itself abatis and v.. other entanglements had been placed. " To add to the probability of su tunnel, a shaft, at the bottom of which a j Grant determined, before exploding the fireplace was built with a grating open- mine and commencing the assault, to ing into the gallery, and by means of a induce Lee to draw off a larg fire kept burning at this point a current I tion of his troops from Petersburg by 8i6 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 making a feint in another direction. With this end in view he began a series of movements which indicated a design to transfer operations to the neighbor- hood of Richmond. Grant's line at this time was not less than twenty miles long. On its extreme right, across the James at Deep Bottom, just above Four Mile creek, Foster, with his division of the Tenth corps, had been for a long time in possession of an intrenched camp — a position of considerable im- portance, since, so long as it was held, the enemy could neither make a demon- stration on the National right flank from Malvern Hills, which they still occupied, nor any successful attempt to obtain on the James a position from which it would be possible to blockade the river. It also constituted an excel- lent base for an advance on Richmond from the southeast, by three parallel roads, and thus served admirably for the feint now about to be made in that direction. A pontoon bridge, thoroughly protected by gun-boats, lay across the James in the rear of Foster's position ; but in his front was a large force of the enemy, effectually barring any advance on his part. About a mile and a half below the position of Foster, at Straw- berry Plains, also held by a small National force, a second pontoon bridge was thrown across the river on the 2 1st of July, and on the following day a brigade of the Nineteenth corps crossed by it and secured the bridge head. The Confederates made a large addition to their force in front of Foster's posi- tion ; and on the 26th there was in that direction rapid and heavy artillery and musketry firing, in which the gun-boats took part. Skirmishing also was con- tinued through the day by Foster's infantry, with a loss of about fifty men. In the meantime, at four o'clock in the afternoon of the 26th, the Second corps quietly began to march from its position on the extreme left of the line before Petersburg, soon followed by Sheridan's cavalry, which had been lying in camps around its flank and rear. The column moved very rapidly with- out straggling — Barlow's division first, Mott's and Gibbon's next, to Point of Rocks on the Appomattox — and crossed the river early in the evening. The march was then continued to the James, which was reached by midnight at Jones' Neck, and before daylight the crossing began by the pontoon bridge, which had been covered with grass and hay, to prevent noise. The cavalry fol- lowed soon after daybreak, and passed the infantry on the New Market road. A line of battle was then formed, in which the cavalry of Sheridan and Kautz held the right. The Second corps lay at Strawberry Plains, the brigade of the Nineteenth corps on its left, with Foster in his old position at Deep Bottom on the extreme left. " In front of the Second corps lay a body of the enemy under General Ker- shaw, along a road skirting a pine forest, and in rifle-pits, with a battery of four twenty-pounder Parrott guns. Up to this position from near the bridge ran a road, by which the Second corps, about seven o'clock, began to advance, the skirmishers spreading out across the open space in front of the enemy, while the gun-boat Mendota in the stream opened fire with her ioo-pounder Parrotts. A rapid fire was opened at the same time from the enemy's battery. In the meantime, how- ever, Miles with his brigade of Barlow's division, having made a rapid movement under cover, got on the flank of the enemy's position and made a brisk THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 8l 7 charge. Kershaw immediately retreated, abandoning his battery, which proved to be one taken from Butler at Drury's Bluff two months before. " On the 28th, the troops north of the James continued to make demonstra- tions ; and the gun-boats occasionally shelled the woods. At nine o'clock in the morning a general advance of the cavalry was ordered; and after a march of three miles, Sheridan came upon a strong infantry force. His command then quickly dismounted and formed in a belt of woods, Gregg's division on the right, Torbert's on the left. Torbert's division on being attacked fell back into the woods, but was soon rallied ; and the brigades of Merritt and Davies making a charge, the enemy broke and left the field, after losing about 150 men killed, wounded, and prisoners, besides the colors of two North Carolina regiments. Gregg's division, losing a gun and many men, was steadily forced back until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when it was relieved by the arrival of Gibbon's division of the Second corps. The de- monstrations were continued on the 29th ; and a train of about 400 empty wagons was sent over one of the'pontoon bridges to the north side of the James, as if an advance in great force towards Malvern Hills were intended. Nearly 20,000 men and twenty cannon had now actually been sent over; and the suspicions of the enemy were aroused at last to such an extent as to produce the effect desired by Grant. Lee hurried off from Peters- burg a large force to the Richmond side of the James ; and as early as the even- ing of the 28th, Mott's division of the Second corps was secretly moved back to Petersburg. After dark the remainder of that corps and all the cavalry recrossed the river, and marching all night arrived 52 before daybreak in the lines before Peters- burg. " The time for the explosion of the mine had now come. Soon after mid- night of the 29th all the troops were got into position. The Ninth corps, which was to head the assault, was drawn up in front of the mine, Ledlie's division in the advance, Wilcox's and Potter's next, in support, and Ferrero's, consisting of colored troops, in the rear. The Eighteenth corps had been with- drawn from its position on the right of the Ninth corps and posted in its rear. Mott's division of the Second corps, just returned from the north side of the James, was moved into the position vacated by the Eighteenth corps ; and the other divisions of the Second corps as they arrived were placed in adjoining positions. The whole force was closely massed, only the necessary garrisons being left in the more distant intrench- ments. Thus the assaulting force con- sisted of the Ninth corps supported by the Eighteenth, with the Second 1 in reserve on the right and the fifth on the left. The cavalry were to operate on the left if opportunity should offer. The time for lighting the fuse was fixed at half-past three in the morning of the 30th; and the troops at that hour were in entire readiness, impatiently awaiting orders. "At the appointed moment the fuse was lit; but the mine did not explode. The fuse was imperfect. It had spliced in two places; and at one of the splices the fire had stopped. Two brave men who had faith in the mine, and who had toiled at it night and day under Pleasants, volunteered to go in and apply the match afresh. Grant and Meade were at the front. It is now ten minutes to five o'clock. The earth in the neigh- 8i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II. ,c. 33* borhood trembles ; and then, with a tre- mendous explosion, what seems a con- ical mountain rises in the air, streaked and serried with lightning. For a mo- ment, it hangs poised ; and then the beholder sees in mid-air, timber, stone, earth, bodies and limbs of men, and some of the heavy guns of the work. Two hundred men, many of them still asleep, had been blown into fragments. Tt was a horrible, shocking affair. So soon as the mass fell to earth, ioo guns opened fire upon that living Golgotha. " Let us now see what advantage was gained by the desperate but not wholly unjustifiable experiment. Success de- pended entirely upon rapidity of action. A huge gateway had been opened to Cemetery Ridge, and thence into Peters- burg. But where is the storming column ? Ledlie's division, which had been se- lected by lot, was slow to move. When it did move, it halted in the centre for at least an hour. Ferrero, who with his colored troops was to follow Lcdlie, could not advance, as the crater was choked. Burnside was ordered to move forward all his troops ; but still there was delay. Ord, now in command of the Kighteenth corps, was peremptorily ordered by Meade to press into the gap; but he declared it to be impracticable ; and no doubt he spoke the truth. There was no other way by which the troops could advance, except by the crater, and that was now crowded, literally blocked. " The scene inside the crater, when fust entered by the Nationals, is not to be described. It was a Pandemonium of horror. In the huge chasm, some 200 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep, were scattered the debris of the work, with the torn and tattered frag- ments of human beings. Some of the more fortunate victims were half-buried, and piteously calling for help. Not a few were calling for water ; and the cry was general, " Yanks, for God's sake, take me out; I'll do as much for you some time." In such a scene of chaos and agony, it is not to be wondered at if the National soldiers, left for the most part without competent leaders, should have halted, and yielded to the claims of humanity. The halting, however, was ruinous ; for it gave the Confederates time to recover from the alarm and stupor occasioned by the explosion ; and the well-directed fire of the guns on Cemetery Ridge falling upon the now unfortunate Nationals aggravated the horrors of that scene of agony and death. It was impossible to advance ; it was impossible to retire ; and the officers who were present had no longer any control. The carnage was frightful. It was not a valley of the Shadow of Death. It was a valley of Death itself. "As early as nine o'clock, Burnside was directed to withdraw his troops at pleasure. It was two o'clock before the order was carried out, and not until General Bartlett, who led the attack, had been captured, with the greater portion of his staff. The mine had proved a great and sorrowful failure. Although no new thing in war, it was a barbarous conception ; and success through such a channel would hardly have been glory. "The National loss was about 5,000, while that of the Confederates, including 200 prisoners, did not much exceed 1,000. On Sunday, the 31st, a flag of I truce was sent to the enemy with a re- el uest for permission to bury the dead and care for the wounded ; but owing to 'an informality this was not obtained till I Monday, when an armistice took place ! in the morning from five till nine. In THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 819 the meantime many of the severely j with a force in front and rear about equal wounded died from exposure, in great to that of Grant, commenced his move- suffering, much aggravated by the ex- ments on Atlanta about the same time tremely hot weather ; and the bodies of that Grant commenced his on Richmond the slain had become so discolored and In front of him Johnston stood at Dal- swollen from lying in the sun, that the ton, on the 7 th of May, with an armv MAP OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN CHATTANOOGA, TENN., AND ATLANTA, GA. remains of the white men could scarcely be distinguished from those of the ne- groes." We again turn our attention to what was , going on in Georgia while these events were occurring in Virginia. Sherman, of about 45,000 men. With this, by his unsurpassed masterly skill and str. he succeeded in checking and thwarting Sherman's designs for months, as Lee had baffled those of Grant. Sherman, instead of offering him battle, resorted >20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 to a flank movement, by which he turned saults, on the 27th of June, which were Johnston's left. Johnston fell back and both repulsed with great slaughter. He took position at Resaca, where a severe then again swung his hosts around the conflict ensued on the 14th of May. Confederate forces, but Johnston suc- Sherman again turning his left by ceedcd in safely reaching, without loss, overwhelming numbers, Johnston again his fortifications at Atlanta, on the 9th met him in the vicinity of New Hope, of July. Church, near Dallas, where conflicts again occurred on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of May. Sherman again flanking the Confederates, Johnston met his ad- vancing column at Kennesaw mountain. Here Sherman made two desperate as- MAJOR-GKNERAL JAMES B. M'l'HERSON. About this time he was reinforced with the reserved Georgia militia, numbering about 5,000 strong, under the command of Gustavus W. Smith, a distinguished officer, who had resigned his position in the regular Confederate service, the year THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN before, on account of some disagreement with the War Department at Rich- mond. General Toombs, who had, in like manner, early in 1863, resigned his position in the provisional Confederate army, was now in command of a portion 821 was much larger than the Confeder- ate. In this condition of things, how- ever, Johnston was removed on the i;th of July, and General John B. Hood put in his place. He has been well charac- terized as "a successor, brave, indeed. GENERAL SHERMAN. of the militia under Smith. Johnston's! but rash." Instead of remaining behind position at Atlanta was quite as strong as his works to repel assaults upon them, that of Lee at Petersburg and Richmond, he rushed out to attack the Federals in His losses, from Dalton to the Chatta- front. Within a few days, on the 20th hoochee, were not over 5,000; while and 22d of July, were thus fought the those of Sherman greatly exceeded great battles of Atlanta. Hood, with that number, though the Federal Army unequal forces, assailed the Federals >22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Dook II., c. 33 outside of his works, and lost in all about 8,ooo men, without inflicting any serious injury on his adversary. X^/ _ '.Or In these battles the Confederates lost one of their ablest officers, Major-Gen- eral William Henry T. Walker, and the Federals lost the young and gallant Major-General James B. McPherson. Both these losses were greatly lamented by the respective sides. On the 31st of August Hood gave up the city, and retired towards Newnan. Sherman took possession of his prize on the 2d of September. Hood soon after projected his famous Tennessee campaign. This was com- menced on the 28th of September. I lis army at this time, after all the recruits that could be brought to its ranks, amounted to only about 35,000. The result of this Tennessee move- ment was the battles of Franklin and Nashville. The battle of Franklin was fought on the 30th of November. In this Hood gained a signal victory, though at considerable loss. The battle of Nashville was fought on the 15th and 1 6th of December. It lasted two days. The Confederates here were finally ut- terly defeated, and almost routed, by Thomas, whom Sherman had left in his rear, with forces amply sufficient to meet this meditated blow of Hood, of which he was fully apprised. In the meantime, Sherman, after destroying and burning Atlanta, had set out anew from that point (on the 15th of November), on his grand march to the sea, with an army of 65,000. As there was no sufficient Con- federate force to oppose him, he passed through the State almost unmolested, laying waste the country in a belt of nearly thirty miles in breadth, and reached Savannah on the 22d of December, 1864. The only resistance was at Griswold- ville. Here, on the 22d of November, quite a bloody encounter took place be- tween the Federal brigade of General Walcott, who was demonstrating to- wards Macon, and a few Georgia re- serves at that place under the command of General Cobb. This conflict, consid- THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 823 •ering th:? relative forces engaged, as well as the valor displayed in it, is justly en- titled to a place amongst the heroic fights of the war. Several hundred fell in it, and General Walcott himself was wounded. But, however great was the honor reflected upon the Confederate arms by this engagement, it had no effect this year on the 19th of June, by the United States steamer Kearsarge, near Cherbourg, on the coast of France, and was sunk by her. The Confederate iron- clad Albemarle, lying at Plymouth, North Carolina, was blown up by a Federal torpedo, during the month of July. The Florida was also captured, on the 7th of SINKING OF THE "ALABAMA" BY THE " KEARSARGE." whatever in checking or thwarting the movement of the grand army of Sherman in its progress. So stood the military operations on land on both sides at this time. We will now note the naval operations during the same period. The Confeder- ate war cruiser, Alabama, commanded by Admiral Semmes, was encountered October, by the Wachusett, a Federal war-ship, in the neutral port of San Sal- vador, Brazil. The Federals during the year kept an immense fleet afloat, en- gaged in keeping up the blockade of Confederate ports. Besides this, they sent a squadron of twenty-eight ships, under Admiral Farragut, to reduce the forts that defended Mobile bay. This (82 4 ) BOAT Ol- THE "DEERHOUND" RESCUING CAPTAIN SEMMES. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 825 was early in August The Confederate , and blown up by its garrison the ,ame ram, Tennessee, made a desperate resist- | day. On the 7th of August Fort Gain* 9 u SA/VO /£7_/lA/Jv/Tl^yX S :^^v/ x— '^OPR/ipj — f ' /tecumseh' '>13AIIM ~-// ^/'MANHATTAN // /CHICKASAW V // OF WATLP.S -EI1N M SCALE OF MILES MAP SHOWING THE CITY OK MOBILE AND ITS DEFENCES. ance, but was taken on the 5th of | capitulated. On the 23d Fort Morgan August. Fort Powell was evacuated surrendered. So this harbor was finally 8j6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c 33 and effectually closed. Wilmington, unsuited for agriculture. Several por- North Carolina, was now the only re- | tions are found to be almost deserts, of maining port through which the Con- , the same character as the great desert federates had any communication with of Utah. Little or no vegetation is to the outside world by sea; and this only by running the gauntlet of the blockade. Fort Fisher still stood in defence of the entrance to its harbor. be found in them, and water for domestic purposes has to be brought by pipes from several miles distant. This is the case in Virginia City. Her admission Against the last Confederate sea-coast J was consummated by a proclamation of stronghold, a powerful fleet was fitted Mr. Lincoln, on the 31st of October, out during the fall. It consisted of fifty 1864. The other event of this year dc- war-ships, including seven iron-clads, serving special notice was the Federal and put under command of Admiral Porter, with a large land force under General Butler. A terrific bombard- ment was commenced on the 24th, which lasted for two days without ac- complishing anything. The horrible explosion of the Butler ship-torpedo, election of the 8th of November, for President and Vice-President, foranothc r term, after the ensuing 4th of March. Mr. Lincoln had been previously nom- inated by his party for re-election; and with him had been nominated for the Vice-Presidency, Andrew Johnson, of loaded with 250 tons of gunpowder, was , Tennessee. equally ineffectual. The enterprise was The latter was United States Senator finally abandoned. During the fall of this year the Con- when his State allied itself to the Con- federacy. He, however, continued to federates got to sea, from a British port, hold his seat, and was the only Senator, another formidable war-ship, the Shenan- from any of the States, who did so after doah t put under command of Captain the withdrawal of their States from the James Iredell Waddell, which did im- mense damage, estimated at $6,000,000, to the Federal whaling-ships in the Pacific ocean. Federal Union. In this election the Democratic party nominated for the Presidency, General George B. McClel- lan, of the Federal army; and for the Two other events of the same year Vice-Presidency, George H. Pendleton, deserve notice. One was the admission of the people of Nevada into the Federal THE COAT OF ARMS OF NEVADA. Union as a separate State. Some of the richest gold mines on the continent were supposed to be within its limits, but large portions of the country are arid and of Ohio. The result was that Messrs. Lincoln and Johnson carried the elec- toral votes of every State except three, to wit: New Jersey, Delaware, and Ken- tucky ; though of the popular vote the Democratic ticket received 1,802,237, against 2,213,665 cast for Lincoln and Johnson. So matters stood on both sides at the close of the fourth year of the war. The year 1865 opened gloomily upon the Confederates. The greater part of their territory was occupied by the Fed- erals, who had over 1,000,000 of men THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 827 now in the field ; while they could , by Francis P. Blair, Sr., the celebrated muster under arms but little, if any, over 1 Hampton Roads Conference, between MAP SHOWING THE APPROACHES TO WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA. 150,000. Their supply of subsistence Mr. Lincoln and Confederate was also nearly exhausted. In January of this year was initiated sioners. This, however, did place until the 3d of February Commit- not take and was 828 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 33 - . the meantime, between the initiation and holding of this conference, another tre attended with no practical results.* In Georgia, was amongst the earliest victims. General George T. Whiting, the general in command of the Confederate land mendous Federal fleet, under Admiral I forces, also fell, mortally wounded, while Porter, with a large land force, under Colonel William Lamb, in command of General Terry, had been sent on another I the fort, received several severe wounds, expedition against Fort Fisher; and, by though he survived them, their conioint operations, this Malakoff | The end was now rapidly approaching. CHARLESTON HARBOR AND ITS APPROACHES, SHOWING FORTS SUMTKR AND WAGNER, JAMES ISLAM), ETC., ETC. of the Confederates had fallen on the 15th of January. In this last struggle for Fort Fisher, Sherman commenced about the 1st of February his advance from Savannah through South Carolina, laying every- in which it fell, the Confederate loss was thing waste before him as he had done great, in killed, wounded, and prisoners; in Georgia. He passed Charleston, leav- Colonel John T. Lofton, of the Sixth *For a full nccount of this Conference, about which so little is accurately known, and so many ing that city to his right; in consequence General Hardee, commanding the Con- federate forces there, immediately evacu- orroneous statements have been made, see Apperr ated tne cit y and joined Other forces to « lix R. impede his march. THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. Fort Sumter, about which the first •engagement of the war took place as we have seen, was now a pile of ruins, but still in the hands of the Confederates; Colonel Stephen Elliott, Jr., who had for a long time held it against the bombard- ment of the enemy, was, the year before, promoted and transferred to duty else- where. After the transfer of Elliott, the command of the fort was assigned to Captain Thomas A. Huguenin, on the 17th of February, 1865, who held it, though twice severely wounded during the continued bombardments, until he retired in obedience to the orders of the commanding general, with about 300 veteran soldiers, when Sherman left Charleston to the right and was passing up into the interior of the State. On this, Fort Sumter, with its " record of glory," quietly "passed into the posses- sion of the enemy." Sherman continued his march towards Columbia.* This city was burnt by him and the Federals under him on the 17th of February. On the same day the small Confederate force which had con- tinued to hold Charleston and Fort Sumter was withdrawn from that place as stated. This, with the fragments of ■other shattered armies, amounting in all to about 35,000 men, constituted the en- tire force that could be brought to face Sherman's legions in their progress to join Grant in Virginia. At the head of this, General Joseph E. Johnston was again, in the last extremity, placed in command. Two bloody encounters took place between his reduced columns and Sherman's increased army; one at Ave- rasboro, on the 16th, the other at Ben- tonville, on the 19th of March. On the 23d, Sherman reached Goldsboro, N. C, where he was joined by large additional * See Appendix Q. 829 reinforcements, under Schofield and Terry, and Johnston withdrew to Raleigh. So matters stood here for some time. While Sherman was thus proceeding through the Carolinas, Sheridan, with a large cavalry force, was in motion in Virginia. He came down from the Shenandoah Valley, laying waste the country, and joined Grant near Peters- burg, on the 26th of March. Lee, with less than 45,000 muskets, was now pressed in his trenches, ex- tending thirty-five miles in length, in defence of the Confederate capital, by forces numbering over 200,000. On the 1st of April his right was turned, and the battle of Five Oaks was fought. On the 2d, Grant, by a concentration of forces, succeeded in making a bre'ach in the Confederate general line of defence, near Petersburg. Lee was compelled now to retire, and give up Richmond at last. Several sanguinary and h struggles ensued. The remaining thinned but resolute and undaunted column- of the Confederate chief, like the Spartan band at Thermopylae, were soon brought to their last death-grapple with the monster army of the Potomac. The tragic finale was at hand. On the 9th of April, at Appomal Court-House, the sword of Lee was sur- rendered under liberal terms of capitula- tion. Not much else pertaining to the "annihilated" army of Virginia was left to be passed under the formula of tin- general surrender then made. On this occasion Grant exhibited the greatest magnanimity. In his capitula- tion, Lee was paroled, and with him his army consisting of less than 8,000 Con- federates, who then and there grounded their arms. The parole to officers and men. Confederate soldiers and not as rebels, (»3o) THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. was, in substance, that they should return to their homes and there remain, and not to be molested so long as they should obey the Federal laws, and the lav/s of their respective States. Soon after the surrender, Lee took a 8 3 l night of the 2d, after Lee's lines were broken, and made their escape to Dan- ville, Virginia. Here they receive. 1 in- formation of the surrender of Lee. and proceeded to Greenesboro, North Caro- lina. At this place the Confederate CAVALRY CHARGE AT CEDAR 'KEEK. formal farewell of his officers and I President, in consultation with his cabinet soldiers, which was deeply affecting on | and Generals Johnston and Beauregard, both sides. j reluctantly yielded his assent, that Mr. Davis and his cabinet, with the \ Johnston might make such terms with other officials, had left Richmond on the Sherman as he might be able to do for THE ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 833 the suspension of hostilities, with a view to the peaceful termination of the war by the civil authorities. He expressed at the time his belief that all such efforts by the Confederates for peaceful nego- tiation would utterly fail, as the govern- ment at Washington, in his opinion, would reject all propositions of that nature. The sequel was what was known as the "Sherman-Johnston Con- vention," which was formally agreed to, and signed by them, on the 1 8th of April. The terms of the agreement were as follows : " Memorandum, or Basis of Agreement, Made this \%th day of April, A. D. 1865, near Dunham's Station, and in the State of North Carolina, By and between General Joseph E. Johnston, Commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, Commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina, both present. " I. The contending armies now in the field to maintain their status quo until notice is given by the commanding general of either one to its opponent, and reasonable time, say forty-eight hours, allowed. " II. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded and conducted to the several State capitals, there to de- posit their arms and public property in the State arsenal; and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and abide the action of both State and Federal authorities. The number of arms and munitions of war to be reported to the cnief of ordnance at Washington City, subject to the future action of the Con- 53 gress of the United States, and in the meantime to be used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the States respectively. " III. The recognition, by the executive of the United States, of the several State governments, on their officers and Legislatures taking the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States; and where conflicting State govern- ments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. " IV. The reestablishmentofall Federal courts in the several States, with powers as defined by the Constitution and the laws of Congress. "V. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as the executive can, their political rights and franchises, as. well as their rights of person and property, as defined by the Con- stitution of the United States, and of the States respectively. " VI. The Executive authority of the government of the United States not to disturb any people, by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey laws in existence at the place of their residence. "VII. In general terms, it is announced that the war is to cease; a general amnesty, so far as the executive power of the United States can command, as condition of the disbandonment of the Confederate armies, the distribution of arms, and resumption of peaceful pur- suits by officers and men hitherto com- posing the said armies. Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly («34) THE ADMINISTRATION 01 JOHNSON. obtain necessary authority, and to carry out the above programme. " W. T. Sherman, Major-General, " Commanding the army of the United States in North Carolina. " J. E. Johnston, General, 835 "Commanding Confederate States army in North Carolina." This was a most opportune and ad- mirable basis of terminating the war at the time. But while these negotiations were going on between the distinguished generals on both sides, and four days before the Convention was signed, on the night of the 14th of April, Mr. Lincoln was horribly assassinated, at Ford's Theatre, in Washington City, by John Wilkes Booth, an actor of note, and son of Junius Brutus Booth, the famous English tragedian. It was a matter of gratification to thousands on the Confederate side that Booth was not a Southern man and had never been connected with their cause. By the death of Mr. Lincoln the presidency of the United States again devolved upon the Vice-President. Mr. Andrew Johnson, holding this position at the time, therefore, immediately suc- ceeded to the Federal Executive Chair. From the great excitement created by the execrable act by which Mr. Lincoln had been taken off, or from some other cause, the Sherman-Johnston Convention was disapproved by the newly installed President. Upon being notified of this fact by General Sherman, General Johnston then, on the 26th of April, entered into a ca- pitulation with him, by which he surren- dered all the Confederate forces under his command, upon similar terms agreed upon between Lee and Grant at Appo- mattox Court-House. The course of Johnston was promptly followed by all the other Confederate commanders every- where. The last surrender was that by E. Kirby Smith, in Texas, on the 26th of May. But in the meantime, as soon as the surrender of Johnston was known at Wash.ngton, a proclamation was issued, offering $100,000 reward for the arrest of Mr. Davis, charging him and other Confederates with complicity in the as- sassination of Mr. Lincoln. Orders also were issued for the arrest of Mr. Stephens, Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and all the governors of the Confederate States, to- gether with the prominent Confederate officers. Mr. Davis, with Mr. Reagan, Postmaster-General, and all their partyi including Ex-Governor Lobeck, of Texas, were arrested on the 10th of May, Mr. Ste- phens on the nth; and all the governors with many other prominent Confederates arrested about the same time. When the orders were issued for the arrest of General Lee, he immediately wrote to General Grant on the subject. General Grant instantly repaired to Washington and protested against the arrest. It is understood he said emphatically that if his parole given to Lee and his officers and men at Appomattox were violated, he would resign his commission in the army. This brought the administration to a pause ; the order for the arrest of Lee and other Confederate officers, some of whom had already been arrested, was rescinded, and a new phase was given to the prospect of affairs in the South. On the 29th of May, three days after the surrender of E Kirby Smith, Presi- dent Johnson announced by proclama- tion the termination of the war, in which he offered amnesty, upon certain condi- tions, to all who had participated in the conflict on the Confederate side, except fourteen designated classes. The whole 8 3 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II, c. 33 number of Confederates thus surren- dered, including Lee's and all, amounted to about 1 50,000 under arms. The whole number of Federals then in the field, and afterwards mustered out of service, as the records show, amounted in round numbers to 1,050,000. Thus ended the war between the It was the most lamentable as well as the greatest of modern wars, if not the greatest in some respects " known in the history of the human race." It lasted four years and a little over, as we have seen, with numerous sanguinary conflicts and heroic exploits on both sides not chronicled in this States. It was waged by the Federals with the sole object, as they declared, of " maintaining the Union under the Con- stitution ; " while by the Confederates it was waged with the great object of main- taining the inestimable sovereign right of local self-government on the part of the Peoples of the several States. RUINS OF RICHMOND AFTER THE WAR. history ; but many of which will live in memory, and be perpetuated as legends, and thus be treasured up as themes for story and song for ages to come. In conclusion of this chapter a few comments only will be added. One of the most striking features of the war was the great disparity between the numbers THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. 83; on the opposite sides. From its begin- ning to its end, near, if not quite, 2,000,- 000 more of Federals were brought into the field than the entire forces of the Confederates. The Federal records show that they had, from first to last, 2,600,000 men in the service ; while the Confederates, all told, in like manner, had but little over 600,- numbcr of Confederates captured and held in prisons by the Federals was in like round numbers 220,000.* In ref- erence to the treatment of prisoners on the respective sides, about which much was said at the time, two facts are worthy of note : one is, that the Confederates were ever anxious for a speedy exchange, which the Federals would not agree to • THE GRAVE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. OOO. The aggregate Federal population ! the other is, that of the 270.000 Federal at its commencement was above 22,000,- prisoners taken, 22,576 died in Coi 000; that of the Confederates was less erate hands ; and of the 220.GQO Confed- than 10,000,000, nearly 4.000,000 of erates taken by the Federals, 26436 these being negro slaves, and constituting in their hands ;f the mortuary tabk no part of the arms-bearing portion of thus exhibiting a large per cent, in favor their population. Of Federal prisoners of Confederate humanity. Thecntfa during the war, the Confederates took in j #s ee re p rt of Sui^eon-General U. S. urmy. round numbers 270,000 ; while the whole f See Mr - S'-™" 1 "- Se*reta*y of W»r, report, 838 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 34 on both sides, including those who were permanently disabled, as well as those killed in battle, and who died from wounds received and diseases contracted in the service, amounted, upon a reason- able estimate, " to the stupendous aggre- gate of 1,000,000 of men." Both sides, during the struggle, relied for means to support it upon the issue of paper money, and upon loans secured by bonds. An enormous public debt was thus created by each, and the aggregate of money thus expended on both sides, including the loss and sacrifice of prop- erty, could not have been less than 8,ooo,- 000,000 of dollars — a sum fully equal to three-fourths of the assessed value of the taxable property of all the States to- gether when it commenced. CHAPTER XXXIV. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. (15th of April, 1865 — 4th of March, 1869.) The new President's antecedents — Lincoln's cabinet continued — Rejection of the " Sherman -Johnston ' Convention — Arrest of Mr. Davis, Mr. Stephens and all the high officials of the Confederate gov ernment — His proclamation of peace, and pro clamation for reconstruction of North Carolina with the other States — Terms of proclamation com plied with — Thirteenth Amendment adopted — General Grant's report on the condition of the South — Mr. Stephens elected to the United States Senate from Georgia, on the organization of the S'.ate under the Georgia policy — His speech before the Georgia Legislature in 1866 — General Winfield Scott's death — The Johnson Convention in Phila- delphia, August, 1866 — Rupture between the Pres- ident and Congress — New reconstruction measures passed — Fourteenth Amendment proposed — Not ratified by the Southern States — New reconstruction bill passed — Passed over the veto of the President — Government under Johnson's policy overthrown — Southern States divided into five military districts — Writ of Habeas Corpus suspended throughout the whole of them in time of peace — Mr. Davis' release and enlargement on bond — Indictment for treason finally quashed by government without a trial — General pardon proclaimed by Johnson — A limited number excepted — Another Presidential election — Candidates and result of election — Grant and Colfax elected — Acquisition of Alaska — Death of ex-President Buchanan. NDREVV JOHNSON, of Tennes- see, Seventeenth President of the United States, succeeded to the chief magistracy thereof, on the 15th of April, 1865, as has been stated in the last chapter. He was in the fifty-seventh year of his age. Be- fore the war he had been attached to the strict construction school of statesmen ; he voted for Mr. Davis' resolutions in the Senate heretofore cited, in i860, and had supported Breckinridge and Lane for President and Vice-President in that year. When the war broke out he sided with the North, and was the only Southern Senator as before stated who retained his seat in the Senate after his State had seceded. He was the author of the resolution of the Federal Con- gress in July, 1 861, soon after the first battle of Manassas, declaring the objects for which the war should be waged, and which has been noted in its proper place. Great anxiety, therefore, was felt every- where as to the course he would now adopt. The first indication of his policy given by the new President was the reten- tion of all Mr. Lincoln's cabinet then in office. Some changes in this had been made by Mr. Lincoln. On the death of Chief-Justice Taney, the 1 2th of October, 1864, in the eighty-eighth year of his age (who had presided on the bench of the Supreme Court with eminent ability for over twenty-eight years), Mr. Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, who took such a promi- nent position in the Peace Congress, was transferred from the Treasury Depart- ment to this highest judicial office under THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. 839 the government, and Mr. Hugh McCul- loch, of Indiana, was appointed Secretary of the Treasury, in place of Mr. Chase; James Harlan, of Iowa, was also Secre- tary of the Interior, in place of Caleb B. Smith; William Dennison, of Ohio, was Postmaster-General, in place of Mr. ston Convention," for a general pacifica- tion and a restoration of all the States to their position in the Federal Union, as we have seen. After this came his proclamation of peace, on the 29th of May, as stated. This was after the surrender of all the ANDREW Blair ; and James Speed, of Kentucky, was Attorney-General, in place of Mr. Bates. These and the other members of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet were all re- tained by Mr. Johnson. The first most important act of President Johnson was his disapproval of the " Sherman-John- JOHNSON, Confederate forces under arms, and aftei the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Davis, and all the civil officers of the Confederate and State governments and State executives that could be found, after the order for the am Confederate generals, and their releas 840 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. the interposition of prant, as stated. He still continued, however, to hold all the seceded States under military rule. On the same day of his proclamation of peace, 29th of May, he issued another proclamation as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, appoint- ing a provisional governor of the State of North Carolina, and providing for the assemblage of a convention in that State, to form a new Constitution, under which the State would be recognized by him as a member of the Federal Union. This convention was to be chosen by certain classes of electors under the Constitution of North Caro- lina as it existed when the war com- menced, to the exclusion of others. No new element of constituency was intro- duced. A similar course was pursued by him towards the States of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. To the Convention in Georgia, elected and assembled in- November, 1865, under the Presidential proclamation, Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, sent a tele- gram to the effect that abolition of slavery and the ratification of the Thir- teenth Amendment would be deemed essential by the administration to the recognition of the State as a member of the Union. President Johnson sent a telegram to the effect that the repudia- tion of the war debt of the State would be deemed a like essential to her recog- nition as a State. It is presumed that like telegrams were sent to the other States, though of this the author has no positive knowledge. The people of North Carolina, and of the other nine States named, complied with the terms required of them ; an- Hook II., c. 34 nulled their ordinances of secession ; re- newed their obligations to the Federal Union ; made new Constitutions for their own government ; and also ac- cepted and adopted the Thirteenth Amendment* to the Constitution of the United States as a result of the war, which provided for the prohibition of slavery forever in all the States. This had been proposed to the States by the Federal Congress at its last session, as before stated. They moreover elected Senators and members to the Federal Congress in pursuance of what was known as the " President's policy." Peace, quiet, law, and order, with the protectfon of life, liberty, and property by the local authorities, prevailed throughout their limits. On the 27th of November, 1865, Gen- eral Grant, at the instance of the Presi- dent, made a tour through the Southern States, passing through Raleigh, Charles^ ton, Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, and other Southern cities. In his official re- port to the President, among other things he said : " I am satisfied that the mass of think- ing men of the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The questions .which have hitherto divided the sentiments of the people of the two sections — slavery and State rights, or the right of a State to secede from the Union — they regard as having been settled forever by the highest tribunal — arms — that men can resort to." On the assembling of the Thirty-ninth Congress of the United States, in De- cember, 1865, the policy thus inaugu- rated by Mr. Johnson was bitterly as- sailed by the agitators, who about this time came to be known by the party- * See Appendix D. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. name of " Radicals." They had a ma- jority in both Houses of the Federal Congress as then constituted, and denied to the ten States referred to, representa- tion in either. They insisted that the Federal Union should not be restored as it was before, but be " Reconstructed " upon a new basis of constituency in these ten States. They also proposed what is known as the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitu- tion ; but in proposing it, refused ten States of the Union any voice or hearing. 841 ceeded to Washington, where he was denied admission, as the two Houses were then engaged in their reconstruc- tion policy, and fixing disabilities to hold Federal or State offices, upon all those prominent on the Confederate side during the war. On the 29th of May, [866, Lieutenant- General Winfield Scott died, at the ad- vanced age of eighty years. On tlie 14th of August, 1866, the notable Johnson policy convention assembled in Philadel- phia. It was largely attended, and great THE LANDING AT In January, 1866, after the State of Georgia was reconstructed on the John- son policy, Mr. Stephens, ex-Vice-Pres- ident of the Confederacy, was chosen to the Senate of the United States. This was against his judgment and will ;* he, however, accepted the trust, and pro- * A speech he made to the Georgia Legislature, nfter his election, in which he dwelt at large upon the then situation of the country, and which was unanimously entered upon the journals of both Houses, thus giving this high authoritative indorse- ment of his sentiments, will be found in Appendix L. MOBILE, ALABAMA. enthusiasm prevailed, but owing to its exclusiveness, in ruling out all anti-war Democrats at the North, and all promi- nent persons connected with the war on the Confederate side, its results amounted to nothing. The reconstruction policy of Congress, in antagonism to the Presidential policy, led to an open and violent rupture between the President and a majority of both branches of I gress. Their proposed Fourteenth Amend- 842 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 24 ment was refused adoption by every one of the ten States which was denied a voice in its proposal, and by several of the Northern States. In this state of things the Agitators at the next session * resorted to the revolutionary course of declaring the ten Southern States named to be in a state of rebellion, and dividing them into five military districts, over compel the people of these States to comply with the exactions made on their line of " reconstruction." Their line was to disfranchise hundreds of thou- sands of the white people of the States to be " reconstructed," with the general enfranchisement of the males of the colored race of twenty-one years of age and over, in the same States; and to TERRITORY. each of which a military commander was placed. The State officials, execu- tive, legislative, and judicial, in each of these ten States, were all removed ; the writ of habeas corpus was suspended in time of profound peace, and near nine millions of people put under absolute military sway. This was all done to * For a full presentation of the author's views of the reconstruction acts and policy, see Appendix T. fix political "disabilities" or " disquali- fications " to hold office on every one in these States who had ever before the war held any office of honor or trust, State or Federal, from the highest to the lowest. Thus was inaugurated by the Agitators a new war, not only upon these States, but upon the Constitution itself, and upon all the fundamental and essential THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. 843 principles on which the entire fabric of American free institutions was based. Mr. Johnson vetoed the reconstructive measures thus passed ; but his veto was overruled by a two-thirds vote in both Houses, ten Southern States being ex- cluded from representation. He vetoed other measures of like character, with the same result. A quarrel ensued between him and Mr. Stanton, Secre- tary of War, who continued to hold his office in defiance of the executive order dismissing him therefrom. This and divers other matters of alleged malfeasance led to the impeachment of the President by the House on the 22d of February, 1868. The Senate sitting as a high court of impeachment, Chief-Justice Chase presiding, came to a decision on the 26th of May following, when a conviction failed by one vote only. Under the military domination of the Radical revolutionary reconstructive measures, new conventions were called in the ten Southern States. The old constitutional constituencies of these States were ignored in the formation of these conventions. Many thousands of the white race in each of them were disfranchised, while unlimited suffrage was extended to the black race, as stated. Several prominent leaders in the Southern States, such as Benjamin F. Perry and James F. Orr, in South Caro- lina; Ex-Governor Joseph E. Brown, Chief-Justice Hiram Warner, Joshua Hill, and the first provisional governor, James Johnson, of Georgia ; Alexander White and Samuel F. Rice and others, of Alabama ; and Albert G. Brown and James L. Alcorn and others, of Missis- sippi ; as well as several in all the other States, advised the acceptance of these terms as the best that would ever prob- ably be obtained. Their position in the main was that, notwithstanding the reso- lution adopted by the Federal Congress in 1861 that the war should not be waged for subjugation, it had neverthe- less been so waged and had so resulted. They looked upon the people of the Southern States as conquered, and conquered people they ought to make the best terms possible with their con- querors. If they were rejected the gen- eral confiscation of property might en- sue. By these conventions, so consti- tuted, and under bayonet dictation, the exacted Fourteenth Amendment was de- clared adopted by the requisite number of States to make it part of the Federal Constitution. All the Confederate officials with two exceptions, and all other "State prison- ers," as they were called, caused to be arrested by Mr. Johnson after the sur- render of their armed forces, in May, 1865, as stated, were discharged within twelve months, on parole, without bond, to answer any prosecution that might thereafter be brought against them by the Federal authorities. Mr. Stephens and Mr. Reagan, who had been impris in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, were thus enlarged on the 13th of October, 1865, and all others who had in like manner been arrested about the time, except Mr. Clement C. Clay, a former United States Senator from Ala- bama, and Mr. Davis. Subsequently Mr. Clay was released on a like parole. This gentleman had been charged with complicity in the assassination of Lin- coln, in the proclamation issued fr<>n> Washington, offering a reward for Mr. Davis; upon seeing this he voluntarily surrendered himself to the n ral officer, protesting that no ground 344 1US10RY OF THE UNITED STATES. existed for such accusation; notwith- standing this, he was put in close con- finement at Fortress Monroe, and there held until the spring of 1866, when he was discharged without any proof having been brought against him con- necting his name in the slightest way with the alleged charge. Mr. Davis was continued in close confinement, in irons part of the time, at Fortress Monroe. The government at Washington utterly Book II., c. 34 ment was finally quashed by the govern ment the year afterwards, and neither he nor any other Confederate was ever brought to trialon a charge of treason. On the 4th of July, 1868, President Johnson issued his general proclamation, pardoning all who had been connected with the Confederate side of the question in the war, with a very few exceptions. In the meantime, it will be proper here to state, as it has been omitted in FORT WARREN. failing to find any evidence to implicate its due connection, that Congress had him in complicity with the assassina- tion of Lincoln, there was afterwards in- stituted against him a prosecution for treason in the Federal Court embracing that part of Virginia. He, however, was from 1 86 1 to 1868 organized and estab- lished territorial governments for Ari- zona, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, thus inaugurating govern- ments over all the territory from the never put on trial, though he constantly Eastern States to California. Most of urged it. Bail was allowed him on the these Territories abound in mineral wealth 1 3th of May, 1 867, and Mr. Greeley and i — especially silver and gold ; but some of other distinguished Northern gentlemen ! the most remarkable geographical phe- became surety on his bond; the indict- nomena are exhibited in each of them. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHNSON. 8 45 "The Yellowstone National Park, located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming Territory, is a tract of country more remarkable for the wonderful curi- osities of nature than any other region on the globe. It may very properly be called the ' Northern Wonderland,' in contra-distinction to a similar region in New Zealand, which is now known as the ' Southern Wonderland.' It is a of this country, and the information thus obtained induced the organization in 1870 of an expedition under the direc- tion of General Washburnc, Surveyor- General of the Territory. To this expe- dition was attached Mr. N. P. Langfonl, and Lieutenant Doane, both of whom excited much interest among our people by their reports. In 187 1 Prot Hayden visited this region with a well- SHOSHONEE FALLS, IDAHO TERRITORY. singular fact that it is only within about six years that this marvellous region has been made known to the world. Vague rumors of great volcanoes, spouting hot springs, mud springs, etc., had reached the civilized world from time to time, but they were supposed to be the wild vagaries of the wandering mountaineers, and produced no lasting impression. In 1869, a small party of surveyors from Helena, Montana, penetrated a portion organized scientific corps made a careful exploration of the most remarkabl< tures, and on the return of the expedition to Washington the reports excited general interest, both at home and abroad In February, 1872, the Congress of the United States passed an aet 1 an area of about 3,575 square mil the northwestern corner of Wyoming Territory, withdrawing it from - merit, occupancy, or sale under the laws 846 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 31 of the United States, dedicating and setting it apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." * During the fall of 1868 another Fed- eral election took place for President and Vice-President. The Radicals, still bear- ing the name of " Republicans," met in Convention at Chicago on the 19th of May, and put in nomination for the Presidency, Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois; and for the Vice-Presidency, Schuyler Coifax, of Indiana. In a brief acceptance of the nomina- tion, General Grant, though it was known lie had been very decidedly against the policy of the Reconstruction measures, without making any reference to politics, presented his own platform in these historic words: " Let us have peace." The Democrats held their General Convention in the city of New York, on the 4th of July, and nominated Horatio Seymour, of New York, for the Presi- dency, and General Francis P. Blair, of Missouri, for the Vice-Presidency, upon a platform extremely denunciatory of the Reconstruction measures, declaring them to be unconstitutional, null, and void. General Blair had taken a most active and prominent part in the war on the Union side so called. He was a repre- sentative in the Thirty-fifth Congress from Missouri, and was the first avowed abolitionist that was ever sent to Con- gress from a slave State. He was bit- terly opposed to the new Radical war upon the Constitution itself. This he held to be revolutionary, and founded upon most glaring usurpations of power. The result of the election was the choice of Grant and Colfax by the Electoral Colleges; they received 217 of the elec- *See Johnson's Cyclopaedia, Appendix, written in 1S75. toral votes, while Seymour and Blah- received but /j. The States voting for Grant and Col- fax were Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michi- gan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Caro- lina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsyl- vania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Ver- mont, West Virginia, Wisconsin — 25. The States voting for Seymour and Blair were Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon — 8. Of the popular vote cast Grant and Colfax received 2,985,031, and Seymour and Blair received 2,648,830. In Florida no electoral vote was cast — that State had complied with the Re- construction acts in June, 1868, but no arrangement had been made for the election of electors by the Legislature, according to their new Constitution then formed, owing to disagreements between the Governor and the Legislature. The States of Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were not allowed to vote, be- cause they had not complied with the " Reconstruction" exactions. Had they and the disfranchised in other States been allowed to vote, the popular ma- jority would unquestionably have been largely in favor of Seymour and Blair, notwithstanding the new colored element that had been clothed with the right of suffrage. As it was, the Radical major- ity was only 336,201. Some events of Mr. Johnson's admin- istration deserve special notice. One of these is, the admission of the people of Nebraska as a separate State in the Union. This took place on the 1st of March, 1867 ; the whole number of States now constituting the Union being THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. thereby swelled to the number of thirty- seven, and all, according to the Consti- tution, and according to the terms of their admission, being " upon an equal 847 COAT OF ARMS OF NEBRASKA. footing with the original thirteen." Dur- ing the summer of the same year, the territory of Alaska, containing 500,000 square miles, was acquired by purchase from Russia, at the price of $7,200,000 in coin. A treaty was also made with Denmark during Mr. Johnson's admin- istration, for the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, but was not ratified by the Senate. It may be further noted that it was during his administration that ex- President Buchanan died, at Wheatland, on the 1st of June, 1868, in the 78th year of his age. And it should also be noted that just before the expiration of his term of office, Congress proposed a new amendment to the Constitution of the United States, known as the Fifteenth, to the States for their ratification. It was in these words : "Section i. The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. "Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- priate legislation." At the expiration of his term of office President Johnson retired to his home in Greenville, Tennessee; where he con- tinued to reside enjoying the confidence of the people of the State, to a greater extent, perhaps, than he ever did before, until he was again called to the United States Senate, as we .shall see. Take him all in all he was one of the mo t remarkable men that ever figured in American history. CHAPTER XXXV. ADMINISTRATION OF (.KANT. (4th of March, 1S69— 4th of March, 1S77.) Inauguration — Inaugural address — New cabinet — Changes in it— Forty-first Congi 4th of March, 1S69— District Civil Rights I. ill passed— Completion of Union Pacific railroad, May 10, 1869— Death of ex President Pierce— Death of Edwin M. Stanton— Black Friday in Wall street- Second session Forty first Congress — Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas readmitted into the Union — Georgia readmitted some time before — Fifteenth Amendment announced ratified, 15th March — Enforcement act of May, 1K70 — Establishment of Signal Service Bureau — Events in Georgia — election of 1870— Arrest of Judge Stephens for violation of Enforcement act — He speaks in his own defence, before United States Commissioner Swayze — Indictment against him ignored I \ eral grand jury — Amendment of Enforcement act by Congress — Death of General Robert E. I.ee — Repeal of income lax — Repeal of the iron-clad oath — Modified oath substituted for Confe office-holders — Forty-second Congress — Ackcrman succeeds Hoar as Attorney-General — Great number of prosecutions for violation of Enforcement and Ku-Klux acts — Williams succeeds Ackerman — Grant's pardon of convicts in South Carolina — . Great fire at Chicago — Immense loss of pi and life — Second session Forty-second Congres — Removal of disabilities of 150,000 Southern citi- zens — Modoc war — Massacre of Canby, Ti. and others — Execution of Captain Jack— Boundary line between United States and England finally sc ttl e ,l — Necrology of 1S72 — Presidential election f 1872 — Candidates, with results— Great fire in Boston — Demonetization of silver — Credit M.. bilier Salary grab— Louisiana troubles, growing out of frauds in election of 187a President's mes- sage on the subject— (".rant's second inaugural — Troubles in Louisiana in September — Great fraud* in election there in 1S73 — Final settlement of the questions — Great monetary panic of 1S7 ? — Caused, it is believed, by demonetization of silver — Admis- sion of Colorado — Centennial celebration of 1773 These only preludes to the grand international celebration of the Unite. 1 States — McCabc's account 8 4 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Eook II., c 35 of this — Presidential election of 1876 — Candidates, and results — Electoral Commission — Hayes and Wheeler declared elected by majority of one — Giant's retirement. [eNERA I . U LYSSES S. GRANT, of Illinois, the eighteenth Pres- ident of the United States, was duly inaugurated on the 4th day of March, 1869, for a term extending to the 4th of March, 1873. He was the fifth President whose military achievements had contributed more to GENERAL ULYaSES S. GRANT. his election to this high office than any services rendered in the civil depart- ments of the government. He was at the time in the forty-seventh year of his age. His inaugural, delivered before an immense crowd of enthusiastic admirers, on the east portico of the capitol, was brief and pointed. He was no orator as Pierce was ; and his address on this occasion was rehearsed from a man- uscript before him. It might be charac- terized as a good specimen of the "mul- tum in parvo!' He said " he should have no policy of his own, except to carry out the will of the people, as expressed by the legislative department, and ex- pounded by the judiciary. Laws," said he, " are to govern all alike, those op- posed, as well as those who favor them. I know of no method to secure the re- peal of bad or obnoxious laws so effect- ive as their stringent execution." The oath of office was administered by Chief- Justice Chase. His cabinet consisted at first of Elihu B. Washburne, of Illi- nois, Secietary of State; Alex- ander T. Stewart, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury ; John D. Rawlins, of Illinois, who had been his chief of staff from the beginning of the great war until its termination, Secretary of War; Adolph E. Borie, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Navy ; Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior; John A. J. Cresswell, 7 of Maryland, Postmaster-Gen- eral ; and Ebenezcr R. Hoar, of Massachusetts, Attorney-Gen- eral. Several changes in the cabi- net were afterwards made, the most notable of which were George S. Boutwell, of Massa- chusetts, Secretary of the Treasury, instead of Alexander T. Stewart, the fa- mous merchant of New York. Soon after the confirmation of the latter by the Senate, it was ascertained that he was ineligible under the law, because of his being engaged in commerce. Mr. Wash- burne also gave up his place to accept the position of Minister to France, and the vacant Secretaryship of the State Department was given to Hamilton Fish, of New York. THE ADMINJSTJiATION OF GRANT. 8 49 The Fortieth Congress at its last ses- sion passed an act providing that the Forty-first Congress should assemble on the 4th of March, 1869, instead of De- cember of that year, according to pre- vious laws. The object of this was to have no interregnum in the legislative department of the government during the process of the Reconstruction meas- ures. At 12 o'clock, at noon, therefore, on the 4th of March, 1869, the new Congress came in, and was organized just after the old one had retired from the halls, and at the time of the inaugu- ration of the President-elect. The ma- jority in this Congress as in the last were strongly Radical in numbers, as well as in their principles and policy. The chief objects that occupied the attention of the Forty-first Congress, therefore, at its first session, was the car- rying out of their reconstruction policy. This was in no way changed or modi- fied. They waited, however, for the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. The proclamation of the President, an- nouncing this to be part of the Consti- tution, was not made until 20th of March, 1870. The first session of this Congress adjourned on the 8th of April, 1869, after passing a bill to secure the public credit and the Civil Rights Bill for the District of Columbia. The most notable event of this spring was the completion of the Pacific railroad by a junction between the eastern division, known as the Union Pacific railroad, from Omaha, Nebraska, and the western divis- ion, known as the Central Pacific. These two roads unite at Ogden, near Salt Lake City, in Utah Territory. The junction was accomplished on the 10th of May, 1869, and trains thereafter ran from San Francisco to Omaha. The distance from Omaha to Ogden is 1,032 miles, while 54 the distance from Ogden to San Francisco is 882 miles — common line, 1,914 miles — and constituting by far the most import- ant railroad yet completed in the world. On the 8th of October, 1869, ex-Pn si- dent Franklin Pierce died at his 1: Concord, New Hampshire, with unsul- lied fame and reputation, and generally mourned, with appropriate honors ren- dered to his memory, throughout the United States. Also on the 24th of December, 1 869, Edwin Stanton, former Secretary of War, died, after being elevated to the Supreme Court bench. Duringthcfall of this year also occurred a panic in the gold market in New York city, which was occasioned by one of the most remarkable conspiracies by money-holders against the interests of the people ever known. It ended in what is known as the catastrophe of Black Friday, which occurred on the 24th of September, 1869, and in which millions of fortunes were wrecked. The second session of the Forty-first Congress convened in December of this year as usual. Early in January, 1870, Virginia, Mis- sissippi, and Texas were relieved from military rule, and readmitted into the Union upon their adoption of the Fif- teenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Texas was the last. From that time they were again permitted to have representation in the Senate and House. Georgia had in like manner been 1 - lieved from military rule and readmit', d in 1868, upon her adoption of the Four- teenth Amendment, which was at that time the condition precedent for her readmission, and her Senators and members to Congress, wh> ibili- ties had been removed under the 850 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 36 visions of the Fourteenth Amendment, were thereafter permitted to take their seats. The President on the 20th of March, 1870, issued a proclamation announcing that the Fifteenth Amendment had been duly ratified by a sufficient number of States, and therefore declared it to be part of the Constitution of the United States. Congress soon after went eagerly to work upon a measure to secure the en- forcement of rights which they held to be conferred by it. This bill passed on the 3d of May, and was known as the Enforcement Act. In February of this year, the first res- olutions were adopted for the establish- ment of the Signal Service Bureau, for weather reports, the subject hereto- fore referred to in the chapter on the administration of Pierce. From small beginnings then, it has become one of the largest, most important, and useful branches of the government. Its first chief, Albert J. Myers, who brought it to such perfection, died in July, 1 880. It is estimated that property to the extent of twenty millions of dollars in shipping and merchandise was saved annually, for several years before his death, by his system of storm signals. General Myers was succeeded by General William B. Hazen, who still holds the position. In the meantime political excitement was becoming lively in Georgia, some facts connected with which are worthy of notice. A convention was held in Atlanta, of this Stated on the 17th day of August, for the purpose of reorganizing the Democratic party and all the elements in opposition to what was known as the " Carpet-Bag" rule, for the next ensuing State elections, which were to come off, according to law, in the fall of that year. Many of the most prominent citizens of the State, who had taken no active part in public affairs since the war, now made their appearance in this convention. Among these was Linton Stephens, ex- justice of the Supreme Court of the State. He prepared a brief, but pointed and comprehensive, platform, which was unanimously adopted, with great enthu- siasm, and which was in these words : ''Resolved, 1. That the Democratic party of the State of Georgia stand upon the principles of the Democratic party of the Union — bringing into special prominence, as applicable to the present extraordinary condition of the country, the unchangeable doctrine that this is a Union of States, and of the indestructi- bility of the States, and of their rights, and of their equality with each other, as an indispensable part of our political system. "Resolved, 2. That, in the approaching State election, the Democratic party cor- dially invite everybody to co-operate with them in a zealous determination to change, as far as the several elections to be held can do so, the present usurping and corrupt administration of the State government, by placing in power men who are true to the principles of consti- tutional government, and to a faithful and economical administration of public affairs." The members of the General Assem- bly and members of Congress were to be chosen this year, under the State con- stitution of 1868, and in accordance with an act passed by the Legislature chosen under that constitution. The canvass opened early, and was conducted with a great deal of spirit and energy, both through the press and by speeches on the hustings. The election, according to law, was to come off in the latter part of December, and was to continue for four THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. days, with a detachment of military to attend the voting- precincts, wherever they might be required by the ruling 851 the sixty-fourth year of his age. After his memorable surrender in 1865, he took the presidency of Washington Col- CANON OF THE LODORE AM) GREENE RIVERS, WYOMING TERRITORY. lege, at Lexington, Virginia, where he- continued to reside and discharge the duties of his new position with fidelitv for the remainder of hi., life. party. While this canvass was progress- ing, the country was called on to mourn the death of General Robert E. Lee. He died on the 1st of October, 1870, in 8 5 2 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. S5 The news of the death of this renowned ehieftain produced a profound sensation everywhere. Appropriate honors were paid to his memory in all parts of the country. The result of the four days' December election in Georgia, with the military guard at the polls, under the provisions of the Enforcement act, was an over- whelming majority of the Democratic party, and the redemption of the State from carpet-bag rule. Governor Bul- lock, who had been declared elected chief magistrate of the State in 1868, under the Reconstruction act of Con- gress, raised great complaints against the elections. He charged fraud at the polls in many parts of the State, not- withstanding the military were present in force. He alleged that there had been gross outrages, and divers violations of the Enforcement act of Congress. A part of the State, particularly the eighth Congressional district, he declared to be in a state of rebellion. A committee of the partisans of the governor were deputed to visit Washing- ton with a view of getting the President and Congress to make another turn of the reconstruction screw upon Georgia. The committee waited upon General Grant. He received them, and heard them pa- tiently upon all they had to say, and is reported then to have replied: "Gentle- men, the people of Georgia may govern themselves as they please, without any interference on my part, so long as they violate no Federal law." In the meantime, orders were issued for the arrest of Judge Stephens, who had been so prominent in organizing for the elections throughout the State, and had taken so active a part in preventing illegal votes on the day of election at the polls in Sparta, the place of his residence. Upon his receiving information of this order for arrest, he voluntarily offered to go before Judge Erskine, of the Federal Court in Savannah, for examination, and to abide by his decision in the premises. This was declined. He then voluntarily answered to the warrant without arrest, to Commissioner Swayze, at Macon. This commissioner was known to be one of the Federal carpet-bag officers in the State. He appeared before him in Jan- uary, and made his defence in a speech, which, for its ability in review of the three new constitutional amendments and the provisions of the Enforcement act in May, 1870, deserves to be histor- ically preserved.* The biographer of Judge Stephens says of it, "The wealth of all forensic literature maybe searched in vain for a performance that surpasses it in point of genuine manliness — civil courage — nervous English — the elo- quence of patriotic fervor, or cogent, compact, red-hot logic." f The result of the trial before Commis- sioner Swayze was the requirement of the defendant to appear before the next Federal Circuit Court to sit in Savannah in May, to answer the charge, under a bond of $5,000. At this term of the Court, the indictment was ignored by the grand jury, upon the ground that the evidence made out no crime against the laws and Constitution of the United States. So that matter ended. Con- gress, then in session, proceeded to amend the Enforcement act of the previous year, to meet the weakness in the fifth and sixteenth sections, which had been so successfully assailed by the argument of Judge Stephens. In the latter part of the last session of * See Appendix W. f See Life of Linton Stephens, by J. D. Waddell, P- 330. 5531 R 5 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 3i» the Fortieth Congress, two important measures were passed. One was the repeal of the income tax, which was very oppressive and offensive in its enforce- ments. This passed on the 26th of January, 1871. The other act referred to was the repeal of the test oath, or iron-clad oath, as it was called, so far as relates to the holding of Federal office, by persons connected with the Confed- erate cause. A modified oath was pro- vided for them, which is, in substance, nothing but the original constitutional oath. This act passed on the 31st of January, 1871. The Forty-second Congress convened in its first session on the 4th of March, 1 87 1, the first day of its term, as its predecessor, the Forty- first, had done. It was, as the one before, largely Rad- ical in its composition, though nothing of great importance was done at this session. General Grant, soon after entering upon his administration, gave special a.tention to the damages done the United States commerce by Confederate cruisers fitted out in British ports, in violation of the laws of nations. He brought the subject to the notice of the British min- istry, and urged an amicable adjustment of the question. It was finally agreed ii tween the two countries, to establish a Board of Commissioners, to determine upon all matters of dispute in the prem- ises. This board met at Geneva, and after a protracted investigation and dis- cussion of the principles involved, awarded the United States the sum of £15,000,000, the amount of the damages for which England was justly liable. < )n the 20th of June, 1 87 1, Mr. Hoar resigned his position as Attorney-Gen- eral, and was succeeded by Amos T. Akerman, of Georgia, who held his office only until the 13th of the ensuing December, when he resigned and was succeeded by George H. Williams, of Oregon. Mr. Cox, of Ohio, also resigned the Interior Department, and was suc- ceeded by Columbus Delano, of the same State. During the summer of 1871, a great number of prosecutions were instituted in South Carolina for alleged violations of the Enforcement act. In the counties of Newburg, York, Laurens, Sp tanburg, and Chester, in the upper part of the State, besides one or two in the lower part of the State, the writ of Habeas Corpus was sus- pended and those counties were put virtually under martial .'. The courts, State and Federal, were closed. Great numbers of the best citizens in these districts were seized and dragged to distant parts — some to Columbia and some to Charleston; where exposed to the weather and denied all the necessary comforts of health and life, they were confined for months without any hearing of the nature of the charges brought against them. Thousands of others fled beyond the limits of the stricken districts,' and even the State, during the reign of terror that therein prevailed. Among the outrages thus committed may be here noted that of the arrest of John A. Leland, Ph. D., President of the Laurens Female College, a gentleman of the highest character, probity, and piety, who was imprisoned for five weeks with every indignity and cruelty, and then discharged on bail without ever being informed of the offence for which he had been arrested. The grounds upon which these proceedings were based, from the best attainable informa- tion, were that four colored men and one white man were found dead on the THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. road-side in the county of Laurens, with the appearance of having been inhumanly- murdered, and one other colored man found in his cabin in the most shocking state of mutilation. Neither the cause nor the perpetrators of these outrages were known. The great mass, however, of the good citizens of these counties and sections, it is but just to state, so far from having any sympathy with these 855 ceedings that ensued. But the real motive, it was thought by the good citi- zens of the State, sprang from a desire of these partisans to avail themselves of the opportunity offered, in this way, to rid, by fright, those sections of the State of a large portion of their voting popula- tion at the approaching fall election. Quite a number of those arrested were subsequently tried under what was THE liURNING OF CHICAGO. outrages, looked upon them not only with indignation but horror; and if the law had been permitted to take its due course, would have done all in their power to bring the offenders to justice and punishment. Notwithstand- ing this state of feeling in the commu- nities, the bitter partisans, attributing the homicides to the Ku-Klux-Klan, made them the occasion of the lawless pro- known as the Ku-Klux act, while the great majority, after being cruelly treated in confinement for months, were ulti- mately turned loose without any charge ever being brought against them.* Most, if not all of those convicted, were tried on ex-parte testimony, and all, it * See "A Voice from South Carolina," by John A. Leland, Ph. D., President of Laurens Female Col- lege, South Carolina, a volume of 231 pages. 856 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 35 is believed, were subsequently pardoned by President Grant. One of the greatest conflagrations ever known in the United States occurred during this year. It was the burning of the city of Chicago, Illinois, on the 8th and 9th of October, 1871. The loss was estimated at nearly $200,000,000 in property. Upwards of 17,000 houses were burned, and nearly 100,000 persons election. One act, however, of this ses- sion deserves special notice. It was the act passed the 9th day of May, remov- ing the disabilities of certain classes of Southern men as provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitu- tion. By this act at least 150,000 citi- zens of the Southern States were no longer prohibited from holding office. Those excepted from the provision of THE LAVA BEDS — SCENE OF THE MODOC WAR. rendered homeless. The saddest part, this act were all the Senators and mem- however, was the loss of 280 human bers of Congress who had vacated their lives, seats on the secession of the several The second session of the Forty- States ; all United States ministers second Congress convened in December abroad who had, in like manner, resigned ofi87ias usual. The most of its time their positions; and all graduates of was taken up with the usual discussions West Point and Annapolis who had preceding an approaching Presidential adopted a similar course. *See Appleton's Annual for 1X71, p. 394. During the spring of 1872 occurred THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 857 the Modoc war, with the horrible massa- cre of Major-General Canby, Dr. Thomas and their party, in a conference for peace. Captain Jack, with other leaders of the Indians, who had committed this worse than savage outrage, was afterwards arrested, tried by court-martial and exe- cuted. On the 2 1 st of October of the same year was finally settled the last question of boundary between the United States and Great Britain. It related to the true channel between the United States and Van- couver's Island. The matter had been referred to William, Emperor of Germany. He decided in favor of the United States. During the spring, sum- mer, and early fall of this year the death-roll of distinguished men of the country was un- usually large. Samuel Breese Finley Morse, of Massachu- setts, the founder of the elec- tric telegraph, died on the 2d of April, 1872, in the eighty-first year of his age. Linton Stephens, of Georgia, died 14th of July, aged forty- nine. William H. Seward, Mr. Lincoln's great Secretary of State, after making a suc- cessful voyage around the world, died on the 10th of October, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his age. General George G. Meade, the victor at Gettysburg, died 6th of November, 1872, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. These departures were soon to be fol- lowed by another, and one quite as illustrious, but whose great part in the •drama of life was not yet completed. During the fall of this year another exciting Presidential election took place, whereof an account will now be given. Quite a split had taken place in the Republican party. A large portion of that organization had manifested decided opposition to the renomination and re- election of General Grant. They as- sumed the name of Liberal Republicans and held their convention at Cincinnati, Ohio, and put in nomination for the Presidency, Horace Greeley, the great HORACK GREELEY. ! journalist of New York; and for the Vice-Presidency, B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri. The Democrats held their convention at Baltimore, on the 9th day of July, and without presenting a ticket of their own, simply indorsed the nom- ination made by the Cincinnati Conven- tion ; while the regular Republican Convention met on the 5th day of June, at Philadelphia, and put in nomination 858 HISTORY OF THE CM TED STATES. Look II c. 36. for rc-clcction General Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, for President, and for Vice- President, Henry Wilson, of Massachu- setts. The result of the election was 286 electoral votes for Grant, for President, and 286 for Wilson, for Vice-President. For B. Gratz Brown, for Vice-President, 47. The votes by States for Grant were Alabama, California, Connecticut, Dela- ware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ne- vada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Caro- lina, West Virginia, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin — 29. Those casting electoral votes against Grant were Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas — 6. The States whose elec- toral votes were not counted were Ar- kansas and Louisiana — 2. Mr. Greeley having died soon after the popular election in November, and before the meeting of the Electoral Colleges in December, the votes that he carried at the popular election were only 65, and were scattered in the colleges among a number of persons whose names had never been connected with the office. Another very great calamity should also here be chronicled. It is the great fire that occurred in Boston, on the 9th and 10th of November, 1872. The loss of property was estimated at s8o,ooo,ooo, and fifteen persons were consumed in the flames. During the remaining portion of the last session of the Forty-second Con- gress, several important measures were passed. The one which perhaps produced the greatest effects upon the country was the act demonetizing silver, and striking this precious metal from the list of coins with debt-paying power. The two metals from time immemorial, which had been recognized by civilized nations as money, were silver and gold. At the time silver was displaced on the list, there were, upon the best estimates, in round num- bers, $8,000,000,000 of gold and silver circulating as money in the world. Of this amount $4,500,000,000 was silver. The only unit of value in the United States from the beginning of the govern- ment was the silver dollar of 373 grains of standard silver, which had never been changed. All the bonds that had 1> 1 n issued by the United States had been made payable in United States coin, either gold or silver, at its then standard value. This act, therefore, of Congress in striking silver from its debt-paying power, had a most injurious effect upon the interests of the country, as we shall see. Another subject that greatly agi- tated the Congress and the country about this time was the Credit Mobilier, about which so much was said and written with so little profit to the country or actual results. It was at this session also that the celebrated Salary Grab Act, as it was called, was passed, about which so much, with so little practical good, has been spoken and written. Soon after the November elections of 1872, very great excitement took place- in Louisiana. The grossest frauds were charged upon Governor Warmouth, a Greeley Republican, in his attempts at manipulating the returning board, under the laws of that State. The result was two returning boards, each claiming to be the rightful one. Owing to this confusion, two legislative bodies set up to be each the rightful one. Each one of these elected a Senator, claiming to be the rightful one, to the United States Senate. And there were two rival contestants to the Governorship of THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT 859 the State. The Senate raised a com- mission, who went down to Louisiana and made a thorough examination, and reported upon the facts, which amounted, in a printed volume, to over a thousand pages. Louisiana sent, in the latter part of December, a large deputation of citizens, headed by ex-Justice of the Supreme Court John A. Campbell, to urge the President to afford them some relief, and especially to send Justice Bradley, United States Circuit Judge, to Louisiana, and set things right there. They waited upon the President on the 19th of December. The committee .having been introduced to the President by Attorney-General Williams, Judge Campbell explained the purpose of their coming to Washington, and gave a brief account of the condition of affairs in Louisiana, in consequence of which commerce was seriously affected, and trade generally so injured that the people were dismayed, and this unfavorable con- dition of affairs had not only injured that State, but other States having close business relations with Louisiana. As there was no prospect of a just and satisfactory solution of the present trouble, by means of the agency now a", work, the people, through their com- mittee, asked that, in this exigency, Associate Justice Bradley, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Judge Woods, of the Circuit Court of the United States, should take charge of the judicial administration of the Circuit Court, sitting in New Orleans. Judge Campbell said that when he occupied a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, he was twice requested by the chief magis- trate to perform such duty in order that the force, power and influence of the court should be felt and respected, and he also went there twice at his own in- stance. He did not know of a more serious condition of affairs than that which now existed in Louisiana; and could see no relief except in the manner now sug- gested. The judges, whom he men- tioned, would have greater power and independence than the judge who now presided in the Circuit Court. The course he had indicated promised a solution of the difficulties so far as the judicial question was concerned. In the second place, the President of the United States, living 1,200 miles distant from New Orleans, could not be ex- pected to have a knowledge of all the facts. What the people of Louisiana, wanted, what the President wanted, and what all good men desired, was the right of this matter about which there were conflicting statements and criminat- ing remarks. The people of that State, as repre- sented by the committee, also ask the executive of the United States to send to New Orleans three independent, impartial, learned and just men to make a full inquiry into all the facts, to take testimony and thoroughly explore the situation. They desire that all the facts be reported to the President. President Grant, in reply, said he sup- posed it was competent for the Supreme Court to designate any one of its mem- bers to proceed to Louisiana, but he did not think it would be quite proper for him to make the request of them. Con- gress had power to investigate the facts in the case presented, but he did not propose to interfere with the local affairs in that State by putting one set of offi- cers or another in power, although numerous telegrams, letters and papers say he had done so. 8(>o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. No action was taken by the adminis- tration until the decree of the United States Court was attempted to be set aside or resisted by the last Governor of the State ; then the United States marshal was simply instructed to see that the decree of the Federal Court was sustained, and the military forces were used, if necessary, to support the Federal authority. He would not feel at liberty to make a request that Judge Bradley go to New Orleans, particularly as he is wanted here while the court is in session ; although if the court should make the request, it would meet with his approbation. Judge Campbell said there was no authority under the Constitution and laws of the United States for a Federal Court to interfere with the affairs of a State, such as had taken place in Lou- isiana, and he briefly alluded to the decree of the court and its effects in seating and unseating persons elected to office. The President, during a colloquy with Judge Campbell, said his understand- ing of the subject was, the court had merely decided who were the legal can- vassers, and, even if, as stated in this case, the court exceed its authority, its decision will have to be respected until the decision shall be set aside by a superior court. It would be dangerous for the Presi- dent to set the precedent of interfering with the decisions of courts. In reply to the request of Judge Campbell that he would send a com- mittee of three honest men to go down and investigate the matter, and send a report to Congress, he said he could not employ and compensate such men unless by authority of Congress, nor could such committee administer oaths or compel the attendance of witnesses. He said Congress had power — he hadn't. Subsequently to this, as Congress had taken no action on the subject, the Presi- dent, on the 25th of February, sent a message to Congress upon the subject, in the following words : "To the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives : " Your attention is respectfully invited to the condition of affairs in the State of Louisiana. Grave complications have grown out of the election there on the 6th of November last, chiefly attributable, it is believed, to an organized attempt, on the part of those controlling the election of officers and returns, to defeat in that election the will of a majority of the electors of the State. Different persons are claiming the ex- ecutive office. Two bodies claim to be the legislative assembly of the State, and the confusion and uncertainty pro- duced in this way fall with paralyzing effect on all its interests. A controversy arose, as soon as the election occurred, over its proceedings and results, but T declined to interfere until suit involving this controversy to some extent was to be brought in the Circuit Court of the United States, under and by virtue of the act of May 3d, 1870, entitled, 'an act to enforce the right of citizens of the United States to vote in the several States of the Union, and for other pur- poses.' Finding resistance was made to the judicial process in that suit without any opportunity, and in my judgment without any right to review the judg- ment of the court upon the jurisdictional or other questions arising in the case, I directed the United States Marshal to enforce such process, and to use, if necessary, troops for that purpose in THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 86 1 accordance with the thirteenth section of that act, which provides that it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to employ such part of the land and naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary to aid in the execution of judicial process under this act. " Two bodies of persons claimed to be the returning board for the State, and the Circuit Court in that case decided the one to which Lynch belonged, usually designated by his name, was the lawful returning board, and this decision has been repeatedly affirmed by the District and Supreme Courts of the State. Having no opportunity or power to canvass the votes, and the exigencies of the case demanding an immediate de- cision, I conceded it to be my duty to recognize those persons as elected who received and held their credentials to office from what then appeared to me to be, and has since been decided by the Supreme Court of the State to be, the legal returning board. Conformably to the decisions of this board a full set of State officers has been installed and a legislative assembly organized, consti- tuting, if not a de jure, at least a de facto government, which, since some time in December last, has had possession of the offices and been exercising the usual powers of the government ; but opposed to this has been another government claiming to control the affairs of the State, and which has, to some extent, bjen pro forma organized. " Recent investigation of the said elec- t.on has developed so many frauds and forgeries as to make it doubtful what candidates received a majority of votes actually cast, and in view of these facts, a variety of action has been proposed. I have no specific recommendation to make upon the subject, but if there is any practical way of removing these difficulties by legislation, then I earnestly request that such action be taken at the present session of Congress. It seems advisable that I should state now what course I shall feel bound to pursue in reference to the matter, in the event of no action by Congress at this time, sub- ject to any satisfactory arrangement that may be made by the parties to the con- test, which, of all things, is the most de- sirable. It will be my duty, so far as it may be necessary for me to act, to adhere to that government recognized by me. To judge of the election and qualifica- tions of its members is the exclusive province of the Senate, as it is also the exclusive province of the House to judge of the election and qualifications of its members ; but as to the State offices filled and held under State laws, the decision of the State judicial tribunal, it seems to me, ought to be respected. I am extremely anxious to avoid an}- ap- pearance of undue interference in State affairs, and if Congress differ from me as to what ought to be done, I respectfully urge its immediate decision to that effect. Otherwise I shall feel obliged, as far as I can, by the exercise of legitimate au- thority, to put an end to the unhappy controversy which disturbs the peace and prostrates the business of Louisiana, by the recognition and support of that government which is recognized and upheld by the courts of the State. " U. S. Grant." Congress took no notice of this mes- sage and left the state of affairs in Louisiana without any action. On the 4th of March, 1873, General Grant was inaugurated for another four years. The ceremonies were very im- 862 HISTORY OE THE UXITED STATES. Hook II , C 35 posing, and the crowd immense. The ' inaugural was delivered from the usual place, the east portico of the capitol. Like his first it was brief and pointed ; and though read, was received with great enthusiasm, notwithstanding the severe inclemency of the weather. with what he announced he would do in hi.s message to Congress of the 25th of February. In this he acted in con- formity to the decision of the highest judicial tribunal in the State. Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase suddenly died of paralysis on the 7th day of May, PRESIDEN1 GRAN1 PASSING THROUGH IlIH The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Chase. On the failure of the Forty-second Congress, before its adjournment, to take any action upon the state of affairs in Louisiana, Grant, after his second in- auguration, recognized Kellogg as the Governor of the State in accordance Rnl [7NDA TO TAKE I III. "A 1 II OF "I IKK. 1873, at the home of his daughter in the city of New York, and was succeeded some months afterwards by the nomina- tion and confirmation of Morrison R. Waite, of Ohio. Everything went on smoothly and peaceably during the summer, but early in September an outbreak took place at THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 86 3 New Orleans which seriously threatened the peace of the country. Many of the extreme men of the Warmouth party de- termined to resist Kellogg and depose him from power. He sought refuge in the custom house and appealed to the President, under the laws and Constitu- tion of the United States, to aid him as Governor of the State in sustaining his authority and putting down the threat- ened insurrection. The aid was given, but no force was resorted to. Older and wiser counsels prevailed, and those who had undertaken the displacement of the Governor, who had been recognized by the courts of the State and the President of the United States, abandoned their enterprise. During the elections, how- ever, of this fall, very great and palpable frauds were perpetrated by the returning board. A very decided majority of Democrats were unquestionably duly elected, but the board gave certificates •of election to a majority of the Repub- licans. Under the law of Louisiana no member elect to the Senate or House of Representatives could participate in the organization of the body to which he was chosen without a legally authorized certificate from the returning board. The Constitution and laws provided that the old clerk should make out a list of members having certificates of election, and upon calling it they alone should have seats in the respective Houses to which they belonged. Those thus having certificates were organized into their respective bodies, and after the organization each House was to be judge of the election returns to it. The object of the great fraud of the board in refus- ing to grant certificates to Democrats, who were unquestionably elected, was to get the organization of the respective Houses, and to choose a United States Senator before the Democrats to whom certificates were refused could have a proper hearing before their respective Houses. In this state of things, when the old clerk of the House commenced calling the roll according to law, the Democrats, who had been refused certifi- cates, but had been duly elected, were in the House, and on motion dispensed with the old clerk and elected their speaker and other officers of the house, all of them voting, those who had no certificates as well as those who had. The Republican members immediately retired and called upon Kellogg, the recognized Governor of the State, to clear the hall of all persons therein ex- cept those who had the regular certifi- cates of election granted by the legally constituted returning board. This was done by the military, and the fraud was carried out by the Republican organiza- tion of the Legislature. Great excite- ment was produced thereby throughout the United States. An immense meet- ing of citizens was called in New York, in which many prominent Republicans figured in condemnation of the act. The House of Representatives of Congress was then largely Republican. A com- mittee was raised in it, of which W. A. Wheeler, subsequently Vice-President of the United States, was chairman, and sent down to Louisiana to investigate the matter. They reported in strong condemnation of the fraud, and recom- mended a reorganization of the Legisla- ture, with a recognition of the member- ship of the unjustly rejected Democrats, and of Kellogg as the recognized gov- ernor until the end of his term. This report was finally adopted by a majority of one in the House, and thus this ques- tion, threatening the peace of the coun- try, was harmoniously settled. Similar 864 HIS 1 OR V Of THE UNITED STATES Book II., c. ; j troubles in Arkansas were soon settled cause was the demonetization of silver in like manner by an act of Congress. by an act of Congress at the last session, In the month of September, 1873, which has been previously noticed, also occurred a monetary panic which Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, SCENE ON THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER. should here receive special notice. It was generally attributed to an excessive issue of United States currency, but , according to the better opinion the real died on the nth of March, 1874, at his residence in Washington, D. C, after a sudden and severe illness. In January, 1875, Congress passer! an THE ADM1NISJ RATION OR GRANT 865 act providing for the resumption of specie I Vice-President H Pn n, uri ravmmk __ j . . V, r v lce r resident Henry Wilson, on the payments, and requiring that on and 22d of November ,*,* « 1 !, after Ja n Ist , ^ the ^ tender Loke'o^Xs 'a ^i'etth";^/ notes of the government should be re- | President's apartments in the Capitol at" VIEW IN THF GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO RIVER. deemed m specie. In the meantime j Washington. Thomas W. Ferry sen- cnonal 1 ^ t0 bC SUbStitUt£d '" thG ' at ° r ^ MiGhi ^ n - ™ chosen aTprcs- iractional paper currency. ! iden t pro Urn. of the Senate 866 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 35 On the 4th of March, 1875, the Terri- tory of Colorado was authorized by Con- gress to form a Constitution, and was admitted into the Union as a State, the 1st of July, 1876, making the thirty- eighth member of the Confederacy, and by which she received the appellation of the " Centennial State." COAT OF ARMS OF COLORADO. The Forty-fourth Congress assembled 1st of December, 1875. It was largely Democratic. Michael Kerr, of Indiana, was elected Speaker, and on his death the ensuing summer, Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was chosen as his suc- cessor. The year 1875 completed the period of one hundred years from the opening of the revolution, and the leading events of that period — the centennial anniver- saries of the battles of Lexington, Con- cord, and Bunker Hill ; the Mecklenburg I » claration of Independence in Charlotte, North Carolina — were all celebrated with appropriate commemorative ceremonies. These were but preludes to the great International Centennial of 1876 in cele- bration of the Declaration of Independ- ence on the 4th of July one hundred years before. This was in Philadelphia, and was at- tended by representatives from almost every civilized nation of the earth. It was the grandest exposition, perhaps, ever before witnessed anywhere. Of it, McCabe writes as follows : "As early as 1872 measures were set on foot for the proper observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the inde- pendence of the United States. It was resolved to commemorate the close of the first century of the republic by an International Exhibition, to be held at Philadelphia in 1876, in which all the nations of the world were invited to par- ticipate. Preparations were at once set on foot for the great celebration. The European governments with great cor- diality responded to the invitations ex- tended to them by the government of the United States, and on the 10th of May, 1876, the International Centennial Ex- hibition was opened with the most im- posing ceremonies, in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the Union, and of the President of the United States and the Emperor of Brazil. The exhibition remained from May 10th to November 10th, 1876, and was visited by several million people from the various States of the Union, from Canada, South America, and Eu- rope. It was one of the grandest and most notable events of the century. "On the 4th day of July, 1S76, the United States of America completed the one hundredth year of their existence as an independent nation. The day was celebrated with imposing ceremonies and with the most patriotic enthusiasm in all parts of the Union. The celebrations began on the night of the 3d of July, and were kept up until near midnight on the 4th. Each of the great cities of the Union vied with the others in the splendor and completeness of its rejoicings ; but the most interesting of all the celebra- tions was naturally that which was held at Philadelphia, in which city the Dec- laration of Independence was adopted. The arrangements for the proper observ- ance of the day were confided to the United States Centennial Commission, THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 867" •and extensive preparations were made to conduct them on a scale of splendor ■worthy of the glorious occasion. The ■city of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania lent their cordial co-opera- tion to the effort to have all things in readiness for the Fourth, and the work went forward with a heartiness and vigor that could not fail of success. " It was wisely resolved by the Com- mission that as the Declaration of Inde- pendence was signed in Independence Hall and proclaimed to the people in independence Square, the commemora- spirited citizen — was hung in the State House tower, ready to join its deep tones to the shouts of the multitude when the moment of rejoicing should arrive. " Being anxious that the Centennial celebration should do its share in cement ing the reunion of the Northern and Southern States, the Commission began, at least a year before the occasion, the formation of a ' Centennial Legion,' consisting of a detachment of troops from each of the thirteen original States. The command of this splendid body of picked troops was conferred upon Gen- OPF.NING CKREMONIF.S OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. tive ceremonies should be so conducted as to make the venerable building the grand central figure of all the demonstra- tions. The city authorities caused the building to be handsomely draped in the national colors, and enormous stands, covered with canvas awnings and orna- mented with flags and streamers, were erected in Independence Square for the accommodation of the singers and invited guests who were to take part in the rejoicings. A new bell of vast propor- tions — the gift of a patriotic and public- eral Ambrose E. Burnside, of Rhode Island, and General Henry Heth, of Virginia, was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel. Both were veterans of the late civil war. The Legion was readily made up, the best volunteer commands of the original States being eager to serve in it. " For a week previous to the 4th of July, crowds of people began to pour steadily into Philadelphia. Volunteer organizations from the various States were constantly arriving, and were either encamped at various points in and around L THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 869 the Exhibition grounds or were quar- tered at the various hotels. The city was gayly decorated with flags and streamers, and the view down any of the principal streets was brilliant by reason of the clouds of bunting with which it was decorated. The principal buildings were almost hidden by the flags which adorned them, or were ornamented with patriotic inscriptions, and at various points on Chestnut street, triumphal arches were erected. By the night of the 3d of July it was estimated that at least 250,000 -Grangers were assembled in Philadelphia. " The Centennial ceremonies were be- gun on the morning of Saturday, the 1st of July. The leading writers of the Union had been invited to prepare me- moirs of the great men of our Revolu- tionary period, which were to be depos- ited among the archives of the State House, and all who were able to accept the invitation assembled in Independence Hall at eleven o'clock on the morning of July 1st, 1876, where they were joined by a number of invited guests. The ceremonies were opened by an address from Colonel Frank M. Etting, the chairman of the Committee on the Res- toration of Independence Hall, and a prayer by the Rev. William White Rron- son. Whittier's Centennial Hymn was then sung by a chorus of fifty voices. The names of the authors were then called, to which each responded in per- son or by proxy, and laid his memoir on the table in the hall. The exercises were then brought to a close, and the company repaired to the stand in Inde- pendence Square, where a large crowd had assembled. " The ceremonies in the square were begun at half-past twelve o'clock with Helfrich's Centennial Triumphal March, performed by the Centennial Musical Association. Mr. John William Wallace, the president of the day, then delivered a short address, after which Whittier's Centennial Hymn was sung by a chorus of 150 voices, and Mr. William V. Mc- Kean reviewed at some length the great historical event in commemoration of which the ceremonies were held. After the band had played ' God Save America,' the Hon. Leverett Salstonstall, of Massa- chusetts, delivered an address, which elicited warm applause. ' The Voice of the Old Bell,' a Centennial ode, was then sung, and Governor Henry Lippitt, of Rhode Island, made a short rpeech. The band followed with a number of patriotic airs, and Mr. Wallace an- nounced the unavoidable absence of General John A. Dix, and introduced in his place Frederick De Peyster, Presi- dent of the New York Historical So- ciety, who made a few remarks. After a Centennial ode, by S. C. Upham, had been sung by the chorus, the Hon. Ben- jamin Harris Brewster delivered an eloquent address, at the close of which another Centennial Hymn, by William Fennimore, was sung. Senator Frank P. Stevens, of Maryland, then said a few words, after which the 'Star-Spangled Banner' was sung, and the exercises were brought to a close by a prayer from Bishop Stevens. "All through Sunday, the 2d, the crowds continued to pour into the city, and on Monday, 3d, the streets were almost impassable. Business was gen crally suspended from the 1st to the 5th of July. "The celebration ushering in the 4th of July was begun on the night of the 3d. A grand civic and torchlight pro- cession paraded the streets, which were brilliantly illuminated along the whole *7o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II , t .It line of march. The procession began to move about half-past eight o'clock at night, and consisted of deputations rep- resentative of the various trades of the city, the Centennial Commissioners from the various foreign countries taking part n the Exhibition, the governors of a number of the States of the Union, offi- cers of the army and navy of the United States, civic and political associations, I Chestnut and Broad streets flashed re- splendently in lines of fire and colored lanterns. The dense masses which thronged these streets stood out boldly in the clear light of the illumination, and the long, slow-moving line of the pro- cession flowed through them like a vast river. " Crowds had collected around Inde- pendence Hall, filling the street before THE NEW PHILADELPHIA POST OFFICE. and officers of foreign men-of-war visit- ing the city. Some of the deputations bore torches, and these added to the brilliancy of the scene. All along the line fireworks were ascending into the air, and cheer after cheer went up from the dense masses of enthusiastic spec- tators which filled the sidewalks. " The illumination of the streets along the route of the procession was superb. it and the square in the rear of it. An orchestra and chorus were stationed on the stands in the square to hail the opening of the 4th with music. The movements of the procession were so timed that the head of the column ar- rived in front of Independence Hall pre- cisely at midnight. The crowd, which had been noisy but good-natured, was hushed into silence as the hands of the clock in THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. 8 7 I the tower approached the midnight hour, and 100,000 people waited in breathless eagerness the strokes which were to usher in the glorious day. As the minute-hand swept slowly past the hour there was a profound silence, and then came rolling out of the lofty steeple the deep, liquid tones of the new liberty-bell, sounding wonderfully solemn and sweet as they floated down to the crowd below. Thirteen peals were struck, and the first tone had hardly died away when there went up from the crowd such a shout as had never been heard in Philadelphia before. It was caught up and re-echoed all over the city, and at the same time the musicians and singers in the square broke into the grand strains of the ' Star- Spangled Banner.' All the bells and steam whistles in the city joined in the sounds of rejoicing, and fireworks and firearms made the noise ten-fold louder. When the 'Star-Spangled Banner' was ended, the chorus in Independence Square sang the ' Doxology,' in which the crowd joined heartily, and the band then played national airs. "The festivities were kept up until after two o'clock, and it was not until the first streaks of the dawn began to tinge the sky that the streets of the city resumed their wonted appearance. "The lull in the festivities was not of long duration. The day was at hand, and it threatened to be mercilessly hot, as indeed it was. As the sun arose in his full-orbed splendor, the thunder of cannon from the Navy Yard, from the heights of Fairmount Park, and from the Swedish, Brazilian, and American war- vessels in the Delaware, and the clang- ing of bells from every steeple in the city, roused the few who had managed to snatch an hour or two of sleep after the fatigues of the night, and by six o'clock the streets were again thronged. " In view of the extreme heat of the weather, the military parade had been ordered for an early hour of the day. At a little after seven o'clock the line was formed, the right resting on Chest- nut street, facing west, in the following order : " Governor Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, commander-in-chief, and aides; General Bankson, commanding First division, N. G. P., and aides; Philadelphia City Troop; Black Hussars; Keystone Bat- tery ; Brigadier-General Thayer, Second brigade, First division, N. G. P., and aides; Cadets United States Military Academy ; United States marines ; Sec- ond brigade, First division, N. G. P. ; Third Pennsylvania regiment, Colonel Ballier ; Sixth Pennsylvania regiment, Colonel Maxwell; Gray Invincibles (Pa.), Captain Jones; First brigade, First di- vision, N. G. P.; Brigadier-General Brin- ton and staff; Second Pennsylvania reg- iment, Colonel Lyle ; United Train Artillery, Providence, Rhode Island; De- troit National Guards, Captain O'Keefe ; First regiment Pennsylvania Infantry, Colonel Benson ; Twenty-second regi- ment, New York National Guards, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Camp; Albany Zouave cadets, Captain Reynolds; Weccacoe Legion, Captain Denny; B company, First regiment, National Guards, Dis- trict of Columbia ; D company, Eighth regiment, N. G. P., of Harrisburg; Washington (D. C.) Grays ; Pierce Light Guards, of Boston; Centennial Legion; three companies Virginia National Guards, Colonel Ordway; Seventh Na- tional Guards, New York, Colonel Clark ; Twenty-third National Guards, New York, Colonel Ward; two companies First regiment, National Guards, of Ver- 872 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES. Hook II, C. 35 mont; two companies Detroit Inde- nt cadets; visiting troops from Texas; cadets of Northern Home; Gi- rard College cadets; visiting Governors and their staffs. "The Centennial Legion, composed of detachments from the thirteen original States, occupied a prominent place in the line. It was commanded by General Henry Heth, of Virginia, and was com- posed as follows : " Rhode Island, Light Infantry regi- ments; Georgia, Clinch Rifles; New column was under the chief command of General Hartranft, Governor of Penn- sylvania, and a gallant veteran of the civil war. The command was made up of troops who during that bloody strug- gle had fought each other gallantly, and who had now come to testify their devo- tion to their common country, and to show to the world that in trusting its defence to its well-regulated militia the American republic is stronger than the most powerful monarchies of the old world. 111,. NEW Hl'.l.ie mill. mm;-., PHILADELPHIA. Jersey, Phil Kearney Guards; Delaware, American Rifles; Maryland, Detachment Fifth regiment; Massachusetts, Boston Light Infantry; South Carolina, Wash- ington Light Infantry; New York, Old Guard ; North Carolina, Fayettesville Light Infantry; New Hampshire, First New Hampshire Battery; Connecticut, New 1 laven Grays; Pennsylvania, State FenciMes; Virginia, First Light Artil- lery Blues. "The troops numbered about ten thou- sand men, rank and file, and the whole "At half-past eight the column began to move down Chestnut street towards mdence Hall, in front of which the troops were reviewed by General W. T. Sherman, the commanding general of the armies of the United States; the Secretary of War; Prince Oscar of Sweden ; Licutenant-General SaigO, of the Imperial army of Japan ; the officers of the Swedish men-of-war in the harbor; the governor.^ of several of the States ; and General Hawley, the President of the Centennial Commission. VIEW OK THE INTERSECTION OF NINTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS, PHILADELPHIA (873) 874 HISTORY OI< THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 35- "As the troops passed along they were greeted with enthusiastic cheers by the crouds on the street. The Centennial Legion and the troops from the South- ern States were the objects of an espe- cially hearty demonstration. The route chosen was a short one, the extreme heat forbidding an extended parade, and by ten o'clock the military cere- monies were over. " As soon as the parade was ended the crowd turned into Independence Square, which was soon filled. The approaches to the building by way of Chestnut and Sansom streets were kept clear by the police, in order that those who were entitled to seats on the stand might reach their places. Four thou- sand persons were given seats on the stand, and a vast crowd filled the square. As the invited guests appeared and took their scats on the platform the prominent personages were cheered by the crowd. The Emperor of Brazil received a wel- come that was especially noticeable for its heartiness. " It was hoped that the President of the United States would be present and preside over the ceremonies; but Gen- eral Grant declined the invitation to do so, which it was at once his privilege and his duty to accept, and remained in Washington, preferring his selfish ease to a little patriotic exertion and ex- posure to the heat on this grandest of his country's festivals. His absence was generally remarked and severely con- demned by his countrymen. "At a few minutes after ten o'clock General llawley, the President of the United States Centennial Commission, appeared at the speaker's stand and signalled to the orchestra to begin. The opening piece, which was an over- ture entitled 'The Great Republic,' based on the national air, ' Hail Colum- bia,' and arranged for the occasion by Professor George F. Bristow, of New York, was rendered in fine style by the orchestra under the leadership of Mr. P. Gilmore. As the music ceased General Hawley again came forward and intro- duced as the presiding officer of the day the Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Vice- President of the United States, who was received with loud cheers. After a few remarks appropriate to the occasion Vice-President Ferry presented to the GENERAL J. R. HAWLEY. audience the Right Reverend William Bacon Stevens, D. D., the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania, whom he introduced as the ecclesiastical suc- cessor of the first chaplain of the Conti- nental Congress. The bishop was in his canonical robes, with prayer book in hand. He delivered a solemn and im- pressive prayer, during the utterance of which the whole audience stood with uncovered heads, silent and attentive, unmindful of the blazing sun which poured down upon them. THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT. §75 " When the prayer was ended the ' Hymn, " Welcome to All Nations," words by Oliver Wendell Holmes, music, "Keller's Hymn,"' was sung. The Vice-President then announced that Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, a grand- son of the patriot of the Revolution who offered the resolution in Congress, that ' these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States,' would read the Declaration of Inde- pendence from the original manuscript, which the President had intrusted to the mayor of Philadelphia. The faded and crumbling manuscript, held together by a simple frame, was then exhibited to the crowd and was greeted with cheer after cheer. Richard Henry Lee, a sol- dierly-looking Virginian, then came for- ward and read the Declaration ; but the enthusiasm of the crowd was too great to permit them to listen to it quietly. "At the close of the reading the orchestra performed a musical composi- tion entitled 'A Greeting from Brazil,' a hymn for the first Centennial of Ameri- can independence, composed by A. Carlos Gomez, of Brazil, at the request of His Majesty Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil. It was received with cheers by the crowd, which were repeated for the Brazilian Emperor, whose hearty interest in the Centennial celebrations and the Exhibition had made him a favorite in Philadelphia. "Mr. John Welsh, chairman of the Centennial Board of Finance, then, at the suggestion of Vice-President Ferry, in- troduced Bayard Taylor, the poet of the day, who recited a noble ode, which was listened to with deep attention, the audi- ence occasionally breaking out into ap- plause. When the poem was ended the chorus sang ' Our National Banner,' the words by Dexter Smith, of Massachu- setts, the music by Sir Julius Benedict,, of England. "As the music died away, the Vice- President introduced the Hon. William M. Evarts, of New York, the orator of the day. Mr. Evarts was greeted with hearty cheers, after which he proceeded to deliver an eloquent and able address, reviewing the lessons of the past century and dwelling upon the great work Amer- ica has performed for the world. "When Mr. Evarts retired from the speaker's stand, General Hawley gave the signal to the leader of the orchestra, and the 'Hallelujah Chorus,' from 'The Messiah,' was sung ; after which the vast audience, at the request of the Vice- President, joined in the One Hundredth Psalm, with which the memorable cere- monies came to an end. "At night the city was brilliantly illu- minated, and a magnificent display of fireworks was given by the municipal authorities at old Fairmount." During the fall of this year also oc- curred another Presidential election. The Republican Convention assembled at Cin- cinnati, June 14th, and put in nomination for the Presidency, Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and for the Vice-Presidency, William A. Wheeler, of New York. The Democratic Convention assembled at St. Louis, Missouri, on the 27th day of June, and put in nomination for the Presidency, Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and for the Vice-Presidency, Thomas A. Hen- dricks, of Indiana. The Republican platform was not essentially different from the one on which the last Presi- dential election had been conducted. The Democratic platform contained nothing but a strong appeal for reform in the administration of the government. The canvass was waged with vigor and S;6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 35 energy on both sides. The result of the election was the closest ever before held in the United States. Both sides claimed the success of their tickets. In several of the States there were two returns. Three hundred and sixty-nine was the aggregate number of votes of the elec- toral college. It required 185 votes to elect. The advocates of Tilden and I Lendricks maintained that by right they were entitled to the electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, which would give them an aggregate of 203 votes; but that if the votes of these three States, amounting to 19, were given to Hayes and Wheeler, Tilden and Hendricks would still have 184 undis- puted votes, and that they were clearly entitled to one vote from Oregon, which would give them 185 — the requisite majority. Meantime, the Republican leaders maintained that upon a right count of the vote of the four States in dispute, I laves and Wheeler had the majority. Leading Republicans in Con- maintained that the presiding officer of the Senate had a right to count the votes as sent up from the several States, and to decide questions of dis- pute between different returning boards. The Democrats proposed that the matter should be settled and adjusted under the previously existing joint rule of the two Houses on the subject of counting the electoral votes. This the Republicans refused to do. The condition of affairs was assuming a threatening aspect, when a proposition was made to provide by law for a Joint High Commission to whom the whole subject should be referred. This was to consist of five members of the House, five of the Senate, and five of the Supreme Court. The five Judges of the Supreme Court were — Clifford, Miller, Field, Strong, and Bradley; the Senators were — Edmunds, Morton, Fre- linghuysen, Bayard and Thurman; the members of the House were — Payne, II unton, Abbott, Garfield, and Hoar. To the Commission thus constituted, the whole subject was referred by special act of Congress. The counting com- menced as usual on the regular day before both Houses of Congress. When the disputed duplicate returns were reached they were referred, State by State, to the Joint High Commission. This Commission made its final decision on all the cases submitted to them, on the 2d day of March, and according to their decision, Hayes and Wheeler re- ceived 185 votes, and Tilden and Hen- dricks 1 84 votes. The States that voted for Hayes and Wheeler were California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kan- sas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, .Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin ; and those which voted for Tilden and Hendricks were Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ten- nessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Vir- ginia. The constitutionality of this mode of settling a disputed Presidential election was gravely questioned by some of the ablest and truest statesmen of the country; but to the writer, this mode seemed to be free from all objections of this character. The writer does not refer to the particular mode adopted ; he means simply to say that, in his judg- ment, Congress unquestionably has the constitutional power to establish a proper mode for settling disputed Presi- dential elections. For his views at large on this subject, see Appendix Con- THE ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. 3 77 - gressional Record, second session, Forty- fifth Congress. The army appropriation bill of this session failed between the two houses. The Democratic majority in the House inserted a provision in the bill forbidding the use of any portion of the appropria- tion in payment of troops or expenses of transporting troops, for the purpose of interfering in any way with elections. This was to prevent in the future the state of things then existing in South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and per- haps some other places. The Senate struck this provision out of the bill. The House adhered to the provision, and the whole bill was lost. General Grant, on the expiration of his second term, retired from office, but remained in Washington City, receiving marked demonstrations of the admiration of his friends for some months, before starting upon an extensive travel through Europe and the Eastern Continent. CHAPTER XXXVI. ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. (4th of March, 1877 — 4th of March, 1881.) Scenes attending the inaugural address — Oath of office — New cabinet — Composite, able, conserva- tive — Great embarrassments of the new President — He manages the state of affairs with consummate skill and ability — The quasi state of war existing in South Carolina, Louisiana, settled — Peace and harmony restored — The President and some of his cabinet visit Atlanta, Georgia, where they receive an ovation — Great railroad strikes — Nez Perces war — Extra session of Congress called for October — Senate Republican, House Democratic — Randall again chosen Speaker — Death of Senator Morton — Second session of the Forty-fifth Congress assem- bles in December — Important measures of this ses- sion — Relief granted to Southern soldiers of the war of 1812 — Partial remonetization of silver — Provision made for return to specie payments — Presentation and unveiling of Carpenter's picture of Lincoln's signing emancipation proclamation — Speeches of Messrs. Gai field and Stephens — Mone- tary conference at Paris — United States metric coins — Goloid, gold and silver — Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell — The Potter resolutions — Gen- eral Grant's travels and return — Chicago convention of 1880 — General Grant's name presented fur the third term without success — Garfield and Arthur nominated — Democratic convention at C.ncinnati 22d June — Hancock and English nominated — The result of the election — Second session ul Forty- fifth Congress — Mr. Hayes' retirement — His ad- ministration one of the wisest and most beneficent of modern times. Rutherford b. hayes, the nineteenth President of the United States, was inaugurated on Monday, the 5th of March, 1 877 — the 4th of March that year falling on Sunday. He was at the time in the fifty-fifth year of his age. He was born October 4th, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio. He was educated at Kenyon college of that State, and afterwards took a regular course at the law-school at Cambridge, Mass. He soon rose rapidly in his profession. In 1861 he entered the Federal army. He became colonel and then major-general. In 1864 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives in Congress, and was re-elected to the next Congress. In 1867 he resigned his seat in the House to assume the governorship of his State, to which office he was soon after elected and re-elected in 1869 and also in 1875. The oath of office as President was administered by Chief-Justice Waite, and his inaugural was delivered in a clear and distinct voice to a large and excited multitude. His tone through- out was conciliatory, and breathed a spirit of patriotism. The address made a decidedly favorable impression upon those who had become most exasperated at the decision of the high Commission, when they determined not to make any investigation of the frauds perpetrated by the returning boards in Florida and Louisiana. g-g HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. BooKlI.,c.3fc The new cabinet consisted of William Attorney-General. The cabinet was of M. Evarts, of New York, Secretary of i a composite character and generally re- State ; John Sherman, of Ohio, Secretary garded on all sides as a very able an ! of the Treasury; George W. McCrary, ! conservative one. Judge Key, the Pos; - of Iowa, Secretary of War ; Richard W. ' master-General, was not of the same PRESIDENT RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. Thompson, of Indiana, Secretary of the [ party as the President. He served in Navy; Carl Schurz, of Missouri, Secre- the Confederate cause, succeeded Andrew tary of the Interior; David M. Key, of Johnson in the United States Senate in Tennessee, Postmaster-General ; and 1 875, and was a pronounced Democrat. Charles E. Devens, of Massachusetts, Andrew Johnson, after his retirement THE ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. 879 so embarrassed upon entering on the duties of the office as he was. The army appropriation bill for the ensuing fiscal year had failed at the session of Congress just closed for the reasons stated in the last chapter. There would be no money to pay the men or officers after the 1st of July, unless an extra session of Con- from the Presidency, was again returned to the Senate, to take his seat in the Forty-fourth Congress. He appeared in the extra session of the Senate in March, 1875, where he made several very char- acteristic speeches; but while at home, during the recess of Congress, on the 31st of July, he died suddenly of apoplexy, and was buried in Green- ville, Term., the place of his residence. It is said that, in accordance with his own previous request, his body was wrapped, before interment, in the flag of the United States. Mr. Hayes, early in his administration, adopted .several reforms in the civil service, one of which was not to allow Fede- ral office-holders to take active part in elections. Another was the policy of not conferring Federal patronage exclusively on men of his own party. In several States, where he thought it would be best for the public interests that the United States marshals should be cho- sen from the majority of the citizens in the local- ity, he did not hesitate to appoint such officers the inauguration of president hayes. whom he knew or believed to be honest I gress should be called and money appro- and capable, notwithstanding he brought a good deal of censure upon himself from many prominent men and journals of his party by this course of action. In like manner he appointed foreign ministers and consuls who were capable and worthy, without reference to their party associations. Few Presidents were ever priated therefor in time. The Senate was still largely Republican, but the House of the Forty-fifth Congress, which would be assembled in case an extra session were called, was as the last largely Democratic ; and there was no probable prospect what- ever that they would abandon their posi- tion upon the subject of appropriating 38o 1 1 LSI OK Y OF TJ/E UNITED STATES. Book II., c. M no money for the use of any portion of the army employed in Interfering with or controlling elections or State Legisla- tures. At this time the States of South Caro- lina and Louisiana were in a quasi civil war. Two governors in each were claim- ing to be entitled to the executive chair. Two legislatures in each were also claim- ing to be rightfully entitled to the law- making power. Chamberlain, the Gov- nized by the Federal administration. The ! situation of affairs was exceedingly criti- cal. Mr. Hayes displayed the most con- summate skill in the conduct and man- agement of these most embarrassing questions. He resorted to suasion rather than force. He sent for Hampton, the newly elected Governor of South Caro- lina, but who was prevented from the discharge of his duties by Federal troops. II" alsi > sent for Chaml > ■; lain, the carpet' I" AMERICAN I ernor of South Carolina, holding over, had called upon the Federal authorities for military aid to sustain him and the legislature acting with him. Packard, the governor in Louisiana, had done the same thing. Nicholls, the newly elected governor, was barred from entering the State House by Federal troops there. United States troops were occupying the capitols of both States, to sustain the gov- ernors who had been previously recog- bag governor, who relied upon these troops to continue him in power. With that equanimity of temper which ever characterized him, he effected an arrange- ment by which both Chamberlain and Packard were prepared to acquiesce in the peaceful withdrawal of the ti For this act he was severely censured by extreme men on the Republican side, but it gave great gratification to a large ma- jority of the people of the Southern THE ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. States, for as soon as the troops were withdrawn the Chamberlain and Pack- ard governments were disbanded. Peace and harmony were restored in South Carolina and Louisiana. This was all effected before the close of May by the great skill, tact and management of Mr. Hayes. He was, however, still disinclined to convene Congress in extra session. He determined to postpone this until October, feeling assured that in the meantime the army could be sus- tained without serious detriment either to the soldiers or the officers. The summer of 1877 was rendered memorable by the greatest railroad strikes ever before known in the United States. An Indian war also broke out with the Nez Perces in Idaho Territory, but was put an end to in the early part of October under the lead of Colonel Miles and General Howard. The extra session was called for the 15th of October, but in the meantime, before the meeting thereof, the Presi- dent, with several members of his Cab- inet, accompanied by Governor Hamp- ton, visited Atlanta, where the President made a speech which was cordially re- ceived by the people of that city and the State generally. In this speech he spoke complimentarily "of the gray as well as the blue." He was responded to in like kindly terms by Governor Colquitt, ex- Governor Brown, Senalor Hill and others. His reception was little short of an ovation. On the assembling of the extra session the majority of the House was Demo- cratic, as stated, and Randall was again elected Speaker, but both Houses met in much better temper than that in which they had parted in March. There was at this time no excited or angry discus- sions on sectional questions in either 56 House of Congress. The spirit of pa- triotism seemed to resume its sway in all quarters of the country. On the 1st of November of this year, Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, died at his home in Indianapolis, after a protracted illness. One of the great lights of the country passed away when he sank to rest. The second session of the Forty-fifth Congress convened on the first Monday in December, 1877. Many important measures were passed at this session ; one relieving Southern pensioners, as surviving soldiers of the War of 1812, from what was known as the Iron-clad oath ; one remonetizing silver to a cer- tain extent — that is, allowing the re- coinage of the standard silver dollar of 412^ grains of silver, to the extent of $4,000,000 a month ; and one providing for a return to specie payments. On the 1 2th of February, 1878, an exceedingly interesting ceremony took place in the House of Representatives, witnessed by the President, his cabinet, Senators, and an immense crowd of spectators. It was the presentation and unveiling of Carpenter's picture of the Signing of Lincoln's Emancipation Proc- lamation. Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, a lady of culture and wealth, of New York- city, purchased the painting of Mr. Car- penter at the cost cf $25,000, and made a munificent gift of it to Congress, and it was purchased and unveiled on the 12th of February, which would have been Mr. Lincoln's 70th birthday, had he lived. We subjoin the following report of the ceremonies. Speech of the Hon. James A. Garfield, of Ohio, in the House of Representatives, 12th of February, 1878. At two o'clock the Assistant Doorkeeper an- nounced the Senate of the United States. Preceded 882 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Eook II., c. 20 by the Vice-President cf the United Stales and ac- companied l>y their Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms, the Senators entered and took the seats assigned them. The donor of the picture, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, with her escort, and the artist, Mr. F. I!. Carpenter, also occupied seats on the floor. The VICE-PRESIDENT (who occupied a chair on the right of the Speaker) said : The Senate and House of Representatives have convened in joint session for the purpose of receiving, through the munificence of Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, of the city of New York, Carpenter's painting, The Signing of the Proclamation of Emancipation. Mr. GARFIELD. — Mr. President, by the order of the Senate and the House, and on behalf of the donor, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, it is made my plea-ing duty to deliver to Congress the painting which is now unveiled. It is the patriotic gift of an American woman, whose years have been devoted to gentle and generous charities, and to the instruction and elevation of the laboring poor. Believing that the perpetuity and glory of her country depend upon the dignity of labor and the equal freedom of all its people, she has come to the Capitol to place in the perpetual custody of the nation, as the symbol of her faith, the representation of that great act which proclaimed " liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Inspired by the same sentiment, the Representa- tives of the nation have opened the doors of this Chamber to receive at her hands the sacred trust. In coming hither, these living Representatives have pissed under the dome and through that beautiful and venerable Hall which, on another occasion, I have ventured to call the third House of American Representatives, that silent assembly whose members have received their high credentials at the impartial hand of history. Year by year we see the circle of its immortal membership enlarging; year by year we see the elect of their country in eloquent silence tak- ing their places in this American Pantheon, bringing within its sacred precincts the wealth of those im- mortal memories which made their lives illustrious ; and year by year that august assembly is teaching deeper and grander lessons to those who serve in these more ephemeral Houses of Congress. Among the paintings hitherto assigned to places within the Capitol are two which mark events forever memorable in the history of mankind, thrice mem- orable in the history of America. The first is the piiniing by Vanderlyn, which represents, though with inadequate force, that great discovery which gave te the civilized world a new hemisphere. The second, by Trumbull, represents that great Declaration which banished forever from our shores the crown and sceptre of imperial power, and pro- posed to found a new nation upon the broad and enduring basis of liberty. To-day, we place upon our walls this votive tablet which commemorates the third great act in the history of America, the fulfilment of the promises of the Declaration. Concerning the causes which led to that act, the motives which inspired it, the necessities which com- pelled it, and the consequences which followed and are yet to follow it, there have been, there are, and still will be great and honest differences of opinion. Perhaps we are still too near the great events of which this act formed so conspicuous a part, to understand its deep significance and to foresee its far-off conse- quences. The lesson of history is rarely learned by the actors themselves, especially when they read it by the fierce and dusky light of war, or amid the deeper shadows of those sorrows which war brings to both. But the unanimous voice of this House in favor of accepting the gift, and the impressive scene we here witness, bear eloquent testimony to the transcendent impor- tance of the event portrayed on yonder canvas. Let us pause to consider the actors in that scene. In force of character, in thoroughness and breadth of culture, in experience of public affairs, and in national reputation, the Cabinet that sat around that council-board has had no superior, perhaps no equal in our history. Seward, the finished scholar, the consummate orator, the great leader cf the Senate, had come to crown his career with those achieve- ments which placed him in the first rank of modern diplomatists. Chase, with a culture and a fame of massive grandeur, stood as the rock and pillar of the public credit, the noble embodiment of the public faith. Stanton was there, a very Titan of strength, the great organizer of victory. Eminent lawyers, men of business, leaders of States, and leaders of men completed the group. But the man who presided over that council, who inspired and guided its deliberations, was a character so unique that he stood alone, without a model in history or a parallel among men. Born on this day, sixty-nine years ago, to an inheritance of extremest poverty ; surrounded by the rude forces of the wilder- ness; wholly unaided by parents; only one year in any school ; never, for a day, master of his own time until he reached his majority; making his way to the profession of law by the hardest and roughest road: yet by force of unconquerable will and persistent, patient work, he attained a foremost place in his pro- fession, "And, moving up from high to higher, Became, on fortune's crowning slope, The pilinr of a people's hope, The centre of a world's desire." THE ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. 883 At first, it was the prevailing belief that he would he only the nominal head of his administration ; that his policy would be directed by the eminent statesmen he had cailed to his council. How erroneous this opinion was, may be seen from a single incident : Among the earliest, most difficult and most deli- cate duties of his administration, was the adjustment of our relations with Great Britain. Serious compli- cations, even hostilities, were apprehended. On the 2lst of May, 1S61, the Secretary of State presented to the President his draught of a letter of instructions to Minister Adams, in which the position of the United States and the attitude of Great Britain were set forth with the clearness and force which long ex- perience and great ability had placed at the command of the Secretary. Upon almost every page of that original draught are erasures, additions, and marginal notes in the handwriting of Abraham Lincoln, which exhibit a sagacity, a breadth of wisdom, and a comprehension of the whole subject, impossible to be found except in a man of the very first order. And these modifi- cations of a great state paper were made by a man who, but three months before, had entered, for the first time, the wide theatre of executive action. Gifted with an insight and a foresight which the ancients would have called divination, he saw, in the midst of darkness and obscurity, the logic of events, and forecasted the result. From the first, in his own quaint, original way, without ostentation or offence to his associates, he was pilot r.nd commander of his administration. He was one of the few great rulers whose wisdom increased with his power and whose spirit grew gentler and tenderer as his triumphs were multiplied. This was the man and these his associates who look down upon us from the canvas. The present is not a fitting occasion to examine, with any completeness, the causes that led to the proclamation of emancipation ; but the peculiar rela- tion of that act to the character of Abraham Lincoln cannot be understood, without considering one re- markable fact in his history: His earlier years were passed in a region remote from the centres of political thought, and without access to the great world of books. But the few books that came within his reach he devoured with the divine hunger of genius. One paper, above all others, led him captive, and filled his spirit with the majesty of its truth and the sublimity of its eloquence. It was the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence. The author and the signers of that instrument became, in his early youth, the heroes of his political worship. I doubt if history affords any example of a life so early, so deeply, and so permanently influenced, by a single political truth, as was Abraham Lincoln's by the central doctrine of the Declaration — the liberty and equality of all men. Long before his fame had become national he said : " That is the electric cord in the Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men to- gether, and that will link such hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men through- out the world." That truth runs, like a thread of gold, through the whole web of his political life. It was the spear-point of his logic, in his debates with Douglas. It was the inspiring theme of his remarkable speech at the Cooper Institute which gave him the nomination to the Presi- dency. It filled him with reverent awe when, on his way to the Capital, to enter the shadows of the terrible conflict then impending, he uttered, in Carpenter's Hall, at Philadelphia, these remarkable words, which were prophecy then, but are history now : " I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the De- claration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. I have often in- quired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land, but that sentiment in the Decla- ration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but I hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that, in due time, the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I shall consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be- saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather be assassi- nated on this spot than surrender it." Deep and strong was his devotion to liberty; yet deeper and stronger still was his devotion to the Union ; for he believed that, without the Union, per- manent liberty- for either race on this continent would be impossible. And because of this belief, he was reluctant, perhaps more reluctant than most of his associates, to strike slavery with the sword. For many months the passionate appeals of millions of his associates seemed not to move him. He listened to all the phases of the discussion, and stated, in lan- guage clearer and stronger than any opponent had used, the dangers, the difficulties, and the possible futility of the act. 8S 4 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 30 In reference to its practical wisdom, Congress, the Cabinet and the country were divided. Several of his generals had proclaimed the freedom of slaves within the limits of their commands. The President revoked their proclamations. His first Secretary of War had inserted a paragraph in his annual report advocating a similar policy. The President sup- pressed it. On the 19th of August, 1862, Horace Greeley pub- lished a letter, addressed to the President, entitled " The prayer of twenty millions," in which he said : "On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one disinterested, determined, intelligent champion of the Union cause who does not feel that all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause, are preposterous and futile." To this the President responded in that ever- memorable dispatch of August 22d, in which he said : " If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. " If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save 4r destroy slavery, "If 1 could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it. Ill could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. " What I do about slavery and the colored race I rlo because I believe it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it helps to save the Union. " I shall do less whenever I shall believe that what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause." Thus, against all importunities on the one hand and remonstrances on the other, he took the mighty ques- tion to his own heart, and during the long months of that terrible battle-summer wrestled with it alone. Put at length he realized the saving truth, that great, unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nation*. On the 22d of September he summoned his Cabinet to announce his conclusion. It was my good fortune, on that same day, and a few hours after th; meeting, to hear from the lips of one who participated, the story of the scene. As the heads of the Executive depart- ments came in, one by one, they found the President reading a favorite chapter from a great humorist. He was lightening the weight of the great burden which rested upon his spirit. He finished the chapter, read- ing it aloud. And here I quote from the published journal of the late Chief-Justice an entry, written immediately after the meeting, and bearing unmis- takable evidence that it is almost a literal transcript of Lincoln's words : " The President then took a graver tone and said : 'Gentlemen, I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the relation of this war to slavery ; and you all remember that, several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared upon the subject, which, on account of objections made by some of you, was not issued. Ever since then my mind has been much occupied with this subject, and I have thought a'l along that the time for acting on it might probably come. I think the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish that we were in a better condition. The action of the army against the reb< Is has not been quite what I should have best liked, but they have been driven out of Maryland, and Penn- sylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. "'When the rebel army was at Frederick, I de- termined, as soon as it should be driven out of Mary- land, to issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought most likely to be useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made a promise to myself and (hesi- tating a little) to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfil that promise. I have got you together to hear what I have written down. I do not wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have determined for myself. This I say without intending anything but respect for any one of you. But I already know the views of each on this question. They have been heretofore ex- pressed, and I have considered them as thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have written is that which my reflections have determined me to say. If there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any minor matter which any one of you thinks had best be changed, I shall be glad to receive your sugges- tions. One other observation I will make. I know very well that many others might, in this matter as in others, do better than I can ; and if I was satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed by any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which he could be put ill my place, he should have it. I would gladly yield to him. But though I believe I have not so much of the confidence of the people as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things considered, any other person has more ; and, however this may be, there is no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here ; I must do the best I can and bear the responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take.' " The President then proceeded to read his eman- cipation proclamation, making remarks on the several (88 5 ) «86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hook II., c. 36 parts as he went on, and showing that he had fully considered the subject in all the lights under which it had been presented to him." The proclamation was amended in a few matters of detad. It was signed and published that day. The world knows the rest, and will not forget it till "the last syllable of recorded time." In the painting before us, the artist has chosen the moment when the reading of the proclamation was finished, and the Secretary of State was offering his first suggestion. I profess no skill in the subtle mys- teries of art criticism. I can only say of a painting what the painting says to me. I know not what this may say to others ; but to me it tells the whole story of the scene in the silent and pathetic language of art. We value the Trumbull picture of the Declaration — that promise and prophecy of which this act was the fulfilment — because many of its portraits were taken from actual life. This picture is a faithful repro- duction not only of the scene, but its accessories. It was painted at the Executive Mansion, under the eye of Mr. Lincoln, who sat with the artist during many days of genial companionship, and aided him in ar- ranging the many details of the picture. The severely plain chamber (not now used for Cabinet councils), the plain marble mantel, with the portrait of a hero President above it; the council- table at wh'ch Jackson and his successor had pre- sided; the old-fashioned chairs; the books and maps; the captured sword, with its pathetic history; all are there, as they were, in fact, fifteen years ago. But what is of more consequence, the portraits are true to the life. Mr. Seward said of the painting, " It is a vivid representation of the scene, with portraits of rare fidelity ; " and so said all his associates. Without this painting the scene could not even now be reproduced. The room has been remodeled; its furniture is gone; and Death has been sitting in that council, calling the roll of its members in quick suc- cession. Yesterday he added another name to his fatal list ; and to-day he has left upon the earth but a single witness of the signing of the proclamation of emancipation. With reverence and patriotic love the artist accom- plished his work ; with patriotic love and reverent faith the donor presents it to the nation. In the spirit of both, let the reunited nation receive it and cherish it forever. [Applause on the floor and in the galleries.] Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, rose and said : Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, there is but little left to say in the performance of the part assigned me in the programme arranged for this august occa- sion. Upon the merits of the picture and the skill of the artist, my friend from Ohio [Mr. Garfield] has dwelt at large. I can but indorse all he has so well said on that subject. As to the munificent gift of the donor, he has also left me nothing to add. The present of a twenty-five thousand dollar paint- ing to the government well deserves commendation. Few instances of this sort have occurred in the his- tory of our country; I know of none. The example of this generous lady in the encouragement of art may well be followed by others. Mr. President, with regard to the subject of the painting I propose, if strength permits, to submit a few remarks ; first, as to the central figure, the man ; after that, as to the event commemorated. I knew Mr. Lincoln well. We met in this House in Decem- ber, 1847. We were together during the Thirtieth Congress. I was as intimate with him as Vi ith any other man of that Congress, except perhaps one. That exception was my colleague, Mr. Toombs. Of Mr. Lincoln's general character I need not speak. He was warm hearted; he was generous; he was magnanimous; he was most truly, as he afterward said on a memorable occasion, " with malice towards none, with charity for all." In bodily form he was above the average; and so in intellect; the two were in symmetry. Not highly cultivated, he had a native genius far above the average of his fellows. Every fountain of his heart was ever overflowing with the " milk of human kind- ness." So much for him personally. From my attachment to him, so much the deeper was the pang in my own breast as well as of millions at the horri- ble manner of his "taking off." That was the climax of our troubles and the spring from which came afterward " unnumbered woes." But of those events no more now. Widely as we differed on pub- lic questions and policies, yet as a friend I may say: " No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode: There they alike in trembling hope repose, The bosom of his Father and his God." So much I have felt it my duty on this occasion to say in behalf of one with whom I held relations so intimate, and one who personally stood so high in my estimation. Now as to the great historic event which this pic- ture represents, and which it is designed to com- memorate. . This is perhaps a subject which, as my friend from Ohio has said, the people of this day and generation are not exactly in a condition to weigh rightfully and judge correctly. One thing was remarked by him which should be duly noted. That was this: THE ADMINISTRATION OF HA YES. 887 Emancipation was not the chief object of Mr. Lincoln in issuing the proclamation. His chief object, the ideal to which his whole soul was devoted, was the preservation of the Union. Let not history confuse events. That proclamation, pregnant as it was with coming events, initiative as it was of ultimate eman- cipation, still originated in point of fact more from what was deemed the necessities of war than from any pure humanitarian view of the matter. " Life is all a mist ; And in the dark our fortunes meet us." This was evidently the case with Mr. Lincoln. He in my opinion was like all the rest of us, an in- strument in the hands of that Providence above us, that " Divinity which shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will." I doubt much, as was indicated by my friend from Ohio, whether Mr. Lincoln at the time realized the great result. Mark you, the pro- clamation itself did not declare free all the colored people of the Southern States ; it applied only to those parts of the country then in resistance to the Federal authorities. If the emancipation of the colored race, which is one of the greatest epochs in our day, and will be so marked in the future history of this country, be a boon or a curse to them (a question which, under Providence, is yet to be solved, and which depends much upon themselves), then, representing the Southern States here, I must claim in their behalf that the freedom of that race was never finally consummated, and could not be until the Southern States sanctioned the thirteenth amendment, which they did, every one of them, by their own former constituencies. Before the upturn- ing of Southern society by the reconstruction acts the white people there came to the conclusion that their domestic institution known as slavery had belter be abolished. They accepted the proposition for eman- cipation by a voluntary, uncontrolled sanction of the proposed thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This sanction was given by the original constituency of those States, the former governing white race, and without that sanction the thirteenth amendment never could have been in- corporated in the fundamental law. That is the charter of the colored man's freedom. Mr. Lincoln's idea, as embodied in his first proclamation of Sep- tember 22d, 1862, as well as that of January 1st, 1863, was consummated by the adoption of the thir- teenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and without that the proclamation had noth- ing but the continued existence of the war to sus- tain it. Had the States in resistance laid down their arms by the 1st of January, 1863, the Union would have been saved, but the condition of the slave so called would have been unchanged. Upon the sub- ject of emancipation itself it may here be stated that the pecuniary view, the politico-economic question involved, the amount of property invested under the system, though that was vast, not less than #2,000, 000,000, weighed, in my estimation, no more than a drop in the bucket compared with the great ethno- logical problem now in the process of solution. Mr. President, as to this institution called slavery in the Southern States many errors existed, and many exceedingly unjust prejudices. Prejudice! What wrongs, what injuries, what mischiefs, what lament- able consequences have resulted at all limes from this perversity of the intellect! Of all the obstacles to the advancement of truth and human progress in every department of knowledge, in science, in art, in government, and in religion, in all ages and climes, not one on the list is more formidable, more difficult to overcome and subdue than this horrible distortion of the moral as well as intellectual faculties. I could enjoin no greater duty upon my country- men now, North and South, as I said upon a former occasion, than the exercise of that degree of forbear- ance which would enable them to conquer their pre- judices. One of the highest exhibitions of the moral sublime the world ever witnessed was that of Daniel Webster, the greatest orator I ever heard, combining thought with elocution, when, after Faneuil Hall was denied him, he in an open barouche in the streets of Boston proclaimed in substance to a vast assembly of his constituents — unwilling hearers — that they had conquered an uncongenial clime ; they had conquered a sterile soil ; they had conquered the winds and cur- rents of the ocean ; they had conquered most of the elements of nature, but they must yet learn to con- quer their prejudices. I would say this to the people of the North as well as to the people of the South. Indulge me for a moment upon this subject of the institution of slavery, so called, in the Southern States. Well, Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, it was not an unmitigated evil. It was not, thus much I can say, without its compensations. It is my pur- pose now, however, to bury, not to praise, to laud, " nor aught extenuate." It had its faults, and most grievously has the coun- try, North and South, for both were equally responsi- ble for it, answered them. It also, let it be remem- bered, gave rise to some of the noblest virtues that adorn civilization. But let its faults and virtues be buried alike forever. I will say this: If it were not the best relation for the happiness and welfare of both races or could not be made so, morally, physically, intellectually, and politically, it was wrong, and ought to have been abolished. This I said of it years before secession, 888 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 36 and I repeat it still. But as I have said, this is no time now to discuss those questions. I have seen something ol the world and travelled somewhat, and I have never yet found on earth a paradise. The Southern States are no exception. Wherever I have been I have been ready to exclaim with Burns — " But oh ! what crowds in every land Are wretched and forlorn ? Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn." It was so at the South. It was so at the North. It is so yet. It is so in every part of the world that I have been. The question of the proper relation of the races is one of the most difficult problems which statesmen or philanthropists, legislators or jurists, ever had to solve. The former policy of the Southern States upon this subject is ended, but I do not think it inappropriate on this occasion to indulge in some remarks upon the subject. Since the emanci- pation, since the former ruling race have been re- lieved of their direct heavy responsibility for the protection and welfare of their dependents, it has been common to speak of the colored race as " the wards of the nation." May I no' say with appropriateness in this con- nection, and .lae reverence, in the language of Geor- gia's greatest intellect (Toombs), " They are rather tlie wards of the Almighty," committed now under a new state of things to the rulers, the lawmakers, the law-expounders, and the law-executors throughout this broad land, within their respective constitutional spheres, to take care of and provide for, in that com- plicated system of government under which we live. I am inclined, sir, so to regard them and so to speak of them — not as to exceptional cases, but as a mass. In the providence of God why their ancestors were permitted to be brought over here, it is not for us to say, but they have a location and habitation here, especially in the South ; and since the changed con- dition of their status, though it was the leading cause of the late terrible conflict of arms between the States, yet I think I may venture to affirm there is not one within the circle of my acquaintance, or in the whole Southern country, who would wish to see the old relation restored. If there is one in all the South who would desire such a change back I am not aware of it. Well, then, this changed status creates new duties. The wardship has changed hands. Men of the North and of the South, of the East and of the West — I care not of what party — I would to-day on this commem- orative occasion, urge upon every one within the sphere of duty and of humanity, whether in public or private life, to see to it, that there be no violation of the divine trust. Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, one or two other reflections may not be out of place on this occasion. In submitting them, I shall but repeat, in substance, what I said in my own State nearly twelve years ago. What is to be the future ? During the conflict of arms I frequently almost despaired of the liberties of our country both South and North. War seldom advances, while it always menaces the cause of liberty, and most fiequently re- sults in its destruction. The union of these States at first I always thought was founded upon the assump- tion that it was the best intere>t of all to remain united, faithfully performing each for itself its own constitutional obligations under the compact. When secession was resorted to as a remedy, it was only to avoid a greater evil that I went with my State, hold- ing it to be my dut} so to do, but believing all the time that, if successful (for which end 1 strove most earnestly), when the passions of the hour and of the day were over the great law which produced the Union at first, "mutual interest and reciprocal advan- tage," this grand truth which Great Britain learned after seven years of the Revolutionary war, and put in the preamble to the preliminary articles of peace in 1 781, would reassert itself, and that at no distant day *a new Union of some sort would again be formed. My earnest desire, however, throughout, was that whatever might be done, might be peaceably done ; might be the result of calm, dispassionate, and en- lightened reason, looking to the permanent interests and welfare of all. And now, after the severe chas- tisement of war, if the general sense of the whole country shall come back to the acknowledgment of the original ass'.imption, that it is for the best inter- ests of all the States to be so united, as I trust it will — the States still being '• separate as the billows but one as the sea " — this thorn in the body politic l>eing now removed, I can perceive no reason why under such restoration, the flag no longer waving over provinces but States, we as a whole, with "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations and entangling alliances with none," may not enter upon a new career, exciting increased wonder in the Old World by grander achievements hereafter to be made than any heretofore attained by the j>eacefiil and harmonious workings of our matchless system of American Federal institutions of self-government. All this is possible if the hearts of the people be right. It is my earnest wish to see it. Fondly would I in- dulge my fancy in gazing on such a picture of the future. With what rapture may we not suppose the spirits of our fathers would hail its opening scenes THE ADMINISTRATION OF HAYES. 889 from their mansions above. But if, instead of all this, sectional pnssions shall continue to bear sway ; if prejudice shall rule the hour; if a conflict of classes, of labor ami capital, or of the races shall arise; if the embers of the late war shall be kept aglowing until with new fuel they shall flame up again, then our late great troubles and disasters were but the shadow, the penumbra of that deeper and darker eclipse which is to totally obscure this hemisphere, and blight forever the anxious anticipations and expectations of man- kind ! Then hereafter by some bard it may be sung— The star of hope shone brighter in the West, The hope of liberty, the last, the best ; It, too, has set upon her darkened shore, And hope and freedom light up earth no more. [Loud applause.] The Vice-President. — The object for which the two houses convened having been accomplished, the Senate will now retire to its chamber. At the same session Congress also provided for the appointment of Com- missioners to meet a general Monetary Conference, to assemble in Paris, during the summer of this year, for the estab- lishment, if possible, of a uniform ratio between the values of gold and silver in this country and the European nations. In the meantime, the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, of the House of Representatives, had reported a formula for the coinage of the first metric dollar of exact standard value known in the world. It was fourteen grammes in weight, and composed of nearly equal parts in value of gold and silver, with the usual one-tenth alloy. It was known as the goloid dollar. The inventor and discoverer of the formula was Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of the most distinguished scientists of the age. After the report of the goloid dollar was made, and specimens of the coin were struck at the Mint, Dr. Hubbell pushed his inquiries further, and established formulae for the coinage of the gold Eagle, of \y}i grammes, the Double Eagle, of 35 grammes, and the Half Eagle, of 8.75 grammes in weight, on the metric system entirely, and a new gold coin of $4 value, and 7 grammes in weight, to correspond as nearly as pos- sible in denomination with the German 8-florin piece, and to become the unit of invoice in trade. This was soon fol- lowed by the establishment by him of a formula for the coinage of a metric silver dollar, 25 grammes in weight. Speci- mens of these coins, of the standard values of the United States, have been stricken at the Mint, and form an epoch in metallurgy and coinage. The reports of the committee on these coins recom- mending their adoption, have not been reached in Congress since they were first made. During the same session of Congress, just before the adjournment in summer, an attempt was made to revive the dis- pute attending the last Presidential elec- tion, and to assail Mr. Hayes' title. This was embraced in what was known as the resolutions of Clarkson N. Potter, of New York. That movement, how- ever, was of short duration. The ques- tion was dropped never to be stirred again. Soon after the inauguration, General Grant left the United States with a view to an extensive tour in the East. After visiting the principal European nations, he passed through Egypt and the Eng- lish possessions in Asia, on through China and Japan, and returned by the United States Pacific Mail Steam Line to San Francisco, and thence by railroad to Chicago, where he was received with im- mense enthusiasm after an absence of about three years, during which he had made the circuit of the earth, and had received more attentions, distinctions, and honors, perhaps, than any ma., who ' (8go) THE ADMINISTRATION OF HA\ES. 89I had ever lived before in any land or clime. M.iny of his friends now zeal- ously advocated his nomination for the Presidency again at the next election. Mr. Hayes, it was known from the begin- ning, had positively declined to be a can- didate for re-election. But many leading Republicans, Mr. James G. Blaine, John Sherman and others, were very much opposed to what was known as the " third term," and entered zealously into the contest for the nomination against Grant at the approaching Convention at Chicago. This body met at that place on the 2d day of June. There never was, perhaps, a convention in the United States, where wilder excitement or more confusion prevailed. The combined op- position controlled the majority. Grant's friends were firm and inflexible, but their number could not rise above 306. Blaine led the lists. Sherman followed, then others. The name of Garfield, the special friend of Sherman, and not particularly objectionable to any of the others, was presented. It was received with wild bursts of enthusiasm. He was unani- mously nominated, and Chester A. Ar- thur, of New York, the political friend of Mr. Conkling, who was the Ajax Telemon of Grant's forces in the Con- vention, was unanimously chosen as Vice-President. The Democratic Convention met in Cincinnati on the 22d of June, twenty days after. They presented the names of General Winfi:ld S. Hancock, of New York, for President, and William H. English, of Indiana, for Vice-President. The contest was animated and, in some instances, bitter, especially against Gar- field in the matter of the Morey letter, but the result was the triumphant elec- tion of Garfield and Arthur. The elec- toral vote in the colleges stood for Gar- field and Arthur 214, and for Hancock and English, 155. The States that voted for Garfield and Arthur were Colorado, Connecticut, Il- linois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ne- braska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Isl- and, Vermont, Wisconsin ; and those that voted for Hancock and English were Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mary- land, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Vir- ginia. The State of California was divided. She cast one vote for Garfield and Ar- thur, and five for Hancock and English. The last session of the Forty-sixth Congre3s passed off without any excite- ment or anything of marked interest in it except the enactment of the regular apprqpriation bills. An era of good feeling seemed generally to prevail. The last days of Mr. Hayes' adminis- tration were the happiest, perhaps, he ever spent in the White House. No President in modern times has received such earnest tributes of regard and mani- festations of esteem from so many thou- sands as he did. For four or five days preceding the 4th of March, thousands of people thronged the Executive Man- sion to take their leave of him and his most accomplished lady. The English proverb that " mankind turns towards the rising instead of the setting sun " was not so in his case. At the close of his term, he retired to his residence at Fre- mont, Ohio, with the good will of mil- lions of his fellow-citizens following him, and leaving an administration which will be known in history as one of the wisest and most beneficent of modern times. 892 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. Zj CHAPTER XXXVII. ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. (4th March, 1881, to Dec, 18S2.) Inauguration scenes — Grandest pageant ever before witnessed in the United States — The new Cabinet — Troubles in the Republican party — Irreparable breach — The nomination of Robertson for the Col- lectorship at New York — Resignation of Conkling and Piatt — Illness of Mrs. Garfield — Assassination of the President — His suffering and death — Vice- President Arthur becomes President — Funeral of President Garfield — Guiteau, the assassin — His trial, conviction and execution — President Arthur's Cabinet — Mr. Blaine's South American policy — The first session of the Forty-seventh Congress — Blaine's Eulogy on Garfield — The anti-Chinese Bill — The Tariff Commission Bill — The extension of the National Bank charters, with the funding of the 2,]4 per cent, into 3 per cent, bonds — The Cotton Exposition at Atlanta, Ga. — The conclusion. AMES ABRAM GARFIELD, the twentieth President of the United States, was born in Cuya- hoga county, Ohio, on the 19th of November, 1831, and. was, therefore, in the 50th year of his age at the time of his inauguration. He was of humble but most respectable parent- age. His early days were spent on a farm, which was a small estate left his mother by his father, who died when he was under two years of age, the youngest of four children. His mother was one of Nature's noblest women. By in- dustry, economy and good management, she was enabled to bring up her four children, and to give them an ordinary common school education. James, hav- ing a stronger thirst for knowledge than fc> o o the others, by money raised from his own extra work, took a short course at a neighboring seminary; after this he taught school, and went to school by turns, until he had sufficient means to carry him through Williams' College, in Massachusetts, where he graduated with honor in 1856, in the 25th year of his age. He again resumed the vocation of teaching, lecturing, and occasionally preaching, as well as devoting what time he could spare to the study of law. lie- was admitted to the bar of Cuyahoga county, in i860, and was a member of the Ohio Senate in 1859-60. In 1861 he accepted the lieutenar'-colonelcy of the 42d Ohio regiment, and served in southeast Kentucky. For services ren- dered here he was, in January, 1862, promoted to a brigadier-generalship, and afterwards took part in the battles at Shiloh and Pittsburgh Landing. After these battles, he was assigned to the posi- tion of chief of staff under General Rose- crans, who commanded the army of the Cumberland, and was, for distinguished gallantry at the battle of Chickamauga, promoted to the rank of major-general. He soon after resigned his position in the army, upon being elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and thereupon took his seat in the House of Represen- tatives, where he remained by successive elections until nominated for the Presi- dency, though previous to this nomina- tion, and while a member of the House, he had been elected to the United States Senate from Ohio, to take his seat in that body on 4th of March, [881. Of the travel of the President elect from his home to Washington City, pre- ceding his inauguration, and the scenes attending that imposing ceremony, a vivid as well as accurate writer gives the following interesting sketch : "On the 1st of March, General Gar- field left Mentor for Washington, to bo inaugurated President of the United States. The whole route was a trium- phal progress. At all the principal points he was received by enthusiastic crowds, and at several delivered brief THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 893 but eloquent addresses. Washington | women and children hurried through was reached on the 2d of March, and the President elect met with a reception rarely given to persons even of his posi- tion. "On Friday, March 4th, the inaugura- tion ceremonies took place upon a scale of unusual magnificence. Thousands of strangers crowded the city. Military and civic organizations had been arriving for days previously, and on the morning the snow and slush from every direction, every one intent on reaching Pennsyl- vania avenue to witness the inaugural procession, or to the Capitol. About ten o'clock the escort of Federal troops was formed in front of the White House, and at half-past ten the procession started down Pennsylvania avenue for the Cap- itol. The in-coming and out-going Presidents rode in a four-horse barouche, JAMES A. of the 4th of March, it was believed that 50,000 strangers were in the city. " Friday dawned bleak and stormy. Big flakes of snow went scattering through the chilling air. All the roofs and trees shed trickling streams of ice water. But between ten and eleven o'clock, although the high wind con- tinued, the sun began to show itself through the clouds. All Washington was astir at an early hour, and men, with the gorgeously uniformed First Cleveland troop mounted immediately in front. " The procession presented the most imposing spectacle witnessed in Wash- ington since the grand review of troops seventeen years ago, when the victorious armies of the Republic returned North at the close of the war. At the head were two platoons of mounted police, and the grand marshal, General W. T. 894 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 37 Sherman, and aids. The procession was divided into five divisions, which num- bered fully 15,000 men. " The Senate assembled at ten o'clock. The floor was covered with chairs before, between and behind the rows of desks. At half-past ten Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. Garfield, and young Mrs. Garfield, accompanied by junior mem- bers of the Hayes and Garfield families, entered the scuth gallery. Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Garfield carried bouquets. At the same time the doors of all the gal- leries therefore closed were opened, and the galleries were quickly filled with the families of Congressmen, heads of de- partments, diplomats, and officers of the army and navy. All the ladies wore handsome toilets. The scene was a bril- liant one. "A few minutes before eleven, Gen- eral Hancock, accompanied by General Mitchell, entered with Senator Blaine. As he walked across the Senate the galleries burst into loud applause. Sen- ator Conkling was the first to greet him. They shook hands warmly. Senator Thurman grasped his hand next. The whole Senate followed suit. After he had shaken hands with all, he was conducted to a seat on the left amid renewed ap- plause. " Then came successively Chief-Justice Carter, and the rest of the Supreme Court of the District; Judges Hunt, Bancroft, Davis and others of the Court of Claims; Secretary of State Evarts ; Governor Bigelow, of Connecticut ; ex- Attorncy-Gencral Williams, General Phil Sheridan and others. At twenty min- utes to eleven the Senate received the House resolution asking tor the appoint- ment of a senator on the committee to wait, with members appointed on the part of the House, on the President and tell him that Congress had fin- ished its business and was ready to ad- journ. "At eleven o'clock the President and President-elect, each accompanied by a member of the Committee of Arrange- ments, arrived and proceeded to the President's room. Vice-President-elect Arthur, accompanied by a member of the Committee of Arrangements, pro- ceeded to the Vice-President's room. The Diplomatic corps assembled in the marble room and entered the Senate Chamber in a body at fifteen minutes past eleven. All were in full court dress. The Japanese and Chinese legations attracted much attention. The corps was headed by its dean, Sir Edward Thornton and Secretary Evarts. At half-past eleven Chief-Justice YVaitc and the justices of the Supreme Court, ac- companied by ex-Justices Strong and Swayne, and preceded by their clerk, appeared in the Senate and took the seats provided for them. "The Presidential procession, headed by President Hayes and President-elect Garfield, finally entered, under escort of Senators Pendleton, Anthony, Bayard, and others of the Committee of Arrange- ments, and two minutes later was fol- lowed by Vice-President-elect Arthur, in charge of a committee composed of the above-named senators, all present in the chamber rising upon each occasion. Mr. Wheeler introduced the Vice-Presi- dent-elect, who addressed to the Senate a few well-chosen words, and then turned to Mr. Wheeler and raised his right hand. The outgoing Vice-President administered the oath of office to his successor, and immediately afterwards bade farewell to the Senate in a brief address. The new Senate was then organized ; after which the Senate, THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 895 House and guests proceeded to the east front of the capitol. " General Garfield read his inaugural slowly and effectively, and was frequently applauded. When he had concluded, he to the President-elect, and administered the customary oath. General Garfield kissed the page, bowed to the Chief- Justice, and then reverently kissed his mother and his wife, after which he re- JAMES G. BLAINE, PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S SECRETARY OF STATE. turned to Chief-Justice Waite and said, ' I am now prepared to take the oath.' "The Chief-Justice was attended by Mr. McKinney, Clerk of the Supreme Court, carrying a Bible (Sabbath-school ceived the congratulations of his friends. "The ceremony being over, the Presi- dent and Mr. Hayes were escorted to the barouches, and the grand procession down the avenue to the White House edition). Rising, he tendered the book j began to move. Upon his arrival there, 8 9 6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 37 President Garfield took a seat upon the grand stand, in company with Mr. Hayes, and the procession passed in re- view before him. Two hours later the President and his family entered the White House." The names of the new cabinet were immediately sent to the Senate, and were confirmed without opposition. James G. Blaine, of Maine, was Secretary of State; William Windom, of Minnesota, was Secretary of the Treasury; Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois, son of ex-President Abraham Lincoln, was Secretary of War; William II. Hunt, of Louisiana, was Sec- retary of the Navy; Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa, was Secretary of the Interior ; Thomas L. James, of New York, was Postmaster General, and Wayne Mc- Veagh, of Pennsylvania, was Attorney General. The cabinet was regarded, generally, as one very judiciously selected, being all men of marked ability, though of somewhat different shades of opinion in the Republican party. An extra session of the Senate, as usual, was convened by the President to act on Executive appointments. On as- sembling, a new organization of the Senate of the Forty-seventh Congress was necessary. This displayed an extra- ordinary state of things. For the first time the two great parties, Republican and Democratic, were equally divided in that body. A "dead-lock," as it was called, lasted for several weeks, which was finally compromised by the division of the offices and the composition of the committees. Soon, however, a serious trouble arose in the Republican party in that body. A bitter strife sprang up be- tween Republican leaders, which pro- longed the session for several weeks, and caused a breach never, perhaps, to be healed. The President sent in the name of William H. Robertson for the collectorship of the port of New York. This was decidedly and bitterly opposed by Senator Conkling, chiefly upon the grounds that the Republican Senators from New York, himself and Mr. Piatt, had not been consulted or conferred with by the President on this nomina- tion, and that Robertson was exceed- ingly obnoxious to them and to a majority of the Republican party in New York. This majority took the name of " Stalwarts." They, with Sen- ator Conkling at their head, with Vice- President Arthur, had been the unyield- ing supporters of Grant at the Chicago Convention. Robertson, the newly nominated collector, had bolted the unity rule in that convention and had voted for Mr. Blaine. When the contest became fierce, and Senator Conkling saw that the President would succeed in carrying the confirmation of Robertson over his protest, he, with Mr. Piatt, his colleague, resigned, and Messrs. Miller and Lapham were elected in place of Conkling and Piatt. After their retire- ment, Robertson was confirmed. A deep and wide split took place in the Repub- lican party not only in the State of New York, but throughout the country. Bitter and acrimonious criminations and recriminations were indulged in on both sides. Soon after the entry of Mr. Postmaster James upon his office, he discovered, as he believed, great frauds in certain con- tracts for carrying the mail in what are known as the " Star Routes." Many persons of eminence, including Second Assistant Postmaster General Thomas J. Brady, were implicated in these charges. It was determined in cabinet councils, unanimously, to have prosecu- THE ADMIXISTRATION OF GARFIELD A. YD ARTHUR. 897 tions instigated against those supposed to be guilty, and the Attorney General commenced proceedings with that view and end. This increased newspaper denuciations against the new adminis- tration. The most inflammatory arti- cles appeared in many papers. Meantime, the President had been greatly afflicted by the serious illness of Mrs. Garfield. Soon after the inaugura- tion she was attacked with a malarial fever of a typhoid character, which ren- dered her condition almost hopeless for weeks. In the latter part of June, how- ever, she was able to go to Long Branch, wher * she soon rapidly improved. It was in this state of things when the pressing business was off the hands of the President, on the 2d of July, that he proposed to visit Mrs. Garfield, at Long Branch, and thence go on and be present at the commencement exercises of his Alma Mater, Williams College, Massa- chusetts. Several members of his cabinet, Sec- retary Windom, Secretary Hunt, and Postmaster-General James, and a consid- erable party of friends, with quite a number of ladies, were to go with him on this tour. They were to go on the Baltimore and Potomac railroad, in-arm through the ladies' saloon, a pis- tol-shot was heard in the rear. A ball struck the upper part of the President's arm without inflicting any serious wound. The President and Mr. Blaine imme- diately turned to look to where the sound of the pistol-shot came from, when, ere they could see, the fire was repeated, and the ball from the second shot struck the President in the back near the spinal column in the region of the kidneys. He fell heavily on the floor. Mr. Blaine was thoroughly shocked by the sudden event. He called loudly for help. He wished assistance for the President, and also to have the perpetrator of the deed arrested and secured. The President lay bleeding on the floor. Few could realize what had occurred. Mr. Win- dom, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. James, upon hearing the alarm, had hastened to the scene. The person who had fired the shots was arrested before he got out of the saloon at the B street entrance to the depot. It turned out that he had a hired hack awaiting him there to carry him to the Congressional Cemetery, but officer Kearney and policeman Parks seized him and held him, and prevented him from reaching his hack. He brandished his pistol and flourished a sealed letter, and to take the limited express train to and shouted in a most boisterous man- New York, which was to leave at 9.30 . ner, "Arthur is President of the United in the morning. Mr. Blaine, the Secre- | States now. I am a Stalwart. This tary of State, accompanied the Presi- letter will tell you everything. I want dent to the depot. They arrived there you to take it to General Sherman." at 9.20, ten minutes before the train was ! The pistol was taken from him by the to start. They got out of the carriage on B street, at the north entrance to the depot. Mr. Blaine was not to be of the New England party, but was simply accompanying the President to the car, where those members of the cabinet and others who were to be of the party were already seated ; but as they passed arm- 57 officers. It was "what is known as the five-barrelled British Bull-dug pattern, of 44 calibre, with a white bone handle." It was found that three of the loads were undischarged, and it was also found from papers in his possession, and the letter which he so frantically flourished, that his name was Charles Guiteau. The 8g8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book IT., t 37 letter to General Sherman was in the following words : "To General Sherman: — I have just shot the President. I shot him several times, as 1 wished him to go as easily as possible. His death was a political ne- cessity. I am a lawyer, theologian and politician. I am a Stalwart of the Stal- warts. I was with General Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I am going to the jail. of the District of Columbia, and Major William G. Brock, Chief of Police. I don't know the writer, never heard of or saw him to my knowledge, and hereby return it to the keeping of the above- named parties as testimony in the case. " W. T. Sherman, General/' The following letter was also taken from the prisoner at police headquarters: "July 2, 1SS1. "To the White House: — The Presi- TIIE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. Please order out your troops and take possession of the jail at once. "Very respectfully, " Charles Guiteau." On receiving the above, General Sher- man gave it the following endorsement : Headquarters of the Army, "Washington, I). C, July z, 1S81 — 1 1.35 a. m. "This letter . . . was handed me this minute by Major William J. Twining, United States Engineers, Commissioner ' dent's tragic death was a sad necessity but it will unite the Republican party and save the Republic. Life is a flimsy dream, and it matters little when one J goes. A human life is of small value. During the war thousands of brave boys j went down without a tear. I presume the President was a Christian, and that he will be happier in Paradise than here. Tt will be no worse for Mrs. Garfield, dear soul, to part with her husband this THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 8 99 way than by natural death He is liable to go at any time, any way. I had no ill- will toward the President. His death was a political necessity. I am a lawyer, a theologian, and a politician. I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts. I was with General Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I have some papers for the press which I shall leave with Bvron Andrews and his co- was also soon known that the perpetrator of the deed had been arrested, and was hurried off to jail to prevent his being lynched by an enraged multitude. The wires carried the same consternation throughout the length and breadth of the Union, as well as to foreign nations. In the meantime, the suffering Presi- dent received every attention that could be given. He was borne as soon as pos- DEATH-BED OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. journalists, at 1420 New York avenue, sible to the executive mansion, wheie where all the reporters can see them. lam many eminent surgeons of the country going to the jail. were soon summoned to his bedside. "Charles Guiteau." n permanent relief was given. The The whole city was thrown into the ball was not removed nor found. He greatest consternation and agitation when continued to suffer and languish for swift-winged rumor bore the news weeks. His physicians thought it best through every street and avenue, that to remove him to Long Branch. Suit- the President had been assassinated ! It able and comfortable arrangements were 900 WIS TORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. 37 made for his travel from the White House to Francklyn Cottage, at Elberon, at that place, and his travel was success- fully performed on the 6th of September. Here he continued to linger and lan- guish, with intervals of hopeful improve- ment, until he suddenly grew worse on the 1 8th, and finally expired quietly after great pain, at 10.35 p. If., on the 19th of September. He was surrounded by his physicians and friends. Mrs. Garfield, with an heroic fortitude seldom witnessed, was at his bedside. On the 20th of September an autopsy was held upon the body by the surgeons who had been in attendance on the Presi- dent, assisted by several others. The following is their official statement of the causes of the President's death : " By previous arrangement a post- mortem examination of the body of President Garfield was made this after- noon, in the presence and with the assistance of Drs. Hamilton, Agnew, Bliss, Barnes, Woodward, Reyburn, An- drew H. Smith, of Klberon, and Acting- Assistant Surgeon D. S. Lamb, of the Army Medical Museum, Washington. The operation was performed by Dr. Lamb. It was found that the ball, after fracturing the right eleventh rib, had passed through the spinal column in front of the spinal canal, fracturing the body of the first lumbar vertebra, driving a number of small fragments of bone into the adjacent soft parts, and lodging below the pancreas about two inches and a-half to the left of the spine and behind the peritoneum, where it had become completely encysted. The immediate cause of death was secondary hemor- rhage from one of the mesenteric arteries adjoining the track of the ball, the blood rupturing the peritoneum and nearly a pint escaping into the abdominal cavity. This hemorrhage is believed to have been the cause of the severe pain in the lower part of the chest complained of just before death. " An abscess cavity, six inches by four in dimensions, was found in the vicinity of the gall bladder, between the liver and the transverse colon, which were strongly adherent. It did not involve the substance of the liver and no com- munication was found between it and the wound. A long suppurating channel extended from the external wound, be- tween the loin muscles and the right kidney, almost to the right groin. This channel, now known to be due to the burrowing of pus from the wound, was supposed during life to have been the track of the ball. " On an examination of the organs of the chest, evidences of severe bronchitis were found on both sides, with broncho- pneumonia of the lower portions of the right lung, and, though to a much less extent, of the left. The lungs contained no abscesses and the heart no clots. The liver was enlarged and fatty, but free from abscesses. Nor were any found in any other organ except the left kidney, which contained near its surface a small abscess about one-third of an inch in di- ameter. " In reviewing the history of the case in connection with the autopsy it is quite evident that the different suppurating surfaces, and especially the fractured, spongy tissue of the vertebra, furnish a sufficient explanation of the septic con- dition which existed. " D. W. Buss. "J. K. Barnes. "J- J- Woodward. " Robert Reyburn. "Frank II. Hamilton. " D. Hayes Agnew. "Andrew H. Smith. " D. S. Lamb." The same writer from whom we have heretofore quoted so copiously says : THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 9OI "The arrangements for the funeral were prepared under the supervision of the Attorney-General, Hon. Wayne Mac- Veagh. It was decided to leave Elberon on the morning of the 21st, on the special train that had brought the President and his family to Long Branch. Upon reach- ing Washington the remains were to be conducted to the Capitol, where they were to lie in state in the rotunda until the 23d, when the same special train would convey them direct to Cleveland, took a farewell look at mortal remains. Two lines of artillerymen reached from the Elberon porch to the drive-way under the Francklyn Cottage, but they were far enough apart to allow the crowd to pass comfortably along. The body lay on a bier in the parlor, and the entrance was made through the drive-way by turning to the right and, after passing the remains, turning to the left and going out the great door in the east front. The church bells tolled, meanwhile, and the occasion was FRANCKLYN COTTAGE — THE HOUSE IN WHICH PRESIDENT GARFIELD DIED. Ohio, there to remain in state until Mon- day, the 26th, when they would be buried in Lake View Cemetery, the spot chosen for the interment. "The morning of the 21st saw the people of Elberon and its vicinity astir at an early hour. They'came from every direction and in all sorts of vehicles. There must have been 2,000 of them by 8.30, when the doors were opened, and a more quiet, orderly congregation never an exceedingly impressive one. Two sentries stood at the entrance of the parlor in order to see that there was no pushing and that but one person went in at a time. Nobody was allowed to stop, but simply glanced at the face of the dead President on the way through the room. A soldier stood at the foot and another at the head of the casket. The casket was a massive one, but unpreten- tious in appearance. It was covered with 902 HISTORY 0E THE UXITED STATES. Bcxm II , c. 27 a rich black cloth, and with the exception of the Cabinet and their wives took scats of heavy silver mountings, was entirely in the second coach. The following plain. It had a satin lining across the top, and from the foot of the casket up- wards extended two long sago palm leaves. On the lid was a silver plate containing the following inscription : "JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD, " Horn November 19th, 1831. " Died, President of the United States, September 19th, 1881. "At half-past nine Chief-Justice Waite, Secretary and Mrs. Blaine, Secretary and Mrs. Windom, Secretary and Mrs. Hunt, Postmaster-General and Mrs. James, and Secretaries Lincoln, Kirkwood and At- torney-Geiural MacVeagh arrived at the cottage. There were present, besides the family and attendants, the members of the Cabinet and their wives and a few personal friends, not more than fifty in all. When the time for the solemnities was announced, the doors and windows were closed and all sounds were hushed. The services were conducted, at Mrs. Garfield's request, by the Rev. Charles J. Young, the pastor of the Reformed Church at Long Branch. As it was nec- essary to be prompt at the depot, only five minutes could be occupied by the clergyman. Mr. Young read a few ap- propriate passages from the Scriptures relating to death and resurrection, and then offered a touching prayer. " As soon as the prayer was ended Mrs. Garfield, heavily veiled, accompa- nied by her son Harry, passed from the cottage to the train and entered the first coach. She exhibited the same fortitude which has been so characteristic all persons comprised the rest of the party on the train : Private Secretary J. Stanley Brown, Executive Clerk Warren S. Young, John K. Van Warmer, Chief Clerk Post- Office Department; John Jameson, Railway Mail Service ; Ridley Hunt, son of the Secretary of the Navy ; C. F. James, son of the Postmaster-Gen- eral ; Mr. Jay Stone, private secretary to Secretary Lincoln ; Ex-Sheriff Daggett, Brooklyn ; of Colonel H. C. Corbin and Messrs. Atchinson, Rickard and the other attendants upon the late President and field during the sojourn here. " The casket was carried from the cottage by six strong men, passing through a guard of soldiers formed in parallel lines. It was placed in the third coach. There were five hundred people who stood at a respectful distance watch- ing the procession. The train stopped on the track about a quarter of a mile above Elberon Station and directly in front of the cottage. To this point tin- special train which brought President Arthur and General Grant from New York was run. These gentlemen left their train and took seats in the second car of the funeral train. Just before the start Governor Ludlow, of New Jersey, accompanied by a number of minor State officials and members of the Legislature, arrived on the scene ; they stood with uncovered heads as the train moved off. "The train left Elberon at 10 o'clock a. m., and reached Washington at 4.35 p. M. "As the casket was borne to the hearse through these trying weeks. Miss the Marine Band, stationed across the Mollie Garfield and Miss Rockwell, Col- \ street, played ' Nearer, my God, to Thee,' onel Swaim, Colonel and Mrs. Rockwell, 'while every head was bowed and many Dr. Boynton and C. O. Rockwell also '■ eyes were dimmed. The sad strains of entered the first coach. The members the sweetly familiar hymn, the hush that THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 9°3 had fallen upon the scene and the grief mirrored on thousands of faces marked the picture with shadings that years can-- not efface from the memory of those who stood about the bier of the dead Presi- dent. " After the casket had been placed in the hearse, the remainder of the party entered their carriages and took place :n the procession. As soon as the last of the Presidential party had entered their carriages the signal was given by the bugle, and the military escort formed in line and the mournful procession started on its way to the Capitol in the following order : Platoon of Mounted Police. General Ayres and Mounted Staff. Washington Light Infantry and Band. Union Veteran Corps. National Rifles. Washington Light Guard. Capitol City Guard. United States Marine Band and Drum Corps, 50 men. Detachment of United States Marines. Second United States Artillery Band. Four Companies of Heavy Artillery and One Light Battery. Washington and Columbia Gmimanderies of Knights Templar. " At precisely 5.10 the head of the sad procession, moving around the south side of the Capitol, arrived at the east front, the arms of the military being reversed and the bands playing the Dead March. The order was then given to carry arms, and the troops came to a front face, while amid the muffbd beat of the drums the hearse and its attendant train of carriages drew slowly up in front of the escort. A hush came over the multitude, and heads were reverently uncovered as the casket was carefully lifted from the hearse. The officers of the army and navy drew up in parallel lines on either side of the hearse, and the Marin^ Band played again, with much sentiment, ' Nearer, my God, to Thee,' as with solemn tread the remains of President Garfield were borne into the rotunda and placed upon the catafalque, the Senators and Representatives preceding and ranging themselves on each side of the dais. Close behind the casket walked President Arthur and Secretary Blaine, who were followed by Chief- Justice Waite and Secretary Windorn General Grant and Secretary Hunt, Secretary Lincoln and Attcrney-General MacVeagh, Secretary Kirkwood and Postmaster-General James, Col. Rock- well and General Swairr, and Colonel Corbin and Private Secretary Brown. "At 5.35 the lid of the casket was opened and the face of the late President was exposed to view. Noiselessly, Presi- dent Arthur and Secretary Blaine ap- proached and gazed upon the face of the dead, and then slowly and sadly passed out of the hall. A line was formed by Sergeant-at-Arms Bright, and one by one those present advanced and glanced at the emaciated and discolored face of the dead President. The public at large were then admitted, and hundreds of persons testified by their reverential conduct and mournful countenances the sorrow which they experienced in look- ing upon the features of their murdered President. " Three o'clock was the hour fixed for the funeral services. "It was half-past two when the pall- bearers, who were selected by Mrs. Gar- field from the members of their little- church on Vermont avenue, entered and took their seats. They were followed by the judges of the Supreme Court, Colonel Corbin, Dr. Boynton, Private Secretary Brown and the other White House people, with their ladies. A few go 4 HISTORY OS THE UNITED STATES. Book II , c. 37 minutes later the Philharmonic Society, to the number of twenty-five or thirty, came in. standing near the bier. Then came the members of the House and next the senators, by their respective doors, and these were immediately fol- lowed by a delegation from Philadelphia. The greatest interest was apparently awakened when General Grant and ex- occupied. The funeral ceremonies be- gan exactly at three o'clock and were very impressive. The ceremonies were opened with the hymn, 'Asleep in Jesus,' beautifully rendered by the volunteer choir. Rev. Dr. Rankin then ascended the raised platform at the head of the catafalque and read in a clear, distinct voice a number of selections from the PRESIDENT GARFIELD LYING IN STATE IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPIT<>L. President Hayes entered. They came Scriptures, which were listened to with from the Senate side arm-in-arm, and breathless attention. Rev. Dr. Isaac as they entered, the entire audience Errett then offered an impressive prayer, to their feet. Following the dis- As the closing words of the prayer died tinguished pair came President Arthur, away, the Rev. T. D. Power, of the Ver- leaning on die arm of the Secretary of mont avenue Christian Church, of which State. President Garfield was a member, deliv- "A f . three o'clock every seat was filled crcd a feeling address. At the conclu- and all available standing room was sion of Dr. Power's address Rev. J. G. THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 00$ Butler offered prayer and the ceremonies were over. " The procession was not so long, but it was a funeral procession and consumed an entire hour in reach- ing the depot, a third of a mile away. Passing between thousands packed densely against the ropes, it was a most remarkable and striking journey. Every head was uncovered as they passed. Not a sound was heard, save the occa- sional clash of a hoof upon the iron tramway and the low funeral dirge of the band. "At the depot the scene was brief, and when the coffin was borne from the hearse it was quickly ended. "The train left Washington at 5.16 p. m., an hour behind time. It was fol- lowed by a second train at 5.24, bearing a number of members of the two Houses of Congress and other distinguished per- sonages, and was known as ' the Con- gressional Train.' It kept about twenty minutes behind ' the Funeral Train ' throughout the journey. "All along the route immense crowds gathered at the stations. From the mo- ment the ' Funeral Train* left Washing- ton until its arrival at Cleveland, it passed through a steady line of people. At every station they gathered by the thou- sands, and in the fields and along the tracks they stood with heads uncovered, until the train, covered with crape, whizzed by them. The expressions of grief were universal. Hardly a house along the entire route that was not cov- ered with emblems of mourning. On every hand flags at half-mast and droop- ing crape told of the sorrow in every heart Whenever the train entered a town the church-bells tolled, and in many places flowers were strewn upon the track. The first great demon- stration after leaving Washington was E.t Baltimore, where several thousand people gathered and reverentially un- covered to the train of mourning. Along the line of the Northern Cen- tral railroad to Harrisburg great crowds of people gathered at every station. The crowds usually remained until the Congressional train had also passed. "Pittsburgh depot was reached at six o'clock. Dense throngs of people gathered in various parts of the city to see it pass. When the train came to a stop to change engines, an elegant pil- low of flowers was taken into the funeral car and placed upon the coffin. All the people about the station remained with uncovered heads, and the fire-alarm central bell and the various ones on the churches of the city tolled a morning re- quiem. The train passed through Alle- gheny without stopping and through the park, where fully fifteen thousand persons had gathered, including several posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, who lowered their colors as the cars went by. Many ladies were in the throng, and these had brought flowers, which were laid on the track for a quarter of a mile. From a rustic bridge crossing the tracks flowers were also dropped upon the cars as they passed beneath. The crowd was as silent as the funeral itself, and the signs of grief and affection were everywhere apparent. At the Alle- gheny outer depot two cars containing the committee having in charge fune- ral arrangements at Cleveland, who ar- rived last evening, were attached to the train. "As the two trains steamed west from Pittsburgh the crowds at the way-stations grew larger. The Grand Army of the Republic, in line at Rochester, Pa, saluted 906 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., C. 37 each train as it passed, while the sur- like the delta streams of a river whose rounding crowd stood with uncovered waters are separated by a thousand little heads. The funeral train arrived at | islands, and go rushing and bounding in Cleveland at 1.30 p. M. on the 24th of different directions until they encounter September. the swell of the ocean, when their iden- " Grand preparations had been made tity is lost, at Cleveland for the reception of the j " Monday, September 26th, the day funeral party. Long before its arrival appointed for the public funeral of Presi- there was not standing room on the 1 dent Garfield, came in bright and clear. " The services began promptly at 10.30. Dr. J. P. Robinson, president of the ceremonies, arose, and, amid the most pro- found silence, announced Beethoven's ' Funera' Hymn,' which was finely rendered by the Cleve- land Vocal Society. At its conclusion Bishop Be- dell, of the Episcopal diocese of Ohio, read se- lections from the Scrip- tures, beginning with the fourteenth chapter of Job. Rev. Ross C. Houghton, pastor of the First M. E. Church, followed with a fervent prayer. It was short and impressive. After the Vocal Society had sung ' To Thee, O Lord, I yield my spirit,' Rev. Isaac Errett, ot Cin- cinnati, delivered an elo- quent address, taking for ground nor on the house-tops within an ' his text the following: 'And the archers eighth of a mile of Euclid Avenue Sta- shot King Josiah, and the King said to tion. Pen is inadequate to describe his servants, have me away, for I am the great wavering, crowded gathering sore wounded,' etc. of human beings about the depot, on the " Immediately after the completion of sidewalks, in the streets, in windows and the religious ceremonies, the coffin was on the roofs. The intersection of the removed from the catafalque to the fu- avenues looked like a great sea of heads; neral car ; this occupied fifteen minutes the side-streets poured in their portion, , time. A corps of United States marines MRS. I.UCRKTIA K. GAR FIELD. THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 907 from the United States steamer Michigan formed parallel lines from the east side of the pavilion to the east entrance to the Park, through which the casket was borne on the shoulders of the United States artillerymen, under command of Lieutenant Weaver, Second United States Artillery, to the funeral car, fol- lowed by the mourners, who took seats in carriages. " The procession occupied two hours and a quarter in passing a given point. It was about four miles in length. At 3.30 it entered the gateway of the cemetery, which was arched over with black, with appropriate inscriptions. On the keystone were the words, ' Come to Rest;' on one side were the words, ' Lay him to rest whom we have learned to love;' upon the other, ' Lay him to rest whom we have learned to trust.' A beautiful hymn was rendered by the German singing societies ; President Hins- dale, of Hiram College, pronounced the benediction, and the last sad rites over James A. Garfield, the martyr President, were completed. The procession re- formed at the cemetery and marched back to the city in the same order that it started from the catafalque. " So ended the last honors the Nation could pay to the martyred President." On the night of the death of the Presi- dent at Elberon, the members of the Cabinet present joined in sending the following telegram to Mr. Arthur, the Vice-President, who was at that time in the city of New York : " Hon. Chester A. Arthur, " No. 123 Lexington Avenue, New York : " It becomes our painful duty to in- form you of the death of President Gar- field, and to advise you to take the oath of office without delay. If it concurs with your judgment we will be very glad if you will come down on the earliest train to-morrow morning. " William Windom, " Secretary of the Treasury. " William H. Hunt; " Secretary of the Navy. " Thomas L. James, " Postmaster-General. "Wayne MacVeagh, " Attorney-General. " L. J. Kirkwood, " Secretary of the Interior." Mr. Arthur immediately replied as fol- lows : " New York, September 19. " Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, " Attorney-General, Long Branch : " I have your telegram, and the intel- ligence fills me with profound sorrow. Express to Mrs. Garfield my deepest sympathies. " Chester A. Arthur." Mr. Arthur, as advised by Mr. Gar- field's Cabinet, immediately took the oath of office before Judge Brady, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and sent the follow- ing telegram to the Cabinet : " New York, September 20. " I have your message announcing the death of President Garfield. Permit me to renew through you the expression of sorrow and sympathy which I have al- ready telegraphed to Attorney-General MacVeagh. In accordance with your suggestion I have taken the oath of office as President before the Hon. John R. Brady, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. I will soon advise you further in regard to the other suggestion in your telegram. " C. A. Arthur." " Early on the morning of the 20th President Arthur left New York for Longf 908 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c 37 Branch. He reached that place at 1.15 p. if., and drove at once to Attorney- General MacVeagh's cottage. After an informal conference with the members of the Cabinet, the President walked over to Elberon Cottage and left a card of sympathy for Mrs. Garfield. He then returned to New York. On the 21st he ajiain returned to Long Branch, took part in the funeral ceremonies at Elberon, and accompanied the funeral train to Washington, where he became the guest of Senator Jones. During the remainder of the day and evening he remained in strict seclusion. " Early on the morning of the 22d the members of the Cabinet repaired" to the residence of Senator Jones, to call on the President. During the forenoon a num- ber of the members of the two Houses of Congress called to pay their respects. This was ended at half-past eleven, and a little later the President and Cabinet went over to the east front of the Senate wing of the Capilol, which they entered, then went directly to the room of the Vice-President, the magnificent marble chamber north of the Senate Chamber. When they went in, nobody outside of their circle who saw them seemed to know what was on foot. It was not until the Chief-Justice of the United States, clad in his dark robes of office, was seen approaching from the main corridor that it was gviessed that the President was about to go through the formality of taking the oath of office as President at the hands of the Chief-Justice, of the Supreme Court. This was considered but a formality, as Mr. Arthur had been sworn in New York early on Tuesday morning. It was thought by the Cab- inet, however, that it would be as well to follow a custom which had been estab- lished by having the oath administered by the highest judicial officer in the country. The scene when the oath was taken was impressive in the extreme. At the right of the President stood Sen- ator Jones and Speaker Sharpe, of New York. Ex-President Hayes was a con- spicuous figure well in the foreground, with General Grant but a few steps be- hind. All the Cabinet were present. Of the Senators there were present Hale, Jones, Sherman, Dawes and Anthony, and Representatives Hiscock, McCook, Townsend and others. During the cer- emony ex-President Hayes sat near ex- President Grant." Upon Chester A. Arthur, therefore, the Vice-President elect on the ticket with Garfield, now devolved the duties of President, under the Constitution. He thereby became the twenty-first President of the United States. He was born in Franklin county, Vermont, October 5th, 1830, and was in the fifty-first year of his age at the time of his installation. Fol- lowing the example of Tyler, he issued to the people of the United States an Inaugural Address, which was well re- ceived in all parts of the country. On the day afterwards he issued his procla- mation summoning the Senate of the United States to meet in extraordinary session on the 10th of October ensuing. He requested the members of President Garfield's Cabinet to remain in the dis- charge of their duties, without any inti- mation as to the permanent organization of his Cabinet. They all complied with this request. In the meantime, the prosecution against Guiteau had been instituted in the Criminal Court of the District of Columbia. A true bill of indictment was found against him for the murder of James A. Garfield by the grand jury on the 8th of October. He was arraigned 77/5" ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD A AD ARTHUR. 909 on the 14th of the same month and pleaded " not guilty." A full panel of jurors was completed on the 16th of November, when the trial commenced. Mr. George Scoville, the husband of Guiteau's sister, was the leading counsel for the defence. He filed a plea of in- sanity, against which Guiteau violently protested. Guiteau maintained that, in his act of killing the President, he was moved by Divine Inspiration and not by malice, and that at the time of his trial he was perfectly sane. His conduct all along before and after the killing had been most singular and eccentric, and his behavior in court from the beginning to the end of his trial was most extraordinary. The accuracy of his memory in detailing the events of the tragedy, his arrest and im- prisonment, and the con- tents of papers, was perfectly astonishing to every one. The trial lasted from the fj 1 6th of November, 1881, to jj the 25th of January, 1882 ; | a full and accurate report j of which has been pub- | lished, making a volume of ^ several hundred pages, and i will hereafter be regarded f as one of the most re- markable criminal trials in the annals of the world. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be hung on the 30th of June following. Strong efforts vere made for a new trial, which were unavailing. Then appeals were made for an executive pardon, which also were unavailing. Guiteau was hung in the jail in the presence of a limited number of spectators, on the day ap- pointed and in obedience to the mandate of the court. The daily proceedings at- tending this trial excited deep interest in this country as well as in Europe. Public sentiment was very much divided as to his mental condition and legal re- sponsibility. The most learned experts in the United States were examined as witnesses. These differed, some holding him to be insane, but the majority holding that he was sane and morally responsible. It is not improper here to present an edi- CHESTER A. ARTHUR. torial from the " Sunday Capital," Wash- ington, D. C., of July 2d, 1882, which, perhaps, sets forth the real opinion of the average American mind upon Guiteau and the assassination of Garfield as clearly as it has ever been expressed in any other quarter. After speaking of the horrible tragedy of the assassination and the execution of the perpetrator, the editor proceeds to say: " It still remains true that, so far as 910 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Book II., c. "7 society in general is interested, the most ' important fact brought out by the affair is its peculiar, not to say alarming, de- velopment of the American crank. This term, which hardly found a place in the lexicon of slang a year ago, has been naturalized into the regular vocabulary by the incidents and events of Guiteau's trial and execution. Whether well- chosen or not the term has grown to be indispensable, and must henceforth be recognized as good English. It sup- plies, as the patent medicine vendors say, a want long felt, because it describes a class of people never before adequately classified ; indicating something more than eccentric and something less than lunatic. Hitherto we have had no suc- cinct term whereby to describe the sort of aberration that lies halfway between eccentricity and dementia, except the always awkward and frequently mislead- ing word monomania. " But crank fills the bill exactly. It is vague enough to be comprehensive, and specific enough to be accurate. And we remark with no little concern that the number of people in our midst whose mental or moral condition, or both, it properly describes is very great. Prior to the advent of Guitcau the ten- dency of our national mode of living to develop crankism had never been brought into general notice, for the reason that each crank or association of cranks was a local institution, famous enough in his or its immediate bailiwick no doubt, but never concentrating upon an)' one topic, or gravitating towards any central attrac- tion. Guiteau came to precipitate this nebulous element. He was its priest ; the notoriety he got made him its prophet and king, and his sufferings have at last canonized him its martyr and its saint. " Whether it was best to hang such a man at such a price it is not worth while to inquire now. The law, fortunately or unfortunately, takes little account of psychological questions, and pays little attention to the nice distinctions that, to the exact eye of science, exist between the various grades of aberration. " Therefore, having done with Guiteau, the question yet remains, what is to be done with his followers, his proselytes — in short, with the new denomination that he has been the means of establishing? We say ' denomination,' because the array of cranks has become so large that it must henceforth be reckoned as a factor in society ; the characteristics of the breed have been developed to the dignity of distinct classification ; while the episode of Guiteau has for the first time in our history given them a com- mon subject of interest and afforded them a common rallying point of faith and sentiment. " No such development has ever been witnessed among any other people. It is peculiarly American, and in our judg- ment could not have transpired under any other set of social conditions than those of the United States. Insanity, lunacy and mania in their various forms, exist among all peoples and are regu- lated according to the type of the civili- zation that prevails. But the crank, pure and simple, seems to exist nowhere except in this country, and even here society has not applied itself to the problem of dealing with him. This fact, like all other facts, has its cause. The crank is a product peculiar to our social soil and political atmosphere. Our sys- tem of education, whereby the average ambition is stimulated in excess of the average capacity, is one cause. Our modes of doing business, whereby the THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 9 II average cupidity is stimulated far be- yond the average chance of success, is another cause. But the chief cause of all is the feverish thirst for notoriety which the illimitable facilities of publica- tion have excited ; and which seems to beset all classes alike, from the school- girl winning her first prize to the tramp hunting his bed under the lee of a hay- stack. " Thus we may as well look our crank squarely in the face, as a new addition to the annoyances which society must submit to, if not as a powerful and dan- gerous recruit to the classes which so- ciety has to regulate. The fate of Gui- teau will be lost upon the vast bulk of the class to which he belonged. To them, or to many of them, his trial ap- pears as an ovation, his life in jail as an entertainment, his march to the scaffold as a triumphal procession, and his swing into eternity, heralded all over the world by black head-lines, and described in in- terminable columns, as the crowning achievement of a life-long notoriety- hunter. " The name of these is legion. For a year they have been pouring into Wash- ington from every direction, in every garb and from every walk of life. They have been long-haired men and short- haired women; presidents of societies of cranks and members of conventions of cranks; men with inspirations and women with missions ; eccentrics, monomaniacs, hypochondriacs, lunatics and what not ; but all cranks, all more or less mischiev- ous and some dangerous. What is to be done with them ? As it is we have disposed of only one of them ; and it is by no means certain that our mode of disposing of him was not calculated to increase rather than to destroy the breed." At the called extra-executive session, little was done except to elect a Presi- dent of the Senate pro tempore, and to act upon the President's numerous nom- inations to office, in the foreign as well as domestic service. President David Davis, of Illinois, after some contest, was finally chosen to fill the position of Pres- ident of the Senate. Mr. Blaine, Secretary of State, had inaugurated a policy towards the Peru- vian and Chilian governments, then at war, and towards England, upon the subject of an inter-oceanic canal in Cen- tral America, which was not approved, as it was understood by President Arthur, and out of which grew very exciting dis- cussions in Congress as well as the pub- lic press. Mr. Blaine retired from the State Department, and was succeeded by Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey. In a short time all of Mr. Gar- field's cabinet retired except Robert T. Lincoln, at the head of the War Depart- ment. Charles J. Folger, of New York, succeeded to the Treasury Department ; William E. Chandler, of New Hamp- shire, to the Navy Department; Henry M. Teller, of Colorado, to the Interior Department; Timothy O. Howe, of Wis- consin, was appointed Postmaster-Gen- eral, and Benjamin H. Brewster, of Penn- sylvania, Attorney-General. The first regular session of the Forty- seventh Congress met December, 1881. The Senate still remained equally di- vided between the Democrats and the Republicans, with Judge Davis, the pre- siding officer, acting independently of both parties. The House of Represent- atives was decidedly Republican. J. Warren Keifer, of Ohio, was chosen Speaker. The last public honor rendered the martyred Chief Magistrate was the QI2 II I STORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c. 37 grand funeral oration in honor of his memory, pronounced by ex-Senator Blaine in the House of Representatives, on the 27th day of February, 1882. This eulogy was delivered in pursuance of a joint resolution, in the presence of both Houses of Congress, the President, his Cabinet, the Judges of the Supreme Court, Foreign Ministers, and an in:m :nse crowd of spectators from all parts of the country. It was one of Mr. Blaine's most elaborate and eloquent displays; but while it won the highest plaudits from some quarters, it elicited sharp criticisms from others. The most exciting questions of this session were the bills to regulate Chinese immigration, and the bill appropriating money to the improvement of rivers and harbors. The first bill upon the subject of the immigration of the Chinese was vetoed by the President. Another bill was prepared with such modifications as secured the executive approval. The River and Harbor bill, as it was called, also was vetoed by the President; but on reconsideration was passed over the veto by a two-thirds majority in both Houses. The tariff question was also discussed at great length and with unusual interest, but no result was attained on the subject except the passage of a resolution authorizing the appointment of a board, consisting of nine commissioners, to investigate the whole subject and re- port at a subsequent session of Con- gress. These commissioners entered immediately upon the work assigned them. The bill to extend for an additional twenty years the corporate existence of the national banks also passed, which was a measure of great importance in a financial point of view, especially that feature of it which authorized the funding of the 3'j per cent, bonds into 3 per cent. The first session of the Forty-seventh Congress brought its labors to a close on the 8th of August, and on the 16th, eight days thereafter, one of its brightest lights went out. Benjamin Harvey Hill, the senior senator of Georgia, on the morn- ing of that day died at his home in Atlanta, in the 59th year of his age. He entered the State Legislature early in life, and subsequently held many positions of high trust and honor, and filled all with distinction. He served in the Confederate Senate, then in the United States House of Representatives, and was in 1877 transferred to the Senate, where he remained until his death. He took an active part against the recon- struction measures of Congress after the war, and some of the ablest papers against the constitutionality of these measures were prepared by his pen. He possessed oratorical gifts in an eminent degree. In power of statement and force of invective he had few if any superiors. His death was universally lamented. Among the most important events which should be noticed in the history of the country in the fall and winter of 1 88 1 -82 was the great cotton exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. This, in the opin- ion of many, fell but little short of the Centennial exposition of 1S76 at Phila- delphia. Space and time will allow no details. Suffice it to say, it far exceeded the expectations of those who projected it, and did more than anything ever before to attract general attention at home and abroad to the resources of the Southern States. Congress, it is believed, will publish a large number of extra copies of the report of its three months proceedings and exhibition. THE ADMIXISTRATION OF GARFIELD AXD ARTHUR. 9*3 We now approach the close of our undertaking. We have sketched the history of the colonies from their earliest settlement, through their successive stages of development into separate States and into a Federal Union, with all the important incidents attending their his- tory down to the present time. A kxv words will now be added. In conclusion : It has not been within the range of the object of this work to treat of the gen- eral economic statistics — social, moral, and intellectual — either of the Colonies separate, or of the States united, which mark the progress of Commonwealths, or Nations, in the scale of civilization. In relation to this exceedingly im- portant view of the subject, it must suffice here to state a few facts only, from which the grandeur of their development in these respects may be seen, by a glance at the general outlines. The whole area of country then, let it be noted, embraced within the limits of the States and their territories, at the beginning, was less than one million of square miles; it is now near four millions. There were, as we have seen, but thirteen States at first united in a Federal Unio . ; now there are thirty-eight. The aggregate population of the original thirteen Colonies, when they assumed the powers of separate, sove- reign, self-governing States, was under three millions, about one-half million of which were slaves, of the black race: the like aggregate population is at present over fifty millions, of which over six millions and a half arc of the same black or negro race, now rendered free, as one of the accepted results of the war betwcea the States. The regular and rapid increase of this aggregate population appears from the 58 official decennial census returns. The number in 1790 had reached 3,929,214. This number continued to increase during each subsequent decade as follows: In the year 1800 the entire population of the old as well as the new States that had then been admitted was 5,308,483. In the year 18 10 it was 7,239,884. In 1820 it was 9,633,822. In 1830 it was 12,866,020. In 1840 it was 17,069,453. In 1850 it was 23,191,876. In i860 it was 31,443,321. In 1 870 it was 38,558,371, and in 1880 it was 50,155,783. The figures thus given show an increase of population un- equalled in the history of any country; but the advance during the same period in everything else which indicates pro- gress in prosperity and happiness is no less apparent and striking from the following facts: The tonnage of the United States engaged in foreign trade in 1789 was only a little over halfa million. In 1880 it was over fifteen millions. In 1789 the exports were in value a little over nineteen millions of dollars; and the imports a little over twenty-nine millions. In 1880 the exports amounted in value to over eight hundred millions of dollars, and the imports not much under that sum. In 1790 the culture of cotton was just beginning to be 'introduced. In i860 the production of this great staple, which has revolutionized the commerce of the world, had reached to upwards of four millions of bales, and constituted the chief article of the enormous exports at that period. Even since the war, in 1870, the exports of cotton amounted in value to over two hundred millions of dollars, and constituted in value nearly one half the entire exports of that period. The increase in 1SS0 was still greater. 9U HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. Book II., c 37 In 1800 there were but about two hun- dred newspapers published in the United States. In 1880 there were, including political, religious, scientific, literary and miscellaneous, over eleven thousand, cir- culating in the aggregate not much under one billion three hundred thousand copies. In 1790 there were very few colleges in the United States; not many, if any, over a dozen. In 1880 there were, in- cluding male and female, not much under one thousand, with about one hundred thousand students. There were at the same time not much under ten millions of pupils at schools of a lower grade. Progress in religious culture and teach- ing, up to the same period, was not less marked than that in the barely intellec- tual training. In 1880 there were not less than one hundred thousand churches and one hundred and fifty thousand cler- gymen in the various denominations, with not less than fifteen million worshippers, according to their modes of faith. The value of real and personal prop- erty had, in the aggregate, during the same period, swelled to the amount of seventeen billions of dollars. Railroads, operated by steam-engines, were unknown in the world in 1825. It was in 1830 that the first locomotive of this sort ever constructed on this conti- nent, called the " Best* Friend," was put upon the South Carolina road, from Charleston to Hamburg. There are now in operation in the United States not less than eighty thousand miles of rail- roads, extending in all directions, from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, at a cost that would have seemed fabulous to the fathers of the last generation. The magnetic telegraph was unknown in the world until 1843. It now stretches, with its network of wires, not only over the entire extent of this vast countrv, from ocean to ocean, but across the At- lantic; and brings all parts of the earth under the influence of a power which acts upon the whole as if it were per- vaded by a common living sensorium. To the genius of Samuel Finley Breese Morse, a citizen of Massachusetts, man- kind is indebted for this greatest of all discoveries yet made, in rendering the abstruse laws of nature subservient to the cause of human progress and the highest attainments in civilization. These facts must suffice for the purpose stated. To go into anything like a detail of the instrumentalities by which such results have been reached — of the nu- merous inventions and discoveries that have been made — of the advances in the various arts and sciences — of the achieve- ments in agriculture and mechanical in- dustries — of the products of spindles, looms and factories — of furnaces and forges — of the wonders of steam in the shops, and on water, as well as on rail — of the innumerable other instruments of creative power, that contributed so much to the grand whole of public and private prosperity, which are apparent from the glance thus taken, — would re- quire many volumes much larger than the present view of the forms and nature of the governments of the States, and their political relations towards each other, in Federal Union, from which these most stupendous results have sprung. In bringing the subject to a close, it may be stated with confidence, that for nearly ninety years, from the very date of their thus entering into union, and up to the breaking out of the late most la- mentable war between them, no People in the annals of history made a more brilliant career in all that secures liberty, THE ADMINISTRATION OF GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 915 prosperity, and happiness, and that adds dignity, power, and renown to Nations, than did the Peoples of the United States. Rome, in the acme and splendor of her glory, after five centuries of growth and development, from the expulsion of her Kings, did not surpass the point of national greatness to which these States had attained in less than one, from the time they freed themselves from the British Crown. Rome, the most re- nowned of ancient Republics, it is said fell at last by the weight of Empire. This under her system was inevitable. She was a single Republic. In her growth she did not recognize the Feder- ative principle. In extending her juris- diction over neighboring States, by not adopting this principle and securing the sovereign right of local self-government to all Peoples thus falling within her limits, but by assuming absolute domin- ion over them, she necessarily became a Centralized Empire, with ultimate des- potism as a necessary consequence. The United States, on the contrary, are founded on the directly opposite prin- ciple. They do not constitute a single Republic, but a Federal Republic. Under their system of Federative Union, no apprehension need arise for the safety and security of liberty from any extent of either their boundaries or their numbers. Now, therefore, that the chief cause which led to the late war between them is forever removed, if they shall adhere to the principle of the sovereign right of local self-government, on the part of the States respectively, which lies at the foundation of the whole fabric, then there is no perceived reason why they should not go on in a still higher career in all that constitutes true greatness in human development and achievement. But if this principle shall be abandoned, then all that is so glorious in the past and so hopeful in the future will, sooner or later, be lost in the same inevitable des- potism of a Consolidated Centralized Empire, which eventuated in the over- throw and destruction of the liberties of Rome. APPENDICES. APPENDIX A. Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, ccpied from " Martin's History of North Carolina," Vol. II., Page 373. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abets or in any way, form or manner countenances the invasion of our rights, as attempted by the Parlia- ment of Great Britain, is an enemy to his country, to America, and the rights of men. Resolved, That we the citizens of Mecklenburg county do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us with the mother country, and ab- solve ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, abjuring all political connection with a nation that has wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of Americans at Lexington. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing people, under the power of God and the General Congress ; to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor. Resolved, That we hereby ordain and adopt as rules of conduct, all and each of our former laws, and the crown of Great Britain cannot be considered hereafter as holding any rights, privileges or immu- nities amongst us. Resolved, That all officers, both civil and military, in this county, be entitled to exercise the same powers and authorities as heretofore : that every member of this delegation shall henceforth be a civil officer, and exercise the powers of a justice of the peace, issue process, hear and determine controversies according to law, preserve peace, union and harmony in the county, and use every exertion to spread the love of liberty and of country, until a more general and better organized system of government be es- tablished. ' ' Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be trans- mitted by express to the President of the Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, to be laid before that body. APPENDIX B. In Congress, July &,th, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to as- sume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- piness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invari- ably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- some and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of im- mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accom- modation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the deposi- tory of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolu- tions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legis- lative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State (9»7) ATPEXDIX B.— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 918 remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these Stales; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislature. He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power. He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unac- knowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : For protecting them, by mock trial, from punish- ment, for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : For imposing taxes on us without our consent: For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbi- trary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies: For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the pow- ers of our governments : For suspending our own legislatures, and declar- ing themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He i>, at this time, transporting large armies of for- eign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circum- stances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken cap- tire on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. lie has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruc- tion of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have pe- titioned for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by re- peated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature to ex- tend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspond- ence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED States of America in General Congress as- sembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved, and that, as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- tract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which INDEPENDENT States may of right do. And for the support of the declar- ation, with a firm reliance on this protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. The foregoing declaration was, by order of Con- gress, engrossed, and signed by the following members : John Hancock. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. RHODE ISLAND. Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. CONNECTICUT. Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. NEW YORK. William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. NEW JERSEY. Richard Stockton, John Wiiherspoon, NEW JERM V. Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. PENNSYLVANIA. Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush. Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. MASSACHUSETTS BAY. Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. DELAWARE. Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. APFENDIX C— ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 919 MARYLAND. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. VIRGINIA. George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. NORTH CAROLINA. William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. SOUTH CAROLINA. Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton, GEORGIA. Button Gwinnett, Lyman Had, George Walton. APPENDIX C. Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union Between the States. [ The following have been critically compared with the original Articles of Confederation in the Depart- ment of State, and found to conform minutely to them in text, letter, and punctuation. It may therefore be relied upon as a true copy.'] To all to whom these presents shall come, we, the undersigned delegates of the states AFFIXED TO OUR NAMES, SEND GREETING : — Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the 15th day of Novem- ber in the Year of our Lord 1777, and in the Second Year of the Independence of America agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts bay, Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Con- necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in the words following, viz. : Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union retween the States of New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Article I. The style of this Confederacy shall be " The United States of America." Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, juris- diction and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their liberties, and rtieir mutual and general welfare, bind- ing themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friend.ship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabi- tants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds and" fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of each Stale shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants there- of respectively, provided that such restriction shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State, to any other State of- which the owner is an inhabitant; provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or either of them. If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor in any State, shad flee from justice, and be found in any of the Unittd States, he shall upon demand of the governor or ex- ecutive power, of the State from which he fled, 1 e delivered up and removed to the State having juris- diction of his offence. Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts and judicial proceed- ings of the courts and magistrates of every other State. Article V. For the more convenient manage- ment of the general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the Legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time with- in the year, and to send others in their stead, for the remainder of the year. No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years ; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind. Each State shall maintain its own delegates in any meeting of the Stales, and while they act as members of the committee of the States. In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote. Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the t me of the:, going to and from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. Article VI. No State without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any king, prince or State; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolu- ment, office or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign State ; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. No two or more Stales shall enter into any ireaty, confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for 920 APPEXDIX C— ARTICLES OF COXFEDERATIOX. which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue. No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United Slates in G ingn s> assembled, with any king, prince or State, in pursuance i t any treaties already prop ised by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain. No vessels of war shall he kept up in time of peace by any State, except such number only as shall be deemed necessary In the United States in Con- gress assembled, for the defence of such State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces he kept up by any Siate, in except such number only, as in the judgment of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such State; but every Stale shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and id shall provide ami have constantly ready for use, in public stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity oi arms, ammunition and camp equipage. No State shall engage in any war without the con- sent of the United Slates in Congress assembled, un- Iess such State he actually invaded by enemies, 01 shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger i^ so imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the United Stales in Congress assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters ol marque or reprisal, except it he after a declaration oi war by the United States in Congress iled, and then only against the kingdom or Stale and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regulations a-- shall he established by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State he infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may he lilted out for that occasion, and kept 50 long as the danger shall continue, or until the United Stales in Congress assembled shall determine otherwise. Am Kit. VII. When land forces are raised by any Mate for the common defence, all officers ol or under the rank of colonel, shall he appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such Stite shall direct, and all vacancies shall he tilled up by the Stale which first made the appointment. ARTN I i \ 111. Ail charges of war, and all other expenses that shall he incurred for the common de- fence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a con mi on irea my, which shall he supplied by the several States, in proportion to the value of all land within each State, granted to or surveyed for any person, as such l.md and the buildings and improve- ments thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as the United Stales in Congress assembled shall, from time to time, direct and appoint. The ' in- paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the Legisla- tures oi die several States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. Article IX. 'The United Siau-s m Congress assembled, shall have the sole ami exclusive right and power of determining on pe..cc and war, except in the cases mentioned u. the sixth article — of send- ing and receiving ambassadors — entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made wherebv the legislative power ol the respective States shall be restrained Iron) impos- ing such imposts and duties on foreigners, BS iheir own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species ol go commodities whatsoever — of estabii-shing rules for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United Mates shall be divided or appropriated — of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, aud establishing courts lor receiving and determining finally appeals in ail cases of captures, provided that no member ol ( 00- gress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter may arise- between two or more Slates concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another shall present a petition to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for a hear- ing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Con- gress to the legislative or executive authority of the other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent. Commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in question : but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name three per- sons out of each ol the United States, and from the list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall in the presence ol Con- gress be drawn out by lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners oi judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination: and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, withoul showing i, which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall pro ceed to nominate three persons out ol each State, and the secretary ol Congress shall strike in behall ol such party, absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court to be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclu- sive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the court shall nevertheless pro- vince sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner be final ami decisive, the judgment or sentence and other proceedings being in either Case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the parties concerned; provided, that, every commissioner, before he sits m judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the judges ol the supreme or superior court cl die Stale, wdiere the cause shall be tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter m question, according to the best ol his judgment, without favor, I APPENDIX C— ARTICLES OE CONFEDERATION. 921 affection or hope of reward:" provided, also, that no State shall lie deprived of territory for the benefit of the United Stales. All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of the United States, lie finally determined as near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed fur deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different States. The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective States — fixing the standard of weights and measures through- out the United States — regulating the trade and man- aging all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the Slates, provided that the legislative right of any State within its own limits be not infringed or violated — establishing or regulating post-offices from one State to another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office— appointing all officers of the land forces, in the service of the United Slates, excepting regimental officers — appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United States — making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations. The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "A committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction — to appoint one of their number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years ; to ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses — to burrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United Slates, trans- muting every half year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted — to build and equip a navy — to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the Legislature of each Stale shall appoint the regi- mental officer-, raise the men and clothe, arm and equip them in a soldier-like manner, at the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed, armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the lime agreed cm by the United Slates in Congress assembled : But if the United States in Congress assembled shall, on con- sideration of circumstances judge proper that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller number than its quota, nnd that any other State should raise a greater number of men than :he quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed and equipped in the same manner as the quota of such State, unless the Legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared out of the same, in which case thtv shall raise officer, clothe, arm and equip as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men so clothed, armed and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. The United Stales in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and ex- penses necessary for the defence and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same : nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the United States in Congress assem- bled. The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances or miliiary opera- tions, as in their judgment require secrecy : and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on any question shall be entered on the journal when it is desired by any delegate ; and the delegates of a State, or any of them, at his or their request shall be fur- nished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several States. ARTICLE X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the Con- sent of nine States, shall from lime to time think ex- pedient to vest them with ; provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite. Article XI. Canada acceding to this confedera- tion, and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advan- tages of this Union: but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States. ARTICLE XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed and debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present confedera- tion, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United Stales, for payment and satisfac- tion whereof the said United States, and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. ARTICLE XIII. Every State shall abide by the de- terminations of the United States in Congress assem- bled, on all questions which by this conlederation is 922 APPENDIX D.— CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES. submitted to them. And the articles of this con- federation shall he inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them ; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Con- gress of the United Stales, and be afterwards con- firmed by the Legislatures of every State. And Whereas it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of con- federation and perpetual Union. Know ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles of confederation and perpetual Union, and all and singular the matiers and things therein contained : And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determina- tions of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said confederation are submitted to them. And that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we re- spectively represent, and that the Union shall be per- petual. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the 9th day of July in the year of our Lord, 1778, and in the third year of the inde- pendence of America. Josiah Rartlett, John Went worth, jun. August 8th, 1778, John Hancock. Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Francis Dana, James Lovell, Samuel Holten, William Ellery, Henry Merchant, John Collins, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, Andrew Adam, James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, Gouverneur Morris, J ihn Witherspoon, Nathaniel Scudder, Robert Morris, Daniel Koberdeau, Jonathan Bayard Smith, William Clingan, Joseph Reed, 22(1 July, 1778, Thomas M'Kenn, February 12, 1 7 79, John Dickinson, May 5, 1779, Nicholas Van Dyke, On the part and behalf of the State of New Hamp- shire. On the part and behalf of the State of Massachu- setts Bay. On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Isl- and and Providence Plantations. On the part and behalf of the State of Connec- ticut. On the part and behalf of the State of New York. On the part and behalf of the Slate of New Jersey, November 26th, 1778. On the part and behalf of the Slate of Pennsyl- vania. On the part and behalf of the Slate of Delaware. John Hanson, March 1st, 1 78 1, Daniel Carroll, March 1st, 17S1, Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, John Harvil, Francis Lightfoot Lee, John Penn, July 21st, 1778, Corns Harnett, [ohn Williams, Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, John Matthews, Richard Hutson, Thomas Heyward, jun., John Walton, 24th July, 1778, Edward Telfair, Edward Langworthy, I On the part and behalf of f the State of Maryland. I On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia. On the part and behalf of the State of North Car- olina. On the part and behalf of the State of Souih Car- olina. On the part and behalf of the State of Georgia. APPENDIX D. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure do- mestic Tranquility, provide for the common de- fence, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posteritv , do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America. Article I. Section I. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United Stales, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre- sentatives. Section 2. I The Hi use of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, nnd the Electors in each Slate shall have the qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 2 No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United Slates, and who shall not, when elected, be tin inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3 Representatives and direct Taxes shall be appor- tioned among the several States which may he in- cluded within this Union, according to their respec- tive numbers, which shall he determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, inch] ding those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by 1 w direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,00c, but each Stat. hue at least one Representative; and until surh enumeration shall be made, ihe Stale of New Ham;- APPENDIX D.— CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES. 923 shire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight ; Rhode Island and Providence Plantation one ; Connecticut, five ; New York, six ; New Jersey, four ; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten ; North Carolina, five ; South Carolina, five ; and Georgia, three. 4 When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 5 The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Section 3. I The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six Years ; and each senator shall have one vote. 2 Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legisla- ture, which shall then fill such vacancies. 3 No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 4 The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 5 The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro-tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States. 6 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the Presi- dent of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside : And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem- bers present. 7 Judgment in Cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and dis- qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States ; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgement and punishment, accord- ing to law. Section 4. I The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 2 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall he on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section 5. I Each House shall be the judge of the election, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall con- stitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller num- ber may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent mem- bers, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. 2 Each House may determine the rules of its pro- ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 3 Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed- ings, and from time to time publish the same, except- ing such parts as may in their judgement require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 4 Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section 6. I The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 2 No Senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House during his con- tinuance in office. Section 7. I All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives: but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 2 Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign ii, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsider- ation two-thirds of that House shall agree to piss the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be recon- sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that Hou-e, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names ot the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten clays (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 3 Every order, resolution or vote to which the con- currence of the Senate and House of Representatives miy lie necessary (except a question of adjourn- ment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate 924 APPENDIX D.-COXSTITUTIOS OF LWITED STATES. and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Section 8. The Congresa thall have power 1 To lay and collect taxes, duiies, imposts and ex- cises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United Stales; hut all duties, imports and excises shall be uniform throughout the United Stales- 2 To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 3 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; 4 To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 5 To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ; 6 To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States; 7 To establish post offices and post roads; 8 To promote t.'-e progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writ- ings and discoveries; 9 To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court ; io To define and punish piracies and felonies com- mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations ; 1 1 To declare war, grant letters of marque and re- prisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; 12 To raise and support armies, but no appropria- tion of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 13 To provide and maintain a navy ; 14 To make rules for the government and regula- tion of the land and naval forces ; 15 To provide for calling forth the militia to exe- cute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions ; 16 To provide for organizing, arming, and disci- plining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the ap- pointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 1 7 To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings; and 18 To make nil laws which shall be necessary and .proper for carrying into execution the foregoing pow- ers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution, in the government of the United Stales, or in any department or officer thereof. Section 9. 1 The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shail not be prohibited by the Con- gress prior to the year one thou-and eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on »uch importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 2 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safely may requite it. 3 No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 4 N'o capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 5 No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 6 No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 7 No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence ol appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 8 No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. Section IO. I No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in pay- ment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 2 No Slate shall, without the consent of the Con- gress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for execut- ing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 3 No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Article II. Section I. I The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. lie shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows: 2 Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and repre- sentatives, to which the Stale may be entitled in the Congress ; but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be appointed an elector. S*The electors shall meet in their respective Stales, vote by ballot for two persons, of whom 01 least shall not be an inhabitant of the same Stale W nil themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans- mit sealed to the seat ol the government of the United Staler, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in ihe presence of the APPENDIX D— CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES. 925 Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representa- tives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall, in like manner, choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each Slate having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a major- ity of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the per- son having the greatest number of votes of the elect- ors, shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot, the Vice- President.] 3 The Congress may determine the time of choos- ing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 4 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adop- tion of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 5 In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to dis- charge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 6 The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 7 Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- fully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Section 2. I The President shall be commander- in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any sub- ject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and par- dons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 2 He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided *This clause within brackets has been superseded and an- nulled by the twelfth amendment. , two-thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassador^ other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Con- gress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 3 The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. Section 3. He shall from time to time give the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other pub- lic ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Section 4. The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be re- moved from office on impeachment for, and con- viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Article III. Section I. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their service a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continu- ance in office. Seciion 2. 1 The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Con- stitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public min- isters and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and mari- time jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies be- tween two or more States ; between a State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects. 2 In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 3 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- peachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section 3. I Treason against the United States, 926 APPENDIX D.— CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES. shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com- fort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 2 The Congress shall have power to declare the \ punishment of treason, hut no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except ] during the life of the person attainted. Article IV. Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Sec/ion 2. I The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 2 A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall (lee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State hav- ing jurisdiction of the crime. 3 No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such ser- vice or labor may be due. Sec/ion 3. 1 New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 2 The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. Sec/ion 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of gov- ernment, and shall protect each of them against in- vasion, and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. Article V. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this ('.institution, or, on the application of the Legis- latures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Leg- islatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no amendment which may he made prior to the year 180S shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. Article VI. 1 All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitu- tion, as under the Confederation. 2 This Constitution, and the laws of the United Stales which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under ihe authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the Judges in every Stale shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constituiion or laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 3 The Senators and Representatives before men- tioned, and the members of the several State Legis- latures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Con- stitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. Article VII. The ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Con- stitution between the States so ratifying the same. Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present the 17th day of September in the year of our Lord 17S7, and of the Independ- ence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names, Geo. Washington. President and deputy from I 'irgittia. New Hampshire. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. Massachusetts. Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. Connecticut. Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman. New York. Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey. Wil. Livingston, David Brearley, William Palerson, Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania. B. Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, George Read, John Dickinson, Jacob Broom, James MTIenry, Daniel Carroll, Gouverneur Morris. Delaware. Gunning Bedford, Jun'r, Richard Basset t Maryland. Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer. Virginia. John Blair, James Madison, Jr. NoRT't Carolina. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight. Hugh Williamson, APPENDIX D.— CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES. 927 South Carolina. J. Rutledge, Charles Pmckney, William Few, Attest : Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler. Georgia. Abr. Baldwin. William Jackson, Secretary. Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several Stales, pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution. Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- ble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Article II. A well regulated militia being necessary to the se- curity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Article III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. Article IV. The right of the people to be secure in their per- sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, sup- ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly de- scribing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. Article V. 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, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private prop- erty be taken for public use, without just compensation. Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be con- fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com- pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Article VII. In suits at common law, where the value in con- troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the com- mon law. Article VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Article IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Article X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Article XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. Article XII. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senite shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person hav- ing the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no per- son have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three on the li>t of those voted for as President, the House of Repre- sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the voles shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Repre- sentatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the Presi- dent. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a major- ity, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no nel- son constitutionally ineligible to the office of Presi- dent shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United Slates. 928 APTEXDIX E.—STEPIJEXS OX COVEKXMEXT. APPENDIX E. Articles on Gov] rnment, Written for " John- son's New Universal Cyclopedia." ( i. >\ ERNMEN I . The first proper step in all philosophical inquiry, as well as in all discourse, of whatever character, un- dertaken for the elucidation of truth, is to set forth as clearly and distinctly as possible the meaning of the words and terms used in the expression of the views presented, from which successive conclusions are to be logically drawn. This is the work of defini- tion, and it is no less essential in moral and political investigations, than it is in mathematical. It is, in- deed, the beginning of progress in every department of learning, whether moral, intellectual, or material. Government, then, in its true and most comprehen- sive sense, may be said to lie the operation of laws. Law, in its most general and comprehensive sense, according to very high authority | Blackstone), " signi- fies a rule of action, and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. Thus, we say the laws of motion, of gravitation, of optics, or mechanics, as well as the laws of nature and of nations." In a like general sense, with equal correctness, we speak of the government of the mind, of the passions, of a church, or a State, as well as of the government of the universe. It is, in each case, the operation of those laws by which action, in its every sphere, whether moral, intellectual or material, is controlled. In the restricted sense in which it is proposed in this article to treat of government, and of the laws which shape its form, as well as control its action, the term is intended to be applied only to the government of men, in their relations, conduct and intercourse with each other in organized society. By government in this restricted sense, therefore, is meant the exercise of that inherent, absolute power existing in every distinct and separate organized society or State, of self-determination and self-con- trol for self-preservation, which springs by nature from its own social forces, ami the laws which con- trol their action. Every single individual person is a complete living organism within itself, endowed by nature with vital functions and powers of self-determination lor its own preservation. Hut man, by nature, is less capable of self-preservation singly, by himself, than jointly, with others. Mutual protection and mutual interests, therefore, form the natural and only just basis for all organized associations of individuals of the character named. An organization when so formed, consti- tutes a separate community, pioperly denominated a Slate, nation, commonwealth, or kingdom. It is to all intents and purposes an organism, composed, of the individual organisms that enter into it. It be- comes a politieal and moral person, subject not only to its own special laws, but also to the general moral law, to which all human action is subject, ami which prescribes the limitations of natural justice. As each single organism in its powers ol self determination is controlled by its own internal laws, respectively, so the aggregate organism is controlled in its powers ol self-determination by those social forces, or laws, which ^ive existence and life to the separate com- monwealth. Stale, or kingdom SO constituted. The operation of these laws in such a political organism, in its origin as well as in its after-growih and devel- opment, physically, intellectually and morally, is what is understood by the government of such State. The controlling power — the paramount authority, the jus sum mi imperii — in each State, so organized, is what is known as the sovereignly thereof. Sovereignty, then, may be defined to be that in- herent, absolute power of self-determination in every distinct political body, commonwealth, State or king- dom, coming into existence by virtue of its own social forces, which, in pursuit ol the well-being of its own organism, under the universal moral law, cannot be rightfully interfered, with by any other similar body without its consent. Sovereignty, in every such body politic, organized society, or State, is that innate attri- bute of the commonwealth or aggregate organism which corresponds with the will and power of self- action in the personal organisms so constituting it ; and by its very nature is indivisible: just as much so as the mind is in the individual organisms, respec- tively. The limitations of natural justice prescribed by the universal moral law apply as well to the political persons of organized societies as to separate individuals in a supposed state of nature. In the organization of single societies, whatever may be the form assumed, the act itself is known as the social compact. The type or form of government so instituted, at first, and in its after-developments, in all cases, depends upon the nature and character and relative power of the social forces from which its existence springs. These forces are three-fold, lo-wit: moral (or religious), intellectual and physical. As these forces relatively predominate in the formation of society, so will be the character of its organic structure. This organic structure is what in all cases is known as the Con- stitution of each particular State or kingdom, whether it be written or unwritten ; and the sovereign power is exercised through the channels e-tablished for it by this constitutional stiucture, which becomes the fundamental law of the organization until changed by the same social forces winch l>n ught it into exist- ence. In the beginning, when the physical predi mi nates, a monarchical form of government is almost the necessary development. When the intellectual or moral predominate, or are equally balanced, mixed forms of government ol some sort are the consequent development. The study of these laws and the various forms of government springing from them has occupied the attention of the profoundest thinkers from the earliest times. The subject constitutes a science of the utmost importance, as nothing of an earthly character more deeply involves the interests of every people than the government under which they live. Fn m this (bully --pring all those institu- tions, moral, intellectual and material which mark the progress of their civilization. It is not the purpose of this article to do more, after the foregoing premise, than briefly to set forth, (i) some general views on what should be the objects of all governments of whatever form ; (2) to picsc nt some of the essential principles of governments con Stituted for such objects, without reference- to their forms; and (3) to present an outline view of the different forms of government heretofore and flow existing, with their defects so far as concerns the achievement ol the proper objei ts ol their institution. I. It having been shown that all organized socie- ties, and the- governments resulting therefrom, aie founded upon the basis of the better protection and enji >v nient of the individual rights of their constituent members, the conclusion clearly follows that the chief object in every case should be the security and APPENDIX P.— STEPHENS ON GOVERNMENT. 929 maintenance of all " those absolute rights which were vested in them by the immutable laws of nature." These consist of the rights of things as well as the rights of persons — the right of property as well as the rights of life and liberty. Many writers maintain that individuals, upon en- tering into society, give up or surrender a portion of their natural rights. This seems to be a manifest error. In forming single societies or States, men only enter into a compact with each other — a social compact — either expressed or implied, as before stated — for their mutual protection in the enjoyment by each of all their natural rights. The chief object of all good governments, therefore, should be the pro- tection of all the natural rights of their constituent members; or, in other words, the object in all cases should be the establishment of what may be styled civil liberty, which is nothing more nor less than natural liberty secured by the guarantee of all the powers of organized society. No person has any natural right wantonly to hurt or injure another. The object of society and government is to prevent and redress injuries of this sort'; for, in a state of nature, without the superior restraining power of the gov- ernment the strong would viciously impose upon the weak. Wrongs upon rights could not be so efficiently prevented nor so adequately redressed. Upon enter- ing into society, however, for the purpose of having their natural rights secured and protected, or properly redressed, the weak do not give up, or surrender any portion of their priceless heritage in any government constituted and organized as it should be. A succinct view may be here pertinently presented of what should be the correct understanding of what is termed civil liberty. There arc few themes upon which more has been said and written than this, and few, it is believed, upon which less has been distinctly and correctly stated. Many definitions have been given to the terms, liberty, natural liberty, civil lib- erty and political liberty. Many of these definitions put forth by learned men, seem to be exceedingly erroneous: many more, exceedingly confuse, while only a few, rightfully understood, express the truth. The erudite Mr. Markham, archbishop of York, for instance, defines or states his idea upon the subject in these words; " Civil or legal liberty is that which consists in a freedom from all restraints, except such as established law imposes for the good of the community, to which the partial good of each individual is obliged to give place." This definition conveys the idea, that upon the formation of organized societies individuals give up some of their natural rights, and that the main object of such societies and governments should be the security of the greatest good to the greatest number. It clearly implies, at least, that the good of some must, occasionally, be sacrificed to the greater good of the greater number. Few heresies or dogmas in the science of government are more erroneous, or more mischievous in their tendencies than this very specious doctrine, which to most minds seems to be so well founded. The great object of government, properly stated, should be to secure the greatest good to every member of society which can possibly be accom- plished without injury to any. No ninety-nine per- sons, whatever, have any natural right to advance their interest or good by inflicting an uncompensated injury upon the hundredth, nor in any other propor- tion. 59 Another learned writer on this subject, Dr. Paley, changes the language somewhat, but gives, in effect, the same definition of civil liberty as that given by the archbishop of York. Paley says : " Civil liberty is the not being restrained by any law but what conduces in a greater degree to the public welfare." This implies that the State may, by just enactment, inflict a positive, unrequited injury upon one or more of the community, if the general "public welfare" can be promoted thereby. This definition, therefore, from what has just been stated, requires no further notice here. Judge Blackstone's definition is in these words : " Political, therefore, or civil liberty, which is that of a member of society, is no other than natural lib- erty, so far restrained by human laws (and no further) as is necessary and expedient to the general advan- tage of the public." This definition more nearly approximates the truth than either of the others ; and yet it is defective, not only in this, that it embraces the same erroneous implication, but also confounds political and civil liberty, or treats them as the same. These words, when accurately applied, express very different and distinct ideas, which should ever be kept in mind in all investigations or reflections upon the subject. A member of society may be in full possession of perfect civil liberty, and yet without any political right whatever in the proper sense of that term; as is the case with women and minors generally, as well as mere denizens in most free States. This error of the great commentator on the laws of England, in his definition of civil liberty, by leaving in it the implication stated, seems to have crept in more from an indisposition on his part openly to assail or depart 'from authority, than from his own deliberate judgment. For it is inconsistent with what he affirms should be the principal aim of all governments. "This," he says, " is to protect indi- viduals in the enjoyment of those absolute right-; which were vested in them by the immutable laws ot nature." Of course, no human laws can rightfully be set up for any purpose against any of the " immu- table laws of nature." The error of this definition is also not a little remarkable from the fact that the author cites, as authority for it, what is given as the substance of the definition set forth in the Justinian or Roman code. That definition, as it stands in a foot-note to the author's text, 'certainly excludes the implication referred to, when rightly construed. As it there stands, it is in these words : "Facultas ejus, quod cuique facere libel, nisi quid jure prohibitur : " the proper meaning of which clearly is, " The faculty of each one to do what each one pleases except what is rightfully prohibited." Dr. Paley, and those of his school, seem to construe jure in this definition, as if the Latin word had been lege, hence their ideas that civil liberty consists in all the members of society doing what they please, except in so far as they may be restrained by any law of the commonwealth that "conduces in a greater degree to the public welfare," whether such law be founded upon natural justice or not. This yields the whole question of light to might. Jure in Latin has a very different meaning from lege. If the draftsman of the definition under consideration had had the same idea of it, which Dr. Paley and others seem to have entertained, he would, doubtle^, have used the word lege instead of jure. As it stands the definition was evidently intended to convey the idea, that where civil liberty is enjoyed, every mem- 930 APPEXDEX E.— STEPHENS OX GOIEA'X.VEXE. ber of society is permitted to do everything which he or she pleases "except what is rightly prohibited ; " and, by the laws of nature, most manifestly, no one can be rightly prohibited from doing anything except what interferes wnh the rights of others. Burlamaqui - definition ol liberty, in the sense in which it is now treated, seems fully to cover the whole ground with clearness as well as accuracy. He says : " Moral or natural liberty is the right which nature gives to all mankind for disposing of their persons and property after the manner I h « y judge most consonant to their happiness, on condition of their acting with- in the limits of the law of nature, and that they do not any way abuse it to the prejudice of any other men." The great truth that all men are created equal must ever be borne in mind in investigations upon this subject. This equality, as is manifest, does not consist in size, form, or any personal characteristics, in a physical, moral, or intellectual view. It does, however, consist in an equal right in the administra- tion of justice. Justice is the great regulator in the government of human affairs, as gravitation is in the government of the material universe. The same simple law of gravitation which moulds an atom, also shapes a world. To the silent- but potent influence of the same magic principle are due that harmony and concord which pervade the planetary and stellar spheres. In like manner, justice, rightly adminis- tered, stays discord and produces peace, quiet, order, and happiness in communities, States, and kingdoms. The rule of justice is the divine injunction, applicable alike to all : "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." An inquiry into what particulars certain classes, cuch as are to be found in all communities, from want of sufficient mental and mora! development can be rightly and therefore justly restrained in their volitions and actions for their own good as well as that of the rest of society, and which their natural rights in point of require (as in the case with chil- dren, to say nothing of others,) would lead to the gravest problems which ever engaged the attention of philanthropists, law-givers, and statesmen. That, however, lies not within the scope of this article. The principle which should govern in every case is all that i.-. at present intended to be set forth. II. In considering the essential principles upon which all governments should be founded, with a view to the objects of their formation, as before stated, and without regard to their peculiar or specific types, the following may be set forth as a few of the most prominent of them to which attention should be directed : I-t. The basis should be the fundamental principle or truth that the sovereignty or governing power is an attribute of the entire aggregate organism where it existed in the beginning and ever remains in every case, and can never be iu->!v assumed to become vested in any one or more of its constituent mem- bers. 2d. From thi> follows another essential principle or truth, that all governments derive their "just powers from the i n senl ol the governed." 3d. These principles or truths being established, it further follows that all exercise of governmental power is a trust, and can be justly exercised only for the benefit of the governed. The exercise of all powers with which any rulers are clothed or vested, are held by delegation from the ruled, either tacitly given or formally expressed. Office, so called, therefore, in all cases, in kingdoms or republics, is matter of trust and not of inherent right, on the part of any one who performs its func- tions. 4th. Another of the essential principles or truth.; referred to, and the only remaining one which will be here mentioned, is this that while sovereignty it- self is indivisible, as has been shown, yet its powers are divisible. It is a point of no inconsiderable im- portance in discussions of this kind to bear constantly in mind the difference between the powers of sover- eignty and the great source itself from which these powers emanate. The three chief powers of sover- eignty when properly divided, may, by appropriate classification, be termed the law-making power, the law-expounding power, and the law-executing power. In all properly constituted governments, the exercise of these powers should be confided to distinct, sepa- rate, independent, co-equal, and co-ordinate depart- ments, known as the legislative, judicial, and execu- tive. The powers exercised by each of the-e separate and distinct departments are equally sov- ereign, and when so divided and exercised they constitute the trinity in unity of organized society, and present the grandest feature in governmental structures. Ill In the last view proposed to be taken of the subject in this article, it is not intended to go into minute details concerning the different forms and various types of governments, as exhibited in the his- tory of mankind. An outline sketch of their general character only is intended. The most marked differ- ences between them are those which indicate the pro- priety of their being arranged generically into two classes — single and confederated. A single govern- ment is that of a separate and distinct State or king- dom, founded upon the social compact. A confed- erated government is that of a union of two or more single governments, founded upon what is known as the federal compact. Writers usually divide single governments into five general kinds, to wit: Mon- archies, aristocracies, or oligarchies, as they are sometimes styled, democracies, republics, and mixed governments, or those partaking of the qualities of several of the others, respec ively. Monarchies are usually subdivided into various kinds, such as abso- lute, limited, hereditary, and elective. Democracies are also subdivided into several kinds. Two only of these kinds of the latter will be here mentioned — pure and representative (see DEMOCRACY). A pure democracy is where all questions pertaining to public affairs are decided by the body of the people in gen- eral assembly convened. A representative democ- racy is where the functions of government are per- formed by agents, deputies, or delegates selected by such electors from the body of the people, as may be empowered to make the clioice by the fundamental law or constitution. The power of choosing such deputies is what is known as the franchise. It is an office conferred by organized society, and, there- fore, a matter of trust, and not a matter of natural right. Republics are but a species of democracy, and may be subdivided into various kinds. The two most general of these kinds are those which distinguish all governments — single and confederated. The great and leading object of confederation of any sort, appli- cable alike to republics and all other forms of govern- ment, is the belter to protect and maintain the great APPENDIX E.— STEPHENS ON GOVERNMENT. 931 inherent right of self-government, or self-determina- tion possessed by each of the parties entering into it, just as the great and leading object of all single gov- ernments formed by the social compact is the belter to protect and maintain inviolate the innate, absolute and indestructible rights of the individuals entering into organized society. What is known as the natural rights of individuals corresponds with what may be characterized as the sovereign rights of States or kingdoms. Confederated republics, of some kind, organized for these purposes, have existed from the earliest times of which history has taken any notice. A characteristic feature of all of them, until recently, was that under the federal compact no power was conferred by the parties to it, upon the conventional State thereby created, to act directly in the execution of the powers that were conferred upon the individual members of society, or citizens of the several repub- lics so confederating respectively. This was left to the good faith of each of the parties severally, and it was found to be a great defect in the workings of this kind of confederations. This form of confederation is what, by the German publicists, is r.tyled a Staten- bund, or States-uni n. To remedy these defects, in some degree, another form of confederation has been resorted to, characterized by the same writers as a Bundeestaat, or federative union, in which the entire sovereignty of the separate Slates is merged in the new and conventional State so created. It was re- served for American statesmen, in the latter part of the last century, to remedy the evils of both the Stat- enbund and Bundeestaat systems, under what is known as the Federal Constitution of 1787, with the amendments subsequently ratified in pursuance of its provisions. Space will not allow any extensive con- sideration of the striking and wonderful new features in this model of federal republics. Suffice it to say, that, anterior to 1789, when the new Constitution of 17S7 went into operation, the United States of Amer- ica, after the Declaration of their Independence, was a confederated republic upon the model of that set forth by Montesquieu, Vattel,and others; or, in other words, they constituted what the Germans style the Siatenbund. The defect or "vice" of this system was the want, on the part of the general government, of the power to execute by its own functions and ma- chinery, the many other specific powers which had been conferred upon it, under the first article of con- federation. The great fundamental changes made in the Constitution of 1787 or 17S9 were the clothing of the federal government with this additional power; and the creation of the necessary machinery for its execution. This required a subdivision of all powers conferred upon the general government, limited and specific as they were, into legislative, judicial, and executive departments, and by the arrangement the federal government is now empowered within its limited sphere to act as directly upon the citizens of the States respectively as die States are on all other matters reserved to themselves, and not confided to the general government. Another peculiarity of the American systems, applicable alike to the general and State governments is, that in the subdivision of the sovereign powers, before referred to, the judicial power is co-ordinate and co-equnl with the others. No one of them, in its assigned sphere, is superior to the other, in either the federal or State governments. This is another new feature in American politics. In all other countries where a judiciary exists, it is held to be subordinate to what is called the political power of the State. This is not so under American institu- tions. (See " Constitution," vol. i.) In conclusion of this article, suffice it to say, in reference to the new American model of a Confederated Republic, that it is far in advance of anything ever before developed in the annals of history. It presents an entirely new species of Con- federated Republics. It rests, as the French philoso- pher, De Tocqueville, said upon "a wholly novel theory, which maybe considered as a great discovery in modern political science," and for which there is as yet no specific name. His language is : " This Constitution, which may at first be con- founded with the Federal Constitutions which have preceded it, rests, in truth, upon a wholly novel theory, which may be considered a-; a great discovery in modern political science. In all the Confedera- tions which preceded the American Constitution of 1789, they allied States for a common object, agreed to obey the injunctions of a Federal government; but they reserved to themselves the right of ordaining and enforcing the execution of the laws of the Union. The American States which combined in 1789 agreed that the Federal government should not only dictate, but should execute its own enactments. In both cases, the right is the same, but the exercise of the right is different, and this difference produced the most momentous consequences. The new word," said he, " which ought to express this novel thing does not yet exist. The human understanding more easily invents new things than new words, and we are hence constrained to employ many improper and inadequate expressions." (See " Constitution of U. S.," vol. i.) Lord Brougham seems to nave been similarly im- pressed with the novel character of our Confedcrale Republic in its specific differences from all others which had preceded it, when in speaking of it he said: " It is not at all a refinement that a Federal Union should be formed; this is the natural result of men's joint operations in a very rude slate of society. But the regulation of such a Union upon pre-established principles, the formation of a system of government and legislation in which the different subjects shall be, not individuals, but States, the application of legislative principles to such a body of States, and the devising means lor keeping its integrity as a Federacy, while the rights and powers of the individual States are maintained entire, is the very greatest refinement in social policy to which any state of circumstances has ever given rise, or to which any age has ever given birth." (See Idem.} From this exposition very clearly appears the proper solution of the vexed question whether the United States constitute a nation or not. It is clearly seen not only that they do constitute a nation, but also what sort of a nation it is. It is not a nation of individuals blended in a common mass, with a com- mon sovereignty springing from the whole, but a nation, the constituent elements or members of which are separate and distinct political organizations or States united under a Federal compact, on a model never before exhibited. It is a nation of States, or what is the same thing, a nation of nations — a nation of the highest and grandest type ever known among men. Among the works upon this subject which readers can consult with profit may be cited — "Aristotle's Politics," Plato's " Republic," Cicero, on the " Com- 932 APPENDIX F.— WASHINGTON' S FAREWELL ADDRESS. monwealth," Grotius on the " Rights of War and Peace," Puffenrlorf on the " Elements of Universal Jurisprudence," Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws," Rutherford's " ftistitutes ol Natural Law," Michia- velli, and the works of Filmer, Locke, Mackenzie, and Sidney oil Government, Rousseau on the " Social Compact,*' Vattelon the " Laws of Nations," Guizot on " Representative Government," and his " History of Civilization," Hallam, and Creasy, and De Lolme on the " British Constitution,'' 1 >e Tocque- ville's "American Democracy," Lord Brougham's " Philosophy of Government," William Smith O'Brien, and John Stuart Mill on "Representative Government," Tucker's and Sharswood's editions of " BlackstOne," John Taylor, in a work entitled " Constructor Construed," Calhoun on " Govern- ment," ( lalhoun's, Webster's and Hayne's speeches in the Senate of the United States in 1830-1833, Stephen-' "Constitutional View of the War between the States," Dawson's edition of " The Federalist," the Madison papers, Elliot's "Debates on the Ratification of the Constitution in the several States," and Jamison's " Constitutional Convention." Alexander 11. Stephens. APPENDIX F. Farewell Address of George Washington, President, to the people of the United Sia 1 1 -. September 17, 1796. Friends unJ Fellaiu- Citizens: — The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts' must be employed in designating the person win. is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I hive formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice tc be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations ap- pertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; ami. that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence, in my situation, might imply, 1 am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of grate- ful respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full conviction that the Step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what ap- peared 16 be your desire, I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, con- sistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; hut mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible wiih the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever partiality may he retained for my services, that, in the presi nl circumstances of our country, you will not disap- prove my determination to retire. The impressions with which i first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in my own eyes — perhaps still more in the eyes of others — has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me, more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is in- tended to terminate the career of my public life, mv feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep ac- knowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast con- fidence with wdiich it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals 'hat, under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead; amidst ap- pearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging; in situations in which, not unfie- quently, want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my k'rave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows, that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly af- fection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may he sa< maintained; that its administration, in every depart- ment, may he stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made eom| lete by so careful a preservati >n and so prudent a Use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of re- commending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a Stranger to it. 1 [ere, perhaps, I ought to stop; but a solicitude for your welfare, which Cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension ol danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to vour frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable obser- vation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will APPENDIX F.— WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 933 be nff urded to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a part- ing friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel; nor can I forget, as an encourage- ment to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a miin pillar in the edifice of your real inde- pendence — the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of inter- nal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) di- rected — it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and im- movable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a com- mon country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which be- longs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any ap- pellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joint efforts, of common dan- gers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest; here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commer- cial enterprise, and precious materials of manufac- turing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agri- culture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated ; and while it contributes, in different way--, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the .progressive improvement of interior com- munication, by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort; and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an apostate and un- natural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater re- source, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves which so fre- quently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which op- posite foreign alliances, attachments and intrigues, would stimulate and imbitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be re- garded as particularly hostile to republican liberty; in this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of pa- triotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation, in such a case, were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experi- ment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for charac- terizing parties by geographical discriminations — Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western: whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of parly to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepre- sentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together bv fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head ; they 934 APPENDIX F.— WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. have seen in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of a policy in (he general government, and in the Atlantic Stales unfriendly to their inter- ests in regard to the Mississippi: they have been witnesses to the formation nf two treaties — that with Great Britain and that with Spun, which secure to them everything ihey could desire in respect to our foreign rel ilions, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preserva- tion of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alli- ance, however strict between the parts, can be an adequate substitute ; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in all time, have experienced. Sensible of this mo- mentous truth, yon have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of govern- ment better calculated than your former for an inti- mate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns, This government, the off- spring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon lull investigation and mature delibera- tion, completely free in its principles, in the distribu- tion of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amend- ment, has a just claim to your confidence and your sup- port. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of government : but the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power, and the right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plau- sible character with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the dele- gated will of a nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the com- munity ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirrorof the ill-concert ed and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome pi uis, digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and thing-, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government ; destroying, afterwards, the very engines which had lifted them to unjust do- minion. Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innova- tion upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may lie to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing Constitution of a country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hy- pothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, especially, that for the efficient man- agement of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a gov- ernment, with powers properly distributed and ad- justed, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes, in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or re- pressed ; but in those of the popuiar form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over an- other, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in different ages and coun- tries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads, rit length, to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual ; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this dispo- sition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against an- other; foments, occasionally, not and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself, through the channels of party passions. Thus APPENDIX F.— WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 935 the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, are useful checks upon the administration of the gov- ernment, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true ; but in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. Bui in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is cer- tain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warm- ing, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution in those in- trusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional spheres, avoid- ing, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon anothei. The spirit of encroach- ment tends to consolidate the powers of all the de- partments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just esti- mate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The neces- sity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal, against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern; some of them in our own country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification oi the Constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it be cor- rected by an amendment in the way which the Con- stitution designates. Rut let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The pre- cedent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can, at any time, yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indis- pensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to re- spect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. What- ever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious princi- ples. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ? Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occa- sions of expense by cultivating peace, but remember- ing also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disburse- ments to repel it; avoiding, likewise, the accumula- tion of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned ; not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advan- tages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the per- manent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every senti- ment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices ? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and pa>sionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its ani. mosity or to its affection; either of which is sufficient to lead it astra> from its duty and its interest. An- tipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and in- tractable, when accidental or trifling occa>ii>ns of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes im« 936 APPENDIX /".— //. 4SH/NG TON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. pels to war the government, contrary tn the best cal- culations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts, through passion, what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation to another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an im- aginary common interest, in cases where no real com- mon interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without ade- quate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by excit- ing jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citi- zens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray, or sacrifice the interest of their own country, without odium; sometimes even with popu- larity; gilding with the appearance of a virtuous sense ot obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or fooiish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with do- mestic factions, to practise the art of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the for- mer to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, tel low-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican govern- ment. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be im- partial ; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even second, the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to for- eign nations, is, in extending our commercial rela- tion,, to have with them as little political connection as pos ible. So far as we have already formed en- gagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of prim try interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence.therefore.it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and col- lisions of her friendships or eraniti Our detached and distant situation invites ami en- ables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injurv from external annoyance; when we may take such an atti- tude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situa- tion? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rival- ship, interest, humor, or caprice ? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent al- liances with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; foi let me not be understood as capable of patronising infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that hon- esty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordi- nary emergencies. Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should bold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting ex- clusive favors or preferences; consulting tiie natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinions will per- mit, but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience and circum- stances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay, with a portion of its independence, for whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nomi- nal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingrati- tude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon, real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, 1 dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the Usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some oc- casional good; that they in iv now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the APPENDIX G.— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OE 1798. M7 mischiefs of foreign intrigues, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records, and other evidences of my conduct, must witness to you and the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22(1 of Aprd, 1793, is the in- dex to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and in- terest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this oc- casion to detail. I will only observe, that, ac- cording to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by ail. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be in- ferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain invio- late the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. The inducements of interest, for observing that conduct, will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. Though, in reviewing the incidents of my admin- istration, I am unconscious of intentional error; I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almightv to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this, as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate, with pleasing expectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjovment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government — the ever-favorite object of my heart — and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. George Washington. United States, 17 th September, 1796. APPENDIX G. Jefferson's Draft of Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. 1. Resolved, That the several States composing the United States of America are not united on the prin- ciple of unlimited submission to their General Gov- ernment; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of Amendments thereto, they constituted a General Gov- ernment for special purposes — delegated to that gov- ernment certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self- government ; and that whensoever the General Gov- ernment assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force: that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an in- tegral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this com- pact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Consti- tution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no com- mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and meas- ure of redress. 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to pun- ish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies com- mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, and no other crimes whatsoever; and it being true, as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that " the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," therefore the act of Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, and intituled, "An act in ad- dition to the act intituled An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," as also the act passed by them on the clay of June, 1798, intituled, "An act to punish frauds committed on the bank of the United States" (and all their other acts which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution), are altogether void, and of no force ; and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and ex- clusively to the respective States, each within its own territory. 3. Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amend- ments to the Constitution, that "the powers not dele- gated to the United Slates by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Stales, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people ; " and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifested their determination 933 APPENDIX C— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF i; to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech, and of the press, may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated, rather than the use lie destroy* d. And thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United Stales of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same, as this State, by a law passed on the general demand of its citizens, had already protected them from all human restraint or interference. And that in addi- tion to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press:" thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same words, the free- dom of religion, of speech, and of the press: inso- much, that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, and that libels, false- hood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of Federal tribunals. That, therefore, the act of Congress of the United States passed on the 14th day of. July, 1798, intituled "An act in addition to the act intituled an act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," which does abridge the freedom of the press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force. 4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the juris- diction and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are : that no power over them has been dele- gated to the United States, nor prohibited to the in- dividual States, distinct from their power over citi- zens. And it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," the act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the day of July, 1798, intituled "An act concerning aliens," which assumes powers over alien friends, not delegated by the Con- stitution, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force. 5. Resolved, That in addition to the general prin- ciple, as well as the express declaration, that powers not delegated are reserved, another and more special provision, inserted in the Constitution from abundant caution, has declared that " the migration or importa- tion of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1S08:" that this Commonwealth does admit the migration of alien friends, described as the subject of the said act con- cerning aliens: that a provision against prohibiting their migration is a provision against all acts equiva- lent thereto, or it would be nugatory: that to remove them when migrated, is equivalent to a prohibition of their migration, and is, therefore, contrary to the said provision of the Constitution, and void. 6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of a person under the protection of the laws of this Common- wealth, on his failure to obey the simple order of the President to depart out of the United States, as is undertaken by said act, intituled "An act concerning aliens," is contrary to the Constitution, one amend- ment to which has provided that " no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law ; '' and that another having provided, that " in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to public trial, by an impartial jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel (i r his defence," the same act, undertaking lo authorize the President to remove a person out of the United States, who is under the protection of the law, on his own suspicion, without accusation, without jury, without public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against him, without hearing w itnesses in his favor, without defence, without counsel, is con- trary to the provision also of the Constitution, is therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force; that transferring the power of judging am- person, who is under the protection of the laws, from the courts to the President of the United Slates, as is undertaken by the same act concerning aliens, is against the article of the Constitution which provides that "the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in courts, the judges of which shall hold their offices during good behavior;" and that the said act is void for that reason also. And it is furlher to be noted, that this transfer of judiciary power is to that magistrate of the general government who already possesses all the executive, and a negative on all legislative powers. 7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the general government (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress a power " to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States," and " to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof," goes to the destruclion of all limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution : that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of that in- strument : that the proceedings of the general gov- ernment under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary subject of revisal anil correction, at a time of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolutions call for immediate redress. 8. Resolved, That a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, who shall have in charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States; to assure them that this Commonwealth continues in ihe same esteem of their friendship and union which it has manifested from that moment at which a common danger first suggested a common union : that il considers union lor specified national purposes, and particularly to those specified in their late Federal compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States : that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservaiion ; that it does also believe, that to take from the Stales all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a APPENDIX C— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OE 1798. 939 general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in thai compact, is not for the peace, hap- piness or prosperity of these Slates ; and that there- fore this Commonwealth is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth : that in cases of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the general gov- ernment, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitutional remedy ; but, where powers are assumed winch have not been del- egated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy : that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact {casus non f new and unexpected. The examination of this doc- trine will be most conveniently connected with a re- view of a succeeding resolution. The committee satisfy themselves here with briefly remarking that, in all the contemporary discussions and comments which the Constitution underwent, it was constantly justified and recommended on the ground that the pow.ers not given to the government were withheld from it ; and, that if any doubt could have existed on this subject under the original text of the Constitution, it is re- moved, as far as words could remove it, by the Twelfth amendment, now a part of the Constitution, which expressly declares, " that the powers not dele- gated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The other position involved in this branch of the resolution, namely, that "the States are parties to the Constitution or compact," is, in the judgment of the committee, equally free from objection. It is indeed true, that the term "States" is sometimes used in a vague sense, and sometimes in different senses, ac- cording to the subject to which it is applied. Thus it sometimes means the separate sections of territory occupied by the political societies within each ; some- times the particular governments established by those societies; sometimes those societies as organized into those particular governments; and lastlv, it means the people composing those political societies, in their highest sovereign capacity. Although it might be wished that the perfection of language admitted less diversity in the signification of the same words, yet little inconvenience is produced by it where the true sense can be collected with certainty from the differ- ent applications. In the present instance, whatever different construction of the term "States" in the resolution may have been entertained, all will at least concur in that last mentioned; because in that sen«e the Constitution was submitted to the "States;" in that sense the " States" ratified it; and in that sense of the term " States," they are consequently parties to the compact from which the powers of the Federal Government result. The next position is, that the General Assembly views the powers of the Federal Government, " as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instru- ment constituting that compact," and "as no farther valid than they are authorized by the grants therein enumerated." It does not seem possible that any just objection can lie against either of these clauses. The first amounts merely to a declaration that the compact ought to have the interpretation plainly in- tended by the parties to it ; the other to a declaration that it ought to have the execution and effect intended by them. If the powers granted be valid, it is solely because they are granted ; and if the granted powers are valid because granted, all other powers not granted must not be valid. The resolution having taken this view of the Fed- eral compact, proceeds to infer, " That in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of powers not granted by the said compact, the States, who are parties thereto, have the right .and are in 942 APPENDIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. duty bound to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining Within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them." It appears to your committee to he a plain principle founded in common sense, illustrated by common practice, and essential to the nature of compact — that, where resort can be had to no tribunal superior to the authority of the parties, the parties themselves must be the rightful judges in the last resort, whether the bargain made has been pursued or violated. The Constitution of the United States was framed by the sanction of the States, given by each in its sovereign capacity. It adds to the stability and dignity, as well as to the authority of the Constitution, that it rests on this legitimate and solid foundation. The States, then, being the parties to the constitutional compact, and in their sovereign capacity, it follows ol neces- sity, that there can be no tribunal above their au- thority to decide in the last resort whether the com- pact made by them be violated ; and, consequently, that, as the parties to it, they must themselves decide in the last resort such questions as may be of sufficient magnitude to require their interposition. It does not follow, however, that because the States, as sovereign parties to their constitutional compact, must ultimately decide whether it has been violated, that such a decision ought to be interposed, either in a hasty manner, or on doubtful and inferior occasions. Even in the case of ordinary conventions between different nations, where, by the strict rule of interpre- tation, a breach of a part may be deemed a breach of the whole; every part being deemed a condition of every other part, and of the whole, it is always laid down that the breach must be both wilful and material to justify an application of the rule. Bdt in the case of an intimate and constitutional union, like that of the United States, it is evident that the interposition of the parties, in their sovereign capacity, can be called for by occasions only, deeply and essentially affecting the vital principles of their political system. The resolution has, accordingly, guarded against any misapprehension of its cbject, by expressly re- quiring for such an interposition, "the case of a de- liberate, palpable, and dangerous breach of the Con- stitution, by the exercise of powers not granted by it.'' It must be a case not of a light and transient nature, but of a nature dangerous to the great purposes for which the Constitution was established. It must be a case, moreover, not obscure or doubtful in its con- struction, but plain and palpable. Lastly, it must be a case not resulting from a partial consideration or hasty determination; but a case stamped with a final consideration and deliberate adherence. It is not iiv, because the resolution does not require, that the question should be discussed, how far the exercise of any particular power, ungranted by the Constitution, would justify the interposition of the parties to it. As cases might easily be stated, which none would contend ought to fall within that descrip- tion — cases, on the other hand, might with equal ease be stated so flagrant and so fatal as to unite every opinion in placing them within the description. Hut the resolution has done more than guard against misconstruction, by expressly referring to cases of a deliberate, palpable and dangerous nature. It specifies the object of the interposition which it contemplates, to be solely that of arresting the pro- gress of the evil of usurpation, and of maintaining the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to the States, as j artie- to the Constitution. From this view of the resolution, it would seem inconceivable that it can incur any just disa] lion from those who, laying aside all momentary impressions, and recollecting the genuine source and object of the Federal Constitution, shall candidly and accurately interpret the meaning of the General As- semble If the deliberate exercise of dangerous powers, palpably withheld by the Constitution, could not justify the parties to it, in interposing even so far 'as to arrest the progress of the evil, and thereby to preserve the Constitution itself, as well as to provide for the safety of the parties to it, there would be an end to all relief from usurped power, ar.d a direct subversion of the rights specified or recognized under all the State Constitutions, as well as a plain denial of the fundamental principle on which our inde- pendence itself was declared. But it is objected, that the judicial authority is to be regarded as the sole expositor of the Constitution in the last resort; and it may be asked for what reason, the declaration by the General Assembly, supposing it to be theoretically true, could be required at the present day, and in so solemn a manner. On this objection it might be observed : first, that there may be instances of usurped power, which the forms of the Constitution would never draw within the control of the judicial department ; secondly, that if the decision of the judiciary be raised above the authority of the sovereign parties to the Constitution, the decisions of the other departments, not carried by the forms of the Constitution before the judiciary, must be equally authoritative and final with the de- cisions of that department. Hut the proper answer to the objection is, that the resolution of the General Assembly relates to those great and extraordinary cases, in which all the forms of the Constitution may prove ineffectual against infiactions dangerous to the essential rights of the parties to it. The resolution supposes that dangerous powers not delegated, may not only be usurped and executed by the other depart- ments, but that the judicial department, also, may exercise or sanction dangerous powers beyond the grant of the Constitution; and, consequently, that the ultimate rij^ht of the parties to the Constitution, to judge whether the compact has been dangerously violated, must extend to violations by one delegated authority, as well as by another; by the judiciary, as well as by the executive or the legislative. However true, therefore, it may be that the judicial department is, in all questions submitted to it by the forms of the Constitution, to decide in the last resort, this resort must necessarily be deemed the last in re- lation to the authorities of the other departments of the government; not in relation to the rights of the parties to the constitutional compact, from which the judicial as well as the other departments hold their delegated trusts. On any other hypothesis, the dele- gation of judicial power would annul the authority delegating it ; and the concurrence of this department with the others in usurped powers, might subvert for- ever, and beyond the possible reach of any rightiul remedy, the very Constitution, which all were insti- tuted to preserve. The truth declared in the resolution being estab- lished, the expediency <^( making the declaration at the present day, may safely be left to the temperate consideration and candid judgment of the American public. It will be remembered that a frequent recur- APPEXD/X II— MADISON S REPORT. 943 rence to fundamental principles is solemnly enjoined by most of the State Constitutions, and particularly by our own, as a necessary safeguard against the danger of degeneracy to which republics are liable, as well as other governments, though in a less degree than others. And a fair comparison of the political doctrines not unfrequent at the present day, with those which characterized the epoch of our Revolu- tion, and which form the basis of our republican Constitutions, will best determine whether the decla- ratory recurrence here made to those principles, ought to be viewed as unseasonable and improper, or as a vigilant discharge of an important duty. The autho- rity of Constitutions over governments, and of the sovereignty of the people over Constitutions, are truths which are at .all times necessary to be kept in mind ; and at no time, perhaps, more necessary than at present. The fourth resolution stands as follows : " That the General Assembly doth also express its deep regret that a spirit has in sundry instances been manifested by the Federal Government to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the constitutional charter which defines them ; and that indications have appeared of a design to expound certain general phrases (which, having been copied from the very limited grant of powers in the former Articles of Confederation, were the less liable to be miscon- strued), so as to destroy the meaning and effect of the particular enumeration which necessarily explains, and limits the general phrases ; and so as to consolidate the States by degrees into one sovereignty, the ob- vious tendency and inevitable result of which would be to transform the present republican system of the United States into am absolute or at best a mixed monarchy." The first question here to be considered is, whether a Spirit has in sundry instances been manifested by the Federal Government to enlarge its powers by forced constructions of the constitutional charter. The General Assembly having declared their opin- ion, merely, by regretting in general terms, that forced constructions for enlarging the Federal powers have taken place, it does not appear to the committee necessary to go into a specification of every instance to which the resolution may allude. The Alien and Sedition acts being particularly named in a succeed- ing resolution are of course to be understood as in- cluded in the allusion. Omitting others which have less occupied public attention, or been less exten- sively regarded as unconstitutional, the resolution may be presumed to refer particularly to the Bank Law, which from the circumstances of its passage, as well as the latitude of construction on which it is founded, strikes the attention with singular force, and the car- riage tax, distinguished also by circumstances in its history having a similar tendency. Those instances alone, if resulting from forced construction, and cal- culated to enlarge the powers of the Federal Govern- ment, as the committee cannot but conceive to be the j case, sufficiently warrant this part of the resolution. The committee have not thought it incumbent on them to extend their attention to laws which have been objected to, rather as varying the constitutional distribution of powers in the Federal Government, than as an absolute enlargement of them ; becaus; instances of this sort, however important in their principles and tendencies, do not appear to fall strictly within the text under review. The other questions presenting themselves are — I, Whether indications have appeared of a design to expound certain gene-aJ phrases copied from the "Articles of Confederation," so as to destroy the effect of the particular enumeration explaining and limiting their meaning. 2. Whether this exposition would by degrees consolidate the States into one sovereignty. 3. Whether the tendency and result of this consoli- dation would be to transform the republican system of the United States into a monarchy. I, The general phrases here meant must be those "of providing for the common defence and general welfare." In the "Articles of Confederation" the phrases are used as follows, in Art. VIII. "All charges of war, and all other expenses that .shall be incurred for the common defence and general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion to the value of all land within each State, granted to, or sur- veyed for any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, accord- ing to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and ap- point." In the existing Constitution they make the follow- ing part of Sec. 8 : " The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States." This similarity in the use of these phrases in the two great Federal charters, might well be considered as rendering their meaning less liable to be miscon- strued in the latter: because it will scarcely be said, that in the former they were ever understood to be either a general grant of the power, or to authorize the requisition or application of money by the old Con- gress to the common defence and general welfare, except in cases afterwards enumerated, which ex- plained and limited their meaning; and if such was the limited meaning attached to these phrases in the very instrument revised and remodelled by the present Constitution, it can never be supposed that when copied into this Constitution, a different meaning ought to be attached to them. That, notwithstanding this remarkable security against misconstruction, a design has been indicated to expound these phrases in the Constitution, so as to destroy the effect of the particular enumeration of powers by which it explains and limits them, must have fallen under the observation of those who have attended to the course of public transactions. Not to multiply proofs on this subject, it will suffice to refer to the debates of the Federal legislature, in which arguments have on different occasions been drawn, with apparent effect, from these phrases, in their in- definite meaning. To these indications might be added, without look- ing farther, the official report on manufactures by the late Secretary o( the Treasury, made on the 5th of December, 1791; and the report of a Committee of Congress, in January, 1797, on the promotion of agri- culture. In the first of these it is expressly contended to belong " to the discretion of the National Legisla- ture to pronounce upon the objects which concern the general welfare, and for which, under that de- scription, an appropriation of money is requisite and proper. And there seems to be no room for a doubt, that whatever concerns the general interests of learn- ing, of agriculture, of manufactures, and of commerce, 944 APPEADIX II— MADISON' S REPORT. is within the sphere of National Councils, as far as | regards an application of money." The latter report assumes the same latitude of power in the National Councils, and applies it to the encouragement of agri- culture, by means of a society to be established at the seat of government. Although neither of these re- ports may have received the sanction of a law carry- ing it into effect; yet, on the other hand, the extra- ordinary doctrine contained in both has passed with- out the slightest positive mark of disapprobation from the authority to which it was addressed. Now, whether the phrases in question be construed to authorize every measure relating to the common defence and general welfare, as contended by some; or every measure only in which there might be an application of money, as suggested by the caution of others; the effect must substantially be the same, in destroying the import and force of the particular enu- merate m of powers which folli »W these general phrases in the Constitution. For, it is evident, that there is not a single power whatever which may not have some reference to the common defence or the general wel- fare ; nor a power of any magnitude, which, in its exercise, does not involve or admit an application of money. The government, therefore, which possesses power in either o'ie or other of these extents is a gov- ernment without the limitations formed by a particular enumeration of powers ; and consequently, the mean- ing and effect of this particular enumeration is de- stroyed by the exposition given to these general ph rases. This conclusion will not be affected by an attempt to qualify the power over the "general welfare," by referring it to cases where the general welfare is be- yond the reach of the separate provisions by the indi- vidual States; and leaving to these their jurisdictions in cases, to which their separate provisions may be competent. For, as the authority of the individual States must in all cases be incompetent to general regulations operating through the whole, the authority of the United States would be extended to every ob- ject relating to the general welfare, which might, by any possibility, be provided for by the general au- thority. This qualifying construction, therefore, would have little, if any, tendency to circumscribe the power claimed under the latitude of the term "general welfare." The true and fair construction of this expression, both in the original and existing Federal compacts, appears to the committee too obvious to be mistaken. In both, the Congress is authorized to provide money for the common defence and general welfare. In both, is subjoined to this authority an enumeration of the cases, to which their powers shall extend. Money cannot be applied to the general welfare otherwise than by an application of it to some particular meas- ure, conducive to the general welfare. Whenever, therefore, money has been raised by the general au- thority, and is to be applied to a particular measure, a question arises whether the particular measure be •within the enumerated authorities vested in Congress. If it be, the money requisite for it may be applied to it ; if it be not, no such application can be made. This fair and obvious interpretation coincides with, and is enforced by, the clause in the Constitution, which declares, that "no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law." An appropriation of money to the general welfare would be deemed rather a mockery than an observance of this constitutional injunction. 2. Whether the exposition of the general phrases here combated would not, by degrees, coiisi the States into one Sovereignty is a question, concern- ing which the committee can perceive little room for difference of opinion. To consolidate the States into one sovereignty, nothing more can be wanted than to supersede their respective sovereignties in the cases reserved to them, by extending the sovereignly of the United States, to all cases of the "general welfare," that is to say, to all cases whatever. 3. That the obvious tendency and inevitable result of a consolidation of the States into one sovereignty, would be to transform the republican system of the United States into a monarchy, is a point which seems to have been sufficiently decided by the general sen- timent of America. In almost every instance of dis- cussion relating to the consolidation in question, its certain tendency to pave the way to monarchy seem* not to have been contested. The prospect of such a consolidation has formed the only topic of contro- versy. It would be unnecessary, therefore, for tht committee to dwell long on the reasons which sup- port the position of the General Assembly. It may not be improper, however, to remark two consequences, evidently flowing from an extension of the F< power to every subject falling within the idea of the " general welfare." One consequence must be to enlarge the sphere of discretion allotted to the Executive Magistrate. Even within the legislative limits properly defined by the Constitution, the difficulty of accommodating legal regulations to a country so great in extent, bi various in its circumstances, has been much felt; and has led to occasional investments of power in the Executive, which involve perhaps as large a portion of discretion as can be deemed consistent with the nature of the Executive trust. In proportion as the objects o r legislative care might be multiplied, would the time allowed for each be diminished, and the difficulty of providing uniform and particular regula- tions for all be increased. From these sources would necessarily ensue a greater latitude to the agency of that department which is always in existence, and which could best mould regulations of a igeneral nature, so as to suit them to the diversity of particular situations. And it is in this latitude, as a supplement to the deficiency of the laws, that the degree of exec- utive prerogative materially consists. The other consequence would be that of an exces- sive augmentation of the officers, honors, and emolu- ments depending on the Executive will. Add to the present legitimate stock all those of every description which a consolidation of the Slates would take from them and turn over to the Federal Government, and the patronage of the Executive would necessarily be as much swelled in this case as its prerogative would be in the other. This disproportionate increase of prerogative and patronages must evidently either enable the Chief Magistrate of the Union, by quiet means, to secure his reelection from lime to lime, and finally, to regulate the succession as he might please ; or, by giving so transcendent an importance to the office, would render the elections to it so violent and corrupt that the public voice itself might call for an hereditary, in place of an elective succession. Which- ever of these events might follow, the transformation of the republican system of the United Slates into a monarchy, anticipated by the General Assembly from a consolidation of the States into one sovereignly, would be equally accomplished; and w hether it would ATTEND IX H.— MADISON'S RETORT. 945 be into a mixed or an absolute monarchy might de- pend on too many contingencies to admit of any cer- tain foresight. The resolution next in order is contained in the following terms : "That the General Assembly doth particularly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late cases of the 'Alien and Sedition Acts,' passed at the last session of Congress ; the first of which exercises a power nowhere delegated to the Federal Government ; and which, by uniting legislative and judicial powers to those of executive, subverts the general principles of free government, as well as the particular organiza- tion and positive provisions of the Federal Constitu- tion ; and the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitution, bu', on the contrary, expressly and positively forbid- den by one of the amendments thereto — a power which, more than any other, ought to produce uni- versal alarm, because it is levelled against the right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right." The subject of this resolution having, it is presumed, more particularly led the General Assembly into the proceedings which they communicated to the other States, and being in itself of peculiar importance, it deserves the most critical and faithful investigation ; for the length of which no apology will be necessary. The subject divides itself into, — First, the "Alien Act." Secondly, the " Sedition Act." Of the "Alien Act," it is affirmed by the resolu- tion — I. That it exercises a power nowhere delegated to the Federal Government; 2. That it unites legis- lative and judicial powers to those of the executive ; 3. That this union of powers subverts the general principles of free government; 4. That it subverts the particular organization and positive provisions of the Federal Constitution. In order to clear the way for a correct view of the first position, several observations will be premised. In the first place, it is to be borne in mind that, it being a characteristic feature of the Federal Consti- tution, as it was originally ratified, and an amend- ment thereto having precisely declared, " that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," it is incumbent in this, as in every other exercise of power by the Federal Government, to prove from the Constitution that it grants the particular power ex- ercised. The next observation to be made is, that much confusion and fallacy have been thrown into the ques- tion by blending the two cases of aliens, members of a hostile nation ; and aliens, members of friendly nations. These two cases are so obviously and so essentially distinct, that it occasions no little surprise that the distinction should have been disregarded ; and the surprise is so much the greater, as it appears that the two cases are actually distinguished by two separate acts of Congress, passed at the same session, and comprised in the same publication ; the one pro- viding for the case of "alien enemies;" and the other " concerning aliens " indiscriminately, and con- sequently extending to aliens of every nation in peace and amity with the United States. With respect to 60 alien enemies no doubt has been intimated as to the Federal authority over them; the Constitution having expressly delegated to Congress the power to declare war against any nation, and of course to treat it and all its members as enemies. With respect to aliens who are not enemies, but members of nations in peace and amity with the United States, the power assumed by the Act of Congress is denied to be constitutional ; and it is accordingly against this act that the protest of the General Assembly is expressly and exclusively directed. A third observation is that were it admitted, as is contended, that the "act concerning aliens" has for its object not a penal, but a preventive justice, it would still remain to be proved that it comes within the constitutional power of the Federal Legislature ; and, if within its power, that the Legislature has ex- ercised it in a constitutional manner. In the admin- istration of preventive justice, the following principles have been held sacred; that some probable ground of suspicion be exhibited before some judicial author- ity ; that it be supported by oath or affirmation ; that the party may avoid being thrown into confinement, by finding pledges or sureties for his legal conduct sufficient in the judgment of some judicial authority; that he may have the benefit of a writ of habeas corpus, and thus obtain his release if wrongfully confined ; and that he may at any time be discharged from his recognizance, or his confinement, and restored to his former liberty and rights, on the order of the proper judicial authority, if it shall see sufficient cause. All these principles of the only preventive justice known to American jurisprudence are violated by the Alien Act. The ground of suspicion is to be judged of, not by any judicial authority, but by the Execu- tive Magistrate alone. No oath or affirmation is required. If the suspicion be held reasonable by the President, he may order the suspected alien to depart from the territory of the United States, without the opportunity of avoiding the sentence by finding pledges for his future good conduct. As the Presi- dent may limit the time of departure as he pleases, the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus may be sus- pended with respect to the party, although the Con- stitution ordains that it shall not be suspended unless when the public safety may require it, in case of Rebellion or invasion, — neither of which existed at the passage of the act ; and the party being, under the sentence of the President, either removed from the United States, or being punished by imprison- ment, or disqualification ever to become a citizen, on conviction of not obeying the order of removal, he cannot be discharged from the proceedings against him, and restored to the benefits of his former situa- tion, although the highest judicial authority should see the most sufficient cause for it. But, in the last place, it can never be admitted that the removal of aliens, authorized by the act, is to be considered, not as punishment for an offence, but as a measure of precaution and prevention. If the ban- ishment of an alien from a country into which he has been invited as the asylum most auspicious to his happiness, — a country where he may have formed the most tender connections; where he may have invested his entire property, and acquired property of real and permanent, as well as the movable and temporary kind ; where he enjoys, under the laws, a greater share of the blessings of personal security, and personal liberty, than he can elsewhere hope for ; and where he may have nearly completed his proba- 946 ATTEND IX H.— MADISON'S RE TOUT. \\< nary title to citizenship; if, moreover, in the exe- cution of the sentence against him, he is to be ex]>osed, not only to the ordinary dangers of the sea, but to the peculiar casualties incident to a crisis of war and of unusual licentiousness on that element, and possibly to vindictive purposes, which his emigration itsell may have provoked ; — if a banishment of this sort be not a punishment, and among the severest of punish- ments, it will be difficult to imagine a doom to which the name can be applied. And if it be punishment, it will remain to be inquired, whether it can be con- stitutionally inflicted, on mere suspicion, by the single will of the Executive magistrate, on persons convicted of no personal offence against the laws of the land, nor involved in any offence against the law of nations, charged on the foreign State of which they arc mem- bers. One argument offered in justification of this power exercised over aliens is, that, the admission of them into the country being of favor, not of right, the favor is at all times revocable. To this argument it might be answered, that, allowing the truth of the inference, it would be no proof of what is required. A question would stiil occur whether the Constitution had vested the discretionary power of admitting aliens in the Federal government or in the Stale governments. But it cannot be a true inference, that, because the admission of an alien is a favor, the favor may be revoked at pleasure. A grant of land to an individual may be of favor, not of r ght ; but the moment the rant is made, the favor becomes a right, and must be forfeited before it can be taken away. To pardon a malefactor may be a favor, but the pardon is not, on that account, the less irrevocable. To admit an alien to naturalization is as much a favor as to admit him to reside in the country; yet it cannot be pre- tended that a person naturalized can be deprived of the benefits any more than a native citizen can be disfranchised. Again, it is said that, aliens not being parties to he Constitution, the rights and privileges which it secures cannot be at all claimed by them. To this reasoning, also, it might be answered that, although aliens are not parties to the Constitution, it does not follow that the Constitution has vested in Congress an absolute power over them. The parties to the Constitution may have granted, or retained, or modified, the power over aliens, without regard to that particular consideration. Hut a more direct reply is, that it does not follow, because aliens are not parties to the Constitution, as citizens are parties to it, that, whilst they actually con- form to it, they have no right to its protection. Aliens are not more parties to the laws than they are parlies to the Constitution; yet it will not be disputed that, as they owe, on one hand, a temporary obedience, they are entitled, in return, to their protection and advantage. If aliens had no rights under the Constitution, they might not only be banished, but even capitally pun- ished, without a jury or the other incidents to a fair trial. Hut so far has a contrary principle been carried, in every part of the United States, that, except on charges of treason, an alien has, besides a'l the com- mon privileges, the special one of being tried by a jurv, of which one-half may be also aliens. It is said, further, that, by the law and practice of nations, aliens may be removed, at discretion, for offences against the law of nations ; that Congress are authorized to define and punish such offences; and that to be dangerous to the peace of society is, in aliens, one of those offences. The distinction between alien enemies and alien friends is a clear and conclusive answer to this argu- ment. Alien enemies are under the law of nations, and liable to be punished for offences against it. Alien friends, except in the single case of public min- isters, are under the municipal law, and must be tried and punished according to that law only. This argument, also, by referring the alien act to the power of Congress to define and punish offences against the law of nations, yields the point that the act is of a penal, not merely of a preventive operation. It must, in truth, be so considered. And if it be a penal act, the punishment it inflicts must be justified by some offence that deserves it. Offences for which aliens, within the "jurisdiction of a country, are punishable, are — first, offences com- mitted by the nation of which they make a part, and in whose offences they are involved ; secondly, offences committed by themselves alone, without anv charge against the nation to which they belong. The fir-t is the case of alien enemies ; the second, the case of alien friends. In the first case, the offending nation cannot otherwise be punished than by war, one of the laws of which authorizes the expulsion of such of its mem- bers as may be found within the country against which the offence has been committed. In the second case — the offence being committed by the individual, not by his nation, and against the municipal law, not against the law of nations — the individual only, and not the nation, is punishable; and the punishment must be conducted according to the municipal law, not accord- ing to the law of nations. Under this view of the subject, the act of Congress for the removal of alien enemies, being conformable to the law of nations, is justified by the Constitution; and the "act" for the removal of alien friends, being repugnant to the con- stitutional principles of municipal law, is unjustifi- able. Nor is the act of Congress for the removal of alien friends more agreeable to the general practice of na- tions than it is within the purview of the law of nations. The general practice of nations distinguishes between alien friends and alien enemies. The latter it has proceeded against, according to the law of nations, by expelling them as enemies. The former it has con- sidered as under a local and temporary allegiance, and entitled to a corres|x>ndent protection. If contrary instances are to be found in barbarous countries, under undefined prerogatives, or amid revolutionary dangers, they will not be deemed fit precedents for the Govern- ment of the United States, even if not beyond its con- stitutional authority. It is said that Congress may grant letters of marque and reprisal ; that reprisals may be made on persons as well as property; and that the removal of aliens may be considered as the exercise, in an inferior de- gree, of the general power of reprisal on persons. Without entering minutely into a question that does not seem to require it, it may be remarked that reprisal is a seizure of foreign persons or property, with a view to obtain that justice for injuries done by one State, or its members, to another State, or its members, for which a refusal of the aggressors requires such a re- sort to force, under the law of nations. It must be considered as an abuse of words, to call the removal of persons from a country a seizure, or a reprisal on them ; nor is the distinction to be overlooked between reprisals on persons within the country, and under the APPENDIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. 947 faith of its laws, and on persons out of the country. But, laying aside these considerations, it is evidently impossible to bring the Alien Act within the power of granting reprisals ; since it does not allege or imply any injury received from any particular nation, for which this proceeding against its members was in- tended as a reparation. The proceeding is authorized against aliens of every nation ; of nations charged neither with any similar proceedings against American citizens, nor with any injuries for which justice might be sought, in the mode prescribed by the act. Were it true, therefore, that good causes existed for reprisals against one or more foreign nations, and that neither the persons nor prop- erty of its members, under the faith of our laws, could plead an exemption, the operation of the act ought to have been limited to the aliens among us belonging to such nations. To license reprisals against all na- tions, for aggressions charged on one only, would be a measure as contrary to every principle of justice and public law, as to a wise policy, and the universal prac- tice of nations. It is said that the right of removing aliens is an in- cident to the power of war, vested in Congress by the Constitution. This is a former argument in a new shape only, and is answered by repeating, that the removal of alien enemies is an incident to the power of war ; that the removal of alien friends is not an in- cident to the power of war. It is said that Congress are, by the Constitution, to protect each State against invasion ; and that the means of preventing invasion are included in the power of protection against it. The power of war, in general, having been before granted by the Constitution, this clause must either be a mere specification for greater caution and certainty, of which there are other examples in the instrument, or be the injunction of a duty, superadded to a grant of the power. Under either explanation, it cannot enlarge the powers of Congress on the subject. The power and the duty to protect each State against an invading enemy would be the same under the general power, if this regard to the greater caution had been omitted. Invasion is an operation of war. To protect against invasion is an exercise of the power of war. A power, therefore, not incident to war, cannot be incident to a particular modification of war; and as the removal of alien friends has appeared to he no incident to a general state of war, it cannot be incident to a partial state, or a particular modification of war. Nor can it ever be granted, that a power to act on a case, when it actually occurs, includes a power over all the means that may tend to prevent the occurrence of the case. Such a latitude of construction would render unavailing every practical definition of partic- ular and limited powers. Under the idea of prevent- ing war in general, as well as invasion in particular, not only an indiscriminate removal of all aliens might be enforced, but a thousand other things, still more remote from the operations and precautions appurte- nant to war, might take place. A bigoted or tyran- nical nation might threaten us with war, unless certain religious or political regulations were adopted by us; yet it never could be inferred, if the regulations which would prevent war were such as Congress had other- wise no power to make, that the power to make them vould grow out of the purpose they were to answer. Congress have power to suppress insurrections; yet it would not be allowed to follow, that they might em- ploy all the means tending to prevent them ; of which a system of moral instruction for the ignorant, and of provident support for the poor, might be regarded as among the most efficacious. One argument for the power of the General Gov- ernment to remove aliens would have been passed in silence, if it had appeared under any authority infe- rior to that of a report made, during the last session of Congress, to the House of Representatives, by a committee, and approved by the House. The doctrine on which this argument is founded is of so new and so extraordinary a character, and strikes so radically at the political system of America, that it is proper to state it in the very words of the report. "The act (concerning aliens) is said to he uncon- stitutional, because to remove aliens is a direct breach of the Constitution, which provides, by the Ninth section of the First article, that the migration or im- portation of such persons as any of the States shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808." Among the answers given to this objection to the constitutionality of the act, the following very remark- able one is extracted : " Thirdly, That, as the Constitution has given to the States no power to remove aliens, during the period of the limitation under consideration, in the meantime, on the construction assumed, there would be no authority in the country empowered to send away dangerous aliens which cannot be admitted." The reasoning here used would not, in any view, be conclusive; because there are powers exercised by most other governments which, in the United States, are withheld by the people both from the General Government and the State Governments. Of this sort are many of the powers prohibited by the declara- tions of rights prefixed to the Constitutions, or by the clauses, in the Constitutions, in the nature of such declarations. Nay, so far is the political system of the United States distinguishable from thnt of other countries, by the caution with which powers are dele- gated and defined, that, in one very important case, even of commercial regulation and revenue, the power is absolutely locked up against the hands of both gov- ernments. A tax on exports can be laid by no con- stitutional authority whatever. Under a system thus peculiarly guarded, there could surely be no absurdity in supposing that alien friends — who, if guilty of treasonable machinations, may be punished, or, if suspected on probable grounds, may be secured by pledges or imprisonment, in like manner with per- manent citizens — were never meant to be subjected to banishment by an arbitrary and unusual process, either under the one government or the other. But it is not the inconclusiveness of the general reasoning in this passage which chiefly calls the at- tention to it. It is the principle assumed by it, that the powers held by the States are given to them by the Constitution of the United States; and the infer- ence from this principle, that the powers supposed to be necessary, which are not so given to the State governments, must reside in the government of the United States. The respect which is felt for every portion of the constituted authorities forbids some of the reflections which this singular paragraph might excite ; and they are the more readily suppressed, as it may be pre- sumed, with justice perhaps as well as candor, that inadvertence may have had its share in the error. It would be unjustifiable delicacy, nevertheless, to pass 948 by so portentous a claim, proceeding from so high an authority, without a monitory notice of the fatal ten- dencies with which it wouM lie pregnant. Lastly, it is said that a law on the same subject with the Alien Act, passed by this State originally in 1785, and re-enacted in 1792, is a proof that a sum- mary removal of suspected aliens was not heretofore regarded, by the Virginia legislature, as liable to the objections now urged against such a measure. This charge against Virginia vanishes before the simple remark that the law of Virginia relates to '• suspicious persons, being the subjects of any foreign power or State who shall have made a declaration of war, or actually commenced hostilities, or from whom the President shall apprehend hostile designs;" whereas the act of Congress relates to aliens, being the subjects of foreign powers and States, who have neither declared war, nor commenced hostilities, nor from whom hostile dangers are apprehended. 2. It is next affirmed of the Alien Act that it unites legislative, judicial, and executive powers, in the hands of the President. However difficult it may be to mark, in every case, with clearness and certainty, the line which divides legislative power from the other departments of power, all will agree that the powers referred to these departments may be so gen- eral and undefined as to be of a legislative, not of an executive or judicial nature, and may for that reason be unconstitutional. -Details, to a certain degree, are essential to the nature and character of a law; and on criminal subjects, it is proper that details should leave as little as possible to the discretion of those who are to apply and execute the law. If nothing more were required, in exercising a legislative trust, than a general conveyance of authority — without lay- ing down any precise rules by which the authority conveyed should be carried into effect — it would fol- low that the whole power of legislation might be transferred by the Legislature from itself, and proc- lamations might become substitutes for law. A delegation of power in this latitude would not be de- nied to lie a union of the different powers. To determine, then, whether the appropriate powers of the distinct departments are united by the act au- thorizing the Executive to remove aliens, it must be inquired whether it contains such details, definitions, and rules, as appertain to the true character of a law ; especially a law by which personal liberty is invaded, property deprived of its value to the owner, and life itself indirectly exposed to danger. The Alien Act declares "that it shall )>e lawful for the President to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable ground to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart," etc. Could a power be well given in terms less definite, less particular, and less precise ? To be dangerous to the public safety — to be suspected of secret machina- tions against the government — these can never be mistaken for legal rules or certain definitions. They leave everything to the President. His will is the law. But it is not a legislative power only that is given to the President. He is to stand in the place of the judiciary also. His suspicion is the only evidence which is to convict; his order, the only judgment which is to be executed. Thus it is the President whose will is to designate the offensive conduct ; it is his will that is to ascertain ATTENDIX IL—MADISOX'S FETOR T. the individuals on whom it is charged ; and it is his will that is to cause the sentence to be executed. It is rightly affirmed, therefore, that the act unites legis- lative and judicial powers to those of the Kxeculive. 3. It is affirmed that this union of power subverts the genera) principle of free government. It has become an axiom in the science of govern- ment, that a separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial departments is necessary to the preserva- tion of public liberty. Nowhere has this axiom been belter ufklerstood in theory, or more carefully pur- sued in practice, than in the United States. 4. It is affirmed lhat such a union of power sub- verts the particular organization nn.i positive provision of the Federal Constitution. According to the particular organization of the Constitution its legislative powers are vested in the Congress, its execrtive powers in the President, and its judicial powers in a supreme and inferior tribunals. The union of any of these powers, and still more of all three, in any one of these departments, as has been shown to be done by the Alien Act, must, conse- quently, subvert the constitutional organization of them. That positive provisions, rn the Constitution, secur- ing to individuals the benefits of fair trial, are also violated by the union of powers in the Alien Act, necessarily results from the two facts, that the act relates to alien friends, and that alien friends, being under the municipal law only, are entitled to its pro- tection. The second object, against which the resolution protests, is the Sedition Act. Of this act it is affirmed — 1. That, it exercises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitu- tion ; 2. That the power, on the contrary, is expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments to the Constitution ; 3. That this is a power which, more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right. 1. That it exercises a power not delegated by the Constitution. Here, again, it vill be proper to recollect that the Federal Government being composed of powers spe- cifically granted, with reservation of all others to the States or to the people, the positive authority under which the Sedition Act could be passed must be pro- duced by those who assert its constitutionality. In what part of the Constitution, then, is this authority 10 be found ? Several attempts have been made to answer this question, which will be examined in their order. The committee will begin with one which has filled them with equal astonishment and apprehension; and which, they cannot but persuade themselves, must have the same effect on all who will consider it with cool- ness and impartiality, and with a reverence for our Constitution, in the true character in which it issued from tlie sovereign authority of the people. The com- mittee refer to the doctrine lately advanced, as a I sanction to the Sedition Act, "that the common or unwritten law" — a law of vast extent and complex- ity, and embracing almost every possible subject of legislation, both civil and criminal — makes a part of the law of these States, in their united and national i capacity. APPENDIX H.— MADISON'S REPORT. 949 The novelty, and, in the judgment of the com- mittee, the extravagance of this pretension, would have consigned it to the silence in which they have passed by other arguments which an extraordinary zeal for the act has drawn into the discussion ; but the auspices under which this innovation presents itself have constrained the committee to bestow on it an attention which other considerations might have forbidden. In executing the task, it may be of use to look back to the colonial state of this country prior to the Revolution; to trace the effect of the Revolution which converted the colonies into independent States ; to inquire into the import of the Articles of Con- federation, the first instrument by which the union of the States was regularly established ; and, finally, to consult the Constitution of 1787, which is the oracle that must decide the important question. In the state prior to the Revolution, it is certain that the common law, under different limitations, made a part of the colonial codes. But, whether it be understood that the original colonists brought the law with them, or made it their law by adoption, it is equally certain that it was the separate law of each colony within its respective limits, and was unknown to them as a law pervading and operating through the whole, as one society. It could not possibly be otherwise. The common law was not the same in any two of the colonies ; in some, the modifications were materially and exten- sively different. There was no common legislature, by which a common will could be expressed in the form of a law ; nor any common magistracy, by which such a law could be carried into practice. The will of each colony, alone and separately, had its organs for these purposes. This stage of our political history furnishes no foothold for the patrons of this new doctrine. Did, then, the principle or operation of the great event, which made the colonies independent States, imply or introduce the common law, as a law of the Union ? The fundamental principle of the Revolution was, that the colonies were co-ordinate members with each other, and with Great Britain, of an empire united by a common executive sovereign, but not united by any common legislative sovereign. The legislative power was maintained to be as complete in each American Parliament, as in the British Parliament. And the royal prerogative was in force in each colony, by virtue of its acknowledging the King for its execu- tive magistrate, as it was in Great Britain, by virtue of a like acknowledgment there. A denial of these principles by Great Britain, and the assertion of them by America, produced the Revolution. There was a time, indeed, when an exception to the legislative separation of the several component and coequal parts of the empire obtained a degree of. quiescence. The British Parliament was allowed to regulate the trade with foreign nations, and be- tween the different parts of the empire; This was, kowever, mere practice without right, and contrary to the true theory of the Constitution. The conve- nience of some regulations, in both cases, was appa- rent ; and as there was no legislature with power over the whole, nor any constitutional pre-eminence among the legislatures of the several parts, it was natural for the legislature of that particular part which was the eldest and the largest, to assume this function, and for the others to acquiesce in it. This tacit arrangement was the less criticised, as the regulations established by the British Parliament operated in favor of that part of the empire which seemed to bear the principal share of the public burdens, and were regarded as an indemnification of its advances for the other parts. As long as this regulating power was confined to the two objects of conveniency and equity, it was not complained of, nor much inquired into. But no sooner was it perverted to the selfish views of the party assuming it, than the injured parties began to feel and to reflect ; and the moment the claim to a direct and indefinite power was en- grafted on the precedent of the regulating power, the whole charm was dissolved, and every eye opened to the usurpation. The assertion by Great Britain of a power to make laws for the other members of the empire, in all cases whatsoever, ended in the dis- covery that she had a right to make laws for them in no cases whatever. Such being the ground of our Revolution, no sup- port or color can be drawn from it for the doctrine that the common law is binding on these States as one society. The doctrine, on the contrary, is evi- dently repugnant to the fundamental principle of the Revolution. The Articles of Confederation are the next source of information on this subject. In the interval between the commencement of the Revolution and the final ratification of these Articles, the nature and extent of the Union was determined by the circumstances of the crisis, rather than by any accurate delineation of the general authority. It will not be alleged that the "common law" could have any legitimate birth, as a law of the United Stale:;, during that state of things. If it came, as such, into existence at all, the charter of confederation must have been its parent. Here, again, however, its pretensions are absolutely destitute of foundation. This instrument does not contain a sentence or a syllable that can be tortured into a countenance of the idea that the parties to it were, with respect to the objects of the common law, to form one community. No such law is named, or implied, or alluded to, as being in force, or as brought into force by that compact. No provision is made by which such a law could be carried into operation ; whilst, on the other hand, every such inference or pretext is absolutely precluded by art. 2, which de- clares " that each State retains its sovereignty, free- dom, and independence, and every power, jurisdic- tion, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." Thus far it appears that not a vestige of this extra- ordinary doctrine can be found in the origin or pro- gress of American institutions. The evidence against it has, on the contrary, grown stronger at every step, till it has amounted to a formal and positive exclu- sion, by written articles of compact, among the parties concerned. Is this exclusion revoked, and the common law introduced as national law, by the present Constitu- tion of the United States? This is the final question to be examined. It is readily admitted that particular parts of the common law may have a sanction from the Constitu- tion, so far as they are necessarily comprehended in the technical phrases which express the powers dele- gated to the Government; and so far, also, as such other parts may be adopted by Congress, as necessary 950 APPENDIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. and proper for carrying into execution the powers expressly delegated. But the question does not relate to cither of these portions of the common law. It relates to the common law beyond these limitations. The only part of the Constitution which seems to have been relied on in this case, is the 2d section of art. 3: — "The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitu- tion, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which -hail be made, under their authority." It has been asked what cases, distinct from those arising under the laws and treaties of the United States, can arise under the Constitution, other than those arising under the common law; and it is inferred that the common law is, accordingly, adopted or recognized by the Constitution. Never, perhaps, was so broad a construction applied to a text so clearly unsusceptible of it. If any color for the inference could be found, it must be in the impossibility of finding any other cases, in law and equity, within the provisions of the Constitution, to satisfy the expression ; and rather than resort to a construction affecting so essentially the whole charac- ter of the Government, it would perhaps be more rational to consider the expression as a mere pleonasm or inadvertence. But it is not necessary to decide on such a dilemma. The expression is fully satisfied, and its accuracy justified, by two descriptions of cases, to which the judicial authority is extended, and neither of which implies that the common law is the law of the United States. One of these descriptions com- prehends the cases growing out of the restrictions on the legislative power of the States. For example, it i-; provided that "no State shall emit bills ot credit," or " make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender for the payment of debts." Should this prohibition be violated, and a suit between citizens of the same State be the consequence, this would be a case arising under the Constitution before the judicial power of the United States. A second description comprehends suits between citizens and foreigners, of citizens of different States, to be decided according to the State or foreign laws, but submitted by the Constitution to the judicial power of the United States; the judicial power being, in several instances, extended beyond the legislative power of the United States. To this explanation of the text, the following ob- servations may be added: The expression "cases in law and equity" is mani- festly confined to cases of a civil nature, ; nd would exclude cases of criminal jurisdiction. Criminal cases in law and equity would be a language unknown to the law. The succeeding paragraph in the same section is in harmony with this construction. It is in these words: "In all cases affecting ambassadors, or other public ministers, and consuls; and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have orig- inal jurisdiction. In all the other cases (including cases of law and equity arising under the Constitu- tion) the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdic- tion, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as Congress shall make." This paragraph, by expressly giving an appellate jurisdiction in cases of law and equity arising under the Constitution, to fact, as well as to law, clearly ex- cludes criminal cases, where the trial by jury is secured — because the fact, in such cases, is not a sub- ject of appeal ; and, although the appeal is liable to such exceptions and regulations as Congress may adopt, yet it is not to be supposed that an exception of ^//criminal cases could be contemplated, as well because a discretion in Congress to make or omit the exception would be improper, as because it would have been unnecessary. The exception could as easily have been made by the Constitution itself, as referred to the Congress. Once more : The amendment last added to the Constitution deserves attention as throwing light on this subject. " The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States, by citizens of another Stale, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign power." As it will not be pretended that any criminal proceeding could take place against a State, the terms law or equity must be understood as appropriate to civil in exclusion of criminal cases. From these considerations, it is evident that this part of the Constitution, even if it could be applied at all to the purpose for which it has been cited, would not include any cases whatever of a criminal nature, and consequently would not authorize the inference from it, that the judicial authority extends to offences against the common law, as offences arising under the Constitution. It is further to be considered that, even if this part of the Constitution could be strained into an applica- tion to every common law case, criminal as well as civil, it could have no effect in justifying the Sedition Act, which is an act of legislative, and not of judici: 1 power : and it is the judicial power only of which the extent is defined in this part of the Constitution, There are two passages in the Constitution, in which a description of the law of the United States is found. The first is contained in art. 3, sec. 3, in the words following: " This Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under this authority." The second is contained in the second paragraph of art. 6, as follows: "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land." The first of these descriptions was meant as a guide to the judges of the United States ; the second, as a guide to the judges of the several States. Both of them consist of an enumeration, which was evi- dently meant to be precise and complete. If the common law had been understood to be a law of the United States, it is not possible to assign a satisfactory reason why it was not expressed in the enumeration. In aid of these objections, the difficulties and con- fusion inseparable from a constructive introduction of the common law would afford powerful reasons against it. Is it to be the common law with or without the British statutes? If without the statutory amend- ments, the vices of the code would be insupportable. If with these amendments, what period is to be fixed for limiting the British authority over our laws? Is it to be the date of the eldest, or the youngest, of the colonies? Or are the dates to be thrown to- gether, and a medium deduced ? Or is our inde- pendence to be taken for the date ? Is, again, regard to be had to the various changes in the common law made by the local codes of America ? Is regard to be had to such changes subsequent as well as prior to the establishment of the Constitution? APPENDIX H.— MADISON'S REPORT. 951 Is regard to be had to future as well as past changes ? Is the law to be different in every State, as differ- ently modified by its code; or are the modifications of any particular State to be applied to all? And on the latter supposition, which among the State codes form? the standard ? Questions of this sort might be multiplied with as much ease as there would be difficulty in answering them. These consequences, flowing from the proposed construction, furnish other objections equally conclu- sive ; unless the text were peremptory in its meaning, and consistent with other parts of the instrument. These consequences may be in relation to the leg- islative authority of the United States ; to the execu- tive authority ; to the judicial authority; and to the Governments of the several States. If it be understood that the common law is estab- lished by the Constitution, it follows that no part of the law can be altered by the Legislature. Such of the statutes already passed as may be repugnant thereto, would be nullified ; particularly the Sedition Act itself, which boasts of being a melioration of the common law ; and the whole code, with all its incon- gruities, barbarisms, and bloody maxims, would be inviolably saddled on the good people of the United States. Should this consequence be rejected, and the com- mon law be held, like other laws, liable to revision and alteration by the authority of Congress, it then follows that the authority of Congress is co-extensive with the objects of common law ; that is to say, with every object of legislation ; for to every such object does some branch or other of the common law ex- tend. The authority of Congress would, therefore, be no longer under the limitations marked out in the Constitution. They would be authorized to legislate in all cases whatsoever. In the next place, as the President possesses the executive powers of the Constitution, and is to see that the laws be faithfully executed, his authority also must be co-extensive with every branch of the com- mon law. The additions which this would make to his power, though not readily to be estimated, claim the most serious attention. This is not all: it will merit the most profound consideration, how far an indefinite admission of the common law, with a latitude in construing it equal to the construction by which it is deduced from the Con- stitution, might draw after it the various prerogatives, making part of the unwritten law of England. The English Constitution itself is nothing more than a composition of unwritten laws and maxims. In the third place, whether the common law be admitted as of legal or of constitutional obligation, it would confer on the judicial department a discretion little short of a legislative power. On the supposition of its having a constitutional obligation, this oower in the judges would be per- manent and irremediable by the Legislature. On the other supposition, the power would not expire until the Legislature should have introduced a full system of statutory provisions. Let it be observed, too, that, besides all the uncertainties above enumer- ated, and which present an immense field for judicial discretion, it would remain with the same department to decide what parts of the common law would, and what would not, lie properly applicable to the circum- stances of the United States, A discretion of this sort has always been lamented as incongruous and dangerous, even in the colonial and State courts, although so much narrowed by positive provisions in the local codes on all the prin- cipal subjects embraced by the common law. Under the United States, where so few laws exist on those subjects, and where so great a lapse of time must happen before the vast chasm could be supplied, it is manifest that the power of the judges over the law would, in fact, erect them into legislators, and thai, for a long time, it would be impossible for the citizens to conjecture either what was, or would be, law. In the last place, the consequence of admitting the common law as the law of the United States, on the authority of the individual States, is as obvious as it ' would be fatal. As this law relates to every subject of legislation, and would be paramount to the Con- stitutions and laws of the States, the admission of it would overwhelm the residuary sovereignty of the States, and, by one constructive operation, new-model the whole political fabric of the country. From the review thus taken of the situation of the American colonies prior to their independence; of the effect of this event on their situation ; of the nature and import of the Articles of Confederation ; of the true meaning of the passage in the existing Constitu- tion from which the common law has been deduced; of the difficulties and uncertainties incident to the doctrine; and of its vast consequences in extending the powers of the Federal Government, and in super- seding the authorities of the State governments, — the committee feel the utmost confidence in concluding that the common law never was, nor by any fair con- struction ever can be, deemed a law for the American people as one community, and they indulge the strongest expectation that the same conclusion will be finally drawn by all candid and accurate inquirers into the subject. It is, indeed, distressing to reflect that it ever should have been made a question, whether the Constitution, on the whole face of which is seen so much labor to enumerate and define the several objects of Federal power, could intend to introduce in the lump, in an indirect manner, and by a forced construction of a few phrases, the vast and multifarious jurisdiction involved in the common law — a law filling so many ample volumes, a law over- spreading the entire field of legislation ; and a law that would sap the foundation of the Constitution as a system of limited and specified powers. A severer reproach could not, in the opinion of the committee, be thrown on the Constitution, on those who framed, or on those who established it, than such a supposi- tion would throw on them. The argument, then, drawn from the common law, on the ground of its being adopted or recognized by the Constitution, being inapplicable to the Sedition Act, the committee will proceed to examine the other arguments which have been founded on the Consti- tution. They will waste but little time in the attempt to cover the act by the preamble to the Constitution, it being contrary to every acknowledged rule of con- struction to set up this part of an instrument in oppo- sition to the plain meaning expressed in the body uf the instrument. A preamble usually contains the general motives or reason for the particular regula- tions or measures which follow it, and is always un- derstood to be explained and limited by them. In the present instance, a contrary interpretation would have the inadmissible effect of rendering nugatory or 952 APTEXDIX II.—MADISOX'S REPORT. improper every part of the Constitution which suc- ceeds the preamble. The paragraph in Article I, Section 8, which con- tains the power to levy and collect taxes, duties, im- posts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare, having been already examined, will also require no particular attention in this place. It will have been seen that, in its fair and consistent meaning, it cannot enlarge the enumerated powers vested in Congress. The part of the Constitution which seems most to be recurred to, in defence of the Sedition Act, is the last clause of the above section, empowering Con- gress "to make all laws which shall be necessary and .proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitu- tion in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. - ' The plain import of this clause is, that Congress shall have all the incidental or instrumental powers necessary and proper for carrying into execution all the express powers, whether they be vested in the government of the United States, more collectively, or in the several departments or officers thereof. It is not a grant of new powers to Congress, but merely a declaration, for the removal of all uncer- tainty, that the means of carrying into execution those otherwise granted are included in the grant. Whenever, therefore, a question arises concerning the constitutionality of a particular power, the first question is, whether the power be expressed in the Constitution. If it be, the question is decided. If it be not expressed, the next inquiry must be, whether it is properly an incident to an express power, and necessary to its execution. If it be, it may be exer- cised by Congress. If it be not, Congress cannot exercise it. Let the question be asked, then, whether the power over the press, exercised in the Sedition Act, be found among the powers expressly vested in Congress. This is not pretended. Is there any express power, for executing which it is a necessary and proper power? The power which has been selected, as least re- mole, in answer to this question, is that " of suppress- ing insurrections;" which is said to imply a power to prevent insurrections, by punishing whatever may- lead or tend to them. But it surely cannot, with the least plausibility, be said, that the regulation of the press, and punishment of libels, are exercises of a power to suppress insurrections. The most that could be said would be, that the punishment of libels, ii it had the tendency ascribed to it, might prevent the occasion of passing or executing laws necessary and proper for the suppression of insurrections. II. i> the Federal Government no power, then, to prevent as well as to punish resistance to the laws? They have the power, which the Constitution ■i most proper, in their hands for the purpose. The Congress has power, before it happens, laws for punishing it ; and the executive and judiciary have power to enforce those laws when it does happen. It must be recollected by many, and could be shown to the satisfaction of all, that the construction here put on (he terms "necessary and proper" is precisely the construction which prevailed during the discussions and ratifications of the Constitution. It may be added, ami cannot too often be repeated, that it is a construction absolutely necessary to maintain their consistency with the peculiar character of the government, as possessed of particular and definite powers only, not of the general and indefinite powers vested in ordinary governments; for, if the power to suppress insurrections includes the power to punish libels, or if the power to punish includes a power to prevent, by all the means that may have that ten- dency, such is the relation and influence among the most remote subjects of legislation, that a power over a very few would carry with it a power over all. And it must be wholly immaterial whether unlimited powers be exercised under the name of unlimited powers, or be exercised under the name of unlimited means of carrying into execution limited powers. This branch of the subject will be closed with a reflection which must have weight with all, but more especially with those who place peculiar reliance on the judicial exposition of the Constitution, as the bulwark provided against an undue extension of the legislative power. If it be understood that the powers implied in the specified powers have an im- mediate and appropriate relation to them, as means necessary and proper for carrying them into execu- tion, questions on constitutionality of laws passed for this purpose will be of a nature sufficiently precise and determinate for judicial cognizance and control. If, on the other hand, Congress are not limited, in the choice of means, by any such appropriate relation of them to the specified powers, but may employ all such means as they may deem fitted to prevent, as well as to punish, crimes subjected to their authority (such as may have a tendency only to promote an object for which they are authorized to provide), every one must perceive that questions relating to means of this sort must be questions for mere and expediency; on which legislative discretion alone can decide, and from which the judicial interposition and control are completely excluded. 2. The next point which the resolution requires to be proved is, that the power over the press, exercised by the Sedition Act, is positively forbidden by one of the amendments to the Constitution. The amendment stands in these words: *' Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re- ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of griev- ances." In the attempts to vindicate the Sedition Act, it has been contended, I. That the " freedom of the press" is to be determined by the meaning of these terms in the common law; 2. That the article sup- poses power over the press to be in Congress, and prohibits them only from abridging the freedom al- lowed to it by the common law. Although it will be shown, on examining the second of these positions, that the amendment is a denial to Congress <>f all power over the press, it may not be useless to make the following observations on the lust of them ; It is deemed to be a sound opinion that the Sedi- tion Act, in its definition of some of the crimes created, is an abridgment of the freedom of publica- tion, recognized by principles of the common law in '1 be freedom of the press, under the common law, is, in the defences of the Sedition Act, made to con- sist in an exemption from all previous restraint on printed publications, by persons authorized to inspect APPENDIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. 953 or prohibit them. It appears to the committee that this idea of the freedom of the press can never be admitted to be the American idea of it; since a law inflicting penalties on printed publications would have a similar effect with a law authorizing a previous re- straint on them. It would seem a mockery to say that no laws should be passed preventing publications from being made, but that laws might be passed for punishing them in case they should be made. The essential difference between the British Gov- ernment and the American Constitutions will place this subject in the clearest light. In the British Government, the danger of encroach- ments on the rights of the people is understood to be confined to the executive magistrate. The Repre- sentatives of the people in the Legislature are not only exempt themselves from distrust, but are consid- ered as sufficient guardians of the rights of their con- stituents against the danger from the Executive. Hence it is a principle, that the Parliament is un- limited in its power; or, in their own language, is omnipotent. Hence, too, all the ramparts for pro- tecting the rights of the people, — such as their Magna Charta, their bill of rights, etc. — are not reared against the Parliament, but agaii^t the royal preroga- tive. They are merely legislative precautions against executive usurpation. Under such a government as this, an exemption of the press from previous restraint by licensers appointed by the King, is all the freedom that can be secured to it. In the United States the case is altogether different. The people, not the government, possess the absolute sovereignty. The Legislature, no less than the Ex- ecutive, is under limitations of power. Encroach- ments are regarded as possible from the one as well as from the other. Hence, in the United States, the great and essential rights of the people are secured against legislative as well as executive ambition. They are secured, not by laws paramount to preroga- tive, but by Constitutions paramount to laws. This security of the freedom of the press requires that it should be exempt, not only from previous restraint of the Executive, as in Great Britain, but from legis- lative restraint also; and this exemption, to be effectual, must be an exemption, not only from the previous inspection of licensers, but from the subse- quent penalty of laws. The state of the press, therefore, under the common law, cannot, in this point of view, be the standard of its freedom in the United States. But there is another view under which it may be necessary to consider this subject. It may be alleged that, although the security for the freedom of the press be different in Great Britain and in this country, — being a legal security only in the former, and con- stitutional security in the latter, — and although there may be a further difference, in an extension of the freedom of the pre:is, here, beyond an exemption from previous restraint, to an exemption from subse- quent penalties also, — yet the actual legal freedom of the press, under the common law, must deter- mine the degree of freedom which is meant by the terms, and which is constitutionally secured against both previous and subsequent restraints. The committee are not unaware of the difficulty of all general questions which may turn on the proper boundary between the liberty and licentiousness of the press. They will leave it, therefore, for considera- tion only, how far the difference between the nature of the British Government and the nature of the American Government, and the practice under the latter, may show the degree of rigor in the former to be inapplicable to, and not obligatory in, the latter. The nature of governments elective, limited, and responsible, in all their branches, may well be sup- posed to require a greater freedom of animadversion than might be tolerated by the genius of such a Gov- ernment as that of Great Britain. In the latter, it is a maxim that the King — an hereditary, not a respon- sible magistrate — can do no wrong; and that the Legislature, which, in two-thirds of its composition, is also hereditary, not responsible, can do what it pleases. In the United States the executive magis- trates are not held to be infallible, nor the Legisla- tures to be omnipotent ; and both, being elective, are both responsible. Is it not natural and necessary, under such different circumstances, that a different degree of freedom in the use of the press should be contemplated ? Is not such an inference favored by what is ob- servable in Great Britain itself? Notwithstanding the general doctrine of the common law on the sub- ject of the press, and the occasional punishment of those who use it with a freedom offensive to the gov- ernment, it is well known that, with respect to the re- sponsible measures of the government, where the reasons operating here become applicable there, the freedom exercised by the press and protected by public opinion, far exceeds the limits prescribed by the ordinary rules of law. The ministry, who are re- sponsible to impeachment, are at all limes animad- verted on by the press with peculiar freedom ; and during the elections for the House of Commons, the other responsible part of the government, the press is employed with as little reserve towards the candidates. The practice in America must be entitled to much more respect. In every State, probably, in the Union, the press has exerted a freedom in canvassing the merits and measures of public men of every descrip- tion, which has not been confined to the strict limits of the common law. On this footing the freedom of the press has stood ; on this foundation it yet stands; and it will not be a breach, either of truth ot of candor, to sqy that no persons or presses are in the habit of more unrestrained animadversions on the proceedings and functionaries of the State Govern- ments than the persons and presses most zealous in vindicating the act of Congress for punishing similar animadversions on the Government of the United States. The last remark will not be understood as claiming for the State Governments an immunity greater than they have heretofore enjoyed. Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of everything ; and in no instance is this more true than in that of the press. It has accordingly been decided, by the prac- tice of the States, that it is better to leave a few of its rroxious branches to their lux riant growth, than, by pruning them away, to injure the vigor of those yield- ing the proper fruits. And can the wisdom of this policy be doubtful by any one who reflects that to the press alone, checkered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained bv reason and humanity over error and oppression; who reflects that to the same beneficent source the United States owe much of the lights which conducted them to the rank of a free and inde- pendent nation, and which have improved their political system into a shape so auspicious to their happiness ? Had Sedition Acts, forbidding every pub- 954 APPENDIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. lication that might bring the constituted agents into contempt or disrepute, or that might excite the hatred of the people against the authors of unjust or per- nicious measures, been uniformly enforced against the press, might not the United States have been lan- guishing at this day under the infirmities of a sickly Confederation ? Slight they not, possibly, be miser- able colonies, groaning under a foreign \oke? To these observations one fact will be added, which demonstrates that the common law cannot be ad- mitted as the universal expositor of American terms, which may be the same with those contained in that law. The freedom of conscience, and of religion, is found in the same instrument which asserts the free- dom of the press. It will never be admitted that the meaning of the former, in the common law of Eng- land, is to limit their meaning in the United States. Whatever weight may be allowed to these con- siderations, the committee do not, however, by any means intend to rest the question on them. They contend that the article of the amendment, instead of supposing in Congress a power that might be exer- cised over the press, provided its freedom was not abridged, meant a positive denial to Congress of any power whatever on the subject. To demonstrate that this was the true object of the article, it will be sufficient to recall the circumstances which led to it, and to refer to the explanation accom- panying the article. When the Constitution was under the discussions which preceded its ratification, it is well known that great apprehensions were expressed by many, lest the omission of some positive exception, from the powers delegated, of certain rights, and of the freedom of the press particularly, might expose them to danger of being drawn, by construction, within some of the powers vested in Congress; more especially of the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying their other powers into execution. In reply to this objection, it was invariably urged to be a fundamental and characteristic principle of the Con- stitution, that all powers not given by it were reserved ; that no powers were given beyond those enumerated in the Constitution, and such as were, fairly incident to them ; that the power over the rights in question, and particularly over the press, was neither among the enumerated powers, nor incident to any ol them ; and consequently that an exercise of any such power would be manifest usurpation. It is painful to remark how much the arguments now employed in behalf of the Sedition Act, are at variance with the reasoning which then justified the Constitution, and invited its ratification. From this posture of the subject resulted the inter- esting question, in so many of the conventions, whether the doubts and dangers ascribed to the Con- stitution should be removed by any amendments pre- vious to the ratification, or be postponed, in confidence that, as far as they might be proper, they would be introduced in the form provided by the Constitution. The latter course was adopted ; and in most of the States, ratifications were followed by the propositions and instructions for rendering the Constitution more explicit, and more safe to the rights not meant to be delegated by it. Among those rights, the freedom of the press, in most instances, is particularly and em- phatically mentioned. The firm and very pointed manner in which it is asserted in the proceedings of the convention of this S ate will hereafter be seen. In pursuance of the wishes thus expressed, the fi-st Congress that assembled under the Constitution pro- posed certain amendments, which have since, by the necessary ratifications, been made a part of it ; among which amendments is the article containing, among other prohibitions on the Congress, an express decla- ration that they should make no law abridging the freedom of the press. Without tracing farther the evidence on this sub- ject, it would seem scarcely possible to doubt that 10 power whatever over the press was supposed to be delegated by the Constitution, as it originally stood, and that the amendment was intended as a positive and absolute reservation of it. But the evidence is still stronger. The proposition of amendments made by Congress is introduced in the following terms: " The conventions of a number of the States, having, at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in oider to prevent misconstruc- tion or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should, be added ; and as ex- tending the ground of public confidence in the Gov- ernment, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution." Here is the most satisfactory and authentic proof that the several amendments proposed were to be considered as either declaratory or restrictive, and, whether the one or the other, as corresponding with the desire expressed by a number of the States, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government. Under any other construction of the amenchm nt relating to the press, than that it declared the press to be wholly exempt from the power of Congress, tl e amendment could neither be said to correspond with the desire expressed by a number of the States, nor be calculated to extend the ground of public confi- dence in the Government. Nay, more; the construction employed to justify the Sedition Act would exhibit a phenomenon with- out a parallel in the political world. It would tx- hibit a number of respectable States, as denying, first, that any power ovtr the press was delegated by the Constitution; as proposing, next, that no such power was delegated ; and, finally, as concurring in an amendment actually recognizing or delegating such a power. Is then, the Federal Government, it will be asked, destitute of every authority for restraining the licen- tiousness of the press, and for shielding itself against the libellous attacks which may be made on those who administer it ? The Constitution alone can answer this question. If no such power be expressly delegated, and if it be not both necessary and proper to carry into execution an express power; above all, if it be expressly for- bidden by a declaratory amendment to the Constitu- tion, — the answer must be, that the Federal Govern- ment is destitute of all such authority. And might it not be asked, in turn, whether it is not more probable, under all the circumstances which have been reviewed, that the authority should be withheld by the Constitution, than that it should be left to a vague and violent construction, whilst so much pains were bestowed in enumerating other powers, and so many less important powers are in- cluded in the enumeration ? Might it not be likewise asked, whether the anxious circumspection which dictated so many peculiar lim- itations on the general authority, would be unlikely APPENDIX H.— MADISON'S REPORT. 955 to exempt the press altogether from that authority? The peculiar magnitude of some of the powers neces- sarily committed to the Federal Government ; the peculiar duration required for the functions of some of its departments ; the peculiar distance of the seat of its proceedings from the great body of its constitu- ents ; and the peculiar difficulty of circulating an adequate knowledge of them through any other chan- nel ; — will not these considerations, some or other of which produced other exceptions from the powers of ordinary Governments, altogether, account for the policy of binding the hands of the Federal Govern- ment from touching the channel which alone can give efficacy to its responsibility to its constituents, and of leaving those who administer it to a remedy, for their injured reputations, under the same laws, and in the same tribunals, which protect their lives, their liber- ties,, and their properties ? But the question does not turn either on the wisdom of the Constitution, or on the policy which gave rise to its particular organiza- tion. It turns on the actual meaning of the instru- ment, by which it has appeared that a power over the press is clearly excluded from the number of powers delegated to the Federal Government. 3. And in the opinion of the committee, well may it be said, as the resolution concludes with saying, that the unconstitutional power exercised over the press by the Sedition Act, ought, " more than any other, to produce universal alarm ; because it is lev- elled against that right of freely examining public char- acters, and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right." Without scrutinizing minutely into all the provisions of the Sedition Act, it will be sufficient to cite so much of section 2d as follows : — " And be it further enacted, that if any shall write, print, utter, or pub- lish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly and will- ingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing, any false, scandalous and malicious writ- ing or writings against the Government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, with an intent to defame the said Government, or either house of the said Congress, or the President, or to bring them, or either of them into contempt or disrepute, or to excite against them, or either, or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, etc., — then such persons, being thereof con- victed before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years." On this part of the act the following observations present themselves : 1. The Constitution supposes that the President, the Congress, and each of its houses, may not dis- charge their trusts, either from defect of judgment or other causes. Hence they are all made responsible to their constituents, at the returning periods of elec- tions; and the President, who is singly intrusted with very great powers, is, as a further guard, subjected to an intermediate impeachment. 2. Should it happen, as the Constitution supposes it may happen, that either of these branches of the Government may not have duly discharged its trust, it is natural and proper, that, according to the cause and degree of their faults, they should be brought into contempt or disrepute, and incur the hatred of the people. 3. Whether it has, in any case, happened that the proceedings of either or all of those branches evince such a violation of duty as to justify a contempt, a disrepute, or hatred among the people, can only be determined by a free examination thereof, and a Irce communication among the people thereon. 4. Whenever it may have actually happened that proceedings of this sort are chargeable on all or either of the branches of the Government, it is the duty, as well as the right, of intelligent and faithful citizens to discuss and promulgate them freely — as well to control them by the censorship of the public opinion, as to promote a remedy according to the rules of the Constitution. And it cannot be avoided that those who are to apply the remedy must feel, in some degree, a contempt or hatred against the trans- gressing party. 5. As the act was passed on July 14, 1798, and is to be in force until March 3, 1801, it was of course that, during its continuance, two elections of the entire House of Representatives, an election of a part of the Senate, and an election of a President, were to take place. 6. That, consequently, during all these elections, — intended, by the Constitution, to preserve the purity or to purge the faults of the administration, — the great remedial rights of the people were to be exercised, and ■ the responsibility of their public agents to be screened, under the penalties of this act. May it not be asked of every intelligent friend to the liberties of his country, whether the power exer- cised in such an act as this ought not to produce great and universal alarm ? Whether a rigid execution of such an act, in time past, would not have repressed that information and communication among the peo- ple which is indispensable to the just exercise of their electoral rights? And whether such an act, if made perpetual, and enforced with vigor, would not, in time to come, either destroy our free system of government, or prepare a convulsion that might prove equally fatal to it? In answer to such questions, it has been pleaded that the writings and publications forbidden by the act are those only which are false and malicious, and intended to defame; and merit is claimed for the privilege allowed to authors to justify, by proving the truth of their publications, and for the limitations to which the sentence of fine and imprisonment is sub- jected. To those who concurred in the act, under the ex- traordinary belief that the option lay between the passing of such an act, and leaving in force the com- mon law of libels, which punishes truth equally with falsehood, and submits fine and imprisonment to the indefinite discretion of the court, the merit of good intentions ought surely not to be refused. A like merit may perhaps be due for the discontinuance of the corporeal punishment, which the common law also leaves to the discretion of the cour - .. This merit of intention, however, would have been greater if the several mitigations had not been limited to so short a period; and the apparent inconsistency would have been avoided, between justifying the act, at one time, by contrasting it with the rigors of the common law otherwise in force; and at another time, by appealing to the nature of the crisis, as requiring the temporary rigor exerted by the act. But whatever may have been the meritorious inten- tions of all or any who contributed to the Sedition Act, a very few reflections will prove that its baleful 956 APPEADIX II.— MADISON'S REPORT. tendency is little diminished by the privilege of giv- ing in evidence the truth of the matter contained in political writings. In the first place, where simple and naked facts alone are in question, there is sufficient difficulty in some cases, and sufficient trouble and vexation in all, in meeting a prosecution from the Government with the full and formal proof necessary in a court of law. But in the next place it must be obvious to the plainest minds, that opinions and inferences, and con- jectural observations, are not only in many cases in- separable from the facts, but may often be more the objects of the prosecution than the facts themselves ; or may eyen be altogether abstracted from particular facts; and that opinion, and inferences, and conjec- tural observations, cannot be subjects of that kind of proof which appertains to facts, before a court of law. Again : it is no less obvious that the intent to de- fame, or bring into contempt, or disrepute, or hatred, — which is made a condition of the offence created by the act, — cannot prevent its pernicious influence on the freedom of the press. For, omitting the inquiry, how far the malice of the intent is an inference of the law from the mere publication, it is manifestly impos- sible to punish the intent ta bring those who admin- ister the Government into disrepute or contempt, with- out striking at the right of freely discussing public characters and measures; because those who engage- in such discussions must expect and intend to excite these unfavorable sentiments, so far as they may be thought 'to be deserved. To prohibit the intent to excite those unfavorable sentiments against those who administer the Government, is equivalent to a prohi- bition of the actual excitement of them ; and to pro- hibit the actual excitement of them is equivalent to a prohibition of discussions having that tendency and effect : which, again, is equivalent to a protection of those who administer the Government, if they should at any time deserve the contempt or hatred of the people, against being exposed to it, by free animad- versions on their characters and conduct. Nor can there be a doubt, if those in public trust be shielded by penal laws from such strictures of the press as may expose them to contempt, or disrepute, or hatred, where they may deserve it, that, in exact proportion as they may deserve to be exposed, will be the cer- tainty and criminality of the intent to expose them, and the vigilance of prosecuting and punishing it ; nor a doubt that a Government thus intrenched in penal statutes against the just and natural effects of a culpa- ble administration, will easily evade the responsibility which is essential to a faithful discharge of its duty. Let it be recollected, lastly, that the right of elect- ing the members of the Government constitutes more particularly the essence of a free and responsible Gov- ernment. The value and efficacy of this right depends on the knowledge of the comparative merits and de- merits of the candidates for public trust, and on the equal freedom, consequently, of examining and dis- cussing these merits and demerits of the candidates respectively. It has been seen that a number of im- portant elections will take place while the act is in force, although it should not be continued beyond the term to which it is limited. Should there happen, then, as is extremely probable in relation to some one or other of the branches of the Government, to be competitions between those who are, and those who are not, members of the Government, what will be the situations of the competitors? Not equal; be- cause the characters of the former will be covered by the Sedition Act from animadversions exposing them to disrepute among the people, whilst the latter may be exposed to the contempt and hatred of the people without a violation of the act. What will be the sit- uation of the people ? Not free ; because they will be compelled to make their election between competitors whose pretensions they are not permitted by the act equally to examine, to discuss, and to ascertain. And from both these situations will not those in power de- rive an undue advantage for continuing themselves in it; which, by impairing the right of election, endan- gers the blessings of the Government founded on it? It is with justice, therefore, that the General Assem- bly have affirmed, in the resolution, as well that the right of freely examining public characters and meas- ures, and of communication thereon, is the only effectual guardian of every other right, as that .this particular right is levelled at by the power exercised in the Sedition Act. The resolution next in order is as follows; " That this State having, by its Convention, which ratified the Federal Constitution, expressly declared that, among other essential rights, ' the liberty of con- science and of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United States; ' and, from its extreme anxiety to guard these rights from every possible attack of sophistry and am- bition, having, with other States, recommended an amendment for that purpose, which amendment was in due time annexed to the Constitution, it would mark a reproachful inconsistency, and criminal de- generacy, if an indifference were now shown to the most palpable violation of one of the rights thus de- clared and secured, and to the establishment of a precedent which may be fatal to the otlu r." To place this resolution in its just light, it will be necessary to recur to the act of ratification by Virginia, which stands in the ensuing form : " We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, duly elected in pursuance of a recommendation from the General Assembly, and now met in convention, hav- ing fully and freely investigated and discussed the proceedings of the Federal Convention, and being prepared, as well as the most mature deliberation hath enabled us, to decide thereon, — no, in the name and in behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make known, that the powers granted under the Constitu- tion, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression ; and that every power not granted thereby remains with them, and at their will. That, therefore, no right of any denomination can be cancelled, abridged, re- strained, or modified, by the Congress, by the Senate, or the House of Representatives, acting in any capac- ity, by the President, or any department or officer of the United States, except in those instances in which power is given by the Constitution for those purposes ; and that, among other essential right--, the liberty of conscience and of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United Slates." Here is an express and solemn declaration by the Convention of the State, that they ratified the Con- stitution in the sense that no right of any denomina- tion can becancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by the Government of the United States, or any part of it, except in those instances in which power is given by the Constitution ; and in the sense, particu- APPENDIX H.— MADISON'S REPORT. 957 larly, " that among other essential rights, the liberty of conscience and freedom of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United States." Words could not well express, in a fuller or more forcible manner, the understanding of the Conven- tion, that the liberty of conscience and freedom of the press were equally and completely exempted from all authority whatever of the United States. Under an anxiety to guard more effectually these rights against every possible danger, the Convention, after ratifying the Constitution, proceeded to prefix to certain amendments proposed by them, a declara- tion of rights, in which are two articles providing, the one for the liberty of conscience, the other for the freedom of speech and of the press. Similar recommendations having proceeded from a number of other States ; and Congress, as has been seen, having, in consequence thereof, and with a view to extend the ground of public confidence, proposed, among other declaratory and restrictive clauses, a clause expressly securing the liberty of conscience and of the press ; and Virginia having concurred in the ratifications which made them a part of the Con- stitution,— it will remain with a candid public to de- cide whether it would not mark an inconsistency and degeneracy, if an indifference were now shown to a palpable violation of one of those rights — the free- dom nf the press ; and to a precedent, therein, which may be fatal to the other — the free exercise of re- ligion. That the precedent established by the violation of the former of these rights may, as is affirmed by the resolution, be fatal to the latter, appears to be demon- strable by a comparison of the grounds on which they respectively rest, and from the scope of reasoning by which the power of the former has been vindicated. First. Both of these rights, the liberty of con- science and of the press, rest equally on the original ground of not being delegated by the Constitution, and consequently withheld from the government. Any construction, therefore, that would attack this original security for the one, must have the like effect on the other. Secondly. They are both equally secured by the supplement to the Constitution ; being both included in the same amendment, made at the same time and by the same authority. Any construction or argu- ment, then, which would turn the amendment into a grant or acknowledgment of power, with respect to the press, might be equally applied to the freedom of religion. Thirdly. If it be admitted that the extent of the freedom of the press, secured by the amendment, is to be measured by the common law on this subject, the same authority may be resorted to for the stand- ard which is to fix the extent of the "free exercise of religion." It cannot be necessary to say what this standard would be — whether the common law be taken solely as the unwritten, or as varied by the writ- ten law of England. Fourthly. If the words and phrases in the amend- ment are to be considered as chosen with a studied discrimination, which yields an argument for a power over the press, under the limitation that its freedom be not abridged, the same argument results from the same consideration, for a power over the exercise of religion, under the limitation that its freedom be not prohibited. For, if Congress may regulate the freedom of the press, provided they do not abridge it, because it i* said only, " they shall not abridge it," and is not said, "they shall make no law respecting it," the analogy of reasoning is conclusive, that Congress may regulate, and even abridge, the free exercise of religion, pro- vided they do not prohibit it; because it is said only, "they shall not prohibit ; " and is not said, " they shall make no law respecting, or no law abridging it." The General Assembly were governed by the clear- est reason, then, in considering the Sedition Act, which legislates on the freedom of the press, as estab- lishing a precedent that may be fatal to the liberty of conscience; and it will be the duly of all, in pro- portion as they value the security of the latter, to take the alarm at every encroachment on the former. The two concluding resolutions only remain to be examined. They are in the words following: "That the good people of this Commonwealth, having ever fell, and continuing to feel, the must sincere affection for their brethren of the other States, the truest anxiety for establishing and perpetuating the union of all, and the most scrupulous fidelity to that Constitution which is the pledge of mutual friend- ship and the instrument of mutual happiness, — the General Assembly doth solemnly appeal to the like dispositions in the other States, in confidence that they will concur with this Commonwealth in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are un- constitutional ; and that the necessary and proper measures will be taken, by each, for co-operating with this State, in maintaining, unimpaired, the authorities, rights, and liberties, reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. " That the Governor be desired to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to the executive authority of each of the other Slates, with a request that the same may be communicated to the Legislature there- of, and that a copy be furnished to each of the Sena- tors and Representatives representing this State in the Congress of the United States." The fairness and regularity of the course of pro- ceeding here pursued, have not protected it against objections even from sources too respectable to be disregarded. It has been said that it belongs to the judiciary of the United States, and not the State Legislatures, to declare the meaning of the Federal Constitution. But a declaration that proceedings of the Federal Government are not warranted by the Constitution is a novelty neither among the citizens nor among the Legislatures of the States ; nor are the citizens or the Legislature of Virginia singular in the example of it. Nor can the declarations of either, whether affirm- ing or denying the constitutionality of measures of the Federal Government, or whether made before or after judicial decisions thereon, be deemed, in any point of view, an assumption of the office of the judge. The declarations in such cases are expressions of opinion, unaccompanied with any other effect than what they may produce on opinion, by exciting re- flection. The expositions of the judiciary, on the olher hand, are carried into immediate effect by force. The former may lead to a change in the legislative expression of the general will — possibly to a change in the opinion of the judiciary; the latter enforces the general will, whilst that will and that opinion con- tinue unchanged. And if there be no impropriety in declaring the unconstitutionality of proceedings in the Federal Government, where can there be the impropriety of 95 8 APPENDIX II— MADISON'S REPORT. communicating the declaration to other States, and inviting their concurrence in a like declaration ? What is allowable for one, must be allowable for all ; and a free communication among the States, where the Constitution imposes no restraint, is as allowable among the State governments as among other public bodies or private citizens. This consideration de- rives a weight that cannot be denied to it, from the relation of the State Legislatures to the Federal Leg- islature as the immediate constituents of one of its branches. The Legislatures of the States have a right also to originate amendments to the Constitution, by a con- currence of two-thirds of the whole number, in ap- plications to Congress for the purpose. When new States are to be formed by a junction of two or more States, or parts of Stales, the Legislatures of the States concerned are, as well as Congress, to concur in the measure. The States have a right also to enter into agreements or compacts, with the consent of Con- gress. In all such cases a communication among them results from the object which is common to them. It is lastly to be seen, whether the confidence ex- pressed by the Constitution, that the necessary and proper measures would be taken by the other States for co-operating with Virginia in maintaining the rights reserved to the States, or to the people, be in any degree liable to the objections raised against it. If it be liable to objections, it must be because either the object or the means are objectionable. The object, being to maintain what the Constitution has ordained, is in itself a laudable object. The means are expressed in the terms " the neces- sary and proper measures." A proper object was to be pursued by the means both necessary and proper. To rind an objection, then, it must be shown that some meaning was annexed to these general terms which was not proper; and, for this purpose, either that the means used by the General Assembly were an example of improper means, or that there were no proper means to which the terms could refer. In the example, given by the State, of declaring the Alien and Sedition Acts to be unconstitutional, and of communicating the declaration toother States, no trace of improper means has appeared. And if the other States had concurred in making a like declaration, supported, too, by the numerous applica- tions flowing immediately from the people, it can scarcely be doubted that these simple means would have been as sufficient as they are unexceptionable. It is no less certain that other means might have been employed which are strictly within the limits of the Constitution. The Legislatures of the States might have made a direct representation to Congress, with a view to obtain a rescinding of the two offen- sive acts, or they might have represented to their respective Senators in Congress their wish that two- thirds thereof would propose an explanatory amend- ment to the Constitution ; or two-thirns of themselves, if such had been their opinion, might, by an applica- tion to Congress, have obtained a convention for the same object. These several means, though not equally eligible in themselves, nor probably to the States, were all constitutionally open for consideration. And if the General Assembly, after declaring the two acts to be unconstitutional (the first and most obvious proceed- ing on the subject), did not undertake to point out to the other Slates a choice among ihe further measures that might become necessary and proper, the reserve will not be misconstrued by liberal minds into any culpable imputation. These observations appear to form a satisfactory reply to every objection which is not founded on a misconception of the terms employed in the resolu- tions. There is one other, however, which may be of too much importance not to be added. It cannot be forgotten that, among ihe arguments addressed to those who apprehended danger to liberty from the establishment of the General Government, over so great a country, the appeal was emphatically made to the intermediate existence of the Stale Governm en ts between the people and that government, to the vigil- ance with which they would descry the first symp- toms of usurpation, and to the promptitude with which they would sound the alarm to the public. This ar- gument was probably not without its effect ; and if it was a proper one then to recommend the establish- ment of a Constitution, it must be a proper one now to assist in its interpretation. The only part of the two concluding resolutions that remains to be noticed, is the repetition, in the first, of that warm affection to the Union and its mem- bers, and of that scrupulous fidelity to the Constitu- tion, which have been invariably felt by the people of this State. As the proceedings were introduced with these sentiments, they could not be more prop- erly closed than in the same manner. Should there be any so far misled as to call in question the sin- cerity of these professions, whatever regret may be excited by the error, the General Assembly cannot descend into a discussion of it. Those who have lis- tened to the suggestion can only be left to their own recollection of the part which this Slate has borne in the establishment of our national independence, or the establishment of our national Constitution, and in maintaining under it the authority and laws of the L'nion, without a single exception of internal resist- ance or commotion. By recurring to the facts, they will be able to convince themselves that the repre- sentatives of the people of Virginia must be above the necessity of opposing any other shield to attacks on their national patriotism, than their own conscien- tiousness, and the justice of an enlightened public; who will perceive in the resolutions themselves the strongest evidence of attachment, both to the Consti- tution and the Union, since it is only by maintaining the different governments, and the departments within their respective limits, that the blessings of either can be perpetuated. The extensive view of the subject, thus taken by the committee, has led them to report to the House, as the result of the whole, the following resolution : Resolved, That the General Assembly, having care- fully and respectfully attended to the proceedings of a number of the States, in answer to the Resolutions of December 21, 1798, and having accurately and fully re-examined and reconsidered the latter, find it to be their indispensable duty to adhere to the same, as founded in truth, as consonant with the Constitu- tion, and as conducive to its preservation ; and more especially to be their duty to renew, as they do hereby renew, their PROTEST against Alien and Sedition Acts, as palpable and alarming infractions of the Con- stitution. APPENDIX I.— MEREDITH P. GENTRY. 959 APPENDIX I. r.lER edith P. Gentry. Among dit, reminiscences of his Congressional life, Tew are mote pleasant and agreeable to the under- signed, or cherished with greater fondness by him, than those connected with Meredith P. Gentry. This distinguished American orator and statesman was born on the 15th of September, 1809, in the county of Rockingham, North Carolina. That con- spicuous part, however, which he acted in the great drama of life, and which justly entitles him to a high place in his coumry's history, was performed as a citizen of Tennessee. Both of these States, therefore, have reason to be proud of his fame. He was the youngest of twelve children : there were six brothers and five sisters older than he. His father was a man of energy and industry, and of above ordinary intelligence and culture, for his day and locality. By strict economy and thrift he had, as the patriarchs of old, gathered around him quite a number of " men servants and maid servants," and had acquired an estate far above the average of his neighbors. His mother, Theodosia Poindexter, is said to have been a woman of great personal beauty, as well as possessed of a strong and vigorous mind*, distinguished especially for quick perception, nice discrimination, and extraordinarily good judgment. In manner she was most agreeable and fascinating, and was the centre of the social circle wherever she went. His father, in 1813, when Meredith was quite a boy, sought a home in the rich lands of Williamson county, Tennessee, at a place near what is now known as College Grove. He was a farmer or planter of extensive means, for that country and at that time, but schools in Williamson county were then few and far between, and hence Meredith was without any favorable opportunity of obtaining an education of that character which would have been suited to his condition and nature. A lifelong friend writes that his school-days terminated at the age of fourteen years " with nothing but an acquaintance with the rudiments of an English education." The same friend says that "after leaving school, he resided with his father and mother, and devoted much of his time and attention to matters connected with the farm and its general business management. He always liked to go to the post-office for the mail, and was passionately fond of reading newspapers, and espe- cially the National Intelligencer and other papers published at Washington City. At this youthful period of his life he took great interest in reading the speeches, on both sides of every subject, by lead- ing statesmen who were in Congress from 1824 to 1S30. He read all these and became inspired by the patriotic tone of the leading men at that period." The National Intelligencer at that time published a regular report of the debates in Congress. The same friend also adds that, - he had great fondness for books, particularly the English classics, especially Milton, Pope. Dryden, Addison and Shakespeare." lie might have added Burns and Byron, for his con- versations and speeches showed that these were favor- ites with him. At an early day he took a fancy for military life, and joined a militia company, of which he was elected captain, and was soon elected colonel of the regiment. This was before he reached twenty-one years of age. During his canvass for the colonelcy, he made his first public speech, and displayed a power of oratory surprising to all who heard him. He was urged im- mediately to become a candidate for the Legislature. He accepted the nomination and made another can- vass, which added still more to his reputation. Some old man, during that canvass, is reported to have said that, " in his early days he had heard Patrick Henry, and he thought that in some things, particularly in the voice, Gentry was superior to him." His election was triumphant. This was in 1835. He was also returned to the next Legislature with increased popu- larity. During his membership of the State Legisla- ture, the question of chartering what was known for a long time as the Bank of Tennessee came up. He opposed this with all his might, and was brought in collision in the debate with the Hon. Alfred O. P. Nicholson, Hon. A. L. Martin, and other older and distinguished veteran statesmen of the time in Tennes- see. His objections to the bank were, that the powers conferred by the bill upon the Governor were such as in corrupt hands might be used very injuriously to the interests of the people. Mr. Gentry was himself of the people, and maintained their rights in this entree into public life, as well as throughout his entire pub- lic career. His prototype in history is Tiberius Grac- chus, Rome's noblest Tribune. It was during the discussion of this bank question that he made a name and fame as an orator that rapidly spread all over the State, and even reached adjoining States, establishing his reputation as a very remarkable man of his years. It was now that his powers were so enlarged as not to be confined to the " pent-up Utica " of Williamson county, and a general demand was made throughout the district for him to become their Representative in Congress. The canvass was carried on as usual in Tennessee; the old system was for the opposing can- didates to meet and discuss, with a barbecue ; but in his case no barbecue was necessary to draw immense crowds. He swept everything before him. His friends were delighted, and many of the political party opposing him could but do obeisance to his elo- quence, and join with the multitude in giving him a triumphant election. He ran and was elected as a Whig. An explanation of this term of rarty nomenclature at that time and for several years after in American politics may not be improper in this connection. It was first applied to those who opposed, with great earnestness, what they held to be the dangerous doc- trines of the centralizing principles embodied in Gen- eral Jackson's proclamation against nullification in South Carolina in 1832, and other kindred acts and measures of General Jackson's second administration, which were deemed abuses of executive power and dangerous to constitutional liberty if not arrested, par- ticularly his act of the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United States. Mr. Webster, in the Senate, defended the procla- mation with great ability, but on the other acts and measures of General Jackson referred to, he united with Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun in opposing what they charged to be dangerous encroachments of power by the Executive Department of the Government. This was the basis and the nucleus of a combined opposition to the administration throughout the country. It was the first time that the great trio, Clay, Calhoun and Webster, had ever acted in politi- 960 ATTEND IX I.— MEREDITH T. GENTRY. Cal concert and harmony, and it was at this time that the old Revolutionary name of Whig was revived and applied to this combination. It is said the name was first given by Mr. Calhoun, but soon was adopted by the elements of opposition throughout the Union. Mr. Gentry was brought up in the school of Jeffer- sonian Democracy, but in that branch which was then known by the name of the State Rights or Strict Con- struction Party, and subsequently by the almost uni- versal denomination of " Whig," as stated. He made his fir>t appearance, therefore, in the halis of Federal legislation on the assembling of the Twenty-sixih Congress, in December, 1839, as a Whig in party as- sociation. In this Congress there were several of Tennessee's ablest public men, as Cave Johnson, John Bell, Aaron V. Brown, and others. He, at a little over thirty years of age, at one bound, took position in the foremost rank in debate, not only in his own delegation, but in that House of Representatives wherein were Sargent S. Prentiss, Henry A. Wise, John Ouincy Adams, Robert C. Winthrop, Edward Stanly, Richard H. Menifee, Robert Barnwell Rhett, R. M. T. Hunter, George C. Dromgoole, Dixon 11. Lewis, George S. Houston, Walter T. Colquett, Mark A. Cooper, Edward J. Black, William C. Dawson, Eugenius A. Nisbet, Thomas Corwin, Garrett Davis, John M. Botts, Daniel B. Barnard, Linn Boyd, Reu- ben Chapman, Nathan Clifford, and Caleb Cushing. His first speech, which directed universal attention to him throughout the House and country, was in favor of the reception of abolition petitions. It was the more notable from the fact of his differing so widely from most of the Southern representatives, and being himself a large slaveholder. Always bold and fearless, discharging his duty according to the convictions of his own judgment, he announced, to the surprise of many, that these petitions should be received and reported upon. No one was firmer in the position than Mr. Gentry that the Government of the United States had no power to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States. But at the same time he thought that any petition, though asking what could not be constitutionally granted, should be re- ceived and considered. Their rejection would give the agitators an undue advantage. In this speech he said " the Representatives of the South should look at the question practically, without passion or resentment. They ought to meet it and discuss it. They ought to receive the petitions, refer them to a committee to be reported on, and that such report would show why it was that the prayers of the petitioners could not be granted." His next speech, one of the ablest of that Congress, became a most effective campaign document in the exciting canvass for President in 1840. It was on the bill to secure the freedom of elections and to restrict executive patronage. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of copies of this speech were sent broadcast throughout the land. It has been said that Mr. Gentry's education was limited. This is true as to schooling in the ordinary use of the word; but in his idle hours, on the farm at home, between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, he had not only given much of his time to the study of the English poets, but he seems to have devoted his closest attention to the study of the constitutional history of England and his own country. His models in political principles were Mcintosh and the great unknown stirrer of the British heart under the nom de plume of Junius. There were very few men in the House who could compare with Mr. Gentry in political knowledge, and in the readiness wiih which he brought this knowl- edge to bear upon any point in a running debate; but what gave him such influence in his addresses, either on the hustings or in the legislative hall, was his won- derful elocution. His physique was manly, his personal appearance prepossessing, his form was symmetrical, his action most graceful, his complexion ruddy, his high brow grave and commanding, his voice full-volumed and rounded with a silver tone which penetrated all parts of that old hall in which it was so difficult for even Prentiss or Wise or Tom Marshall to be heard. On the occasion of the speech to which reference is now made, he rose higher than even his friends had looked for. In it he replied with much power to a disparaging remark of a member against that class of politicians characterized as " gentlemen of leisure." Said he, " I know none who enjoy so much leisure, as the planters of the South, who have been generally admitted to be pre eminent in those noble qualities and manly virtues which give dignity to human nature." Space will not allow the reproduction of any of those portions of the speech which were so telling on the political issues of the day. It may be seen by the students of history and the admirers of eloquence, in the appendix to the Congressional Globe, for the first session of the Twenty-sixth Congress, on page 707 ; it was this speech that made the author of it known by reputation to the writer of this sketch, long before he had the pleasure of his persona] acquaintance. During this first session an incident occurred in Mr. Gentry's Congressional career which was some- what amusing in its nature, and may be given here as a sort of " footlight " to his character. There was a call of the House; these calls were, in those days, about the same as now; they then, as now, caused new members unexpected embarrassment. On an occasion of this sort, when brought to the bar of the House by the Sergeant-at-arms, Mr. Gentry said, by way of excuse, " that he left the house at twelve o'clock at night, perceiving that there was a very strong disposition in one party to debate the question in committee of the whole, and a strong disposition in the other party to stick out the debate; he had no wish to participate in the debate, nor did he desire to listen to the speeches that should be made. Having been, for the most part of his life, a man of regular habits, he went home and went to bed. Most unfor- tunately for him, however, this House, by its messen- ger, intruded itself into his bed-room this morning, and aroused him out of his sweet sleep, in conse- quence of which he looked upon himself as the injured party, and therefore, an apology was due to him instead of from him. Inasmuch, however, as it would be inconvenient for every gentleman to call on him and apologize, he would take it for granted that it was done, and he would agree with the House, that they should mutually excuse each other." Upon payment of fees, he was discharged, with the usual roar of laughter in the House on such occasions. His popularity, at the expiration of his Congres- sional term, was so thoroughly established that oppo- sition was almost useless. In the next contest for Congress in his district he was again triumphantly returned to what is known in history as the Whig Congress, from 1841 to 1 843. In this body he main- APPENDIX I.— MEREDITH P. GENTRY. 961 tained his reputation as an orator and debater, but seemed to be depressed from the divisions in the Whig party. About this time, also, befell him one of the heaviest domestic blows which can afflict a true, manly heart. Some time before his first election to Congress, Febru- ary 22, 1837, Mr. Gentry had formed a most happy union in marriage with Miss Emily Saunders, a grand- daughter of the famous Colonel John Donelson, who lived near the Hermitage. She was a cousin of the more generally distinguished Andrew J. Donelson^ General Jackson's adopted son, who was a candidate for the Vice-Presidency on the Fillmore ticket in 1 856, and who held numerous offices of honor and trust in his day. Miss Saunders was a lady of great beauty and high accomplishments. To her Mr. Gentry was most devoted. Their union was one which added greatly to their mutual happiness. The death of this most amiable woman and devoted wife at about this time brought a blight upon the prospects, hopes, and aspirations of the young Tennessee statesman, and almost ended his own life. This blow fell so heavily upon him that he withdrew from the world for a while. Hence he would not permit his name to be presented to the people for election to the Twenty-eighth Con- gress. He spent his time in seclusion and melancholy with his two children, both daughters, the darling pledges of the love of the departed mother. But on the revival of his spirits two years after, and it being known that he would consent to represent the district again, the canvass was opened, and he was returned with about the usual majority, to the Twenty ninth Congress. It was here, on his reappearance in Congress in December, 1845, the writer first met him and made his personal acquaintance. Tney soon became inti- mate; in politics they agreed on almost every ques- tion. They were soon after in the same mess at Mrs. Carter's boarding house, in Dowson's old row, on Capitol Hill. In those days few members of Congress took permanent board at any of the hotels, and fewer still kept house. They organized into messes, and their names were arranged in the Congressional Di- rectories according to their messes. This House in which he reappeared also recognized in him a born leader. With him now came for the first time, his distinguished colleague, Edward H. Ewing, from the Nashville District. But the three most prominent new members who entered the Twenty-ninth Congress were Robert Toombs, of Georgia, William L. Yancey, of Alabama, and Jeffer- son Davis, of Mississippi. In the preceding Congress, the Twenty-eighth, which assembled in 1843, nl which the writer entered, there appeared an unusually large number of new members who have since figured most conspicuously in the country's history. A little digression here in reference to the personnel of these members and some incidents of that House may be allowed as reminis- cein.es. Among those of that " shoal " of new members who then entered and have since become so conspicuous. may be mentioned Stephen A. Douglas, John A. Mc- Clernand, John J. Hardin, Orlando B. Ficklin, John Wentworth, and Joseph P. Hoge, all of Illinois. To the same Congress came for the first time, Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee ; John P. Hale, of New Hamp- shire; Thomas L. Clingman, of North Carolina; Han- nibal Hamlin, of Maine; Alexander Ramsay, of Penn- sylvania, and Howell Cobb, of Georgia; Solomon 61 Foot, Jacob Collamer, George P. Marsh, and Paul Dillingham, Jr., of Vermont ; Preston King, Hamil- ton Fish, and Washington Hunt, of New York ; Rich- ard Broadhead, David Wilmot, James Pollock, and James Thomas, of Pennsylvania; James A. Seddon, of Virginia; David S. Reid, of North Carolina; Aimistead Burt, of South Carolina; Hugh A. Haral- son, Absalom II. Chapped, John H. Lumpkin, and William II. Styles, of Georgia; George W. Jones, of Tennessee; Robert McClellan, of Michigan; Robert C. Schenck, of Ohio ; John Slidell, of Louisiana, and Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana. These new-comers had all made their mark during the Twenty-eighth Congress. It may be doubted if any Congress since the first has presented so many new members who subsequently obtained such dis- tinction ; indeed it was said before the expiration of that Congress that there were at least twenty candi- dates for the Presidency in the number. It was thought that the Illinois delegation had at least three, perhaps more, aspirants for that high office. Upon all occasions when any new subject of debate was started nearly every member of the Illinois dele- gation would speak, and they all spoke well. This gave rise to a rather amusing incident in the House as to the proper pronunciation of the name of that State. Mr. John Campbell, of South Carolina, a most accomplished and scholarly gentleman, who !:ad been for many years a Representative from that State, pro- nounced the name "Ile-noi." Others insisted that the right pronunciation was "Illi-no.is." Mr. Campbell appealed to the venerable gentleman from Massachu- setts, Mr. John Quincy Adams, who was considered the highest authority in the House upon all such ques- tions. Much interest was manifested as to what would be the decision of the authority appealed to, and all eyes were directed to Mr. Adams, when, with a smirk- ing smile upon his face, he rose and spoke in substance as follows : " Mr. Speaker, 'Nbn nostrum inter vos tantas com- ponere iites.'* If I were to judge of the proper pro- nunciation of the State from the demonstrations of its delegation in the present Congress, I should say it ought to be '■All-noise,' " emphasizing, with great effect, the last syllable. A roar of laughter was the result. The leading members of that State, who were thus figuring in those debates, and who were thought to have aspirations for the Presidency, even at that early date, were Mr. Douglas, who subsequently became so famous; John J. Hardin, who gallantly fell at the head of his regimental column at the battle of Bueni Vista, one of the most agreeable and brightest men of his day ; and Mr. John A. McClernand, who then and subsequently acted so important a part in the leg- islation of the country, and figured so conspicuously in command of a corps during the late war — he still lives, enjoying an old age ripe v ith honors. His la--t high position was that of President of the Democratic Convention, at St. Louis, in 1876, which put in nomi- nation for the Presidency, Samuel J. Tiiden. It was during this, the Twenty-eighth Congress, that the resolutions providing for the admission of Texas as a State in the Union, were passed ; and it was soon after the assembling of the Twenty-ninth Congress that Texas was admitted to the Union, upon her having adopted a constitution, in pursuance of *Qi' — " It is not for me to decide so great contests between you." 962 APPENDIX I.— MEREDITH P. GENTRY. the provision of the joint resolution previously passed. Mr. Gentry's first speech, upon his reappearance in the House, was upon a most memorable occasion. He took little part at the first session, in debate. The Mexican War had been inaugurated with the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la l'alma, in the month of May, 1846. There was a strong opposition to the policy which led to the outbreak of hostilities ; but the minority — the Whig party — in the House was very timid and shy in making public expression of this feel- ing of opposition. Most of them had voted for the bill declaring that the war existed, though they asserted their belief that the preamble ol the bill was utterly false. Only one member of the House, who refused to vote for the declaration of war, at an early day thereafter denounced as unconstitutional the acts of the President in the removal of the troops from Corpus Christi to Matamoras, which provoked hostilities be- tween the two countries. The other Whig members were generally silent, until the assembling ol the second session of Congress, in December. In the message of the President, Mr, Polk, there was a very pointed expression about " giving aid and comfort to the enemy.'' It was at this time that Mr. Gentry made his first speech in the Twenty-ninth Congress. It was one of the must eloquent and finest specimens ol high-toned invective in the annals of the country. It can be seen in the Congressional Globe, Appendix, of the second session of the Twenty-ninth Congress, on page 56. Mr. Gentry seldom indulged in acrimonious remarks, but the President, on the occasion relerred to, was so pointed in his indirect charge of treason against those who censured his policy in bringing on the war, by saying they were giving aid and comfort to the enemy, that he had all the manliness in his nature aroused, and took the floor to hurl back the unjust aspersion that had thus been cast upon him and his party asso- ciates, and to vindicate the course of himself and the minority befo r e an intelligent world. His exordium was brief and spirited. He main- tained that it was "the highest duly ol the represent- ative of a free people to maintain the truth and the right on all occasions." "The imputation," he said, "which the President ha; thought proper to make in his official communi- cation to Congress, was echoed and re-echoed on this fl )or, by his liegemen, yesterday, in a way which raises a strong presuni] tion that there is a concerted purpose to frighten us, with a storm of denunciation, from the independent discharge of our duty as representatives of the people. We are called upon to assert our rights or basely succumb to executive intimidations. * * " I choose, therefore, to speak now, although unprepared for the debate, merely to exhibit my defiance of these denunciations, and express the contempt in which I hold them." II lid he \\ ished to " maintain those rights which were dear to freemen and formidable to tyrants and usurpers only." After charging that " the war was unconstitutionally begun by the President, for ambi- tious and unholy purposes of conquest," he said, in regard to the methods of the President : "lie has au- daciously assumed thus to act, without the sanction or authority of Congress. Shall we, the descendants of the Whig patriots of the American Revolution, tamely and silently yield up the Constitution of our country, the guarantee of our liberty, to be violated and tram- pled upon in this way ? " Farther on he says : " We would dishonor the glorious name which constitutes our designation as a political party if we were thus to act. Our veneration for our fathers, our duty to our- selves and our posterity, our devotion to liberty — every glorious recollection of the past, every high hope of the future, forbids a course o. conduct so unpatriotic, so inglorious." The conclusion of this speech, the reproduction of which space will not permit, was no less eloquent than prophetic. His appeal to the Virginia and South Carolina dele- gations, who were sustaining the policy of Mr. Polk, to come to the rescue of the Constitution, was one of the most earnest ever delivered in the House. lie begged them " to remember that the glory of their ancient commonwealths was not won by subserviency to power, but by brave and patriotic resistance to usurpation." It is doubted if Prentiss or Choate, or any other nun, in the House, ever made a more thrilling and rousing display of soul-stirring eloquence. Chatham was not more majestic in the British Parliament in his denunciation of the abuses of power by a Tory admin- istration, in bringing on the war of the Revolution. Gentry's speech awed the Administration side, and emboldened the timid Whig ranks. After this a reso- lution was introduced by that Whig member who, at an early day, had denounced as unconstitutional the act of the President in bringing on the war, declaring that while patriotism required that the armies should be fully sustained, yet the war should be waged only for obtaining an honorable peace, but not with any view or ob|ect ol conquest. This resolution was voted for by some of the prominent members of the other side, and soon became the Whig war platform for the Presidential election which resulted in the success of their candidate, General Taylor, in 1848. Mr. Gentry was a Whig, not only ol the new, but of the old school. He was a man ol principle and not of policy. He was, in many respects, a very extraor- dinary man. He was unselfish, unambitious, and entiiely disin- terested, personally, in all his public acts. In private life he was kind, generous, and charitable, and benev- olent in a high degree. No man had in him more of the milk ol human kindness. Though uncultured in the ancient languages, yet few men had a greater com- mand of English, or better understood the extraordi- nary flexibility of his native tongue, in the selection and use of those words which expressed the nicest shade ol thou -tit, than he. Dr. Johnson, in his Latin epitaph on Goldsmith, said " nullum (/inn/ teligit non omavitP This may be applied to Mr. Gentry in English, for there was no subject he touched that he did not adorn and embel- lish. His speeches were always extempore ; he was never at a loss for a word, seemingly the very best word that could have been chosen alter time and con- sideration. His eulogy upon Clay, delivered off-hand, without premeditation, was most apt, powerful, and pathetic. Socially, he was urbane and genial, pos- sessed of high conversational powers, was fond of humor and anecdote, and everything said by him on convivial occasions was not only entertaining, but un- accompanied by anything impure or unchaste. In his domestic relations he was always happy. On his re- turn to Congress, where the writer ol this sketch first met him, as stated, he brought with him his second wife, Miss Caladonia Drown, a lady of great accom- plishment and refinement. She was one of the stars of the mess at Mrs. Cartel's, wherein shone eolispicu- APPEXDIX I.— MEREDITH P. GEXTRY. 9 6 3 ously the second Mrs. John J. Crittenden, from Ken- tucky; Mrs. Bufrington, from Pennsylvania; Mrs. Underhill, from New York, and Mrs. Robert Toombs, from Georgia. He was a party man only in so far as party organi- zation secured wise measures and good government. Hence, when the party to which he then belonged, and which he was endeavoring to induce to maintain the Constitution, deviated, as he thought, from iis an- cient landmarks of principle, he hesitated not to aban- don its organization. He was devoted to the Union under the Constitution. This principle was the polar star of his action. Upon the subject of slavery — or the " peculiar institution " of the South, as it was called — he agreed very fully with the writer of this, in holding that "the emancipation of the blacks, with its conse- quences, should be considered with more interest as a social question — one relating to the proper status of the different elements of society, and their lelations to each other, looking to the best interests of all, than in any other light. The pecuniary aspect of it, the con- siderations of labor and capital in a politico-economic view, sunk into insignificance in comparison with this. Other and higher considerations outweighed the prop- erty view of the subject, though that involved two thousand million dollars." Above all he held that the institution as it existed, with its needful changes and ameliorations, should be left where it was left by the Constitution ; that is, under the control of the au- thorities of the several States. Therefore, in 1849 and '850, when the Whig party in caucus, on the nomination of Mr. Winthrop as Speaker, refused to adopt a resolution disavowing a purpose to pass what he deemed unconstitutional measures interfering with this institution in the Dis- trict of Columbia and the Territories, he abandoned the organization. Six Southern Whigs, who thoroughly agreed with him, put his name in nomination for the Speakership, in opposition to Mr. Winthrop, whom they and he had made Speaker in the previous Congress. These six Southern Whigs clung to Mr. Gentry to the last, which resulted in the defeat of Mr Winthrop, the Whig caucus nominee, in 1849. This brought down the denunciations of the party press against him and those associates who were in sympathy with him ; but with that bold independence that ever characterized him, he cared as little for this as they did. He took a prominent part with Clay, Douglas, Cass, Toombs, Cobb, Webster, Foote, McClernand, and Fillmore, besides many others composed of both of the two previous organizations, in the adjustment measures of 1850 ; and in 1S52, when General Scott refused to indorse these measures as adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Whig convention at Baltimore in that year, he, with many other S Whigs, refused to give him their support. Scott was defeated, and Pierce, the Democratic candidate, who gave those measures his cordial approval, was tri- umphantly elected. Thereupon the Whig party lie- came extinct. It was in 1S61, after the secession of several ~ when the Peace Congress assembled in Washington, in which Mr. Chase, well known to be the intended Secretary of the Treasury of Mr. Lincoln, then elect, openly declared that the Northern States never would fulfil their obligations under the Constitution of the United States in the matter of the return of fugitives from service, that Mr. Gentry's long-cherished hope of the Union seemed to die within him, and pass away as an illusive dream. There were then thirteen States, which had avowedly and openly declared, that that clause of the Constitu- tion ol the United States, without which, Judge Story said, the Constitution never could have been made; and which, Judge Baldwin, of the Supreme Court, on a Circuit Bench, said, was " the comer-stone of the United Stales Government,'' should be uncondition- ally repudiated. It was then that Mr. Gentry, in re- tirement on his plantation in Tennessee, determined, like many other old Southern Whigs, that there was but one alternative for patriots, and lhat was, to quit the Union, as the only hope of saving the Constitu- tion. With these feelings, he cast his fortune with his State, after the overwhelming popular vote, though irregularly taken in favor of secession, was given, lie was elected to the Confederate Congress in 1S62, and again in 1863. It was there that the writer of this sketch met this long attached friend the last time. He was then failing in health and spirits. With ihe waning fortunes of the Confederacy, pursuing a policy internally and externally which his judgment did not approve, and the loss of his second wife, de- spondency came upon him. He had espoused seces- sion only as a State rights remedy to rescue and pre- serve the Constitution ; he thought this extreme remedy ought to be resorted to only as a redress of grievances, and lhat when the Northern States, faith- less to their obligations under the Constitution, should rectify their wrongs, all the States should again be reunited upon the old or the improved Confederate Constitution. But he became satisfied that this end would never be obtained under the policy of the ad- ministration at Richmond. After the collapse, and the result of the war was known, the last hope of good government left him, and on the 2d of Novem- ber, 1S67, bereft of fortune, with blasted hopes, and gloomy forebodings for the future of his country in the dark days of reconstruction, he departed this life on the plantation of one of his daughters. He left four children surviving, two daughters by the first marriage, and two sons by the last. This brief tribute is given to the memory of one of the truest and noblest gentlemen the writer ever met with in his eventful life. No profounder philan- thropist, no one more devoted to Constitutional Lib- erty ever lived in this or any other country than Meredith Poindexter Gentry. Alex •• i"R II. Stephens. Washington, D. C, 17/// May, 1SS1. APPENDIX K. Georgia Platform <>i 1850. To the end that the position of this State may be clearly apprehended by her Confederates of the S-aiih and of the North, and that she may be blame] 1 all future consequences — Be it resolved by the people of Georgia in 1 Hon assembled. First. That we hold the American Union secondary in importance only to the rights and principles it wis designed to perpetuate. That past nt fruition, and future pro will bind us to it so long as it continues to be the safeguard of those rights and principles. Second. That if the thirteen original parties to the 9 6 4 APPENDIX L. — ADDRESS BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA. compact, bordering the Atlantic in a narrow belt, while their separate interests were in embryo, their p. i uii ir tendencies scarcely developed, their revolu- tionary trials and triumphs still green in memory, found Union impossible without compromise, the thirty-one of this day may well yield somewhat in the conflict of opinion and policy, to preserve that Union which has extended the sway of Republican Government over a vast wilderness to another ocean, and proportionally advanced their civilization and national greatness. Third. That in this spirit the State of Georgia lias maturely considered the action of Congress, embrac- i ries of measures for the admission oi California into the Union, the organization ofTerritorial Govern- ments for Utah and New Mexico, the establishment of a boundary between the la'ter and the v . the suppression of the slave trade in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and the extradition of fugitive slaves, and (connected with them) the rejection of propositions to exclude slavery from the Mexican Territories, and to abolish it in the DLtrict of Colum- bia; and, whilst she does not wholly approve, will abide by it as a permanent adjustment ■ •! this sectional controversy. Fourth. That the State of Georgia, in the judg- ment of this convention, will and ought to resist, even (as a last resort) to a disruption of every tie which binds her to in, any future Act of Congress . boli hing slavi ry in the District of Columbia, without the consent and petition of the slaveholders thereof, or any act abolishing slavery in places within the slaveholding States, purchased by the United Slates for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- yards, navy yards, and other like purposes; or in any act suppressing the slave trade between slaveholding State-; or in any refusal to admit as a Stale any Ter- ritory applying, because of the existence oi slavery therein; or in any act prohibiting the introduction of slaves into the Territories of Utah and New Mexico; or in any act repealing or materially modifying the laws now in force for the recovery ol fugitive slaves. Fifth. That it is the deliberate 0] inion of this con- vention, that upon the faithful execution of the Fugi- tive Slave Bill by the pr per authorities, depends the preservation of our much loved Union. APPENDIX L.— No. i. Address before the Generai Assembly of rHE State oi Georgia, February 22, 1866. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives : I appear before you in answer to your call. This call, coming in the imposing form it does, and under the circumstances it doe-, requires a response from me. You have assigned to me a very high, a very honorable and responsible position. This position you know I did not seek. Most willingly would T have avoided it ; and nothing but an extraordinary sense of duty could have induced me to yield my own disinclinations and aversions to your wishes and judg- ment m the matter. I- or this unusual manifestation of esteem and confidence, I return you my profound- est acknowledgments of gratitude. Of one thing only can 1 give you nny assurance, and that is, if I shall be permitted to discharge the trusts thereby imposed, they will be discharged with a singleness of purpose to the public good. The great object with me now, is to see r. restora- tion, if possible, of peace, prosperity, and constitu- tional liberty in this once happy, but now disturbed, agitated, and distracted country. To this end. all my energies and efforts, to the extent of their powers, « ill be devoted. You ask my views on the existing state of affairs; our duties at the present, and the prospects of the future? This i- a U.-k from which, under other cir- cumstances, I might very well shrink, lie who ven- tures to speak, and to give counsel and advice in times of peril, or disaster, assumes no enviable j osi- tion. Far be that rashness from me which sometimes prompts the forward to rush in where angels might fear to tread. In responding, therefore, briefly to your inquiries, I feel, I trust, the full weight and magnitude of the subject. It involve- the welfare of millions now living, and that of many more millions who are to come after us. I am also fully inn wi.h the consciousness of the inconceivably small effect of what 1 shall say upon the momentous results involved in the subject itself. It is with ihese feelings I c tier my mite of c< unsi 1 at your request. And in the outset of the under- taking, limited as it is intended to be to a few general ideas only, well may I imitate an illustrious example in invoking aid from on high; "that I may say noth- ing on this occasion which may compromit tin lights, the honor, the dignity, or best interests of my m in try." I mean especially the rights, honor, dignity, and best interests of the people of Georgia. With their sufferings, their losses, their misfortunes, their bereavements, and their present utter prostration, my be. nt is in deepest sympathy. We have reached that point in our affairs at v hi. h the great question before us is — "To be or not to be?" — and if to be — How? Hope, ever >| in the human breast, prompts, even under the j . calamine- and adversities, never to despair. Adver- sity is a severe school, a terrible crucible; loth for individuals and communities. We are now in this . this crucible, and should bear in mind that it i- never negative in it> action. It is always positive. It is ever decided in its effects, one way or the other. It either makes better or worse. It either brings out unknown vices, or arouses dormant virtue-. In mi rals, its tendency is to make saints or n | — in politics, to make heroes or des] eradoes. The first indication of it-- working for good, to which hope look- anxiously, is the manifestation of a lull con- sciousness of its nature and extent; and the most promising grounds of hope for possible good from our present trouble-, or of things with us getting bet- ter instead of worse, i- the evidi nt general reali on the part of our people, of their present situation : of the evils now upon them, and of the greater on< - -till impending. These it is not my purpose to ex- aggerate if I could; that would be useless; nor to lessen or extenuate; that would be worse than use- less. All fully understand and realize them. They feel them. It is well they do. Can these evils upon us — the absence of law ; the want of protection and security of person and ] rop erly, without which civilizat : on cannot advance — be removed ? or can those greater ones which threaten our very political existence, be averted? These are the questions. It is true we have not '.he control of all the t< trie dies, even if these questions could be satisfactorily answered. Our fortunes and destiny are not entirely APPENDIX L.— ADDRESS BLFORE HIE ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA. 965 in our own hands. Yet there are some things that we may, and can, and ought, in my judgment, to do, from which no harm can come, and from which some good may follow, in bettering our present condition. States and communities, as well as individuals, when they have done the best they can in view of surround- ing circumstances, with all the lights they have before them — let results be what they may — can at least enjoy the consolation — no small recompense that — of having performed their duty, and of having a con- science void of offence before God and man. This, if no more valuable result, will, I trust, attend the doing of what I propose. The first great duty, then, I would enjoin at this time, is the exercise of the simple, though difficult and trying, but nevertheless indispensable quality of patience. Patience requires of those afflicted to bear and to suffer with fortitude whatever ills may befall them. This is often, and especially is it the case with us now, essential for their ultimate removal by any instrumentalities whatever. We are in the con- dition of a man with a dislocated limb, or a broken leg, and a very bad compound fracture at that. How it became broken should not be with him a question of so much importance, as how it can be restored to health, vigor, and strength. This requires of him, as the highest duty to himself, to wait quietly and pa- tiently in splints and bandages, until nature resumes her active powers — until the vital functions perform their office. The knitting of the bones and the granulation of the flesh require lime ; perfect quiet and repose, even under the severest pain, is necessary. It will not do to make too great haste to get well ; an attempt to walk too soon will only make the matter worse. We must or ought now, therefore, in a simi- lar manner to discipline ourselves to the same or like degree of patience. I know the anxiety and restless- ness of the popular mind to be fully on our feet again — to walk abroad as we once did — to enjoy once more the free outdoor air of heaven, with the perfect use of all our limbs. I know how trying it is to be denied representation in Congress, while we are pay- ing our proportion of the taxes — how annoying it is to be even partially under military rule — and how in- jurious it is to the general interest and business of the country to be without post-offices and mail communi- cations ; to say nothing of divers other matters on the long list of our present inconveniences and privations. All these, however, we must patiently bear and en- dure for a season. With quiet and repose we may get well — may get once more on our feet again. One thing is certain, that bid humor, ill-temper, exhibited either in restlessness or grumbling, will not hasten it. Next to this, another great duty we owe 10 our- selves is the exercise of a liberal spirit of forbearance amongst ourselves. The first step toward local or general haimony, is the banishment from our breasts of every feeling and sentiment calculated to stir the discords of the past. Nothing could be more injurious or mischievous to [he future ol this country, than the agitation, at present, of questions that divided the people anterior to, or during the existence of the late war. On no occasion, and especially in ihe bestownient of office, ought such differences of opinion in the past ever to be men- tioned, either for or against any one, otherwise equally entitled to confidence. These ideas or sentiments of other times and circumstances are not the germ- from which hopeful organizations can now arise. Let all differences of opinion, touching errors, or supposed errors, of the head or heart, on the part of any, in the past, growing out of these matters, be at once, in the deep ocean of oblivion forever buried. Let there be no criminations or recriminations on account of acts of other days. No convassing of past conduct or mo- tives. Great disasters are upon us and upon the whole country, and without inquiring how these origi- nated, or at whose door the fault should be laid, let us now as common sharers of common misfortunes, on all occasions, consult only as to the best means, under the circumstances as we find them, to secure the best ends toward future amelioration. Good government is what we want. This should be the leading desire and the controlling object with all; and I need not assure you, if this can be obtained, that our desolated fields, our towns and villages, and cities now in ruins, will soon — like the Phoenix — ri.se again from their ashes; and all our waste places will again, at no dis- tant day, blossom as the rose. This view should also be borne in mind, that what- ever differences of opinion existed before the late fury of the war, thev sprung mainly from differences as to the best means to be used, and the best line of policy to be pursued, to secure the great controlling object of all — which was good GOVERNMENT. Whatever may be said of the loyalty or disloyalty of any, in the late most lamentable conflict of arms, I think I may venture safely to say, that there was, on the part of the great mass of the people of Georgia, and of the entire South, no disloyalty to the principles of the Constitu- tion of the United States. To that system of repre- sentative government; of delegated and limited pow- ers; that establishment in a new phase, on this con- tinent, of all the essentials of England's Magna Charta, for the protection and security of life, liberty and property ; with the additional recognition of the principle as a fundamental truth, that all political power resides in the people. With us it was simply a question as to where our allegiance was due in the maintenance of these principles — which authority was paramount in the last resort — State or federal. As for myself, I can affirm that no sentiment of dis- loyalty to these great principles of self-government, recognized and embodied in the Constitution of the United States, ever beat or throbbed in breast or heart of mine To their maintenance my whole soul was ever enlisted, and to this end my whole life has heretofore been devoted, and will continue to be the rest of my days — God willing. In devotion to these principles, I yield to no man living. This much I can say for myself; may I not say the same for you and for the great mass of the people of Georgia, and for the great mass of the people of the entire South ? Whatever differences existed amongst us, arose from differences as to the best and. surest means of secur- ing these great ends, which was the object of all. It was with this view and this purpose secession was tried. That has failed. Instead of bettering our condition, instead of establishing oiir liberties upon a surer foundation, we have, in the war that ensued, come well nigh losing the whole of the rich inherit- ance with which we set out. This is one of the sad realizations of the present. In this, too. we are but illustrating the teachings of historv. Wars, and civil wars especially, always menace liberty ; they seldom advance it; while they usually end in its entire overthrow and destruction. Ours stopped uist short of such a catastrophe. Our only alternative now is, either lo give up all hope of constitutional liberty, or to retrace our steps, and to 96c APPENDIX L.— ADDRESS BEFORE THE ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA. look for its vindication and maintenance in the forums of reason ami justice, instead of on the arena of arms — in the couits and halls of legislation, instead of on the fields of battle. I am frank and candid in telling you right here, that our surest hopes, in my judgment, of these ends, are in the restoration policy of the President of the United States. I have little hope for liberty — little hope for the success of the great American experiment of self-government — hut in the success of the present efforts for the restoration of the States to their former practical relations in a common government, ui.der the Constitution of the United States. We -ue not without an encouraging example on this line in the history of the mother country — in the history of our ancestors — from whom we derived, in great measure, the principles to which we are so much devoted. The truest friends of liberty in England once, in 1642, abandoned the forum of reason, and appealed, as we did, to the sword, as the surest means, in their judgment, of advancing their cause. This was after they had made great progress, under the lead of Coke, Hampden, Falkland and others, in the advancement of liberal principles. Many usur- pations had been checked ; many of the prerogatives of the crown had been curtailed ; the petition of right had been sanctioned; ship-money had been aban- doned; courts-martial had been done away with; habeas corpus had been re-established ; high courts of commission ami star-chamber had been abolished ; many other great abuses of power had been corrected, and other reforms established. But not satisfied with these, and not satisfied w ith the peaceful working of reason, to go on in its natural sphere, the denial of the sovereignty of the crown was pressed by the too ardent reformers upon Charles the First, All else he had yielded — this he would not. The sword was appealed to, to settle the question ; a civil war was the result; great valor ami courage were displayed on both sides; men of eminent virtue and patriotism fell in the sanguinary and fratricidal conflict; the king was 1 deposed and executed; a commonwealth pro- claimed. But the end was the reduction of the people of England to a worse state of oppression than they had been in for centuries. They retraced their steps. After nearly twenty years of exhaustion and blood, and the loss of the greater portion of the liberties enjoyed by them before, they, by almost unanimous consent, called for restoration. The restoration came. Charles the Second ascended the throne, as unlimited a mon- arch as ever ruled the empire. Not a pledge was asked or a guarantee given, touching the concessions of the royal prerogative, that had been exacted and obtained from his father. The true friends of liberty, of reform and of pro- gress in government, had become convinced that these were the offspring of peace and of enlightened reason, and nol ol passion nor of arms. The House of Commons and the House of Lords were hence- forth the theatres of their operations, and not the fields of Newberry or Marston-Moor. The result w ts, that in less than thirty years, all their ancient oid privileges, which had been lost in the civil war. with new securities, were re-established in the ever-memorable settlement of 16S8; which, for all practical purposes, may he looked noon as a bloodless revolution. Since that time, England has made still further and more signal strides in reform and pro- gress. But not Htie of these has been effected by resort to arms. Catholic emancipation was carried in parliament, after years of argument, against the most persistent opposition. Reason and justice ulti- mately prevailed. So with the removal of the dis- ability of the Jews — so with the overthrow of the rotten borough system — so with the extension of franchise — so with the modification of the coin law's, and restrictions on commerce, opening the way to the establishment of the principles of free trade — and so with all the other great reforms by parliament, which have so distinguished English history for the last half century. May we not indulge hope, even in the alternative before us now, from this great example of restoration, if we but do as the friends of liberty there did ? This is my hope, my only hope. It is founded on the virtue, intelligence and patriotism of the American people. I have not lost my faith in the people, or in their capacity for self-government. But for these great essential qualities of human nature, to be brought into active and efficient exercise, for the fulfilment of patriotic hopes, it is essential that the passions of the day should subside; that the causes of these passions should not now be discussed ; that the embers of the late strife shall not be stirred. Man by nature is ever prone to scan closely the errors and defects of his fellow-man — ever ready to rail at the mote in his brothel's eye, without consider- ing the beam that is in his own. This should not be. We all have our motes or beams. We are all frail ; perfection is the attribute of none. Prejudice or pre- judgment should be indulged toward none. Pieju- dice ! What wrongs, what injuries, what mischiefs, what lamentable consequences, have resulted at all times from nothing but this perversity of the intellect ! Of all the obstacles to the advancement of truth and human progress, in every department — in science, in art, in government, and in religion, in all ages and climes, not one on the list is more formidable, more difficult to overcome and subdue, than this horril le distortion of the moral as well as intellectual facul- ties. It is a host of evil within itself. I could en- join no greater duty upon my countrymen now, North and South, than the exercise of that degree of for- bearance which would enable them to conquer their prejudices. One of the highest exhibitions of the moral sublime the world ever witnessed, was that of Daniel Webster, when in an open barouche in the streets of Boston, he proclaimed in substance, to a vast assembly of his constituents — unwilling hearers — that " they had conquered an uncongenial clime; they had conquered a sterile soil ; they had conquered the winds and currents of the ocean; they had con- quered most of the elements of nature; but they must vet learn to conquer their prejudices!" 1 know of no more fitting incident or scene in the life of that wonderful man, "Cfarus et vir Fortissimus," for per- petuating the memory of the true greatness of his character, on canvas or 111 marble, than a representa- tion of him as he then and there stood and spoke-! It was an exhibition of moral grandeur surpassing that of Aristides when he said, " ( Ih, Athenians, what Themistocles recommends would be greatly to your interest, but it would be unjust !" I sav to you, and if my voice could extend through- out this vast country, over hill and dale, over moun- tain and valley, to hovel, hamlel and mansion, village, town and city, I would say, among the first, [coking to restoration of peace, prosperity and harmony in this land, is the great duty ol exercising that degree of forbearance which will enable them to conquer APPENDIX L— ADDRESS BEEORE THE ASSEMBL V OF GEORGIA. 967 their prejudices. Prejudices against communities as well as individuals. And next to that, the indulgence of a Christian spirit of charity. "Judge not that ye be not judged," especially in matters growing out of the late war. Most of the wars that have scourged the world, even in the Christian era, have arisen on points of con- science, or differences as to the surest way of salva- tion. A strange way that to heaven, is it not ? How much disgrace to the church, and shame to mankind, would have been avoided, if the ejaculation of each breast had been, at all limes, as it should have been, " Let not this weak, unknowing hand, Presume Thy bolts to throw ; And deal damnation round the land, On him /deem Thy foe." How equally proper is it now, when the spirit of peace seems to be hovering over our war-stricken land, that in canvassing the conduct or motives of others during the late conflict, this great truth should be impressed upon the minds of all, " Who made the heart? 'Tis He alone Decidedly can try us; He knows each chord, its various tone Each spring, its various bias ; Then at the balance, let's be mute, We never can adjust it ; What's done, we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted." Of all the heaven descended virtues, that elevate and ennoble human nature, the highest, the sublimest, and the divinest is charity. I>y all means, then, fail not to exercise and cultivate this soul-regenerating element of fallen nature. Let it be cultivated and exercised not only amongst ourselves and toward our- selves, on all questions of motive or conduct touching the late war, but toward all mankind. Even toward our enemies, if we have any, let the aspirations of our hearts be: "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." The exercise of patience, for- bearance, and charity, therefore, are the first three duties I would at this time enjoin — and of these three, " the greatest is charity." But to proceed. Another one of our present du- ties is this: we should accept the issues of the war, and abide by them in good faith. This, I feel ful y persuaded, it is your purpose to do, as well as that of your constijtuents. The people of Georgia have in convention revoked and annulled her ordinance of 1861, which was intended to sever her from the com- pact of Union of 17S7. The Constitution of the United States has been reordained as the organic law of our land. Whatever differences of opinion hereto- fore existed as to where our allegiance was due, dur- ing the late state of things, none for any practical purpose can exist now. Whether Geurgia, by the action of her convention of 1 86 1 , was ever rightfully out of the Union or not, there can be no question that she is now in, so far as depends upon her will and deed. The whole United States, therefore, is now without question our country, to be cherished and defended as such, by all our hearts and by all our amis. The Constitution of the United States, and the treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof, are now acknowledged to be the piramounl law in this whole country. Whoever, therefore, is true to these prin- ciples as now recognized, is loyal as far as that term has any legitimate use or force under our institutions. This is the only kind of loyalty and the oidy test of loyally the constitution itself requires. In any other view, everything pertaining to restoration, so far as regards the great body of the people in at least eleven States of the Union, is but making a promise to the ear to be broken to the hope. AH, therefore, who accept the issue of war in good faith, and come up to the test required by the constitution, are now loyal, however they may have heretofore been. But with this change comes a new order of things. One of the results of the war is a total change in our whole internal polity. Our former social fabric has been entirely subverted. Like those convulsions in nature which break up old incrustations, the war has wrought a new epoch in our political existence. Old things have passed away, and all things among us in this respect are new. The relation heretofore, under our old system, existing between the African and European races, no longer exists. Slavery, as it was called, or the status of the black race, their subordi- nation to the white, upon which all our institutions rested, is abolished forever, not only in Georgia, but throughout the limits of the United States. This change should be received and accepted as an irrevo- cable fact. It is a bootless question now to discuss, whether the new system is better for both races than the old one was or not. That may be proper matter for the philosophic and philanthropic historian, at some future lime to inquire into, after the new system shall have been fully and fairly tried. All changes of systems or proposed reforms are but experiments and problems to be solved. Our system of self-government was an experiment at first. Per- haps as a problem it is not yet solved. Our present duty on this subject is not with the past or the future ; it is with the present. The wisest and the best often err, in their judgments, as to the probable workings of any new system. Let us therefore give this one a fair and just trial, without prejudice, and with that ear- nestness of purpose which always looks hopefully to success. It is an ethnological problem, on the solu- tion of which depends, not only the best interests of both races, but it may be the existence of one or the other, if not both. This duty of giving this new system a fair and just trial will require of you, as legislators of the land, great changes in our former laws in regard to this large class of population. Wise and humane pro- visions should be made for them. It is not for me to go into detail. .Suffice it to say on this occasion, that ample and full protection should be secured to them, so that they may stand equal before the law, in the possession and enjoyment of all rights of person, lib- erty and property. Many considerations claim this at your hands. Among these may be stated their fidelity in times past. They cultivated your fields, ministered to your personal wants and comforts, nursed and reared your children ; and even in the hour of danger and peril they were, in the main, true to you and yours. To them we owe a debt of grati- tude, as well as acts of kindness. This should also be done because they are poor, untutored, uninformed ; many of them helpless, liable to be imposed upon, and need it. Legislation should ever look lo the protec- tion of the weak against the strong. Whatever may lie said of the equably of races, or their natural capa- city to become equal, no one can doubt that at this time this race among u.-> is nut equal to the Caucasian. 90S APPENDIX L.— ADDRESS BEFORE THE ASSEMBL V OF GEORGEA. This Inequality docs not lessen the moral obligations on the |>.m ol the superior to the inferior : it rather increases them. From him who has much, more is required than from hiin who has little. The present generation ol them, it is true, is far above their savage progenitor-, who were at first introduced into this country, in general intelligence, virtue, and moral culture. This shows capacity for improvement. But in all the higher characteristics of mental develop- ment, they are still very far below the European type. What further advancement they may make, or to what standard they may attain, under a different sys- tem of laws every way suitable and wisely applicable to their changed condition, time alone can disclose. I speak of them as we now know them to be; having no longer the protection of a master, or legal guardian, they now need all the protection which the shield of tii'- law can give. But, above all, this protection should be secured, because it is right and just that it should be, upon general principles. All governments in their organic structure, as well as in their administration, should have this leading object in view; the good of the governed. Protection and security to all under its jurisdiction, should be the chief end of every govi w ment. It is a melancholy truth that while this should be the chief end of all governments, most of them are used only as instruments of power, for the aggran- dizement of the few, at the expense of, and by the op- pression of, the many. Such are not our ideas of government, never have been, and never should be. Governments, according to our ideas, should look to the good of the whole, and not a part only. "The greatest good to the greatest number," is a favorite dogma with some. Some so defended our old sys- tem. But you know this was never my doctrine. The greatest good to all, without detriment or injury to any. is the true rule. Those governments only are founded upon correct principles, of reason and jus- tice, which look to the greatest attainable advance- ment, improvement and progress, physically, intel- lectually and morally, of all classes and conditions within their rightful jurisdiction. If our old system wis not the best, or. could not have been made the best, for bi ith races, in this respect and upon this basis, it ought to have been abolished. This was my view of that system while it lasted, and I repeat it now that it is no more. In legislation, therefore, under the new system, you should look to the best interest of all classes; their protection, security, advancement and improvement, physically, intellectually and mor- ally. All obstacles, if there be any, should be re- moved, which, can possibly hinder or retard, the im- provement of the blacks to the extent of their capa- city. All proper aid should be given to their 0WB Channels of education should be opened up to them. Schools, and the usual means of moral and intellectual training, should be encouraged amongst them. This is the dictate, not only of what is right and proper, and just in itself, but it is also the prompt- ings of the highest considerations of interest. It is difficult to conceive a greater evil or curse, that could befall our country, stricken and distressed as it now is, ih. in for so large a portion of its population, as this class w i!l quite probably constitute amongst us, here after, to be reared in ignorance, depravity and vice. In view of such a state of things well might the prudent even now look to its abandonment. Let us not, however, indulge in such thoughts of the future, nor let us, without an effort, say the system cannot be worked. Let us not, standing still, hesitatingly ask. " Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" but let us rather say as Gamaliel did, " If this counst 1 or this work be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye he found even to fight against God." The most vexed questions of the age are social problems. These we have heretofore had but little to do with ; we were relieved from them by our peculiar institution. Eman- cipation ol the blacks, with its consequences, was ever considered by me with much more interest as a social question, one relating to the proper status of the different elements of society, and their relations toward each other, looking to the best interest of all, than in any other light. The pecuniary aspect of it, the considerations of labor mid caj ital, in a politico- economic view, sunk into insignificance, in comparison with this. This problem, as one of the results of the war, is now upon us, presenting one of the niosi per- plexing questions of the sort that any people ever had to deal with. Let us resolve to do the best we can with it. from all the rights we have, or can get from any quarter. With this view, and in this connection, I take the liberty of quoting for your consideration, some remaiks even from the Rev. Henry Waul Beecher. I met with them some months ago while pondering on this subject, and was as much struck as surprised, with the drift of their philosophy, coming from the source they did. I give them as I find tlum in the New York Times, where they were reported. You may he as much surprised at hearing such ideas from Mr. Beecher, as I was. Bui, however much we may differ from him on man}- questions, and on many questions connected with this subject, yet all must admit him to rank amongst the master spirits of the age. And no one perhaps has contributed more by the power of his pen and voice in bringing about the present state of things, than he has. Yet, never- theless, I commend to your serious consideration, is pertinent to my present object, what he was reported to have said, as follows ■ "In our land and time facts and questions are pressed upon us which demand Christian settlement — settlement on this ground and doctrine. We can- not escape the responsibility. Being strong and powerful, we must nurse, and help, and educate, and foster the weak, and poor, and ignorant. For ny own part, I cannot see how we shall escape il terrible conflict of classes, by and by, unless we are- educated into this doctrine of duty, on the part of the superior to the inferior. We are told by zealous and fanatical individuals, that all men are equal. We know better. They are not equal. A common brotherhood teaches no such absurdity. A theory of universal, physical likeness, is no more absurd than this. Now, as in all times, the strong go to the top, the weak go to the bottom. It's natural, right and can't be helped. All branches are not at the to]) of the tree, but the top does not despise the lower; nor do they all despise the limb or the parent trunk ; and SO with tin- body politic, there mUSl be classes. Some must be at the top and some must be at the bottom. It is difficult to foresee, and estimate the development of lie- poiver of classes in America. They are simply inevitable. They are here now, and will be more. If they are friendly, living at peace, loving and respecting and helping one another, all will be well. But if they are selfish, unchristian; if APPENDIX L.— ADDRESS BEFORE THE AS3EMBL Y OF GEORGIA. 969 the old heathen feeling is to reign, each extracting all he can from his neighbor, ami caring nothing for liim ; society will be lined by classes a> by seams — like bat- teries, each firing broadside after broadside, the one upon the other. If, on the other hand, the law of love prevails, there will be no ill-will, no envy, no disturbance. Does a child hate his father because he is chief, because he is strong and wise ? On the con- trary, he grows with his father's growth, and strength- ens with his strength. And if in society there should be fifty grades or classes, all helping each other, there will be no trouble, but perfect satisfaction and con- tent. This Christian doctrine carried into practice, will easily settle the most troublesome of all home present questions.'' What he here said of the state of things where he spoke in the State of New York, and the fearful an- tagonism of classes there, is much more applicable to us. Here, it is true, only two great classes exist, or are likely to exist, but these are deeply marked by dis- tinctions bearing the impress of nature. The one is now beyond all question greatly superior to the other. These classes are as distinct as races of men can be. The one is of the highest type of humanity, the other of the lowest. All that he says of the duty of the superior, to protect, to aid, to encourage, and to help the inferior, I fully and cordially indorse and com- mend to you as quite as applicable to us and our situ- ation, as it was to his auditors. Whether the doc- trine, if carried out and practised, will settle all these most troublesome home questions with us as easily as he seemed to think it would like home questions with those whom he was addressing, I will not undertake to say. I have no hesitancy, however, in saying that the general principles announced by him are good. Let them be adopted by us as far as practicable. No harm can come from it, much good may. Whether the great barrier of races which the Creator has placed between this, our inferior class and ourselves, shall prevent a success of the experiment now on trial, of a peaceful, happy and prosperous community, com- posed of such elements and sustaining present rela- tions toward each other, or even a further elevation on the part of the inferior, if they prove themselves fit for it, let the future, under the dispensations of Providence, decide. We have to deal with the present. Let us do our duty now, leaving results and ultimate consequences to that " Divinity which shapes our ends. Rough hew them how we will." In all things on this subject, as in all others, let our guide he the admirable motto of our State. Let our counsels be governed by wisdom, our measures by moderation, and our principles by justice. So much for what I have to say on this occasion, touching our present duties on this absorbing subject, and some of our duties in reference to a restoration of peace, law, and order; without which all must, sooner or later, end in utter confusion, anarchy, ami despotism. I have, as I said I should, only glanced at some general ideas. Now as to the future, and the prospect before us! On this branch of the subject I can add but little. You can form some ideas of my views of that from what has already been said. Would that I could say something cheerful ; but that candor, which has marked all that I have said, compels me to say that to me the future is far from being bright. Nay, it is (lark and impenetrable; thick gloom curtains and closes in the horizon all around us. Thus much I can say: my only hope is in the peaceful re establishment of good government, and its peaceful maintenance afterward. And, further, the most hopeful prospect to this end now is the restoration of the old Union, and with it the speedy return of fraternal feeling through- out its length and breadth. These results depend upon the people themselves — upon the people of the North quite as much as the people of the South — upon their virtue, intelligence, and patriotism. I repeat, I hase faith in the American people, in their virtue, intelli- gence, and patriotism. But for this I should long since have despaired. Dark and gloomy as the present hour is, I do not yet despair of free institutions. Let but the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism of the peo- ple throughout the whole country be properly appealed to, aroused and brought into action, and all may yet be well. The masses, everywhere, are alike equally interested in the great object. Let old issues, old questions, old differences, and old feuds, be regarded as fossils of another epoch. They belong to what may hereafter be considered the Silurian period of our his- tory. Great, new, living questions are before us. Let it not be said of us in this day, not yet passed, of our country's greatest trial and agony, that " there was a party for Caesar, a party for Pompey, and a party for Brutus, but no party for Rome." But let all patriots, by whatever distinctive name heretofore styled, rally, in all elections everywhere, to the support of him, be he who he may, who bears the standard with " Constitutional Union " emblazoned on its folds. President Johnson is now, in my judgment, the chief great standard-bearer of these principles, and in his efforts at restoration should receive the cordial support of every well-wisher of his country. In this consists, on this rests, my only hope. Should he be sustained, and the government be restored to iis former functions, all the States brought back to their practical relations under the Constitution, our situation will De greatly changed from what it was before. A radical and fundamental change, as has been stated, has been made in that organic law. We shall have lost what was known as our " peculiar institution," which was so intertwined with the whole framework of our Slate body politic. We shall have lost nearly half the accumulated capital of a century. But we shall have still left all the essentials of free govern- ment, contained and embodied in the old Constitution, untouched and unimpaired as they came from the hands of our fathers. With these, even if we had to begin entirely anew, the prospect before us would be- much more encouraging than the prospect was before them, when they lied from the oppressions of the old world, and sought shelter and homes in this then wil- derness land. The liberties we begin with, they had to achieve. With the same energies and virtues they displayed, we have much more to cheer us than they had. With a climate unrivalled in salubrity; with a soil unsurpassed in fertility; and with products un- equalled in value in the markets of the world, to say nothing of our mineral resources, we shall have much still to wed us to the good old land. Willi good gov- ernment, the matrix from which alone spring all great human achievements, we shall lack nothing but our own proper exertions, not only to recover our former prosperity, but to attain a much higher degree of de- velopment in everything that characterizes a great, 97° APPENDIX L.— TESTIMONY OF A. H. STEPHENS. APPENDIX L.— 2. free, and happy people. At least I know of no other land that the sun shines upon, that offers better pros- pects under the contingencies stated. The old Union was based upon the assumption that, it was for the best interest of the people of all the State- to be united as they were, each State faithfully performing to the people of the other State- all their obligations under the common compact. I always thought this assumption was founded upon broad, cor- rect, and statesman-like principles. 1 think so yet. It was only when it seemed to be impossible further to maintain it, without hazarding greater evils than would perhaps attend a separation, that I yielded my assent in obedience to the voice of Georgia, to try the experiment which has just resulted so disastrously to us. Indeed, during the whole lamentable conflict, it was my opinion thai however the pending strife might terminate, so far as the appeal to the sword was con- cerned, yet after a while, when the passions and ex- citements of the day should pass away, an adjustment or arrangement would be made upon continental prin- ciples, upon the genera' basis of " reciprocal advantage and mutual convenience," on which the Union was first established. My earnest desire, however, through- out, was, whatever might be done, might be peaceably done; might be the result of calm, dispassionate, and enlightened reason ; looking to the permanent interests and welfare of all. And now, after the severe chas- tisement of war, if the general sense of the whole country shall come back to the acknowledgment of the original assumption, that it is for the best interests of all the States to be so united, as I trust it will; the States still being " separate as the billows, but one as the sea; " I can perceive no reason why, under such restoration, we as a whole, with " peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations and entangling alliances with none," may not enter upon a new career, exciting increased wonder in the old world, by grander achievements hereafter to be made, than any hereto- fore attained, by the peaceful and harmonious work- ings of our American institutions of self-government. All this is possible if the hearts of the peopie be right. It is my earnest wish to see it. Fondly would I in- dulge my fancy in gazing on such a picture of the fu- ture. With what rapture may we not suppose the spirits of our fathers would hail its opening scenes from their mansions above. Such are my hopes, rest- ing on such contingencies. But if, instead of all this, the passions of the day shall continue to bear sway; if prejudice shall rule the hour; if a conflict of races shall arise; if ambition shall turn the scale; if the sword shall be thrown in the balance against patriot- ism ; if the embers of the late war shall be kept a-glow- ing until with new fuel they shall flame up again, then our present gloom is but the shallow, the penumbra of that deeper and darker eclipse, which is to totally obscure this hemisphere and blight forever the anxious anticipations and expectations of mankind! Then, hereafter, by some bard it may be sung, "The Star of Hope shone brightest in the West, The hope of Liberty, the last, the best ; That, too, has set, upon her darkened shore, And Hope anil freedom light up earth no more." May we not all, on this occasion, on this anniver- sary of the birthday of Washington, join in a fervent priyerto Heaven that the Great Ruler of events may avert from this land such a fall, such a fate, and such a requiem ! RESTORATION. Testimony of Alexander H. Stephens before the Reconstruction Committee. Alexander H. Stephens — Sworn and examined. By Mr. Bout well : Q. State your residence. A. Crawfordsville, Georgia. Q. What means have you hail, since Lee's surren- der, to ascertain the sentiments of the people of Georgia with regard to the Union ? A. I was at home, in Georgia, at the time of the surrender of General Lee, and remained there until the nth of May, and during that time conferred very freely with the people in my immediate neighborhood, with the governor of the State, and with one or two other leading or prominent men in the State. From the nth of May until my return to Georgia, which was the 25th of October, I had no means of knowing anything of the public sentiment there, except through the public press and such letters as I re- ceived. From the time of my return until I left the State on my present visit here, I had very extensive intercourse with the people, visiting Augusta, visiting Milledgeville during the session of the legislature, first on their assembling, again in January upon their reassembling, and again in the latter part of Febru- ary. While there, I conversed very freely and fully with all the prominent leading men, or most of them, in the legislature, and met a great many of the prominent, influential men of the State, not connected with the legislature; and by letters fn m and corre- spondence with men in the State whom I have not met. I believe that embraces a full answer to the question as to my means of ascertaining the sentiments of the people of that State upon the subject stated in the question. Q. As the result of your observations, what is your opinion of the purpose of the people with reference to the reconstruction of the government, and what are their desires and purposes concerning the mainten- ance of the government ? A. My opinion, and decided opinion, is that an overwhelming majority of the people of Georgia are exceedingly anxious for the restoration of the govern- ment, and for the State to take her former position in the Union, to have her senators and representatives admitted into Congress, and to enjoy all her rights and to discharge all her obligations as a State under the Constitution of the United States as it stands amended. Q. What are their present views concerning the justice f the rebellion ? Do they at present believe that it was a reasonable and proper undertaking, or otherwise ? A. My opinion of the sentiment of the people of Georgia upon that subject is, that the exercise of the right of secession was resorted to by them from a de- sire to render their liberties and institutions more secure, and a belief on their part that this was abso- lutely necessary for that object. They were divided upon the question of the policy of the measure; there was, however, but very little division among them upon the question of the right of it. It is now their belief, in my opinion — and I give it merely as an opinion — that the surest, if not the only hope for their liberties, is the restoration of the Constitution of the United States and of (he government of the United States unde the Constitution. APPENDIX L.— TESTIMONY OF A. II. STEPHENS. 971 Q. Has there been any change of opinion as to the right of secession, as a right, in the people or in the States ? A. I think there has been a very decided change of opinion, as to the policy, by those who favored it. I think the people generally are satisfied sufficiently with the experiment, never to resort to that measure of redress again, by force, whatever may be iheirown abstract ideas upon that subject. They have given up all idea of a maintenance of these opinions by a resort to force. They have come to the conclusion that it is better to appeal to the forums of reason and justice, to the halls of legislation and the courts, for the pi enervation of the principles of constitutional liberty, than to the arena of arms. It is my settled convic- tion that there is not any idea cherished at ail in the public mind of Georgia, of ever reporting again to secession, or to the exercise of the right of secession by force. That whole policy for the maintenance of their rights, in my opinion, is at this time totally aban- doned. Q. But the opinion as to the right, as I understand, remains substantially the same? A. I cannot answer as to that. Some may have changed their opinion in this respect. It would bean unusual thing, as well as a difficult matter, for a whole people to change their convictions upon abstract truths or principles. I have not heard this view of the subject debated or discussed recently, and I wish to be understood as giving my opinion only on that branch of the subject which is of practical character and importance. Q. To what do you attribute the change of opinion as to the propriety of attempting to maintain their views by force ? A. Well, sir, my opinion about that — my indi- vidual opinion, derived from observation — is that this change of opinion arose mainly from the operation of the war among themselves, and the results of the conflict, from their own authorities on their individual rights of person and property — the general breaking down of constitutional barriers which usually attend all protracted wars. Q. In 1S61, when the ordinance of secession was adopted in your State, to what extent was it supported by the people ? A. After the proclamation of President Lincoln calling out seveny-five thousand militia, under the cir- cumstances it was issued, and blockading the south- ern ports, and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the southern cause, as it was termed, received the almost unanimous support of the people of Geor- gia. Before that they were very much divided on the question of the policy of secession. But after- ward they supported the cause within the range of my knowledge, with very few exceptions (there were some few exceptions, not exceeding half a dozen I think). The impression then prevailing was, that public liberty was endangered, and they supported the cause because of their zeal for constitutional rights. They still differed very much as to the ultimate object to be attained, and the means to be used, but these differences yielded to the emergency of the appre- hended common danger. Q. Was not the ordinance of secession adopted in Georgia, earlier in date than the proclamation lor seventy-five thousand volunteers ? A. Yes, sir. I stated that the people were very much divided on the question of the ordinance of se- cession, but that after the proclamation the people became almost unanimous in their support of the cause. There were some few exceptions in the State — I think not more than half a dozen among my ac- quaintances. As I said, while they were thus almost unanimous in support of the cause, they differed also as to the end to be attained by sustaining it. Some looked to an adjustment or settlement of the contro- versy upon any basis that would secure their constitu- tional rights; others looked to a southern separate nationality as their only object and hope. These different views as to the ultimate objects did not in- terfere with the general active support of the cause. Q. Was there a popular vote upon the ordinance of secession ? A. Only so far as in the election of delegates to the convention. Q. There was no subsequent action ? A. No, sir; the ordinance of secession was not sub- mitted to a popular vote afterward. Q. Have you any opinion as to the vote it would have received, as compared with the whole, if it had been submitted to the free action of the people? Witness. Do you mean after it was adopted by the convention ? Mr. Boutwell. Yes; after it was adopted by the convention, if it had been submitted forthwith, or within a reasonable time. A. Taking the then state of things into considera- tion, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi, I think, having seceded, my opinion is that a majority of the people would have ratified it, and perhaps a decided or large majority. If, however, South Carolina and the other States had not adopted their ordinances of secession, I am very well satisfied that a majority of the people of Georgia, and perhaps a very decided majority, would have been against secession if the or- dinance had been submitted to them. But as matters stood at the time, if the ordinance had been submitted to a popular vote of the State, it would have been sustained. That is my opinion about that matter. Q. What was the date of the Georgia ordinance ? A. The 18th or 19th; I think the 19th of January, 186 1, though I am not certain. Q. The question of secession was involved in the election of delegates to that convention, was it not ? A. Yes, sir. Q. And was there on the part of candidates a pretty general avowal of opinions? A. Very general. Q. What was the result of the election as far as the convention expressed any opinion upon the question of secession ? A. I think the majority was about thirty in the con- vention in favor of secession. I do not recollect the exact vote. Q. In a convention of how many ? A. In a convention based upon the number of sen- ators and members of the House in the general as- sembly of the State. The exact number I do not recollect, but I think it was near three hundred, per- haps a few over or under. . Q. Was there any difference in different parts of the State in the strength of Union sentiment at that time? A. In some of the mountain counties the Union sentiment was generally prevalent. The cities, low lis, anil villages were generally for secession throughout the State, I think, with some exceptions. The anti- secession sentiment was more general in the rural districts and in the mountain portions of the State; 9/2 APPENDIX I..— TESTIMONY OF A. H. STEPHENS. yet the people of some of the upper counties were very active and decided secessionists. There was nothing like a sectional division of the State at all. For instance, the delegation from Floyd county, in which the city of Rome is situated, in the uppi tion of the State, was an able one, strong for seces- sion, while the county of Jefferson, down in the inte- rior of the cotton Kelt, sent one of tin- must prominent delegations for the Union. I could designate other particular counties in that way throughout the State, showing that there was not what might be termed a sectional or geographical division of the State on the question. Q. [n what particular did the people believe their constitutional liberties were assailed or endangered from the Union ? A. Mainly, I would say, in their internal polity and their apprehension from the general con- solidating tendencies of the doctrines and principles of that political party which had recently succeeded in the choice of a President and Vice-President ol the United Slates. It was the serious apprehension that if the republican organization, as then constituted, would succeed to power, it would lead ultimately to a virtual subversion of the Constitution of the United Stales, and all essential guaranties of public liberty. I think that was the sincere and honest conviction in the minds of our people. Those who opposed seces- sion did not apprehend that any such result would necessarily follow the elections which had taken place; they still thought that all their rights might be maintained in the Union and under the constitution, especially as there were majorities in both Houses of Congress who agreed with them on constitutional questions. < v >. To what feature of their internal social polity did they apprehend danger? A. Principally the subordination of the African race as it existed under their laws and institutions. Q. In what spirit is the emancipation of slaves re- ceived by the people ? A. Generally it is acquiesced in ami accepted, I think, in perfect good faith, and with a disposition to do the best that can be done in the new order of things in this particular. Q. What a! present are the relations subsisting be- tween the white people and black people, especially in the relation of employers and employed? A. Quite as good, I think, as in any part of the world that ever 1 have been in, between like classes ot employers and employes. The condition of things, in this respect, on my return last fall, was very dif- ferent from wh.it it was when I left home for my present visit to this city. During the fall and up to the close ol the year, there was a general opinion pre- vailing among the colored people thai at Christmas there would be a division of the lands, and a very genera] indisposition on their part to make any con- it all for the present year. Indeed, there were very few contracts, I think, made throughout the State until after Christmas, or about the 1st of Janu- ary. General Tillson, who is at the head of the bureau in the State, and whose administration has given very general satisfaction to our people, 1 think, was very active in disabusing the minds of the col- ored people from their error in this particular. lie Visited quite a number ol places in the State, and ad- dressed large audiences of colored people, and when they became satisfied they were laboring under a mis- take in anticipating a division of lands after Christmas and the 1st of January, they made contracts very readily generally, and since that time affairs have, in the main, moved on quite smoothly and quietly. Q. Are the negroes generally at work? A. Yes, sir; they are generally at work. There are some idlers; but this class constitutes but a small proportion. Q. What upon the whole has been their conduct? Proper under the circumstances in which they have been placed, or otherwise? A. A- a whole, much better than the most hopeful looked for, Q. As far as you know, what are the leading ob- jects and desires of the negro population at the pres- ent time in reference to themselves? A. It is to be protected in their rights of persons and of property — to be dealt by fairly and justly. Q. What, if anything, has been clone by the legis- lature of your State for the accomplishment of these objects ? A. The legislature has passed an act of which the following is a copy : " [No. 90.] "AN ACT to define the term ' persons of color,' and- to declare the rights of such peisoiis. "Section I. Be it enacted, etc ., That all negroes, mulattoes, mestizoes, and their descendants, having one-eighth negro or African blood in their veins, shall be known in this State, as • persons of color.' "■Section 2. Be tt further enacted, That persons of color shall have the right to make and enforce con- tracts, to sue, be sued, to be parties and give evidence, to inherit, to purchase, and to have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and estate, and shall not be subjected to any other or different punishment, pain, or penalty for the commission of an) act or offence than such as are prescribed for white persons committing like acts or offences." The third section of this act simply repeals all con- flicting laws. It was approved by the governor on the 17th of March last. Q. Does this act express the opinions of the peo- ple, and will it be sustained ? A. I think it will be sustained by the courts as well as by public sentiment. It was passed by the present legislature. As an evidence of the tone of the legislature of the State, as well as that of the peo- ple of the State upon this subject, I will refer you simply to a letter I wrote to Senator Stewart upon the same subject. I submit to you a copy of that letter. It is as follows : "Washington, D. C, April 4, 1866 " ! IEAR Sir : In answer to your inquiries touching the sentiments and feelings of the peo] le oi Georgia low aid the freedmen, and the legal status ol this class of population in the State, etc., allow me briefly to say that the address delivered by me >n the 22d of February last before the legislature (a copy of which I herewith hand you) expresses very fully and clearly my own opinions and feelings upon the subjects ol your inquiry. This address was written and printed as \ou now see it, before its delivery. It was de- luded verbatim as you now read it, that there might be no mistake about it. It was as it now stands unanimously indorsed by the Senate in a joint reso- lution, which was concurred in in the House without APPENDIX L.— TESTIMONY OF A. H. STEPHENS. 973 dissent, and was ordered to be spread upon the jour- nals of both Houses. This I refer you to as a better and more reliable index of the feelings and views of the people of the State on this subject than any bare individual opinion I might entertain or express. The legislature of the State, it is to be presumed, is as correct an exponent of the general feelings and views of the State upon any political question as any that can be obtained from any quarter. In addition to this, the legislature subsequently evinced their prin- ciples by their works in passing an act, which I also inclose to you. This act speaks for itself. It is short, concise, pointed, as well as comprehensive. It secures to the colored race the right to contract and to enforce contracts, the right to sue and to be sued, the right to testify in the courts, subject to the same rules that govern the testimony of whites, and it subjects them to the same punishments for all offences as the whites. In these respects, embracing all essential civil rights, all classes in Georgia now stand equal before the law. There is no discrimina- tion in these particulars on account of race or color. " Please excuse this hasty note; I have no time to go more in detail. " Yours, most respectfully, "Alexander H. Stephens. " Hon. William M. Stewart, "United States Senate." Q. What, if anything, is being done in Georgia with regard to the education of the negroes, either children or adults ? A. Nothing by the public authorities as yet. Schools are being established in many portions of the State, under the auspices, I think, of the Freed- men's Bureau, and quite a number by the colored people themselves, encouraged by the whites. Q. What disposition do the negroes manifest in regard to education? A. There seems to be a very great desire on the part of the children and younger ones, and with their parents to have them educated. Q. What is the present legal condition of I hose who have lived together as husband and wife? Do the laws recognize and sustain the relations and the legitimacy of their offspring? A. Our State laws do. They recognize all those living as man and wife as legally man and wife. A good many of them took out licenses, and were mar- ried in the usual way. There is no difference in our laws in that respect. Licenses are issued for white and black alike, only they are prohibited from in e marrying with each other. The races are not permitted to intermarry. Q. Were the amendments to the constitution of the State of Georgia, recently adopted, submitted to the people ? A. No, sir; they were not submitted. I have no hesitation, however, in expressing the opinion that nine-tenths of the people would have voted for them if the constitution had been submitted. That is but an opinion. I heard no dissent at all in the State. I was there all the lime. I got home before the o in- vention adjourned. The State constitution, as made by the convention, would have been ratified almost without opposition. It would have been ratified nem. con. if it had been submitted. This, at least, is my opinion. Q. What wis the voting population of your State in 1S60? A. Something upward of a hundred thousand. Q. What is probably the present voting population ? A. The voting population of the State, under the present constitution, is perhaps eighty thousand. That is a mere estimate. Q. Has there been any enumeration of the losses of Georgia in the field, in the military service? A. No accurate estimate that I am aware of. Q. What is it supposed to have been ? A. I am not able to answer the question with any- thing like accuracy. Q. What is the public sentiment of Georgia with regard to the extension of the right of voting to the negroes ? A. The general opinion in the State is very much averse to it. Q. If a proposition were made to amend the Con- stitution so as to have representation in Congress based upon voters substantially, would Georgia ratify such a proposed amendment, if it were made a condition precedent to the restoration of the Stale to political power in the Government? A. I do not think they would. The people of Georgia, in my judgment, as far as I can reflect or represent their opinions, feel that they are entitled under the Constitution of the United States, to repre- sentation without any further condition precedent. They would not object to entertain, discuss, and ex- change views in the common councils of the country with the other States upon such a proposition, or any proposition to amend the Constitution, or change it in any of its features, and they would abide by any such change if made as the Constitution provides ; but they feel that they are constitutionally entitled to be heard by their senators and members in the houses of Con- gress upon this or any other proposed amendment. I do not, therefore, think that they would ratify that amendment suggested as a condition precedent lo her being admitted to representation in Congress. Such, at least, is my opinion. Q. It is then your opinion that at present the people of Georgia wouldneither be willing to extend suffrage to the negroes, nor consent to the exclusion of the ne- groes from the basis of representation? A. The people of Georgia, in my judgment, are perfectly willing to leave suffrage and ihe basis of rep- resentation where the Constitution leaves it. They look upon the question of suffrage as one belonging exclusively to the States; one over winch, under the Constitution of the United States, Congress has no jurisdiction, power, or control, except in proposing amendments to the Slates, and not in exacting them from them, and I do not think, therefore, that the people of that State, while they are disposed, as I be- lieve, earnestly, to deal fairly, justly, and generously with the freedmen, would be willing to consent to a change in the Constitution that would give Congress jurisdiction over the question of suffrage. And espe- cially would they be very much averse to Congress exercising any such jurisdiction, without their repre- sentatives in the Senaie and House being heard in the public council upon this question that so vitally con- cerns their internal policy, as well as the internal pol- icy of all the States. Q. If the propo-uion were to be submitted to Geor- gia as one of the eleven States lately in rebellion, lhat she might be restored to political power in the gov- ernment of the c Hintry upon the condition precedent that she should, on the one hand, extend suffrage to the negro, or, on the other, consent to their exclusion 974 APPENDIX L.— TESTIMONY OF A. II. STEPHENS. from the basis of representation, would she accept cither proposition and take her place in the govern- ment of the country ? A. I can only give my opinion. I do not think she would accept either as a condition precedent presented by Congress, for they do not believe that Congress has the rightful power under the Constitution to prescribe such a condition. If Georgia is a State in the Union, her people feel that she is entitled to representation without conditions imposed by Congress. And if she is not a State in the Union, then she could not be admitted as an equal with the others if her admission were trammelled with conditions that do not apply to all the rest alike. General universal suffrage amongst the colored people, as they are now there, would by our people be regarded as about as great a political evil as could befall them. Q. 11 the proposition were to extend the right of suffrage to those who could read, anil to those who had served in the Union armies, would that modifica- tion affect the action of the State ? A. I think the people of the State would be un- willing to do more than they have done for restora- tion. Restricted or limited suffrage would not be so objectionable as general or universal ; but it is a mat- ter that belongs to the State to regulate. The ques- tion of suffrage, whether universal or restricted, is one of State policy exclusively, as they believe. Indi- vidually 1 should not be opposed to a proper system (»f restricted or limited suffrage to this class of our population ; but in my judgment it is a matter that belongs of constitutional right to the States to regulate exclusively, each lor itself. But the people of that Male, as I have said, would not willingly, I think, do more than they have done for restoration. The only view, in their opinion, that could possibly justify the war which was carried on by the federal Government against them, was the idea of the indissolubleness ol I .e Union — that those who held the administration for the lime were bound to enforce the execution of the laws and the maintenance of the integrity of the coun- try under the Constitution ; and since that was accom- plished, since those who had assumed the contrary principle — the right of secession, and the reserved sovereignty of the States — had abandoned their cause, and the administration here was successful in main- taining the idea upon which war was proclaimed and waged, and the only view in which they supposed it could be justified at all — when that was accomplished, I say, the people ol Georgia supposed their State was immediately entitled to all her rights under the Con- stitution. That is my opinion of the sentiment of the people of Georgia, and I do not think they would be willing to do anything further as a condition prece- deni to theii being permitted to enjoy the full measure of their Constitution.il rights. I only give my opinion of the of the people at this time. They ex- pected that as soon as the Confederate cause was abandoned, that immediately the States would be brought back into their practical relations with the Government, as previously constituted. That is what they looked to. They expected that the Stale would immediately have their representatives in the Senate and in the House, and they expected in good faith, as loyal men, as the term is frequently used — I mean by it loyal to law, order, and the Constitution — to support the Government under the Constitution. That was their feeling. They did what they did, believing it was best for the protection of constitutional liberty. Toward the Constitution of the United States, as they construed it, the great mass of our people were as much devoted in their feelings as any people ever were to- ward any cause. This is my opinion. As I remarked before, they resorted to secession with a view of main- taining more securely these principles. And when they found they were not successful in their object, in perfect good faith, as far as I can judge from meeting with them and conversing with them, looking to the future developments of their country in its material resources, as well as its moral and intellectual progress, their earnest desire and expectation was to allow the past struggle, lamentable as it was in its results, to pass by, and to co-operate with the true friends of the Constitution, with those of all sections who earnestly desire the preservation of constitutional liberty, and the perpetuation of the Government in its purity. They have been a little disappointed in this, and are so now. They are patiently wailing, however, and believing that when the passions of the hour have- passed away, this delay in restoration will cease. They think they have done everything that was essen- tial and proper, and my judgment is that they would not be willing to do anything further as a condition precedent. They would simply remain quiet and passive. Q. Does your own judgment approve the view yon have given as the opinion of the people of the State? A. My own judgment is very decided that the question of suffrage is one that belongs, under (he Constitution — and wisely so, too — to the States respec- tivelv and exclusively. Q. Is it your opinion that neither of the alternatives suggested in the question ought to be accepted by the people of Georgia ? A. My own opinion is, that these terms ought not to be ottered as conditions precedent. In other words, my opinion is, thai it would be best for the peace, har- mony, ami prosperity of the whole country that there should be an immediate restoration — an immediate bringing back of the States into their original practical relations — and let all these questions then lie discussed in common council. Then the representatives from the South could be heard, and you and all could judge much better of the tone and temper of the people than you could from the opinions given by any individuals. You may take my opinion, or the opinion of any indi- vidual, but they will not enable you to judge ol the condition of the Slate of Georgia so well as for her own representatives to be beard in your public coun- cils in her own behalf. My judgment, therefore, is very decided that it would have been better, as soon as the lamentable conflict was over, when the people of the South abandoned their cause and agreed to ac- cept the issue — desiring, as they do, to resume their places for the future in the Union, and to look to the halls ol Congress and the courts for the protection of their rights in the Union — it would have been better to have allowed that result to follow, under the policy adopted by the administration, than to delay it or hin- der it by propositions to amend the Constitution in respect to suffrage or any other new matter. I think the people of all the Southern States would, in the halls of Congress, discuss these questions caimly and deliberately ; and if they did not show that the views they entertnined were jii-t and proper, such as to con- trol the judgment of the people of ihe other sections ami States, they would quietly, patiently, and patriot- ically yield to whatever should be constitutionally determined in common council. But 1 think they feel very sensitively the offer to them of propositions APPEXDIX L.— TESTIMONY OF A. II. STEPHENS. 975 to accept, while they are denied all voice in the com- m >n council of the Union under the Constitution in ihe discussion of these propositions. I think they feel very sensitively that they are denied the right to be heard. And while, as I have said, they might differ among themselves in many points in regard to suf- frage, they would not differ upon the question of doing anything further as a condition precedent to restora- tion. And in respect to the alternate conditions to he so presented, I do not think they would accept the one or the other. My individual general views as to the proper course to lie pursued in respect to the col- ored people are expressed in a speech made before the Georgia Legislature, referred to in my letter to Senator Stewart; that was the proper forum, as I con- ceive, in which to discuss this subject. And I think a great deal depends in the advancement of civiliza- tion and progress, looking to the benefit of all classes, that these questions should be considered and kept before the proper forum. Q. Suppose the States that are represented in Con- gress and Congress itself should be of the opinion that Georgia should not be permitted to take its place in the government of the country except upon its assent to one or the other of the two propositions sug- gested : is it then your opinion that under such cir- cumstances Georgia ought to decline? Witness. You mean the States now represented, and those only ? Mr. Boutwell. Yes. Witness. You mean by Congress, Congress as it is now constituted, with the other eleven States ex- cluded ? Mr. Boutwell. I do. Witness. And you mean the same alternative proposition to be applied to all the eleven States as Conditions precedent to their restoration ? Mr. Boutwell. I do. A. Then I think she ought to decline under the circumstances, and for the reasons stated ; and so ought the whole eleven. Should such an offer be made and declined, and these States should thus con- tinue to be excluded and kept out, a singular specta- cle would be presented. A complete reversal of po- sitions would be presented. In 1861 these Stales thought they could not remain safely in the Union without new guaranties, and now, when they agree to resume their former practical relations in the Union under the Constitution as it is, the other States turn upon them and say they cannot permit them to do so, safely to their interest, without new guaranties on their part. The Southern States would ihus present themselves as willing for immediate Union under the Constitution, while it would lie the Northern States opposed to it. The former uisunionists would thereby become unionists, and the former unionists the prac- tical disunionists. Examination of ALEXANDER II. STEPHENS re- sumed : By Mr. Boutwell : Q. Do you mean to be understood in your last answer that there is no constitutional power in the government, as at present organized, to exact condi- tions precedent to the restoration to politicil power of the eleven Stales that hive been in rebellion? A. Yes, sir. That is my opinion. Q. Doyou enfert dn ihe same opinion in ref rence tn the amendment to ihe Constitution abolishing -1 lvery ? A. I do. I think the States, however, abolished slavery in good faith, as one of the results of the war. Their ratification of the constitutional amend- ment followed as a consequence. I do not think there is any constitutional power on the part of the govern- ment to have exacted it as a condition precedent to their restoration under the constitution, or to the re- sumption of their places as members of the Union. Q. What, in your opinion, is the legal value of the laws passed by Congress and approved by the Presi- dent in the absence of senators and representatives from the eleven States? A. I do not know what particular law you refer to; but my answer, generally, is, that the validity of all laws depends on their constitutionality. This is a question for the judiciary to dettrmine. My own judgment, whatever it might be, would have to con- form to the judicial determination of the question. It is a tjuestion for the courts to determine. Q. Have you formed any opinion upon that ques- tion ? A. I cannot say that I have formed any matured opinion in reference to any particular act of Congress embraced in ihe question. Q. Assume that Congress shall in this session, in the absence of senators and representatives from the eleven States, pass an act levying taxes upon all the people of the United States, including the eleven: is it your opinion that such an act would be constitu- tional ? A. I should doubt if it would be. It would cer- tainly, in my opinion, be manifestly unjust, and against all ideas of American representative govern- ment. Its constitutionality would, however, be a question for the judiciary to decide, and I should he willing to abide by that decision, whatever it might be. Q. If the eleven States have at present an immedi- ate constitutional right to be represented in Congress on a footing with the States at present represented , has that been a continuous right from the formation of the government, or from the time of the admission of the new States respectively, or has it been inter- rupted by war ? A. I think, as the Congress of the United States did not consent to the withdrawal of the seceding States, it was a continuous right under the Constitu- tion of the United States, to be exercised so soon as the seceding States respectively made known their readiness to resume their former practical relations with the federal government, under the Constitution of the United States. As the general government denied the right of secession, I do not think any of the States attempting to exercise it thereby lost any of their rights under the Constitution, as States, when their people abandoned that attempt. Q. Is it or not your opinion that the legislatures and people of the eleven States, respectively, have at present such a right to elect senators and repn lives to Congress ; that it may be exercised without regard to the part which persons elected may have had in the rebellion ? A. I do not think they could exercise that right in the choice of their senators and members, so as to impair in the slightest degree the constitutional right of each House for itself to judge of the qualifications of tho-e who might be chosen. The right of the con- stitutional electors of a State to choose, and the right of each Hous^ of Congress to jud h\ of the qualifica- tions of those elected to (heir respective bodies, are i very distinct and different questions. And in tliui APPEXDIX L.— TESTIMOXY OF A. II. STE/IIEXS. 976 judging of qualifications, I am free to admit tha'. in my opinion no one should he admitted as a member ■A either House of Congress who is noi really and truly loyal to the Constitution of the United States and to the government established by it. Q, Mate whether from your ol>servation the events of the war have produced any change in the public mmd of the South upon tlie question of the reserved rights of tile States under the Constitution of the United State-. A. That question I answered in part yesterday. While I cannot slate from personal knowledge to what extent the opinions of the Southern States upon the abstract question of the reserved rights of the Stales may have changed, my decided opinion is that a very thorough change has taken place upon the practical policy of resorting to any such right. Q. What events or experience of the war have contributed to this change ? A. First, the people are satisfied that a resort to the exercise of this right, while it is denied by the federal government, will lead to war, which many thought bef> re the late attempted secession would not be the case; and civil wars they are also now very well satisfied are dangerous to liberty ; and, moreover, their experience in the late war 1 think satisfied them that it greatly endangered their own. I allude espe- cially to the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the military conscriptions, the proclamations of mar- tial law in various places, general impressments, and the levying of forced contributions, as well as the very demoralizing effects of war generally. Q. When were you last a member of the Congress of the United States ? A. I went out on the 4th of March, 1S59. Q. Will you state, if not indisposed to do so, the considerations or opinions which led you to identify yourself with the rebellion so far as to accept the office of Vice-President of the Confederate States of America, so called ? A. I believed thoroughly in the reserved sover- eignty of the several States of the Union under the compact of Union or Constitution of 1 787. I op- posed secession, therefore, as a question of policy, and not one of right on the part of Georgia. When the State seceded against my judgment and vote, I thought my ultimate allegiance was due to her, and I preferred to cast my fortunes and destinies with hers and her people, rather than to take any other course, even though it might lead to my sacrifice and her ruin. In accepting position under the new order of things, my sole object was to do all the good I could in preserving and perpetuating the principles of liberty, as established under the Constitution of the United States, If the Union was to be abandoned either with or without force — which I thought a very impolitic measure — I wished, if possible, to rescue, preserve, and perpetuate the principles of the Consti- tution. This, I was not without hope, might be done in the new confederacy of States formed. When the •conflict arose, my efforts were directed toas speedy and peaceful an adjustment of the questions as possible. This adjustment I always thought, to be lasting, wo Id have ultimately to be settled upon aeon menial basis, founded upon the principles of mutual convenience and reciprocal advantage on the part <>l the States, on which the Constitution of the United States was originally formed. I was wedded In no particular plan of adjustment, except the recognition, as a basis, 01 the separate suvereignty of the several States. With this recognized as a principle, I thought all other questions of (Inference would soon aclju-t themselves, according to the best interests, peace, Welfare, and prosperity of the whole country, as enlightened reason, calm judgment, and a sense of justice might direct. This doctrine of the sovereignty of the several States I regarded as a self-adjustin regulating principle of our American system ol State governments, extending, possibly, over the continent. Q. Have your opinions undergone any change since the opening of the rebellion in reference to the reserved rights of States under the Constitution of the United States? A. My convictions on the original abstract ques- tion have undergone no change, but I accept the issues of the war and the result as a practical settle- ment of that question. The sword was appealed to to decide the question, and by the decision of the sword I am willing to abide. APPF.NDIX M.— No. I. Constitution for the Provisional Government of TiiF Confederate States of America. We, the Deputies of the Sovereign and Indepen- dent States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, invoking the favor-of Almighty God, do hereby, in behalf of these States, ordain and establish this Constitution for the Provisional Government of the same: to continue one year from the inauguration of the President, or until a Permanent Constitution or Confederation between the said Sta es shall be put in operation, whichsoever shall first occur. Artici.f. I. Section 1. All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in this Congress now assembled until otherwise ordained. Sat ion 2. When vacancies happen in the represen- tation from any Slate, the same shall be filled in such manner as the proper authorities of the State shall direct. Section 3. I . The Congress shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its members; any number of Deputies from a majority of the Stales, being present, shall constitute a quorum to do busi- ness; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members; upon all questions before the Congress, each Stale shall be entitled to one vote, and shall be represented by any one or more of its Deputies who may he present. 2. The Congress may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disordeily be- havior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 3. The Congress shall keep a journal of its pro- ceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment re- quire secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, or at the instance of any one Stale, he entered on the journal. Section 4. The members of Congress shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the Confed- eracy. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony APPENDIX M.— PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 977 and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of the Congress, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate, they shall not be questioned in any other place. Section 5. I. Every bill which shall have passed the Congress, shall, before it becomes a law, be pre- sented to the President of the Confederacy ; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the Congress, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsidera- tion, two-thirds of the Congress shall agree to pass the bill, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the vote shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner, as if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their ad- journment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. — The President may veto any appro- priation or appropriations and approve any other ap- propriation or appropriations in the same bill. 2. Every order, resolution or vote, intended to have the force and effect of a law, shall be presented to the President, and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of the Congress, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 3. Until the inauguration of the President, all bills, orders, resolutions and votes adopted by the Congress shall be of full force without approval by him. Section 6. I. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, for the revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the Government of the Confederacy ; and all duties, im- posts and excises shall be uniform throughout the States of the Confederacy. 2. To borrow money on the credit of the Confed- eracy : 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes: 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the Confederacy. 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures: 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the Confederacy: 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads: 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and in- ventors, the exclusive right to their respective writ- ings and discoveries: 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court: 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations: 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water: 12. To raise and support armies; but no appro- priation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years: 13. To provide ami maintain a navy: 62 14. To make rules for the government and regula- tion of the land and naval forces : 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Confederacy, suppress insur- rections, and repel invasion : 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Con- federacy, reserving to the States respectively the ap- pointment of the officers, and the authority of train- ing the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress: 17. To make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers expressly delegated by this Constitution to this Provisional Government: 18. The Congress shall have power to admit other States : 19. This Congress shall also exercise Executive powers, until the President is inaugurated. Section 7. 1. The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden ; and Congress are required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 2. The Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a mem- ber of this Confederacy. 3. The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended unless, when in case of rebel- lion or invasion, the public safety may require it. 4. No Bill of Attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed. 5. No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another. 6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be pub- lished from time to time. 7. Congress shall appropriate no money from the treasury, unless it be asked and estimated for by the President or some one of the Heads of Departments except for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies. 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the Con- federacy; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under it, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 9. Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a re- dress of such grievances as the delegated powers of this Government may warrant it to consider and re- dress. 10. A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 1 1. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by 1 ,1 w . 12. The right of the people to be secure in their 978 APTEXDIX M.—PROVISIOXAL COXST/'JCT/OX CONFEDERATE STATES. persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unrea- sonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly de- scribing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 13. 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, or in the militia, when in actual service in lime of war or public danger: nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 14. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- partial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- formed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witness against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. 15. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law. 16. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor ex- cessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- ment inflicted. 17. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 18. The powers not delegated to the Confederacy by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Slates, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 19. The judicial power of the Confederacy shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the Slates of the Confederacy, by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. Section 8. I. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or Confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 2. No Stale shall, without the consent of the Con- gress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all dulies and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the Confederacy, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of ihe Congress. No Slate shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duly of tonnage, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, 01 with-a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actu- ally invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Article II. Section I. I. The Kxecutive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederate States of America. He, together with the Vice-President, shall hold his office for one year, or until this Provisional Govern- ment shall be superseded by a Permanent Government, whichsoever shall fust occur. 2. The President and Vice-President shall be elected by ballot by the Stales represented in this Congress, each State casting one vote, and a majority of the whole being requisite to elect. 3. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of one of the States of this Confederacy at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eli- gible to the office of President; neither shall any per- son be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years and been fourteen years a resident of one of (he States of this Confederacy. 4. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death, resignation or inability to dis- charge the powers and duties of the said office (which inability shall be determined by a v< te of two-thirds of the Congress) the same shall devolve on the Yio - President; and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President ; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be re- moved or a ['resilient shall be elected. 5. The President shall at stated times receive for his services, during the period of the Provisional Gov- ernment, a compensation at ihe rate of twenty-five thousand dollars | er annum ; and he shall not receive during that period any other emolument from this Confederacy, or any of the States thereof. 6. Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation : I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the Confederate States of America, and will, to the best of my abil ity, preserve, protect, and defend the Consiiuitic 11 thereof. Section 2. I. The President shall be Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the Confederacy, and of the Militia of the several Slates, when called into the actual service of the Confederacy ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer m each of the Executive Departments, upon any sub- ject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and par- dons for offences against the Confederacy, except in cases of impeachment. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress, to make treaties; pri - vided two-thirds of the Congress concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of Mess shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Court, and all other officers of the Confederacy whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. Put the Congiess may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the Courts of law, or in the Heads of Departments. 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during ihe recess of the Congress, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. ATPENDIX M.— PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 979 Section 3. 1. He shall, fr >m time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Confed- eracy, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Con gress at such times as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws he faithfully executed; and shall commission all the officers of the Confed- eracy. 2. The President, Vice-President, and all Civil offi- cers of the Confederacy shall be removed from office on conviction by the Congress of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors : a vote of two- thirds shall be necessary for such conviction. Article III. Section 1. I. The Judicial power of the Confederacy shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such in- ferior Courts as are herein directed, or as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. 2. Each State shall constitute a District in which there shall be a Court called a District Court, which, until otherwise provided by the Congress, shall have the jurisdiction vested by the laws of the United Slates, as far as applicable, in both the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, for that State; the Judge whereof shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress, and shall, until otherwise provided by the Congress, exercise the power and authority vested by the laws of the United States, in the judges of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, for that State, and shall appoint the times and places at which the Courts shall be held. Appeals may be taken directly from the District Courts to the Supreme Court, under similar regulations to those which are provided in cases of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, or under such regulations as may be provided by the Congress. The commissions of all the Judges shall expire with this Provisional Government. 3. The Supreme Court shall be constituted of all the District Judges, a majority of whom shall be a quorum, and shall sit at such times and places as the Congress shall appoint. 4. The Congress shall have power to make laws for the transfer of any causes which were pending in the Courts of the United States, to the Courts of the Confederacy, and for the execution of the orders, de- crees, and judgments heretofore rendered by the said Courts of the United States; and also all laws which may be requisite to protect the parties to all such suits, orders, judgments, or decrees, their heirs, per- sonal representatives, or assignees. Section 2. I. The Judicial power shall extend to all cases of law and equity, arising under this Constitu- tion, the laws of the United States and of this Confed- eracy, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under its authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the Confederacy shall be a party ; controver- sies between two or more States ; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- peachment, shall be by Jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section 3. I. Treason against this Confederacy shad consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per- son shall be convicted of treason unless on the testi- mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open.court. 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. Article IV. Section I. I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved and the effect of such proof. Section 2. I . The citizens of each State shall be en- titled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State hav- ing jurisdiction of the crime. 3. A slave in one State, escaping to another, shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom said slave may belong by the Executive authority of the State in which such slave shall be found, and in case of any abduction or forcible rescue, full compensation, including the value of the slave and all costs and ex- penses, shall be made to the party, by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place. Section 3. I. The Confederacy shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Gov- ernment, and shall protect each of them against inva- sion ; and on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. Article V. I. The Congress, by a vote of two-thirds, may, at any tune, alter or amend this Constitution. Article VI. 1. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confed- eracy which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the Confederacy, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the fudges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 2. The Government hereby instituted shall take- immediate steps for the settlement of all mallei- be- tween the Stales forming it, and their other late Con- federates of the United States, in relation to the public property and public debt at the time of their with- drawal from them; these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common liability, 980 ATTEND IX M.— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATE. and common obligations of that Union upon the prin- ciples of right, justice, equity, and good faith. 3. Until otherwise provided by the Congress, in the City of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, shall be the seal of Government. 4. The members of the Congress and all Executive and Judicial officers of the Confederacy shall he bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; hut no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this Confederacy. APPENDIX M.— No. 2. Permanent Constitution <>k the Confederate States 01 Ami rica. We, the People of the Confederate Slates, each State acting in ils Sovereign and Independent char- acter, in order to form a Permanent Federal Govern- ment, establish justice', insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity — invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God — do ordain and establish this Consti- tution for the Confederate States of America. Article 1. Sec/ion 1. All legislative powers herein delegated shall be vested in a Congress of the Confederate States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section 2. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors in each State shall be citizens of the Confederate States, and have the qualifications requisite for elect- ors of the most numerous branch of the State Legis- lature ; but no person of foreign birth, not a citizen of the Confederate States, shall be allowed to vote for any officer, civil or political, State or Federal. 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age o( twenty-five years, and be a citizen of the Confederate States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3. Representatives and Direct Taxes shall he ap- portioned among the several States, which may be in- cluded within this Confederacy, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, includ- ing those bound to service for a term of years, ami excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all slaves. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the Confederate States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law di rect. The number of Representatives shall not ex- ceed one for every fifty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of South Caro- lina shall be entitled to choose six — the State of Georgia ten — the State of Alabama nine — the State of Florida two — the State of Mississippi seven — the State of Louisiana six, ar.d the State of Texas six. 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writ- of election to fill such vacancies. 5. The House ol Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment ; except that any Judicial or other Federal officer, resident and acting solely within the limits of any State, may be impeached by a vote of two-thirds of both branches of the Legislature thereof. Section 3. I. The Senate of the Confederate States shall be composed of two Senators from each Slate, chosen for six years by the Legislature thereof, at the regular session next immediately preceding the com- mencement of the term of service ; and each Senator sh ill have one vote. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall be di- vided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year; so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Execu- tive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, ami he a citizen of the Confederate States; and who shall not, when elected, he an inhabitant of the State for which he shall be chosen. 4. The Vice-President of the Confederate States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers ; and also a President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the Confederate States. 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oatli or affirmation. When the President of the Confederate States is tried, the Chief-Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted with- out the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not ex- tend further than to removal from office, and dis- qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit, under the Confederate States ; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless.be liable and sub- ject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. Section 4. I. The times, place and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each Stale by the Legislature thereof, subject to the provisions of this Constitution ; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the times and places of choosing Senators. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall, by law, ap- point a different day. Section 5. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; hut a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide. 2. Each House may determine the rules 1 f its pro- APPENDIX M.— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 981 ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and witii the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole number expel a member. 3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceed- ings, and from time to time publish the same, except- ing such parts as may in their judgment require se- cresy; and the Yeas and Nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal. 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section 6. I. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the treasury of the Confederate Stales. They shall, in all cases, ex- cept treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the Confederate States, which shall have been created, or the emolu- ments whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office under the Confederate States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. But Congress may, by law, grant to the principal officer in each of the Executive Departments a seat upon the floor of either House, with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his Department. Section 7. 1. All bills for raising the revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose ov concur with amendments, as on other bills. 2. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the Confederate States; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be de- termined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be en- tered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return ; in which case it shall not be a law. The President may ap- prove any appropriation and disapprove any other ap- propriation in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the bill, designate the appropriations dis- approved ; and shall return a copy of such appropria- tions, with his objections, to the House in which the bill shall have originated; and the same proceedings shall then be had as in the case of other bills dis- approved by the President. 3. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the con- currence of both Houses may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the Confederate States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him; or being disapproved, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill. Section 8. The Congress shall have power — 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, for revenue necessary to pay the debts, pro- vide for the common defence, and carry on the Gov- ernment of the Confederate States; but no boun- ties shall be granted from the treasury ; nor shall any duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry ; and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the Confederate States : 2. To borrow money on the credit of the Confed- erate States: 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes ; but neither this, nor any other clause con- tained in the Constitution, shall ever be construed to delegate the power to Congress to appropriate money for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce ; except for the purpose of furnishing lights, beacons, and buoys, and other aid to naviga- tion upon the coasts, and the improvement of harbors and the removing of obstructions in river navigation, in all which cases, such duties shall be laid on the navigation facilitated thereby, as may be necessary to pay the costs and expenses thereof : 4. To establish uniform laws of Naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcies, throughout the Confederate States ; but no law of Congress shall discharge any debt contracted before the passage of the same : 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures : 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the Confederate States : 7. To establish post-offices and post-routes ; but the expenses of the Post-office Department, after the first day of March in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid out of its own revenues : 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and in- ventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries : 9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and on water : 12. To raise and support armies; but no appropri- ation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : 13. To provide and maintain a navy: 14. To make rules for the government and regula- tion of the land and naval forces : 15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to exe- cute the laws of the Confederate States, suppress In- surrections, and repel Invasions: 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disci- 9 S: AFI'EXDIX M.— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. plining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Con- federate States; reserving to the State-, respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline pre- scribed by Congress: 17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of one or more States and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the Confederate States ; and to exercise like authority over places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings: and 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitu- tion in the Government of the Confederate States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. Section 9. 1. The importation of negroes of the African race, from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States or Territories of the United States of America, is hereby forbidden; and Con- gress i, required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 2. Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of, or Territory not belonging to, this Confederacy. 3. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of Re- bellion or Invasion the public safety may require it. 4. No Hill of Attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed. 5. No Capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 6. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both 1 louses. 7. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another. 8. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; ami a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures oi all public money shall be published from time to time. 9. Congress shall appropriate no money from the treasury except by a vote of two-thirds <>f both Houses, taken by Yeas and Nays, unless it be asked and estimated for by some one of the Heads r>l De- partments, and submitted to Congress by the Presi- dent ; or for the purpose of paying its own expenses and contingencies; or for the payment of claims against the Confederate States, the justice of which shall have been judicially declared by a tribunal for the investigation of claims against the ( rovernment, which it is hereby made the duty of Congress to establish. 10. All bills appropriating! money shall specify in Federal currency the exact amount of each appropri- ation and the purposes for which it is made; and Congress shall grant no extra compensation to any public contractor, officer, agent or servant, after such contract shall have been made or such service ren- dered. 11. No title of nobility shall be granted by the Confederate Stales ; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the con- sent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu- ment, office or title of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 12. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the fixe exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the ri^ht of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 13. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 14. No soldier shall, in lime of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 15. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreason able searches and seizures, shall mil be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, ar.d the persons or things to be seized. 16. 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, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be put twice in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor be com- pelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private prop- erty be taken for public use, without just compensa- tion. 17. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. 18 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by fury shall be pit-served ; and no tact so tried by a jury shall be otherwise re examined in any < lourl of the Confederacy, than according to the rules of the common law. 19. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor ex- cessive lines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- ment inflicted. 20. Every law, or resolution having the force of law, sh.dl relate to but one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. Section IO. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or Confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; make anything I Ut gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, or ex fast facto law, or law im- pairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility. 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Con- gress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for exe- cuting its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or APPENDIX M— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 93; exports, shall be fur the use of the treasury of the Confederate States, anil all such laws shall be subject to the revision and contiol of Congress. 3. No Slate shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, except on sea-going vessels, for the improvement of its rivers and harbors navi- gated by the said vessels; but such duties shall not conflict with any treaties of the Confederate States with foreign nations; and any surplus revenue thus derived, shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the common treasury. Nor shall any State keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actu- ally invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. But when any river divides or flows through two or more States, they may enter into com- pacts with each other to improve the navigation thereof. Article II. Secliim I. I. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the Confederate States of America. He and the Vice-President shall hold their offices for the term of six years; but the President shall not be re-eligible. The President and Vice-President shall be elected as follows : 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre- sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, or per- son holding an office of trust or profit under the Con- federate States, shall be appointed an elector. 3. The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice- President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an in- habitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as Presi- dent, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the Seat of the Government of the Confederate States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representa- tives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then, from the persons having the highest numbers, not ex- ceeding three, on the list of those voted for as Presi- dent, the House of Representatives shall choose im- mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States — the representation from each State having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next fol- lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as Presi- dent, as in cose of the death, or other constitutional disability of the President 4. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President. A quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num- ber of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall lie necessary to a choice. 5. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- President of the Confederate States. 6. The Congress may determine the time of choos- ing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the Confederate Slates. 7. No person except a natural born citizen of the Confederate States, or a citizen thereof at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, or a citizen. thereof, born in the United States prior to the 20th of Decem- ber, i860, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the limits of the Confederate States, as they may exist at the time of his election. 8. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to dis- charge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President ; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of re- moval, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President ; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected. 9. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the Confederate States, or any of them. 10. Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- fully execute the office of President of the Confed- erate States of America, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof." Sec/ion 2. I. The President shall be Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the Confederate States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the Executive Depart- ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the Con- federacy, except in cases of impeachment. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties ; provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur: and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the Confederates Stales whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. Put the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of Mich inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of law, or in the Heads of De- partment. 9 8 4 APPENDIX M.— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 3. The principal officer in each of the Executive Departments, and all persons connected with the diplomatic service, may he removed from office at the pleasure of the President. All other civil officers of the Executive Departments maybe removed at anytime by the President, or other appointing power, when their services are unnecessary, or for dishonesty, incapacity, inefficiency, misconduct or neglect of duty; and when so removed, the removal shall be reported to the Senate, together with the reasons therefor. 4. The President shall have power to fill all vacan- cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, l>v granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session; but no person rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to the same office during their ensuing recess. Section 3. 1. The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Confederacy, and recommend to their considera- tion such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, con- vene both House, or either of them ; and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the Confederate States. Section 4. 1. The President, Vice-President, and all Civil Officers of the Confederate States, shail be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Articlk III. Section I. I. The Judicial power of the Confeder- ate States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such Inferior Courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and Inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shail not be diminished during their continuance in office. Section 2. 1. The Judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and con- suls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- tion ; to controversies to which the Confederate States shall be a party; to controversies between two or mure Slates; between a State and citizen of another State, where the State is plaintiff; between citizens claiming lands under giants of different Stales; and between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects; but no State shall be sued by a citizen or subject of any foreign State. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, witli such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- peachment, shall be by Jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any Slate, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section 3. 1. Treason against the Confederate States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony ol two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. Article IV. Section 1. 1. Full faith and credit shall he given in each Stale to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other Stale. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Section 2. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citi- zens in the several Stales, and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired. 2. A person charged in any State with treason, fel- ony, or other crime against the laws of such Stale, who shall flee from justice and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 3. No slave or other person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or reg- ulation therein, be discharged from such service ot labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs, or to whom such service or labor may be due. Section 3. I. Other States may be admitted into this Confederacy by a vote of two-thirds of the whole I louse of Representatives and two-thirds of the Sen- ate, the Senate voting by States; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junc- tion of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concern) d, as well as of the Congress. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rulesand regulations concerning the property of the Confederate States, including the lands thereof. 3. The Confederate Slates may acquire new terri- tory ; and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide Governments for the inhabitants of all terri- tory belonging to the Confederate Slates, lying with- out the limits of the several States; and may permit them, at such times, and in such 111. inner as it may by law provide, to form States to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory, the Institution of Negro slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the Territorial Government : and the inhab itants of the several Confederate States and Terri- tories shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the Slates or Territories of the Confederate States. 4. The Confederate States shall guaranty to every State that now is, or hereafter may become, a member APPENDIX M— PERMANENT CONSTITUTION CONFEDERATE STATES. 985 of this Confederacy, a Republican form of Govern- ment ; and shall protect each of them against inva- sion ; and on application of the Legislature (or of the Executive, when the Legislature is not in session) against domestic violence. Article V. Section I. I. Upon the demand of any three Stales, legally assembled in their several Conventions, the Congress shall summon a Convention of all the States, to take into consideration such amendments to the Constitution as the said States shall concur in suggest- ing at the time when the said demand is made ; and should any of the proposed amendments to the Con- stitution be agreed on by the said Convention — voting by States — and the same be ratified by the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, or by Conventions in two-thirds thereof — as the one or the other mode of ratification may he proposed by the general Con- vention — they shall thenceforward form a part of this Constitution. But no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal Representation in the Senate. Article VI. 1. The Government established by this Constitution is the successor of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and all the laws passed by the latter shall continue in force until the same shall be repealed or modified ; and all the officers appointed by the same shall remain in office until their succes- sors are appointed and qualified, or the offices abol- ished. 2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the Confederate States under this Con- stitution as under the Provisional Government. 3. This Constitution, and the laws of the Confed- erate States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 4. The Senators and Representatives before men- tioned, and the members of the several State Legisla- tures, and all Executive and Judicial officers, both of the Confederate States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Con- stitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Confederate States. 5. The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people of the several States. 6. The powers not delegated to the Confederate States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people thereof. Article VII. 1 . The Ratification of the Conventions of five States shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Con- stitution between the States so ratifying the same. 2. When five States shall have ratified ihis Consti- tution, in the manner before specified, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall prescribe the time for holding the election of President and Vice- President, and for the meeting of the Electoral Col- lege, and lor counting the votes, and inaugurating the President. They shall also prescribe the time for holding the first election of members of Congress under this Constitution, and the time for assembling the same. Until the assembling of such Congress, the Congress under the Provisional Constitution shall continue to exercise the Legislative powers granted them ; not extending beyond the time limited by the Constitution of the Provisional Government. Extract from the Journal of the Congress. Congress, March 11, 1861. On the question of the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, the vote was taken by Yeas and Nays ; and the Constitution was unanimously adopted, as follows: Those who voted in the affirmative being Messrs. Walker, Smith, Curry, Hale, McRae, Shorter, and Fearn, of Alabama (Messrs. Chilton and Lewis being absent); Messrs. Morton, Anderson, and Owens, of Florida; Messrs. Toombs, Howell Cobb, Bartow. Nisbet, Hill, Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, and Ste- phens, of Georgia (Messrs. Cravvlord and Kenan being absent) ; Messrs. Perkins, de Clouet, Conrad, Kenner, Sparrow, and Marshall, of Louisiana ; Messrs. Harris, Brooke, Wilson, Clayton, Barry, and Harrison, of Mis- sissippi (Mr. Campbell being absent) ; Messrs. Rhett, Barnwell, Kcitt, Chesnut, Memminger, Miles, With- ers, and Boyce, of South Carolina; Messrs. Reagan, Hemphill, Waul, Gregg, Oldham, and Ochiltree, of Texas (Mr. Wigfall being absent). A true copy: J. J. Hooper, Secretary of the Congress. Congress, March 11, 1S61. I do hereby certify that the foregoing are, respect- ively, true and correct copies of " The Constitution of the Confederate States of America," unanimously adopted this day, and of the Yeas and Nays on the question of the adoption thereof. Howell Cobb, President of the Congress. APPENDIX N. Correspondence between the Confederate Commissioners and Mr. Secretary Seward, with Judge Campbell's Letters upon the Subject. Washington City, March 12, 1S61. Hon. Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States : Sir: — The undersigned have been duly accredited by the Government of the Confederate States of America, as Commissioners to the Government of the United States, and in pursuance of their instructions have now the honor to acquaint you with that fact, and to make known, through you, to the President of the United States, the objects of their presence in this Capital. Seven States of the late Federal Union, having in the exercise of the inherent right of every free people to change or reform their Political Institutions, and through Conventions of their people, withdrawn from the United States and reassumed the attributes of Sovereign Power delegated to it, have formed a Gov- ernment of their own. The Confederate States con- stitute an Independent Nation, de facto and de jure, and possess a Government perfect in all its parts and endowed with all the means of self-support. 9 36 A PPEXDIX A '. — CORRESPOXDEXCE. AVith a view to a speedy adjustment of all questions growing oui of this political separation, upon such terms of amity and good-will as the respective inter- ests, geographical contiguity, and future welfare of the two Nations may render necessary, the under- signed are instructed to make to the Government ol the United States overtures for the opening of nego- tiation*, assuring the t rovernment of the United States that the President, Congress, and people of the Con- federate Stales, earnestly desire a peaceful solution of these greal questions; that it is neither their inter- est, nor their wish to in ike any demand which is not founded in strictest justice, nor do any act to injure their late Confederates. The undersigned have now the honor in obedience to the instructions of their Government, to request y >u to appoint as early a day as possible, in order that they may present to the President of the United States, the Credentials which they bear and the objects of the mission with which they are charged. We are, very respect! ully, your obedient servants, John Forsyth, Martin J. Crawford. memorandum. Department of State, Washington, March 15, 1S61. Mr. John Forsyth, of the State of Alabama, and Mr. Martin [. Crawford, of the State of Georgia, on the nth inst. , through the kind offices of a distin- guished Senator, submitted to the Secretary of State their desire for an unofficial interview. This request was, on the 12th inst., upon exclu- sively public considerations, respectfully declined. I )n the 13th inst., while the Secretary was pre- occupied, Mr. A. 1). Hanks, of Virginia, called at this Department, and was received by the Assistant- Secretary, to whom he delivered a sealed communi- cation, which he had been charged by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford to present to the- Secretary in person. In that communication Messrs. Forsyth and Craw- ford inform the Secretary of Stale that they have been duly accredited by the < iovcrnnient of the Confederate States of America as Commissioners to the Govern- ment of the United States, and they set forth the objects of their attendance at Washington. They ob- serve that seven Slates of the American Union, in the exercise of a right inherent in every free people, have withdrawn, through Conventions of their people, from the United States, reassumed the attributes of Sovereign Power, and formed a Government of their own, and that those Confederate States now consti- tute an Independent Nation, de facto and de jure, and possess a Government perfect in all its parts, and fully endowed with all the means of self-support. Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, in their aforesaid communication, thereupon proceeded to inform the Secretary that, with a view to a speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of the political separation thus assumed, upon such terms of amity and good- will as the respective interests, geographical con- tiguity, and the future welfare of the supposed two Nations might render necessary, they are instructed to make to the Government of the United Slates overtures for the opening of negotiations, assuring this Government thai the President, Congress and the people of the Confederate States earnestly desire a peaceful solution of these great questions, and that it is neither their interest nor their wish to make ai.y demand which is not founded in the strictest justice, nor do any act to injure their late confederates. Alter making these statements, Messrs. Forsyth and (raw lord close their communication, as ihev say, in obedience to the instructions of their Government, by requesting the Secretary of State to appoint as early a day as possible, in order that they may pre- sent 10 the President of the United States the creden- tials which they bear and the objects of the mission with which they are charged. The Secretary of Stale frankly confesses that he un- derstands the events which have recently occurred, and the condition of political affairs which actually exists in the part of the I nion to which his attention has thus been directed, very differently from the aspect in which they are presented by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. He sees in them, not a rightful and a-ccomplished revolution and an independent Nation, with an established Government, but rather a perver- sion of a temporary and partisan excitement to the inconsiderate purposes of an unjustifiable ami uncon- stitutional aggression upon the rights and the author- ity vested in the Federal Government, and hitherto benignly exercised, as from their very nature they always must so be exercised, for the maintenance of the Union, the preservation of liberty, and the security, peace, welfare, happiness, and aggrandizement of the American people. The Secretary of State, therefore, avows to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford that he looks patiently but confidently for the cure of evils which have resulted from proceedings so unnecessary, so unwise, so unusual, and so unnatural, not to irregular negotiations, having in view new and untried rela- tions with agencies unknown to and acting in dero- gation of the Constitution and laws, but to regular and considerate action of the people of those Males, in co-operation with their brethren in the other States, through the Congre-s of the United Stales, and such extraordinary Conventions, if there shall be need thereof, as the Federal Constitution contemplates and authorizes to be assembled. It is, however, the purpose of the Secretary oi on this occasion, not to invite or engage in any dis- cussion of these subjects, but simply to set forth his reasons for declining to comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. On the 4th of March inst., the then newdy-elected President of the United States, in view of all the facts bearing on the present question, assumed the Executive Administration of the Government, first delivering, in accordance with an early, honored custom, an Inaugural Address to the people of the United States. The Secretary of State respectfully submits a copy of this address to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. A simple reference to it will be sufficient to satisfy these gentlemen that the Secretary of State, guided by the principles therein announced, is prevented altogether from admitting or assuming that the States referred to by them have, in law or in fact, withdrawn from the federal Union, or that they could do so in the manner described by Messrs. Forsyth and Craw- ford, or in any other manner than with the consent and concert of the people of the United States, to be given through a National Convention, to be assem- bled in conformity with the provisions of the Consti- tution of the United Slates. ( )f course the Secretary of Slate cannot act upon the assumption, or in any APPENDIX X.— CORRESPONDENCE. 987 way admit that the so-called Confederate States con- stitute a foreign Power, with whom diplomatic rela- tions ought to be established. Under these circums'ances, the Secretary of Stale, whose official duties are confined, subject to the di- rection of the President, to the conducting of the foreign relations of the country, and do not at all embrace domestic questions, or questions arising be- tween the several States and the Federal Govern- ment, is unable to comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, to appoint a day on which they may present the evidences of their authority and the objects of their visit to the President of the United States. On the contrary, he is obliged to state to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, that he has no authority, nor is he at liberty, to recognize them as diplomatic agents, or hold correspondence or other communication with them. Finally, the Secretary of State would observe that, although he has supposed that he might safely and with propriety have adopted these conclusions, with- out making any reference of the subject to the Execu- tive, yet, so strong has been his desire to practise entire directness, and to act in a spirit of perfect re- spect and candor towards Messrs. Forsyth and Craw- ford, and that portion of the people of the Union, in whose name they present themselves before him, that he has cheerfully submitted this paper to the President, who coincides generally in the views it expresses, and sanctions the Secretary's decision, declining official intercourse with Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. Aprils, 1S61. The foregoing Memorandum was filed in this De- partment on the 15th of March last. A delivery of the same, however, to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford was delayed, as was understood, with their consent. They have now, through their Secretary, communi- cated their desire for a definite disposition of the sub- ject. The Secretary of State therefore directs that a duly verified copy of the paper be now delivered. A true copy of the original, delivered to me by Mr. F. W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State of the United States, on April 8, 1861, at 2.15 P. M., in blank envelope. Attest. J. T. Pickett, Secretary to the Commissioners. The Commissioners in Reply to Mr. Seward, Accusing the Government of Deception, and Accepting a Solution by the Sword. Washington, April 9, 1861. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, Washington : The " Memorandum" dated Department of State, Washington, March 15, 1S61, with postscript under date of 8th inst., has been received through the hands i>f Mr. J. T. Pickett, Secretary to this Commission, who, by the instructions of the undersigned, called for it on yesterday, at the Department. In that Memorandum you correctly slate the pur- port of the official note addressed t>> you by the un- dersigned on the 12th ultimo. Without repeating the contents of that note in full, it is enough to say here that its object was to invite the Government of the United States to a friendly consideration of the relations between the United States and the seven States lately of the Federal Union, but now separated from it by the Sovereign Will of their People, grow- ing out of the pregnant and undeniable fact that those people have rejected the aurhority of the United States, and established a Government of their own. Those relations had to be frienuiy or hostile. The people of the old and new Governments, occupying contiguous territories, had to stand to each other in the relation of good neighbors, each seeking their happiness and pursuing their National destinies in their own way, without interference with the other, or they had to be rival and hostile Nations. The Government of the Confederate States had no hesi- tation in electing its choice in this alternative. Frankly and unreservedly, seeking the good of the people who had intrusted them with power, in the spirit of humanity, of the Christian civilization of l lie age, and of that Americanism which regards the true welfare and happiness of the people, the Govern- ment of the Confederate States, among its first acts, commissioned the undersigned lo approach ihe Gov- ernment of t. e United States with the Olive Branch of Peace, and to offer to adjust the great questions pending between them in the only way to be justified by the consciences and common-sense of good men who had nothing but the welfare of the people of the two Confederacies at heart. Your Government has not chosen to meet the undersigned in the conciliatory and peaceful spirit in which they are commissioned. Persistently wedded to those fatal theories of construction of the Federal Constitution alwavs rejected by the statesmen of the South, and adhered to by those of the Administration school, until they have produced their natural and often predicted result of the destruction of the Union, under which we might have continued to live hap- pily and gloriously together, had the spirit of the ancestry who framed the common Constitution ani- mated the hearts of all their sons, you now, with a persistence untaught and uncured by the ruin which has been wrought, refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a completed and successful Revo- lution ; you close your eyes to the existence of the Government founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and humanity which attach to you in dealing with this great fact. Had you met these issues with the frankness and manliness with which the undersigned were instructed to present them to you and treat them, the undersigned had not now the melancholy duty to return home and tell their Government and iheir countrymen that their earnest and ceaseless efforts in behalf of peace had been futile, and that the Government of ihe United Slates meant to subjugate them by force of arms. Whatever may be the result, impartial history will record the innocence of the Government of the Confederate States, and place the responsibility of ihe blood and mourning that may ensue upon those who have denied ihe great fundamental doctrine of American Liberty, that " Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and who have set naval and land armaments in motion to subject the people of one portion of this land to the will of another portion. That that can never be done while a freeman survives in the Confederate States to wield a weapon, the undersigned appeal to past history to prove. These military demonstrations against the people of the Seceded States are certainly far from being in keeping and consistency with the theory of the Secretary of Stale, maintained in his 983 A PPENDIX N.— CORRESPONDENCE. Memorandum, that these States are still component parts of the late American Union, as the undersigned are not aware of any constitutional power in the President of the United States to levy war, without the consent of Congress, upon a foreign People, much less upon any portion of the People of the United States. The undersigned, like the Secretary of State, have no purpose to "invite or engage in discussion" of the suhject on which their two Governments are so irreconcilably at variance. It is this variance that has broken up the old Union, the disintegration of which has only begun. It is proper, however, to advise you that it were well to dismiss the hopes you seem to entertain that, by any of the modes indicated, the people of the Confederate Sates will ever be brought to submit to the- authority of the Government of the United States. You are dealing with delu- sions, too, « hen you seek to separate our people from our Government, and to characterize the deliberate, Sovereign act ol that People as a "perversion of a temporary ami partisan excitement." It you cherish these dreams you will he awakened from them and find them as unreal and unsubstantial as others in which you have recently indulged. The undersigned would omit the performance of an obvious duty were they to fail to make known to the Government of the United States that the people of the Confederate Slates have declared their Independence with a full knowledge of all the responsibilities of that act, and with as firm a determination to maintain it by all the means with which nature has endowed them as that which sustained their bathers when they threw off the authority of the british Crown. The undersigned clearly understand that you have declined to appoint a day to enable them to lav the oojecls of the mission with which they are charged before the President of the United States, because so to do would be to recognize the Independence and separate Nationality of the Confederate States. This is the vein of thought that pervades the Memorandum before us. The tiulh of history requires that it should distinctly appear upon the record that the undersigned did not ask the Government of the United States to recognize the Independence of the Confederate States. They only asked audience to ad|iist, in a spirit of amity and peace, the new rela- tions springing from a manifest and accomplished revolution in the Government of the late Federal Union. Your refusal to entertain these overtures tor a peaceful solution, the active naval and military preparations of this Government, and a formal notice to the Commanding General of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston that the President intends to provision Port Sumter by forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by (he undersigned, and can only be received by the world, a- a declaration of war against the Confederate States; for the President of lie I nited States knows thai Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The un- dersigned, in behalf of their Government and people, accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them ; and, appealing to God and the judgment of mankind for the righteousness of their cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the la^t against this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power. 1 his communication cannot be properly closed without adverting to the date of your Memorandum. The official note of the undersigned, on the 1 2th of March, was delivered to the Assistant Secretary of State on the 13th of that month, the gentleman who delivered it informing him that the Secretary of this Commission would call at twelve o'clock, noon, on the next day, for an answer. At the appointed hour Mr. Pickett did call, and was informed by the Assist- ant Secretary of State that the engagements of the Secretary of State had prevented him from giving the note his attention. The Assistant Secretary of State then asked for the address of Messrs. Crawford and Forsyth, the members of the Commission then present in this city, took note of the address on a card, and engaged to send whatever reply might be made to their lodgings. Why this was not done it is proper should be here explained. The Memorandum is dated March 15th, and was not delivered until April Sth. Why was it withheld during the intervening twenty-three days ? In the postscript to your Memor- andum you say it "was delayed, as was understood, with their (Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford's) con- sent." This is true ; but it is also true that on the 15th of March, Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford were assured by a person occupying a high official position in the Government, and who, as they believed, was speaking by authority, that P'ort Sumter would be evacuated within a very few days, and that no measure changing the existing status prejudicially to the Con- federate States, as respects Fort Pickens, was then contemplated, and these assurances were subsequent y repeated, with the addition that any contemplated change as respects Pickens would be notified to us. On the 1st of April we were again informed that there might be an attempt to supply Fort Sumter with provisions, but that Governor Pickens should have previous notice of this attempt. There was no sug- gestion of any reinforcement. The undersigned did not hesitate to believe that these assurances expressed the intentions of the Administration at the time, or at all events of prominent members of that Administra- tion. This delay was assented to for the express pur- pose of attaining the great end of the mission of the undersigned, to wit: — A pacific solution of existing complications. The inference deducihle from the dale of your Memorandum, that the undersigned had, of their own volition and without cause, con- sented to this long hiatus in the grave duties with which they were charged, is therefore not consistent with a just exposition of the facts of the case. The intervening twenty-three days were employed in active unofficial efforts, the object of which was to smooth the path to a pacific solution, the distinguished per- sonage alluded to co-operating with the undersigned, and every step of that effort is recorded in writing, and now in possession of the undersigned and of their Government. It was only when all those anxious efforts for peace had been exhausted, and it became clear that Mr. Lincoln had determined to appeal to the -word to reduce the people of the Confederate States to the will of the section or parly whose President he is, that the undersigned resumed the official negotiation temporarily suspended, and sent their Secretary for a reply to their official note of March 12th. It is proper to add that, during these twenty- three days, two gentlemen of official distinction as high as that of the personage hitherto alluded to, aided the undersigned as intermediaries in these un- official negotiations for peace. The undersigned, Commissioners of the Confeder- ate States of America, having thus made answer to APPENDIX X.— CORRESPONDENCE. 989 all they deem material in the Memorandum filed in the Department on the 15th of March last, have the honor to be, John Forsyth, Martin J. Crawford, A. B. Roman. A true copy of the original, delivered to Mr. F. W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of Slate of the United States, at eight o'clock in the evening of April 9th, 1861. Attest, J. T. PICKET, Secretary, etc., etc. Mr. Seward, in Reply to the Commissioners, Acknowledges the Receipt of their Letter, but Declines to Answer it. Department of State, | Washington, April 10, 1861. j Messrs. Forsyth, Crawford and Roman having been apprised by a memorandum, which has been deliv- ered to them, that the Secretary of State is not at liberty to hold official intercourse with them, will, it is presumed, expect no notice from him of the new communication which they have addressed to him under date of the 9th inst., beyond the simple ac knowledgment of the receipt thereof, which he hereby very cheerfully gives. A true copy of the original received by the Com- missioners of the Confederate States, this 10th day of April, 1861. Attest, J. T. Picket. Secretary, etc., etc. Letters of Judge Campbell to Mr. Seward Washington City, "l Saturday, April 13, 1 86 1. J Sir: On the 15th of March, ultimo, I left with Judge Crawford, one of the Commissioners of the Confederate States, a note in writing to the effect fol- lowing : " I feel entire confidence that Fort Sumter will be evacuated in the next ten days. And this measure is felt as imposing great responsibility on the Adminis- tration. " I feel entire confidence that no mensure changing the existing status prejudicially to the Southern Con- federate States, is at present contemplated. " I feel an entire confidence that an immediate de- mand for an answer to the Communication of the Commissioners will be productive of evil and not of good. I do not believe that it ought, at this time, to be pressed." The substance of this statement I communicated to you the same evening by letter. Five days elapsed and I called with a telegram from General Beaure- gard to the effect that Sumter was not evacuated, but that Major Anderson was at work making repairs. The next day, after conversing with you, I com- municated to Judge Crawford, in writing, that the failure to evacuate Sumter was not the result of bad faith, but was attributable to causes consistent with the intention to fulfil the engagement, and that, as regarded Pickens, I .should have notice of any design to alter the existing status there. Mr. Justice Nelson was present at these conversations, three in number, and I submitted to him each of my written communi- cations to Judge Crawford, and informed Judge Craw- ford that they had his (Ju !ge Nelson's) sanction. I gave you, on the 22d of March, a substantial copy of the statement I had made on the 15th. The 30th of March arrived, and at that time a tele- gram came from Governor Pickens inquiring concern- ing Colonel Lamon, whose visit to Charleston he sup- posed had a connection with the proposed evacuation of Fort Sumter. I left that with you, and was to have an answer the following Monday (ist of April). On the 1st of April I received from you the statement in writing : " I am satisfied the Government will not un- dertake to supply Fort Sumter without giving notice to Governor P." The words, "I am satisfied," were for me to use as expressive of confidence in the re- mainder of the declaration. The proposition as originally prepared was, " The President may desire to supply Sumter, but will not do so," etc., and your verbal explanation was that you did not believe any such attempt would be made, and that there was no design to reinforce Sumter. There was a departure here from the pledges of the previous month, but, with the verbal explanation, I did not consider it a matter then to complain of. I simply stated to you that I had that assurance pre- viously. On the 7th of April I addressed you a letter on the subject of the alarm that the preparations by the Gov- ernment had created, and asked you if the assurances I had given were well or ill-founded. In respect to Sumter your reply was, " Faith as to Sumter fully kept — wail and see." In the morning's paper I read, "An authorized messenger from President Lincoln informed Governor Pickens and General Beauregard that provisions will be sent to Fort Sumter — peace- ably, or otherwise by force." This was the 8th of April, at Charleston, the day following your last as- surance, and is the last evidence of the full faith I was invited to wait for and see. In the same paper I read that intercepted dispatches disclosed the fact that Mr. Fox, who had been allowed to visit Major Anderson, on the pledge that his purpose was pacific, employed his opportunity to devise a plan for supply- ing the fort by force, and that this pi in had been adopted by the Washington Government, and was in process of executicn. My recollection of the date of Mr. Fox's visit carries it to a day in March. I learn he is a near connection of a member of the Cabinet. My connection with the Commissioners and yourself was superinduced by a conversation with Justice Nel- son. He informed me of your strong disposition in favor of peace, and that you were oppressed with a demand of the Commissioners of the Confederate States for a reply to their first letter, and that you de- sired to avoid it if possible at that time. I told him I might, perhaps, be of some service in arranging the difficulty. I came to your office en- tirely at his request, and without the knowledge of either of the Commissioners. Your depression was obvious to both Judge Nelson and myself. I was gratified at the character of the counsels you were de- sirous of pursuing, and much impressed with your observation that a civil war might be prevented by the success- of my mediation. You read a letter of Mr. Weed, to show how irksome and responsible the withdrawal of troops from Sumter was. A portion of my communication to Judge Crawford on the 15th March, was founded upon these remarks, and the pledge to evacuate Sumter is less forcible than the words you employed. Those words were : Before this letter reaches you (a proposed letter by me to President Davis), Sumter will have been evacuated. 99Q APPEXDIX O.— REMINISCENCES OF ALEXANDER II. STEPHENS. The Commissioners who received those communi- cations conclude they have been abused and over- reached. The Montgomery Government hold the same opinion. The Commissioners hfvc supposed that my communications were with you, and u|>on the hypothesis were prepared to arraign you before the country in connection with the President. I placed a peremptory prohibition upon this as being contrary to the terms oi my communications with them. 1 pledged myself to them to communicate information upon what I considered as the best authority, and they were to confide in the ability of myself, aided by Judge Nelson, to determine upon the credibility of my informant. I think no candid man who will read over what I have written, and considers for a moment what is going on at Sumter, but will agree that the equivo- cating conduct of the Administration, as measured and interpreted in connection with these promises, i- the proximate cause of the great calamity. I have a profound conviction that the telegrams of the 8th of April of General Beauregard, and of the loth of April of General Walker, the Secretary of War, can be referred to nothing else than their belief that there has been systematic duplicity practised on them through me. It is under an impressive sense of the weight of this responsibility that I submit to you these things for your explanation. Very respectfully, John A. Campbei i . Associate Justice Supreme Court, United Stales. Hon. Wm. II. SEWARD, Secretary of State. Washington, April 20, 1S61. Sir : — I enclose you a letter, corresponding very nearly with on-; I addressed to you one week ago (13th April), to which I have not had any reply. The letter is simply one of inquiry in reference to facts concerning which, I think, I am entitled to an explanation. I have not adopted any opinion in reference to them which may not be modified by ex- planation ; nor have I affirmed in that letter, nor do I in this, any conclusion of my own unfavorable to your integrity in the whole transaction. All that I have said and mean to say is, that an explanation is due from you to myself. I will not say what I shall do in case this request is not complied with, but I am justified in saying that I shall feel at liberty to place the-e letters before any person who is entitled to ask an explanation of myself. Very respectfully, John A. Camphell, Associate Justice Supreme Court, United States. HON. Wm. II. SEWARD, Secretary op State. No reply has been made to this letter. April 24, 1S61. APPENDIX O. Reminiscences of Alexander II. Stephens vs. it' 1 i.kAi. Richard Taylor. The January number of the North American Re- view (en the present year contains an article by Gen- eral Richard Taylor, of the Confederate Army, giving hi-; reminiscences of incidents, occurrences, and events in the late lamentable war between the Northern and Southern Stales of the Union, which, the writer of this article thinks, ought not to be permittted to pass unnoticed by contemporaries, and especially by him- self. Reminiscences of this kind are usually interesting to the reading public, and when written with care and accuracy, are exceedingly useful to all who de- sire to be rightly informed in relation to those points upon which turn the fortunes of individuals as well as of States. Minutest incidents and details concern- ing individuals, their sayings or doings, whether in council or action, when thus presented, are footlights which greatly aid in bringing out in clear and dis- tinct view the real characters of the respective parties on the stage, and in exhibiting the attending and surrounding scenes so as to present a full display of all the essential materials that constitute true history. For the accomplishment of this end, however, it is essential that these incidents, minute as they may be, should be strictly accurate. To all students of history the truth should be the leading object. What- ever contributions, therefore, of this character, may be made to the literature of the country, should be considered valuable only to the extent of their rigid conformity to ihe exactions of this requirement in all the matters, events, and incidents narrated. The establishment and maintenance of unadul- terated truth in details, as well as in general results, both as relates to individuals who may take part in passing events, as well as in the final issue of affairs, whether successful or disastrous, should be the chief object. In this way alone can those who come after judge rightly of the merits or demerits of those who may figure on the stage in those great dramas which mark the annals of mankind. The lale war between the States of the Union was certainly one of these great dramas. It was the most gigantic conflict of arms in the present era. " The din of this conflict," says Mr. Lossing, a Northern historian, " was heard all over the world, and the people of all nations were spectators of the scene." A^ to the origin, rightfulness, or general conduct of this war, on one side or on the other, it is not the purpose of the writer on the present occasion to say anything. The object now in hand is simply to cor- rect some errors and inaccuracies in " The Reminis- cences" of General Taylor, lest those who may de- sire to form a just judgment upon the matter referred to might be misled thereby in arriving at correct con- clusions. In the first place, then, it is deemed proper to call the attention of the reader to what General Taylor says about the opposition or resistance of the < on- federate Government at Montgomery to raising troo] s for a longer term of service than one year. His language is in these words; " The Confederate Gov- ernment — then sitting at Montgomery — resisted the enlistment of regiments for the war, preferring to en- gage them for twelve 11 onlhs." This statement is certainly not historically accurate. By whom the en- listment mentioned was resisted, it is true, is not dis- tinctly Stated. Nor is it clear upon whom 01 which branch of the government, or whether 11)1011 both, Congressional and Executive, '.his implied censure was intended to be cast. But in either or every aspect of the matter, the statement is inaccu- rate. This the record abundantly shows. Bare as- sertions, in however elegant language they may be made, cannot stand against facts. The truth in this case is, that amongst the first acts passed 1 v thi federate Congress upon their lea setnbling at Mont- APPENDIX O.— REMINISCENCES OF ALEXANDER II STEPHENS. 99I gomeiy upon the call of the President, after the first collision of arms at Charleston, S. C, were two pro- viding for enlistments for the war. The first was in these words : "AN ACT " To raise an additional Military Force to serve dur- ing the War. "Section I. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact : That, in addition to the volunteer force authorized to be raised under exist- ing laws, the President be and is hereby authorized to accept the services of volunteers who may offer their services, without regard to the place of enlist- ment, either as cavalry, mounted riflemen, artillery, or infantry, in such proportion of these several arms as he may deem expedient, to serve for and during the existing war, unless sooner discharged. "Section 2. That the volunteers so offering their services may be accepted by the President in com- panies, to be organized by him into squadrons, bat- talions, or regiments. The President shall appoint all field and staff officers; but the company officers shall be elected by the men composing the company, and, if accepted, the officers so elected shall be com- missioned by the President. "Section 3. That any vacancies occurring in the ranks of the several companies mustered into service under the provisions of this act may be filled by volunteers accepted under the rules of such com- panies ; and any vacancies occurring in the officers of such companies shall be filled by elections, in ac- cordance with the same rules. "Section 4. Except as herein differently provided, the volunteer forces hereby authorized to be raised shall in all regards be subject to and organized in accordance with the provisions of 'An Act to provide for the public defence,' and all other acts for the gov- ernment of the armies of the Confederate States. "Approved May 8, 1861." The second of these acts is in these words : "AN ACT " To make further provision for the public defence. "Whereas, War exists between the United States and the Confederate States; and, Whereas, the public welfare may require the reception of volunteer forces into the service of the Confederate States without the formality and delay of a call upon the respective States ; "Section I. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact: That the President be author- ized to receive into service such companies, battalions, or regiments, either mounted or on foot, as may ten- der themselves, and he may require, without the delay of a formal call upon the respective States, to serve for such time as he may prescribe. "Section 2. Such volunteer forces who may be ac- cepted under this act, except as herein differently pro- vided, shall be organized in accordance with and subject to all the provisions of the act entitled ' An Act to provide for the public defence,' and be en- titled to all the allowances provided therein ; and when mustered into service, may be attached to such divisions, brigades, or regiments as the President may direct, or ordered upon such independent or detached service as the President may deem expedient; pro- vided, however, that battalions and regiments maybe enlisted from Stales, not of the Confederacy, and the President may appoint all or any of the field officers thereof. "Section 3. The President shall be authorized to commission ajl officers entitled to commissions, of such volunteer forces as may be received under the provisions of this act. And upon the request of the officer commanding such volunteer regiment, bat- talion, or company, the President may attach a super- numerary officer to each company, detailed from the regular army for that purpose. '•Approved May 11, 1861." It has been deemed proper to reproduce both of these acts in full for the important bearing they have upon other portions of the " Reminiscences," which will hereafter be noted, in regard to the state and con- dition of the army in Virginia in the early part of the year 1S62. These public records are not mere foot-lights. They are mid-dome chandeliers, which fully illuminate some of the matters set forth by General Taylor in obscurity, if not in darkness. "They certainly show that there was no resistance, on the part either of Congress or the President, to the enlistment of men for a longer term than twelve months. They were approved by the President as well as passed by the Congress. The Confederate Government, therefore, at Montgomery, as soon as possible after the outbreak of the war, made pro- vision for the enlistment of forces for the war to an extent limited only by the discretion of the President. The writer of this article, who was then at Mont- gomery, has no recollection whatever of the slightest resistance from any quarter to the enlistment of men in such kind of service and for such periods of time as might be desired and determined by the President. It was well known that he was in favor of a term of service longer than twelve months. Moreover, it may here be stated that, according to the remembrance of the writer of this article (he not now having access to the records giving the exact figures), there were in the field in the early spring of 1862 not less than 100,000 men so enlisted for the war. There were at least forty regiments so in service from Georgia alone, if the writer of this be not mistaken in his recollec- tion, a large majority of which forces were in Virginia. The acts of the Confederate Congress, at Mont- gomery, which provided for raising forces for twelve months, or a less term, were passed before the out- break of the war; and while it is true that a consid- erable force so raised was in the field, as stated by General Taylor, yet it is also true, according to the recollection of this writer, that much the larger num- ber of those then in the service were in for the war. This item of General Taylor's "Reminiscences" has been thus particularly and fully noted in the out- set, because, as before said, it has a very direct and important bearing upon another portion of his con- tribution to history, which will now be reproduced at large and without abridgment, that readers mry more clearly appreciate the comments which will then be made upon it as a whole. It i- in these words : "As the year 1S62 opened, and the time for active movements drew near, weighty cares attended the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The folly of accepting forces for the short period of twelve months, to which allusion has already been made, was now apparent. Taking service in the spring of 1861 , the time of most of the troops would expire just as the Federal host in their front might be ex- pected to advance. A large majority of the men 99- APPENDIX O.— REMINISCENCES OF ALEXANDER //. STEPHEXS. were willing and anxious to re-enlist provided they could first go home to arrange private affairs. For- tunately the fearful condition of the country per- mitted the granting of furloughs on a large scale. Excepting on a few pikes, movements were impossi- ble, and an army could no more have marched across country than across New York Hay. Closet warriors, in cozy studies, with smooth McAdam roadways be- fore their doors, sneer at the idea of military move- ments being arrested by mud. I apprehend these gen- tlemen have never served in a bad country during the rainy season, and are ignorant of the fact that in his Russian campaign the elements proved too strong for the genius of Napoleon. General Johnston met the difficulties of his position with great coolness, tact, and judgment, but his burden was by no means lightened by the interference of certain politicians at Richmond. These gentlemen were perhaps inflamed by the success that had attended the tactical efforts of their Washington peers. At all events they now threw themselves on military questions with much ardor. The leader was Mr. Alexander II. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President of the Confederacy, who is entitled to a place by himself. Like the celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke, he had an acute intel- lect attached to a frail and meagre body. As was said by the witty Dean of St. Paul's of Francis Jeff- rey, his mind is in a state of indecent exposure. A trained and skilful politician, he was for many years before the war returned to the United States House of Representatives fiom the district in which he re- sides, and his ' device ' seems always to have been, ' Fiat jiisti/ia, mat rq-Ztim.' "When, in December, 1849, the Congress of the United States assembled, there was a Whig adminis- tration, and the same party had a very small majority in the lower House. Mr. Stephens was an anient Whig, and a member of the House ; but he could not see his way to support his party candidate for Speaker, and this inability to find a road — plain, mayhap, to weaker organs — secured the control of the House to his political rivals. During the excited period just preceding 'secession,' Mr. Stephens held and avowed wise and moderate opinions; but, swept along by the resistless torrent surrounding him, he discovered and proclaimed the fact that ' slavery was the corner-stone of the Confederacy.' Granting the truth of this, which is by no means admitted here, it was, in the strong vernacular of the West, ' rather piling the agony ' on the humanitarians, whose sympathies were not much quickened towards us thereby. As the struggle pro- gressed, Mr. Stephens, with all the impartiality of an equity judge, marked many of the virtues of the gov- ernment north of the Potomac, and all the vices of that on his own side of the stream. Regarding the military questions in hand, he entertained and pub- licly expressed original opinions, which I will attempt to convey as accurately as possible. The war was for principles and rights. It was in defence of these and of their property that the people had taken up arms. • They could always be relied on when a battle was im- minent ; but when there was no fighting to be done, they had best be at home attending to their families and interests. As their intelligence was equal to their patriotism, they were as capable of judging of the necessity of their presence with the 'colors' as the commanders of armies, who were but professional sol- diers, fighting for rank and pay — most of them with- out property in the South. It may be observed that such opinions are more comfortably cherished by po- litical gentlemen two hundred miles awav, than bv commanders immediately 111 front of an enemy, '•At the close of the great war, in July, 1865, I visited Washington, in the sole hope of effecting some change in the condition of Jefferson Davis, then ill and a pris- oner at Fortress Monroe. Mr. Stephens happened to visit Washington at the same time, and was the object of much attention on the part of the people con- trolling the Congress and the country. Desiring his co-operation, 1 sought and found him sitting near a fire, for he is of a chilly nature, smoking his pipe. He heard me in severe politeness, and without unneces- sary expenditure of enthusiasm, promised his assist- ance. Since the war, Mr. Stephens has again been, and now is, a Representative in Congress. He has the satisfaction to know that unlike the ' Rebel brig- adiers,' his presence is not a rock of offence to the loyal mind." On this extended extract, in addition to what has already been said, the following comments will now be made : First. The statements that Mr. Stephens was the leader of any number of politicians at Richmond, who took in hand military questions, or interfered in any way with the organization of the army of General Johnston, or knew of any other politicians at Rich- mond doing so ; or that Mr. Stephens ever, on any occasion in his life, uttered the opinions, privately or publicly, that the people could " always be relied upon when a battle was imminent; but when there was no fighting to be clone they had best be at home attending to their families and interests ; " that " as their intelli- gence was equal to their patriotism, they were capable of judging of the necessity of their presence with the ' colors ' as the commanders of armies, who were but professional soldiers, fightiiig for rank and pay, most of them without property in the South" — are utterly unfounded from the beginning to the end. They are but the figments of a disordered imagination, without the shade of a shadow of fact to rest upon. No such opinions, sentiments, or reckless assertions were ever uttered by him. Could he possibly have proclaimed to the South, referring to the thirty-three major-generals then in the service, including Lee, the Johnstons (Joseph E. and Albert Sidney), Beauregard, Twiggs, Polk, Early, and Stonewall Jackson, to say nothing of others in the dis- tinguished host, that they were men " fighting only for rank and pay, most of them without property in the South ? " The idea is preposterous. So far as con- cerns the implied intimation here made, that Mr. Ste- phens asserted that most of the generals were North- ern-born, or at least had no identification with South- ern interests, it may be proper here to say he could not possibly have given any such intimation with any regard to truth, for the fact was, that of the thirty- three major-generals, two only were born at the North ; but this fact, in Mr. Stephens' opinion, detracted nothing then or now from their integrity, or honor, or chivalry. Further, could he have said of the one hundred and twenty-six brigadier-generals then in the field, including Ransom, Law ton, Walker, Toombs, Zollicoffer, Wise, the Georgia Jacksons, Wright, Gard- ner, McClaws, and the brothers Cobb, to say nothing of the one hundred and odd others upon this long list, that they " were men fighting only for rank and pay, most of them without property in the South ? " It may be noted here also, that only seven of these one hun- dred and twenty-six brigadier-generals were born at the North. May it not be repeated, the very idea is APPENDIX O.— REMINISCENCES OF ALEXANDER II. STEPHENS. 993 preposterous ! Such reckless, inconsiderate expres- sions were never uttered by Mr. Stephens. Whether General Taylor, by thus grossly misrepresenting Mr. Stephens, in attributing to him sentiments and opin- ions which he never entertained or uttered, has made an exhibition of his own " mind in a state of indecent exposure," will be left for others to determine. Second. It was very seldom that Mr. Stephens ven- tured to express his opinions on any matter connected with military organizations or operations during the fall of 1S61 or the opening of the year 1862, and when he did, it was always first to the President, and never in any factious or opposing spirit. One occasion of this sort was in relation to the position of General Al- bert Sydney Johnston at Bowling Green, in Kentucky. This was at the earnest request of General Humphrey Marshall, who was a thoroughly-educated and well- trained officer. Another was at the instance of Col- onel Peyton Colquitt and General Howell Cobb, of Georgia, in relation to the then state of affairs at Nor- folk. The most important of these occasions, how- ever, was one at the instance of the President himself. This was on the 6th day of November, 1S61, soon after the fall of Port Royal, South Carolina. On this occasion, Mr. Stephens was sent for by the President to advise as to the proper officer to be appointed to take charge of the Southern coast, particularly the South Carolina and Georgia coast. He found in the Executive room, Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of War, and General Lee. The latter was then in command of an army in the mountains of Virginia, but was in Rich- mond for a few days on temporary leave, as Mr. Ste- phens understood. When the question was submitted to Mr. Stephens, who, in his judgment, would be a proper officer to send to the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, he promptly replied General Beauregard, who was then at Manassas. Mr. Stephens was sur- prised on learning for the first time that there was some estrangement between General Beauregard and the President, which rendered his appointment out of the question. He then mentioned General Joe John- ston. With deep regret he then also learned for the first time that a similar impediment existed to his ap- pointment, growing out of that estrangement, which General Taylor, in another place, says became " the spring of woes unnumbered." Mr. Stephens then suggested the name of General Lee. To this the President replied by simply saying, " General, what do you say to that?" General Lee blushed deeply and reddened to the crown of his head, with a very strong protest on his part, giving many reasons why he thought he ought not to be sent. The question was argued at some length — for two or more hours, perhaps — the result of which was that General Lee was assigned to this important duty, and was off to Charleston by the next train of cars. Save these oc- casions, Mr. Stephens has no recollection of express- ing his opinions upon military affairs to the President during the period stated by General Taylor; nor did he on any occasion during the same period, say or do anything to or with any others, with a view to thwart the indicated policy of the President. Third. What General Taylor says of the so-called " Corner-Stone " speech of Mr. Stephens is calculated to create an erroneous impression, whether it was in- tended so or not. The inference from his account of it is, that the idea of "corner-stone," in this connec- tion, originated with Mr. Stephens, or was "discov- ered" by him. The truth is, Mr. Stephens, in his speech referred to, was explaining to a popular audi- 63 ence the changes which had been made in the new Constitution framed at Montgomery, from the old one framed at Philadelphia, upon the subject of the " pe- culiar institution " at the South, known as slavery. He stated that there was no essential change, in the new from the old, on this subject, except to settle all controversies and questions in relation to the power of Congress over it. In the " corner-stone " meta- phor, he but repeated what Judge Baldwin, of the Supreme Court of the United States, had many years before said of this " institution " under the Federal Government. In the case of Johnson against Thomp- son, in the United States Circuit Court for Pennsyl- vania, this eminent judge had declared that "the foundations of this Government are laid and rest on the rights of property in slaves, and the whole fabric must fall by disturbing the ' corner-stone.' " It was also the effort of Mr. Stephens, in the speech referred to, to show that in this country there was no such thing as " slavery," in the proper sense of that word. The relation of the races at the South was but a legal subordination of the admitted inferior to the superior; that this right of property in persons who owed service for life, under this legal subordination, did not differ essentially in principles from the like rights of property in those who owe service for a term of years in perhaps all civilized States. The difference consisted chiefly in the period of service owed under the law, so far as the rights of property in such service were concerned. Slavery, as defined by the Justinian code, had no existence in this country. Slavery, in the abstract, or as treated in public law, Mr. Stephens never defended, much less advocated. In one of the earliest speeches ever made by him in Congress — the one on the annexation of Texas, in February, 1S45 — these sentiments were expressed and avowed by him. They were often proclaimed by him in public speeches before the people in his State, long before secession. In those speeches he ever maintained that, if the " In- stitution," or this legal subordination of the colored to the white race, was not the best, or could not be made the best, for both races, morally, intellectually, and politically, it was wrong, and ought to be abol- ished. In politics he ever held, and now holds, no such dogma as that of " the greatest good for the greatest number." His position is that all systems of govern- ment should be based upon such principles as will best secure "the greatest good tc all, without injury to any." No ninety-nine of any one hundred persons in any community have the right to promote their own joint welfare by the sacrifice of that of the remaining one, nor in any other proportion. But to proceed. If the announcement of the truth that there was no essential change in the new Constitution from the old, in this particular, was " piling on the agony " a little too strong for the " humanitarians," then the cause of the agony must have been the old Constitution, and not what Mr. Stephens said of the new one. Fourth. What General Taylor says of his visit to Washington in July, 1865, and his interview with Mr. Stephens on that occasion, and the "severe polite- ness " he received from his " chilly nature," when the sufferings of Mr. Davis were mentioned, deserves only a passing notice in conclusion. The fittest comment upon it is, that a more perfect Munchausenism was never served up for the entertainment of gullible read- ers. No fact is more incontrovertible fixed in the his- torv of the country than that Mr. Stephens wn«. at the time stated, closely confined himself at Fort Warren, 994 APPENDIX P.— ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. where he was suffering, perhaps, quite as much as Mr. Davis; for it was in the damp underground casemate room in which he was then immured that he contracted that severe rheumatic affliction from which he has as yet only partially red" (.red. But apart from the great indisputable fact referred to, which utterly sets at naught the story of General Taylor's interview with Mr. Stephens in Washington, July, 1865, it might have been, perhaps, better for him, in the play of his fancy and imagination, while conjuring up something in disparagement of Mr. Ste- phens, to have kept probability in view; for whatever may be his real faults, defects, imperfections, or in- firmities, never before, perhaps, was heard an intima- tion, from any quarter, of his want of proper sympathy for human suffering in any and every shape and form in which it was manifested, whether from "man's in- humanity to man," or from the inscrutable dispensa- tions of God. APPENDIX P.— No. I. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclama- tion, of ist January, 1863. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September. in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a Proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit : " That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or desig- nated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free ; and the Exec- utive Government of the United States, including the Military and Naval authority thereof, will recog- nize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make lor their actual freedom. " That the Executive will, on the first day of Janu- ary aforesaid, by Proclamation, designate the States and parts of Slate-, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United Slates; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a major- ity of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter- vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebel lion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose s > to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, lespec- tively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit : Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Piaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrc Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Ala- bama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Caro- lina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this Procla- mation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, in- cluding the Military and Naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said per- sons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in neces- sary self-defence ; and 1 recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of man- kind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of 0111 Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President : William H. Seward, Secretary of State. APPENDIX P.— No. 2. Appointment ok Hon. Alexander II. STEPHENS, as Military Commissioner to Washington. Richmond, 2d July, 1S63 Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, Richmond, Va. : Sir : Having accepted your patriotic offer to pro- ceed as a Military Commissioner, under Hag of truce, to Washington, you will herewith receive your letter of authority to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. This letter is signed by me as Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Land and Naval forces. You will perceive, from the terms of the letter, that it is so worded as to avoid any political diffi- culties in its reception. Intended exclusively as one of those communications between Belligerents which public law recognizes as necessary and proper between hostile forces, care has been taken to give no pretext for refusing to receive it 011 the ground that it would APPENDIX Q.— DESTRUCTION OF COLUMBIA, S. C. 995 involve a tacit recognition of the independence of the Confederacy. Your mission is simply one of humanity, and has no political aspect. If objection is made to receive your letter on the ground that it is not addressed to Abraham Lincoln as President instead o( Commander-in-chief, etc., then you will present the duplicate letter, which is addressed to him as President, and signed by me as President. To this letter objection may be made on the ground that I am not recognized to be President of the Confederacy, In this event, you will decline any further attempt to confer on the subject o( your mission, as such conference is admissible only on a foxing of perfect equality. My recent interviews with you have put you so fully in possession of my views, that it is scarcely necessary to give you any detailed instructions, even were I at this moment well enough to attempt it. My whole purpose is, in one word, to place this war on the footing of such as are waged by civilized people in modern times, and to divest it of the savage character which has been impressed on it by our ene- mies, in spite of all our efforts and protests. War is full enough of unavoidable horrors, under all its as- pects, to justify, and even to demand, ef any Chris- tian ruler, who may be unhappily engaged in carry- ing it on, to seek to restrict its calamities, and to divest it of all unnecessary severities. You will endeavor to establish the Cartel for the Exchange of Prisoners on such a basis as to avoid the constant difficulties and complaints which arise, and to pre- vent for the future what we deem the unfair conduct of our enemies, in evading the delivery of prisoners who fall into their hands, in retarding it by sending them on circuitous routes, and by detaining them sometimes for months in camps and prisons, and in persisting in taking captive non-combatants. Your attention is also called to ihe unheard-of con- duct of Federal officers, in driving from their homes entire communities of women and children, as well as of men, whom they find in districts occupied by their troops, for no other reason than because these unfortunates are faithful to the allegiance due to their States, and refuse to take an oath of fidelity to their enemies. The putting to death of unarmed prisoners has been a ground of just complaint in more than one instance, and the recent execution of officers of our army in Kentucky, for the sole cause that they were engaged in recruiting service in a State which is claimed as still one of the United States, but is also claimed by us as one of the Confederate States, must be repressed by retaliation if not unconditionally abandoned, because it would justify the like execution in every other State of the Confederacy, and the prac- tice is barbarous, uselessly cruel, and can only lead to the slaughter of prisoners on both sides, a result too horrible to contemplate without making every effort to avoid it. On these and all kindred subjects you will consider your authority full and ample to make such arrange- ments as will temper the present cruel character of the contest, and full confidence is placed in your judgment, patriotism, and discretion that, while carrying out the objects of your mission, you will take care that the equal rights of the Confederacy be al- ways preserved. Very respectfully, Jefferson Davis. APPENDIX Q. Extracts from a Pamphlet on the Destruc- tion of Columbia, South Carolina, Published in 1865. [It was written 'by the gifted ana accomplished William Gilmore Simms, LL. D. The facts therein set forth by Dr. Simms are believed by the author to be entirely true, and fully sustain what is said in the text.] The destruction of Atlanta, the pillaging and burn- ing of other towns of Georgia, and the subsequent devastation along the march of the Federal Army through Georgia, gave sufficient earnest of the treat- ment to be anticipated by South Carolina, should the same commander be permitted to make a like progress in our State. The Northern press furnished him the crt de guerre to be sounded when he should cross our • borders. " Va victis .'" — woe to the conquered ! — in the ca^e of a people who had fir.^t raised the banner of Secession. " The howl of delight" (such was the language of the Northern press), sent up by Sher- man's legions, when they looked across the Savannah to the shores of Carolina, was the sure fore-runner of the terrible fate which threatened our people should the soldiers be once let loose upon our lands. Our people felt all the danger. The march of the Federals into our State was characterized by such scenes of licence, plunder and general conflagration, as very soon showed that the threats of the Northern press, and of their soldiery, were not to be regarded as mere brutuin fulmen. Day by day brought to the people of Columbia tid- ings of atrocities committed, and more extended pro- gress. Daily did long trains of fugitives line the roads, with wives and children, and horses and stock and cattle, seeking refuge from the pursuers. Long lines of wagons covered the highways. Half-naked people cowered from the winter under bush-tents in the thickets, under the eaves of houses, under the rail- road sheds, and in old cars left them along the route. All these repeated the same storv of suffering, vio- lence, poverty and nakedness. Habitation after habi- tation, village after village — one sending up its signal flames to the other, presaging for it the same fate — lighted the winter and midnight sky with crimson horrors. ♦i'o language can describe nor can any catalogue furnish an adequate detail of the wide-spread de- struction of homes and property. Granaries were emptied, and where the grain was not carried off, it was strewn to waste under the feet of the cavalry, or consigned to the fire which consumed the dwelling. The negroes were robbed equally with the whites of food and clothing. The roads were covered with butchered cattle, hogs, mules, and the costliest fur- niture. Valuable cabinets, rich pianos, were not only hewn to pieces, but bottles of ink, turpentine, oil, whatever could efface or destroy, was employed to de- file and ruin. Horses were ridden into the houses. People were forced from their beds, to permit the search after hidden treasures. The beautiful homesteads of the Parish country, with their wonderful tropical gardens, were ruined; ancient dwellings of black cypress, one hundred vears old, which had been reared by the fathers of the Re- public — men whose names were famous in Revolu- tionary history — were given to the flames as recklessly 996 AT TEND IX Q.— DESTRUCTION OF COLUMBIA, S. C. as were the rude hovels ; choice pictures and works of art, from Europe, select and numerous libraries, objects of peace wholly, were all destroyed. The in- habitants, black no less than white, were left to starve, compelled to feed only upon the garbage to be found in the abandoned camps of the soldiers. The corn scraped up from the spots where the horses fed, has been the only means of life lelt to thousands but lately in affluence. And thus plundering, and burning, the troops made their way through a portion of Beaufort into Barnwell District, where they pursued the same game. The villages of Buford's Bridge, of Barnwell, Blackville, Graham's, Bamberg, Midway, were more or less de- stroyed ; the inhabitants everywhere left homeless and without food. The horses and mules, all cattle and hogs, whenever fit for service or for food, were carried offj and the rest shot. Every implement of the work- man or the farmer, tools, plows, hoes, gins, looms, wagons, vehicles, was made to feed the flames. From Barnwell to Orangeburg and Lexington was the next progress, marked everywhere by the same sweeping destruction. Both of these Court towns were partially burned. Hardly had the troops reached the head of Main Street, when the work of pillage was begun. Stores were broken open within the first hour after their ar- rival, and gold, silver, jewels and liquors, eagerly sought. The authorities, officers, soldiers, all, seemed to consider it a matter of course. And woe to him who carried a watch with gold chain pendant ; or who wore a choice hat, or overcoat, or boots or shoes. He was stripped in the twinkling of an eye. It is com- puted that, from first to last, twelve hundred watches were transferred from the pockets of their owners to those of the soldiers. Purses shared the same fate ; nor was the Confederate currency repudiated. But of all these things hereafter, in more detail. At about 12 o'clock, the jail was discovered to be on fire from within. This building was immediately in rear of the Market, or City Hall, and in a densely built portion of the city. The supposition is that it was fired by some of the prisoners — all of whom were released and subsequently followed the army. The fire of the jail had been preceded by that of some cot- ton piled in the streets. Both fires were soon sub- dued by the firemen. At about half-past one P. M., that of the jail was rekindled, and was again extin- guished. Some of the prisoners, who had been cT>n- fined at the Asylum, had made their escape, in some instances, a few days before, and were secreted and protected by citizens. No one felt safe in his own dwelling; and, in the faith that General Sherman would respect the Con- vent, and have it properly guarded, numbers of young ladies were confided to the care of the Mother Supe- rior, and even trunks of clothes and treasure were sent thither, in full confidence that they would find safety. Vain illusions ! The Irish Catholic troops, it appears, were not brought into the city at all ; were kept on the other side of the river. But a few Catho- lics were collected among the corps which occupied the city, and of the conduct of these, a favorable ac- count is given. One of them rescued a silver goblet of the church, used as a drinking cup by a soldier, and restored it to the Rev. Dr. O'Connell. This priest, by the way, was severely handled by the sol- diers. Such, also, was the fortune of the Rev. Mr. Shand, of Trinity (the Episcopal) Church, who sought in vain to sav>; a trunk containing the sacred vessels of his church. It was violently wrested from his keeping, and his struggle to save it only provoked the rougher usage. We are since told that, on reaching Camden, General Sherman restored what he believed were these vessels to Bishop Davis. It has since been discovered that the plate belonged to St. Peter's Church, in Charleston. And here it may be well to mention, as suggestive of many clues, an incident which presented a sad commentary on that confidence in the security of the Convent, which was entertained by the great portion of the people. This establishment, under the charge of the sister of the Right Rev. Bishop Lynch, was at once a Convent and an Academy of the highest class. Hither were sent for education the daughters of Pro- testants, of the most wealthy classes throughout the State ; and these, with the nuns and those young ladies sent thither on the emergency, probably exceeded one hundred. The Lady Superior herself entertained the fullest confidence in the immunities of the establish- ment. But her confidence was clouded, after she had enjoyed a conference with a certain Major of the Yankee army, who described himself as an editor, from Detroit. He visited her at an early hour in the day, and announced his friendly sympathies with the Lady Superior and the sisterhood ; professed his anxiety for their safety; his purpose to do all that he could to insure it — declared that he would instantly go to Sherman and secure a chosen guard ; and, alto- gether, made such professions of love and service, as to disarm those suspicions, which his bad looks and bad manners, inflated speech and pompous carriage, might otherwise have provoked. The Lady Superior, with such a charge in her hands, was naturally glad to welcome all shows and prospects of support, and expressed her gratitude. lie disappeared, and soon after reappeared, bringing with him no less than eight or ten men — none of them, as he admitted, being Catholics, lie had some specious argument to show that, perhaps, her guard had better be one of Protestants. This suggestion staggered the lady a little, but he seemed to convey a more potent reason, when he added, in a whisper: "Eor I must tell you, my sister, that Columbia is a doomed city.'" Terri- ble doom ! This officer, leaving his men behind him, disappeared, to show himself no more. The guards so left behind were finally among the most busy as plunderers. The moment that the inmates, driven out by the fire, were forced to abandon their house, they began to revel in its contents. "Quis aistodiot ij>sas custodes .<"' — who shall guard the guards? — asks the proverb. In a number of cases, the guards provided for the citizens were among the most active plunderers; were quick to be- tray their trusts, abandon their posts, and bring their comrades in to join in the general pillage. The most dexterous and adroit of these, it i^ the opinion of most persons, were chiefly Eastern men, or men of imme- diate Eastern origin. The Western men, including the Indiana, a portion of the Illinois and Iowa troops, were neither so dexterous nor unscrupulous — were frequently faithful anil respectful; and, perhaps, it would be safe to assert that many of the houses which is raped the sack and fire, owed their safety to the presence or the contiguity of some of these men. But we must retrace our steps. But the reign of terror did not fairly begin till night. In some instances, where parties complained of the APPENDIX Q.— DESTRUCTION OF COLUMBIA, S. C. 997 misrule and robbery, their guards said to them, with a chuckle : "This is nothing. Wait till to-night, and you'll see h-11." Among the first fires at evening was one about dark, which broke out in a filthy purlieu of low houses, of wood, on Gervais street, occupied mostly as brothels. Almost at the same time, a body of the soldiers scattered over the eastern outskirts of the city, fired severally the dwellings of Mr. Secretary Trenholm, General Wade Hampton, Dr. John Wal- lace, J. U. Adams, Mrs. Starke, Mr. Latta, Mrs. English, and many others. There were then some twenty fires in full blast, in as many different quar- ters, and while the alarm sounded from these quar- ters, a similar alarm was sent up almost simultane- ously from Cotton Town, the northernmost limit of the city, and from Main street in its very centre, at the several stores or houses of O. Z. Bates, C. D. Eberhardt, and some others, in the heart of the most densely settled portion of the town; thus enveloping in flames almost every section of the devoted city. At this period, thus early in the evening, there were few shows of that drunkenness which prevailed at a late hour in the night, and only after all the grocery shops on Main street had been rifled. The men en- gaged in this were well prepared with all the appli- ances essential to their work. They did not need the torch. They carried with them, from house to house, pots and vessels containing combustible liquids, com- posed probably of phosphorus and other similar agents, turpentine, etc., and, with balls of cotton saturated in this liquid, with which they also overspread floors and walls, they conveyed the flames with wonderful rapidity from dwelling to dwelling. Each had his ready box of Lucifer mntches, and, with a scrape upon the walls, the flames began to rage. Where houses were closely contiguous, a brand from one was the means of conveying destruction to the other. The winds favored. They had been high through- out the day, and steadily prevailed from southwest by west, and bore the flames eastward. To this fact we owe the preservation of the portions of the city lying west of Assembly street. The work, begun thus vigorously, went on without impediment, and with hourly increase throughout the night. Engines and hose were brought out by the firemen, but these were soon driven from their labors — which were indeed idle against such a storm of fire — by the pertinacious hostility of the soldiers; the hose was hewn to pieces, and the firemen, dreading worse usage to themselves, left the field in despair. Meanwhile, the flames spread from side to side, from front to rear, from street to street, and where their natural and inevitable progress was too slow for those who had kindled them, they helped them on by the application of fresh combustibles and more rapid agencies of conflagration. By midnight, Main street, from its northern to its southern extremity, was a solid wall of fire. By 12 o'clock, the great blocks, which included the banking houses and the treasury build- ings, were consumed ; Janney's (Congaree) and Nick- erson's Hotels ; the magnificent manufactories of Evans & Cogswell — indeed, every large block in the business portion of the city; the old Capitol and all the adjacent buildings were in ruins. The range called the "Granite" was beginning to flame at 12, and might have been saved by ten vigorous men, resolutely working. At I o'clock, the hour was struck by the clock of the Market Hall, which was even then illuminated from within. It was its own last hourwhich it sounded, and its tongue was silenced forevermore. In less than five minutes after, its spire went down with a crash, and, by this time, almost all the buildings within the precinct were a mass of ruins. Very grand, and terrible beyond description, was the awful spectacle. It was a scene for the painter of the terrible. It was the blending of a range of burning mountains stretched in a continuous series for more than a mile. Here was ^Etna, sending up its spouts of flaming lava; Vesuvius, emulous of like display, shooting up with loftier torrents, and Strom- boli, struggling, with awful throes, to shame both by its superior voiumes of fluid flame. The winds were tributary to these convulsive efforts, and tossed the volcanic torrents hundreds of feet in air. Great spouts of flame spread aloft in canopies of sulphurous cloud — wreaths of sable, edged with sheeted light- nings, wrapped the skies, and, at short intervals, the falling tower and the tottering wall, avalanche-like, went down with thunderous sound, sending up at every crash great billowing showers of glowing fiery embers. Throughout the whole of this terrible scene, the soldiers continued their search after spoil. The houses were severally and soon gutted of their con- tents. Hundreds of iron safes, warranted " impene- trable to fire and the burglar," it was soon satisfac- torily demonstrated, were not " Yankee proof." They were split open and robbed, yielding, in some cases, very largely of Confederate money and bonds, if not of gold and silver. Jewelry and plate in abundance were found. Men could be seen stagger- ing off with huge waiters, vases, candelabra, to say nothing of cups, goblets and smaller vessels, all of solid silver. Clothes and shoes, when new, were appropriated — the rest left to burn. Liquors were drank with such avidity as to astonish the veteran Bacchanals of Columbia; nor did the parties thus dis- tinguishing themselves hesitate about the vintage. There was no idle discrimination in the matter of taste, from that vulgar liquor, which Judge Burke used to say always provoked within him " an inordi- nate propensity to sthale," to the choicest red wines of the ancient cellars. In one vault on Main street, seventeen casks of wine were stored away, which, an eye-witness tells us, barely sufficed, once broken into, for the draughts of a single hour — such were the appetites at work and the numbers in possession of them. Rye, corn, claret, and Madeira, all found their way into the same channels, and we are not to wonder, when told that no less than one hundred and fifty of the drunken creatures perished miserably among the flames kindled by their own comrades, and from which they were unable to escape. The estimate will not be thought extravagant by those who saw the condition of hundreds after I o'clock, a. m. By others, however, the estimate is reduced to thirty, but the number will never be known. Sherman's officers themselves are reported to have said, that they lost more men in the sack and burning of the city (including certain explosions), than in all their fights while approaching it. It is also suggested that the orders which Sherman issued at daylight, on Saturday morning, for the arrest of the fire, were issued in consequence of the loss of men which he had thus sustained. One or more of his men were shot, by parties un- known, in some dark passages or alleys — it is sup- posed in consequence of some attempted outrages 998 APPENDIX Q.— DESTRUCTION OF COLUMBIA, S. C. which humanity could not endure ; the assassin tak- ing advantage of the obscurity of the situation, and adroitly mingling with the crowd without. And while these scenes were at their worst — while the flames were at their highest, and most extensively raging — groups might be seen at the several corners of the streets, drinking, roaring, reveling — while the fiddle and accordeon were playing their popular airs among them. There was no cessation of the work till 5 A. M. on Saturday. Ladies were hustled from their chambers — their ornaments plucked from their persons, their bundles from their hands. It was in vain that the mother appealed for the garments of her children. They were torn from her grasp and hurled into the flames. The young girl striving to save a single frock, had it rent to fibres in her grasp. Men and wornen bearing off their trunks were seized, despoiled, in a moment the trunk burst asunder with the stroke of ase or gun butt, the contents laid bare, rifled of all the objects of desire, and the residue sacrificed to the fire. You might see the ruined owner, standing woe-begone, aghast, gazing at his tumbling dwelling, his scattered property, with a dumb agony in his face mat was inexpressibly touching. " Your watch ! " " Your money ! " was the de- mand. Frequently, no demand was made. Rarely, indeed, was a word spoken, where the watch or chain, or ring or bracelet, presented itself con- spicuously to the eye. It was incontinently plucked away from the neck, breast, or bosom. Hundreds of women, still greater numbers of old men, were thus despoiled. The slightest show of resistance provoked violence to the per.- on. The venerable Mr. Alfred lluger was thus robbed in the chamber and presence of his family, anil it) the eye of an almost dying wife. He orlered resist- ance, and was collaret! and dispossessed by violence. We are told that the venerable ex-senator Colonel Arthur P. Hayne was treated even more roughly. Within the dwellings the scenes were of more harsh and tragical character, rarely softened by any ludi- crous aspects, as they were screened by the privacy of the apartment, with but few eyes to witness. The pistol to the bosom or head of woman, the patient mother, the trembling daughter, was the ordinary introduction to the demand: "Your gold, silver, watch, jewels!" They gave no time, allowed no pause or hesitation. It was in vain that the woman offered her keys, or proceeded to open drawer or wardrobe, or cabinet or trunk. It was dashed to pieces by axe or gun butt, with the cry, " YVe have a shorter way than that!" It was in vain that she pleaded to spare her furniture, ami she would give up all its contents. All the precious things of a family, such as the heart loves to pore on in quiet hours when alone with memory — the dear miniature, the photograph, the portrait — these were clashed to pieces, crushed under foot, and the more the trembler pleaded for the object so precious, the more violent the rage which destroyed it. Nothing was sacred in their eyes, save the gold and silver which they bore away. Nor were these acts those of common soldiers. Commissioned officers, of rank so high as that of colonel, were fre- quently among the most active in spoliation, and not always the most tender or considerate in the manner and acting of their crimes. And, after glutting them- selves with spoil, would often utter the foulest speeches, coupled with oaths as condiment, dealing in what they assumed, besides, to be bitter sarcasms upon the cause and country. "And what do you think of the Yankees now?" was a frequent question. " Do you not iear us now?" " What do you think of Secession ?" etc., etc. " We mean to wipe you out ! We'll burn the very stones of South Carolina!" Even General Howard, who is said to have been once a pious parson, is reported to have made this reply to a citizen who had expos- tulated with him on the monstrous crime of which his army had been guilty : " It is only what the country deserves. It is her fit punishment ; and if this does not quiet Rebellion, and we have to return, we will do this work thoroughly. We will not leave woman or child." There are some horrors which the historian dare not pursue — which the painter dare not delineate. They both drop the curtain over crimes which hu- manity bleeds to contemplate. Some incidents of gross brutality, which show how well prepared were these men for every crime, how- ever monstrous, may be given. A lady, undergoing the pains of labor, had to be borne out on a mattress into the open air, to escape the fire. It was in vain that her situation was de- scribed as the soldiers applied the torch within and without the house, after they had penetrated every chamber and robbed them of all that was either valuable or portable. They beheld the situation of the sufferer, and laughed to scorn the prayer for her safety. Another lady, Mrs. J , was but recently con- fined. Her condition was very helpless. Her life hung upon a hair. The men were apprised of all the (acts in the case. They burst into the chamber — took the rings from the lady's fingers — plucked the watch from beneath her pillow, and so overwhelmed her with terror, that she sunk under the treatment — - surviving their departure but a day or two. In several instances, parlors, articles of crockery, and even beds, were used by the soldiers as if they were water-closets. In one case, a party used vessels in this way, then put them on the bed, fired at and smashed them to pieces, emptying the filthy contents over the bedding. In several cases, newly made graves were opened, the coffins taken out, broken open, in search of buried treasure, and the corpses left exposed. Every spot in graveyard or garden, which seemed to have been recently disturbed, was sounded with sword, or bayonet, or ramrod, in their desperate search after spoil. APPENDIX R.— No. I. The Hamiton Roads Conference. [From the "War Between the States."] Hampton Roads Conference — Brief Review of Preceding Mili- tary and Political Events — Battle of Chitkamauga — Meade'* Attacks on Lee — ('.rant the Coming Man — Panic of Mission, ary Ridge — Joseph E. Johnston Supersedes Bragg — Grant made Lieulenant-General — Gloom at the Close of the Year 1863 — Brilliant Confederate Victories Early in 1864, at Ocean Pond and Mansfield— Sherman's Expedition to Mobile APPENDIX R.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. 999 Checked by Forrest — Sherman Assigned to Command the " Onward " into Georgia — The Two Grand Campaigns — Presidential Campaign in the North — Grant's Great Losses of Men in the Summer Campaign — Johnston Removed and Hood Appointed— Battles of Atl-.nta; Its Fall — Hood's Ten- nessee Campaign; Battles of Franklin and Nashville — Sher- man's March to the Sea — Sheridan Devastates ihe Valley of Virginia — Mr. Stephens' Views of the Situation — Blair's Visits to Richmond — First Interview with Grant, and Impres- sions Made by Him — The Conference and its Results — Fall of Fort Fisher — Mr. Davis' Speech at the African Church — Last Scenes of the War — Changes in the Confederate Cabinet — Grant's Operations : Lee's Lines Broken — Richmond Given Up — Lee's Surrender — Lincoln Assassinated — Surrender of Johnston, Dick Taylor, and Kirby Smith — End of the War. Mr. Stephens. — In the Congressional language, Judge Bynum, with which we were so familiar when we wee members of the House together, the '■'■special order" for this morning is the Hampton Roads Con- ference, in February, 1865, about which you desired information. Judge Bynum. — Yes, that is a matter I feel more interest in than the consideration of Battles, Procla- mations, Conscript Laws, or anything else pertaining either to the causes, character, or general conduct of the war. On these topics I think I very clearly per- ceive your general views. I am now more interested in getting some light upon the efforts which were made for stopping it. How did this celebrated Con- ference, having these objects, originate ? Who pro- jected it, and how did it happen to fail? You must have known, at that time, that a further prosecution of the war was utterly hopeless. I have seen various reports about it. Amongst other things, I have seen it stated that Mr Davis again yielded to your wishes to attempt negotiations for Peace, but so tied your hands with instructions that nothing could be accom- plished by it, and that his object in the whole matter was to use the failure as a means more effectually to arouse the people of the Confederate Stales to re- newed efforts and energy, by showing them that there were no hopes left for them of attaining Peace, except by the sword. How is this? If you have no objections to responding to my inquiries, I should like to know what your instructions were, and what did really occur at the interview, between the Con- federate Commissioners, and Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, in that Conference. Mr. S. — Most of the reports about the Hampton Roads Conference are utterly unworthy of notice. It wis not intended in its origin or objects to bring about direct negotiations for Peace. On this point very er- roneous ideas existed at the time, and do yet, perhaps. But for a proper understanding of its origin, nature, and objects, as well as my connection with it, it is essentially necessary that we shall first take another rapid glance at the intervening military as well as the political events, which occurred between this and the other proposed Conference referred to. 1 will not worry you with unnecessary details of battles or other subjects, but confine myself briefly as possible to such points, in both a military and political view, as are essential to a proper understanding of the mat- ter in hand. It must be borne in mind, then, that after the great reverses met with by the Confederates at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and after the withdrawal of Lee's Army from Pennsylvania — which, with his great skill, was safely effected, though Meade then had quite two to one at his command against him — everything remained comparatively quiet for some time, in a military point of view. The political aspect of affairs at the North, however, was greatly changed by what had occurred. The raid of Morgan into Ohio, as well as the invasion of Pennsylvania by General Lee, gave new life and vigor to the War Party in all the Northern States, but especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Mr. Lincoln, by this, was enabled, easily, to recruit his armies by volunteers in defence of their own homes and firesides, even from the ranks of those who were utterly opposed to the policy of subjugating the Southern States. The result was, that the Anti-War Party at ihe North — those who had favored Peace movements — were again put to silence under the denunciation of incivism, which was hurled against them. The elation caused by these late greatest successes which had attended their arms during the war, came, as might have been ex- pected, to their aid in the fall elections. In the political contest in 1863, therefore, the War Party proper, recovering from its wound, regained all that it had lost the year before. Vallandigham was beaten in Ohio, and in a large majority, if not all of the States, |the Centralists were again triumphant. So much for the political aspect just now. Let us leave it a moment to glance iurlher at military operations. While Lee was still holding Meade at bay in Vir- ginia, Rosecrans, at the head of the Army of the Cumberland, greatly reinforced, was projecting an attack upon Chattanooga, and a campaign thence to Atlanta and through Georgia. To defeat this most dangerous movement, Lee sent about 5,000 of his army to the assistance of Bragg, who, at the head of the Confederates, was now confronting Rosecrans. The result was the great battle of Chickamanga, fought on the 20th of September, 1863, where the Confederate arms under Bragg, D. H. Hill, Long- street and Hood, again achieved a most brilliant vic- tory. Rosecrans was not only checked, but almost routed. His army was saved by seeking protection behind the fortifications in and around Chattanooga. The united forces on the Confederate side, in the bat- tle of Chickamauga, were about 40,000, while the Federals under Rosecrans, numbered, from the best accounts, fully 55,000. The Confederate loss was heavy — not less than 16,000; while the Federal loss was fully 20,000 men (S, 000 of whom were prisoners), besides 49 pieces of artillery, and 15,000 small arms. After this terrible conflict, military affairs were again comparatively quiet for a time, both in the East and the West. Rosecrans remained behind his works at Chattanooga, and Bragg confronted him on Mis- sionary Ridge. In Virginia, however, matters were not quite so still. Meade made several attempts to assail Lee's weakened army, reduced, as it was, by the absence of Longstreet's corps. The most noted of these were at Centreville, Bristoe Station, and Mine Run. These resulted in no serious loss to Lee. In the meantime, Grant, who, from his exploits at Vicksburg, was now fully recognized as "the coming man," had been put at the head of all the South- western Federal forces, and given the control of the movement into Georgia from Chattanooga. Rose- crans, having fallen out of favor at Washington, had been removed, and Major-General G. H. Thomas put in his place at Chattanooga, he being himself, how- ever, now under the chief command of Grant. About this time, most unfortunately for the Confederates, there was a separation of their forces near Missionary Ridge, when there should have been every possible concentration of them. Longstreet was sent upon an expedition against Knoxville, where, on the 17th of November, he made an unsuccessful assault upon the IOOO APPENDIX R.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. Federals there strongly fortified, sustaining consider- able loss, and accomplishing nothing. While Bragg was thus weakened by the absence of Longstreet's command, Grant, very adroitly, and with consummate skill, by a concentration of his forces, planned and executed those movements which resulted in his most memorable victory, known as the Battle of Missionary Ridge. This was fought on the 25th day of Novem- ber. Bragg's army was completely routed. This was the greatest disaster which attended the Confederate arms in a pitched battle during the war : not so much in the loss of men (for that was only about 3,000), as in the loss of ground and the demoralization of his broken columns. Having lost the confidence of his men, he was, upon his own application, relieved from the command of the Army of Tennessee. This posi- tion was now, upon the earnest remonstrance and en- treaty of many persons high in authority, committed to the military genius of General Joseph E. Johnston, who, for some cause not necessary to mention, had theretofore been out of favor with Mr. Davis. His presence at the head of the shattered forces now com posing this army, gave new hopes and inspired new zeal in the ranks. All his energies were devoted for some months to recruiting and strengthening his com- mand. The winter thus passed off. Meantime, the office of Lieutenant-General was created by the Federal authorities, and General Grant was the man who, by almost universal acclaim, was designated to fill it. His nomination to that post by Mr. Lincoln was, of course, confirmed by the Senate. He was thus put at the head of all the Armies of the United States, and had, thereafter, the general control of all military operations on land. His headquarters were immediately transferred to the Army of the Potomac. Thus matters stood on both sides, during the remainder of the third year of the war. The prospect upon its close, in a military point of view, was gloomier for the Confederates than it had been at the close of any that had preceded it. This heavy gloom, however, did not rest upon their horizon long. The beginning of operations in the fourth year soon changed the aspect of affairs in this par- ticular, and gave great encouragement to the Confed- erates. This year was ushered in, even in its dawn, by the splendid victory at Ocean Pond, Florida, on the 20th of February, achieved under the lead of Brigadier-General Alfred H. Colquitt, against Gen- eral Truman Seymour, commanding the Federals. With less than 5,000 men, Colquitt put Seymour to rout, with more than 6,000, killing, wounding and capturing 2,500 men, and taking three Napoleon guns, two ten-pounder Parrots, and 3,000 stand-of- arms. This was followed immediately by the great victories achieved by General VI. Kirby Smith and General " Dick " Taylor, over General Banks in the West. In the early part of March, Banks had set out from New Orleans on an expedition to Texas, by way of Shreveport, with forces at his command num- bering in all not less than 40,000. These were at- tacked in detail by Smith and Taylor at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, at which places they utterly routed the Federal forces, and drove li.inks back as precipi- tately as he had been driven from Winchester in 1S62, by " Stonewall " Jackson. In this expedition. Banks lost in prisoners, 6,000, in killed and wounded, 8,000, in all 14,000 men, besides thirty-five pieces of artillery, 20,000 small arms, one hundred and twenty wagons, one gunboat, and three transports. The Con- federate forces operating against Banks, in all, did not exceed 25,000 men. A luile before this, General William T. Sherman had set out on his grand projected expedition to Mo- bile through Mississippi and Alabama. This most formidable and threatening movement was completely checked by several brilliant cavalry exploits of Major- General N. B. Forrest — particularly the one at Oko- lona on the 22d of February — the opening day of the fourth year of the war. Sherman's army, estimated at 50,000, was thus stopped at Meridian, Mississippi. From this point he retraced his steps to Vicksburg, and by Grant was put at the head of a new army to make another " onward" upon Atlanta and through Georgia. Two grand campaigns were now again clearly de- veloped by the Federals, for the summer of 1S64, as in 1S63 — one against Richmond under Grant himself — the other against Atlanta under Sherman. To Grant's movement Lee was opposed in Virginia; and to Sherman's, Johnston in Georgia. To the move- ments of these two great armies, the chief attention and energies on both sides were now directed. This was the general military situation in the early part of May, 1864. The political aspect, at the same time, requires a brief notice in the same connection. The Presiden- tial Campaign in the Northern States was opening. The Constitutional Party there was again active. They were resolved to make another desperate struggle, and to displace the Centralists from power by voles, if possible. Several circumstances favored the prospect of their success at first. There was con- siderable division in the ranks of the Centralists, as to who should be their standard-bearer in the contest. Mr. Lincoln had strong and powerful opponents to his nomination in his own party. These, in Conven- tion on the 31st of May, put in nomination for the Presidency, General John . C. Fremont, and for the Vice-Presidency, John Cochrane, of New York. The friends of Mr. Lincoln met in Convention at Baltimore, a week afterwards, on the 7th of June, and put him in nomination for re-election, with Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, for the Vice-Presidency. Fremont was subsequently withdrawn, and Lincoln left without opposition from his own party. The Democratic or Constitutional Party postponed their Convention from the 4th of July, when it was to have been held, to the 29th of August, when, at Chi- cago, as before stated, they put in nomination for the Presidency, General George B. McClellan, and for the Vice-Presidency, George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, upon a platform boldly denouncing the usurpations of the Washington authorities, opposing the policy of subjugating the Southern States, declaring the war to be a failure in preserving the Union of the States as it was established under the Constitution, and inviting a general Convention of all the State s, for a proper adjustment of the relations between them. It wns, you recollect, on the policy of our piving a favorable response to these resolutions of the Chicago Convention, looking to a general convocation of all the States, as an initiative step for a final adjustment of the matters in conflict, that I so widely differed with Mr. Davis during this year. The contest, however, fierce and bitter as it was, resulted, as is known, in the success of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency, and Mr. Johnson to the Vice- Presi- dency, at the election which took place on the 8th day of November. The various causes which co- APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. IOOI operated in producing this result, we will not now stop to notice. Let us return, therefore, to military movements. Before either of these nominations had taken place, the two great campaigns of this year, before referred to, had commenced; both at or near the same time. This was in the early part of May. The general re- sults of these need be but glanced at. Lee, with his most masterly military genius, with less than 60,000 men, not only held Grant in check with an army of over 100,000 present, and as many more, perhaps, in his rear to draw upon for reinforcements, but en- tirely defeated all the plans and purposes of this favor- ite General of the Federals. In a series of battles beginning on the 6th of May, and ending the I2lh of June — first in the Wilderness, then at Spottsylvania Court-House, then at North Anna, and then at Cold Harbor, which will ever stand amongst the most memorable of history, he sent Grant and his hosts, as he had McClellan and his before, swinging around upon the same new base — James river — where the Federal Chief, with his headquarters established at City Point, continued ineffectual efforts, first to take Petersburg as a step towards Richmond, until winter closed upon the scenes. In this campaign, according to Mr Swinton, Grant lost from the 6th of May to the 1 2th of June, in his progress from the Rapidan to Cold Harbor alone, 54,551 men. His losses by the time he reached Petersburg were not less than 60,000 — a number equal to Lee's entire army. While these operations were going on in Virginia, Johnston, with an equal masterly skill, with about 45,000 men, was checking, delaying and defeating Sherman in his "onward" to Atlanta, with an army equal in number and strength to that of Grant's. For more than two months he had been enabled to pro- ceed but about one hundred miles on his grand march, and at a loss not much, if any, inferior to that of Grant; notwithstanding the great disparity of forces on the respective sides, Sherman had been checked, foiled, and balked at various points by the manoeuvres, strategy, and consummate generalship of Johnston. On the 17th day of July, however, Johnston was removed, and Major-General John B. Hood put in his place. Within a few days afterwards — on the 20th aid 22d of July — were fought the great battles of Atlanta. Hood, with unequal forces, attacked the Federals under great disadvantages, as it turned out, and in two most gallant and bloody assaults lost, in all, about 8,000 men, without carry- ing any point, or inflicting any serious injury upon his adversary. On the 31st of August, he gave up the city and re- tired towards Newnan. Sherman took possession of his prize on the 2d of September. Soon after, Hood, in a new position, projected his famous Tennessee Campaign. This was commenced on the 28th day of September. His army at this time, after all the recruits which could be brought to its ranks, amounted to about 35,000. The result of this Tennessee move- ment, as is known, was the battles of Franklin and Nashville. The battle of Franklin was fought on the 30th of November. In this, Hood gained a signal victory, though at considerable loss. The battle of Nashville was fought on the 15th and 16th of Decem- ber. It lasted two days. The Confederates here were, finally, utterly defeated and almost routed by Thomas, whom Sherman had left in his rear, with forces amply sufficient to meet this meditated blow erf Hood, of which he was fully apprised. In the meantime, Sherman, after destroying and burning Atlanta, had set out anew from that point (on the 15th of November), on his grand march to the sea, with an army of 65,000 men. As there was no sufficient Confederate force to oppose him, he passed through the State almost unmolested,* laying waste the country in a belt of nearly thirty miles in breadth, and reached Savannah on the 22d of December, 1864. In the meantime, also, Sheridan, the most dashing and fiery of the Federal generals, had made his Valley campaign in Virginia, defeating the Confederates un- der Early, and laying waste that most beautiful coun- This rapid glance must suffice for the general aspect of affairs, both militarily and politically, up to Janu- ary, 1865. The prospect at this time, it is true, was exceedingly gloomy for us; but I did not then con- sider our cause .as utterly hopeless, notwithstanding. I thought the great object might even yet be attained, but I was deeply impressed by the conviction, that it could be done only by an immediate and thorough change in the policy of the administration, both in- ternally and externally. Being requested by the Sen- ate to give them my views on the situation, in a close session, I complied in a speech of considerable length, which was never reported. The sum and substance of it, however, was that cur policy, both internally and externally, should be speedily and thoroughly changed. Conscription, impressments, suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and all those measures which tended to dispirit our people in the great cause for which they were struggling, should be immedi- ately abandoned. The resources of the country, both of men and subsistence, should be better husbanded than they had been. Proclamation should be made inviting back to the army all who had left it without leave, and all who were then subject to conscription, to come under chosen leaders of their own. In this way I believed Price and Johnston, to say nothing of others, would, in thirty days, bring to their ranks more than the conscript bureau had, by compulsory process, brought from the beginning. Men who should so come would never desert, and might be re- lied on to fight when they did come. I reminded them of what they knew had been my opinions upon these subjects from the beginning : that the policy of holding posts or positions against be- sieging armies, as well as of engaging in pitched bat- tles, should not be pursued. We could not match our opponents in numbers, and should not attempt to cope with them in direct physical power. War was a col- lision of forces, and in this, as in mechanics, the greater momentum must prevail. Momentum, how- ever, was resolvable into two elements — quantity of matter and velocity. The superior numbers — the quantity of matter in this instance — was on the other side; and to succeed in the end, we must make up the other requisite element of momentum, not only by the spirit, animation, and morale of our unequal num- bers, but by their skilful movements, and by other resorts which were at our command. These consisted * At Griswoldville, on the 11A of November, quite a bloody encounter took place between the Federal brigade of Genera] Walcott, who was demonstrating towards Macon, and a few Georgia Reserves at that place un ler the command of (iener.il Cobb. This conflict, considering the relative forces engaged, as well as the valor displayed in it, is justly entitled to a place amongst the heroic fights of the war. Several hundred fell in it, and G.i ecal Walcott himself was wounded. But, however great w.i> the honor reflected upon the Confederate arms l>y this engagement, it had no eff ct whatever in checking or thwarting the movement of the grand army of Sherman in its progress. 1002 ATTEND IX R.— 7HE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. in the many advantages which an invaded people have over invaders. The policy of Johnston from Dalton to the Chattahoochee was the right one. To preserve the lives of our arms-bearing men, was itself a matter of the utmost importance. Our supply of these was limited, while that of our opponents was inexhaustible. They could afford to lose any number of battles, with great losses of men, if they could thereby materially thin iiur ranks. In this way, by attrition alone, they would ultimately wear us out. The leading object should be to keep an army in the field, and to keep the standard up somewhere, wherever it could be done, without offering battle except where the advantages were decidedly in our favor. If in pursuing this course now, of retiring when necessary, instead of offering or accepting battle, as stated, our whole country should be penetrated, and should even be laid waste, as the Val- ley of Virginia and the smoking belt in Georgia had been by Sheridan and Sherman, these devastations would be borne by our people, so long as their hearts were kept enlisted in the cause. On this line of in- ternal policy, our standard might even yet be kept up for at least a year or two longer — perhaps for a period far beyond that; and, in the meantime, by a change of our external policy towards the masses of the peo- ple at the North, a reaction might reasonably be ex- pected to lake place there. A financial revulsion there might be certainly expected in less than two years. The depreciation of their currency had already reached a point which was quite alarming to capital- ists. Greenbacks had already sold in New York at nearly three for one in gold. When the crash did come, as soon it must, the effects would be, politically, as well as in other respects, tremendous. At that time they could not be even properly conjectured ; but when it did come, then with a proper policy towards the million eight hundred thousand and more of the other side, who had so recently and decidedly demon- strated their opposition to the Centralists in the late election, we might through them — thoroughly aroused to a sense of their own danger — look for a peaceful adjustment upon a basis which would best secure both their liberties and ours. My opinion was, that by pursuing this course, we might, in the end, succeed in the Cause for which we were struggling, without relying solely upon the sword. The policy thus stated necessarily involved the abandonment of a continued attempt to hold Rich- mond. This, however, I did not state in express terms in my speech to the Senate. I only left all to draw their own inferences. To Mr. Davis alone I submitted the propriety and necessity of this course ; for I knew if he could not first be brought to see it, it Would be not only useless, but, most probably, exceed- ingly injurious in the then state of the public mind, to mention it to others. When the subject was men- tioned to him, his reply in substance was, that the abandonment of Richmond would be a virtual aban- donment of the Cause. Now, it was in this stage of our affairs, early in January, 1865, in the midst of winter, when everything was comparatively quiet on the lines of defence around Richmond, and before Sherman had set out from Sa- vannah, on his march through the Carolinas, that Mr. Francis P. Blair, Sr., made his appearance in the Con- federate Capital. The arrival of this distinguished personage, who was, unquestionably, the master spirit — the real Warwick — of the party then in power at Washington, caused no little sensation. What could have brought him there ? And what was his business ? These were the inquiries of almost every one. He was immediately in close and private con- sultation with Mr. Davis. After remaining a few days, he returned. Nothing, however, touching the object of his visit escaped from the Executive closet, or got to the public in any way. The surprise occa- sioned by his first visit was even increased by a second in a few days afterwards. He was again in consulta- tion with Mr. Davis, and again returned. The same mystery still continued to hang over the object of his mission. It was then, you must know, in these interviews between Mr. Davis and Mr. Blair, which excited so much curiosity and comment at the time, that this Hampton Roads Conference originated ; and as to its objects, how I became connected with it, what oc- curred at it, and its results, I will now proceed to in- form you in regular order : 1st. Its objects, and how I became connected with it. On the day after Mr. Blair's final departure, I was sent for by Mr. Davis, with a request to meet him at a stated hour, on special and important business. He wished the interview to be entirely private, and there- fore named the hour when he would be disengaged and ready to receive me. The message came through Mr. Hunter, who told me what the business was. I called at the hour, and found Mr. Davis alone. He said he wished what he should submit to be strictly confidential. He had mentioned it, as yet, to no one, except Mr. Hunter — not even to any member of his Cabinet; but had requested the Cabinet to meet him at four o'clock that evening, in consultation upon it, and wished to be in possession of my views before- hand. The substance of what he then stated was, that Mr. Blair, in a verbal and most confidential manner, had suggested to him a course by which a suspension of hostilities mi«ht be effected. This was to be done by a Secret Military Convention between the belligerents, embracing another object, which was the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine, in the prevention of the es- tablishment of the then projected empire in Mexico by France. Mr. Davis stated that Mr. Blair had given it as his opinion, that the result of what he proposed would be the ultimate restoration of the Union, which he greatly desired ; and (hat it was much more in ac- cordance with his wishes that it should be effected in this way, than by a continued prosecution of the war to its extreme results. Mr. Davis gave me clearly to understand that he understood Mr. Blair to be acting under the firm belief that the attempt of the Confed- erate States to establish a separate independence would certainly fail in the end. This he did that I might be fully informed as to the candidly professed objects of the proposition. He also submitted, somewhat in de- tail, a programme suggested by Mr. Blair, for carrying the general outlines of his scheme into practical oper- ation. Now, whether Mr. Blair's ideas as to the ulti- mate result of such military convention, if it should be entered into — so far as they related to the restoration of the Union — were correct or not, and whether his wishes in this particular would be finally attained by the line of policy he proposed, was a grave question for mature consideration, as well as the general sub- ject itself; and what Mr. Davis wished to confer with me about was, whether or not it was advisable to enter into the arrangement at all, under the circumstances; and especially in view of the contingency of such a result as that contemplated by Mr. Blair : and if I were APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON POADS CONEEPEA'CE. IOO3 of opinion that it was proper to do so, then who would be the most suitable persons to whom the matter should be committed? He showed me the two letters that had passed between Mr. Lincoln and himself through the medium of Mr. Blair, which have been published. These, however, were only intended to cover the other undisclosed object. I inquired it he thought Mr. Blair was really in the confidence of the Administration at Washington, and fully represented their views on the subject. He said that Mr. Blair had expressly disclaimed speaking by authority, but assured Mr. Davis that he believed the Administration would be willing to enter into such an arrangement ; and Mr. Davis, in reply to my in- quiry, said that he felt assured, notwithstanding what Mr. Blair had said of his acting in the matter of his own accord, that the Administration at Washington did, in fact, fully understand the object of Mr. Blair's mission, and would act in accordance with the views he had presented. In that view of the subject, I promptly told him that I thought the programme suggested by Mr. Blair should be acceded to, at least so far as to obtain, if possible, a Conference upon the subject as proposed. Perhaps such a Convention might be obtained, secur- ing a suspension of hostilities, without committing us to an active participation in the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine. If so, it was an object of very great importance to us; and the agitation of the Monroe Doctrine, and the diversion of the popular mind at the North to the questions involved in it, might, itself, result in great benefit to our Cause. Whether Mr. Blair was right in his ideas as to the ultimate result or not, was, of course, uncertain ; but this result, to which he was looking, was not neces- sarily involved in it. Moreover, if such result should ensue, it would be by the voluntary assent of the Con- federate States, and this would secure the success of the Principles for which we were struggling. In every view, this was a matter which could safely be left to the future. Upon the whole, therefore, I was in favor of the Conference, if it could be obtained. I went on fur her to say, that if there was really anything authoritative in the arrangement proposed ; if in truth and in fact, Mr. Lincoln were then, or should be on its direct presentation, favorably inclined to the course suggested, such a Convention, it seemed to me, could not be effected without the utmost dis- cretion and the most perfect secrecy. Mr. Davis said in reply to this, that Mr. Blair had been very particu- lar in stating the same thing. Well then, said I, Mr. President, looking to the question in all its bearings, in my judgment, you and Mr. Lincoln, yourselves, are the persons who should hold the Conference. You and he can easily be brought together near City Point, without anybody knowing it except General Lee and General Grant. To this he decidedly objected, and said that the mat- ter, if it should be decided to hold the Conference, ought to be put in the hands of at least three Com- missioners. When he was so decided on that point, after some moments' reflection, I said that the C mimission should be composed of men of ability and discretion, and also of persons whose absence from the city would not attract public attention. Looking to these three re- quisites, I then suggested as the Commissioners, Judge John A. Campbell, of Alabama, then Assistant-Sec- retary of War,* General Henry L. Benning, Ex-Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, then command- ing a brigade within a few miles of City Point, and Thomas S. Flournoy, of Virginia, a gentleman of dis- tinguished ability, and well known personally to Mr. Lincoln. This gentleman, to my knowledge, I stated, had reached the city the night before, expecting to remain only a day or two, and hence his leaving would give rise to no inquiry or comment. To all these suggestions, both as to qualifications and the persons possessing them, he yielded his ready assent, and I supposed the whole matter would be thus arranged, for I did not think the Cabinet would object to what Mr. Davis so cordially approved. Our conversation — begun on this subject and continued on others — lasted until the arrival of the Cabinet was announced. I heard nothing more of the matter until next day, when being sent for again by the President, I then, for the first time, learned that the result of the Cabinet consultation the evening before, was, that the Confer- ence should be proposed, and that Mr. Hunter, Judge Campbell, and myself should be the Commissioners. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that I was very much surprised at this. I urged and insisted upon the im- propriety of myself and Mr. Hunter being on the Commission — especially myself, for my absence as Presiding Officer of the Senate, would, of course, be noticed, and inquiries would almost certainly be made as to where I was. The same reason applied to some extent, though not to its full, to Mr. Hunter, who was one of the most prominent as well as active members of the Senate ; but the objection applied with more than double force to the appointment of us both. For, in case of my absence barely, he, of course, would take the Chair, as he was the President pro tetnpore, and this might, perhaps, pass off without special no- tice ; but for both of us to be absent at the same time — an event which had never occurred — would necessarily create inquiries as to the cause of our ab- sence. The Rules of the Senate would have to be changed to meet the case — a contingency that had not even been provided for, and some satisfactory reason would have to be given for an occurrence so extra- ordinary. I, therefore, with great earnestness, insisted that this arrangement should be abandoned, if anything was expected to be accomplished by it. My efforts to have it changed, however, were of no avail. The President and Cabinet persisted in the selection of the Commissioners which they had agreed upon ; so, in this instance, as in the other referred to, my judg- ment was yielded to theirs. The arrangement was, for the Commissioners to set out the next day, by way of Petersburg. I urged upon the President the importance of having it seen to, that no allusion to the Commission should be pub- lished in the city papers. According to the arrangement stated, the Commis- sioners next day, the 29th of January, proceeded as far as Petersburg. There we addressed Lieulenant- General Grant the letter of the 30th, which has been published, asking permission to cross the Federal lines. In reply, we received from him a communi- cation, dated at Head-quarters, Army of the United States, January 31, 1S65, signed by him as Lieutenant- * Ex-Justice U. S. Supreme Court — the same whose name appears in couuectioa with the first P^ce Commission at Wash- iactODa ioo4 APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. General, and addressed to us at Petersburg. This has never yet been published, so far as I know ; and as it was upon this we passed the Federal lines at Peters- burg, I will read it : " Gentlemen : Your communication of yesterday, requesting an interview with myself, and a safe-con- duct to Washington and return, is received. " I will instruct the commanding officers of the forces near Petersburg, notifying you at what part of the lines, and the time when and where, conveyances will be ready for you. " Your letter to me has been telegraphed to Wash- ington for instructions. I have no doubt that before you arrive at my head-quarters, an answer will be re- ceived, directing ine to comply with your request. Should a different reply be received, I promise you a safe and immediate return within your own lines. " Yours, very respectfully." In pursuance of this letter we were met on the even- ing of the same day at that part of the lines at which we had, in the meantime, been notified to appear at 4 o'clock, by an escort under the conduct of Lieutenant- Colonel Pabcock of General Grant's staff, and were conveyed by railroad to City Point. Upon reaching that place we were immediately taken to the head- quarters of the commander-in-chief. Here, for the first time, I met General Grant himself. Major Heister. — What impression did he make upon >ou on first acquaintance? How did he com- pare with General Lee in your estimation ? Mr. Stephens. — Why, sir, the idea of drawing a comparison between them did not occur to me. I should just as soon have thought of drawing a com- parison between Louis Napoleon and Washington. Put in answer to your question as to what impression he made upon me, I will say, in the first place, that I was never so much disappointed in my life, in my previously formed opinions, of either the personal appearance or bearings of any one, about whom I had read and heard so much. The disappointment, moreover, was in every respect favorable and agree- able. I was instantly struck with the great simplicity and perfect naturalness of his manners, and the en- tire absence of everything like affectation, show, or even the usual military air or mien of men in his position. He was plainly attired, sitting in a log- cabin, busily writing on a small table by a kerosene lamp. It was night when we arrived. There was nothing in his appearance or surroundings which in- dicated his official rank. There were neither guards nor aids about him. Upon Colonel Pabcock's rap- ping at his door, the response, " Come in," was given by himself, in a tone of voice, and with a cadence, which I can never forget. His conversation was easy and fluent, without the least effort or restraint. In this, nothing was so closely noticed by me as the point and terseness with which he expressed whatever he said. He did not seem either to court or avoid conversation, but whenever he did speak, what he said was directly to the point, and covered the whole matter in a few words. I saw be- fore being with him long, that he was exceedingly quick in perception, and direct in purpose, with a vast deal more of brains than tongue, as ready as that was at his command. We were here with General Grant two days, as the correspondence referred to shows. He furnished us with comfortable quarters on board one of his despatch boats. The more I became acquainted with him the more I became thoroughly impressed with the very extraordinary combination of rare elements of char- acter which he exhibited. During the time he met us frequently, and conversed freely upon various sub- jects, not much upon our mission. I saw, however, very clearly, that he was very anxious for ihe proposed Conference to take place, and from all that was said I inferred — whether correctly or not, I do not know — that he was fully apprised of its proposed object. He was, without doubt, exceedingly anxious for a termi- nation of our war, and the return of peace and har- mony throughout the country. It was through his instrumentality mainly, that Mr. Lincoln finally con- sented to meet us at Fortress Monroe, as the corre- spondence referred to shows. Put in further response to your inquiry, 1 will add : that upon the whole the result of this first acquaint- ance with General Grant, beginning with our going to, and ending with our return from Hampton Roads, was, the conviction on my mind, that, taken all in all, he was one of the most remarkable men 1 had ever met with, and that his career in life, if his days should be prolonged, was hardly entered upon ; that his char- acter was not yet fully developed ; that he himself was not aware of his own power, and that if he lived, he would, in the future, exert a controlling influence in shaping the destinies of this country, either for good or for evil. Which it would be, lime and cir- cumstances alone could disclose. That was the opin- ion of him, then formed, and it is the same which has been uniformly expressed by me ever since. This, Major Heister, is all I can now say in answer to your question, After Mr. Lincoln's telegram to him that he would meet us at Fortress Monroe, which General Grant brought to us himself, with evident indications of hi^h gratification, he immediately started us on one of his despatch boats. We reached the Roads in the evening of the same day. We remained on board the steamer which anchored near the fort. Mr. Lin- coln arrived in another steamer during the night, which anchored not far off. Mr. Seward, as is known, had been sent on a day or two in advance. So much then for the first point as to the objects, and how I became connected with this Conference. 2d. We come now to the Conference itself, and what occurred at it. The interview took place in the saloon of the steamer, on board of which were Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, and which lay at anchor near Fortress Monroe. The Commissioners were conducted into the saloon first. Soon after, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward entered. After usual salutations on the part of those who were previously acquainted, and intro- ductions of the others who had never met before, con- versation was immediately opened by the revival of reminiscences and associations of former days. This was commenced by myself addressing Mr. Lincoln, and alluding to some of the incidents of our Congressional acquaintance — especially, to the part we had acted together in effecting the election of General Taylor in 1848. To my remarks he re- sponded in a cheerful and cordial manner, as if the remembrance of those times, and our connection with the incidents referred to, had awakened in him a train of agreeable reflections, extending to others. Mutual inquiries were made after the fate and well-being of several who had been our intimate friends and active associates in a " Congressional Taylor Club," well APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON POADS CONFERENCE. IOO5 known at the time. I inquired especially after Mr. Truman Smith, of Connecticut, and he after Mr. Toombs, William Ballard Preston, Thomas S. Flour- nay, and others. With this introduction I said in substance: Well, Mr. President, is there no way of putting an end to the present trouble, and bringing about a restoration of the general good feeling and harmony then existing between the different States and sections of the country ? Mr. Seward said : It is understood, gentlemen, that this is to be an informal Conference. There is to be no clerk or secretary — no writing or record of any- thing that is said. All is to be verbal. I, speaking for the Commissioners, said that was our understanding of it. To this all assented, where- upon I repeated the question. Mr. Lincoln in reply said, in substance, that there was but one way that he knew of, and that was, for those who were resisting the laws of the Union to cease that resistance. All the trouble came from an armed resistance against the national authority. But, said I, is there no other question that might divert the attention of both parties, for a time, from the questions involved in their present strife, until the passions on both sides might cool, when they would be in better temper to come to an amicable and proper adjustment of those points of difference out of which the present lamentable collision of arms has arisen ? Is there no Continental question, said I, which might thus temporarily engage their attention ? We have been induced to believe that there is. Mr. Lincoln seemed to understand my allusion in- stantly, and said in substance : I suppose you refer to something that Mr. Blair has said. Now it is proper to state at the beginning, that whatever he said was of his own accord, and without the least authority from me. When he applied for a passport to go to Rich- mond, with certain ideas which he wished to make known to me, I told him flatly that I did not want to hear them. If he desired to go to Richmond of his own accord, I would give him a passport ; but he had no authority to speak for me in any way whatever. When he returned and brought me Mr. Davis' letter, I gave him the one to which you alluded in your ap- plication for leave to cross the lines. I was always willing to hear propositions for peace on the condi- tions of this letter and on no other. The restoration of the Union is a sine qua 71011 with me, and hence my instructions that no conference was to be held except upon that basis. From this I inferred that he simply meant to be understood, in the first place, as disavowing whatever Mr. Blair had said as coming authoritatively from him; and, in the second place, that no arrangement could be made on the line suggested by Mr. Blair, without a previous pledge or assurance being given, that the Union was to be ultimately restored. After a short silence, I continued : But suppose, Mr. President, a line of policy should be suggested, which, if adopted, would most probably lead to a res- toration of the Union without further bloodshed, would it not be highly advisable to act on it, even without the absolute pledge of ultimate restoration being required to be first given ? May not such a policy be found to exist in the line indicated by the in- terrogatory propounded ? Is there not now such a Continental question in which all the parties engaged in our present war feel a deep and similar interest? I allude, of course, to Mexico, and what is called the " Monroe Doctrine '' — the principles of which are directly involved in the contest now waging there. From the tone of leading Northern papers and from public speeches of prominent men, as well as from other sources, we are under the impression that the Administration at Washington is decidedly opposed to the establishment of an empire in Mexico by France, and is desirous to prevent it. In other words, they wish to sustain the principles of the Mon- roe doctrine, and that, as I understand it, is, that the United States will maintain the right of self-govern- ment to all peoples on this continent, against the do- minion or control of any European power. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward both concurred in the expression of opinion that such was the feeling of a majority of the people of the North. Could not both parties then, said I, in our contest, come to an understanding and agreement to postpone their present strife, by a suspension of hostilities be- tween themselves, until this principle is maintained in behalf of Mexico ; and might it not, when success- fully sustained there, naturally, and would it not al- most inevitably, lead to a peaceful and harmonious solution of their own difficulties ? Could any pledge now given, make a permanent restoration or re-organ- ization of the Union more probable, or even so prob- able, as such a result would ? Mr. Lincoln replied with considerable earnestness, that he could entertain no proposition for ceasing active military operations, which was not based upon a pledge first given, for the ultimate restoration of the Union. He had considered the question of an Armistice fully, and he could not give his consent to any proposition of that sort, on the basis suggested. The settlement of our existing difficulties was a ques- tion now of supreme importance, and the only basis on which he would entertain a proposition for a settlement was the recognition and re-establishment of the National Authority throughout the land. These pointed and emphatic responses seemed to put an end to the Conference on the subject contem- plated in our mission, as we had no authority to give any such pledge, even if we had been inclined to do so, nor was it expected that any such would really be required to lie given. Judge Campbell then inquired in what way the settlement for a restoration of the Union was to be made? Supposing the Confederate States should consent to the general terms as stated by Mr. Lin- coln, how would the re-establishment of the National Authority take place? He wished to know some- thing as to the details. Theee inquiries were made by him upon the line agreed upon by the Commissioners before, that if we failed in securing an Armistice, we would then en- deavor to ascertain on what terms the Administration at Washington would be willing to end the war. Mr. Seward said, he desired that any answer to Judge Campbell's inquiries might be postponed, until the general ideas advanced by me might be more fully developed, as they had, as he expressed it, "a philosophical basis." All seemed to acquiesce in this suggestion. I then went quite at large into the development of my views, which, briefly stated, in substance amounie I to this : That the Monroe Doctrine, as it was called, so far as it commended itself to my favor, assumed the position, that no European power should impose Governments upon any peoples on this continent against their will. This principle of the sovereign. right of local self-government, was peculiarly ar.-l ioo6 ATPEXDIX R.— THE I/A MP 70 X ROADS COXFEREXCE. specially sacred to the people of the United States, as well as to the people of the Confederate States. It was the one on which all our institutions, State and National, were based. At that time, the Emperor of France was attempting to violate this great principle, which was so sacred alike to the Belligerents on both sides of our contest. Now, if we could in any way agree to suspend our present strife, for the mainten- ance and vindication of this principle as to Mexico, might, and would not, the result most probably be, not only the allowance of time for the blood of our people on both sides to cool towards each other, but the leading of the public mind, on both sides, to a clearer understanding of those principles which ought to constitute the basis of the settlement of our own difficulties, and <>n which the Union should be ulti- mately restored ? A settlement of the Mexican question in this way, it seemed to me, would necessarily lead to a peaceful settlement of our own. I went on to give it as my opinion that, whenever it should be determined and firmly established that this right of local self-govern- ment is the principle on which all American institu- tions rest and shall be maintained, all the Stales might reasonably be expected, very soon, to return, of their own accord, to their former relations to the Union, just as they came together at first by their own con- sent, and for their mutual interests. Others, too, would continue to join it in the future, as they had in the past. This great law of the system would effect the same certain results in its organization as the law of gravitation in the material world. In a word, I presented briefly, but substantially in outline, the same view of our system of government which I gave you in one of our former conversations, and showed how we might become, in deed and in truth, an Ocenn-bound Federal Republic, under the operation of this Continental Regulator — the ultimate absolute sovereignty of each State. This inherent and natural right of all States and peoples to govern themselves as they please, in my judgment, was not only the foundation upon which our institutions were based in the beginning, but constituted the only sure ground of permanent peace and harmony in all parts of the country, consistent with the preservation of the liberties of each, even under a reorganized Union of the Slates. This Mexican epiestion, therefore, might, it seemed to me, afford a very opportune occasion for reaching a proper solution of our own troubles with- out any further effusion of fraternal blood. Mr. Seward said, in substance, that the ideas as presented had something specious about them in theory; but, practically, no system of government founded upon them could be successfully worked. The Union could never be restored or maintained on thai basis. Suppose, said he, a State under such a system, having within her limits and jurisdiction an important point, or port on the seacoast, should be induced by some foreign power to abandon the Union so sovereignly entered into, and after setting herself up as an independent nation, should enter into a trenty with such foreign power at enmity, or even at war with the other members of the Union — thus giv- ing their enemies an assumed rightful foothold in their vicinity, and by which great and irreparable in- juries might be inflicted upon them. Could this be tolerated by them for a moment ? Suppose, for in- stance, Louisiana, holding the mouth of the Missis- sippi, and controlling the commerce of its immense valley, and for which the United States paid so much, should, as she might, under this theory and doctrine, withdraw at pleasure, and form an alliance with a foreign enemy in time of war. Could the United States tolerate, for a moment, the recognition of any such right on her part ? Self-defence, if nothing else, would compel them to interfere, and prevent such withdrawal, and the formation of such an alliance. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, which ap- plies to nations as well as to individuals. No gov- ernment could have any stability or usefulness founded upon any such principle. To this I replied, thai it was not my purpose to (*o more than present briefly the outlines of the basis on which a settlement should be made, and how the Mexican question could be made subservient in bring- ing the public mind to that result. It was not my intention to argue the general principles as matters of fact or feasible theory. I granted that what he said was the legitimate effect of the system with some limi- tations. But, said I, in the supposed case of the State at the mouth of the Mississippi ; if her Confederates would so act towards her as to make it her interest to remain in the Confederation, as it was when she joined it, she would never think of leaving it, or forming any alliance with a foreign inimical power. She would abhor and spurn such an idea if presented. The ob- ject of all such Unions is the best interests of all the States composing them. This was the object of our Union. It was this that caused its formation. So long as this end is attained, theie need be no appre- hension of separation, or foreign alliance by any of them; but if the other States so act toward any one of their Confederates as to render it more to her in- terest to be out of the Union than in it, then she ought to quit is. The same doctrine staled by him, in reference to all the States jointly, applied with equal force to each State separately. Self-preserva- tion is as much the first law of nature to any one of the States of the Union as another or all the others combined. The principle of self-preservation ap- plied to every State, singly, in all such associations. It is only with a view to the better securing of the self-preservation of each State separately, that all such associations are formed. It was true, I admitted, if a State should wantonly, and without just cause, quit any association of this sort, and form an alliance with a foreign inimical nation, and with hostile in- tent, then that would, of course, be a just cause of war on the part of her former Confederates. All that I granted ; but urged that, if perfect justice should be done to the State in the supposed case, the great law of self-preservation and interest would restrain lur from any such course. This might be regarded as one of the most immutable of those laws which regu- late human societies in their voluntary relations towards each other. Dropping further remarks on that point, Mr. Sew- ard proceeded lo inquire of me, something of the de- tails of the plan I had in view for effecting the pro- posed purpose. What would be the general situation of affairs in the meantime, especially in States where there were two sets of authorities — one recognized l.y the Confederate States and one adhering to the na- tional government? How would the laws be admin- istered in the meantime in those States? and how was the object suggested to be practically accom- plished ? What he meant by presenting this question, after Mr. Lincoln had virtually closed all further confer- ence on that subject, I did not perceive, but proceeded APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. IOO7 to answer him in a general way, by stating that I had no fixed plan, but there were several which might be suggested, and stated one, amongst other ways, by which it might be effected. The suggestions I made on this point, as of my own accord, were the same which had been communicated to me as coming from Mr. Blair. The whole, I said, could be easily ar- ranged by a military convention. This could be made to embrace, not only a suspension of actual hostilities on all the frontier lines, but also other mat- ters involving the execution of the laws in the Stales referred to. Whatever disposition of troops on both sides might be necessary for the purpose, could be easily arranged in the same way. This convention being known, however, only to the authorities at Richmond and Washington. All these matters of detail, I said, could be easily adjusted, if we should first determine upon an armistice for that purpose. If there was a will to do it, a proper way could easily be made clear. Mr. Hunter said that there was not unanimity in the South upon the subject of undertaking the main- tenance of the Monroe Doctrine, and it wa~ not prob- able that any arrangement could be made by which the Confederates would agree to join in sending any portion of their army into Mexico. In this view he expressed the joint opinion of the Commissioners; indeed, we had determined not to enter into any agreement that would require the Confederate arms to join in any invasion of Mexico, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward stated that the feel- ing in the North was very strong for maintaining the Monroe Doctrine. The conversation was again diverted from that view of the subject by Mr. Lincoln. He repented that he could not entertain a proposition for an Armistice on any terms, while the great and vital question of re- union was undisposed of. That was the first ques- tion to be settled. He could enter into no treaty, convention, or stipulation, or agreement with the Con- federate States, jointly or separately, upon that or any other subject, but upon the basis first settled, that the Union was to be restored. Any such agreement, or stipulation, would be a quasi recognition of the States then in arms against the National Government as a separate Power. That he never could do. I stated that, as President, being Commander-in- chief of the Armies of the United States, he might without doubt, enter into a Military Convention. The arrangement suggested contemplated nothing but a Military Convention between the two Parties at war. All that was suggested could he easily ef- fected in that way, if there was a willingness on both sides. Mr. Lincoln admitted that a Military Convention could be properly entered into by him as President for some of the purposes proposed, but repeated his determination to do nothing which would suspend military operations, unless it was first agreed that the National Authority was to be re-established through- out the country. Judge Campbell now renewed his inquiry how restoration was to take place, supposing that the Confederate States were consenting to it ? Mr. Lincoln replied: By disbanding their armies and permitting the National Authorities to resume their functions. Mr. Seward interposed and said, that Mr. Lincoln could not express himself more clearly or forcibly in reference to this question, than he had done in his message to Congress in December before, and re- ferred specially to that portion in these words: " In presenting the abandonment of armed resist- ance to the National Authority, on the part of the in- surgents, as the only indispensable condition to end- ing the war on the part of the Government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to Slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that, ' while I remain in my present position, I shall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that Proclamation, or by any of the Acts of Con- gress.' If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to rc-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it. " In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it." After referring to this and stating its substance from memory, Mr. Seward went on to illustrate the mean- ing, by saying that the war would cease whenever the civil officers of the Federal Government should be permitted to discharge their duties under the laws of the United States — in other words, whenever the due execution of the laws of the United States should be submitted to in the Confederate States. [udge Campbell said that the war had necessarily given rise to questions which must, it seemed to him, require stipulation or agreement of some sort, or assur- ances of some sort, which ought to be adjusted under* standingly, before a harmonious restoration n{ former relations could properly be made. He alluded to the disbandment of the army, which would require time, and the disposition of its supplies. He alluded to the Confiscation Acts on both sides, and stated that prop- erty had been sold under them, and the title would be affected by the facts existing when the war ended, unless provided for by stipulations. Mr. Seward replied that, as to all questions involv- ing rights of property, the courts would determine; and that Congress would, no doubt, be liberal in making restitution of confiscated property, or provid- ing indemnity, after the excitement of the times had passed off. I asked Mr. Lincoln what would be the status of that portion of the slave population in the Confederate States, which had not then become free under his Proclamation ; or, in other words, what effect that Proclamation Would have upon the entire black popu- lation ? Would it be held to emancipate the whole, or only those who had, at the. time the war ended, be- come actually free under it? Mr. Lincoln said that was a judicial question. How the courts would decide it, he did not know, and could give no answer. His own opinion was, that as the I'roclamation was a "car measure, and would have effect only from its being an exercise of the war power, as soon as the war censed, it would be inoperative for the future. It would be held to apply only to such slaves as had come under its operation while it was 111 active exercise. This was his individual opinion, hut the Courts might decide the other way, and hold that it effectually emancipated all the slaves in the States to which it applied at the time. So far as he was con- cerned, he should leave it to the Courts to decide. He never would change or modify the terms of the Proc- lamation in the slightest particular. Mr. Seward said there- were only about two hundred ioo8 APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON POADS CONPE PENCE. thousand slaves, who, up to that time, had come under the actual operation of the Proclamation, and who were then in the enjoyment of their freedom under it ; so, if the war shouid then cease, the status of much the larger portion of the slaves would be subject to judicial construction. Mr. Lincoln sustained Mr. Seward as to the number of slaves who were then in the actual enjoyment of their freedom under the Proc- lamation. Mr. Seward also said it might be proper to state to us that Congress, a day or two before, had proposed a Constitutional Amendment* for the im- mediate abolition of slavery throughout the United States, which he produced and read to us from a news- paper. He said this was done asnwar measure. If the war were then to cease, it would probably not be adopted by a number of States sufficient to make it a part of the Constitution ; but presented the case in such light as clearly showed his object to be to impress upon the minds of the Commissioners that, if the war should not cease, this, as a war measure, would lie adopted by a sufficient number of States to become a part of the Constitution, and without saying it in direct words, left the inference very clearly to be perceived by the Commissioners that his opinion was, if the Con- federate States would then abandon the war, they could of themselves defeat this amendment) by voting it down as members of the Union. The whole num- ber of States, it was said, being thirty-six, any ten of them could defeat this proposed amendment. I inquired how this matter could be adjusted, with- out some understanding as to what position the Con- federate States would occupy towards the others, if they were then to abandon the war. Would they be admitted to representation in Congress? Mr. Lincoln very promptly replied that his own in- dividual opinion was, they ought to be. He also thought they would be; but he could not enter into n ti \- stipulation upon the subject. His own opinion was, that when the resistance ceased and the National Authority was recognized, the States would be imme- diately restored to their practical relations to the Union. This was a form of expression repeatedly used by him during the conversation, in speaking of the restoration of the Union. He spoke of it as a " restoration of the States to their practical relations to the Union." Upon my urging the importance of some under- standing on this point, even in case the Confederate States should entertain the proposition of a return to the Union, he persisted in asserting that he could not enter into any agreement upon this subject, or upon any other matters of that sort, with parties in arms against the Government. Mr. Hunter interposed, and in illustration of the propriety of the Executive entering into agreements with persons in arms against the acknowledged right- ful public authority, referred to repeated instances of *Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress, assembled : That the follow- ing article be proposed to the Legislatures of the s< vera! S:..tc-, as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislature 5, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as a part of said Constitu- tion, namely : Article XIII. Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted .shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. this character between Charles I. of England, and the people in arms against him. Mr. Lincoln in reply to this said : " I do not profess to be posted in history. On all such matters I will turn you over to Seward. All I distinctly recollect about the case of Charles I. is, that he lost his head in the end." This was the familiar manner in which Mr. Lin- coln, throughout the conversation, spoke ol and to M r. Seward. In the same familiar manner he addressed me throughout, as was his custom with all his intimate acquaintances when in Congress. I insisted that if he could, as a war measure, issue his Proclamation for Emancipation, which he did not venture to justify under the Constitution on any other grounds, he could certainly, as a like war measure, or as a measure for putting an end to the war rather, en- ter into some stipulation on this subject. He then went into a prolonged course of remarks about the Proclamation. He said it was not his in- tention, in the beginning, to interfere with slavery in the States ; that he never would have done it if he had not been compelled by necessity to do it, to main- tain the Union ; that the subject presented many diffi- cult and perplexing questions lo him; that he had hesitated for some time, and had resorted to this measure only when driven to it by public necessity ; that he had been in favor of the General Government prohibiting the extension of slavery into the Territories, but did not think that that Government possessed power over the subject in the Stales, except as a war measure; and that he had always himself been in favor of emancipation, but not immediate emancipa- tion, even by the States. Many evils attending this appeared to him. After pausing for some time, his head rather bent down, as if in deep reflection, while all were silent, he rose up and used these words, almost, if not quite, identical : " Stephens, if I were in Georgia, and entertained the sentiments I do — though, I suppose, I should not be permitted to stay there long with them: but if I resided in Georgia, with my present sentiments, I'll tell you what I would do, if I were in your place: I would go home and get the Governor of the State to call the Legislature together, and get them to recall all the State troops from the war; elect Senators and Members to Congress, and ratify this Constitutional Amendment prospectively, so as to take effect — say in live years. Such a ratification would be valid, in my opinion. I have looked into the subject, and think such a prospective ratification would be valid. What- ever may have been the views of your people before the war, they must be convinced now that slavery is doomed. It cannot last long in any event, and the best course, it seems to me, for your public men to pursue, would be to adopt such a policy as will avoid, as far as possible, the evils of immediate emancipation. This would be my course, if I were in your place." Mr. Seward also indulged in remarks at consider- able length on the progress of the anti-slavery senti- ment of the country, and stated that what he had thought would require forty or fifty years of agitation to accomplish, would certainly be attained in a much shorter time. Judge Campbell inquired of Mr. Seward if he thought that agitation upon the subject of the political relations between the two races would cease upon the emancipation of the blacks — the point to which here- tofore it had been entirely confined. APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. IOO9 Mr. Seward replied, perhaps not, or possibly not. Other matters were then talked over relating to the evils of immediate emancipation, if that policy should be pressed, especially the sufferings which would necessarily attend the old and the infirm, as well as the women and children, who were unable to support themselves. These were fully admitted by Mr. Lin- coln, but in reference to them, in that event, he illus- trated all he could say by telling the anecdote, which has been published in the papers, about the Illinois farmer and his hogs.* The conversation then took another turn. Mr. Hunter inquired of Mr. Lincoln what would be the result of a restoration of the Union, according to his idea, as to Western Virginia ? Would the " Old Dominion" be restored to her ancient boundaries, or would Western Virginia be recognized as a State in the restored Union? Mr. Lincoln said he could only give an individual opinion, which was, that Western Virginia would be continued to be recognized as a separate State in the Union. Mr. Hunter after this went into a sort of recapitu- lation of the subjects talked over in the interview, and the conclusions which seemed to be logically de- ducible from them; which amounted to nothing as a basis of peace, in his judgment, but an unconditional surrender on the part of the Confederate States and their people. There could be no agreement, no treaty, nor even any stipulations as to terms — nothing but unconditional submission. A good deal of force was given to the points in this summation by the tone in which the whole was expressed. Mr. Seward promptly replied by insisting that no words like unconditional submission had been used, or any importing or justly implying degradation, or humiliation even, to the people of the Confederate State-. He wished this to be borne in mind. Mr. Hunter repeated his view of the subject. What else could be made of it? No treaty, no stipulation, no agreement, either with the Confederate States jointly, or with them separately, as to their future position or security ! What was this but unconditional submission to the mercy of the conquerors? Mr. Seward said they were not conquerors further than they required obedience to the laws. The force used was simply to maintain National authority in the execution of laws. Nor did he think that in yielding to the execution of the laws under the Constitution of the United States, with all its guarantees and securities for personal and political rights, as they might be declared to be by the Courts, could be * Mr. Lincoln had a wonderful talent for illustrations of this sort. His genius for anecdotes was fully equal, if not superior, to that of .-Esop for Apologues or Fables. They were lus chief resort in conveying his ideas upon almost every question. His resources for producing them seemed to be inexhaustible, and they were usually exceedingly pointed, apt, and telling in their application. The one on this occasion was fir from being enti- tled to a place on a list of his best and most felicitous hits of this character. The substance of it was this ; An Illinois farmer was congratulating himself with a neighbor upon a great discovery he had made, by which he would econ- omize much time and labor in gathering and taking care of the food crop for his hogs, as well as trouble in looking after and feeding them during the winter. " What is it? " said the neighbor. " Why, it is," said the farmer, " to plant plenty of potatoes, and when they are mature, without either digging or housing them, turn the hogs in the field and let them get their own food as they want it." " But," said the neighbor, " how will they do when the win- ter comes and the ground is hard frozen? " " Well," said the farmer, " let 'em root ! " 64 properly considered as unconditional submission to conquerors, or as having anything humiliating in it. The Southern people and the Southern States would be under the Constitution of ihe United States, with all their rights secured thereby, in the same way, and tint nigh the same instrumentalities, as the simiiar rights of the people of the other States were. Mr. Hunter said : But you make no agreement that these rights will be so held and secured! Mr. Lincoln said that so far as the Confiscation Acts, and Other penal acts were concerned, their enforcement was left entirely with him, and on that point he was perfectly willing to be full and explicit, and on his assurance perfect reliance might be placed. He should exercise the power of the Executive with the utmost liberality. He went on to say that he would be willing to be taxed to remunerate the Southern people for their slaves. He believed the people of the North were as responsible for slavery as the people of the South, and if the war should then cease, with the voluntary abolition of slavery by the States, he should be in favor, individually, of the government paying a fair indemnity for the loss to the owners. He said he believed this feeling had an extensive existence at the North, lie knew some who were in favor of an appropriation as high as $400,000,000 for this purpose. I could mention persons, said he, whose names would astonish you, who are willing to do this, if the war shall now cease without further expense, and with the abolition of slavery as stated. But on this sub- ject he said he could give no assurance — enter into no stipulation. He barely expressed his own feelings and views, and what he believed to be the views of others upon the subject. Mr. Seward said that the Northern people were weary of the war. They desired peace and a restora- tion of harmony, and he believed would be willing to pay as an indemnity for the slaves, what would be required to continue the war, but stated no amount. After thus going through with all these matters, in a conversation of about four hours, of which I have given you only the prominent leading points, and these in substance only, there was a pause, as if all felt that the interview should close. I arose and stated that it seemed our mission would be entirely fruitless unless we could do something in the matter of the exchange of prisoners. This brought up that subject. Mr. Lincoln expressed himself in favor of doing something on it, and concluded by saying that he would put the whole matter in the hands of General Grant, then at City Point, with whom we could inter- change views on our return. Some propositions were then made for immediate special exchanges, whi< h were readily agreed to. I then said : I wish. Mr. President, you would re- consider the subject of an armistice on the basis which has been suggested. Great questions, as well as vast interests, are involved in it. If, upon so doing, you shall change your mind, you can make it known through the military. Well, said he, as he was taking mv hand for a fare- well leave, and with a peculiar manner verv charac- teristic of him : Well, Stephens, I will reconsider it, but I do not think my mind will change; but I will 1 e r it. The two parties then took formal and friendly leave of each oiher, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward with- drawing first from the saloon together. Colonel Bab- IOIO APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. cock, our escort, soon came in to conduct us back to the steamer on which we came. During the interview no person entered the saloon besides the parlies named, except a colored servant or steward, who came in occasionally to see if anything was wanted, and to bring in water, cigars, and other refreshments. This is as full and accurate an account as I can now give of the origin, the objects, and conduct of this Conference, from its beginning to its end. In giving it, as stated before, I have not undertaken to do more than to present substantially what verbally passed be- tween all the parties therein mentioned. At City Point we again had an interview with Gen- eral Grant. He evidently regretted very much that nothing had been accomplished by the Conference. The subject of the exchange of prisoners was then mentioned to him, and what Mr, Lincoln said about it, when he expressed a like willingness for an imme- diate and general exchange. That subject was then left with him and our commissioner of exchange, Colonel Ould. Thus ended this misnion. 3d. It now remains, according to the order pre- scribed, to say something of its results. A considera- tion of these will necessarily bring us to the close of the war, for the end was now rapidly approaching. On the return of the Commissioners to Richmond, everybody was very much disappointed, and lio one seemed to be more so than Mr. Davis. He thought Mr. Lincoln had acted in bad faith in the matter, and attributed this change in his policy to the fall of Fort Fisher, in North Carolina, which occurred on the 15th of January, after Mr. Blair's first visit to Richmond. The fall of this fort was one of the greatest disasters which had befallen our cause from the beginning of the war — not excepting the loss of Vicksburg or Allan! a. Forts Fisher and Caswell guarded the en- trance to the Cape Fear river, and prevented the com- plete blockade of the port of Wilmington, through which a limited foreign commerce had been carried t)ii during the whole time. It was by means of what cotton could thus be carried out, that we had been enabled to get along financially, as well as we had; and at this point also, a considerable number of arms and various munitions of war, as well as large sup- plies of subsistence, had been introduced. All other ports, except Wilmington, had long .since been closed by naval siege. Furls Jackson and St. Philip, which guarded the mouth of the Mississippi and the entrance to New < Irleans, had been captured in March, 1S62. Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah, had fallen on the I2th of April, in the same year; and Fort Macon in North Carolina, a month or two earlier. Forts Gaines, Powell and Morgan, at Mobile, had also fallen in August, 1S63. Fort Sumter, at Charleston, it is true, had still held out, and had never been taken, but the harbor there had been virtually closed by a strict blockade; so that the closing of the port of Wilmington was the comp'ete shutting out of the Confederate States from all intercourse by sea with foreign countries. The respiratory functions of (Menial trade, so essential to the vitality of all com- munities, had been performed for the whole Confed- eracy, mainly, for nearly three years, through the small aperture of this little port, choked to wheezing a> it was, by a cordon of armed ships, drawn around its neck. The passing in and out of necessary com- merce at this place, all the time, was very much like breathing through a quill in extreme cases of quinsy or croup; still, as such breathing often saves life, so this channel of external trade was of the utmost im- portance to m at that time. The closing of this port, therefore, and the great advantage against us secured by it, was what Mr. Davis supposed to be the cruise of a change of policy on the part of the Administra- tion at Washington. We reported to him, verbally, all that had occurred at the Conference, and much more minutely in detail than I have given it to you. In this report to him, 1 gave it as my opinion, that if he were not himself mistaken as to Mr. Blair's knowledge of the policy of the Administration at Washington, and of his being in its confidence; in other words, if there was really at that time, entertained by Mr. Lincoln, any such views as those suggested by Sir. Blair, I was not at all disappointed myself at the result of the inter- view at Fortress Monroe. I thought the publicity of the mission was enough to account for its failure, without attributing it to any bad faith, either on the part of Mr. Blair or Mr. Lincoln; that 1 had ex- pressed the opinion to Judge Campbell and Mr. Hunter, when we saw our departure announced in ihe papers as it was (the whole North being in a stir upon the subject by the time we reached City Point), that this would most probably defeat our accomplish- ing anything, even if Mr. Luicoln really intended to do anything on that line; and that it was in this view of the subject solely, I had made the request to him, at the close of the interview, to reconsider the matter of the Armistice. I called Mr. Davis' attention specially to the fact, that in reply to that request Mr. Lincoln declared he would reconsider \t ; and notwithstanding the qualifica- tion with which he made the declaration, yet 1 thought if there ever had been really anything in the projet, Mr. Davis would still hear from it in a quiet way through the military, after all the then "hubbub" about peace negotiations had subsided.* In this view of the subject, I gave it to him as my opinion, that there should be no written report by the Commission- ers touching the Conference, especially as a full dis- closure of its real objects could not, with propriety, then be made; and that any report without this, how- ever consistent with the facts, as far as they should be set forth, would fail to give full information upon the exact posture of the affairs to which it related, by which the public mind in reference to it would be more or less misled. He insisted that a written report should be made, and the other commissioners concurring with him, I again yie'ded my views on that point, and joined them in the report which you have seen, believing, as I did, that if I declined, more harm would cer- tainly result from a misconstruction of my course and reasons in the matter, than would by conforming to his views and those of my colleagues. * Not long afterwards, General Ord, of the Federal army, in command below Richmond, did approach General Longstr^ct, commanding on the Confederate side, with a proposition for a Military Convention of some sort, and stated that it could be enured into if General Lee should be clothed with proper au- thority, etc. Whether this came from the promised reconsider- ation nr not, the author dots not know. Of the nature of this proposition or its objects, he knows nothing, except wh;u was published in the papers. It was re- sponded to, as thus appeared, by General Lie being clothed with authority, Under instructions, to treat wi h (..cneral Grant upon the sulject of Peace I General Grant replied, that he had no authority to treat upon the question of peace, or lo enter into a convention on any sub- ject which was not strictly of a military charite t€T, and that General Ord must have referred to some subject on which he (General Grant) was authorized to act. APPENDIX R.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. IOII • The question then was, what was next to be done ? Mr. Davis' position was, that inasmuch as it was now settled beyond question, by the decided and pointed declarations of Mr. Lincoln, that there could be no peace short of Unconditional Submission on the part of the people of the Confederate States, with an entire change of their social fabric through- out the South, the people ought to be, and could be, more thoroughly aroused by appeals through the press and by public addresses, to the full conscious- ness of the necessity of renewed and more desperate efforts, for the preservation of themselves and their institutions. Hy these means they might yet be saved from the most humiliating threatened degradation. In these lay the only hope left of escaping such a cilamity. lie himself seemed more determined than ever to fight it out on this line, and to risk all upon the issue. By the course he proposed, I understood him to hold the opinion, that Richmond could still be de- fended, notwithstanding Sherman had already made considerable progress on his march from Savannah; and that our cause could still be successfully main- tained, without any change in the internal policy upon the subjects referred to before. His general views and purposes at the time, were set forth with that firmness and decision so characteristic of him, in the message he sent to Congress on the report of the Commissioners, and in a speech he made at the Afri- can Church (a noted place for public speaking in the city of Richmond), on the night of the .-econd day after our return. The newspaper sketches of that speech were meagre, as well as inaccurate, in several particulars, and, upon the whole, came far short of so presenting its substance even, as to give those who did not hear it anything like an adequate conception of its full force and power. It was not only bold, undaunted, and confident in its tone, but had that loftiness of sentiment and rare form of expression, as well as magnetic influence in its delivery, by which the passions of the masses of the people are moved to their profoundest depths, and roused to the highest pitch of excitement. Many who had heard this master of oratory in his most brilliant displays in the Senate and on the hustings, said they never before saw Mr. Davis so really majestic! The occasion, and the effects of the speech, as well as all the cir- cumstances under which it was made, caused the minds of not a few to revert to like appeals by Rienzi and Demosthenes. While it was well calculated to awaken associations and suggest comparisons of that sort, it, nevertheless by the character of its policy, equally reminded me of the famous charge of the "Six Hundred" at Balaklava, of which some one — I forget who — in witnessing it, said, in substance: "It is brilliant; it is grand ; but it is not war !" However much I admired the heroism of the sen- timents expressed, yet in his general views of policy to be pursued in the then situation, I could not concur. I saw nothing to prevent Sherman himself from pro- ceeding right on to Richmond and attacking Lee in the rear, to say nothing of any movements by Grant, who then had an army in front, of not much, if any, under 200,000 men. Lee's forces were not over one- fourth of that number. Sherman's army, when united with Schofield's and Terry's, which were joining him from Wilmington, North Carolina, would be swelled to near 100,000. To meet these, the Confederates had in his front, nothing but the fragments of shat- tered armies, amounting in all to not one-half the number of the Federals. When the programme of action, thus indicated by Mr. Davis in our interviews, as well as in his mes- sage and the speech referred to, was clearly resolved upon, I, then, for the first time, in view of all the surroundings, considered the cause as utterly hopeless. It may be that it was utterly hopeless anyhow ; that nothing could have saved it at that time, or at any time. It may be that if the course which I thought would or could then save it, or would or could have saved it at any time, had been adopted, it would have come as far short of success, as the one which was pursued ; and it may be, that the one which was taken on this occasion, as well as on all the other occasions, on which I did not agree, was the very best that could have been taken. These are now all matters purely of speculation, as I said before; and it is not my purpose at this time to discuss them, or to pass any judgment in reference to them, one way or the other. I doubt not that all — the President, the Cabinet and Congress — did the very best they could, from their own convictions of what was best to be done at the time. The ablest and truest men often differ upon vital questions ; and all are liable to err in judgment. I wish, therefore, in all I say on this occasion touching these and kindred subjects, as well as what I say in re- lation to the conduct of others in regard to them, to be understood as only presenting the views from which my own convictions sprung, and the motives by which I was actuated throughout, especially in declining, as I did, to appear and speak at the meeting which was addressed by Mr. Davis as stated, and also at another grand meeting arranged to take place a few days after, in Capitol Square, for similar purposes. I de- clined, because I could not undertake to impress upon the minds of the people the idea that they could do what I believed to be impossible, or to inspire in them hopes which I did not believe could ever be real- ized. It was then that I withdrew from Richmond. My last interview with Mr. Davis before leaving, was after my thus declining to address the meetings pro- posed. He inquired what it was my purpose to do? I told him it was to go home and remain there. I should neither make any speech, nor even make known to the public in any way my views of the general condition of affairs, but quietly abide the issues of fortune, whatever they might be. Differing as we did, at that time, upon these points, as we had upon others, we parted in the same friend-hip which had on all occasions marked our personal inter- course. I left Richmond in no ill-humor with Mr. Davis, or with any purpose of opposing or obstructing the execution of the designs of the Administration, in any way; but because I could not sanction a policy which I though! would certainly end in disaster, and I did not wish to be where my opinions might, by possibility, be the cause of divisions and dissensions, which would just as certainly lead to the same re- sult. General confidence in the Administration was ,1 to success on any line, and this 1 did not wish to weaken or impair in others at this most criti- cal juncture, though I could not, niy-elf. approve the Course which had been taken. I. therefore, left on the 9th of February, and reached home the 20th, where I remained in perfect retirement, until I was arrested on the nth of May. • 1012 A /TIC. YD IX R.— TI1E HAMPTOX ROADS COXFEREXCE. In the meantime was enacted the last scenes in the grand drama of this terrible conflict of arms, which we have so rapidly glanced at, in considering the con- flict of the principles out of which it arose. t mly a few matters now, connected with its closing events, on the same line, remain to be noticed. Mr. George Davis, of North Carolina, had suc- ceeded Mr. Thomas H. Watts as Attorney-General. Mr. George A. Trenholm, of South Carolina, had been put at the head of the Treasury department, upon the resignation of Mr. Memmmger, in June, 1S64. Mr. Seddon, also, who bad succeeded Mr. Randolph, as Secretary of War, resigned that position about the time I left Richmond. This position was immediately assigned to Mr. Breckinridge, then a Major-General. Alter Sherman had proceeded in his famous march beyond Columbia, leaving a blackened waste in his track, and when our affairs were "in extremis" — almost "111 artictdo r/zo/tis" — General Joseph E. Johnston, upon the earnest appeal of members of Congress and the Virginia Legislature, was again assigned to the command of the remnants of the shattered Confederate Armies alluded to, in the Caro- linas, which did not exceed 35,000 effective men in all. With these he was to oppose the advancing Federal forces in front of not much, if any, under 100,000. Grant commenced operations as early as the season would permit. ( >n the 2d of April he succeeded, by a concentration of forces, in making breaches in Lee's lines of defence near Petersburg. The whole line for the defence of the capital then extended at least thirty five miles in length. By these breaches, made in this line on the 2d of April, Lee was neces- sarily compelled to retire, and thus give up Richmond at last. Several bloody and heroic struggles ensued. The remaining thinned, but resolute and undaunted columns of the noble Confederate chief, like the Spartan band at Thermopylae, were now pressed to a death-grapple by the surrounding legions of the mon- ster Army of the Potomac under Grant. The tragic /male was at hand! On the 9th of April, at Appo- mattox Court-House, the sword of Lee was surren- dered. Not much else pertaining to the "annihil- ated" Army of Northern Virginia was left to be passed under the formula of that ceremony! Mr. Davis and Ins Cabinet had left Richmond on the night of the 2d of April, after Lee's lines were thus broken, as stated. They went as far as Dan- ville, \ irginia, where they remained for several days, and where Mr. Davis issued another most stirring and animating address; but after being informed of what had occurred at Appomattox Court-House, he and the Cabinet proceeded to Greensboro, North Carolina, where some days afterwards, in consultation with Generals Johnston and Beauregard and his Cabinet, General Johnston was authorized by him to make such terms as he might be able with General Sherman for a terminal i( n of the war and a general pacification. The result of this was the celebrated Sherman and Johnston Convention, which was for- mally a and signed on the I.Sth of April by these two commanding generals of the respective sides. Hut while these distinguished parties were thus negotiating, little diil they know ol what had occurred and was going on elsewhere. Pour days before, on the night of the 14th of April, Mr. Lincoln had been assassinated, which produced a state of feeling never before known in the country. The Vice-President, Mr. Andrew Johnson, immediately succeeded to the Presidential office. From the great excitement created by the horrible act, by which Mr. 1 had been taken off, or from some other most unfor- tunate cause, this Sherman-Johnston Conventii n was disapproved by the newly-installed President at Wash- ington. Upon being notified of this fact by General Sher- man, General Johnston then did the next best thing in his power. lie entered into a stipulation with General Sherman, by which he surrendered all the Confederate forces north of the Chattahoochee river, upon similar terms to those agreed to between Geil erals Lee and Grant, in reference to the forces under General Lee. The course of General Johnston was promptly fol- lowed by General " Dick " Taylor, commanding in Alabama, who surrendered his forces to General Edward R. S. Canby, upon similar terms, on the 4th of May. A like surrender of all the ConU forces west of the Mississippi, was made by General E. Kirby Smith, to the same Federal officer, on the 26th of the same month. All other smaller detach- ments of Confederate forces scattered about in vain us parts of the country, had, in the meantime, been sur- rendered by their officers in command, upon the same or similar terms. Kirby Smith's surrender was the fast. The whole number of Confederates thus surren- dered, from the 9th of April to the 25th of May, according to the muster-rolls, amounted to a little under 175,000 in number. This embraced quite a number who, from disease, were not actively in the field at the time. Making due allowance for these, there was, therefore, then, hardly more than 150,000 Confederates under arms. The whole number of Federal forces then in the field, and afterwards mus- tered out of service, as their records show, amounted in round numbers to 1,050.000. Thus ended this greatest of modern wars — if not the greatest, in some respects, "known in the history of the human race." It lasted four years ami a little over, as we have seen, marked throughout by many sanguinary conflicts, with heroic exploits on both sides, which it has not been in the line of our investigation to notice, but all of which deserve to be, if they have not been, duly chronicled in proper place. Even in memory, many of them will be per- petuated as legends, and thus treasured as themes for story ami song for ages to come. One of the most striking features in it was the great disparity between the number of the forces on the opposite sides. Prom its beginning to its end, near, if not quite, two millions more Federals were brought into the field than the entire force ol the Con- federates. The Federal records show that they hail, from lirst to last, over 2.(00,000 men in the service; while the Confederates, all told in like manner, could not have much, if any, exceeded 600,000! No people on earth ever maintained the great right ot self gov- ernment so long as the Confederates did in this con- test, with such sacrifices of blood and treasure, against such odds ! The entire loss on both sides, including those who were permanently disabled, as well as those killed in battle and who died from wounds received and dis- eases contracted in the service, amounted, according to Mr. Greeley's estimate, which is more likely to be- under than over the maik, to the " stupendous aggre gate of one million of men ! " APPENDIX R.— TJIE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. 1013 The like aggregate of expenditure of money on both sides, including the loss and sacrifice of property, could not have been less than eight thousand millions of dollars! — a sum fully equal to three-fourths of the assessed value of the taxable properly of the entire country, when it commenced ! In concluding our review, may we not well ask, as the dying soldier did in the first great battle on the plains of Manassas : " What was all this for? " It remains for us now to see what it has so far come to. This subject has been set down for our next con- versation. APPENDIX R.— No. 2. Message of President Lincoln on the Hampton Roads Conference. To the Honorable House of Representatives : In response to your resolution of the 8th inst., re- questing information in relation to a Conference held in Hampton Roads, I have the honor to state that on the date I gave Francis P. Blair, Senior, a card written as follows, to wit : "December 28, 1864. "Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines, go South and return. (Signed) "A. Lincoln." That at the time I was informed that Mr. Blair sought the card as a means of getting to Richmond, Va., but he was given no authority to speak or act for the Government. Nor was I informed of anything he would say or do on his own account or otherwise. Mr. Blair told me that he had been to Richmond and had seen Mr. Jefferson Davis, and he (Mr. Blair) at the same time left with me a manuscript letter as follows, to wit : "Richmond, Va., January 12, 1865. " F. P. Blair, Esq. : " Sir : I have deemed it proper and probably de- sirable to you to give you in this form the substance of the remarks made by me to be repeated by you to President Lincoln, etc. I have no disposition to find obstacles in forms, and am willing now, as heretofore, to enter into negotiations for the restoration of peace. I am ready to send a Commission whenever I have reason to suppose it will be received, or to receive a Commission if the United States Government shall choose to send one. Notwithstanding the rejection of our former offers, I would, if you could promise that a Commission, Minister, or other agent would be received, appoint one immediately, and renew the effort to enter into a Conference with a view to secure peace to the two countries. " Yours, etc., "Jefferson Davis." Afterward, with a view that it should be shown to Mr. Davis, I wrote and delivered to Mr. Blair a letter, as follows, to wit : " Washington, January iS, 1S65. " F. P. Blair, Esq. : " Sir : Ybu having shown me Mr. Davis' letter to you of the 12th inst., you may say to him that I have constantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive any agent whom he, or any other influential person now resisting the National authority, may in- formally send me, with a view of securing peace to the people of our common country. " Yours, etc., " A. Lincoln." Afterwards Mr. Blair dictated for, and authorized me to make, an entry on the back of my retained copy ol the letter just above recited, which is as follows : "January 28, 1865. " To-day Mr. Blair tells me that on the 2isl inst. he delivered to Mr. Davis the original, of which the within is a copy, and left it with him ; that at the time of delivering Mr. Davis read it over twice in Mr. Blair's presence, at the close of which he (Mr. B.) re- marked that the part about our common country re- lated to the part of Mr. Davis' letter about the two countries, to ■which Mr. D. replied that he understood it. " A. Lincoln." Afterwards the Secretary of War placed in my hands the following telegram, indorsed by him, as appears : "Office U. S. Military Telegraph, "I " War Department. J " (Cipher). The following telegram was received at Washington, January 29, 1865 : " ' From Headquarters Army of the James, ) " ' 6.30 P. M., January 29, 1865. / " ' To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: " ' The following despatch is just received from Major-General Parke, who refers it to me for my ac- tion. I refer it to you in lieu of General Grant — ab- sent. (Signed) " ' E. O. C. Ord, Major-General Coni'd'g.'' " " ' Headquarters Army of the James. " ' The following despatch is forwarded to you for your action, since I have no knowledge of General Grant's having had any understanding of this kind. I refer this matter to you as the ranking officer present in the two armies. (Signed) " ' John G. Parke, Major- General Com'd'g.' " " ' From Headquarters Ninth Army Corps, \ "'January 29, 1865. J •" Major-Generai John G. Parke. " 'Headquarters Army of the Potomac: "'Alexander II. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter, and I. A. < lamphell desire to cross my lines, in accordance with an understanding claimed to exist with Lieuten- ant-General Grant, on their way to Washington as Peace Commissioners. Shall they be admitted ? They desire an early answer.su a- to come through imme- diately. They w.mld like to reach City Point ((■-night, if they can. If they cannot do this, they would like to come through to-morrow morning. " « 0. B. WILSON, Major Commanding Ninth Corps'" " Respectfully referred to the President for such in- structions as he may be pleased to give. " Edwin M. Si v.nton, Secretary of War. "January 29, 1S65, S.30 P. M." It appears that about the time of placing the fore- going telegram in my hands, the Secretary of War despatched to General Ord as follows, to wit: ioi4 APPEXDIX R.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. " War Department, Washington City, ) "January 29, I&05 — IO P. M. J " Major-General Oru: " This Department has no knowledge of any under- standing by General Grant to allow any person to come within his lines as Commissioners of any sort. You will therefore allow no one to come into your lines under such character or profession until you receive the President's instructions, to whom your telegrams will be submitted for his directions. '■ EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. " (Sent in cipher at 2 A. M.) " Afterward, by my directions, the Secretary of War telegraphed General Ord as follows, to wit : '• War Department, Washington, D. C.,\ '■•January 30, 1865 — 10 >A. M. J " Major General E.O.C. Oru, " Headquarters Army of the James: "By the direction of the 1'reMdent you are instructed to inform the three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hun- ter, and Campbell, that a message will be despatched to them at or near where they now are, without un- necessary delay. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." Afterward I prepared and put into the hands of Major Thomas T. Eckert, the following instructions : " Executive Mansion, Washington, "t '•January 30, 1865. J " Major T. T. Eckert : "Sir: You will proceed with the documents placed in your hands, and on reaching General Ord will deliver him the letter addressed him by the Sec- retary of War. Then, by General Ord's assistance, procure an interview with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, or any of them, deliver to him or them the paper on which your own letter is written. Note on the copy which you retain the time of delivery and to whom delivered. Receive their answer in writing, waiting a reasonable time for it, and which, if it con- tain their decision to come through without further conditions, will be your warrant to ask General Old to pass them through as directed in the letter of the Secretary of War. If by their answer they decline to come, or propose other terms, do not have them pass through, And this being your whole duty, return and report to me. "Yours truly, "A. Lincoln." " City Point, February 1, 1865. " Messrs. Alexander II. Stephens, J. A. Camp- bell, and R. M. T. Hunter : " Gentlemen : I am instructed by the President of the United States to place this paper in your hands, with the information that if yon pass through the United States military lines, it will be understood that you do so for the purpose of an informal conference on the basis of that letter, a copy of which is on the reverse side of this sheet ; and that you choose to pass on such understanding, and so notify me in writing. I will procure the Commanding General to pass you through the lines and to Fortress Monroe, under such military precautions as he may deem prudent, and at which place you will he met in due time by some per- son or persons for the purpose of such informal con- ference; and further, that you shall have protection, safe conduct, and safe return in all events. " Thomas T. Eckert, Major and Aid-de-CampP Afterward, but before Major Eckert had departed, the following despatch was received from General Grunt : " Office U. S. Military Telegraph, ) " War Department. J " (Cipher). " The following telegram was received at Washing- ton, January 31, 1865, from City Point, Ya., 10.30 a. m., January 31, 1665 : "His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, "President of the United Stales : " The following communication was received here last evening : '" Petersburg, Va., "> " 'January 30, 1865. / " ' Lieut.-Gen. U. S. Grant, " ' Commanding Armies of the i 'nited States : "'Sir: We desire to pass your lines under safe conduct, and to proceed to Washington to hold a con- ference with President Lincoln upon the subject of the existing war, and with a view of ascertaining upon what terms it may be terminated, in pursuance of the course indicated by him in his letter to Mr. Blair, of January 18, 1865, of which we presume you have a copy, and if not, we wish to see you in person, if con- venient, and to confer with you on the subject. "' Very respectfully yours, " 'Alexander H. Stephens, " ' y. A. Campbell, "• R. M. T. Hunter.' " " ■ I have sent directions to receive these gentle- men, and expect to have them at my quarters this evening awaiting your instructions. " * U. S. Grant, Lieut. General, " 'Commanding Armies of the United States.' " This, it will be perceived, transferred General Ord's agency in the matter to General Grant. I resolved, however, to send Major Eckert forward with his mes- sage, and accordingly telegraphed General Grant as follows, to wit : " Executive Mansion, Washington, \ "January 31, 1S65. J "Lieut.-Gen. Grant, City Point, Va..' "A messenger is coming to you on the business contained in your despatch. Detain the gentlemen in comfortable quarters until he arrives, and then act upon the message he brings as far as applicable, it having been made up to pass through General Ord's hands, and when the gentlemen were supposed to be beyond our lines. " (Sent in cipher at 1. 30 p. m.) "A. Lincoln." When Major Eckert departed, he bore with him a letter of the Secretary of War to General Grant, as follows, to wit : "War Department, Washington, D. C, "January 30. 1 865. " LlEt'T.-GENERAL GRANT, Commanding, etc. : "General: The President desires that you pro- cure for the bearer. Major Thomas '1". Eckert, an in- terview with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, and if, on his return to you, he requests it, pass them through our lines to Fortress Monroe by such route and under such military precautions as you may deem APPENDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. 101$ prudent, giving them protection and comfortable quarters while there, and that you let none of this have any effect upon any of your movements or plans. " By order of the President, " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War." Supposing the proper point to be then reached, I despatched the Secretary of State with the following instructions, Major Eckert, however, going ahead of him : " Executive Mansion, 1 "January 31, 1865. J " Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State : "You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Va., there to meet and informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of January 18, 1865, a copy of which you have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit : 1st, the restoration of the National authority throughout all the States ; 2d, no receding by the Executive of the United States on the Slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late Annual Message to Congress, and in the preceding documents ; 3d, no cessation of hos- tilities short of an end of the war and the disbanding of all the forces hostile to the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs not incon- sistent with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say and report it to me. You will not assume to definitely consummate anything. " Yours, etc., "Abraham Lincoln." On the day of its date the following telegram was sent co General Grant : " War Department, Washington, \ February I, 1 865. J " Lieut.-Gen. Grant, City Point, Va. : " Let nothing which is transpiring change, hinder, or delay your military movements or plans. " (Sent in cipher at 9.30 A. M.) " A. Lincoln." Afterward the following despatch was received from General Grant : Office U. S. Telegraph, " War Department w, \ " (In cipher.) " The following telegram was received at Washing- ton at 2.30 p. m., February 1, 1865, from City Point, Va., February 1, 12.30 P. M., 1865 : "'His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, "President of the United States : " ' Your despatch is received. There will be no t armistice in consequence of the presence of Mr. Ste- phens and others within our lines. The troops are kept in readiness to move at the shortest notice, if oc- casion should justify it. " ' U. S. Grant, Licut.-Gen? " To notify Major Eckert that the Secretary of State would be at Fortress Monroe and to put them in com- munication, the following despatch was sent : " War Department, Washington, | "February 1, 1865. / " T. T. Eckert, care General Grant, City Point, Va. : " Call at Fortress Monroe and put yourself under the direction of Mr. S., whom you will find there. "A. Lincoln." On the morning of the 2d inst., the following tele- grams were received by me from the Secretary of Slate and Major Eckert : " Fortress Monroe, Va. — 1 1.30 p. m., 1 " Febi uary I, 1S65. / " The President of the United States ; "Arrived here this evening. Richmond party not here. 1 remain here. " Wm. H. Seward." " City Point, Va. — 10 p. m., ) "February I, 1865. / " His Excellency A. Lincoln, "President of the United States : " I have the honor to report the delivery of your communication and my letter at 4.15 this afternoon, to which I received a reply at 6 P. m., but not satis- factory. At 8 P. M. the following note, addressed to General Grant, was received : "'City Point, February 1, 1865. "' To Lieutenant-General Grant: " ' Sir : We desire to go to Washington City to confer informally with the President personally, in reference to the matters mentioned in his letter to Mr. Blair of the 18th of January, ult., without any personal compromise on any question in the letter. We have the permission to do so from the authorities in Richmond. " ' Very respectfully yours, •• ■ Alexander H. Stephens, "'R. M. T. Hunter, " 'J. A. Campbell.' " "At 9.30 P. M., I notified them that they could not proceed further unless they complied with the terms expressed in my letter. The point of meeting desig- nated in the above would not, in my opinion, be in- sisted upon. I think Fortress Monroe would be acceptable. Having complied with my instructions, will return to Washington to-morrow, unless other- wise ordered. " Thomas T. Eckert, Major, etc" On reading this despatch of Major Eckert's I was about to recall him and the Secretary of State, when the following telegram of Ceneral Grant to the Sec- retary of War was shown me : " Office U. S. Military, War Department. " (In cipher.) " The following telegram, received at Washington, at 4.35 A. M., February 2, 1S65, from City Point, Va., February I, 1865 : "'To Hon. F. M. STANTON, Secretary of War : "'Now that the interview between Major Kckert, under his written instructions, and Mr. Stephens and party, has ended, 1 will state confidentially, but not officially, to become a matter of record, that I am con- vinced, upon conversation with Messrs. Stephens and ioi6 APPEXDIX P.— THE HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE. Hunter, that their intentions are good and their desire sincere to restore peace and Union. I have not felt myself at liberty to express even views of niv own, or to account f>r my reticence. This has placed me in an awkward position, which I could ha\e avoided by not seeing them in the first instance. I fear now i heir going back without any expression to any one i.i authority will have a bad influence. At the same nine 1 recognize the difficulties in the way of receiv- ing these informal Commissioners at this time, and 1 do not know what to recommend. I am sorry, i trover, that Mr. Lincoln cannot have an interview with the two named in this despatch, if not all three now within our lines. Their letter to me was all that the President's instructions contemplated to secure their safe-conduct, if they had used the same language to Captain Eckert. " ' L. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General? " This despatch of General Grant changed my pur- pose, and accordingly 1 telegraphed him and the Sec- leiary of War as follows: "War Department, Washington,') ''February 2, 1S65. / '* To Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va. : " Say to the gentlemen that I will meet them per- sonally at Fortress Monroe as soon as I can get there. '• (Sent in cipher at 9 a. M.) "A. Lincoln." " War Department, Washington, D. C., "i " February 2, 1865. / "To Hon. Wm. II. SEWARD, Fortress Monroe, Va.: " Induced by, a despatch from General Grant, I join you at Fortress Monroe as soon as I can come. " (Sent in cipher at 9 a. m.) "A. Lincoln." Before starting the following despatch was shown me. I proceeded, nevertheless: "Office U. S. Military Telegraph, \ " War Department. J " (In cipher.) "The following telegram was received at Wash- ington, February 2, 1865, from City Point, Va., 9 A. M., February 2, 1S65; '"To Hon. w. II. Seward, "Secretary of State, Fortress Afonroe : " ' (Copy to Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War.) "'The gentlemen here have .accepted the pro- posed terms and will leave for Fortress Monroe at 9.31) A. M. " ' U. S. Grant, Lieutenant' General?, " On the night of the 2d T reached Hampton Roads, and found the Secretary of State and Major Eckerl in a steamer anchored off the shore, and learned of them that the Richmond gentlemen were in another steamer, also anchored off shore in the Roads, and that the Secretary of State had not yet seen or communicated with them. I ascertained that Major Eckert had lit- erallv complied with his instructions, and I saw for the first time the answer of the Richmond gentlemen to him, which, in his despatch to me of the 1st, he characterized as not satisfactory. That answer is as follows, to wit : "City Point, Va., February \, 1S65. "To Thos. T. ECKERT, Major and Aide-de- Camp: " Major ; Your note delivered by yourself this day has been considered. In reply, we have to say that we were furnished with a copy of the letter of Presi- dent Lincoln to F. P. Blair, of the iSth of January, nit. Another copy of which is appended to your note. Our intentions are contained in the letter, of which the following is a copy : " ' Richmond, January 2S, 1865. " ' In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln, of which the loregoing is a copy, you are to proceed to Washington City for an informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries. " ' With great respect, your obedient servant, " 'Jefferson Davis.' "The substantial object to be attained by the in- formal Conference is to ascertain upon what terms the existing war can be terminated honorably. ( lur instructions contemplate a personal interview between President Lincoln and ourselves at Washington; but, With this explanation, we are ready to meet any per- son or persons that President Lincoln may appoint, at such place as he may designate. Our earnest desire is that a just and honorable peace may be agreed upon, and we are prepared to receive or to submit propositions which may possibly lead to the attain- ment of that end. " Very respectfully yours, " Alex. h. Stephens, " Robert M. T. Him er, " John A. Campbell." A note of these gentlemen, subsequently addressed to General Grant, has already been given in Major Kckert's despatch of the 1st inst. I also saw here for the first time the following note addressed by the Richmond gentlemen to Major Kckert : " City Point, Va., February 2, 1S65. " Thomas T. ECKERT, Major and A. I). C. : " Major : In reply to your verbal statement that your instructions did not allow you to alter the con- ditions upon which a passport would be given to u>, we say that we are willing to proceed to Fortress Monroe, and there to have an informal Conference with any person or persons that President Lincoln may appoint, on the basis of his letter to Francis P. Blair of the 1 8th of January, ultimo, or upon any other terms or conditions that he may hereafter pro- pose not inconsistent with the essential principles of Self-government and Popular Rights, upon which our institutions are founded. It is our earnest wish to ascertain, after a free interchange of ideas and infor- mation, upon what principles and terms, if any, a just and honorable peace can be established without the further effusion of blood, and to contribute our utmost efforts to accomplish such a result. We think it bet- ter to add, that in accepting your passport, we are not to be understood .is committing ourselves to anything, but to carry on this informal Conference with the views and feelings above expressed, " Very respectfully yours, etc., '• A i.i x. II. Stephens, "R. M. T. Hunter, "J. A. Campbell." APPENDIX S.— SPEECH OF HON. LINTON STEPHENS. 1017 " \_Note. — The above communication was delivered to me at Fortress Monroe at 4.40 P. M., February 2, by Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, of General Grant's Staff. " Thos. T. Eckert, Major and A. D. C] "Executive Mansion, February 10, 1S65." On the morning of the 3d, the gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer and had an interview with the Secretary <>f State and myself of several hours' duration. No question of preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or mentioned. No other person was present. No papers were exchanged or pro- duced, and it was in advance agreed that the con- versation was to be informal and verbal merely. On my part the whole substance of the instructions to the Secretary of State, hereinbefore recited, was stated and insisted upon, and nothing was said inconsistent therewith, while, by the other party, it way not said that in any event or on any condition they ever would consent to reunion ; and yet they equally omitted to declare that they would never so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that question and the adoption of some other course first, which, as some of them seemed to argue, might or might not lead to reunion, but which course we thought would amount to an indefinite postponement. The Conference ended without result. The foregoing, containing, as is believed, all the information sought, is respectfully submitted. Abraham Lincoln. APPENDIX S. SjtEECH of Hon. Linton Stephens, in Macon, Georgia, on the " Reconstruction M easures " and the " Enforcement Act" of 1S70, Deliv- ered 23D of January, 187 i. May it please the Court ; I know full well that, if your Honor is not superior to the average of poor human nature, you will find it difficult, if not impos- sible, to give my defence in this case an impartial consideration and an honest decision. The prosec 1- tion against me is founded on the course which I took in the recent political election, which resulted in a victory for my party and a defeat for yours. It is also directly in the line of an assault which was lately made against me in the newspapers by the official head of your party in this State. I, therefore, recog- nize in this case a political prosecution, just as dis- tinctly as I recognize in my judge a most zealous and determined political opponent. Yet, sir, there are other considerations which encourage me to hope that I may obtain, even from you, that decision which is demanded by justice and by the laws. From the personal knowledge of you which I have acquired since the beginning of this trial, I have discovered that you are a man of decided intelligence; and I am told that you are a man of courage. I am also told that you, yourself, have been, in some instances, a victim of political persecution, and an object of un- just obloquy. Surely, such a man, with such an ex- perience, ought to give a fair hearing to one whose only fault is not any wrong which he lias committed against the laws, but the damage which he has in- flicted upon a political party. My greatest encour- agement, however, is derived from my confidence in the lawfulness of my conduct and the power of truth. To truth, bravely upheld, belongs a triumph which cannot be defeated nor long delayed, not even by the intensest prejudices of partisan strife. I am strength- ened, too, in the advocacy of truth, on this occasion, by the consciousness thai, in defending myself, I shall be but defending principles which are dear to every American, because they lie at the foundation of the whole fabric of American constitutional liberty. Now, sir, unless I am much mistaken in the estimate which I have formed of your character, will you listen to my defence any the less favorably because of the frankness and boldness with which I shall present it? I am accused under the Enforcement Act of Con- gress. My first proposition is, that this whole act is not a law, but a mere legal nullity. It was passed with the professed object of carrying into effect what are called the XlVth and XVth amendments of the Constitution of the United States, and depends on their validity for its own. These so-called amendments are, r> I shall now proceed to show, not true amendments of the Consti- tution, and do not form any part of that sacred instru- ment. They are nothing but usurpations and nulli- ties, having no validity themselves, and therefore incapable of imparting any to the Enforcement Act, or to any other act whatsoever. I take occasion to say, that I regard the XHIth amendment, abolishing slavery, as clearly distin- guishable from the XIYth and XVth so-called amend- ments, in the manner both of its proposal and of its ratification. The contrast between it and them will contribute to make their invalidity all the more ap- parent. It is true, that when the XII Ith amend- ment was proposed, ten States of the Union were ab- sent from Congress; but their absence was voluntary, and therefore did not affect the validity of their pro- posal. It is true, also, that the Legislatures which ratified it for these ten States had their initiation in a palpable usurpation of power on the part of the President of the United States; yet, it is also unques- tionably true, that they were elected and sustained by overwhelming majorities of the true constitutional constituencies of the States for which they acted; they rested on the consent of the people, or constitu- tional constituencies of the States, and were therefore truly " Legislatures of the States." This amend- ment was ratified by these Legislatures of the States in good faith, and in conformity with the almost unanimous wish of the constitutional " Peoples." I low different is the case of the XIYth and XVth so-called amendments! If these are parts of the Constitution, I ask. How did they become Were they proposed by Congress in a constitutional manner? In framing and proposing them, every State in the Union was entitled, by the express terms ot the ('in- stitution, to be represented in speech and vote by "two Senators " and "at least one Representative." But ten States of the Union were absent. This time their absence was not voluntary, but compulsory: when they were claiming a hearing, through their Constitutional representatives, they were driven away, and denied all participation in framing and proposing intendments! Was this a constitutional mode of proposal? I say it was an unconstitutional mode, and that the proposal was, ai initio, null and void. ioi8 APPENDIX S.— SPEECH OF HON. LINTON STEPHENS. But how stands the ratification of these so-called amendments? To say nothing about the duress of bayonets and Congressional dictation, under which the ratification was forced through the ratifying bodies in the ten Southern States, the great question is, Who were these ratifying bodies? Were they Legislatures of the States? They were not. They were the creatures of notorious and avowed congressional usurpation. They were elected, not by the constitu- tional constituencies of the States, but by constitu- encies created by Congress, not only outside of the Constitution, but in palpable violation of one of its express provisions. The suffrage, or political power, of the States is not delegated to the general govern- ment by the Constitution ; but, on the contrary, its reservation, by the States, is rendered exceedingly emphatic by that provision of the Constitution which, instead of creating a constituency to elect its own officers — President, Vice-President, and members of Congress — adopts the constituencies of the States, as regulated by the States themselves, for the election of the most numerous branch of their own Legis- latures. Ten of the ratifications, which were falsely counted in favor of these miscalled amendments as ratifica- tions by Legislatures, were only ratifications by bodies which had their origin in Congressional usurpation, were elected by illegal constituencies, unknown to the Constitution of the United States, or the Consti- tutions of the States, and were organized and manipu- lated under the control of military commanders who claimed and exercised the jurisdiction of passing upon the election and qualification of their mem- bers. Can these joint products of usurpation, fraud, and force be palmed off as Legislatures of States ? Can ratifications by them he accepted as ratifications by Legislatures of States? Can falsehood thus be converted into truth Uy the thimble-rigging of Presi- dential proclamations ? These bodies were, indeed, set up by their usurping creators as Legislatures for and ever States; but until the known trulh of re- cent history can be blotted out by the mere power of shameless assertion, they cannot be recognized as Legislatures of States. The Parliament of Great Britain is a Legislature for and over poor, down- trodden Ireland; but what Irishman will ever recog- nize it as the Legislature of Ireland? The false, spurious, and revolutionary character of these ratifying bodies is rendered still more glaring by the fact that, supported by the bayonet, they sub- verted, or rather repressed, the true, legitimate Leg- islatures of all the States where reconstruction was applied. That such Legislatures existed in these States, and are indeed still existing, is demonstrable from the facts, viewed in the light of either of the two theories of secession — that of its validity or in- validity. On either theory, the seceding States re- mained States. On the one theory, they were States of the Union ; on the other, they have remained all the while States in the Union. The Supreme Court of the United States, in the recent case of White vs. Texas, speaking through Mr. Chief-Justice Chase, held that secession was invalid, and that the States which had attempted it remained, and still are, States in the Union. A State is not a disorganized mass of people: it is an organized political body. It must have a Con- stitution of some sort, written or traditional. Being an organized body, it must have a law of organiza- tion, or composition, or constitution, defining the depositary of its political power. Where there is no such constitutional, or constituting, or organizing, or fundamental law, there can be no organizaiion — no State. These ten States, then, which seceded, or attempted to secede (as the one theory or the other may be held), have all the while had Constitutions. In point of fact, each of these has ever been a written Constitution, giving the ballot to defined classes of citizens who are known as the constitutional con- stituency of the State. This constitutional constitu- ency is entrusted by each of these Constitutions with power over the Constitution itself, in modifying or changing it, and, of course, in modifying or changing the organization or composition of the constitutional constituency. This constitutional constituency is the depositary of the highest political power of the Stale. Any change made in the Constitution or organization of the State, or in the composition of the constitu- tional constituency, as it may exist at any time, with- out the concurrent action of the constitutional con- stituency itself, is revolution: it is disorganization; it is the subversion or suppression (as it may prove permanent or temporary) of one organization, and the substitution of any other; it is the abolition (per- manent or temporary) of the old State, and the in- troduction of a new one. Each of these ten States, in 1865, at the close of the war, being then a State, had a Constitution and a constitutional constituency linked back by unbroken succession to the Constitution and the constitutional constituency as they existed before secession. Seces- sion made no break in the chain. The provision which was put in the Constitution at the time of se- cession, connecting the State with the Confederate States, instead of with the United States, as its Fed- eral head, is wholly immaterial to the present pur- pose. On the one theory, it was simply void, and left the organization of the State, the Constitution, and the constitutional constituency intact. On rhe other theory, being valid, it modified, but did not impair, the integrity of the State organization. All this follows from, or rather is comprehended in, the one proposition that these ten States have never lost their character as Slates. Each of these ten States, being a State at the close of the war, in 1865, stands now de jure, just as it stood then, unless it has, since that time, been changed by the action of its constitutional constitu- ency. I think each of them was so changed in the latter part of that same year. In each of them, a convention was elected by a large and unquestion- able majority of the constitutional constituency (al- though a portion of them were excluded from voting), for the purpose of modifying the Constitution. These conventions repealed the ordinance of seces- sion, abolished slavery, and made some other changes in the several Constitutions, but, in most of the States, left the constitutional constituencies just as they stood before. In conformity with the Constitutions, as last modified by those conventions, each of the States was speedily provided with a complete government, con- sisting of a legislative, executive, and judicial depart- ment. It was by the Legislatures thus formed that the XHIth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery, was ratified. Since that time, no change has been made in the organization of any of these States, with the co- operation or concurrence of the constitutional con- stituencies. Only very small minorities of the consti- tutional constituencies have co-operated in the work APPENDIX S— SPEECH OF HON. LINTON STEPHENS. IOI9 of reconstruction. It is a notorious and unquestion- able fact, that an overwhelming majority of them, in each of the States, have been steadily and unswerv- ingly opposed to it, and have voted against it, when- ever they have voted at all. The clear result, in my judgment, is that each of these States now stands de jure, just as she was left by the action of her convention in 1865, with a complete government, formed under the Constitution of that year, including a legislature which still constitution- ally exists, and is capable of assembling any day, if it were only allowed to do so by the withdrawal of the bayonet. But she stands de facto, suppressed by a government originated and imposed on her by an external power, and supported alone by the bayonet. Such a government is the embodiment of anti-repub- licanism and despotism. Under just such a govern- ment, Ireland is writhing and Poland is crushed. Is it not now demonstrated that the bodies which ratified the so-called XlVth and XVth amendments, in the name of these ten States, were the revolution- ary products of external force and fraud, displacing the true legislatures which alone could have given a constitutional ratification? The so-called amendments, then, have been neither constitutionally proposed nor constitutionally ratified. How can they form parts of the Constitution ? A successful answer to this question would long ago have brought that peace and harmony which can never come from might overbearing right. Instead of giving such an answer, the authors of these meas- ures have sought to drown reason and argument in clamorous charges of violence and revolution against the victims, not the perpetrators of those crimes. But an answer has at last been attempted from an unexpected quarter. Strangely enough, it comes from one who has greatly distinguished himself by the vigor and ability with which he has denounced the whole scheme of reconstruction as a revolutionary usurpation and nullity; and, still more strangely, he adheres to that denunciation, while now arguing that these so-called amendments — the creatures and cul- minating points of that reconstruction scheme — are valid parts of the Constitution. Such a conclusion from such a beginning ! And yet, he is hailed by his new allies as a very Daniel come unto judgment. They were in a sore strait for an argument. He says these so-called amendments have become parts of the Constitution, because they have been pro- claimed as such by the power which, under the Con- stitution, has the "jurisdiction" to proclaim amend- ments. There has been much said, sir, about issues which are " dead :" surely here is one which is not only alive, but very lively. Let Americans hear and mark it: The Constitution of the United States can be changed — can be subverted — by Presidential procla- mation ! I once knew a man whose motto was, that a lie, well told, was better than the truth, because, he said, truth was a stubborn, unmanageable thing; but a lie, in the hands of a genius, could be fitted ex- actly to the exigencies of the case ; but even he ad- mitted that the lie must be well told, or it would not serve. If it should appear to be a lie, it would be turned from a thing of power into a thing for con- tempt. There has been progress, sir, since that man taught. It is now discovered that a known, proven lie is as good as the truth/provided it can only get ♦'proclaimed" by a power having "jurisdiction" to proclaim it ! I, sir, know of no power — either on the earth, or above it, or under it — that has " jurisdic- tion " to " proclaim " lies ! Nay, sir, I know of no power which has jurisdiction to proclaim amendments to the Constitution. According to my leading of that instrument, amendments constitutionally proposed " shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or bj conven- tions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Con- gress." The ratification by three-fourths of the States, acting through their legislatures or their con- ventions, sets the seal of validity on the amendment and makes it a part of the Constitution. Nothing else can do it. It must be a true ratification by a true legislature, or a true convention of the State. A false ratification by a true legislature of the State will not do. A true ratification by a spurious legislature will not do. The validity of the amendment, and its authority as a part of the Constitution, are made to de- pend upon the historic truth of its ratification as re- quired by the Constitution. Proclamations of false- hoods from Presidents, or from anybody else, have nothing to do with the subject. This is plain doc- trine, drawn from the Constitution itself. The valid- ity of the Constitution, in all its parts, depends upon the facts of their history. But, according to this new discovery, the President of the United States can subvert the whole Constitu- tion, and make himself a legal and valid autocrat, by simply "proclaiming" that an amendment of the Constitution to that effect has been proposed by two- thirds of each house of Congress, and ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States, although it may be known of all men that there is not one word of truth in the proclamation. The President of the United States can legally convert himself into an au- tocrat by his own proclamation. Theories are quickly put into practice in these days. Let the country be- ware ! We are also told by this new Daniel, not only that the usurpation has become obligatory by its success, but there is no hope of getting rid of it; for he says it cannot be changed without another amendment, ratified by three-fourths of the States, and that there is no prospect of getting these three-fourths. Won- derful ! Why, he himself has taught us that the whole thing may be accomplished by a Presidential proclamation. We have only to elect a 1 tcmocratic President, and let him " proclaim " that a new amend- ment, abolishing the XlVth and XVth, has been duly proposed and duly ratified, and the thing is done. That, sir, would be the way taught by this new light; but it would never be my way. I do not propose to walk in the ways of falsehood : I prefer truth, be- cause it is nobler and grander. I believe, also, that, when it is supported by true and bold men, it is al- ways more powerful. My way would be to elect a Democratic President, and let him treat the usurpa- tion as a usurpation and a nullity, and let uim with- draw the bayonet and "proclaim" that the revolu- tionary governments in these ten States would not be supported by him, but thatlheconstitutioii.il repub- lican governments which now exist lure would be left free to rise from their state of forcible repn and do their natural ami legitimate work of true restoration, real p ace, sincere and cordial fraternity. The whole problem is solved by the simple with- drawal of the bayonet. I have now shown that the XlVth and XVth 1020 APPENDIX S.— SPEECH OF I/OX. LINTON STEPHENS. amendments do not form any part of the Constitution, and thus have made good my first position, that the whole Enforcement Aet, which depends solely upon (hem for its validity, is not a law, but merely a legal nullity. My second position is that, even if the so-called XlVth and XVth amendments were valid, yet all parts of the Enforcement Act, claimed as appli- cable to my case, are utterly "outside" of them, and (being confessedly outside of the Constitution, apart horn them) are unconstitutional, and not binding as law. The XIYih amendment, and the small part of the Enforcement Act relating to it, have no relevancy to this prosecution, and I shall say nothing further about them. Those parts of the act, claimed as applicable to my case, rest solely upon the XVth for their validity; and, in order to see whether they are outside of it or not, it becomes necessary to know what are the terms and extent of the amendment. The etlect of its terms is strangely misapprehended. It seems to be regarded as a thing which, by its terms, secures the right of suffrage to the negro, and empowers Congress 10 enforce that right. This is a total and most dangerous mistake. Here is the amendment ; it is not longer than the first joint of my little finger : "Sec/ion I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the I nited States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. "Section 2. The Congress shall have power to en- force this article by appropriate legislation." This is the whole of it. Now, sir, I defy refuta- tion, when I affirm that, by these terms, the right of suffrage is not conferred upon, nor secured to, any person or class of persons whomsoever. The whole is simply a prohibition on the United States, and the several States. The United States, in legislating for the District of Columbia or a Territory, and the several States, in regulating their suffrage, each for herself, are prohibited from denying it to anybody, or abridging its exercise on either one of the three grounds — race, color, or previous condition of servi- tude — but are left perfectly free to abridge it or deny it on any other ground whatsoever — sex, female or male, ignorance or intelligence, poverty or wealth, crime or virtue, or any other of an innumerable mul- titude of other grounds. In point of fact, the right i- denied, both by the United States and by each one ol the several States, on many of these other grounds, and the denial is enforced under heavy penalties, not only by the laws of the States, but by this very En- forcement Act itself. To say that the right is con- ferred on or secured to anybody, because it cannot be denied for any one or all of three reasons out of an indefinite number of possible and usual reasons, is pimply absurd. As well say that a plat of ground is fenced or secured from intrusion by putting a wall on "in- o( its many sides, leaving all the other sides per- fectly open. A righl is not conferred or secured by .1 law when it can be denied without a violation of thai law. This brings me to the crucial test of my second po- sition. Whether I have violated any provisions of the Enforcement Act or not, it is at least certain that I hive not violated the XVth amendment. It is af- firmatively proven, by the testimony of the two prose- cutors in this case — the two negro managers of elec- tion — that I did not object to, or in any manner in- terlere with, any vote on the ground of either race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It is mani- fest, then, that if I have violated any part or parts of the Enforcement Act, such part or parts are "out- side - ' of the amendment, and unauthorized by it, since I have not violated the amendment itself. I have not violated the amendment, even il its prohi- bition reached private citizens, instead of being con- fined, as it plainly is, to the United States and the Stales severally. The truth is, that far the greater part of the En- forcement Act is "outside" of the amendments which it professes to enforce. This act presents an- other live and very lively issue to the people of this country; and already are the thunders of opposition heard from Republican as well as from Democratic quarters. Under the pretence of restraining the United States and the several States from denying or abridging the right of suffrage on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, this act takes control of the general and local elections in all the States — seizing the whole political power of the country, and wielding it by the bayonet; and fills up pages of the statute-book with new offences and heavy penalties leveled, not against the United States or the several States, or their officers, by whom alone the XVth amendment can possibly be violated, but against private citizens. The Alien and Sedition acts, which, by the power of their recoil, extermin- ated their authors, were not equal to this act. either in the nakedness or the danger of their usurpation. If this act shall prevail and abide as law, then our heritage of local self-government, lost to us, will pass into history, and there stand out forever a glory to the noble sires who wrung it from one tyranny, and a shame to the degenerate sons who surrendered it to another. My third and last position is, that even if the En- forcement Act were valid in all its parts, yet I hi ve not violated any one of them. I am accused under its fifth and nineteenth sections. The fifth provides a penalty against " preventing, hindering, controlling, or intimidating, or attempting to prevent, hinder, control, or intimidate," any person from voting, " to whom the right of suffrage is secured or guaranteed by the XVth amendment." I have already demonstrated that the XVth amendment se- cures or guarantees the right of suffrage to nobody whomsoever. It is impossible, therefore, that 1 am, or that anybody ever can be, guilty under that section. liut again : The testimony utterly fails to show- that I interfered in any way with the voting of any person legally entitled to vote, or, indeed, with the voting of any person whomsoever. It was incumbent upon the prosecution to show what persons, if any. and that they were persons entitled to vote. The Enforcement Acl itsell indicts a penalty on all per- sons who vote illegally, anil, of course, cannot intend to punish the prevention or hindrance of illegal vot- ing. The attempted proof, as to my interference with voters, relates to four persons only. It fails to show that either one of the four was a person entitled to vote; it fails to show that three of them did not actually vole; it fails to show that any one of them offered to vote, or even desired to do so; it tails to show that any one of them heard me make a single remark, saw me do a single act, fir was even in my presence from the beginning to the end of the three days' election. APPENDIX S.— SPEECH OF HON. LINTON STEPHENS. 1 02 I As to the remark which I made to a small crowd, about prosecuting all who should vote without having paid their taxes, I have this to say : In the first place, it is not shown who composed that crowd, nor that a single one of them was a person entitled to vote. In the next place, the remark was a lawful one ; for it was simply the declaration of an intention not to interfere with legal voters, but to prosecute criminals; and, therefore, cannot be tortured into a threat in any legal or criminal sense of that word. A threat, to be criminal, must be the declaration of an intention to do some unlawful act; and it never caif be unlawful to appeal to the laws. I pass to the charge, under the nineteenth section, that I interfered with the managers of election in the discharge of their duties, by causing their arrest under judicial warrant. That part of the nineteenth section which is invoked against me is in these words : " Or interfere in any manner with any officer of said elec- tions in the discharge of his duties." My first answer to this charge is, that the managers were arrested, not in the discharge of their duties, but in the violation of one of the most important of them — one prescribed, not only by the Constitution of the State, but by this very Enforcement Act itself: for the act made it their duly to reject all illegal votes, and provided a penalty for receiving them. These managers had received, and were still receiving, the votes of persons who had not paid their taxes of the year next preceding the election, as required by the Constitution of this State. The testimony shows that this fact was fully proven, and not denied by them, on the commitment trial before the magistrate. The reply to it then was, and now is, not a denial, but a justification, on two grounds ; one of these grounds, was, that the oath which they had taken, under the Akerman Election Act, required them to let every person vote who was of apparent full age, was a resi- dent of the county, and had not previously voted in that election. They said then, and it is now said again here, that they could not inquire into the non- payment of taxes, or any other constitutional qualifi- cation for voting, except only non-age, non-residence, and previous voting in that election ; and yet, a man who was of full age, and a resident of the county, and who had not previously voted, was excluded by these same managers on the ground that he was a convicted felon. Their own action in excluding the felon is utterly inconsistent with their construction of the obligation of their oath. The oath, as construed by them, and now construed here by the prosecuting attorney, is in plain conflict with the Constitution, and is, therefore, void, and could not relieve them from their constitutional duty to exclude all who had not paid their taxes. The first ground of the man- agers' justification, therefore, fails. Their other ground was, that the unpaid tax of those whom they had allowed to vote without pay- ment of taxes was only poll-tax, and that the poll-tax had been declared by the Legislature to be illegal and unwarranted by the Constitution, and its further col- lection suspended. The fact that it was only poll-tax does not appear from the evidence before your honor, but I admit it to be true. I did not come here to quibble: I am here to justify my conduct under the law, on the truth as it exists, whether proven here or not. My answer is, that this declaratory act of the Legislature is false, unconstitutional, null and void. The act is but the opinion of the Legislature, concerning the constitutionality of a previous act of 1869, imp wmg the poll-tax of that year. That act is before me, im- posing a poll-tax of one dollar per head '• for educa- tional purposes," using the very words which are used by the Constitution itself in defining the purpose for which poll-taxes may be imposed. Now, sir, the question which I ask is, What is it that makes this act "illegal" or unwarranted by the Constitution? Surely it is not made so by the subsequent declara- tion of the Legislature, put forth just before the elec- tion, to serve a palpable, fraudulent, party purpose. The Legislature is not a court; but, on the contrary, it is expressly prohibited by the Constitution Irom exercising judicial functions, and its declarations con- cerning the constitutionality of legislative acts have no more authority than those of private citizens. The single question, then, is whether the declaration in this case is true. The Legislature assigned its rea- son for the opinion it gave. What is that reason ? It is, that the Constitution limits the imposition of poll-taxes to educational purposes; and that when the poll-tax in question was imposed, there was no system of common schools or educational purpose to which it could be applied. Therefore, they said its imposition was "illegal and unwarranted by the I 'mi- stitution." They said it was unwarranted by the Constitution to provide the money before organizing the schools to which the money was to be applied ; that is to say, the only constitutional way to 01 the schools was to go in debt for them ! 1 lack words, sir, to properly characterize the silliness of this reason. But, curiously enough, the Constitution itself took the very course which these sapient legislators de- clared to be illegal and unwarranted by the Constitu- tion. It provided money and devoted it to these very common schools, which were still in the womb of the future at the time of its adoption. It dedicated to that purpose the whole educational fund which was then on hand. Therefore, I say, this declaratory act is not only false, but is in the very teeth of the Constitution itself. Mark you, sir : it did not repeal, nor attempt to repeal, the poll-tax : it only suspended its collection. But, 1 say, if it had been a repeal in terms, instead of a mere suspension, it could not change the case as to the right of a person to vote without having paid the tax. The constitutional re- quirement is, that " he shall have paid all taxes which may have been required of him, and which he may have had an opportunity of paying agreeably to law for the year next preceding the election." The poll- tax was required in April, 1869, and continued lo be required up to the passage of the aforesaid false declaratory act in October, 1870 — a yenr and a-half. During all that period, taxpayers had "opportunity" to pay it. On the day of election, then, any man who had not paid his poll-tax for 1869 stood in the position of not having paid a tax which had been re- quired of him, and which he had had very many oppor- tunities of paying agreeably to law. lie stood clearly within the letter of the constitutional disqualification for voting. He stood also within its reason and spirit, for its true intention was to discriminate against the citizen who should not have discharged a public duty for the year next preceding the election. Noth- ing but payment could remove from him the character of a public delinquent. Legislative remission of the tax cannot serve the purpose, for he still stands, after that, as a man who has (ailed in a public duty. The most that can be said for him is, that after the repeal, IC22 APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. the tax ceased to be required of him ; but the only material facts — that it hail been required, and could hue been paid, but had not been paid — remain unaltered. The managers, then, in receiving the votes of per- sons who had not paid their poll-tax were not in " the discharge of their duties." Whether they thought so is not the question. If they were really wrong, then I was right; and surely I am not to be punished for being right. There was no interference with them in the discharge of their duties. But again : even if I were wrong in the opinion which I entertained of their duty, yet I did not inter fere with them unlawfully. The whole context of that clause, in the nineteenth section, under which 1 am accused, shows that the interference contemplated is an unlawful interference — especially the words which come immediately after it: "Or by any of such means or other unlawful means," etc. This Word "other" shows, conclusively, that all the means contemplated were only such as were of an unlawful character. This would be implied in construing any penal statute, even if it were not expressed ; for the universal rule of construction for penal statutes is to con-true strictly against the prosecution, and liberally in favor of the accused. Is it possible that any judge can have the hardihood to hold that it was the inten- tion of this Enforcement Act to impart to managers of election the sacred character of Eastern Brahmins, making them too holy to be touched even for their crimes? Surely it was not intended to give them greater sanctity than belongs to peers of the British Parliament, or to legislators in our own country, while engaged in legislation. Notwithstanding all the high privileges accorded to them, all of these are subject to arrest in any place, at any moment, under a warrant charging breach of the peace or felony. "Was it intended to protect these managers from im- mediate accountability for all felonies which they might commit during three whole days? Until this shall be held as the intention of the Enforcement Act, it is impossible to maintain that I have violated it in any particular whatever. The Constitution declares that " the right of the citizen to appeal to the courts shall never be im- paired." My whole offence, sir, is this — that I ap- pealed to a court of competent jurisdiction ! I de- voutly believed that I was right in my opinion of the law 1 . I believe so now; but, whether I was right or wrong in my opinion, who will dare to say that I was wrong in testing that opinion — not by the strong hand, but by appealing to a court appointed by the Constitution for the very purpose of deciding the ijuestion ? That court decided that I was right ; and the "interference" which followed, sir, was the inter- ference, not of myself, but of the law, as expounded and administered by a judicial tribunal. Moreover, sir, the decision of that tribunal stands as the law of the case until it shall be reversed according to law. These managers were charged with felony under the laws of this State. Was it a crime for me to seek a judicial inquiry into the truth or probability of such a charge? I suspect, sir, that my real crime, in the estimation of my prosecutors, is that the judicial in- terposition invoked by me had the effect of preventing numerous repetitions of a crime which would have done signal service to their political parly. If angry power demands a sacrifice from those who have thwarted its fraudulent purposes, I feel honored, sir, in being selected as the victim. If my suffering could arouse my countrymen to a just and lofty indig nation against the despotism which, in attacking me. is but assailing law, order, and constitutional gov- ernment, I would not shrink from the sacrifice, though my blood should be required instead of my liberty ! APPENDIX T. Results of the War. [From the " War Between the States."] Results of the War — Refusal of Mr. Johnson to approve the Sherman-Johnston Convention— Effects of this — The Presi- dent's I'olicy — The Reconstruction Policy of Congress — The XlVth Amendment to the Constitution — General Situation of the South — Condition of Things in Georgia— < > Rrown's Position — The Actual Results of the War thus far — The Abolition of Slavery — The Adoption of the XII Ith Amendment, but no Essential Feature in the Federal Systi m as yet Affected — Tendencies to ultimate Centralism and Em- pire. Mr. Stephens. — We come now, gentlemen, to the consideration of the results of this terrible conflict of arms, which grew out of the conflict of principles re- ferred to in the beginning, especially its effects upon the general character of the institutions of the Stales severally, as well as upon the nature and character of their relations to the Union, or upon the Federal sys- tem itself. This doub'e conflict, both in the council- chamber and on the field, we have seen, was between the defenders of the principles of federation on one side, and the advocates of consolidation on the other ; or in other words, between the defenders and opposers of the sovereign right of local self-government on the part of the peoples of the several States engaged in it. In considering these results in this view, up to this time, we can, of course, at present only note existing facts, and actual changes already effected, so far as they bear upon State and Federal affairs; and in con- nection with them, indulge such speculations as to the future, as these facts seem most reasonably to warrant. The real and permanent results of this war upon our institutions, and complex system of governments, are not yet fully developed. Though peace has been pro- claimed, the smoke from the battle-fields still clouds the horizon. President Johnson himself seems to be almost as much in the dark upon what will be the ultimate consequences of (he war, as lie was when, as Senator, he offered the celebrated resolution which we have specially noticed, declaring its objects and purposes. As he then did not " sec his way clearly," so, at the surrender of the Confederate armies, he seemed to be quite as incapable of having a clear per- ception of the legitimate consequences which neces- sarily and logically followed the doctrines and prin- ciples of that resolution. According to these doc- trines and principles, which expressly set forth the objects of the war on the Federal side not to be a subjugation of the peoples of the Confederate States, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with their rights or established institutions, but to pre- serve the Union of the States with all their dignity, equality, and rights unimpaired, as they then existed under the Constitution, he ought, by all means, it seems to me, as President, to have ratified and con- firmed the " Sherman Johnston Convention " before alluded to. This, as its terms show, was a complete abandonment of the war, and a formal engagement on the part of the Confederates no longer to resist APTENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. I023 the due execution of the laws of the United States. This engagement, as we have seen, had been entered into on the part of the Confederates, in pursuance of authority from President Davis, Commander-in-chief of the armies of the Confederate Stales. In considering the results of the war, therefore, as far as they have as yet developed themselves, and ob- serving to what they have as yet led, in the view it is proposed to take of them, it is not only important, but essential to note specially the most prominent facts bearing upon the subject in hand since the surrender up to this time. These, according to their importance, ill my judgment, I wdl now proceed to state in regular order. I. In the first place, then, the most important matter bearing upon the points we have in hand and which claims special attention, was this dis- approval by Mr. Johnson of the '* Sherman-Johnston Convention" referred to. His action on this occa- sion, in my opinion, must ever be considered as great an error in accomplishing his object, as was his error in the beginning in holding that the Union of the States under the Constitution could be preserved and rightfully maintained by force. This most extra- ordinary, if not fatal error of disapproving that Con- vention, is the more worthy of special notice here, from the fact that this action was so inconsistent with his own avowed principles, as well as with the avowed policy of Mr. Lincoln throughout the war, even down to the Fortress Monroe Conference, as we have seen. General Sherman, whether expressly clothed with authority by Mr. Lincoln, to enter into that Conven- tion, or not, in doing it and agreeing to the terms which he did, certainly acted not only in strict con- formity with the principles of Mr. Johnson's resolu- tion, which had been sanctioned by every member of the Senate and by every member of the House with two exceptions, but with the uniformly avowed policy of Mr. Lincoln throughout the war. Indeed, the facs warrant the belief that General Sherman, in entering into that Convention, acted under express authority, verbal if not written, from Mr. Lincoln himself; for it is well known that, just before it was entered into, he had gone round to City Point, where he had met, and had a pergonal interview with Mr. Lincoln; and had consulted him fully as to the course he should take in winding up the war, which he saw was now rapidly approaching its end. On these matters he had consulted him, even down to the minute detail as to what course he should take toward Mr. Davis — whether he should make a point to cap- ture him, or let him escape. This clearly appears from the newspaper accounts of a speech made by General Sherman in Ohio, not long afterwards. It was in this speech he related the very characteristic as well as felicitous anecdote, by which Mr. Lincoln in that interview illustrated his position, views, and wishes (exceedingly politic as they were), in regard to the arrest of Mr. Davis, and to which you, Judge Bynum, referred in illustration of your own position a few days ago.* * This is the newspaper account : " President Lincoln and Jeff Davis. — General Sherman says he asked President Lincoln explicitly when at City Point, whether he wanted him to capture Jeff Davis or l°t him escape, but the President gave him no reply except a Story about a tem- perance lecturer, who, one day, after a long ride in the hot sun, Stopped at th: house of a friend, an I was regaled with lemon- ade. His h >st insinuatingly asked, if he wouldn't like the least drop of something stronger to brace up his nerves after the exhaust rig- hi at and exercise? " ' No,' replied the lecturer. ' I couldn't think of it ; I'm op- Now, if President Johnson had, on this occasion, approved that Convention, he would have carried out his own principles as well as the policy of Mr. Lincoln, and the States would have been imme- diately restored (whether for better or worse) to their " practical relations to the Union," which was the whole professed object of the war; and he would have saved himself from those inextricable difficul- ties about "Reconstruction" in which he has since been involved by a departure from them. The Na- tional Authority, as Mr. Lincoln styled it, would have been immediately restored, and this, according to his idea, was a restoration of the Union. But instead of giving his approval to this Conven- tion, and thus, at once, effecting a complete restora- tion of the Union, or of the " States to their practical relations " to it, Mr. Johnson most strangely directed the war to be pushed to the overthrow of all the ex» isting State governments in all the Confederate States (except Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri), and the arrest and imprisonment of all their chief executive officers, and the temporary establishment of complete military rule throng out the entire limits of the Con- federacy, with the exception mentioned. This, there- fore, as just stated, must be looked upon as an error of Mr. Johnson, differing in no respect in principle from the error of Mr. Lincoln in the inauguration of the war at the beginning. It was, moreover, a clear violation of the understanding of the Confederates, of the terms upon which their arms had been sur- rendered. The then existing State governments and their laws were clearly recognized in these terms. 2. The next fact to be noticed in this connection, is the proclamation issued by Mr. Johnson as Presi- dent, on the 29th of May, which was a virtual an- nouncement of the close of the war, with an offer of amnesty and pardon upon certain conditions, to all who had participated in it on the Confederate side, except fourteen designated classes. Now, according to the principles as well as purposes set forth in his own resolution referred to before, when resistance had ceased, and the last Confederate arm had been surrendered, and when the Federal civil officers had been permitted to perform their functions in all the States, without let or hindrance, then the insurrec- tion, or rebellion, as he held the war to be on the part of the Confederates, was certainly put down, and the Union was, of course, instantly restored; and all the States should have been so recognized under their then existing State Constitutions; for the war had been professedly waged against individuals and not against organized communities or States, or against any of their institutions, much less their Constitute ins ! The States could be recognized only in their organ- ized character, as they existed by the terms of their fundamental law. But this he did not do. We are therefore brought to another step in the progress of events to be specially noted. 3. On the same day — 29th of May — Mr. Johnson, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Slates, issued another proclamation, by which, as such Commander-in-Chief, he appointed Win. W. Holden military or provisional Governor of the State pcMtd to it on principle. But,' he added, with a longing glance at the black bottle that stood conveniently at hand, ' it you could manage to put in a drop unbeknownst to me, I guess it wouldn't hurt me much ' "'Now, General, said Mr. Lincoln, in conclusion, 'I'm bound to oppoM the escap; of Jeff Davis ; but if you Could manage to let him slip out unbeknownst like, 1 guess it wouldn't hurt me much.' " 1024 APPEXDIX P.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. of North Carolina, basing it upon a declaration that no civil government then existed in i hat State. This fact being so announced, the proclamation went on to set forth the terms and conditions upon which certain classes of electors under the Constitution of North Carolina a> it existed when the war commenced to the exclusion of others, might form a new Constitu- tion and St.ite government, which would be recog- nized by him as the legitimate government of that State. Similar proclamations were subsequently is- sued by him, in relation to the other Confederate States which were in the same condition. Out of the principles upon which these proclama- tions were based and issued, have arisen all those other agitating questions, to which I have just re- ferred, about " Reconstruction," in which he, the Congress, and the whole country are now embroiled. i But ju-t at this point, let it lie borne in mind that, in pursuance of these proclamations, the classes desig- nated by him in all the States respectively, did pro- ceed to make new Constitutions, to organize new State governments, and to elect members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Con- gress of the United States. This was all done as speedily as could be done, after the issuance of the proclamations in reference to each of the Stales respectively. In the formation of their new Consti- tutions, however, two other prominent conditions were subsequently imposed by executive requisitions not embraced in the proclamations. One was the abolition of slavery, and the other the repudiation of what was called the war debt on the part of each State respectively. The power exercised in the issu- ance of these proclamations, and in the imposition of these executive requisitions upon the State conven- tions, must again be looked upon as differing in no respect whatever, so far as principle is concerned, from the powers claimed by Mr. Lincoln in his proc- lamations heretofore reviewed. Mr. Johnson, as yet, seems to have been, as Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus, " breathing out threatenings and slaughter !" Still, the great majority of the masses of the Southern people, being exceedingly desirous for peace ami harmony, notwithstanding the deep wrongs thus inflicted, were willing to accept the entire situation, and to comply in good faith, with all the terms thus imposed — especially as the whole was avowedly based on the idea, that when those terms should be complied with, the Slates would then be restored " to their practical relations to the Union." With these feelings and views, they did thus in good faith comply. Moreover, their legislatures elected under their new Constitutions, ratified the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and by these ratifications on their part, that new provision in the organic law of the Union, was carried and proclaimed to be a part of the Constitution. Without counting their votes, it was lost ! In their action, throughout, on these subjects, they were influenced mainly by the strong hope that, not- withstanding the Union would be thus restored, some- what like the violent and unskilful resetting of dislo- cated joints with some ruptured ligaments, yet, when all the members of the Federal body politic sh^ild be once more in their proper places and their normal functions restored, the whole, after a while, would again assume healthful and vigorous action, by which future tranquillity, happiness, and prosperity would be amply secured. These were the feelings and views by which they were influenced in promptly complying with what is known as the President's policy. But now a new obstacle arose in a different quarter, which brings us to the consideration of another im- portant step in the progress of events. The Thirty- ninth Congress assembled in December, 1S65. Soon after its assemblage, all the States embraced in these proclamations, except Texas, were thoroughly reor- ganized under the executive policy, as just stated, with senators and memhers of Congress ready to take their seats, which Mr. Seward, who was Mr. John- son's as well as Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of State, had declared were still empty and ready for them in the National councils. This Congress, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, it must be recollected, refused to admit the senators and members elected from the Stales thus reorganized under the executive policy. They repudiated not only the resolution of the 26th July, 1S61, referred to, as Mr. Johnson had done himself, but also repudiated the principles upon which he had acted; not upon the grounds, however — which consistency required — that the Union was restored when the insurrection, or rebellion, so called, had been put down; but upon the grounds, that Mr. Johnson had not gone far enough in his action to- wards the great object of Centralism aimed at from the beginning by the party leaders of this Congress. They turned over the whole subject to a joint com- mittee of the two Houses, known as the celebrated " Reconstruction Committee." To this grand joint committee, organized upon the model of a Jacobin Junto, was given the entire control of the whole sub- ject. The restoration of the Union as it was (even with the abolition of slavery, so called) was not what they wanted. They demanded a thorough re- construction, so far as the Confederate States were concerned. This committee now openly proclaimed that the war had been waged, not for the preservation of the Union with the rights, dignity and equality of all the several States unimpaired under the Constitu- tion ! The mask so long worn by the leading spirits of the war party at the North, was now partly raised, and Mr. Johnson himself seems to have discovered for the first time, from the disclosures made, what were the real objects and purposes ol the controlling leaders of his late associates and allies, from the be- ginning! The monster principle of ultimate com- plete Centralism, from clear indications, now stood before him in new lights, and as he had never viewed it before ! This committee assumed the position that not only the States reorganized under Mr. Johnson's policy, but even Tennessee, should never more lake part in the public councils, without being first required not only to change their domestic institutions so far as concerned the relations of the two races (constituting parts of their population), but without also being shorn of their rights, dignity, and equality rs members of the Union under the Constitution! They thus openly repudiated their many most solemn declara- tions during the war, and in so doing showed clearly that these declarations were nothing but specious pre- texts resorted to at the time, by which thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and millions, perhaps, at the North had been designedly misled and deceived ! This position of the reconstruction committee upon these subjects is what led to the open rupture between Mr. Johnson and his late allies, and the mutual de- nunciations of treason and traitor, which are now pass- ing between them, and to which I referred some days APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. IO25 ago. But, wkhout commenting upon these, may it not most appropriately he here asked, if anything could more completely show the great wrong and in- justice of the war on the part of the Federals throughout, than the position assumed by this recon- struction committee, and which was affirmed by Con- gress ? During the whole period of four years' bloody strife, their avowed object was nothing more than to compel the Seceding States to return to a re- newal of their obligations under the Constitution ; and when this object was entirely effected, they stood before the country with the public declaration that they could not safely permit that to take place for which so much blood and treasure had been ex- pended ! What a spectacle they thus exhibited ! To fully appreciate its monstrous character, it should be con- sidered from two points of view: The war, remember, was waged by them for this avowed object of making other parties perform their duties under a compact, while they, themselves, were, at the very time and before, as we have seen, openly and confessedly faithless in the discharge of their own duties under the same compact ! Nay, more, this faithlessness on their part, remember also, was the cause of the Secession on the part of the others. Now, the spectacle would have been bad enough, if they had stopped with what they had, by superior power, been enabled thus to accomplish and had been satisfied with results so most wrongfully at- tained ! But how infinitely increased is the mon- strousness of their conduct, when, not content with the result so wickedly and nefariously reached, they proceeded to make further exactions for their own special advantage and greater power ! Is there to be found in the annals of mankind a parallel of such unblushing, double-faced, insolent and infamous ini- quity ? One thing which induced this extraordinary course was doubtless the discovery of the fact that by the abolition of slavery, so called, the Confederate States would be entitled to thirteen more members in the House under the then ratio of representation, than they had theretofore been under the three-fifths count of their black population, about which so much false clamor had been raised before the war. It now be- came clearly apparent, that the just and equal rights of the South had been curtailed by that clause of the Constitution, and that her political power, in the Federal Government, would be considerably aug- mented by the change in this respect, which had been effected in the new order of things. The terms at first exacted of the Confederate States by this Reconstruction Committee, whose report was agreed to in both Houses, were, that these States should agree to and ratify what they proposed to them as a further amendment to the Constituti >n of the United Spates, known as the Fourteenth Amendment, as a condition precedent to their being allowed represen- tation in either branch of Congress.* With these * Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 0/ the United States of America in Congress assembled (two- thirds of both Houses concurring) : That the It'll iwing Artii le be proposed to the Legislatures of the several St it' Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which. when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be Talid as part of the Constitution, namely : Akticle XIV. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside. No 65 Congressional terms, Tennessee, on the 12th of Julv, 1866, complied. The other States all failed, or refused to do so. This brings us to that scene in the drama now being enacted. How far it will come short of being the last scene of a like character, the great future alone can determine. To what is at present passing, therefore, on the political boards, and ex- hibiting the actual results of the war up to this time, as well as their general tendency to inevitable ulti- mate results of a far more serious nature, if action upon the line on which the whole has thus far been conducted be not arrested, we must now look. 4. The next great fact, therefore, to be here spe- cially noticed, is the adoption by Congress of the " Reconstruction Measures," so called, which are now pending before the people of those States which have been denied representation in Congress. The first act of this character passed Congress in Feb- ruary of this year. This act more clearly shows the tendency of what may be looked to as the ultimate results of the war than any of the previous matters noted. The reasons assigned for this most extra- ordinary measure on the part of Congress, were no less extraordinary than the measure itself. It is amazing that men with intelligence and any regard for their character, could have had the audacious- ness in the face of notorious truths to assign the rea- sons which they did for their action in thi> matter! These were given in the Freamble to the act, and are ' as follows : " Whereas, no legal State Governments, or adequate protection for life or property, now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and, Whereas, it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States, until loyal and Republican State Governments can be legally established ! " etc. Was ever a solemn public declaration made by any State shall make or enforce any law whicb shall abridge the privileges or immuni ies of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due procss of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 1 ws. Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding In not taxed; but when the right to vote at any election, for the choice of electors for President and Vice- President of the Unit rl States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and I officers of a State or the members ol the L gi.-l mire thereof, is denie I to any of the male inhabitants of such State (being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States), or in any way abridged except fir participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall he reduced in the proportion which the number of sueh male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age, in said State. Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hi Id any office, civil or military, under the United States or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a meinl er of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a mem- ber of .my Mate Legislature, cecutive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion a the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies there Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of ea h House, remove sin h disability. Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the Unit d States authorized by law, including debts incurred for pa\ no nt of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing in tion or rebellion, shall not be questioned ; but neither the Unite' 1 States nor any State sh ill assume or pay an\ debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave , but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held and void. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by ap- propriate legislation the provisions of this Article. 1026 APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. respectable bodies of intelligent men, so utterly in- consistent with well-known facts, and facts, too, which had been previously recognized and acted upon by themselves? Were there not legal State Govern- ments then existing in every one of these " Rebel Stales," so called ? Was not every department of civil government — legislative, executive, and judicial — as regularly administered in them as ever before, and as regularly as in any of the States represented in the Congress which made this declaration ? If not, how was it that their nc's in ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States had been regarded as legal and valid by this very Congress which made this declaration ? If these State Governments were not legal, how could that amendment to the Constitution, carried by their action, be held and declared to be valid ? Moreover, were not life and property as thoroughly protected in them, as far as they can be protected by efficient laws, as in any of their own States? If there were violations of law, murders and other outrages, com- mitted in some of them, or all of them, was not the same true of all the States? Where is the State in \\ hich outrages of like character were not committed? Had General Grant, who had been sent specially lo examine into this matter, in bis report, intimated that there \va< any difference in these particulars be- tween the general state of things South and North? He certainly had not. But, again, how, with any regard for truth, could these States, in February, 1867, be said lo be Rebel States? Was there a single man in arms against the General Government within their entire limits? Was not the whole mass of their entire people perfectly submissive, even to the unjust and unconstitutional demands of the authorities at Washington ? How, also, could they be said to be disloyal in any sense? „;k1 not every officer in them, from their chief executives to their lowest magistrates, in the most bona fide manner, resumed their obligations to sup- port and defend the Constitution of the United States? Is there any other test of loyalty but this known to the Constitution, either for State or Federal officers? This Preamble, thus fixed to this first Reconstruction Act, can be regarded in no other light, than as one of the most reckless perversions of truth ever put upon public record; while the act itself must ever be regarded as one of the most palpable usurpations of power to be found in the history of the world. Well :id President Johnson, in his veto of such a mon- strous outrage, say : " I submit to Congress whether this measure is not, in its whole character, scope, and object, without ] re- cedent, and without authority — in palpable conflict with the plainest provisions of the Constitution, and utterly destructive of those great principles of liberty and humanity for which our am ■ s < 1 , on both sides of the Atlantic, have shed so much blood, and ex- pended so much treasure? - ' And most pertinently did he further add : " Those who advocated the right of secession al- leged in their own justification, that we had no regard tor law, and that their rights of property, life, and liberty would not be safe under the Constitution as administered by us. If we now verify their assertion, pve that they were, in truth and in fact, fighting lor their liberty; and instead of branding their leaders with the dishonoring name of traitors against a right- eous and legal government, we elevate them in his- tory in the rank of self-sacrificing patriots, consecrate them to the admiration of the world, ..and place them by the side of Washingtcn, Hampden and Sydney!" Most truthful utterances these ! And most remark- able, too, coming as they did from him, who had, himself, just before been so full of " breathing out ihreatenings and slaughter" against the " self-sacri- ficing patriots ! " Delivered as they were, and under the circumstances they were, they remind us forcibly of some which came from the same Saul of Tarsus after the scales had fallen from his eyes, and he had been brought to see his persecutions of the disciples of the true faith, in their proper light. Paul, after he was brought to a full realization of his great 1 thus warring against them, most bitterly repented of all that he had thus done, and especially that he had consented to the death of the martyred Stephen, and had even held the clothes of those who slew him, even though he had believed at the time that he was doing right ! It is true, there is nothing in these expressions of Mr. Johnson, which directly shows that he had then as fully reached a perfect realization of error on his part, in any matter connected with the war, as Paul had in the matter of his persecutions, when the utter- ances referred to by him were given; and yet there is a good deal in the tone and manner in which Mr. [ohnson's expressions were given forth, which clearly indicates that he was very near the same point, whether he had then, or has since, or ever shall, actually reach it or not. The expressions as they stand in the con- text, were presented only as a strong argument to his late associates and allies, to induce them, if possible, to reconsider and abandon the monstrous provisions of their measure. Still, he must have felt, as his lan- guage unmistakably implies, that if they did not so reconsider and abandon, a very great wrong had been done to those who would srfier from them, by other measures to which he had unwittingly given his con- sent — never supposing that they would lead to such ruinous results and most disastrous consequences! This, his words clearly import. But this and other arguments, strong and pointed as they all were, and coming from the high they did, produced no effect whatever, but increased rage, upon those to whom they were so conscien- tiously, earnestly, and truthfully addressed. Deaf in their madness alike to principles, consistency, and all considerations of their own honor, as well as of hu- manity, they were resolved upon the cxecu' their purpose, though in it they destroyed every ves- tige of civil liberty, swept away every existing legal barrier for the protection of life and property in ten States, and put nine millions of people in time of pro- found peace under absolute military sway! And this, too, was done by them under the atrocious pretext ol providing for the establishment of peace and good order! They promptly passed this Reconstruction Act, so called, over the President's veto, by a two- thirds vote in both Houses of Congress ! There is no necessity for looking into, or examining the provisions of this act in detail. It is enough to know that under it, all the civil authorities of ten States are completely subverted, and their entire popu- lation subjected — temporarily, at least — to the des- potism of martial law! Not even a Federal judge is permitted to interfere, or redress any wrong, whether small or great, inflicted by either of the five Satraps, among whom the several military districts are divided. The ostensible object of this unparalleled measure, with those which have followed it (as amendments APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. I02! or supplements), was to compel the Southern States to submit to degrading conditions before being allowed future representation in either branch of Congress. These conditions in short are : First. That the States embraced in the act shall, before being allowed such representation, agree to the disfranchisement and virtual attainder of all that class of their white citizens who had, before the war, received the public confidence so far as to be entrusted with any civil office, either executive, legislative or judicial, Federal or State, from the highest to the lowest ; and Second. To the enfranchisement in their stead, of the entire male black population who have attained the age of twenty-one years. To commend this monstrous outrage to the favor of their constituents, it was pretended to be justified by those who voted for it, as a proper measure of punishment for those who had engaged in the rebel- lion, so called, and as a necessary security in the fu- ture, for the loyal States, so called ! But while this is the ostensible object, the real one was doubtless of a very different character. Viewed in its proper light — looking at its real design — it must be consid- ered, with all its wrongs, as but another advanced step, stealthily taken, under false colors, towards that complete ultimate consolidation of power at which these leaders have been aiming all the time, but which they are not yet quite prepared openly to declare! But viewed in that, or any other light, these meas- ures of Congress again most incontestably prove, even in Mr. Johnson's judgment, on which side the right lay in that conflict of arms, which we have so fully reviewed. In this connection, a negative error of Mr. Johnson should receive, at least, a passing notice, and the more so from the fact that I believe his sole object now is, to restore the Union and maintain the P'ederal system established by the fathers. To this end his every en- ergy seems, at this time, to be most patriotically di- rected, and however much I may have disagreed with him in the past, he is, in my judgment, now, entitled to the confidence, support, and cordial co-operation, of every friend of constitutional liberty throughout the country. The error, however, to which 1 here allude was, that (with his views of the Constitution and the powers and duties of the President under it and the nature of the Union) he did not refuse to rec- ognize as the Congress of the United States, any bodies in which any one of the States of the Union was denied representation in the House and an equal voice in the Senate. Had he thus proclaimed and thus acted, when the policy of the Reconstruction Committee was at first openly declared, he might have sustained his own views and prevented the con- summation of that most iniquitous policy. There were then in Congress enough anti-centralists in the Senate and House from the Northern States, with the Senators and Representatives returned from the South, to constitute a majority of a 'egitimate Congress. By such union, a constitutional Congress could have been organized; and if Mr. Johnson had invited such union, and recognized such an organization as the only true Congress of the United States, as it would have been, these gross usurpations never would have been per- petrated. But no more of that on this occasion. What has been said very clearly exhibits the present situation, and leads us one step further in the review proposed. 5. The next and last great fact to be borne in mind, in considering the results of the war, and to w has led thus lar in the view we are taking, is that ihe centralists have not as yet openly proclaimed their ultimate object, much less have they acted in any- thing dune by them up to this time, upon any chum of the actual consummation of that object, which we have seen, is consolidation and empire. They have not as yet openly denied the federative character of the government, however in direct war upon its prin- ciples their acts have been covertly aimed. This i-. an exceedingly important fact to be specially noted and kept in mind. These monstrous reconstruction measures, with all their enormities and fatal tenden- cies towards ultimate complete centralism and empire, are still based upon the assumption that the States, as separate integral parts, constitute members of what is still, in words, at least, acknowledged to be a Federal Union ! All these bold usurpations of power are, upon their face, nothing but resorts to induce, or to compel, under duress, the peoples of the several Southern States to go through the forms of adopting the Fourteenth Amendment, as an additional article to the Constitution. This policy is avowedly based upon the principle of voluntary consent on the part of these States. The programme of the reconstruc tionists thus far proceeds upon the assumption that the voluntary ratification of all amendments to the Constitution by at least three-fourths of the integral members of the Union is essential to their validity. It is true, they did not pretend to have any const, tu- tional power to pass these measures. On the con- trary, they openly and avowedly proclaim, that in adopting them they are acting " outside of the Con- stitution ! " This, too, they so proclaim to the world, immediately after taking solemn oaths to support that instrument ! But not to stop here to comment upon such gross inconsistency, as well as moral dere- liction, the point to be noted is, that nothing affecting the vital principles of the organic structure of our federative system of government has ytt been accomplished, or is even claimed to have been ac- complished. There is, therefore, still hope for the preservation of the essential features of the system, if there is remaining virtue, intelligence, and patriotism enough to save it, on the part of the peoples of ihe Northern States. No system of representative gov- ernment can be long maintained by any people who have not the intelligence to understand it, the patriot- ism to approve it, and the virtue to maintain inviolate both its form and principles as established. The future destiny, therefore, of the free institu- tions of this country, is now in the hands of the peo- ples of the Northern States. We, at the South, are utterly powerless to do anything in shaping 1 trolling, at this time, the progress of coming political events. The only hope left to us is, that a reaction on all these questions, in the public mind, in the Northern States, will take place in time to save cur liberties as well as their own. This, you may be assured, can be done only by driving the Usurpers from their places, and bunging back the administra- tion of the Federal government to those princi| which it was so harmonii usly and prosperou ducted foi the first sixty years ol it- existence. Tins is to be done through the ballot-box alone. Should this take place, and the judicial department maintain its integrity, all may vet be well, even though this Fourteenth amendment should go through the mock- ery of a ratification under the present programme, for, no amendment of the Constitution proposed as 1028 APTEXDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. this has been, and adopted as it must be, if at all, can ever be held lo be valid by a firm and upright judiciary. So, you see, my opinion is, that the cause which was lost at Appomattox Court- House, was not the federative principle upon which American Iree insti- tutions were based, as some have very erroneously supposed. This is far from being one of the results of the war. The cause which was lost by the surren- der of the Confederates, was only the maintenance of this principle by arms. It was not the principle itself that they abandoned. They only abandoned their attempt to maintain it by physical force. This prin- ciple on which rest die hopes of the world for spread- ing and perpetuating free institutions by neighboring States, in my judgment, like the principles ot Chris- tianity, ever advances more certainly and safely with- out resort to aims, than with it. Its teachings are peace, harmony, and good-will to all, and is much more sure of attaining its end, when the actions of its. advocates are in conformity with its teachings. This principle, therefore, though abandoned in its maintenance on battle-fields, still continues to live in all its vigor, in the forums of reason, justice and truth, and will, 1 trust, there continue to live forever! Its continued exigence in our system, with vital power, is not yet denied, as we have seen, even by its bitter- est and most covert enemies, who have been so long making such extraordinary eflorts for its destruction and extinction ! Obeisance has been done to it by them, even in these despotic Reconstruction meas- ures. Those who are looking to and desiring ultimate centralism and empire, have, as yet, in iheir progress that way, thus far, reached only to the point of attempting to induce by duress, certain States, as States, and as sovereign States, to conform to their action under the semblance, at least, of voluntary consent ! This is the present position of affairs on that subject. Professor Norton — Being a conservative, as you know, I agree with you, Mr. Stephens, in the main, in all you have said on the present situation, gloomy as the prospect it presents certainly i~- ; and I .111 inclined to think, too, that our friend Judge Bynum, Radical as he is, is not very far from concur- ring with us, in these general views. This I infer from a remark he made to Major Heister and myself in the walk we took, after the conversation of this morning. Judge Bynum. — Represent me fairly. Professor Norton. — It is not my wish or intention to do otherwise. The remark I alluded to was, that you were inclined to think Congress had gone too far, and that was why you were so anxious to hear Mr. Stephens upon the results of the war. Judge Bynum. — Well, that is about correct. While I approved all that was done up to the passage of these Reconstruction measures, yet, in them, I have thought that they, perhaps, went too far; for, not- withstanding I am a Radical, I am by no means in favor of a centralization of all power in Congress, or the establishment of an empire, which, it seems to me, would amount to nearly the same thing. I abhor the very idea of a result of that kind. Professor Norton. — That is all I mean to state in reference to your positi in, and 1 believe we have all come to one point, on which we agree, however much we have or may differ upon others. lint what I was going on to say was, that while I agree in the main with all that Mr. Stephens has said about the results of the war, yet I was not expecting to hear him ex- press himself on the subject in the terms and lan- guage which he has. Of course I could not suppose that he approved them, but as Governor Brown of this State, with whom he had generally agreed and acted on all public questions during the war, had come out in lavor of Georgia's acceptance ol the terms proposed by Congress, I thought Mr. Stephens was, most probably, co-operating with him, especially as he has been so silent upon the subject — before the public at least. Mr. Stephens. — I have been thus silent, simply because I have seen no prospect of being able lo do any good by anything that I could say to the public, on any of these questions. I do not see that any South- ern man can say or do anything, which will have any effect in arresting the tendency of affairs. I have taken no part in the discussions in this State, because I saw that such course would but lead to divisions amongst our own people, and I did not think there was enough that could possibly be accomplished, even in securing a temporary relief, to cause old friends to ^row angry with each other and quarrel about. If Governor Brown and others gee lit " to take to life- boats " in our stranded condition, 1 have no quarrel to make with him or them for pursuing that course; though I believe that he, and all who make similar ventures, will be swamped in the surfs at last. 1 see no hope in that course, or any other which we can lake. My only hope for relief is in a reaction of public sentiment at the North, as stated. If that conies in time, all may yet be well with us. It not, we must all go under anyhow; and I prefer, without ill-will towards any, to remain in perfect quiet on the old craft as long as she is afloat, and at last, if needs must he, go down with her. As to ihe feelings of the people of this State gen- erally upon these measures, I think Mr. Benjamin H. Hill, in one of his stirring " Notes," or, rather, Philippics " on the Situation," gave a very correct statement, in a very few words, when, in speaking of the position of our people in reference to them, he said in substance: "The complying accept, the resolute reject, none approve, while all despise ! " This, in my opinion, is as true of Governor Brown as of all the rest. While he accepts, 1 have no idea that he approves. Few men hold the principles of constitutional liberty in higher esteem than he does. In reference to my relations with Governor lkown, while it is true we did agree upon many leading pub- lic questions, before as well as during the war, yet it is aNo true, we differed very widely upon others; and upon no question have we ever differed more widely than upon this one. Personally, however, I have a very high regard for him, and esteem him as a man of very great ability, as well as integrity. He is in every respect, entitled to high rank among our public men and statesmen. Major Heister. — You do not agree, then, with those who think, as I see from your papers some do, that his course has been influenced by motives of ambition, excited by temptations offered to him on the '• High Mountain," lo which he was carried in Wash- ington ? Mr. Stephens. — No, not at all. I have no idea of tint sort. If, when in Washington, he was taken to any of the places mentioned in the good book, I think it was not to the " Mountain of Temptations," but rather to the verge of that other place known as APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. IO29 the bottomless pit, or so near to it as for him to get a view of its horrors below, where his fears instead of his hopes were operated upon. In other words, in my opinion, his course has been taken more from apprehensions awakened by threats of attainder, of confiscation, and the thousands of other ills that might bi expected to attend the rejection of the proposed measure, than from any promise of rewards or official position to him, in consideration of his giving them his suppoit. It was to avoid what he considered im- pending individual as well as public evils, and not to secure special personal benefits or honors to himself, that he acted as he did. He came honestly and sin- cerely, I have no question, to the conclusion that we might all go further and fare much worse ; and hence his recommendation to the people to accept the terms proposed by Congress, and to comply with the condi- tions offered, however unjustly and wrongfully ex- acted. With his views and feelings he acted under the conviction that we were a conquered people, and, as such, should accept these terms, as there was, in his opinion, no probability of any better ever being offered. Major Heister. — You do not think, then, that he was really untrue to the Southern cause during the war, and is now carrying out the previously cherished purposes of his heart ? I have seen this opinion of him expressed by some. Mr. Stephens. — Some people may think and write so, but my opinion is, that no truer man to our cause lived, while its standard was up, than Governor Brown. Major Heister. — Why, did not he and Holden, of North Carolina, in their quarrels with Mr. Davis, wish to withdraw from the Confederacy, and to make terms with Mr. Lincoln by separate State action? Mr. Stephens. — No, sir, never! As to what Gov- ernor Holden may have done, or been willing to do in North Carolina, I cannot, of course, speak. I do not even know that gentleman personally, and hence I can say nothing of him. But Governor Brown I do know ; and, further, I know that all such state- ments in regard to him are utterly untrue. It is true, he differed widely with President Davis upon many matters connected with the administration of affairs. This led to what has been called the " quarrel " be- tween them, but while the published official corre- spondence shows a very decided disagreement between them, yet it was only a disagreement on points of policy as to the best and surest way of securing ulti- mate success to our arms. Governor Brown was as true to the cause as any man in the country. He and Mr. Davis are both men of very strong convictions and great earnestness of purpose. Neither of them are very yielding in their opinions; and while, in my judgment, he sincerely believed that Mr. Davis' policy was not the best to secure success, and endeav- ored to get him to change it, stid, he never for a mo- ment cherished the dastardly idea attributed to him. This clearly appears from his reply to the overture of General Sherman to meet him in Atlanta, in Septem- ber, 1864, after the fall of that place. This overture on the part of General Sherman was doubtless with a view of such separate Stale action, and sprung perhaps from impressions on his mind produced by charges of this sort attain-.! Governor Brown in some of the Confederate newspapers, about that time. In that reply, while Governor Brown claimed, to the fullest extent, the absolute ultimate sovereignty of the State of Georgia, yet he most em- phatically declared that, being then in Confederation with her Southern sisters for the maintenance of the same sovereignty on the part of each severally, her public faith, thus pledged, should never be violated by him ; and that, " Come weal or come woe," the State of Georgia should never by his consent with- draw from that Confederation in dishonor. " She will never make separate terms with the enemy," said he, " which may free her territory from invasion, and leave her Confederates in the lurch." Further, upon the nature of the conflict and the principles involved, he said to General Sherman : The liberties of the people in this country " rest upon the sovereignty of the States as their chief corner-stone. Destroy the sovereignty of the States, and the whole fabric falls to the ground, and central- ized power with military despotism takes the place of constitutional liberty." Thus, said he, "to de- stroy our liberties must cost the Northern people their own, and the Republicanism of America must, in future, be regarded as a reproach and a by-word among all nations." This language sufficiently fixes the character of Governor Brown, and shows the principles by which he was governed throughout the war. If he had en- tertained such sentiments as were attributed to him; or if he had been a man likely to be influenced by temptations of ambition held out to him, that was certainly an occasion when the weakness and base- ness of such a nature would have manifested itself. In my judgment, he then entertained no such views or ideas as were imagined by some ; nor is he now influenced by any such as are similarly imputed. This at least is my opinion of him. When the prin- ciple involved in the conflict failed to be maintained by arms, he, as I understand him, then gave up, not only the cause, but the principle itself, as lost. His public acts, since, have been governed by this convic- tion. Our present differences arise from the differ- ent views we take of the results of the war. In my view, you perceive that while the mainten- ance of the principle, or the maintenance of the right of local self-government was lost on the battle-field ; yet on other grounds, and in other forums, it still lives in all its vigor. The issue decided by the sword, was the attempt on the part of the Confeder- ates to maintain this principle and right, by physical force, in withdrawing from the Union. To thi- ex- tent alone was the great cause affected by the arbi- trament of arms; and to this extent alone was it then settled, by their abandonment of its further mainten- ance in that way ; but the principle itself was not abandoned. It involves questions which cannot be settled by arms — no more than questions relating to the diurnal rotation of the earth, or its annual circuit round the sun. These are matters which belong ex- clusively to the domain of reason and logic. They belong to other arenas — to those of thought, of pub- lic discussions, council chambers, and courts of jus- tice. They can never be brought under the subjec- tion of physical power. Force may control human action, and effect settlements so far as that is con- cerned ; but it can never enslave the human in • or disarm truth of its inextinguis ibl ■ power in its appropriate sphere, upon the human understanding. In this way, by its peaceful, quiet and effective work- ings, all great advances and high achievements in civilization have heretofore been made; and all true progress in the science of government — slow as that has been — as well as in all other departments of 1030 APPENDIX T.- RESULTS OF THE WAR. human knowledge, have been accomplished ! Wars, upon the whole, have done much more in retarding than in advancing either the principles of liberty, the cause of civilization, or the general amelioration of mankind. In this connection it must be borne in mind, that notwithstanding all that was said about the treason of the Confederates, about "traitors," about the "in- surrection," and the "atrocious rebellion," so called, the authorities at Washington have not yet put that question in issue before the judicial tribunals. Im- mediately after the surrender, as we have seen, nil- merous arrests were made of high Confederate, as well as State officials; but as yet not a single one of these has been put upon trial. Prof. Norton. — Pray tell us, Mr. Stephens, how long it was before you were discharged, and how you were treated during your imprisonment? Mr. Stephens. — I was arrested on the I Ith of May, was taken to Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, as is known, and was discharged on parole the 13th of October thereafter. It affords me pleasure to state that during the whole of that period of five months and two days, I was treated with the utmost respect and kindness by all, both officers and men, who had charge of me ; or at least with the utmost respect and kindness consistent with their duties in obedience to orders from superiors. While in Fort Warren I was very much afflicted with neuralgia, and a complica- tion of diseases, greatly aggravated, if not produced, by my being first put upon soldiers' rations, and closely confined in one of the lower rooms connecting with a casemate, which was below the surface of the adjacent grounds, and which was consequently very humid and damp. Through the kind interposition of the officers, a change was soon allowed as to the matter of diet; and I was permitted by General Dix, who commanded the district, and whose head-quarters were at New York, to be supplied with such articles in this respect as I might desire from the sutler, at my own expense All went along very well in that par- ticular after this change. But the close confinement in the quarters which had been assigned me by special orders from supe- riors, operated very injuriously upon the general en- feebled condition of my health. Indeed I think if a change in this particular also had not been allowed, I should have died. This did not take place until late in August. It was at last effected through the kind interposition of Mr. Senator Henry Wilson of Massa- chusetts. He visited me, and seeing my situation, went to Washington and interceded in my behalf. The order for the change of quarters came under the hands of President Johnson himself. From this it seemed that the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, would not give his consent to it to the last. It had been in vain that Dr. Seaverns, the surgeon, had for some time recommended and urged the change. During all this time Dr. Seaverns had been ex- ceedingly kind and attentive in administering to my relief and comfort in every way in his power. So had been Major Appleton, the officer in command of the fort, and his most estimable wife. All that they could do to alleviate actual suffering and mitigate Un- necessary discomforts of the situation was done. Their charming little daughter (Mabel), not four years old), brought me flowers almost daily. She would get the guard to raise her up, and would put them herself, with her little tiny hand, between the bars of the iron grate of the window, where was placed a vase to receive them, when I was unable to take them myself! Lieutenant Win. II. Woodman, who had special charge of all prisoners, was also ex ceedingly kind and unremitting in his attention to my wants and comforts. So, too, was John Geary, the corporal, whose business it was to attend particularly to my room. After Major Appleton left the post, Major Charles F. Livermore, who succeeded him, was equally kind and attentive, as was also his most excellent and amiable wile. The many, many acts of kindness I received from all these parties, as well as from quite a number of the good people of Boston, during my affliction and imprisonment at Fort Warren, can never be forgotten by me, and can never be thought of without the most grateful emotions ! But, as I said, it was to Senator Wilson, I think, I was chiefly indebted for the change of quarters. Judge Bynum. — You discovered some good, then, even in as extreme a Radical as Henry Wilson ? Mr. Stephens. — Oh, yes; and I doubt not he pos- sesses many more good qualities besides kindness "I heart. Human nature is a strange compound at best! No person I have ever yet met with was >•> bad as not to have some good qualities; and 1 I have ever seen was so good as not to have some bad ones. Perfection is not the lot of humanity. How- ever much I have differed with Mr. Wilson, and do now differ with him, upon many public questions — however great, in my opinion, are his errors, on many subjects ; yet I believe he possesses many ex- cellencies of both head and heart. He was cer- tainly very kind to me in a time of great need, for which I felt, at the time, and now and ever shall feel, most profoundly thankful ! Indeed I did not then, or now, cherish any resentment even towards Mr. Stanton, whose course and conduct toward me seemed to be so strange as well as cruel, and which I be- lieved if not changed would soon end in my death. The prevailing sentiment with me towards him, and ail who were co-operating with him, then was, " Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do !" I thought it not improbable that he and they were acting conscientiously; while I thought it not less probable that he and others thus acting would live to repent most bitterly what they were then doing. This, Professor Norton, is all I can now say upon the subject of my arrest and imprisonment. To return, therefore, from this digression to the point I was upon. As I was discharged, so were all the other Confederate and State officials who had been arrested and discharged, after an imprisonment more or less prolonged without any criminal accusation being even lodged against them for their participation in the war, except Mr. Davis. As to Mr. Davis, it is true, after the infamous charge upon which he was arrested — that is, of com- plicity in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln — was proven to have had no foundation whatever, except the perjury of suborned witnesses, a formal bill of indictment for treason, in the matter of secession and the war, was brought in against him. This has not yet been tried, though he has continuously de- manded a trial, and urged it in the most earnest manner. His late enlargement on bail, without a trial* (through the unexampled generosity and mag- * The following news items of the day possess historic intei- APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. 103I nanimityof Mr. Horace Greeley, Gerrit Smith, Au- gustus Schell, H. F. Clark, Aristides Welsch, of New York, David J. Jackman, of Pennsylvania, and others, in becoming sureties for his appearance to answer the charge when the government shall be ready to proceed with it), may be considered as settling the question, that the officials at Washington do not intend to allow that point on the principle in- volved in the issue, decided by the arbitrament of arms, to come before the judicial forum for decision and adjudication there. An arbitrament on the arena of reason, logic, truth, and justice, they have, thus far, eschewed and avoided ; so that the great fact is to be borne in mind, that up to this lime, nothing really affecting this " corner-stone" of our Federal institutions, as Governor Brown styled the principle in his reply to General Sherman, has, as yet, been definitely settled, except the abandonment of an attempt to maintain it by a resort to arms. This, then, is one of the main differences between Governor Brown and myself. To his idea that we are a conquered people, and as such should make the best terms we can, my reply is, that this was not the understanding at the time of the surrender. The States, as Stales, were distinctly recognized in that surrender, as we have seen ; nor have, even, the Re- constructionists at Washington, as yet, acted upon the avowed assumption that we are thus conquered. These monstrous measures so proposed by Congress, are acknowledged to be without authority by those who have passed them, and can, therefore, be considered as nothing but gross usurpations. The courts have yet to pass upon them. These measures, in my judgment, can never receive the sanction of that department of the government — not even in the view that we are a conquered people. Conquerors must govern their subjects according to the provisions of their own fundamental law. This is well established by the laws of nations. The fundamental law of Congress, by which the courts must be governed, is the Constitu- tion of the United States. This gives Congress no power, in time of peace, to suspend the writ of "Habeas Corpus" nor to declare martial law, to say nothing of the other enormities of these measures over any class of people, whether citizens, aliens, denizens or subjects. We are bound to believe, therefore, that the Supreme Court of the United States will hold these measures when they come before that "Fortress Monroe, May n, 1867. — A large crowd was at the steamboat landing at an early hour. Mr Davis left Fort ress Monroe after two years imprisonment. The leave-taking was touchingly impressive. Mr. Davis walked alongside of General Burton [the Federal officer who had htm in charge], and Dr. Ceoper oYi the other. Kob.-rt Ould and the brother of Mr. Davis from Vicksburg accompanied Mrs. Davis and her sister, followed by several friends. The countenance of Mr. D ivis was cheerful. He received many friends with great cor- diality on the boat; was dressed in a plain black suit, felt hat, with cane. His face was pale. He is very thin and feeble, and hair quite gray." After the execution of the bail-bond, a Richmond paper of the next day contained, amongst many other exceedingly inter- e icing incidents attending the whole scene, the following : " The release of Mr. Davis was now ordered : General Bur- 10 \ and Dr. Cooper went forward and tendered him their warm congratulations. The example of these officers was followed by a host of personal friends, and a scene of unbounded enthu- siasm and excitement prevailed. " A shout which could not be repressed, and which shook the granite walls to their foundations, went up from the excited throng, and amidst the exultant chorus Mr. Davis descended the stairs shaking hands right and left as he passed, and, enter- ing the carriage which was brought him to the court room, re- turned to the hotel, where he spent some time in receiving the Congratulations of the hosts of friends who availed themselves of the opportunity to express their joy and gratitude at his re- lease." body, to be gross and palpable usurpations of power, and utterly null and void. But if this court should not so hold ; if this tribunal should decide not only that we are a conquered people, but further, that Congress, representing the conquerors, can properly govern us as they see fit. outside of the limitations of the Constitution of the United States, and can properly deny us, if they choose, the great American right of self government for the future, then, even in that view, my reply is, let our conquerors govern us as they see fit ! We, it is true, cannot resist, or offer any violent opposition. We can only bear with patience ajid fortitude, as best we may, what is imposed upon us; but in the name of all that is sacred, do not let us attempt to govern ourselves — not as we see fit, but as our conquerors see fit. That would be but their gov- ernment at last, without any of its responsibility. By every consideration, then, we should not, by giv- ing these measures a formal approval, put ourselves in the position of being told, when the disastrous consequences follow, which will inevitably ensue, that it was we, ourselves, and not they, who brought such ruin upon the country. By our thus acting, perhaps after awhile, sooner or later, when the people of the Northern States become thoroughly impressed, as Judge Bynum, radical as he is, seems now inclined to be, with the dangerous ten- dencies of this whole reconstructive policy to their own institutions, a similar cry to that which went up from Virginia in colonial days in regard to the Boston Port Bill, will again he raised and heard from one ex- tent of the land to the other. The cry then was, " The cause of Boston is the cause of us all ! " These, we have seen, were the stirring notes which led to the establishment of our entire system of constitutional liberty. The only hope, in my view, now left for its preservation and maintenance on this continent, is, that another like cry shall hereafter be raised, and go forth from hill-top to valley, from the coast to the lakes, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, "The cause of the South is the cause of us all ! " If this comes in time, all may yet be well. In that event, notwithstanding all that has occurred, I see no reason why the States, once more restored, as they will then be, should not enter upon a new career of greatness, exciting increased marvel, if not admira- tion, in the old world, by higher achievements in progress hereafter to be made than any heretofore attained, through the harmonious workings of the true American principle of the sovereign right of local self-government on the part of each member of our matchless Federal system, when rightly adminis- tered. On these principles the Union, in my judg- ment, can be maintained and perpetuated — not by physical power, but by the much stronger attractive principle of "mutual convenience and reciprocal advantage;" and this, too, without any apprehen- sions of centrifugal tendencies in any of its parts, either from the extent of its boundaries, or the num- ber or diversified interests of its members. But if such reaction should not take place in the public sentiment of the Northern people, then our present condition will soon be theirs. No fact in the future may be relied upon with more certainty, than that their liberties cannot long survive the loss of ours. So much, gentlemen, for the present condition of affairs, and the actual practical results thus far, of this gigantic conflict of arms, upon our institutions, State 1032 APPENDIX T.— RESULTS OF THE WAR. and Federal, as well as the general prospect before us. In the review we have taken, the origin of all these late troubles as well as present ills, and the still greater ones now threatening, have been traced to their proper source — to their primal cause. That, we have seen, was a violation of one of the essential principles of the organic structure of our new and wonderful system of a Federative Union of Sovereign States. From this violation of principle all these direful consequences have come, as effects follow causes. Here our review properly closes. It was undertaken, you recollect, not so much with the intention of vindicating the rightfulness of my own course in going with my State in the matter of secession, as in vindication of the rightfulness of the great cause of those with whom my fortunes in the terrible and most lamentable contest were cast. Now that we have gone through with the whole, as stated before, I will not ask your judgment upon the matter. That, I am content, notwithstanding all that is now said about "traitors" and "rebels," to leave to the arbitrament of the intelligent, unbiased, and impartial of all times and countries. This judgment, I feel assured, will be just as Mr. Johnson so clearly foresaw it would be. By it the Confederates, so far from being branded with the epithets of "rebels" and " traitors," will be honored as "self-sacrificing patriots," fighting for their liberties throughout, and their heroes and martyrs in history will take places "by the side of Washington, Hampden, and Syd- ney !" It affords me pleasure, however, to say, in winding up, that while in our long and social interchange of views, and discussions of the various questions brought up in review, in which we have occasionally so widely differed upon some points, yet upon one we are at last all so fully agreed, and that is, in our ab- horrence of the very idea of anything like imperialism in this country. Perfect agreement on this point is the more agreeable to me, because this presents the only real living issue of paramount importance before the peoples of the several States. The great vital question now is: Shall the Federal Government be arrested in its progress, and be brought back to origi- nal principles, or shall it be permitted to go on in its present tendencies and rapid strides, until it reaches complete consolidation? Depend upon it, there is no difference between consolidation and empire; no difference between centralism and imperialism. The consummation of either must necessarily end in the overthrow of lib- erty and the establishment of despotism. To speak of any rights as belonging to the States, without the innate and unalienated sovereign power to maintain them, is but to deal in the shadow of language with- out the substance. Nominal rights without securities are but mockeries. Nothing can be truer than that the States under our system possess no rights but sovereign rights. All their reserved rights are necessarily sovereign rights. They hold nothing by grant or favor from the Fed- eral Government. On the contrary, the Feder ernment itself possesses no right, and is intrusted with the exercise of no power, except by delegation from the sovereignty of the several States. Sov- ereignty itself, as we have seen, is, from ks very nature, indivisible. There never was a greater truth more pointedly uttered than that by Mr. Jefferson, that the States of this Union " are not united upon the prin- ciple of unlimited submission to their general govern- ment." The administration of our Government, therefore, must be brought back and made to conform in its action to these principles thus announced by the great author of the system, and under which all the great achievements of the past were made. If this is not done, it is utterly vain to look for, or ex- pect anything but ultimate centralism and despotism. These are words of truth, expressed in an earnest- ness which I trust you will excuse; but they aie words which, however received or heeded by the people of this day, will be rendered eternally true by the developments of the future. But without further speculation upon this subject or any other, let me, in conclusion, barely add : If the worst is to befall us; if our most serious apprehen- sions and gloomiest forebodings as to the future, in this respeGt, are to be realized; if centralism is ultimately to prevail ; if our entire system of free in- stitutions as established by our common ancestors is to be subverted, and an empire is to be established in their stead; if that is to be the last scene in the great tragic drama now being enacted; then, be assured, that we of the South will be acquitted, not only in our own consciences, but by the judgment of man- kind, of all responsibility for so terrible a catastrophe, and from all the guilt of so great a crime against humanity ! Amidst our own ruins, bereft of fortunes and estates, as well as liberty, with nothing remaining to us but a good name, and a public character, un- sullied and untarnished, we will, in the common mis- fortunes, still cling in our affections to " the Land of Memories," and find expression for our sentiments when surveying the past, as well as of our distant hopes when looking to the future, in the grand words of Father Ry^n, one of our most eminent divines, and one of America's best poets : "A land without ruins is a land without memories — a land without memories is a land without liberty! A land that wears a laurel crown may be fair to see, but twine a few sad cypress leaves around the brow of any land, and be that land beautiless and bleak, it becomes lovely in its consecrated coronet of sorrow, and it wins the sympathy of the heart and history! Crowns of roses fade — crowns of thorns endure ! Calvaries and crucifixes take deepest hold of human- ity — the triumphs of Might are transient, they pass away and are forgotten — the sufferings of Right are graven deepest on the chronicles oj nations /" " Yes! giwe me a land where the ruins are spread, And the living tread light on the hearts of the dead ; Yes, give me a land that is blest by the dust, And bright with the deeds of the down-trodden just ! Yes, give me the land that hath legend and lays Enshrining the memories of long-vanished days; Yes, give me a land that hath story and song, To tell of the strife of the Right with the Wrong; Yes, give me the land with a grave in each spot, And names in the graves that shall not be forgot ! Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb, There's a grandeur in graves — there's a glory in gloom ! For out of the gloom future brightness is born, As after the night looms the sunrise of morn ; And the graves of the dead, with the grass over- grown, May yet form the footstool of Liberty's throne, And each single wreck in the war-path of Might, Shall yet be a rock in the Temple of Right ! " INDEX. A. ABERCROMBIE, GENERAL, 177. ABOMINATIONS, Bill of, so called, 445. ABORIGINES, 23. ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS, 495. ADAMS, JAMES H., 605. ADAMS, JOHN, 225, 229, 268. First minister to England, 269; elected Vice- President, 303, 374 ; elected President, 377 ; cabinet and administration of, 379 ; death of, 444. ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, Minister to Russia, 412 ; Secretary of State, 423 ; elected President, 441 ; cabinet and ad- ministration of, 443 ; member of house, 449 ; course in the house, 463; remarks in house relative to abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, 475 ; death of, 494. ADAMS, SAMUEL, 329. What he said of new Constitution, 301. ADET, M., Evil influence of, in United States, 376. ADMINISTRATION, Washington's, 3U2 ; John Adams', 379 ; Jeffer- son's, 388; Madison's, 399; Monroe's, 122; John Quincy Adams', 442 ; Jackson's, 446 ; Van Buren's, 458 ; Harrison's, 469 ; Tvler's, 471; Polk's, 485; Taylor's, 496; Fillmore's, 526 ; Pierce's, 541 ; Buchanan's, 547 ; Lincoln's, 606; Johnson's, 838; Grant's, 84S ; Hayes', 877; Garfield's, 892; Arthur's, 911. ADOLPHUS, GUSTAVUS, Plans an American colony, 72. AKERMAN, AMOS T., 854. ALABAMA, Admitted as a State, 425 ; secession of, 685. ALABAMA CLAIMS, Settlement of, 854. ALASKA, Purchase of, by U. B., 847. ALGIERS, War with, 421. ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS, 379. Prosecution under, 380 ; Jefferson's opinion of, 392. ALLEN, ETHAN, 209. 371. ALMONTE, GENERAL Mexican minister, 487. AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION, First ten ratified, 364; eleventh do., 37 1 ; twelfth do., 394 ; thirteenth do., 840 ; fourteenth do., 841 ; fifteenth do., 847. AMERICA, Discovery of, 18; North, 21 ; South, 25; Cen- tral, 27. AMERICUS VESPUCIUS, For whom the continent was named, 2-5. AMES, FISHER, Speech on new constitution, 331. AMHERST, GENERAL, Commander-in-chief in America, 186. ANDERSON, ROBERT, At Fort Sumter, 609. ANDRE, MAJOR. British spy, 260. ANDROS, SIR EDMOND, Tyrant governor of New Jersey and Now York, 65, 110 ; outrages bv, in New England colonies, 134. APPORTIONMENT, First, 369. ARCHDALE, JOHN, Governor of North Carolina, 122. ARGALL, CAPTAIN, 40. ARIZONA, Purchase of, by United States, 512. ARKANSAS, Admitted as a Stnte, 457 ; secession of, 614. ARLINGTON, EARL OF, 93. ARMSTRONG, JOHN, 407. ARNOLD, BENEDICT, 209. Treason of, 259 ; invades Virginia, 262. ARTHUR, CHESTER A., Elected Vice-President, 891 ; becomes Presi- dent by deatli of Garfield, 907; cabinet and administration of, 911. ATHERTON, CHARLES G., Resolutions by, and rotes thereon, on subject of negro slavery in the States, lt ;, i. ATLANTA, CITY OP, Captured, 821 ; exposition at, 912. A1RORABOREALIS, First observed in this countrv, 137. AUSTIN, STEPHEN F., Founder of Mexican colony of Texas, 480. A.VALON, ' ( :itholic settlement, 59. AZTECS, 23. IQ34 IXDEX. B. BAOON, NATHANIEL, Proclaimed rebel and traitor in Virginia, 94. BAINBRIDGE, COMMODORE, 412. BALDWIN, ABRAHAM AND WALTER, In Federal convention, 292. BALTIMORE, CITY OF, Bloody riot in, 014. BALTIMORE, LORD, Founder of colony of Maryland, 58. BANCROFT, GEORGE, 486. HANK OF THE UNITED STATES, First, 369; second chartered, 421; recharter vetoed, 449 ; public deposits removed from, 454. BANKS, GENERAL, 791. HARBOUR, PHILIP P., 429. BARCLAY, ROBERT, First governor of East Jersey, 66. BARNWELL, JOHN, Colonel, 107, 123, 125. BARNWELL, ROBERT J., 605. BARRE, COLONEL, Speech in defence of colonies, 193. BARRY, WM. T., 447, 456. BARTON. MAJOR, 236. BATES, EDWARD, 607. BATTLES ON LAND DURING THE COLO- NIAL CONDITION : With Indians, 41, 52, 55, 72; Fort Casimir, 73 ; Mystic river, 88 ; Roanoke, 97 ; Tuscarora, 195, 123 ; Schenectady, 112, 130; Quebec, 113; Montreal, 114; Yemassees in S. C, 123; Pocotaligo, 124; Port Royal, S. C, 124; with King Philip, 128; Salmon Falls, 130; Port Royal, N. S., 130 ; Haverhill, 136 ; Louisbourg, first, 1 19, second, 182 ; Fort Simon, 1C0 ; Fort Necessity, 175; Bay of Fundy, 17G; Brad- dock's with the Indians, 170; Fort Edward, 177; Fort Ontario, 178; Allegheny river, 178; Fort Wm, Henry, 178; Ticonderoga, 182, 183, 209; Port Frontenac, 184; Plains of Abra- ham, 188; Etchoe, 190; Fort Loudon, 191; Alamance, 200; Concord, 208; Lexington, 208; Crown Point, 209; Bunker Hill, 213 j Fort Moultrie, 217. BATTLES ON LAND AFTER INDEPEND- ENCE OF THE STATES DECLARED, Fort Washington, 232; Trenton, 232; Prince- ton, 234; Bennington, 238; Saratoga, 239; Brandvwine, 241; Germantown, 241; Red Bank, 242; Monmouth, 245; Kettle Creek, 248; Savannah, 250; Camden, 255; King's Mountain, 250; Long Cave, 257 ; Cowpcns, 202; Guilford Court-House, 264; Eutaw Springs, 265 ; Yorktown, 267. BATTLES ON LAND BY THE STATES IN BRITISH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1812, Indian in northwest, 370, 375 ; Maumee, .">7~> ; Tippecanoe, 403; Queenstown, 409; French- town, 413; York, 41:1; Fort Meigs, 413; Fort Sanduaky, 413; Saekettrf Harbor, 418; Fort George, 413; Thames, 418; Callahee, 414; Au- tossee, 414; Tallushatchee, 414; Talladega, 414; Emuekfau, 414; Horse Shoe Bend, 414; La Cole Mill, 410; Chippewa, 417; Bridge- water, 417 ; Lundv's Lane, 417 ; Fort Erie, 417 ; Plattsburg, 417 ; Bladensburg, 417 ; North Point, 418 ; New Orleans, 420. BATTLES IN REPUBLIC OF TEN AS. ( fonzalea, 482 ; Goliad, Bexar, and Alamo, 483; San Jacinto, 484. BATTLES ON LAND BY THE UNITED STATES IN MEXICAN WAR. Matamoras, 487; Palo Alto, 488; Reaaca-de- Ia-Palma, 488; Monterey, 488; Buena Vista, 490; Cerro Gordo, 490; Contrcras, 490; Churu- busco, 490 ; Molino del Rev, 490 ; Chapultepec, 490. BATTLES ON LAND IN WAR BETWEEN THE STATES, Grafton, Phillippi, Big Bethel, Rich Mountain, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Scary Creek, First Manasses, 019; Lecsburg, Cheat Mountain, Booneville, Carthage, <>ak Hill, Lexington, Belmont, 020; Mill Spring, 633; Fort Henry, 635; Fort Donelson, 03G ; Corinth or Shilon, 640; Williamsburg, Seven Pines, 0. 9; Kernes- town, McDowell, Winchester. Cross Ki ys, Port Republic, Beaver Dam Creek, Savage Station, Mechanicsville, 665 ; Gaines' Mills, 000; White Oak Swamp, 671 ; Frazier's Farm, 672; Malvern Hill, 074; Cedar Run, second Manasses, 681; Richmond (Ky.), Perrvville, Murfreesboro, Bocnesboro, or South Mountain, Crampton'fl Gap, Harper's Ferry, Sharpesburg, or Antietam, 082; Fredericksburg, 684; Chancellorsville, C92; Marye's Hill, 717; Port Gibson. Ra\- mond, Jackson, Edward's Depot, Big Black, 737; Gettysburg, 738; Chickamauga, Mis- sionary Ridge, 782; Cleburne, 789; < >lustee, Okoloiia, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, 791 ; Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania Court-House, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Bermuda Hundred, 793; New Market, Lynchburg, 797; Monocaey, Win- chester, Cedar Creek, 797 ; Rcsaca, New Hope, Kenasaw Mountain, 820 ; Atlanta, 821 ; Frank- lin, Nashville, 822; Avcrasboro, Rcntonville, Five Oaks, Petersburg, Appomattox Court- House, 829. BATTLES ON WATER, OR SEA-FIGHTS BY UNITED STATES NAVY, Raul Jones, 251. Jn war against Tripoli: Commodores Preble and Barron, 394. In British war o/1812: President and Little Belt (Com. Rogers), 402; Constitution (Capt. Hull) and Guerriere, 410; Essex (Capt. Porter) and Alert, 410; Wasp (Capt. Jones) and Frolic, 411; United States (Capt Decatur) and Mace- donian, 411; Constitution (Com. Bainbridge) and Java, 411; Hornet (Capt Lawrence) and Peacock, 414; Chesapeake (Capt. Lawrence) and Shannon, 414; Argus (Capt. Allen) and Pelican, 410 ; Enterprise and Boxer, 410 ; ( • m- modore Perry's lleet on Lake Erie, 41 o ; Com- modore McDonough's flotilla at Plattsburg, 417. In war (ii/niiist AUjiert: Decatur's fleet and opera- tions in the Mediterranean, 421. BATTLES ON WATER, OR NAVAL OPERA- TIONS IX WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 628, 635, 636, 639, 688, 089, 823. IXDEX. I035 BAYARD, JAMES A., 412. BEAUREGARD, GUSTAVE T., General at Fort Sumter, 609; at first Manasses, 619 ; at Shiloh, 648 ; at Petersburg, 797, BEDFORD, DUNNING, In Federal Convention, 296. BELL, JOHN, Defeated for Presidency, 558. BELLAMONT, LORD, Governor of New York, 114. BENJAMIN, JUDAH P., 601. BENTON, THOMAS II., Defender of Jackson's and Van Buren's admin- istrations, 454, 463. BERKELEY, SIR WILLIAM, Governor of Virginia, 65, 93, 100. BERLIN DECREE, 396, 401. BERRIAN, JOHN M., 447. BERRY, GEORGE HIRAM, General, 728. BIBLE, First American edition, 89. BIRNEY, JAMES G., 476. BLACK, JEREMIAH S., 548. BLAINE, JAMES G., 895, 911. BLAIR, FRANCIS P., 827. BLAIR, JOHN, 367. BLAIR, MONTGOMERY, 607. BLAKE, JOSEPH, Governor of South Carolina, 122. BLOCK, ADRIAN, 39. BOONE, DANIEL, Colonizes Kentucky, 372. BOOTH, JOHN WILKES, Assassination of Lincoln by, 835. BORIE, ADOLPH E., 848. BOSTON, CITY OF, Settlement of, 53 ; Massacre in, 199 ; Port Bill of, 201 ; Great Fire in, 858. BOUTWELL, GEORGE S., 848. BOYD, LYNN, 526, 541. BRADDOCK, GENERAL, Campaign of, against the French, 175. BRADFORD, WILLIAM, Governor of Plymouth, 51. BRAGG, BRAXTON, General in command of Army of Tennessee, 659; at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, 780 ; resigns command, 789. BRANCH, JOHN, 447. BRECKINRIDGE, JOHN C, Attornev-General, 391 ; elected Vice-President, 546; defeated for Presidency, 558; victory at New Market, 797. BREWSTER, BENJAMIN H.,911. BROWN, AARON V., 548. BROWN, B. GRATZ, 857. BROWN, JOHN, Raid upon Harper's Ferry, 555. BROWN, MILTON, Resolutions by, for admission of Texas, 477. BROWN, THOMAS, Colonel, 253. BROWN, WILLIAM J., 502. BUCHANAN, JAMES, Secretary of State, 486; elected President, 549; Cabinet and Administration of, 547 ; death of, 847. BUELL, GENERAL, 634. At Shiloh, 647. BULLOCK, ARCHIBALD, Governor of Georgia, 212. BUNKER HILL, Battle of, 213. BURGESSES, HOUSE OF, In Virginia, 54. BURGOYNE, JOHN, British General, 213, 236. BURKE, EDMUND, 193. BURNET, WILLIAM, Governor of New York and Massachusetts, 1 1 5. BURNETT, DAVID, First President of Texas, 483. BURNSIDE, AMBROSE E., Supersedes McClellan, and defeated at Fred- ericksburg, 684 ; superseded by Hooker, 690. BURR, AARON, 377, 384. Elected Vice-President, 386 ; tried for treason, 396. BURRINGTON, GEORGE, Governor of North Carolina, 110. BUTLER, BENJAMIN F., 459. BUTLER, PIERCE, In Federal Convention, 293. BUTLER, WILLIAM O., 495. C. CABINETS, Washington's, 366; John Adams', 379; Jeffi r- son's, 891; Madison's, 399; Monroe's, 423; John Quincy Adams', 443; Jackson's, 447 ; Van Buren's, 459 ; Harrison's, 470; Tyler's, 472 ; Polk's, 486; Taylor's, 499; Fillmore's, 528; Pierce's, 541 ; Buchanan's, 517 ; Lincoln'.-, 607 ; Johnson's, 839; Grant's, 848; Hayes', 878; Garfield's, 896; Arthur's, 911. CABOT, JOHN AND SEBASTIAN, Explorations of, 27. ('AI.IK)UN, JOHN ('.. 402, 404. Secretary of War, 423; elected Vice-President, 415; rapture with Jackson, 448: elected to Senate, 449; accepts Clay's Tariff Compromise, 453; debate with Webster, 153; opposition to Jackson, 454; sustains Van Buren's adminis- tration, 463; resolutions on the nature of the GOven nt, 163; vote upon them, 464 ; Secre- tary of State, 475; reeoWians of, mi slarerv restrictions in the Territories, 494; last speech in Senate, 516; death of, 519. CALIFOBNIA, Contest over admission of, as a Stare, 618, 526; admitted as a Stat.', 581 ; protest agaiaat ad- mission of, and votes thereon, 532. CALVERT, CE< ll.irs. Second Lord Baltimore, 61. INDEX. IO36 CALVERT, CHARLES, Governor of Maryland, 64. CALVERT, SIR GEORGE, First Lord Baltimore, sketch of, 58. CALVERT, LEONARD, 02. CALVERT, PHILIP, Governor of Maryland, 64. CAMPBELL, DUNCAN G., 443. CAMPBELL, JAMES, 541. CAMPBELL, JOHN A., Justice of Supreme Court, 607 ; resigns, 609 CAMDEN, LORD, On Taxation and Representation, 193. CAMERON, SIMON, 607. CANADA, Invasion of, 115, 217, 413, 416. CAREY, THOMAS, Governor of North Carolina, 104. CARROLL, DANIEL, In Federal Convention, 292. CARTERET, SI R G EOR< i E, Proprietor of New Jersey, 65, 102. CARTERET, PHILIP, First Governor of New Jersey, 65. CARVER, JOHN, First Governor of Plymouth, 49. CASS LEWIS, Secretary of War, 449; defeated for Presi- dency, 495. CASSACUS, Indian Chief, 86. CENTENNIAL OF AMERICAN INDEPEND- ENCE, Account of, 866 et seqnens. CHANDLER, WILLIAM K, 911. CHARLES L, King of England, 52, 56, 57 ; relations of, with American Colonies. See Massachusetts and Virginia. CHARLES II., King of England, 58, 64, 90, 126, 137; rela- tions of, with American Colonies. See J/cussa- chusetts and Virginia. CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, City of, 119,253. CHARTER OAK, St^ry of, 135. CHASE, SALMON P., In Peace Congress, 590 ; Secretarv of Treasury, 607; fifth Chief-Justice, 838; death of, 862. " CHASE, SAMUEL, 394. CIIEEVES, LANGDON, 402. CHICAGO, CITY OF, Great Fire in, 856. CHOLERA, ASIATIC, First appearance in United States, 450. CLAIBORNE, WILLIAM C, 104. CLARK, GEORGE, Governor of New York, 116. CLARKE, ELIJAH, Colonel, 248, 253, 257. CLAY, HENRY, 402. At Ghent, 416; on Missouri Compromise, 436; defeated for Presidency, 441, 450, 47t>; Secre- tary of State, 443; in Senate, 449; Ta rid com- promise of, 452; opposition to Jackson. 454 ; opposition to Van Buren, 463; supports Cal- houn's resolutions, 465 ; " Rather be right than President," 467; resigns from Senate, 47:>; re- turns to Senate, 511 ; compromise of 1850, 512; death of, 536. CLAYBORNE, WILLIAM, 61. CLAYTON, JOHN M., 499. Author of Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 524. CLINTON, DE WITT, 405. CLINTON, GEORGE, Governor of New York, 118, 213. CLINTON, GEORGE, Vice-President, 395, 404. CLINTON, SIR HENRY, Commander-in-chief of British Armv, 244, 252, 260, 267. COBB, HOWELL, 501, 515, 534, 548, 598, 631. COBB, THOMAS R., 685. COCHRANE, SIR ALEXANDER, British Admiral, 417. COCKBURN, SIR GEORGE, Admiral, 416. ' COLFAX, SCHUYLER, Vice-President, 846. COLLAMER, JACOB, 499. COLLETON, JAMES, Governor of South Carolina, 120. COLONIES, BRITISH, 27. Virginia, 27, 54, 91; New York, 37, 110; Massachusetts, 48 ; Maryland, 58; New Jersey, 65; New Hampshire, 68 ; Delaware, 71 ; Con- necticut, 74; Rhode Island, 75; Pennsylvania, 80; policy of England toward, 92; North Carolina, 97; South Carolina, 118; Georgia, 150; causes that led to the independence of, 192; new governments instituted in, 216; their independence declared. 2"_'.'! ; confedera- tion between, 226 ; articles of Union between, as States, 228 ; acknowledged free States by Great Britain, 268. COLORADO, Admitted as a State, 866. COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER, Discovery of America by, 18; sketch of, 18; death of, 25. CON EEDERATE STATES, First congress of met in Montgomery, 597 ; constitution of, 598; commissioners of, sent to Washington, 602, C07 ; flag of, 612; seat of government transferred to Richmond, 615; full copies of provisional and permanent con- stitutions of, 1176, 980. CONFEDERATION, Of the thirteen colonies as States, 227 ; articles of, between, 227, 919; resolutions to amend, 277. CONFEDERATION, THE NEW ENGLAND, B6, 89, 126. King Philip's war with, 127 ; end of, by abro- gation of charters, 134. INDEX. 1037 CONGRESS OF ALL THE COLONIES, Called by Virginia, 203; met in Philadelphia, 203 ; delegates to, 203 ; organization and action of, 203 : second session of, 209 ; action of, 209 ; receives Washington's resignation, 274 ; convention to amend constitution, 277, 292; first Congress under new constitution, 362 ; first movement in, to abolish slavery, 367. CONNECTICUT, Settlement of colony of, 74 ; first government of, 74 ; charter of, abrogated, 134 ; govern- ment overthrown by Andros, 135; charter pre- served in old oak, 135; old officers restored, 135 ; act appointing delegates to Federal con- vention, 281 ; action of, on new constitution, 324. CONRAD, CHARLES M., 526. CONSTITUTION, First of the United States, 228; propositions to amend, 275; Madison's propositions to amend, 276 ; three-fifths clause, 275, 304 ; resolutions of Congress for convention of States to amend, 277; convention meets in Philadel- phia, 292; new constitution agreed upon, and referred to Congress, and by Congress submitted to the States, 292-302 ; changes in new consti- tution : under it United States still a confederate republic, 296 et scq.; analysis of, 303-314; action of States on new, 314-362; full copies of first and second constitutions with amend- ments, 919 et seq. ; of Confederate States, 976, 980. CONWAY, THOMAS, General, 242. COOKE, ST. GEORGE, General, 669. COOPER, THOMAS, 385. CORNWALLIS, CHARLES, British lord and general, 253, 262, 266 ; moves into Virginia, to Yorktown, 267 ; surrender of, 267. CORTEZ, FERNANDO, Conquest of Mexico by, 23. CORWIN, THOMAS, 526. COX, JACOB D., 848. CRAVEN, CHARLES, Governor of South Carolina, 125. CRAWFORD, GEORGE W., 499. CRAWFORD, MARTIN J., Confederate commissioner, 602. CRAWFORD, WILLIAM II., 404. Minister to France, 416 ; secretary of war, 421 ; secretary of treasury, 423 ; defeated for Presi- dency, 441. CRESSWELL, JOHN A. J.. 848. CRITTENDEN, JOHN J., 471, 526, 560. CROCKETT, DAVID, 483. CROSBY, WILLIAM. Governor of New York, 116. CRUGER, COLONEL, 253, 255, 2-57. CULPEPPER, LORD, 93, 102. CUSHING, CALEB, 541. GUSHING, WILLIAM, 367. CUTTS, JOHN, Governor of New Hampshire, 154. D. DALE, SIR THOMAS, Governor of Virginia, 34. DALLAS, GEORGE M., Vice-President, 476. DANIEL, ROBERT, Governor of North Carolina, 104 DASCIIOFF, Russian minister, 412. DAVENPORT, COLONEL, 253. DAVIE, WILLIAM R., In Federal convention, 296 ; speech on new constitution, 356. DAVIS, JEFFERSON, 520. Secretary of war, 541 ; resolutions in senate relative to slavery question, 556 ; President of Confederate States, 598, 62S ; cabinet of, 601 ; arrested, 835 ; discharged, 844. DAYTON, JONATHA X, In Federal Convention, 292. DAYTON, WILLIAM L., 546. DEANE, SILAS, 234, 244. DEARBORN, HENRY, 391, 407. DE COLIGNY, ADMIRAL, 97. DECATUR, COMMODORE, In the Mediterranean, 411, 421. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 226, 917. DE GRAFFENREID, BARON, 107. DE KALB, BARON, 256. DE LA P.ARRE, Governor of Canada, 111. DELAWARE, Settlement of Colony of, 71 ; Act appointing delegates to Federal Convention, '26o ; Action of, on new Constitution, 314. DELAWARE, LORD, Governor of Virginia, 34, 71. DELEGATES, To Congress of all the Colonies, 203 ; to Federal Constitutional Convention, 280. DENNISON, WILLIAM, 839. D'ESTAING, COUNT, French Admiral, 246, 250. DE SOTO, FERDINAND. Discoverer of the Mississippi, 169. DESIRE (ship), First American slave-ship, 88. DEVENS, CHARLES E., 87& DEXTER, SAMUEL, 392. Dir.KKYILLE, LE MOYNE, 172. DICKERSON, MAHLON.459. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Founded, 370. DOBBIN, JAMES Q, 541. DON EI. SoN, ANDREW J., 546. DONOAN, THOMAS, Governor of Nov York. 110. DONIPHAN, COLONEL, 499. DOTY, JAMES D, 514. io 3 8 INDEX. DOUGLAS, STEPHEN A., On Missouri compromise, 495; arraignment of Mr. Clayton, 52">; on Kansas and Nebraska bill, 543; defeated for Presidency, 558; ex- tracts from last speech in Senate, 615; death of, 015. DOWNIE, COMMODORE, 417. DUANE, WILLIAM J., 454. DUDLEY, JOSEPH, Governor of New England Colonies on abro- gation of their charters, 134. DUDLEY, THOMAS, 53. DRUMMOND, WILLIAM, 95. Governor of North Carolina and Virginia, 100, 216. DURANT, GEORGE, 102. DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, Organized, 38. E. E PLURIBUS UNUM, 236, 370. EARLY, JURAL A., General, defeats Hunter at Lynchburg, 797. EATON, JOHN H., 447. EATON, THEOPHILUS, 75. EDEN, CHARLES, Governor of North Carolina, 108. EFFINGHAM, LORD, Governor of Virginia, 111, 154. ELECTORAL COMMISSION, 876. ELLIS, HENRY, Governor of Georgia, 165. ELLSWORTH, ELMER E., Colonel, 618. ELLSWORTH, OLIVER, In Federal convention, 292; speech on new Constitution, 325; second Chief-Justice, 376. EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, 995. EMBARGO ACT, 398. ENDICOTT, JOHN, 52. ENGLAND OR GREAT BRITAIN, Acknowledgment of the Independence of the States, 268 ; Jay's treaty with, 375; orders in council by, 396, 401 ; right of search ; aflair of Leopard ami Chesapeake, 397 ; war of 1812 with, 407; treaty of peace with, at Ghent, 421; treaty of Washington with, 473. ENGLISH, WILLIAM H., 891. EOTHEL, SETH, 121. ERIC, The Red, of Norway, 17. ERSKINE, MR., British Minister, 401. ESPY, JAMES P., Originator of Signal Service, 545. EUSTIS, WILLIAM, 399. EVARTS, WILLIAM H., 878. EVERARD, SIR RICHARD, Governor of North Carolina, 109. EVERETT, EDWARD, 558. EWELL, GENERAL, 738. EWING, THOMAS, 470, 499. F. FARRAGUT, ADMIRAL, On the Mississippi, 0S8 ; at Mobile Bay, 823. FAUCHET, M., French Minister, 374. FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787, To revise Constitution, 277, 292; acts of States, appointing delegates to, 280 ; meets in Philadel- phia, 292 ; new Constitution agreed upon in, 300. FEDERAL UNION, Established in 1776, 277; Jefferson's idea of proper structure of, 298. FENDALL, JOSIAS, Governor of Maryland, 64. FERRY, THOMAS W., 866. FEW, BENJAMIN, Colonel, 257. FEW, WILLIAM, In Federal convention, 292. FILLMORE, MILLARD, Vice-President, 495; becomes President by death of Taylor, 526; cabinet and administra- tion of, 526 ; defeated for Presidency, 546. FISH, HAMILTON, 848. FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES, 236. FLETCHER, BENJAMIN, Governor of New York, 114. FLORIDA, Ceded by Spain to Great Britain, 165; restored to Spain, 268 ; admitted as a State, 478 ; seces- sion of, 585. FLOYD, JOHN B., Secretary of War, 548, 637, 645. FOLGER, CHARLES J., 911. FOOTE, COMMODORE, 635. FOOTE, HENRY S„ 519. FORSYTH, JOHN, JR., Confederate commissioner, 602. FORSYTH, JOHN, SR., Defender of Jackson's administration, 454 ; secretary of State, 459. FORT MOULTRIE, Attack on, 220 ; surrender of, 253. FORWARD, WALTER, 472. FOX, GEORGE, Founder of the Quakers, 81. FRANCE, War between, and England, 112, 136, 149, 175 ; treaty of United States with, 243; quasi war with, 381 ; Berlin and Milan decrees by, 396, 401. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, 87, 175, 225, 229, 234, 244, 268, 292, 296, 368. FRKLINGHUYSEN, FREDERICK T., 911. FRELINGHUYSEN, THEODORE, 476. FREMONT, JOHN CL Defeated for Presidency, 546. FRENCHTOWN, Slaughter of United States prisoners at, 413. FROBISHER, MARTIN, 27. 1T< UTIVB SLAVE LAW, 512. INDEX. IO39 G. OADSDEN'S PURCHASE, 542. GAGE, GENERAL, Governor of Massachusetts, 2C6, 213. GAILLARD, JOHN, 418. GALLATIN, ALBERT, 392, 399, 412. GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM, Elected President, 891 ; inaugural, 892; cabinet and administration of, 896 ; assassination of, 897. GATES, HORATIO, General, 211,239,255. GATES, SIR THOMAS, Governor of Virginia, 34. GENET, M., Career of, in United States, 374. GENEVA AWARDS, 854. GENTRY, MEREDITH P., 501, 959. GEORGE III., 194. GEORGIA, Settlement of colony of, 150; prohibits the in- troduction of negro slavery, 154; allows, 164; first legislative assembly of, 164; becomes a royal colony, 164; opposition by, to stamp duties, 196; constitutional convention in, 211 ; act appointing delegates to Federal convention, 291 ; action of, on new constitution, 324 ; con- troversy with United States, 443 ; secession of, 587 ; platform of 1850, 963. GERRY, ELBRIDGE, In Federal convention, 296,380; Vice-Presi- dent, 405 ; death of, 418. GETTYSBURG, Battle of, 506. GIBBES, ROBERT, Governor of South Carolina, 123. GILBERT, RALEIGH, 48. GILBERT, SIR HUMPHREY, First grant of land in America to, by Queen Elizabeth, 2 3. OILMAN, NICHOLAS, In Federal convention, 292. GEORGES, SIR FERNANDO, 68. GORHAM, NATHANIEL, In Federal convention, 292. GOSNOLD, BARTHOLOMEW, 29. GOVERNMENT, Articles on, 928. GRAHAM, WILLIAM A., 526, 540. GRANGER, FRANCIS P., 457, 471. GRANT, ULYSSES S., 634, 889. At Fort Donelson, 638 ; at Shiloh, 647 ; at Vicksburg, 779 ; at Missionary Ridge, 782 ; moves against Richmond, 793 ; lays siege to Petersburg, 797; captures Richmond, 829; elected President, 846, S5S ; cabinet and ad- ministration of, 848. GREAT BRITAIN, See England. GREELEY, HORACE, 539. 544. Defeated for Presidency, 858. GREENE, NATHANIEL, General. 211. 262. GREEN, ROGER, 99. GREENVILLE, SIR RICHARD, 97 GU1TEAU, CHARLES J., Assassination of Garfield by, 897. GUTHRIE, JAMES, 541. H. HABEAS CORPUS, Decision by Chief-Justice Taney, against sus- pension of, 614; suspended in time of peace, 842. HABERSHAM, JOSEPH, 212, 219. HALE, JOHN P., 540. HALE, NATHAN, 231. HALL, NATHAN K., 526. HALLECK, GENERAL, 631, 634. General-in-chief of United States Army, 680. HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, In Federal Convention, 292; Secretary of Treasurv, 366 ; head of Federal party, 369 ; death of, 396. HAMILTON, PAUL, 399. HAMLIN, HANNIBAL, Vice-President, 559. HAMPTON ROADS CONFERENCE, 998. HANCOCK, JOHN, 206, 209. HANCOCK, WINFIELD S., At Gettysburg, 739; defeated for Presidency, 891. HARLAN, JAMES, 839. HARMER, JOSIAH, General, 370. HARRISON, ROBERT H. ( 367. HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY, General, 403, 408, 467; voted for President, 457; elected President, 469; Cabinet and Ad- ministration of, 470 ; death of, 470. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Established, 89. HARVEY, JOHN, Governor of Virginia, 67, 103. HARVEY, THOMAS, Governor of Nortb Carolina, 103. HAYES, RUTHERFORD B., Elected President, 876 ; Cabinet and Admin- istration of, 878. HAYNE, ISAAC, 266. HAYNE, ROBERT Y., Debate with Webster, on Nullification doctrine, 448. HEATH, WILLIAM, General, 211. HENDRICKS, THOMAS A., 875. HENRY, PATRICK, 194, 293, 301. HILL, BENJAMIN H, 912. HOAR, EBENEZER R., 848. HOLMES, MR., Speech upon Missouri compromise, 427. HOOD, JOHN B., General, supersedes Johnston nt Atlanta, 821. HOOKER. JOSEPH, General, 690, 692; superseded by Mead, 738. 1040 INDEX. HOOPER, J. J., 598. HOUSTON, SAMUEL, Second President of Texas, 484. HOWARD, JOHN EAGER, 422. HOWARD, LORD, Governor of Virginia, 95. HOWE, GENERAL, British Admiral, 229. HOWE, TIMOTHY O., 911. HOWE, SIR WILLIAM. British General, 213, 229. HUDSON. SIR HENRY, Discovered Manhattan Island, 37. HULL, ISAAC ', Captain, 410. HULL, WILLIAM, Surrender of Detroit by, 408. HUNTER, ROBERT M. T, 626. HUNT, WILLIAM T, 896. HUTCHINSON, MRS. ANNE, 43, 88. HYDE, EDWARD, Governor of North Carolina, 105. I. ILLINOIS, Ad nutted as a State, 424. INCOME TAX, 854. INDEMNITY FROM FRANCE, 457. INDEPENDENCE, Causes that led to it, 192; Declaration of, 223; Confederation to maintain, 226; acknowledg- ment of, bv Great Britain, 268 ; Centennial of, 866 ; full copy of Declaration, 917. INDIANA, Admitted as a State, 421. INDIANS, First attempt to Christianize, 63. INGEBSOLL, JARED, 405. INGHAM, SAMUEL D., 447. INOCULATION, Introduction of, 146. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, 440, 448, 487. INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 866. IOWA. Admitted as a State, 478. IRVING, WASHINGTON, Sketch of, 666, ISABELLA, QUEEN OF CASTILE, 19, 25. J. JACKSON, ANDREW, Major-* General in command against the Greeks, 41 i. 419; al New Orleans, 421; against the Seminoles, 424; voted for President, 441; sketch of, 446 ; elected President, 445 ; Cabinet and Administration of, 447 ; rupture with Cal- houn, 448 ; re-elected President, 451 ; procla- mation against nullification, 451 ; opposed by "The Great Trio," 454; protest against Senate censure, 465; attempted assassination of, 466; farewell address of, 458 ; death of, 487. JACKSON, THOMAS J., "STONEWALL," Valley campaign of, 660; at Richmond and Harper's Ferry, 682 ; at Chancellorsville, 692 ; death of, 706. " JAMES L. King of England, 29, 56. JAMES, THOMAS L., 896. JAMESTOWN, Settlement of, 29. JASPER, SERGEANT, 219, 256. JAY, JOHN, 268. Defends the Constitution, 300 ; first Chief-Jus- tice, 367 ; negotiates treaty with Great Britain, 375. JEFFERSON, THOMAS, Author of Declaration of Independence, 226, 229, 268 ; new idea of. on the structure of a Federal Union, 278, 294, 366, 384; elected Vice-President, 377 ; elected President, 386 ; inaugural, 388 ; cabinet and administration of, 391 ; acquisition of Louisiana, 393 ; re-elected President, 395; retirement from public life, 398 ; death of, 444 ; draft of Kentucky resolu- tions of 1798, 937. JENKINS, JOHN, Governor of North Carolina, 103. JESUITS, 479. JOHNSON, ANDREW 7 , Elected Vice-President, 826 ; becomes Presi- dent by death of Lincoln, 835; cabinet and administration of, 839; quarrel with Stanton, 843 ; impeachment and acquittal of, 843 ; death of, 879. JOHNSON, CAVE, 486. JOHNSON, HERSCHEL V., 558. JOHNSON, SIR NATHANIEL, Governor of South Carolina, 123. JOHNSON, REVERDY, 499. JOHNSON, RICHARD M., 413, 450, 455, 469. Vice-President, 457. JOHNSON, ROBERT, Governor of South Carolina, 125. JOHNSON, SAMUEL, In Federal convention, 292. JOHNSON, WILLIAM, General, 177, 187. JOHNSTON, ALBERT SIDNEY, Colonel and General, 551, 633, 635; killed at battle of Shiloh, 647. JOHNSTON, JOSEPH E., General, at first Manasses, 619; wounded at Seven Pines, 660; succeeds Bragg in com- mand, 790; opposes Sherman's advance, 819; superseded by Hood at Atlanta, 821 ; replaced at head of Southern army, 829; convention of, with Sherman, 833 ; surrender of, 835. JONES, ANSON, President of Texas, 484. JONES, JOHN PAUL, 251. JONES, WILLIAM, 407, 410. JULIAN, GEORGE W, 540. K. KAIEFT, WILLIAM. Governor of New York, 41. INDEX. IO4I KANSAS, Troubles in, relative to slavery question, 552; territorial bills relative to, 544 ; admitted as a State, 569. KEARNEY, PHILIP, 677. KEARNEY, STEPHEN W., General in Mexican war, 488. KENDALL, AMOS, 456, 459. KENDALL, GEORGE, 30. KENTUCKY, First settlement of, 372 ; admitted as a State, 373; attempts neutrality in war between the States, 628. KEY, DAVID M., 878. KEY, FRANCIS, Author of " Star Spangled Banner," 418. KIDD, CAPTAIN, Career of, 114. KING PHILIP, Indian chief, war with New England Con- federation, 126. KING, RUFUS, In Federal convention, 292; voted for Vice- President and President, 395, 398, 421. KING, THOMAS BUTLER, Special agent to California, 499, KING, WILLIAM R., Vice-President, 540. KIRKWOOD, SAMUEL J., 896. KNOX, HENRY, General, 366. KNYPHAUSEN, GENERAL, 259. KU-KLUX-KLAN, 855. KYRLE, RICHARD, Governor of South Carolina, 120. L. LACONIA GRANT, 68, 70. LA FAYETTE, MARQUIS DE, General, 235, 241, 245, 266 ; rerisits United States, 440. LA GARE, HUGH S., 472. LAMAR, MIRABEAU B., Third President of Texas, 484. LANE, JOSEPH, 558. LANE, RALPH, Governor of North Carolina, 97. LANGDON, JOHN, In Federal convention, 292. LANSING, JOHN, In Federal convention, 292. LAURENS, HENRY, 268. LAWRENCE, JAMES, 414. LEE, ARTHUR, 234, 244. LEE, CHARLES, General, 211, 245. LEE, HENRY, 254. LEE, RICHARD HENRY, Resolutions of independence offered by, 225. LEE, ROBERT E., General in command of Southern sea-coasts, 628; takes command at Richmond, 660; at 66 second Manasses, 681 ; at Sharpesburg, 682 ; at Fredericksburg, 6,s4 ; at Chancellorsville, 692, 718; at Gettysburg, 738; in tlie wilderness, 793; final surrender of, to Grant, 829; death of, 851. LI" DWELL, PHI LIP, Governor of North Carolina, 103. LILLINGTON, MAJOR, Governor of North Carolina, 103. LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, Elected President, 569 ; inaugural, 606 ; cabinet and administration of, 607; re-elected, 826: emancipation proclamation, 994; assassination of, 835. LINCOLN, BENJAMIN, General, 248, 253. LINCOLN, LEVI, 391. LINCOLN, ROBERT T, 896, 911. LINDSAY, MAJOR, 257. LIVINGSTON, ROBERT R., 226, 3-51, 364. LIVINGSTON, WILLIAM, In Federal convention, 292. LOGAN, JOHN A., 641. LONDON COMPANY, Organized, 29 ; dissolved, 56. LONGSTREET, GENERAL, 659, 665, 670, 780. LOPEZ, MARCISCO, General, 536. LOUDEN, LORD, Career of, in America, 177. LOUISIANA, Discovery of, 173; origin of name, 173; ac- quired by Jefferson, 393; admitted as State, 404; secession of, 597; great excitement in, relative to election frauds, b-38 ; quasi civil war in, 880. LOVELACE, LORD, Governor of New York, 110, 115. LOWNDES, RAWLINS, 337. LOWNDES, WILLIAM, 402, 435. LUDWELL, PHILIP, Governor of South Carolina, 121. LYON, GENERAL, 626. LYON, MATTHEW, First victim under Sedition Act, 384. M. McCLELLAN, GEORGE B., 618. General, commander-in-cliief of Federal Army, 626 ; Peninsular campaign, 66 •"> ; defeat of, 681; correspondence with government, 679; at Sbarpesburg, 682; superseded by Burnside, 684; defeated for Presidency, 826. McClelland, Robert, mi. McCLERNAND, GENERAL, 637, 648. MoCLERNAND, JOHN A., 514. McCB \KY. GEORGE W„ 878. McCREA, MISS JANE, 237. Mcculloch, men, 839. Mcdonough, commodore, At PlatUborgh, 117. McDUFFIE, GEORGE, 444. 1042 INDEX. McHENRY, JAMES, In Federal convention, 292. McLANE, LOUIS, 447. MACOMB, ALEXANDER, General at Piattsburgh, 417. Mcpherson, james b., 820. McVEAGH, WAYNE, 896. MADISON, JAMES, Movement of, to amend Constitution, 276, 277 ; in Federal convention, 29ii, 298; Secretary of State, o91 ; elected President, 398 ; status in politics, 397; Cabinet and Administration of, 399; re-elected President, 405 ; death of, 457 ; report on Virginia resolutions, 940. MAINE, Settlement of, 48 ; admitted as a State, 424. MALLORY, STEPHEN R., 601. MAMMOTH CAVE, 373. MANASSES, Patties of, first, 619 ; second, 681. MANGUM, WILLIE P., Voted for President, 457. MARCY, WILLIAM L., 486, 541. MARION, FRANCIS, General, 256, -57. MARSHALL, JOHN, Embassy of, to France, 380; third Chief-Jus- tice, 391 ; death of, 456. MARTIN, JOHN, 30. MARTIN, JOSIAH, 224. MARTIN, LUTHER, In Federal convention, 296. MARYLAND, Exploration of, 34; settlement of colony of, 58 ; charter of, to Lord Baltimore, 61 ; origin of name, 62; first Legislative Assembly, 62; attempts to seize colony of, 62, 64 ; Act appoint- ing delegates to Federal convention, 286 ; ac- tion by, on new Constitution, 335. MASON, OKORGE, In Federal convention, 293. MASON, JAMES M., 628. MASON, JOHN, 68. M \Si>X, JOHN Y., 475, 486. MASON AND DIXON LINE, 192,559. MASSACHUSETTS, Settlement of, 48 ; first government of, 52; dis- pute with New Hampshire, 71, 134; introduc- tion of African slavery, 88; summoned to an- swer Royal Commissioners, 126; purchase by, of Maine, 134; charter of, abrogated, 134; ex- pulsion of Andros, 135; union with Plymouth under new charter, 135; opposition by, to stamp duties, 195; Boston Port Bill, 201 ; or- ganized provisional government, 206; Shay's rebellion in, 27 1 ; act appointing delegates to Federal convention, 281; action of, on new Constitution, 327. MASSVSOIT, Indian chief, 50, 52 MATHER, COTTON, Responsible lor witchcraft atrocities, 140. MAYFLOWER, 50. MAYIIEW, EXPERIENCE, 132. MEADE, GEORGE C, General, superseded by Hooker at Gettysburg, 738. MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDE- PENDENCE, 223,917. MERCER, HUGH, General, 231. METRIC COINS, 889. MEIGS, COLONEL, Exploit of, at Sag Harbor, 236. MEMMINOER, CHRISTOPHER G., 601. MEREDITH, WILLIAM M.. 499. MERRIWETHER, JAMES, 443. MEXICO, War with, 487 ; treaty of peace with, 491. MILAN DECREE, 396, 401. MINNESOTA, Admitted as a State, 554. MINUITS, PETER, First Governor of New Netherlands, 40. MISSISSIPPI, Admitted as a State, 424; secession of, 585. MISSOURI, Territorial government established in, 404 ; contest over admission of, 425 el geq.; attempts neutrality in war between the States, 626. MISSOURI COMPROMISE, History of, 425 et seq. ; votes on, 426, 433, 437. MOBILE, Settlement of, 173. MONROE, JAMES, Special Minister to France, 392; elected Prcsi dent, 422; Cabinet and administration of, 423; Missouri Compromise (so called), 425; re- elected President, 439 ; Monroe Doctrine (so called), 440; death of, 449. MONTCALM, MARQUIS, 178,188. MONTGOMERY, CITY OF, Confederate States government organized at, 597. MONTGOMERY, JOHN, Governor of New York, 116. MONTGOMERY, RICHARD, General, 211, 216. MOORE, JAMES, Governor of South Carolina, 103, 123, 125. MORGAN, DANIEL, ( m neral, 262. MORMONS, Account of, 548. MORRIS, GOUVER N E ( T R, In Federal convention, 292. MORRIS, LEWIS, First Governor of New Jersey, 68. MORRIS, ROBERT, In Federal convention, 261, 292. MORTON, JOSEPH, Governor of South Carolina, 120. MORTON, OLIVER P., 8S1. MORSE, PROFESSOR, Inventor of telegraph, 478. INDEX. 1043 MOSELEY, EDWARD, 109. MOULTRIE, FORT, Battle of, 220. MOULTRIE, WILLIAM, General, 190, 220. N. NAPOLEON I., 395. NATCHEZ, Settlement of, 173. NAVIGATION ACT, 92. NEBRASKA, Territorial bills relative to, 542; admitted as a State, 846. NEVADA, Admitted as a State, 826. NEW AMSTERDAM, First name given to New York city, 39. NEW ENGLAND, Name of, given to, 34, 52 ; confederation of, 89 ; end of confederation, 134. NEW HAMPSHIRE, Settlement of, 68; first government of, 68; summoned to answer royal commissioners, 134 ; charter of, abrogated, 134 ; act appointing dele- gates to Federal convention, 280; action of, on new constitution, 337. NEW JERSEY, Settlement of, by the Danes, and how it became British colony, 65; origin of name, 65; first General Assembly, 65; act appointing dele- gate's to Federal convention, 283 ; action of, on new constitution, 322. NEW MEXICO, Bills to provide Territorial government in, 513, 526 ; contest relative to, 513. NEW NETHERLANDS, First name of New York, 38. NEW ORLEANS, Settlement of, 173; battle of, 420; capture of, by Federal forces, 688. NEWPORT, CHRISTOPHER, 30. NEW SWEDEN, First name of Delaware, 72. NEW YORK, COLONY OF, Settlement of, as New Netherlands, 37 ; becomes British colony, 40 ; Indian war, that threatened existence of, 41 ; first government of, as British colony, 110; French invasion of, 113, 118; sus- pension of legislative assembly, by Great Britain, 199 ; act appointing delegates to Fed- eral convention, 282 ; action of, on new con- stitution, 347. NEW YORK, CITY OF, Threatened by British in 1776, 221; Washing- ton arrives at, 221 ; evacuates, 231 ; great fire in, 456 ; notable riot in, 499. NICHOLLS, RICHARD, First English governor of New York, 46. NON- INTERCOURSE ACT, 401, 402. NORTH, LORD, Head of Tory ministry, 261, 268. NORTH CAROLINA, Settlement of colony of, 97 ; first government of, 100; opposition by, to stamp duties, 196; resisting taxation, 200 ; first colony to declare independence, 223 ; organized provisional gov- ernment, 224; act appointing delegates to Ind- eral convention, 290; action of, on new con- stitution, 356 ; secession of, 614. NORTH VIRGINIA, 29, 52. NOVA SCOTIA, 27. NULLIFICATION, Ordinance of, by South Carolina, 451 ; pro- clamation against, by President Jackson, 451 ; repeal of, by South Carolina, 453. O. OATH, Repeal of iron-clad, 854. OGLETHORPE, JAMES, Founder of the colony of Georgia, 151. OHIO, Admitted as a State, 394. OHIO COMPANY, Grant to, 174. "OLD IK)MINION," Why applied to Virginia, 58. O-PE CIIAN-CAN-OUGH, Indian chief, 54. ORDERS IN COUNCIL, Issued by Great Britain, 401, 402, 406. OREGON, Admitted as a State, 555. ORR, JAMES L., 605. OSCEOLA, Indian chief, 460. OWEN, ALLEN F., 537. P. PAKENIIAM, SIR EDWARD, British General, 419. PANAMA MISSION, 414. PARKER, SIR PETER, British admiral, 219. PARTI ES, Old Federal, headed by Hamilton, 364*369; old Republican or Democratic, headed by Jefferson, 396; first contest between, 384; second, 395; Democratic or strict construction against latitudinous construction, 369, 446; national Republican, beaded by Clay, 446; strict constructionists, beaded by Jackson, 1 17 ; anti-Masonic, I ii* ; first general convention of Democratic, 450 ; Whig organized, 454; anti- slavery, 476; (ree-eoil organized, 495 ; Ameri- can or know-nothing, 545 ; anti-slavery assumes name of Republican, 5 16. PATTERSON, WILLIAM. In Federal convention, 296. PEACE CONGRESS, called for, by Virginia, 589. PECK, JARED, Prosecuted under sedition act, 385. PEMBERTON, JOHN c, < reneral, 7-">7. PENDLETON, GEORGE H., 826. 1044 INDEX. PENN, WILLIAM, In New Jersey, 66 ; proprietor of Pennsylvania, 82. PENNSYLVANIA, settlement of, 80 ; charter, 82 ; name, 83 ; first government of, 84 ; act appointing delegates to Federal convention, 284 ; action of, on new con- stitution, 315. PENSION ACT, first, 423. PEPPERELL, COLONEL, 150. PEQUODS, War with, 86 ; made slaves and extinguished, 88. PERKY, OLIVER H., Commodore, 413. PERSONAL LIBERTY BILLS, 542. PETERS, HUGH, 88. PETERSBURG, Siege of, 799. PHILADELPHIA, Pounded, 84; first Congress of colonies met in, 203 ; independence declared at, 226 ; seat of government for ten years, 370. PHILLIPS, BRITISH GENERAL, 262. PHI ITS, SIR WILLIAM, First governor of United Colonies of Massachu- setts and Plymouth, 135. PICKENS, ANDREW, ( 'olonel, 248. PICKENS, FRANCIS W, Governor of South Carolina, 254. PIERCE FRANKLIN, Elected President, 540; cahinet and adminis- tration of, 541 ; Kansas and Nebraska act, 544; death of, 849. PIERRE, M. D. ST., 174. PIKE, Z. M., General, 413. PILGRIMS, 50. PINCKNEY, CHARLES, In Federal convention, 292, 294. PINCKNEY, CHARLES COTESWORTH, In Federal convention, 293, 380, 384, 395, :;9.s. PINKNEY, WILLIAM, Speech upon admission of Missouri, 430. PITCAIBN, MAJOR, British officer, 209, 214. PITT, WILLIAM, Speech in defence of the colonies, 197. PLYMOUTH, Colony of, 50; colonists called pilgrims, 50; first government of, 53 ; charter of, abrogated, 134; union with Massachusetts under new charter, Ki. r >. PLYMOUTH COMPANY, < Organized, 29. POCAHONTAS, Story of, 33, 34. POl NSKTT. JOEL R., 444, 459. POLK, JAM FS K., Elected President, 476; cabinet and admin- istration of, 4S6 ; Mexican war, 487 ; death of, 510. POLLOCK, THOMAS, Governor of North Carolina, 107. POM FRO Y. SETH, General, 211. POPE. JOHN, Major-General, campaign of, in Virginia, 681. POPHAM, GEORGE, 48. PORTER, JOHN, 104. PORTER, COMMODORE, 410,416. PORTER, FITZ JOHN, 665. POWHATAN, Indian chief, 33. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, In 1788,303; in 1792,374; in 17%, 377; in 18(0, 386; in 1S04, S95;in 1808, 398; in 1812, 405; in 1816, 422; in 1820, 439; in 1824, 441 ; in 1828,445; in 1832,450; in 1836,457; in 1840, 469; in 1844, 470; in 1848, 495; in 1852, 540; in 1856, 540; in 18(0, 5o9; in 1864, 826; in 1868, 84G; in 1872, 858; in 1876, 875; in 1880, 891. PRESTON, WILLIAM B., 499. PREVOST, BRITISH GENERAL, 248. PRIDEAUX, GENERAL, 187. PRINCETON COLLEGE, Founded, 68. PRISONERS, Number taken on both sides, in war between the States, and treatment of, 837. PROCTOR, COLONEL, 43. PROVISO, WILMOT, 491. PULASKI, COUNT CASIMIR, Sketch of, 241 ; death of, 250. PURITANS, 48. PUTNAM, ISRAEL, General, 211, 230, 249. Q. QUAKERS, 81. QUARRY, ROBERT, Governor of South Carolina, 120. R. RALEIGH, GILBERT, 28, 48. RALEIGH, SIR WALTER, Attempts of, to colonize America, 28, 97. RANDOLPH, EDMUND, In Federal convention, 292, 294, 366, 375. RANDOLPH, JOHN, Of Roanoke, 405. RANDOLPH, PEYTON, President of Congress of 1774, 203, 209. RATCLIFF, JOHN, 30. RAWDON, LORD, British General, 255, 264. RAWLINS, JOHN D., 848. READ, G FORI; E, In Federal convention, 292. REAGAN, JOHN II., 601, 835, 843. INDEX. REBELLIONS, Clayborne's in Maryland, 62 ; Bacon's in Vir- ginia, 93; Culpepper's in North Carolina, 102; Shay's in Massachusetts, 274 ; Dorr's in Rhode Island, 473. REGICIDES, 90. RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS, In Maryland, 64. RESOLUTIONS, Of Colonial Congress, 206; Madison's in 1786, which led to revision of Constitution, 277; of Congress, on the powers of the Federal Gov- ernment, on subject of negro slavery, 367 ; upon admission of Missouri, 437 ; Calhoun's in Sen- ate; on nature of the government, 463 ; Ather- ton's in the House, on negro slavery in the States, 466 ; Milton Brown's for admission of Texas, 477 ; Calhoun's on slavery restrictions in the Territories, 494 ; Jefferson's Kentucky resolutions of 1798, 937 ; Virginia resolutions of 1798-9, 940. REYNOLDS, JOHN, Governor of Georgia, 164. RHODE ISLAND, Settlement of, 75; charter abrogated, 134; ac- tion of, on new Constitution, 358 ; Dorr's rebel- lion in, 473. RIBAULT, JOHN, 97. RICHMOND, CITY OF, Capital of Confederate States, 615; captured, 829. RINGGOLD, SAMUEL, Major, 489. ROBINSON, JOHN, 49. RODNEY, CAESAR, 391, 399. ROMAN, A. B., Confederate Commissioner, 602. ROSECRANS, U. S., GENERAL, 682, 780. ROSS, BRITISH GENERAL, 417. RUGGLES, TIMOTHY, 195. RUSSELL, JONATHAN, 416. RUST, RICHARD, 443, 445. RUTLEDGE, JOHN, In Federal convention, 296, 367. S. ST. CLAIR, GENERAL, 370. SALLE, M. DE LA, 172. SANTA ANNA, Dictator of Mexico, 481 ; captured at San Jacinto, 484. SAVANNAH, CITY OF, Settlement of, 151 ; captured bv British in 1778, 250. SAVANNAH (STEAMER), First that crossed the Atlantic, 424. SAYLE, WILLIAM, First Governor of South Carolina, 118. SCHUYLER, PHILIP, General, 211, 216, 238. SCHURZ, CARL, 878. IO45 SCOTT, WINFIELD, General, at Lundy's Lane, 417 ; captured Black Hawk, 4^0; in chief command against Mexico, 4'JU ; defeated for presidency, 540; retired from chief command of Federal nriuy, 626; death of, 841. SEAL OF UNITED STATES, 229, 230. SECESSION, Causes which led to, 556 et seq. ; speeches rela- tive to, 561, 570, 585, 590, et seq. SEDGEWICK, GENERAL, 714. SEWARD, WILLIAM 1L, Views of, on secession, 592: Secretary of State, 607 ; death of, 857. SHERIDAN, PHILIP II., In Shenandoah Valley, 797. SHERMAN, ROGER, In Federal convention, 225, 292. SHERMAN, JOHN, 878. SHERMAN, WILLIAM T, 634, 792, March of, from Yicksburg, 791 ; in command at Chattanooga, 793; advance on Atlanta, 819; takes Atlanta, 822 ; march to the Hea, 822; ad- vance through South Carolina, 829 : convention and capitulation with Johnston, 883. SHERMAN-JOHNSTON ( '< >N V ENTION, 833. Disapproved by President, 800, 839. SHILOH, Battle of, 646. SHIRLEY, SIR WILLIAM, Governor of Massachusetts, 177. SIGNAL SERVICE, 850. SLAVERY, INDIAN, Introduced in New England, 88. SLAVERY, NEGRO, Introduced into Virginia, 36; into Massachu- setts, 88; into South Carolina, ll'J; into Georgia, 161; prohibited in territory north- west of Ohio river, 279; first movement in Congress to abolish, 367 ; Missouri compromise upon, 425, 432; resolutions of Senate and Llouse upon, 463, 466 ; Wilmot proviso upon, 491; Calhoun's resolutions of 1848 upon, 494; Clay's compromise upon, in 1850, -">12; sec- tional contests in Senate and House relative to, 526 et aeq.; principles of Clay's compromise, 543; Davis' resolutions in Senate on, •">• ; dis- cussions upon in Peace Congress, 689 et MB, SLIDELL, JOHN, 62S. SMYTH, ALEXANDER, General, 409. SMITH, BALLARD, Speech upon Missouri compromise, 127. SMITH, CALEB I'.., 607. SMITH, E. KIRBY, General, <^2. 880. SMITH, IIKNKY. Governor of Texas, 483. SMITH, JOHN. Captain in Virginia, 30, 58. SMITH, JOSEPH, Pounder of Mormonism, 548. SMITH, ROBERT, 391,399. 1046 INDEX. SMITH, THOMAS. Governor of Booth Carolina, 122. SM 111 I son, JAME8, Bequest by, to United States, 465. SM ETHSONIA N I XSTITUTE, Founded 1S38, 465. SOTIIKL, BETH, Governor of North Carolina, 103. SOUTHARD, SAMUEL L., 443. SOUTH CAROLINA, Settlement of colony of, 118; first government of, 119; introduction of negro slavery in, 119; Yemassee war in, 123; act appointing dele- gate to Federal convention, 290; action of, on new constitution, 325; nullification, 451 ; seces- sion ordinance, 560; quasi civil war in, 880. SOUTH VIRGINIA, 29. SPAIGHT, RICHARD D., In Federal convention, 292. SPEED, JAMES, 839. SPEEDWELL (SHIP), 50. SPENCER, JOHN C, 472. SPENCER, JOSEPH, General, 211. SI AMP ACT, Passage of, 194; repeal of, 198. STANDISH, CAPTAIN, 52. STANTON, EDWIN M., Secretary of War, G31, 843, 849. STAR ROUTES, 896. STARK, JOHN, Colonel and General, 238. STEPHENS, ALEXANDER II., 514. Speech before Georgia legislature relative to secession, 57<), 9(>4 ; before Ceorgia convention, 585; Vice-President of Confederate States, 598, f>2S; letter to President Davis relative to exchange of prisoners, 7.">0; arrested, 835 ; dis- charged, 843; appointed military commis- sioner to Washington, 994. STEPHENS, LINTON, 587, 850, 852, 857, 1017. STEPHENS, SAMUEL, 100. STEPHENS, WILLIAM, Colonel, 163. STIRLING, GENERAL, 230. STOD] >A RT, BENJAMIN, 380, 392. STONE, WILLIAM, < rovemor of Maryland, 63. STOXEMAX. GENERAL, 724. STRIKER, GENERAL, 418. STRONG, CALEB, In Federal convention, 292. SIC ART, ALEXANDER H., 526. STUART, J. E. I'.., General, 662, 706. STL Y V ESA XT, PETER, Governor of New York, 43. SUB TREASURY SYSTEM, 400,463. SULLIV \N, JOHN, General, 211, 230. SUMNER, CHARLES, 543, 864. SUMTER, PORT, Taken by Confederates, 609; evacuated, 829. SUMTER, WILLIAM, 256. SUPREME, COURT OF UNITED STATES, Organized, 366, 374; decision of, on powers of the Federal government relative to negro slavery, 5)2. T. TALLEYRAND, M. DE, French minister, 380. TANEY, ROGER B., Attorney-General, 449; secretary of treasury, 454; fourth chief-justice, 456; decision against suspension of habeas corpus, 614; death of, 838. TARIFF, Protective, 275, 440, 445, 448 ; bill of, in 1 28, 4 15 ; bill of, in 1832, 449 ; compromise of, 452 ; violated, 473; bill of, in 1842,47:1; protection abandoned, 473, 487, 547. TARLETON, B., Britisb Colonel, 256, 262. TAYLOR, ZACHARY, Colonel and Oeneral, 460,487; at Monterey, 488; at Buena Vista, 490; elected President, 495; letter setting forth platform of, 497 ; cabi- net and administration of, 499 ; death of, 526. TEA, Tax on, how received in New York, Philadi 1- {ihia, Charleston, Baltimore, Wilmington and loBton, 200, 201. TECUMSEII, Indian warrior, 413. TELEGRAPH, Invention of, 479, 554. TELEMON, A.I \X, Speech in Peace Congress, 590. TELLER, HENRY M., 911. TENNESSEE, Establishment of territorial government in, 368; admitted as a State, 377; secession of, 614. TEXAS, Early history of, 172; resolutions for the admission of, into the Union, -177 ; Republic of, 4711 ; political condition of, 480; admitted as a State, 487 ; contest in house relative to boundary of, 526; secession of, 597. "THE GREAT TRIO," 454, 512. "THE PROTEST," 155. TIloMAS, GEORGE BL, General, 633, 63 I. THOMAS, JOHN, General, 211. THOMPSON, JACOB, 548. THOMPSON, RICHARD W., 878. THOMPSON, WILEY, 457. THOMSON, ( HARLES, 203, 209. "THREE-FIFTHS CLAUSE," 275, 304. TILDEN, SAMUEL J., Voted for President, 875. TOBACCO, 35, 57. INDEX. IO47 TOLERATION, The famous act of, in Maryland, 63. TO-MO-CHI-CHI, Indian chief, 1 53. TOMPKINS, DANIEL D., Vice-President, 422, 4o9. TOOMBS, ROBERT, 501, 503, 515, 520, 561. 601, 626. TORIES, 246. TOUCEY, ISAAC, 548. TREATY, With England, 268; of Washington, 473; with Texas, 475 ; with Mexico, 491 ; Clayton-Bulwer, 524. TRENT, Affair of the, 628. TROUP, GEORGE M., Governor of Georgia, controversy with the United States, 443. TRYON, GOVERNOR, 196, 236. TUSCARORAS, Indians, 105, 123. TWIGGS, DAVID E., Gallantry at Cerro Gordo, 490. TYLER, JOHN, Vice-President, 467 ; becomes President by death of Harrison, 471 ; cabinet and adminis- tration of, 472 ; treaty of Washington, 473 ; action of, on Texas question, 478; President of Peace Congress, 589. TYNTE, EDWARD, Governor of South Carolina, 123. U. UNCAS, Indian chief, 89, 127. UNITED STATES, History of, 17; Union between Federal, 229 ; first Constitution of, 227, 919; second Constitu- tion of, 292, 922 ; seal of, 230 ; flag of, 236 ; first President of, 303 ; petition from citizens of Massachusetts, for dissolution of, 472 ; popu- lation of, 913. UPSHUR, ABEL P., 472, 474. UTAH, Bills relative to territorial government in, 513, 526. V. VALLEY FORGE, Washington's winter quarters, 242. VAN BUREN, MARTIN, Secretary of State, 447 ; Vice-President, 451 ; elected President, 457 ; cabinet and adminis- tration of, 459 ; defeat for re-election, 469 ; voted for, by Free-Soil Party, 495. VANE, SIR HENRY, 88. VAN MURRAY, WILLIAM, 382. VAN RENSSALAEE, STEPHEN, General, 407, 408. VAN TWILLER, WOUTER, Governor of New York, 41. VERMONT, Early history of, 371 ; admitted as a State, 371. VETO, First exercise of, 370. VINLAND, Settlement of, 18. VIRGINIA, Settlement of colony of, 29; original council of, 30; birth of American free institutions, 30, 36; introduction of negro slavery in, 36: massacre by Indians in, 55; why called "Ola Dominion," 58; bestowal of colony of, to Lord Culpepper and Earl of Arlington, 93; civil war which threatened existence of, 95 ; House of Burgesses dissolved, 202; Act appointing delegates to Federal convention, 287; action of, on new Constitution, 339; call for Peace Con- gress by, 589; secession of, 613; resolutions of 1798-9, 940. VIRGINIA, WEST, Admitted as a State, 737. W. WAITE, MORRISON R., Sixth Chief-Justice, 862. WALKER, HENDERSON, Governor of North Carolina, 103. WALKER, LEROY P., 601. WALKER, ROBERT J., 486, 553. WALLACE, LEWIS, General, 643. WALLACE, W. H. L., 641, 647. WAMSUTTA, Indian chief, 127. WARD, ARTEMAS, General, 211. WARREN, ADMIRAL, 406. WARS, Indian, in New York and Virginia, 41, •"."; Five Nations in New York, 111 ; Yemassee in South Carolina, 123; Tuscarora and Coree in North Carolina, 105; French, 112, 136, 169; King Philip's, 127; French and Indian, 17 1; Cherokee, 190; of the Revolution, 22'. • ; with Tripoli, 394; British of 1812, 407; wiih Al- giers, 121 ; Seminole, 124, 466; Black Hawk, 450; with Mexico, 487; Kansas, 013; between the States, 609. WASHBURNE, ELIHU B., 848. WASHINGTON, CITY OF, Founded, 370; captured by British, 417; seat of government, 38 1. WASHINGTON, GEOEGE, Major, 171; General in command of colonial forces, 209; commission of, 213; at New York in 1776,221 ; refuses General Howe's letter, 229; evacuates New York, 232; retreats through New Jersey, 232; victory at Trenton. 232; de- feat at Brandywine, 211 ; victory at Monmouth. 245; capture of Comwallis at Yorktown, 267 ; speech at Newburg. 272; resigns his commis- sion, 274; advises change in Federal Constitu- tion, 275; President of Federal Constitutional ( '.invention, 2'.'.". : elected President, 803; Ad- ministration of. 362; Cabinet of, 364j lir-t ex- ercise of v.;.. |..u utrality procla- mation, 37 1 ; spi tell of, ' 1048 IXDEX. address, 932; retirement of, 378; Lieutenant- General in command of forces in United States, 381 ; death of, 382. WASHINGTON, WILLIAM; Colonel, 262. WAYNE, ANTHONY, General, 249. WEBSTER, DANIEL, 201. Debate with Hayne, on Nullification doctrine, 448; debate with Calhoun, 453; opposition to Jackson, 454 ; voted for President, 457 ; oppo- sition to Van Buren, 463; Secretary of State, 470, 526 ; resigns, 474 ; 7th of March or Union speech, 519; speech of, on laying corner-stone of new wings of capitol, 534 ; death of, 540. WEBSTER, FLETCHER, Colonel, 681. WELLES, GIDEON, 607. WESLEY, REV. JOHN, 155. WEST, FRANCIS, Governor of Virginia, 56. WEST INDIES, 23. WEST JERSEY, Settlement of, 66; first Legislative Assembly of, 66. WEST, JOSEPH, Governor of South Carolina, 119. WHEELER, WILLIAM A., Vice-President, 876. WHISKEY INSURRECTION, 374. WHITE, HUGH LAWSON, Voted for President, 457. WHITE, JOHN, 98. WHITEFIELD, REV. GEORGE, 156. WILKINSON, HENRY, Governor of North Carolina, 103. WILKINSON, JAMES, General, succeeds Dearborn, 413. WILLIAMS, ROGER, Sketch of, 75, 76, 87. WILMOT, DAVID, Celebrated proviso of, 491. WILSON, HENRY, Vice-President, 858 ; death of, 865. WILSON, JAMES, In Federal convention, 292. WILSON, JAMES, Speech of, on new Constitution, 315, 367. WILSON, JOHN LAIRD, Historian, 647, 662, 693, 739, 782, 799. WINDER, GENERAL, At Bladensburg, 417. WINDOM, WILLIAM, 896. WING FIELD, EDWARD, 30. WINTHROP, JOHN, First Governor of Massachusetts, 53. WTNTHROP, ROBERT C, 501. WIRT, WILLIAM, Voted for President, 450, 423, 443. WISCONSIN, Admitted as a State, 494. ""ISE, HENRY A., Defender of Tyler's administration, 473. WITCHCRAFT, Crime of, 137. WITHERFORD, Indian warrior, speech of, 414. WOLFE, JAMES, General, 187. WOODBURY, LEVI, 449. WOOL, JOHN E., General in Mexican war, 488, 631. WOOSTER, DAVID,' General, 211. WORD EN, LIEUTENANT, 688. WORTH, WILLIAM J., Gallantry in Mexican war, 489, 490. WRIGHT, SIR JAMES, Governor of Georgia, 165. WRIGHT, SILAS, Sustains Van Bnren's administration, 463. WYATT, SIR FRANCIS, Governor of Virginia, 54. WYOMING. Massacre at, 246. Y. YATES, ROBERT, In Federal convention, 296. YEAMANS, SIR JOHN, 100. Governor of South Carolina, 119. YEARDLEY, GEORGE, Governor of Virginia, 35. YEMASSEES, War with, 123. YORK, DUKE OF, 65, 66. YORKTOWN, CITY OF, Cornwallis captured at, 267. YOUNG, BRIGHAM, 549. Z. ZOLLIKOFFER, GENERAL, Sketch of, 633. [