Class__5LA^\W- Book A ,9l/yy WASHINGTON. THE PEESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES: FROM WASHINGTON TO PIERCE. COMPRISINQ THEIR PERSONAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY. BY JOHN FROST, L.L. D. BOSTON: PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY. 18 5 5. 553/8 Eiitore4 ^^t iiis term could be much protracted, he ex- * Tacii J. Agricol. Vit. c. xlv 100 , LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. pressed no other wish, than that he might live to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniversary of independence. This he was graciously permitted to do. But it was evident, on the morning of the fourth, that Providence intended that this day, consecrated by his deed, should now be solemnized by his death. On some momentary revival of his wasting strength, the friends around would have soothed him with the hope of continuing ; but he answered their kind encou- ragements only by saying, he did not fear to die. Once, as he drew nearer to his close, he lifted up his languid head and 'murmured with a smile, ^ It is the fourth of July ;' while his repeated exclamation, on the last great day, was, l!!{unc dimitti^y Domine^ ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' He departed in peace, a little before one o'clock of this memorable day ; unconscious that his co-pa- triot, who fifty years before had shared its efforts and perils, was now the partner of its glory. " Mr. Adams's mind had also wandered back, over the long line of great things, with which his life was filled, and found rest on the thought of independence. When the dis- charges of artillery proclaimed the triumphant anniversary, he pronounced it, ' a great and a good day.' The thrilling word of independence, which, fifty years before, in the ar- dor of his manly strength he had sounded out to the nations, at the head of his country's councils, was now among the last that dwelt on his quivering lips ; and when, toward the hour of noon, he felt his noble heart growing cold within him, the last emotion which warmed it was, ' Jefi'erson still survives.' But he survives not ; he is gone : Ye are gone together ! " Take them. Great God, together to thy Rest ! " Friends, fellow citizens, free, prosperous, happy Ame- THOMAS JEFFERSON. 101 ricans ! The men who did so much to make you so, are no more. The men who gave nothing to pleasure in youth, nothing to repose in old age, but all to that country, whose beloved name filled their hearts as it does ours, with joy, can now do no more for us ; nor we for them. But their memory remains, we will cherish it : their bright example remains, we wnl strive to imitate it ; the print of their wise counsels and noble acts remain, we will gratefully enjoy it. " They have gone to the companions of their cares, of their dangers, and their toils. It is well with them. The treasures of America are now in Heaven. How long^the list of our good, and wise, and brave, assembled there ; how few remain with us. There is our Washington ; and those who followed him in their country's confidence, are now met together with him, and all that illustrious company. " The faithful marble may preserve their image ; the engraven brass may proclaim their worth ; but the humblest sod of independent America, with nothing but the dew- drops of the morning to gild it, is a prouder mausoleum than kings or conquerors can boast. The country is their monument. Its independence is their epitaph. But not to their country is their praise limited. The whole earth is the monument of illustrious men. Wherever an agonizing people shall perish, in a generous convulsion, for want of a valiant arm and a fearless heart, they will cry, in the last accents of despair. Oh, for a Washington, an Adams, a Jef- ferson. Wherever a regenerated nation, starting up in its might, shall burst the links of steel that enchain it, the prtiise of our venerated Fathers shall be the prelude to their triumphal song. " The contemporary and successive generations of men wiU disappear. In the long lapse of ages, the Tribes of 9* 102 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. America, like those of Greece and Rome, may pass away. The fabric of American freedom, like all things human, however firm and fair, may crumble into dust. But the cause in which these our Fathers shone is immortal. They did that, to which no age, no people of reasoning men, can be indifferent. Their eulogy will be uttered in other lan- guages, when those we speak, like us who sp'eak them, shall be all forgotten. And when the great account of humanity shall be closed at the throne of God, in the bright list of his children, who best adorned and served it, shall be found the names of our Adams and of our Jefferson." MADISON. I^hiegi ^^Slgo^. "Peace hatli its victories," says Milton; aye, and its conquerors, too, wlio often win the freshest and most import- ant laurels. There are men who overthrow systematic abuses with the invisible hand of logic ; who conquer the hearts of a nation by a speech, and who not only throw down false idols without a palpable blow, but erect the true object of workmanship in their stead. The achievements of such men are more glorious than those of generals, and theii works are frequently the most complete. The brutal steel may slay the body, but cannot persuade the heart or convince the understanding, without both of which, victories are not half-way won. He who gains possession of the heart and mind of another, holds two fertile fields, which may give birth to a thousand noble deeds. The majority of the Presidents of the United States have won their way to that lofty station by their exploits as citi- zens and legislators. While the people have duly rewarded those noble patriots who have fought and bled at the head of their armies and in defence of their soil, they have been wise enough to consider that even greater services may be rendered them in civil capacities. Among those civilians who have by legislative service won their way to that throne (lOT) 108 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. wHch no reyolution can threaten, James Madison holds a conspicuous place. To him was given the great title of the " Father of the Constitution," he having had the chief hand in framing that beneficial charter, and in procuring its adop- tion by the people of the States. As a political writer, a legislator and a statesman, posterity has given him a lofty meed of praise, which none have disputed to be his due. " James Madison was born on the 16th of March 1751, at the seat of his maternal grandmother, on the Rappahannock river, in King George county, Virginia. His father's home was at Montpelier, in Orange county, in the same state, where Mr. Madison himself afterwards resided. After the usual preparatory studies, first at a school kept by a Scot- tish teacher, of the name of Robertson, in King and Queen county, and then with a private tutor in his own family, he was sent, in 1769, to the college at Princeton, in New Jer- sey, where he took the degree of A.B. in 1772. He con- tinued, however, at Princeton, until the following springs pursuing a course of reading under the direction of Dr. Witherspoon, the president of the college, for whom he alwaya entertained a high respect, and whose striking remarks he was fond of repeating. His devotion to his mental improve- ment, while at Princeton, was carried to such an extent, that, as he stated to his friend. Governor Barbour, for months together he had allowed himself only three out of the twenty- four hours for sleep, and that, when necessity compelled him to relax, he limited his hours of repose to the least number consistent with his health. This, in fact, had never been strong, and was so impaired by the excessive study just mentioned, as to continue feeble for a number of years afterwards. " On his return to Virginia, Mr. Madison commenced a JAMES MADISON. 109 course of reading to prepare himself for the bar, but was soon in a great measure diverted from it by the interest which he took in the agitating political questions of the pe- riod. He particularly distinguished himself by his efforts in behalf of the clergy of the Baptist persuasion, who were then persecuted by the established church, and occasionally even thrown into prison for preaching in defiance of prohi- bitory laws. In the spring of 1776, he was chosen a mem- ber of the convention which formed the first constitution of Virginia. He was, in the same year, a member of the state legislature, but lost his election in the following year ; partly too, perhaps, on account of his silence, from a diffidence in himself and a respect for the older and more experienced members of the legislature, at its previous session, — a silence which led many of his constituents to doubt altogether his capacity to speak in public. The legislature, however, when it met, named him a member of the executive council, in which office he remained until appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress. He took his seat in that body, in March, 1780, and acted a prominent part in its proceedings during the three years that he held it. Among the services which, at this period, he rendered to his country, we may mention that he prepared the instruc- tions given to Mr. Jay, then the American minister in Spain, in October, 1780, maintaining the right of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi river ; and also the address to the states at the end of the war, urging upon them to adopt some plan, to enable the Confederacy to meet its pecuniary engagements to the army and its other creditors. In 1784, 1785, and 1786, he was again a member of the Virginia legislature; and his efforts at this time were all 10 110 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. exerted in favor of a wise and liberal policy. He drew up the memorial and remonstrance against the project of a com- pulsory support of religion, which was perhaps made with a view to a permanent establishment. Finding the people of Kentucky fixed in their determination to separate from Yirginia, he lent his aid to enable them to accomplish their purpose. He opposed the introduction of paper money; supported the laws introduced into the code prepared by Jefferson, Wythe, and Pendleton ; and was in favor of the recovery of the debts due to British creditors. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison obtained the passage of a resolution by the Legislature inviting the meeting at An- napolis, which led the way to tjie convention that formed the constitution to the United States : and he was one of the three commissioners appointed at the meeting. Mr. Madi- son was one of the five delegates who represented Virginia in that convention. "In the convention, Mr. Madison generally coincided with General Washington in their views in favor of a strong national government. A paper in the handwriting of Ge- neral Washington, and found among the documents left by him, contains a summary of Mr. Madison's opinions on the subject of a form of constitution to be proposed. It is the substance of a letter received by Washington from Mr. Madison, a short time previous to the assembling of the con- vention at Philadelphia, and has since been published in the North American Review, volume xxxv., as follows :"* " Mr. Madison thinks an individual independence of the states utterly irreconcilable with their aggregate sovereignty, and that a consolidation of the whole into one simple repub- lic would be as inexpedient as it is unattainable. He there* * Stateman's Manual. JAMES MADISON. Ill fore proposes a middle ground, wMch may at once support a due supremacy of the national authority, and not exclude the local authorities whenever they can be subordinately useful. "As the ground work, he proposes that a change be made in the principle of representation, and thinks there would be no great difficulty in effecting it. " Next, that, in addition to the present federal powers, the national government should be armed with positive and com- plete authority in all cases which require uniformity ; such as regulation of trade, including the right of taxing both exports and imports, the fixing the terms and forms of natu- ralization, kc. " Over and above this positive power, a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the states, as here- tofore exercised by the kingly prerogative, appears to him absolutely necessary, and to be the least possible encroach- ment on the state jurisdictions. Without this defensives power he conceives that every positive law which can be given on paper, will be evaded. " This control over the laws would prevent the internal vicissitudes of state policy, and the aggressions of interested majorities. " The natural supremacy ought also to be extended, he thinks, to the judiciary departments ; the oaths of the judges should at least include a fidelity to the general as well as local constitution ; and that an appeal should be to some national tribunal in all cases to which foreigners or inhabi- tants of other states may be parties. The admiralty juris- dictions to fall entirely within the purview of the national government. " The national supremacy in the executive departments 112 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. is liable to some difficulty, unless the officers administering them could be made appointable by the supreme government. The militia ought entirely to be placed, in some form or other, under the authority which is intrusted with the general protection and defence. " A government composed of such extensive powers should be well organized and balanced. " The legislative department might be divided into two branches, one of them chosen every — years, by the people at large, or by the legislatures ; the other to consist of fewer members, and to hold their places for a longer term, and to go out in such rotatation as always to leave in office a large majority of old members. " Perhaps the negative on the laws might be most conve- niently exercised by this branch. " As a further check, a council of revision, including the great ministerial officers, might be superadded. " A national executive must also be provided. He has scarcely ventured as yet to form his own opinion, either of the manner in which it ought to be constituted, or of the authorities with which it ought to be clothed. " An article should be inserted, especially guaranteeing the tranquillity of the states against internal as well as external dangers. " In like manner, the right of coercion should be expressly declared. With the resources of commerce in hand, the na- tional administration might always find means of exerting it either by sea or land ; but the difficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective will of a state, render it particularly desirable the necessity of it might be pre- cluded. Perhaps the negative on the laws might create such a mutual dependence between the general and particular JAMES MADISON. 113 authorities as to answer ; or perhaps some defined objects of taxation might be submitted along with commerce, to the general authority. '^ To give a new system its proper validity and energy, a ratification must be obtained from the people, and not merely from the ordinary authority of the legislature. This will be more essential, as inroads on the existing constitutions of the states will be unavoidable." Mr. Madison has entitled himself to the gratitude of pos- terity by the record which he daily made of the proceedings of its members, the only one extant which is either complete or authentic. It was purchased by Congress, after his death, for the sum of thirty thousand dollars, and has since been published. After the constitution was formed, he united with Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jay, in the the publication, in the news- papers, of the well-known series of essays, in defence of its provisions, under the title of " The Federalist," which at- tracted in an extraordinary degree the public attention, and by the ability and force of argument with which they were written, contributed materially to augment the number of its advocates. And when the Federal Constitution was submitted to the several states for their adoption, he was mainly instrumental, in the convention of Virginia, in pro- curing a decision by that body in its favor, in despite of the zealous and eloquent opposition of Patrick Henry. From 1789, when the new constitution went into opera- tion, down to the year of 1797, Mr. Madison occupied a seat in Congress, where he resisted the financial measures proposed by Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, and and the policy generally of Washington's administration. His opposition, was, however, conducted in such a spirit as 10* 114 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. to have apparently for a long time no influence on the friendship which subsisted between the President and him- self; and it never produced positive alienation. In 1798, though not a member of the Virginia legislature, he prepared the celebrated resolutions which were adopted by that body denouncing the acts of Congress for removing dangerous and suspicious aliens, and for punishing libels on the government, commonly known by the name of the Alien and Sedition Laws, as infractions of the Constitution, and inviting the concurrence of the other states. He was elected to the legislature in the following year, when he was the author of a new set of resolutions of similar import with the former, and accompanied them by a report in their vindica- tion, which contributed powerfully to the triumph that speedily ensued of the democratic over the federal party. When Mr. Jefi*erson became President of the United States, in 1801, he selected Mr. Madison to be his Secre- tary of State, a position which the latter continued to occupy 80 long as Mr. Jefferson remained in office. In 1809, Mr. Madison succeeded Mr. Jefferson in the presidential chair, having obtained one hundred and twenty-two votes out of one hundred and seventy-six. In his inaugural address, he frankly stated the gloomy circumstances under which he entered upon his high office. But expressed confidence in the strength and resources of the United States, and in the goodness and power of the Deity. War with Great Britain was anticipated. The in- sults and injuries which that haughty power had given to the United States could not be much longer borne, con- sistently with honor. Still a large portion of the people were anxious for the preservation of peace. And the new President found himself in a trying position. In his inau- JAMES MADISON. 115 gural address, lie thus indicates his sentiments and inten- tions. " To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations having corresponding dispositions ; to maintain sin- cere neutrality towards belligerent nations ; to prefer in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of differences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms ; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrad- ing to all countries, and so baneful to free ones ; to foster a spirit of independence, too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge un- worthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others ; to hold the union of the states as the basis of their peace and happiness ; to support the constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities ; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the states and the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of the general system ; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction ; to preserve in their full energy, the other salutary provisions in behalf of pri- vate and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press ; to observe economy in public expenditures ; to liberate the public resoui'ces by an honorable discharge of the public debts ; to keep within the requisite limits a standing mili- tary force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics — that without standing armies their liberty can never bo in danger, nor with large ones safe ; to promote, by authorized means, im- provements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce ; to favor, in like manner, the advancement of science and the diffusion of in- 116 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. formation as the best aliment of true liberty ; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously ap- plied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life, to a participa- tion of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state ; as far as sen- timents and intentions such as these can aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me." Mr. Madison selected for his cabinet, Robert Smith, of Maryland, as Secretary of State ; William Eustis, of Massa- chusetts, as Secretary of War ; Paul Hamilton, of South Carolina, as Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Gallatin, as Sec- retary of the Treasury ; and Mr. Cesar A. Rodney, Attor- ney General, under Mr. Jefferson, were continued in their offices. The republicans had a majority in Congress to sup- port the President. Efforts were made to settle all differences between the United States and Great Britain in a just and friendly manner. But through pride or misunderstanding, they proved abortive. The non-intercourse, affecting both France and Great Britain, was continued by a new and more stringent act, passed in May, 1810. The British govern- ment continued its "orders in council," and Napoleon de- clared the obnoxious Berlin and Milan decrees, "the fun- damental laws of his empire." The trade and revenue of the United States were greatly diminished in consequence of these hostile measures. In the twelfth Congress, which held its first session in 1810-11, the supporters of the administration were in the majority. Messrs. Clay, Calhoun, Crawford, Lowndes, Cheves, and other active and eloquent statesmen were found in the republican ranks. Under the influence of JAMES MADISON. 117 these ardent men, the policy of the administration was changed. Measui'es were adopted for organizing the army and navy, and war was contemplated as a very probable re- sult of the difficulties then existing. President Madison was not earnestly desirous for the decisive measures ; but he was persuaded to acquiesce by the more ardent portion of his friends. Mr. Clay, particularly, was of the opinion that the country should be prepared for war, and his influence among the republicans was extensive. When war was resolved upon by the republican party, President Madison's cabinet consisted of the following per- sons ; James Monroe, Secretary of State ; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury ; William Eustis, Secretary of War ; Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy ; and William Pinckney, Attorney General. Messrs. Smith and Kodney had resigned their posts in 1811. Of this cabinet, Mr. Monroe, alone, possessed any amount of military knowledge. The President knew nothing of the art of war. Under such auspices, how could the country be prepared to con- tend with the giant power of Great Britain. The declaration of war against Great Britain, was passed by Congress, in June, 1812. The federalists generally op- posed it, and in the Eastern States, particularly, the mea- sure excited a spirit of disaffection to the Union, which, if it had been properly treated by the British government, might have proved fatal. But the republicans rallied strongly to the support of the President, and several of the old fede- ralist leaders signified their approval of his course. The message of the President to Congress upon the subject of the declaration of war, is an admirably written justification of the country and himself. It ran as follows : " Without going back beyond the renewal in 1803, of th# 118 . LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. war in which Great Britain is engaged, and omitting unre- paired wrongs of inferior magnitude, the conduct of the go- vernment presents a series of acts hostile to the United States as an independent and neutral nation. " British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great highway of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it ; not in the exercise of a belligerent right founded on the law of nations against an enemy, but of a municipal prerogative over British subjects. British jurisdiction is thus extended to neutral vessels in a situation where no laws can operate but the law of nations and the laws of the country to which tho vessels belong ; and a self-redress is assumed, which, if Bri- tish subjects were wrongfully detained and alone concerned, is that substitution of force, for a resort to the responsible sovereign, which falls within the definition of war. Could the seizure of British subjects, in such cases, be regarded as within the exercise of a belligerent right, the acknowledged laws of war, which forbid an article of captured property to be adjudged without a regular investigation before a compe- tent tribunal, would imperiously demand the fairest trial where the sacred rights of persons were at an issue. In place of such a trial, these rights are subjected to the will of every petty commander. " The practice, hence, is so far from affecting British subjects alone, that, under the pretext of searching for these, thousands of American citizens, under the safeguard of pub- lic law, and of their national flag, have been torn from their country, and from every thing dear to them ; have been dragged on board ships of war of a foreign nation, and ex- posed under the severities of their discipline, to be exiled to the most distant and deadly climes, to risk their lives in the JAMES MADISON. 119 battles of their oppressors, and to be the melancboly instru- ments of taking away those of their own brethren. " Against this crying enormity, which Great Britain would be so prompt to avenge if committed against herself the Uni- ted States have in vain exhausted remonstrances and expos- tulations. And that no proof might be wanting of their con- ciliatory disposition, and no pretext left for a continuance of the practice, the British government was formally assured of the readiness of the United States to enter into arrange- ments, such as could not be rejected, if the recovery of Bri- tish subjects were the real and the sole object. The commu- nication passed without effect. " British cruisers have also been in the practice of violat- ing the rights and the peace of our coasts. They hover over and harass our entering and departing commerce. To the most insulting pretensions they have added the most lawless proceedings in our very harbors ; and have wantonly spilt American blood, within the sanctuary of our territorial juris- diction. The principles and rules enforced by that nation, when a neutral nation, against armed vessels of belligerents hovering near her coasts, and disturbing her commerce, are well known. When called on, nevertheless, by the United States to punish the greater offences committed by her own vessels, her government has bestowed on their commanders additional marks of honor and confidence. " Under pretended blockades, without the presence of an adequate force, and sometimes without the practicability of applying one, our commerce has been plundered in every sea ; the great staples of our country have been cut off from their legitimate markets ; and a destructive blow aimed at our agricultural and maritime interests. In aggravation of these predatory measures, they have been o^;nsidered as Id 120 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS- force from the dates of their notification ; a retrospective effect being thus added, as has been done in other important cases, to the unlawfulness of the course pursued. And to render the outrage the more signal, these mock blockades have been reiterated and enforced in the face of official com- munications from the British government, declaring, as the true definition of a legal blockade, * that particular ports must be actually invested, and previous warning given to vessels bound to them, not to enter.' "Not content with these occasional expedients for laying waste our neutral trade, the cabinet of Great Britain resorted, at length, to the sweeping system of blockades, under the name of orders in council, which has been moulded and ma- naged, as might best suit its political views, its commercial jealousies, or the avidity of British cruisers. " To our remonstrances against the complicated and trans- cendent injustice of this innovation, the first reply was, that the orders were reluctantly adopted by Great Britain as a necessary retaliation on the decrees of her enemy, proclaim- ing a general blockade of the British isles, at a time when the naval force of that enemy dared not issue from his own ports. She was reminded, without effect, that her own prior blockades, unsupported by an adequate naval force actually applied and continued, were a bar to this plea ; that executed edicts against millions of our property could not be retalia- tion on edicts, confessedly impossible to be executed ; and that retaliation, to be just, should fall on the party setting the guilty example, not on an innocent party, which was not even chargeable with an acquiescence in it. " When deprived of this flimsy veil for a prohibition oi our trade with her enemy, by the repeal of his prohibition of our trade with Great Britain, her cabinet, intead of a corres- JAMES MADISON. 121 ponding repeal, or a practical discontinuance of its orders, formally avowed a determination to persist in them against the United States, until the markets of her enemy should be .laid open to British products ; thus asserting an obligation on a neutral power, to require one belligerent to encourage, by its internal regulations, the trade of another belligerent ; contradicting her own practice towards all nations, in peace as well as in war ; and betraying the insincerity of those professions w^hich inculcated a belief, that, having resorted to her orders with regret, she was anxious to find an occasion for putting an end to them. " Abandoning still more all respect for the neutral rights of the United States, and for its own inconsistency, the Bri- tish government now demands, as pre-requisite to a repeal of its orders, as they relate to the United States, that a for- mality should be observed in the repeal of the French de- crees, nowise necessary to their termination, nor exempli- fied by British usage ; and that the French repeal, besides including that portion of the decrees which operate within a territorial jurisdiction, as well as that which operates on the high seas against the commerce of the United States, should not be a single special repeal, in relation to the United States ; but should be extended to whatever other neutral nations unconnected with them, may be afiected by those decrees. And as an additional insult, they are called on for a formal disavowal of conditions and pretentions ad- vanced by the French government, for which the United States are so far from having made themselves responsible, that, in official explanations, which have been published to the world, and in a correspondence of the American minister at London, with the British minister for foreign afiairs, such a responsibility was explicitly and empatically disclaimed. 122 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. "It has become, indeed, sufficiently certain, that the com- merce of the United States is to be sacrificed, not as inter- fering with the belligerent right of Great Britain, not as supplying the wants of her enemies, which she herself sup- plies, but as interfering with the monopoly which she covets for her own commerce and navigation. She carries on a war against the lawful commerce of a friend, that she may the better carry on a commerce polluted by the forgeries and perjuries which are, for the most part, the only pass- ports, by which it can succeed. "Anxious to make every experiment short of the last re- sort of injured nations, the United States have withheld from Great Britain, under successive modifications, the benefits of a free intercourse with their market, the loss of which could not but outweigh the profits accruing from her restric- tions of our commerce with other nations. And to entitle these experiments to the more favorable consideration, they were so framed as to enable her to place her adversary under the exclusive operation of them. To these appeals her go- vernment has been equally inflexible, as if to make sacrifices of every sort, rather than yield to the claims of justice, or renounce the errors of a false pride. Nay, so far were the attempts carried, to overcome the attachment of the British cabinet to its unjust edicts, that it received every encourage- ment within the competency of the executive branch of our government, to expect, that a repeal of them would be fol- lowed by a war between the United States and France, unless the French edicts should also be repealed. Even this com- munication, although silencing for ever the plea of a dispo- sition in the United States to acquiesce in those edicts, originally the sole plea for them, received no attention. " If no other proof existed of a predetermination of the JAMES MADISON. 123 Britisli government against a repeal of its orders, it might be found in the correspondence of the minister plenipoten- tiary of the United States at London, and the British sec- retary for foreign affairs, in 1810, on the question whether the blockade of May, 1806, was considered as in force or as not in force. It has been ascertained that the French go- rernment, which urged this blockade as the ground of its Berlin decree, was willing, in the event of its removal, to repeal that decree ; which, being followed by alternate re- peals of the other offensive edicts, might abolish the whole system on both sides. This inviting opportunity for accom- plishing an object so important to the United States, and professed so often to be the desire of both the belligerents, was made known to the British government. As that go- vernment admits, that an actual application of an adequate force is necessary to the existence of a legal blockade ; and it was notorious, that if such a force had ever been applied, its long discontinuance had annulled the blockade in question there could be no sufficient objection on the part of Great Britain, to a formal revocation of it ; and no imaginable ob- jection, to a declaration of the fact, that the blockade did not exist. The declaration would have been consistent with her avowed principles of blockade, and would have enabled the United States to demand from France, the pledged repeal of her decrees ; either with success, in which case the way would have been opened for a general repeal of the bel- ligerent edicts ; or without success, in which case the United States would have been justified in turning their measures exclusively against France. The British government would, ' however, neither rescind the blockade, nor declare its non- existence ; nor permit its non-existence to be inferred and affirmed by the American plenipotentiary. On the contrary, 124 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. hj representing the blockade to be comprebended in the orders in council, the United States were compelled so to regard it in their subsequent proceedings. *' There was a period when a favorable change in the po- licy of the British cabinet, was justly considered as est^ blished. The minister plenipotentiary of his Britanic ma- jesty here proposed an adjustment of the differences more immediately endangering the harmony of the two countries. The proposition was accepted with a promptitude and cor- diality corresponding with the invariable professions of this government. A foundation appeared to be laid for a sincere and lasting -reconciliation. The prospect, however, quickly vanquished ; the whole proceeding was disavowed by the British government, without any explanations, which could at that time repress the belief, that the disavowal proceeded from* a spirit of hostility to the commercial rights and pros- perity of the United States. And it has since come into proof, that at the very moment, when the public minister was holding the language of friendship and inspiring confi- dence in the sincerity of the negotiation with which he was charged, a secret agent of his government was employed in intrigues, having for their object a subversion of our govern- ment, and a dismemberment of our happy nation. " In reviewing the conduct of Great Britian towards the United States, our attention is necessarily drawn to the war- fare just renewed by the savages on one of our extensive frontiers ; a warfare which is known to spare neither age nor sex, and to be distinguished by features peculiarly shocking to humanity. It is difiicult to account for the ac- tivity and combination which have for some time been de- veloping themselves among the tribes in the constant inter- course with British traders and garrisons, without connect- JAMES MADISON. 125 ing tlieir hostility with that influence ; and without recollect- ing the authenticated examples of such interpositions hereto- fore furnished by the officers and agents of that government. " Such is the spectacle of injuries and indignities which have been heaped on our country ; and such the crisis which its unexampled forbearance and conciliatory efforts have not been able to avert. It might at least have been expected that an enlightened nation, if less urged by moral obliga- tions, or invited by friendly dispositions on the part of the United States, would have found, in its true interest alone, a sufficient motive to respect their rights and their tranquility on the high seas ; that an enlarged poHcy would have favored that free and general circulation of commerce, in which the British nation is at all times interested, and which in times of war, is the best alleviation of its calamities to herself as well as the other belligerents ; and more especially that the British cabinet would not, for the sake of the precarious and surreptitious intercourse with hostile markets, have perse- vered in a course of measures which necessarily put at ha- zard the valuable market of a great and growing country, disposed to cultivate the mutual advantages of an active commerce. " Our councils have prevailed. Our moderation and con- ciliation have had no other effect than to encourage perse- verance, and to enlarge pretensions. We behold our sea- faring citizens still the daily victims of lawless violence com- mitted on the great common and highway of nations, even within sight of the country which owes them protection. We behold our vessels freighted with the products of our soil and industry, or returning with the honest proceeds of them, wrested from their lawful destination, confiscated by prize courts, no longer the organs of public law, but the in- 11* 126 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. struments of arbitrary edicts ; and their unfortunate crews dispersed and lost, or forced or inveigled, in British ports, into British fleets : whilst arguments are employed in support of these aggressions, which have no foundation but in a prin- ciple supporting equally a claim to regulate our external commerce in all cases whatsoever. " We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain, a state of war against the United States ; and on the side of the United States, a state of peace towards Great Britain. " Whether the United States shall continue passive under these progressive usurpations, and these accumulating wrongs; or, opposing force to force in defence of their natural rights, shall commit a just cause into the hands of the Almighty Disposer of events, avoiding all connexions which might en • tangle in the contests or views of other powers, and preserv ing a readiness to concur in an honorable re-establishment of peace and friendship, is a solemn question, which the con- stitution wisely confides to the legislative department of the government. In recommending it to their early deliberations, I am happy in the assurance of that decision will be worthy the enlightened and patriotic councils of a virtuous, a free, and a powerful nation. " Having presented this view of the relations of the United States with Great Britain, and of the solemn alternative growing out of them, I proceed to remark, that the commu- nications last made to Congress on the subject of our rela- tions with France, will have shown that since the revocation of her decrees, as they violated tlie neutral rights of the United States, her government has authorized illegal cap- tures, by its privateers and public ships, and that other out- rages have been practised on our vessels and our citizens. It will have been seen also, that no indemnity had been pro- JAMES MADISON. 127 vided, or satisfactorily pledged, for the extensive spoliations committed under the violent and retrospective orders of the French government against the property of our citizens seized within the jurisdiction of France. I abstain at this time from recommending to the consideration of Congress definite measures with respect to that nation, in the expecta- tion that the result of the undisclosed discussions between our minister plenipotentiary at Paris, and the French go- vernment, will speedily enable Congress to decide, with greater advantage, on the course due to the rights, the interest, and the honor of our country." This message was referred, in the house of representatives, to the committee on foreign relations. After a serious consideration of its contents, they reported a bill, declaring war between the united kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland and their dependencies, and the United States of America, and their territories, accompanied by a manifesto of the causes that impelled to war. A full history of this three years' war does not come within the scope of this biography. We have to do with President Madison. It is generally conceded that he erred in his first measures — ^in the choice of war ministers — ^in the appointment of commanding generals. Perhaps, all the weakness and inefficiency displayed in the conduct of the first campaign, may be traced to the bad selection of a war- minister. Upon land, the force of the United States suf- fered defeat and disaster. The navy maintained the honor, and established the maritime reputation of the country.' Hull, Decatur, Lawrence, and other gallant spirits inflicted upon the enemy at sea, what they gave to the Americans on land. At the presidential election of 1812, Mr. Madison waa 128 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. again a candidate. Elbridge Gerjy was on the same ticket as a candidate for the Vice Presidency. These gentlemen were opposed by De Witt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll. The electoral vote stood as follows : For Madison, one hundred and twenty-eight ; Gerry, one hundred and thirty-one; Clinton, eighty-nine; Ingersoll, eighty-six. The friends of the administration retained a majority in Congress, though the opposition daily increased in strength. On the 4th of March, Mr. Madison entered upon his second inaugural term. Previous to this, some changes had been made in the cabinet. William Jones of Pennsyl- vania, had been appointed Secretary of the Navy in place of Paul Hamilton, and General John Armstong had been appointed Secretary of War, in the place of Doctor Eustis, resigned. On the 8th of March, 1813, the Russian minister com- municated to the American government an offer from the Em- peror Alexander of his mediation between the United States and Great Britain ; and on the 11th, the President accepted the offer. A few days afterwards, the President appointed Messrs. Albert Gallatin, John Quincy Adams, and James A. Bayard, commissioners or envoys to treat for peace. The British government rejected the offer of Russian mediation but signified its willingness to treat directly with the United States. Ghent was the place fixed for the meeting of the commissioners. In the meantime, the war went on. Upon the lakes and the ocean, the Americans were astonishingly successful, while upon land, though they met with some dis- asters, their affairs began to brighten. Henry Clay and Jonathan Russel were added to the ne- gotiating envoys in January, 1814 ; and the commissioners were arranged by the President in the following order : JAMES MADISOK. 129 John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jona- than Eussel, and Albert Gallatin. During the year 1814, the war was prosecuted with vigor and zeal on both sides. The fall of Napoleon left Great Britain at liberty to direct her whole strength against the United States, and a large number of the veterans of Wel- lington's campaigns, were sent over to Canada. But Brown, Scott, Gaines, Jackson, and Ripley, were now at the head of the American forces, and great vigor was exerted in all parts of the administration. Confidence in the army was revived, and the triumphs at Niagara, Plattsburg, Baltimore, Fort Erie, and New Orleans, conclusively showed the supe- riority of the Americans upon their own soil. Harrison, by the victory of the Thames, had relieved the north-western frontier from the depredations and atrocities of the united British and Indians. On the sea, the " star-spangled ban- ner" was covered with the glory of triumph. Several changes took place in the cabinet in 1814 and 1815. George W. Campbell, of Tennessee, was appointed to supply the place of Mr. Gallatin, as Secretary of the Treasury, and in October, he resigned, and was succeeded by Alexander J. Dallas. In September, 1814, General Armstrong resigned the post of Secretary of War. Mr. Monroe acted as the head of that department until the 1st of August, 1815, when William H. Crawford was appointed, and Mr. Monroe returned to the duties of the state depart- ment. Changes were also made in the subordinate offices. While Congress was passing acts for the vigorous prose- cution of the war, the unexpected and welcome intelligence of peace was received at Washington, early in February, 1815. A treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain was concluded by the commissioners at Ghent, 130 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. on the 24tli of Dectember, 1814, about a fortnight before the British were repulsed at New Orleans, by General Jack- son. The treaty was ratified by the President and senate, and was the occasion of sincere and universal rejoicings. Early in 1815, Messrs. Adams, Gallatin, and Clay, nego- tiated at London, a satisfactory commercial treaty, which completely restored friendly relations between the United States and Great Britain. The rest of President Madison's administration was peaceable and beneficial to all the interests of the country. The want of a uniform national currency had been felt dur- ing the war, and a national bank, with a capital of thirty- five millions, was now established with the consent of the republican party. The encouragement of American manu- factures, by the regulation of the tariff, and the extinction of the national debt, were the objects of the other important measures adopted during this administration. On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Madison surrendered the Presidency to his friend, Mr. Monroe, and retired to his seat of Mont- pelier, in Virginia. " In 1829, he consented to become a member of the con- vention which met at Richmond for the purpose of revising the constitution of his state, and contributed largely in seve- ral instances to effect a compromise between contending opinions and interests. With the exception only of the two months which he was at this period absent from home, and his occasional visits to Charlottesville, in fulfilment of his duties as a visitor, and subsequently as rector, of the Uni- versity of Virginia, it is stated that he never left his county after he quitted Washington. Although he lived to the age of eighty-five, ho had a very delicate constitution, and never enjoyed good health. He died on the 28th of June 18'36.— JAMES MADISON. 181 In his domestic relations he was amiable and kind ; and in his intercourse with his friends, his conversational powers rendered him an instructive and entertaining companion. As a writer he has had few equals among American statesmen, and the style of his public documents and his correspondence have been much admired. He was an able debater, having acquired self-confidence by slow degrees. He restored the custom of levees at the presidential mansion, which was a gratification to his friends and strangers. In personal appearance, Mr. Madison was small of stature and rather protuberant in front. His countenance wore an expression of mingled mildness, dignity, and intelligence. He was slow and deliberate in speech. At the close of his last presidential term he seemed care-worn and older than he was in fact. He was bald on the top of his head, wore his hair powdered, and usually dressed in black. His learning was ever calculated to convey an idea of his modest merit. Mr. A. J. Stansbury, the author of " Reminiscences of Pub- lic Men," who was well acquainted with Mr. Madison and his lady gives us the following description of them : "I saw Mr. Madison, for the first time, at Richmond, where he attended as a member of a state convention, as- sembled in 1829, for the revision of the constitution of Virginia. You may imagine the intense curiosity with which I gazed on an individual so illustrious. Among a crowd of gentlemen who entered the hall of the old house of bur- gesses, in the capital, where the convention was about to open, I saw one, of lower stature than any of his compeers, slender and delicate in form — dressed in a suit of black, not new, and now dusty from travel, with a hat distinguisl^ed by the width of its brim, and its total estrangement from the fashionable block of the day ; in aspect grave, yet mild ; in 132 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. air and carriage perfectly simple and unassuming ; of light, elastic step, and possessing, altogether, "what may be called a winning address. I observed that he was approached by every one with an instinctive respect, (though not with that expression of awe which was inspired by Washington,) and I soon learned from every mouth, that it was ex-President Madison. Many members of the convention then saw him, like myself for the first time. He looked to me like a gen- tleman farmer, emerging from retirement, to give his vote at some important election, and then purposing to return home. "He met his friends with courtesy, but with an unmoved calmness of manner, difi"ering, as it seemed to me, from* that warmth and cordiality which usually marks the intercourse of Virginians, and Southern people generally. Indeed, were I asked to point out Mr. Madison's distinguishing trait, I speak of his constitutional organization, I should say it was this very quality of dignified calmness. His tone of mind seemed pleasant, even cheerful, but totally undis- turbed — ever self-possessed, self-bsJanced. Wherever I met him, afterward, this original impression remained unaltered. He was, in all situations, gentlemanly, modest, retiring, and for so distinguished a character, more silent than I had expected. He never assumed the lead in conversation, and appeared always more disposed to listen than to speak. No- thing can be conceived more remote from all assumption and display. During the whole duration of the convention, (and it sat for sixteen weeks,) although of all present, he was best entitled to speak on subjects such as those which occu- pied that body, he spoke but twice. When he did speak, however, the effect of such retiring merit was at once ob- vious. While other members of the body, even the most JAMES MADISON. 133 distinguished among the elite of Virginia, were listened to ■with respectful attention, but without any special outward demonstration of interest, no sooner was Mr. Madison upon his feet, than there was in one moment a simultaneous rush, from every part of the hall ; the ordinary decorum of the body seemed forgotten ; regardless of all obstacles, every man made a straight line to the spot, and he was at once, so completely hemmed in by the crowd that pressed around to hear, that his small figure could scarce be seen. There was, indeed, one reason for this movement besides the homage which his character commanded. " His voice, never very strong, was then very slender, even feeble, (he was in his seventy-eighth year,) though his enun- ciation was perfectly distinct, and the universal eagerness not to lose a syllable that fell from him may have quickened the efforts to be as near him as possible. My professional occupation opened an avenue to me, since it was my duty to take down the speech ; but such was the interest I felt, in common with all around me, to hear the speech, that it was with difficulty I could prevent my attention from being drawn from my task, leaving me a listener merely. I have still the MS. notes of that speech, (the last he ever delivered) with corrections of it in his own hand, which I keep with a religious feeling of veneration. Connected with it is a little anecdote, characteristic in the highest degree of the meekness of wisdom which so eminently distinguished the author of ^ The Federalist.' When I had finished writing out the speech, I left it with him for his revision. Next day, as there was a great call for it, and the report had not been returned for publication, I sent my son, with a respectful note, requesting the MS. My son was a lad of about six- teen, (whom I had taken with me to act as an amanuensis,) 12 134 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. and on delivering my note lie was received witli tlie utmost politeness, and requested to come up in Mr. Madison's cham- ber, and wait while he ran his eye over the paper ; as com- pany had till that moment prevented his attending to it. He did so : and Mr. Madison, pen in hand, sat down to cor- rect the report. The lad stood near him, so that his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison struck out a word, and substituted another : but hesitated, and not feeling quite satisfied with the second word, drew his pen through it also. My son was young, ignoraiit of the world, and unconscious of the sole- cism of which he was about to be guilty, when, in all his simplicity, he suggested a word. Yes, he ventured, boy that he was, to suggest to James Madison an improvement in his own speech ! Probably no other individual then living would have taken such a liberty ! But the sage, instead of regarding the intrusion with a frown, raised his eye to the boy's face with pleased surprise, and said, ' thank you, sir — it is the very word !' and immediately inserted it. I saw him the next day, and he mentioned the circumstance, with a compliment on the young critic. " I was forcibly struck, while discharging my daily duty in the convention, at the deportment of Mr. Madison. Punc- tual and unfailing in his attendance, he always occupied the same seat, and I do not think that in the hall there was another individual who paid as uniform and unremitted attention to the proceedings of the body. Whoever occupied the floor, he was sure of at least one attentive listener. John Marshall himself, did not listen with more steadiness and condescen- sion to the argument of a young member of the bar, (and who that was ever a young member there, and did not ,eel With deepest gratitude that admirable trait in the character JAMES MADISON. 135 of tlie great jurist ?) than did Mr. Madison to the speeches, of every grade, from men of every calibre, on subjects of which none was so complete a master as himself. Perhaps the habit might have been formed when he was himself a reporter in the convention which formed the constitution. A reporter is a listener by profession ; he is attentive 'par force ; and, happily, in this case as in every other of invo- luntary and long-continued labor, the back, by a merciful Providence, becomes fitted to the burden. " At Richmond I first saw Mrs. Madison, and the instant my eye fell on her I felt that I was looking on a Queen. A queen she was ; one of nature's queens : — she looked the character ; her person, carriage, manners, language, would have been in place in any, the most polished, Court of Eu- rope. To her, Virgil's immortal words applied with a force that struck every beholder : ' Incedit Regina.' Her per- son was large and dignified, yet moved with easy grace; her face a full oval, with raised features, double chin, fine eyes, and a mouth dressed in the most winning smiles. It was a face that seemed to bid you welcome, and to ask, ' what can I do for you V Having once seen her, I felt no more surprised at having heard of her from a boy ; — I could credit what had frequently been told me that her husband owed much of the success of his administration (so far as its popularity was concerned,) to the influence of his wife. Her power over him was great, and all who sought preferment, promotion, favors of any kind, addressed themselves, natu- rally, to her, as the readiest and surest channel of access to the President. A corrupt woman might have enriched her* self to almost any extent, by the use of such a power. Madison himself was c%ld and shy, and a timid suitor would often have met, not with repulse, but with a polite refusal ; 136 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. but to Mrs. Madison anybody, every body could approach ; and if their request was reasonable and such as a lady might urge without derogation from her own sense of propriety, they might count upon at least her good offices. I had a personal opportunity of witnessing both the adroitness, and the prev- alence, of her intercession. A gentleman was at Richmond with a subscription for an edition of the American Encyclo- poedia. The presence of so numerous an assemblage of in- telligent men presented a favorable opportunity for prosecu- ting such an enterprise. The work was expensive, and its publishers would not feel warranted to enter into such an un- dertaking without securing, beforehand, a respectable amount of patronage. The gentleman was very anxious, and his first application must, of course, be made to Mr. Madison, that name alone would be worth to him more than a hundred others. With such a name at the head of his list he could present it to any man ; without it, he would be met with its absence as an objection. He applied, and was refused. Mr. Madison admitted the value of the work, complimented the applicant on his enterprise in undertaking its publication, wished him every success, but pleading his own restricted circumstances, which would not justify him in incurring the expense. The poor man came to me in great dejection. A refusal from such a source took the wind out of his sails :, it would justify all in refusing who sought an excuse to do so. ' What shall I do ?' said he, in much perplexity. ' Have you ever read the book of Judges ?' said I. ' The book of Judges ! Why yes, I have read it ; but what has that to do with my subscription list ?' ' More, perhaps than you think. Do you remember how the Philistines found out Samson's riddle ? Do you recollect what he tdfd them ? " If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would never have found out JAMES MADISON. 137 my riddle." Go you, and try the same plan.' * You are right ; you're right ! I'll do it.' Next day he came into my room huzzaing — ^ I ploughed with the heifer ;' and see, here's the sign manual.' I asked him to tell me how she did it. ' Why,' replied he, ' she brought me to the old gen- tleman, and told him of how much importance it was to me to get his name.' ' Yes my dear,' said he, ' I am aware of that ; but you know, as well as I, that our circumstances are not such as to warrant me in incurring so heavy an expense. I should be glad to aid this gentleman, and glad to possess the work, but I cannot afford it.' 'I know that, my dear,' said his lady, ^ or I am sure you would give this gentleman your name to help his list. But are not you a trustee of the University of Virginia ? and couldn't you take his book for the college?' ^ True, true, my love ; I never thought of that,' and he put down his name.' This is a sample of the admirable tact with which she could carry her point. " There were excellent points in her character. She was ever a friend to the friendless. Whenever, in the drawing- room, a modest individual seemed thrown in the back ground her quick eye instantly perceived it ; and she would always contrive, without any parade of condescension, but in the most easy and affectionate manner, by a kind word, a kind look, a question, or some other of those nameless, intangible, but influential courtesies of which she was so perfect a mis- tress, to attract attention and encouragement toward the ob- ject of her kindness. Nor was this trait in her disposition confined to mere courtesy of manner ; she was ever ready to confer substantial kindness on those who needed it. Mr. Catlin, the adventurous delineator of Indian life and manners, (a man as distinguished for his modest simplicity of mind as for the charm of his pencil,) once related to me this anecdote. 12* 138 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. While quite a young man, and soon after his marriage, he was in Virginia, in the vicinity of Mr. Madison's home, en- deavoring to earn his support by painting portraits ; he was a stranger, and in narrow circumstances, having taken cheap board at a private house in the country. Here his young wife was taken sick with the intermittent fever so common in a southern climate, and confined for several weeks to her bed. It was a desolate situation ; the necessary comforts of a sick chamber were hard to be procured, especially by a young couple, little known and in narrow circumstances. — But his wife had not been siek many days, before a lady, of very preposessing appearance, entered her chamber, and with a graceful apology for the intrusion, introduced herself, and begged to know how she could render any assistance ; — and then laying aside her bonnet and shawl, she sat her down by the bedside, cheered the invalid by her conversation (which ever flowed like a gentle and abundant river,) mixed and ad- ministered her medicines, and from that hour continued to nurse her like a sister, till she was quite recovered. It was Mrs. Madison. *' Another beautiful trait in her character was her fondness for the young. No one could have seen her in company with young ladies, and failed to be struck with this peculiarity. It became the more remarkable as she advanced in years. — At an age when to the most of those who reach it the liveli- ness and chatter of young people is a burden, she had still the same fondness for their company ; nor was there a kinder chaperone to be found in introducing and encouraging a bashful young girl just 'come out.' She conciliated their confidence at once, and in a large and mixed company, you would always find a bevy of youthful faces around her, all whose pleasures seemed to be her own. JAMES MADISON. 139 "In almost every picture of Mrs. Madison, whether minia- ture or portrait, she is drawn with a turban ; and very pro- perly ; for it was, I believe, her constant head dress. How- ever the fashions might change, and however, in other re- spects, she conformed to them, she still retained this pecu- liarity. It became her well, nor could she, probably, have laid it aside for anything that would have set off her features to better advantage. So much was the eye accustomed to see it that it became in fact, a part of her figure. It was, to her, much what old Frederick's three cornered hat was to him ; and one would as soon expect to find Mrs. Madison without her turban, as the Prussian army would to see their king without his hat. She rouged, too, very freely ; nor did she lay aside her turban, her rouge, her courtly manners, cheerful spirits, or her fondness for company, to the day of her death." MONROE. I^iofjeg; ^oi]i*oe. Those who are in the habit of regarding quickness of thought and brilliancy of expression as essentials of great- ness have spoken slightly of James Monroe. They have wound up their memoirs of him with some grave remarks upon the freaks of the popular will and the fortune of some politicians. But he who enjoyed the esteem of the great men of his day, who was employed by Presidents of various shades of opinion, in many important stations — who rivalled Madison — whose administration was so successful as to have the unanimous and hearty approbation of the nation could not have been a common man — could not have been merely fortunate. Firmness, integrity, patriotism, foresight, and great capacity for labor — the genuine attribute of the best rulers, were to be found in James Monroe. Diplomatic and administrative talents, he certainly displayed. If he lacked imagination and oratorical powers, so did Washington, and many of the best statesmen, whose names have been handed down to us by History, have been more eloquent in deeds than in words. As a hero, leaving college to lead the van at Tren- ton — as a patriot, pledging his private estate to furnish the means for defending New Orleans, as a diplomatist negotiat- ing for the purchase of Louisiana, and as President, carrying 13 (145) 146 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. into effect these H-easure most agreeable to tlie popular will, James Monroe is truly worthy of the highest esteem. The successor of Madison was born on the 2d of April, 1759, in the county of Westmoreland, Virginia. The family of Monroe is one of the most ancient and honorable in Virginia. James was the son of Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones. After preparing himself by a course of elementary study, he entered William and Mary College. But the war of independence began ; and the country had great need of the hearts and arms of all her sons. James Monroe was but eighteen years old when the declaration of independence was issued. Yet he resolved to quit the college and join the army under Washington. The British general was pre- paring an overwhelming force for an attack upon New York. The horizon of America was growing gloomy. The timid were shrinking from the side of the great patriot general. Monroe joined Washington at New York. During the dark period of seventy-six, he shared with the patriots in their perils and privations. He participated in the disastrous battles of Harlem heights and White Plains. In the battle of Trenton, while leading the vanguard in a brave and suc- cessful assault upon the enemy's artillery, he received a wound, the scar of which he carried to his grave. After he recovered from his wound, Mr. Monroe was promoted to a captaincy, in the regular service. But, during the campaign of 1777 and 1778, he acted as aid to Lord Stirling, receding from the line of promotion. However, he won fresh laurels by his brave bearing at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Desiring to regain his posi- tion in the line, he endeavored to raise a regiment in Vir- giaia, under the recommendation of General Washington and the authority of the legislature. But the state was ex- JAMES MONROE. 147 hausted, and men could not be induced to enlist. Failing to attain his aim, Mr. Monroe then devoted himself to the study of the law, under Mr. Jefferson, then governor of Virginia.* But he afterwards served as a volunteer, aiding to resist the British invasion of the state. In 1782, Mr. Monroe was elected to a seat in the Vir- ginia legislature, by the county of King George. He was then twenty-four years old ; but such was his activity and legislative tact, that in 1783, he was elected by the legisla- ture, a delegate to the Continental Congress. Two years' experience in that body convinced him that its powers were insufficient for the purposes of good government, and he therefore sought to extend them. In 1785, he made a mo- tion that Congress should be invested with the power to regu- late trade. This motion was referred to a committee, of which he was chairman. Other proposals to amend the Articles of Confederation were made, and finally, the con- vention for framing a constitution was the result. In the meantime, Mr. Monroe served with eight other highly re- spectable men of the period, in a federal court, which was to decide a long pending controversy between New York and Massachusetts. But the states settled the matter by mutual agreement, and Mr. Monroe resigned his commission. While in New York, attending the Continental Congress, Mr. Monroe married the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mr. L. Kortright. In the latter part of 1782, his term of service expired, and being ineligible for a second term, he retired to Fredericksburg to engage in the practice of the law. But the times and the Virginians would not allow talent to remain in the walks of public life. In 1787, Mr. Monroe * Stateman's Manual. 148 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. was elected to tlie Legislature, and in tlie following year, lie was chosen a delegate to the state convention, assembled to decide upon the federal constitution. In that body were some of the noblest minds in the country. The great orator Patrick Henry, was there to pour forth his thunder in oppo- sition to the constitution, while Madison, Pendleton and Edmund Randolph, appeared as its able advocates. Mr. Monroe, though convinced of the necessity of a radical change in the general government, was not prepared to accept the proposed constitution, without certain very important amend- ments. With Patrick Henry, George Mason and other great men, he thought the power committed to the hands of the executive would overwhelm the liberties of the people and the rights of the states. The democratic and state right doctrines held by Mr. Monroe at this time were consistently maintained throughout his political career. The convention finally adopted the constitution as it was, by a vote of eighty- nine to seventy-nine, Mr. Monroe being in the negative. The majority of anti-federalists were elected by Virginia to the first Congress. On the death of William Grayson, one of the senators, Mr. Monroe was elected to supply his place. He took his seat in the senate of the United States in 1790. During the four years that he held that station, he opposed the administration of Washington, and arose to high esteem among the republicans. In May, 1794, Presi- dent Washington appointed Mr. Monroe minister to the French republic, in compliance with the wishes of the Jef- ferson party. He was cordially received in France, but his course while there was not conformable to the policy of Washington, who therefore recalled him in 1796. On his return, Mr. Monroe published a vindication of his course of action, and censured the administration. He was then JAMES MONROE. 14& elected to the Virginia legislature, and in 1799 was chosen by that body, governor of the state, which office he held for the limited term of three years. In 1803, President Jefferson, anxious for the purchase of Louisiana, appointed Mr. Monroe envoy extraordinary to France, to act jointly with Mr. Livingston, the resident minister. A fortnight after his arrival in France, Mr. Mon- roe succeeded in attaining the wished for object. Mr. Li- vingston, had begun to despair of success ; but the envoy extraordinary, having a better understanding with the French government, easily conducted the negotiation to the desired end. This achievement did great honor to Mr. Monroe's diplomatic talents. Shortly after the purchase of Louisiana, Mr. Monroe succeeded Rufus King at the court of St. James. At this time, the relations between the United States and Great Britain were anything but friendly. In 1807, Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney succeeded in negotiating a treaty, which they considered advantageous to the United States. But President Jefferson refused to send it to the Senate, he thought it clogged with inadmissible conditions. Mr. Can- ning, the British minister of foreign affairs, refused to nego- tiate further, and therefore the mission of Monroe and Pinck- ney was at an end. Mr. Monroe was somewhat dissatisfied with President Jefferson in consequence of the unceremonious treatment of the result of the laborious negotiation ; but the matter Was explained in friendly correspondence. It was thought by a portion of the republican party that Mr. Monroe should succeed Mr. Jefferson in the Presidency. But the majority preferred Mr. Madison. In 1811, Mr. Monroe was again elected governor of Virginia, which sta- tion, he resigned, however, to take the department of State, under President Madison. After the capture of Washington 13* 150 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. City, and tlie resignation of General Armstrong, Mr. Monroe was appointed to the war department, in which capacity he displayed an energy, boldness, and patriotism, which indica- ted the latent power of a great minister. He proposed to increase the army to one hundred thousand men, and to raise troops by draught from the whole number of able-bodied men. This measure was calculated to make him unpopular ; he knew it ; but in the choice between what he considered right and popularity, he was prepared to sacrifice the latter. For- tunately the return of peace rendered the addition to the army unnecessary. Towards the end of the year 1814, his attention was called to the defence of New Orleans. To raise the necessary funds, he was compelled to pledge his private credit, as subsidiary to that of the government, which was at a low ebb.* By this patriotic act, Mr. Monroe was enabled to furnish the necessary supplies. The triumph of the American arms at New Orleans followed and the war closed. Mr. Monroe now returned to the department of state, and aided Mr. Madison in carrying out those measures which the foreign and domestic relations of the government de- manded. In 1816, he received the nomination of the re- publican party, for the Presidency. He was elected without difficulty. Daniel J). Tompkins, of New York, was elected to the Vice Presidency at the same time. Messrs. Monroe and Tompkins entered upon the duties of their offices on the 4th of March, 1817. President Monroe determined to pursue the same policy in regard to appointments, as had been followed by Jeffer- son and Madison. Republicans alone were to be considered fit for office, under a republican administration. John * Stateman's Manual. JAMES MONROE. 151 Quincy Adams, of MassaclmsettSj was appointed Secretary of State ; William H. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, Secre- tary of War; and William Wirt, of Virginia, Attorney General. Benjamin M. Crowninshield was continued in office as Secretary of the Navy. The policy of Mr. Monroe's administration was liberal and satisfactory to all parties. In many of its features, it resembled that of Washington and Hamilton. The perfect- ing of a national bank, of the gradual discharge of the public debt, of the system of fortifying the coast and increasing the navy, and of encouraging by adequate protection the manufactures and inventions of the country, were the chief aims of this policy. Mr. Monroe yielded his own opinions to those of the majority of the nation, and acquiesced in a system of internal improvements, butv not until near the close of his administration. The treaty which added Flo- rida to the United States was consummated under the di- rection of the President. In 1817, he made a tour through a large portion of the northern and middle states, inspect- ing the various public works, and gaining much accurate in- formation in regard to the state of these sections of the Union. He was received with every demonstration of re- spect and affection on the part of the people. In 1820, Mr. Monroe was re-elected to the Presidency, receiving every vote of the electoral college except one. In the previous year he made a tour through the southern and western states, where he was received with the same cor- diality as had been displayed during his excursion to the north. Mr. Tompkins was re-elected to the Vice Presidency by a very large majority. The administration was the mt/st popular the country had yet known. The great question 152 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. before the Congress at the session of 1820-21, was upon the admission of Missouri into the Union. A h^rge portion of the members were opposed to the admission of any more states, by whose constitution slavery was recognised, and Missouri came within this category. After a very violent discussion, the question was settled by a compromise, pro- posed by Henry Clay, of Kentucky. Missouri was to be admitted ; but slavery was to be for ever prohibited in the rest of the territory west of the Mississippi, lying north of thirty-six degrees and thirty-six minutes, north latitude. Many important acts were adopted by Congress, during the second presidential term of Mr. Monroe. But we have indicated the general policy of the administration, and the views of the President, and it is beyond our purpose to re- view congressional measures. All the candidates proposed to succeed Mr. Monroe were members of tlie republican party. They were William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury ; John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State ; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War ; Henry Clay, and General Andrew Jackson. The vote in the electoral college stood as follows : — For Jackson, ninety-nine ; Adams, eighty-four ; Crawford, forty-one ; Clay, tliirty-seven. There was, con- sequently, no choice of a President by the people. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice President, receiving one hundred and eighty-two votes, to seventy-eight for all others. The election from the three highest candidates devolved upon the house of representatives. That body, voting by states, elected John Quincy Adams, in February, 1825. It was supposed that this choice was agreeable to the views of Mr. Monroe, though the disappointed candidates were his friends. At the close of this vigorous and prosperous administra- tion, on the 3d of March, 1825, Mr. Monroe retired to his JAMES MONROE. 158 residence in Loudon county, Virginia, where lie was shortly afterwards appointed a county magistrate, and curator of the University of Virginia. In 1829, he was elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution of the state, a body of which he was unanimously chosen president. A writer, in a late number of the " Southern Literary Messenger," who at- tended this convention, thus speaks of the part played by Mr. Monroe. " The want of the habit of public speaking was very con- spicuous in several of the older members of the Convention, and in none more than in Mr. Monroe. It was well known that he was never a very eloquent speaker; but in former days his speeches were said to be remarkable for plain com- mon sense, expressed in clear and intelligible language. He had lost all this, no doubt from long disuse, before he came to the convention. His ideas appeared to be confused, his delivery awkward, his manner perplexed, and his whole de- meanor that of a man overwhelmed by the magnitude of his subject. To have judged from his speeches on the floor, one might very well have supposed that he had no clear percep- tions upon any subject, and that he had not mastered the particular one upon which he was engaged for the time being. "Yet those who know the history of Mr. Monroe, are well aware that such was not the character of his mind. He was eminently a man of action ; he saw his way clearly in every difficulty, political or diplomatic, and though he might not be able to point it out to others, he never lost it himself. In this respect he resembled the English statesman, Castlereagh, who, if the account of Lord Brougham is to be credited, was the least luminous of all speakers that ever addressed the House of Commons. He formed a perfect contrast to his 154 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. great rival and enemy, Canning, who was tlie most polished of speakers, the most attic of wits, the most entertaining of raconteurs. Yet when the time of action came, the master- spirit developed itself at once in Castlereagh. He managed the helm with the boldness of a pilot who delighted in the excitement of tempest and danger, while his more eloquent adversary, if left to himself in the hour of peril, would soon have run the vessel on a shoal, or have caused her to founder at sea. " Though no orator, Mr. Monroe was, nevertheless, lis- tened to with great respect in the convention. And he was entitled to be thus listened to. He had filled the highest offices, had been twice elected President of the United States, and had conducted one of the most successful administrations the country had ever known. In spite of his embarrassed manner, and awkward delivery, these facts denoted him to be no ordinary man, and his fame had already been placed beyond the reach of accident." Before the adjournment of the convention, Mr. Monroe was compelled by indisposition, to retire. In the succeed- ing summer, he took up his abode with his son-in-law, Mr. Gouvernor, in New York. Here he died on the 4th of July, 1831, at the age of seventy-two years. He was the third ex-president who died upon the anniversary of the nation's independence. Mrs. Monroe died a short time before her husband. The following delineation of the character of Mr. Monroe, is given by Mr. A. J. Stansbury, in his interesting " Remi- niscences of Public Men :" "James Monroe was a gentleman; courteous, frank, dig- nified, accessible : his manner, however, had more of the soldier in it than the civilian ; he differed strongly in this JAMES MONROE. 155 respect from each of the Presidents who had preceded him. Washington was a soldier, it is true, but he had the carriage and bearing of a monarch in the field, and when transferred to the cabinet was still in his place. Adams was an En- glish, or rather a New England gentleman, and had the air of^ scholar, aocustomed to rank and deference. Jefferson was a polished French philosopher, courtier, and man of the world. Monroe was none of these, but had the look and open manner of one who had long been in camp, had read men more than books, and who silently reflected on all he saw. Though frank in manner, he could keep his own counsel, had his own will, and while he respectfully listened to all the opinions of his cabinet, and the arguments by which they were supported, made up his own mind, and after a night's reflection came prepared to declare and to abide by it. The composed state of the country, quietly recuperating as it was, after the tumult and effort of the second war with Great Britain, did not call out the latent energies of the man ; but when any thing did occur to rouse them, he always showed a spirit and vigor of mind that sometimes took men by surprise. ^'I recollect an instance of this that is highly character- istic of the man. He had issued an order of some kind, I forget its particular nature, to Commodore Porter, while on a distant station, which that ardent and somewhat inde- pendent officer took the liberty, for reasons deemed by him sufficient, to disregard. When the despatch came, bearing this intelligence, the Secretary of the Navy himself waited on the President to communicate it. Monroe's face turned crimson ; his eyes flashed fire ; and starting up and pacing the room, he exclaimed, ' the fellow ! does he dispute my orders ? He shall fight me ! I'll call him out the moment 156 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. he gets home.' There spoke out the man. It was not the President of the United States which spoke, but it was James Monroe. Taking Porter's conduct as a personal ajQfront, his very first idea was to call him to the field, and make him abide the issue at the pistol's mouth. A curious interview they would have had of it, had not the prudencetpf the chief magistrate checked the fiery ardor of the soldier. Monroe's public conduct was eminent for prudence, and always marked by good sense ; these sketches, and a careful estimate of what was due to his position. "Monroe was hospitable, cheerful among his friends, and a pleasant table companion. He had, however, no powers of anecdote ; in fact he had but one story, which he often told, and which nobody enjoyed more than himself. He had a black servant who waited upon him, and who was a genuine specimen of the Virginia negro. On one occasion it had been necessary for his master to rise very early in order to set out on a journey, and fearful lest he should over-sleep himself, he ordered Tone to spread his pallet by the side of his bed, and call him at the first dawn of day. A little before daylight Mr. Monroe's anxiety awoke him without foreign aid, while poor Tone's nose gave unmistakable evidence that he was still enjoying that deep, untroubled re- pose, which God has given to be the solace of the slave. Arousing him with his foot, his master called out : " ' Tone, you dog, are you asleep yet ? did I not tell you to call me early ? get up, you lazy devil, and look out, and let me know what sort of a morning it is.' " Tone bundled up, and blundering through the chamber opened a door, paused, and shutting it again, came to his master's bedside and reported, "Bery dark morning, master, and smell oh cheese.** JAMES MONROE. 157 " Poor sleepy Tone had opened the door into a pantry, in- stead of that which led out of doors. " President Monroe had a great personal respect for General Brown, whose bravery on the frontier had done so much for the national renown, and whose painful wound, still unhealed, rendered him an object of much and deserved sympathy from his countrymen. The general's position, as commander-in- chief brought him into frequent contact with the President, and as brave military men they had much common ground. Brown too, possessed a sound penetrating judgment, and much tact in the knowledge of mankind. Monroe availed himself often of his advice, and it seemed to me that the in- fluence thus obtained over the mind of the President was at least equal to that of any of his cabinet. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, was fast rising into distinction, and his eagle eye was fixed on the presidential \5hair. The delicate operation of reducing the army was in progress, and Brown's co-operation was important both to him and his superior. No man thought more highly of Monroe than he. *' The presidential mansion felt deeply the absence of Mrs. Madison. She had given it its charm, her smile was its light, her countenance *the Cynosure of neighboring eyes,' Mrs. Monroe was entirely a different woman. In miserable health, averse by nature, still more averse from religious principle, from all worldly pomp and display, she lived retired, and never appeared in the drawing room. I never saw her ; but all who knew her, praised her, and those who were most intimate with her loved her best." 14 t J. Q. ADAMS. lotii) Clqii'jclf 'kh'f^^' A LONG career of public usefulness, great capacity, ex- tensive information, and a spirit of lofty patriotism and in- dependence, entitle John Quincy Adams to the lasting remembrance of his countrymen. That his father had filled the presidential chair was a singular distinction ; but it was rather a drawback than an aid to him in his upward course. The people of the United States have ever been watchful foes to hereditary office-holding, and even the rare talents of the younger Adams could not induce them to give a cor- dial sanction to his elevation to the high seat which his fa- ther had occupied. When that honor was accorded to him, it was nothing more than the just reward of his individual merit. John Quincy Adams was born in Boston, on the 11th of of July, 1767. His father, John Adams, was engaged in the practice of the law, and rapidly rising in reputation. The name of John Quincy was derived from a great grand- father, who had been a man of note in the province of Massa- chusetts, about the commencement of the eighteenth century. The boyhood of the younger Adams was the period of the revolution, in the principles of which he was baptized. John Adams and his worthy wife were earnest promoters of the (163) 164 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS.' great struggle. Both were trulj patriotic. During Ms first years, Mrs. Adams herself taught her son the elements of English. John Quincj seems to have been very quick of comprehension. When only nine years of age, he wrote to his father the following letter : Braintree, June 2d, 1777. Deae Sir : I love to receive letters very well ; much better than I love to write them. I make but a poor figure at composi- tion. My head is much too fickle. My thoughts are running after bird's eggs, play, and trifles, till I get vexed with my- self. Mamma has a troublesome task to keep me a study- ing. I own I am ashamed of myself. I have just entered the third volume of Kollin's History, but designed to have got half through it by this time. I am determined this week to be more diligent. Mr. Thaxter is absent at Court. I have set myself a stint this week, to read the third volume half out. If I can but keep my resolution, I may again at the end of the week give a better account of myself. I wish, sir, you would give me in writing, some instructions with regard to the use of my time, and advise me how to propor- tion my studies and play, and I will keep them by me, and endeavor to follow them. With the present determination of growing better, I am, dear sir, your son, John Quincy Adams. P. S. Sir — If you will be so good as to favor me with a blank book, I will transcribe the most remarkable passages I meet with in my reading, which will serve to fix them upon my mind."* • Seward. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 165 In 1778, Jolin Adams was appointed to fill the place of Silas Deane, as minister to the court of Louis Sixteenth, and he resolved to take his son, then eleven years old, with him, and to give him the advantages of an education at the European schools. They remained in Paris about a year and a half, during which time John Quincy attended a public school, and, in his leisure hours, derived instruction from the conversation of his father, Dr. Franklin, and other dis- tinguished persons, by whom he was much loved and ad- mired. His rapid progress in knowledge was observed with great delight by his illustrious father. It was a pre- cious object to John Adams that his son should be a good and useful, if not a great, man, and the attention which he bestowed upon his training, was as constant as public duties would permit. Father and son returned to America. But in the fall of 1779, John Adams was appointed minister to the court of St. James, and he again crossed the Atlantic, taking John Quincy with him. They remained at Paris until August, 1780. John Quincy was sent to an academy, where he was a diligent student. The minister then* repaired to Holland, to negotiate. While in that country, the younger Adams was placed at school, first at Amsterdam, and afterwards at the Univer- sity of Leyden. We have good assurance that these oppor- tunities for acquiring knowledge were not neglected by John Quincy ; for in July, 1781, when Francis Dana was ap- pointed minister to Russia, the younger Adams, though but fourteen years old, received the post of private secretary of the mission. He remained in this situation fourteen months, giving perfect satisfaction. He returned from St. Petersburg to Holland, alone, — a good evidence of his self-confidence and knowledge. On 166 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. arriving in Holland, he resumed his studies at the Hague. But he was present at Paris, on the 30th of November, 1783, when peace was concluded between Great Britain on the one part, and France and the United States on the other, when the independence for which his father had struggled was recognised. He soon afterwards accompanied his father to London, where, in the course of 1784, Mrs. Adams joined them. While at the British metropolis, John Quincy Adams studied English literature, and had frequent oppor- tunities of listening to the great orators. Fox, Pitt, Burke, and Sheridan. Becoming apprehensive that his academic studies were being too much neglected, he obtained leave to return home in 1785. At the age of eighteen, he entered Cambridge University, where he graduated in 1788, with high honors. After leaving the University, young Adams went to New- buryport and commenced the study of the law, under the learned Theophilus Parsons. Having completed the usual term of preparation, he was admitted to practise, at Boston. For three or four years he was nearly briefless, and had fre- quent cause for despondency. But tjircumstances arose, of which he skilfully took advantage to get into public esteem. The French Revolution was diiferently regarded by the fede- ral and republican parties which upreared their heads at the commencement of Washington's administration. French political ideas, tending to overthrow all the decent restraints of society were received and advocated by the republicans, while the federalists went to the monarchical extreme. John Quincy Adams held singular views ; and in 1791, he pub- lished in the Boston Centinel, a series of articles, signed Publicola, in which he discussed, with great ability and force of style, the wild notions of the French political writers. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 167 These articles attracted mucli attention botli at home and abroad. They were republished in England, and admired bj Fox and Windham. Thej were generally attributed to the elder Adams. In 1793, John Quincy Adams published another series of articles, in the Boston Centinel, under the signature of " Marcellus," advocating the policy of neutrality for the United States, during the European wars. These papers attracted general attention and had the desired effect upon the public mind. Washington read them with deep satisfaction, and inquired for their author. The policy recom- mended was in opposition to popular notions, and it is believed had not been before publicly advocated in the United States. That it was adopted by sage statesmen and made the perma- nent guide of the government, was a brilliant testimony to the wisdom of the young Adams. The next public appear- ance of the young Boston lawyer was in a series of essays, under the signature of " Columbus," reviewing the violent course of Genet, the minister from the French republic to the United States. These important writings of the younger Adams brought him prominently before the public and won for him the high esteem of statesmen. Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, considered them full of the brightest promise. He recom- mended young Adams to the favor of President Washington, as one fitted for diplomatic service. The President approved the judgment of Jefferson, and in May, 1794, appointed Mr. Adams minister of the United States at the Hague. This was as gratifying as it was unexpected. John Quincy Adams was then only twenty-seven years old. Seldom has so weighty a trust been placed in such youthful hands. Mr. Adams arrived at the Hague, in the summer of 1794. The affairs of Holland were in confusion, in consequence of £68 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. the Frencli invasion. No prospect of effecting any thing beneficial to the United States appeared, and a few months after his arrival, Mr. Adams thought of returning home. President Washington, hearing of his intention, wrote to the Vice President, John Adams, expressing the hope that the young minister would remain at his post, and prophesying that he would one day be at the head of the diplomatic corps. This high approval induced John Quincy Adams to yield his inclinations. He remained abroad at the Hague, until near the close of Washington's administration, attentively studying European affairs, and watching for every oppor- tunity of advancing the interests of his country. During his residence at the Hague, Mr. Adams had occa- sion to visit London, to exchange ratifications of a treaty formed with Great Britain concerning commerce. While there, he formed an acquaintance with Miss Louisa Catha- rine Johnson, daughter of Joshua Johnson, Esq., consular agent of the United States, at London. This acquaintance deepened into an affection, and the parties were married on the 26th of July, 1797. The union was long and happy. In 1796, the elder Adams was elevated to the Presidency. The course to be pursued towards his son perplexed the dis- interested old patriot. He consulted Washington, and was advised by that great man not to withhold merited promotion from John Quincy Adams upon any consideration. Wash- ington expressed the opinion that the young minister was the most valuable public character abroad. President Adams then appointed his son minister to the court of Berlin, upon the duties of which ofiice he entered in the fall of 1797. In 1798, Mr. Adams was commissioned to form a commer- cial treaty with Sweden. While in Berlin, he made the ac- quaintance of many eminent German scholars and poets, JOHN QITINCY ADAMS. 169 and displayed much sjmpatlij with their pursuits. To per- fect his knowledge of the German language, Mr. Adams made a metrical translation of Wieland's " Oberon," into the English language. The publication of this work, how- ever, was forestalled by the translation made by William Sotheby. In the summer of 1800, Mr. Adams made a tour through Silesia, with which he was delighted. His impressions dur- ing the excursion were communicated in a series of letters to a younger brother in Philadelphia. These, without their author's knowledge, were published in the United States and in Europe. The information contained in them was consi- dered very valuable. Mr. Adams was successful, after a protracted and skilful negotiation, in forming a treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia. The penetration and vigilance of -the young mini- ster were fully tried in the contest with wily and veteran diplo- matists, and he came off with increased reputation. On the 4th of March, 1801, John Adams Avas succeeded, as Presi- dent of the United States, by Mr. Jefferson. One of the last acts of the elder Adams was the recall of his son from Ber- lin, that Mr. Jefferson might not be perplexed with the matter. John Quincy Adams returned to the United States in 1801, He was no partisan, having been absent from the country when parties were formed. His talents and acquirements were well known, and he was not allowed to remain long in inactivity. In 1802, he was elected to the senate of Massa- chusetts from the Boston district. In that body he acted with that independent and fearless spirit which was^'ever his great characteristic. Though he took unpopular sides he did not lose favor. In 1803, he was elected to the senate of the 15 170 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. United States, in which body he took his seat when but thirty-six years old. As a senator, John Quincy Adams soon displayed qualities noble in themselves, but calculated to render him unpopular with the federal party, by whose suffrage he had been elected. The British orders in council, and Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees threatened to sweep the commerce of the United States from the seas. Outrage after outrage was committed upon American vessels. President Jefferson at length resolved upon the retaliatory measure known as the '' Embargo." (December, 1807.) The federal party stoutly opposed this Embargo, and it was expected that its senators and representatives who had been chosen by that party, should urge its repeal. Mr. Adams thought President Jef- ferson's policy just and expedient, and gave it his sup- port. This course subjected him to severe and bitter cen- sure, and he was charged with acting from every motive but the true one — a desire to promote the honor and welfare of the Union. The legislature of Massachusetts disapproved of the course pursued by Mr. Adams, and elected another person to supply his place at the expiration of his term. Mr. Adams did not wish to represent a body of which he had lost the confidence, and he therefore resigned his seat in the senate, March, 1808. The reputation of Mr. Adams for literary acquirements, equaled his fame as a statesman. In 1804, he was urged to be a candidate for the presidency of Cambridge Univer- sity; but he declined the honor. During the following year, he was appointed Professor of Bhetoric and Belles Lettres^ in the same institution. This office he accepted on condition that its duties should not interfere with his con- gressional services. On the 12th of June, 1806, Mr. Adams JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 171 ielivered his inaugural address, on entering tlie professor- ship. His lectures on rhetoric and eloquence were popular, and attracted great crowds. On the 4th of March, 1809, Mr. Madison began his eventful administration. Having a proper appreciation of the talents and experience of Mr. Adams, he gave him the important post of minister to Russia. In the following summer, Mr. Adams sailed for St. Petersburg. He was received with many marks of favor, and admitted to per- sonal intimacy with the Emperor Alexander. During his residence in Russia, the death of Judge Gushing caused a vacancy on the bench of the supreme court of the United States. President Madison nominated Mr. Adams to this high office, and the nomination was confirmed by the senate. But Mr. Adams declined its acceptance. While sojourning at St. Petersburg, Mr. Adams wrote a series of letters to his son, then at school in Massachusetts, on the value of the Bible and the benefit resulting from its daily perusal. These letters, which were honorable to the head and heart of their author, have been published since his de- cease. Mr. Adams, like his father, had faith in the Unita- rian doctrines ; but was a practical Christian, and never let himself be swayed by sectarian feeling. The influence obtained by the American minister, at the court of St. Petersburg, was turned to the best account. The Emperor Alexander was induced to make an ofi*er of his mediation between the United States and Great Britain. President Madison signified his acceptance of this ofier, and appointed Messrs. Adams, Bayard, and Gallatin, to conduct the negotiation. To these commissioners were afterwards added Messrs. Clay and Russel. Great Britain refused to treat under the mediation of Russia, but proposed to nego- 172 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. tiate independently with tlie United States. In the famous negotiations at Ghent, in 1814, Mr. Adams took a leading part, and contributed much to bringing about a good under- standing between the hostile countries, as well as to the vin- dication of the rights of his nation. The conduct of the American commissioners was eulogized by the Marquis of of Wellesley, and it gave great satisfaction in the United States. After the conclusion of their labors at Ghent, Messrs. Adams, Gallatin, and Clay, were directed to proceed to London, and, if possible, to negotiate a commercial treaty. This was accomplished without much difficulty, and in the meantime, Mr. Adams was appointed minister to the court of St. James — the most important diplomatic situation at the command of the American government. On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe succeeded Mr. Madison in the office of President of the United States. As Secretary of State, he had possessed the best opportunities for observing the diplomatic talents and great political knowledge manifested by Mr. Adams in Europe, and he now selected that gentleman to take charge of the depart- ment of state. Mr. Adams was known to be an independent as well as an able man. Against him there was no party rancor. The appointment gave great satisfaction to the friends of the President and the people generally. Mr. Adams arrived at New York on the 6th of June, 1817. A few days afterwards a public dinner was given him by a large number of distinguished citizens, with Governor De Witt Clinton at their head. Another public dinner was given him upon his arrival in Boston, at which his vene- rable father, ex-president Adams, was present as a guest. Entering upon the duties of the office of Secretary of JOHN QUINCT ADAMS. 173 State, in September, 1817, Mr. Adams acquitted himself to the satisfaction of the President and the country, during the eight years of Mr. Monroe's administration. The fo- reign affairs of the country were never more skilfully handled. Peace and neutrality were preserved through all difficulties, while the honor of the nation was never allowed to be sullied. At the close of the administration of Mr. Monroe, the federal party was extinct. All the candidates for the suc- cession were members of the republican party. The East brought forward the man who by his superior statesmanship had become its "favorite son" — John Quincy Adams. The West upheld two names — General Andrew Jackson, who possessed a splendid military reputation — and Henry Clay, one of the first orators and most active statesmen of the day. The South selected William H. Crawford, a statesman of commanding talent, as its candidate. Of these personages, Mr. Adams least sought the presidential office. He allowed his name to stand before the people, at the urgent request of a large body of admiring friends. " The qualifications on which his supporters depended, and to which they called the attention of the American people, as reasons for elevating him to the head of the ge- neral government, may be summarily enumerated, as fol- lows : — 1. The purity of his private character — the simpli- city of his personal habits — his unbending integrity and up- rightness, even beyond suspicion. 2. His commanding talents, and his acquirements both as a scholar and a states- man. 3. His love of country — his truly American feelings, in all that concerned the welfare and the honor of the United States. 4. His long experience in public affairs, especially his familiarity with our foreign relations, and his perfect knowledge of the institutions, the internal condition and 15* 174 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. policy of European nations. 5. His advocacy of protection to domestic manufactures, and of a judicious system of internal improvements."* The campaign of 1824, was- very exciting. The greatest zeal and energy was displayed by the friends of the several candidates. Of two hundred and sixty-one electoral votes, General Jackson received ninety-nine ; Mr. Adams, eighty- four ; Mr. Crawford, forty-one ; and Mr. Clay, thirty-seven. There being no choice by the people, the election devolved on the house of representatives. On the 10th of February, 1825, that body proceeded to vote by states, according to the constitution, and the result was ascertained to be as fol- lows : — For John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, thirteen votes ; for Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, seven votes ; for William H. Crawford, of Georgia, four votes. John Quincy Adams, therefore, was declared duly elected President of the United States, for four years, commencing on the 4th of March, 1825. The choice of Mr. Adams by the house of representatives excited a great deal of clamor among the friends of General Jackson. This was unreasonable. General Jackson had received fifteen more electoral votes than Mr. Adams, but the latter was superior in the popular vote. However, much bitter feeling was excited, and it was ever charged that a bargain had been made between Messrs. Clay and Adams, by the terms of which, the latter was to be chosen Pre- sident upon condition that the former should be appointed Secretary of State. This charge has been completely refuted. It could not have been made except in partisan heat. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was elected Vice President; by a large majority in the electoral college. * Seward, JOHN QUINCT ADAMS. 175 On the 4th of March, 1825, John Quincy Adams was inaugurated as President of the United States. The cere- monies were brilliant and imposing. Seldom before had such a scene been witnessed at Washington. The inaugural address of Mr. Adams was a statesman-like and polished composition, doing full justice to his political and rhetorical attainments. He thus spoke of the policy of the preceding administration, which he entirely sanctioned: " The great features of its policy, and in general concur- rence with the will of the legislature, have been — To cher- ish peace while preparing for defensive war — to yield exact justice to other nations, and maintain the rights of our own — to cherish the principles of freedom and equal rights, where- ever they were proclaimed — to discharge, with all possible promptitude, the national debt — to reduce within the nar- rowest limits of efficiency the military force — to improve the organization and discipline of the army — to provide and sus- tain a school of military science — to extend equal protection to all the great interests of the nation — to promote the civi- lization of the Indian tribes ; and — ^to proceed to the great system of internal improvements, within the limits of the constitutional power of the Union. Under the pledge of these promises, made by that eminent citizen at the time of his first induction to this office, in his career of eight years the internal taxes have been repealed ; sixty millions of the public debt have been discharged ; provision has been made for the comfort and relief of the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the Revolution ; the regular armed force has been reduced, and its constitution revised and per- fected ; the accountability for the expenditure of public mo- nies has been more effective ; the Floridas have been peace- ably acquired, and our boundary has been extended to the 176 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.. Pacific Ocean ; the independence of tlie southern nations of this hemisphere has been recognized, and recommended by example and by counsel to the potentates of Europe ; pro- gress has been made in the defence of the country, by forti- fications and the increase of the navy — ^towards the efi'ectual suppression of the African traffic in slaves — ^in alluring the aboriginal hunters of our land to the cultivation of the soil and of the mind — in exploring the interior regions of the Union, and in preparing, by scientific researches and surveys for the further application of our national resources to the internal improvement of our country." In entering upon the discharge of his duties as President, Mr. Adams formed his cabinet by nominating Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Secretary of State ; Richard Rush, of Penn- sylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; James Barbour, of Virginia, Secretary of War ; Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy ; and William Wirt, Attorney General. These ■were all men of well-known capacity and integrity. A power- ful opposition was organized, but Mr. Adams, throughout his presidential term, discharged his duties with the utmost fearlessness, as well as with consummate ability, and the clamors of violent partisans were treated with contempt. In the year of the inauguration of Mr. Adams, the vete- ran General Lafayette visited the United States, made the tour of the country, and was every where received with en- thusiasm and expressions of gratitude for revolutionary ser- vices. On the 7th of September, 1825, he took leave of the general government. On this occasion. President Adams bade him farewell in an address, not more remarkable for dignified eloquence than for generous emotion. In the same month, the President visited his aged father, at Quincy, Massachusetts. It was his last interview with JOHN QriNCT ADAMS. 177 the old patriot. On the 4th of July, 1826, John Adams and his compatriot, Thomas Jefferson, left the earth together, amid the rejoicings of " Independence Day." The aims of President Adams were to conciliate all par- ties and to benefit the whole country, and his administration was certainly wise and energetic. Internal improvements and domestic manufactures were objects of constant solici- tude. The first tended to strengthen the Union, the second to render it truly independent. The Secretary of State was active and skilful. During the four years of Mr. Adams's administration, more treaties were negotiated at Washington than during the entire thirty-six years through which the preceding administrations had extended. Throughout the administration of Mr. Adams, the opposition was strong, bitter, and unscrupulous. Most of the measures of the government were approved. But there was a deter- mination manifest to seek out every occasion to denounce the President and his cabinet. In Congress, the opposition had a majority. In the fall of 1828, the presidential elec- tion occurred. Mr. Adams and General Jackson were the opposing candidates. The contest was highly exciting. But the result was anticipated. General Jackson obtained a large majority in the electoral college. As Mr. Adams had taken his lofty seat with diffidence, he retired from it with dignity and without regret. He was satisfied that he had done his duty. After witnessing the inauguration of General Jackson, on the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retu-ed to the old fa- mily seat at Quincy, Massachusetts. One of his first acts there, was the erection of a monument to the memory of his parents. The inscription contained a glowing eulogy upon their virtue and patriotism, and was honorable to the feel- 178 LIVES OF TH^ PRESIDENTS. ings of the noble son. Scientific and literary pursuits, as well as the conversation of friends, now occupied the atten- tion of the ex-president. But the public voice demanded new service. In 1830, the people of the Plymouth district nominated him for their representative in Congress, and, contrary to general expectation, he accepted the nomination. It was his constant creed, that whatever service the country demanded of a citizen, that he was bound to render, and no false idea of dignity could deter him from acting accordingly. In due time the election was held, and Mr. Adams was re- turned to Congress, by a nearly unanimous vote. From that time forward, for seventeen years, and to the hour of his death, he occupied the post of representative in Congress from the Plymouth district, with unswerving fidelity and honor. His course was ever bold, decided, and independent. He was a ready and powerful debater, and won the title of "the old man eloquent." No subject came before Congress upon which he could not shed light, while his devotion to principle and to the rights of man was untiring, and, on par- ticular occasions, heroic. Mr. Adams first took his seat in the house of representatives in December, 1831. The marks of respect and afi'ection received by him from distinguished representatives were many and gratifying. Those who had refused even justice to the President were willing to render the man his due. As a member of committees, Mr. Adams was diligent and attentive, while it was a matter of general note, that he was usually the first representative to enter the house and the last to leave it. He acted in general, with the whigs, as the opponents of Jackson and Van Buren were called, but when he thought that party wrong, he did not hesitate to oppose it, and support the administration. Courageous independence was his noblest trait as a states- JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 179 man. Whatever opinions may be entertained in regard to the wisdom of Mr. Adam's opposition to the Texas inde- pendence and annexation scheme, and of his advocacy of the the right of petition touching the institution of slavery, all must admire the firmness, the perseverance, the almost sub- lime determination he displayed in maintaining his doctrines, amid tempests of abuse and denunciation, as well as threats of expulsion and assassination. Upon all subjects, but slavery, Mr. Adams could com- mand the respectful attention of the house. The confidence placed in him in emergencies was unbounded. A case in point is afibrded in the difficulty occasioned by the double delegation from New Jersey, which is thus given in the famous " Reminiscences of John Quincy Adams," by an Old Colony Man : On the opening of the 26th Congress, in December, 1839, in consequence of a two-fold delegation from New Jersey, the house was unable, for some time, to complete its organiza- tion, and presented to the country and the world the perilous and discreditable aspect of the assembled representatives of the people, unable to form themselves into a constitutional body. On first assembling, the house has no officers, and the clerk of the preceding Congress acts, by usage, as chair- man of the body, till a speaker is chosen. On this occasion, after reaching the state of New Jersey, the acting clerk de- clined to proceed in calling the roll, and refused to entertain any of the motions which were made for the purpose of ex- tricating the house from its embarrassment. Many of the ablest and most judicious members had addressed the house in vain, and there was nothing but confusion and disorder in prospect. The fourth day opened, and still confusion was triumphant. 180 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. But the tour of disenthralment was at hand, and a scene was presented wliich set the mind back to those days when Cromwell uttered the exclamation — " Sir Harry Vane ! wo unto you, Sir Harry Vane !" — and in an instant dispersed the famous Rump Parliament. Mr. Adams, from the opening of this scene of confusion and anarchy, had maintained a profound silence. He ap- peared to be engaged most of the time in writing. To a common observer, he seemed to be reckless of everything around him — but nothing, not the slightest incident escaped him. The fourth day of the struggle had now commenced ; Mr. Hugh H. Garland, the clerk, was directed to call the roll again. He commenced with Maine, as was usual in those days, and was proceeding towards Massachusetts. I turned, and saw that Mr. Adams was ready to get the floor at the earliest moment possible. His keen eye was riveted on the clerk ; his hands clasped the front edge of his desk, where he always placed them to assist him in rising. He looked, in the language of Otway, like the ■" fowler eager for his prey." " New Jersey !" ejaculated Mr. Hugh H. Garland, "and the clerk has to repeat that " Mr. Adams sprang to the floor ! "I rise to interrupt the clerk," was his first ejaculation. "Silence, silence," resounded through the hall; "hear him, hear him. Hear what he has to say; hear John Quincy Adams !" was the unanimous ejaculation on all sides. In an instant the most profound silence reigned throughout the hall — ^you might have heard a leaf of paper drop in any part of it< — and every eye was riveted on the venerable JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 181 Nestor of Massachusetts — the purest of statesmen, and the noblest of men ! He paused for a moment ; and, having given Mr. Garland a " witherins; look ! " he proceeded to address the multitude : " It was not my intention," said he, "to take any part in these extraordinary proceedings. I had hoped that this house would succeed in organizing itself; that a speaker and clerk would be elected, and that the ordinary business of legislation would be progressed in. This is not the time, or place, to discuss the merits of the conflicting claimants for seats from New Jersey; that subject belongs to the house of representatives, which, by the constitution, is made the ultimate arbiter of the qualifications of its members. But what a spectacle we here present ! We degrade and disgrace ourselves ; we degrade and disgrace our constituents and the country. We do not, and cannot organize ; and why ? Because the clerk of this house, the mere clerk, whom we create, whom we employ, and whose existence de- pends upon our will, usurps the throne^ and sets us, the re- presentatives, the vicegerents of the whole American people, at defiance, and holds us in contempt ! And what is this clerk of yours ? Is he to control the destinies of sixteen millions of freemen ? Is he to suspend, by his mere negative, the functions of government, and put an end to this Congress ? He refuses to call the roll ! It is in your power to compel him to call it, if he will not do it voluntarily. [Here he was interrupted by a member, who said that he was autho- rized to say that compulsion could not reach the clerk, who had avowed that he would resign, rather than call the state of New Jersey.] Well, sir, then let him resign," continued 16 . 182 LIVES OF THE PRESIBENTS. Mr. Adams, " and we may possibly discover some way by which we can get along, without the aid of his all-powerful talent, learning, and genius. If we cannot organize in any other way — ^if this clerk of yours will not consent to our discharging the trusts confided to us by our constituents, then let us imitate the example of the Virginia house of bur- gesses, which, when the colonial Governor Dinwiddle ordered it to disperse, refused to obey the imperious and insulting mandate, and, like men " The multitude could not contain or repress their enthu- siasm any longer, but saluted the eloquent and indignant speaker, and intercepted him with loud and deafening cheers, which seemed to shake the capitol to its centre. The very Genii of applause and enthusiasm seemed to float in the atmo- sphere of the hall, and every heart expanded with an inde- scribable feeling of pride and exultation. The turmoil, the darkness, the very " chaos of anarchy," which had, for three successive days, pervaded the American Congress, was dis- pelled by the magic, the talismanic eloquence of a single man ; and once more the wheels of government and of legis- lation were put in motion. Having, by this powerful appeal, brought the yet unor- ganized assembly to a perception of its hazardous position, he submitted a motion requiring the acting clerk to proceed in calling the roll. This and similar motions had already been made by other members. The difficulty was, that the acting clerk declined to entertain them. Accordingly, Mr. Adams was immediately interrupted by a burst of voices de- manding, "How shall the question be put?" "Who will put the question ?" The voice of Mr. Adams was heard above the tumult, "I intend to put the question myself!" That word brought order out of chaos. There was the master mind. JOHN QUINCT ADAMS. 183 As soon as tlie multitude had recovered itself, and tlie ex- citement of irrepressible enthusiasm had abated, Mr. Rich- ard Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina, leaped upon one of the desks, waved his hand, and exclaimed : " I move that the Honorable John Quincj Adams take the chair of the speaker of this house, and officiate as pre- siding officer, till the house be organized by the election of its constitutional officers ! As many as are agreed to this will say ay ; those " He had not an opportunity to complete the sentence — " those who are not agreed, will say no," — for one universal, deafening, thundering ay^ responded to the nomination. Hereupon, it was moved and ordered that Lewis Williams, of North Carolina, and Richard Barnwell Rhett, conduct John Quincy Adams to the chair. Well did Mr. Wise, of Virginia, say, " Sir, I regard it as the proudest hour of your life ; and if, when you shall be gathered to your fathers, I were asked to select the words which, in' my judgment, are best calculated to give at once the character of the man, I would inscribe upon your tomb this sentence, 'I will put the question myself.' " The labors of Mr. Adams in behalf of the right of peti- tion were at length crowned with success. In 1845, the obnoxious "gag rule," was rescinded, and Congress con- sented to receive and treat respectfully all petitions on the subject of slavery. " If any thing were wanting to crown the fame of Mr. Adams, in the last days of life, with imperishable honor, or to add, if possible, new brilliancy to the beams of his setting sun, it is found in his advocacy of the freedom of the Ami- stad slaves. " A ship-load of negroes had been stolen from Africa, 184 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. contrary to the laws of nations, of humanity, and of God, and surreptitiously smuggled, in the night, into the Island of Cuba. This act was piracy, according to the law of Spain, and of all governments in Christendom, and the per- petrators thereof, had they been dectected, would have been punished with death. Immediately after the landing of these unfortunate Africans, about thirty-six of them were purchased of the slave pirates, by two Spaniards, named Don Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montes, who shipped them for Guanaja, Cuba, in the schooner 'Amistad.' When three days out from Havana, the Africans rose, killed the captain and crew, and took possession of the vessel — sparing the lives of their purchasers, Ruiz and Montes. This trans- action was unquestionably justifiable on the part of the ne- groes. They had been stolen from their native land — had fallen into the hands of pirates and robbers, and reduced to abject slavery. According to the first law of nature — the law of self-defence — implanted in the bosom of every human being by the Creator, they were justified in taking any measures necessary to restore them to the enjoyment of that freedom which was theirs by birthright. " The negroes being unable to manage the schooner, com- pelled Ruiz and Montes to navigate her, and directed them to shape her course for Africa ; for it was their design to return to their native land. But they were deceived by the two Spaniards, who brought the schooner to the coast of the United States, where she was taken possession of by Lieutenant Gedney, of the United States surveying brig Washington, a few miles ofi" Montauk Point, and brought into New London, Connecticut. The two Spaniards claimed vhe Africans as their property ; and the Spanish minister demanded of the President of the United States, that JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 185 they be delivered up to the proper authorites, and taken back to Havana, to be tried for piracy and murder. The matter was brought before the District Court of Connecticut. " In the mean time President Van Bur en ordered the United States schooner Grampus, Lieutenant John S. Paine, to repair to New Haven, to be in readiness to convey the Africans to Havana, should such be the decision of the court. But the court decided that the government of the United States had no authority to return them into slavery ; and directed that they be conveyed in one of our public ships to the shores of Africa, from whence they had been torn away. From this decision the United States District Attorney appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. These transactions attracted the attention of the whole people of the Union, and naturally excited the sympathy of the masses, pro and con as they were favorable or unfavor- able to the institution of slavery. Who should defend in the Supreme Court, these poor outcasts — ignorant, degraded, wretched — who, fired with a noble energy, had burst the shackles of slavery, and by a wave of fortune had been thrown into the midst of a people professing freedom, yet keeping their feet on the necks of millions of slaves ? The eyes of all the friends of human rights turned instinctively to John QuiNCY Adams. Nor were their expectations disappointed. "Without hesitation he espoused the cause of., the Amistad negroes. At the age of seventy-four, he appeared in the supreme court of the United States to advocate their cause. He entered upon this labor with the enthusiasm of a youth- ful barrister, and displayed forensic talents, a critical know- ledge of law, and of the inalienable rights of man, which 16* 186 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ■would have added to the renown of the most eminent jurists of the day.* " When he went to the supreme court, after an absence of thirty years, and arose to defend a body of friendless negroes, torn from their home and most unjustly held in thrall — when he asked the judges to excuse him at once both for the trembling faults of age and the inexperience of youth, having labored so long elsewhere that he had for- gotten the rules of court — when he summed up the conclu- sion of the whole matter, and brought before those judicial but yet moistening eyes, the great men he had once met there — Chase, Gushing, Martin, Livingston, and Marshall himself ; and while he remembered that they were ' gone, gone, all gone,' remembered also the eternal Justice that is never gone — the sight was sublime. It was not an old pa- trician of Rome, who had been Consul, Dictator, coming out of his retirement at the Senate's call, to stand in the Forum to levy new armies, marshal them to victory afresh, and gain thereby new laurels for his brow ; but it was a plain citizen of America, who had held an office far greater than that of Consul, King, or Dictator, his hand reddened by no man's blood, expecting no honors, but coming in the name of justice, to plead for the slave, for the poor barba- rian negro of Africa, for Cinque and Grabbo, for their deeds comparing them to Harmodius and Aristogeiton, whose classic memory made each bosom thrill. That was worth all his honors — it was worth while to live fourscore years for that."t " This effort of Mr. Adams was crowned with complete success. The supreme court decided that the Africans were entitled to their freedom, and ordered them to be liberated. * Seward, f Theodore Parker. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 187 In due time they were enabled, by the assistance of the charitable, to sail for Africa, and take with them many of the implements of civilized life. They arrived in safety at Sierre Leone, and were allowed once more to mingle with their friends. '^ In availing the country of the benefit of the ' Smithso- nian Bequest,' and in founding the 'Smithsonian Institute* at Washington, Mr. Adams took an active part. He re- peatedly called the attention of Congress to the subject, until he succeeded in causing a bill to be passed providing for the establishment of the Institute. He was appointed one of the Regents of the Institute, which office he held until his death. " In the summer of 1843, Mr. Adams visited Lebanon Springs, New York, for the benefit of his health, which had become somewhat impaired, and also the health of a cherished member of his family. He designed to devote only four or five days to this journey ; but he was so highly pleased with the small portion of the state of jSTew York he saw at Leba- non Springs, that he was induced to proceed further. He visited Saratoga, Lake George, Lower Canada, Montreal and Quebec. Returning, he ascended the St. Lawrence and the Lakes as far as Niagara Falls and Bufialo, and by the way of Rochester, Auburn, LTtica and Albany, sought his home in Quincy with health greatly improved. '' Although Mr. Adams had many bitter enemies — made so by his fearless independence, and the stern integrity with which he discharged the public duties entrusted to him — yet in the hearts of the people he ever occupied the highest position. They not only respected and admired the politician, the statesman, but they venerated the man ! they loved him for his purity, his philanthropy, his disinterested 188 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. patriotism, his devotion to freedom and human rights. All this was manifested during his tour through New York. It was marked in its whole extent by demonstration of the highest attention and respect from the people of all parties. Public greetings, processions, celebrations, met him and ac- companied him at every step of his journey. Never since the visit of Lafayette, had such an anxious desire to honor a great and good man been manifested by the entire mass of the people. His progress was one continued triumphal pro- cession. ' I may say,' exclaimed Mr. Adams, near the close of his tour, ' without being charged with pride or vanity I have come not alone, for the whole people of the state of New York have been my companions !' " At Buffalo he was received with every possible demon- stration of respect. The national ensign was streaming from an hundred masts, and the wharves, and the decks and rig- ging of vessels, were crowded by thousands anxious to catch a glimpse of the renowned statesman and patriot, who was greeted by repeated cheers. The Honorable Millard Fillmore addressed him with great eloquence. The following is the conclusion of his speech : " You see around you, sir, no political partisans seeking to promote some sinister purpose ; but you see here assem- bled the people of our infant city, without distinction of party, sex, age, or condition — all, all anxiously vieing with each other to show their respect and esteem for your public services and private worth. Here are gathered, in this vast multitude of what must appear to you strange faces, thou- sands whose hearts have vibrated to the chord of sympathy which your speeches have touched. Here is reflecting age, and ardent youth, and lisping childhood, to all of whom your venerated name is as dear as household words — all JOHN QTJINCY ADAMS. 189 anxious to feast their eyes by a sight of that extraordinary and venerable man, of whom they have heard, and read of, that ' old man eloquent,' on whose lips wisdom has distilled her choicest nectar. Here, sir, you see them all, and read in their eager and joy-gladdened countenances, and brightly beaming eyes, a welcome — a thrice-told, heart-felt, soul- stirring welcome to ' the man whom they delight to honor/ " Mr. Adams responded to this speech in a strain of most interesting remarks. He commenced as follows : " I must request your indulgence for a moment's pause to take breath. If you inquire why I ask this indulgence, it is because I am so overpowered by the eloquence of my friend, the chairman of the committee of ways and means, (whom I have so long been accustomed to refer to in that capacity, that, with your permission, I will continue so to denominate him now,) that I have no words left to answer him. For so liberal has he been in bestowing that eloquence upon me which he himself possesses in so eminent a degree, that while he was ascribing to me talents so far above my own consciousness in that regard, I was all the time implor- ing the god of eloquence to give me, at least at this moment, a few words to justify him before you in making that splendid panegyric which he has been pleased to bestow upon me ; and that the flattering picture which he has presented to you, may not immediately be defaced before your eyes by what you should hear from me. * * * * ^' In concluding his remarks, he said : ' Of your attach- ment to moral principles I have this day had another and pleasing proof in the dinner of which I have partaken in the steamer, in which, by your kindness, I have been conveyed to this place. It was a sumptuous dinner, but at which temperance was the presiding power. I congratulate you 190 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. on the evidence there exhibited of your attachment to moral principle, in your co-operation in that great movement which is promoting the happiness and elevation of man in every quarter of the globe. '' And here you will permit me to allude to an incident vrhich has occurred in my recent visit to Canada, in which I perceived the co-operations of the people of that Province in the same great moral reformation. While at Quebec, I visited the Falls of Montmorenci, a cataract which, but for yours, would be among the greatest wonders of nature. In going to it, I passed through the parish of Beauport, and there, by the side of the way, I saw a column with an inscrip- tion upon its pedestal, which I had the curiosity to stop and read. It was erected by the people of Beauport in gratitude to the "Virgin, for her goodness in promoting the cause of temperance in that parish. Perhaps I do not sufficiently sympathize with the people of Beauport in attributing to the Virgin so direct an influence upon this moral reform ; but in the spirit with which they erected that monument I do most cordially sympathize with them. For, under whatever influence the cause may be promoted, the cause itself can never fail to make its votaries wiser and better men. I can- not make a speech. My heart is too full, and my voice too feeble. Farewell ! And with that farewell, may the blessings of heaven be upon you throughout your lives !" Mr. Adams was greatly delighted with his visit to Niagara Falls, and with his whole tour. During the same year he delivered numerous lectures before literary associations, and yet attended to his Congres- sional duties. Labors which would task the strength of youth, he performed with comparative ease and comfort. *' His great longevity and his general good health must JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 191 be attributed, in no small degree, to Ms abstemious and tem- perate habits, early rising, and active exercise. He took pleasure in athletic amusements, and was exceedingly fond of walking. During his summer residence in Quincy, he has been known to walk to his son's residence in Boston, (seven miles,) before breakfast. ^ While President of the United States, he was probably the first man up in Washington, lighted his own fire, and was hard at work in his library, while sleep yet held in its obliviousness the great mass of his fellow-citizens.' He was an expert swimmer, and was in the constant habit of bathing, whenever circumstances would permit. Not unfrequently the first beams of the rising sun, as they fell upon the beautiful Potomac, would find Mr. A^dams buffeting its waves with all the sportiveness and dex- terity of boyhood, while a single attendant watched upon the shore. While in the Presidency, he sometimes made a journey from Washington to Quincy on horseback, as a simple citizen, accompanied only by a servant."* More than fourscore years had wasted their strength upon the frame of Mr. Adams, and he was still found in the hall of representatives. There, at his post, the hand of death was laid upon his venerable head. On the 20th of November, 1846, he experienced the first blow of the dis- ease, which terminated his existence. On the morning of that day, at Boston, he was stricken with paralysis. This affliction confined him for several weeks, when he gained sufficient strength to proceed to Washington. After this stroke, he did not mingle as freely in debate as formerly. On the 21st of February, 1848, while voting for a resolu- tion returning thanks to several generals, who had' distin- guished themselves .in the Mexican war, Mr. Adams vfas * Seward. 192 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. again struck with paralysis. The members crowded around him. The house adjourned amid the excitement. Mr. Adams was laid, in a state of insensibility, upon a sofa in the speaker's room. The senate adjourned as soon as in- formed of the accident. On all sides the deepest regret and sorrow was manifested. The elements of life and death continued in uncertain balance until the evening of the 23d, when the spirit fled to God. The last words of the vene- rable statesman were — " TJiis is the end of earth — I am content.'' The nation was thrown into mourning upon the announce- ment of the death of John Quincy Adams. President Polk issued a proclamation announcing the bereavement, and directing the suspension of all public business upon the day of the funeral— the 26th of February. The body was laid, with imposing ceremony, in the Congressional burial- ground, where it remained until the next week, when a committee of one from each state and territory in the union, appointed by the house of representatives, conveyed it to the family burying ground, at Quincy. Puneral processions along the route gave indications of the national sorrow. The body was laid in a plain tomb, prepared by the direc- tion of the deceased statesman. Upon it was inscribed — John Quincy Adams — and nothing more — and nothing more was necessary. Numerous eulogiums have been pronounced upon the character of John Quincy Adams. Among the most elo- quent was that delivered by Governor William H. Seward, before the New York legislature. From it we make the following extract : " The model by which he formed his character was Cicero. Not the living Cicerr, sometimes inconsistent ; often irreso- JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 193 lute ; too often seeming to act a studied part ; and always covetous of applause. But Cicero, as he aimed to be, and as he appears revealed in those immortal emanations of his genius which have been the delight and guide of intellect and virtue in every succeeding age. Like the Roman, Adams was an orator, but he did not fall into the errors of the Roman, in practically valuing eloquence more than the beneficence to which it should be devoted. Like him he was a statesman and magistrate worthy to be called " The second founder of the Republic," — like him a teacher of didactic philosophy, of morals, and even of his own peculiar art ; and like him he made all liberal learning tributary to that noble art, while poetry was the inseparable companion of his genius in its hours of relaxation from the labors of the forum and of the capitol. "Like him he loved only the society of good men, and by his generous praise of such, illustrated the Roman's beautiful aphorism, that no one can be envious of good deeds, who has confidence in his own virtue. Like Cicero he kept him- self unstained by social or domestic vices ; preserved sere- nity and cheerfulness ; cherished habitual reverence for the Deity, and dAvelt continually, not on the mystic theology of the schools, but on the hopes of a better life. He had lived in what will be regarded as the virtuous age of his country, while Cicero was surrounded by an overwhelming degene- racy. He had the light of Christianity for his guide ; and its sublime motives as incitements to virtue ; while Cicero had only the confused instructions of the Grecian schools, and saw nothing certainly attainable but present applause and future fame. In moral courage, therefore, he excelled his model and rivalled Cato. But Cato was a visionary, who insisted upon his right to act always without reference IT 194 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. to the condition of mankind, as he should have acted m Plato *s imaginary Republic. Adams stood in this respect midway between the impracticable stoic and the too flexible academician. He had no occasion to say, as the Grecian orator did, that if he had sometimes acted contrary^ to him- self, he had never acted contrary to the Republic ; he might justly have said, as the noble Roman did, ' I have rendered to my country all the great services which she was willing to receive at my hands, and I have never harbored a thought concerning her that was not divine.' " More fortunate than Cicero, who fell a victim of civil wars which he could not avert, Adams was permitted to linger on the earth, until the generations of that future age, for for whom he had lived and to whom he had appealed from the condemnation of contemporaries, came up before the curtain which had shut out his sight, and pronounced over him, as he was sinking into the grave, their judgment of approval and benediction. " The distinguished characteristics of his life were benefi- cent LABOR and personal contentment. He never sought wealth, but devoted himself to the service of mankind. Yet, by the practice of frugality and method, he secured the enjoyment of dealing forth continually no stinted charities, and died in affluence. He nev^r solicited place or prefer- ment, and had no partisan combinations or even connections ; yet he received honors which eluded the grasp of those who formed parties, rewarded friends, and proscribed enemies ; and he filled a longer period of varied and distinguished service than ever fell to the lot of any other citizen. In every stage of this progress he was content. He was con- tent to be President, minister, representative, or citizen. " Stricken in the midst of this service, in the very act of JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 195 rising to debate, lie fell into the arms of the conscript fathers of the Republic. A long lethargy supervened and oppressed his senses. Nature rallied the wasting powers, on the verge of the grave, for a very brief period. But it was long enough for him. The rekindled eye showed that the re-collected mind was clear, calm, and vigorous. His weeping family, and his sorrowing compeers were there. He surveyed the scene and knew at once its fatal import. He had left no duty unperformed ; he had no wish unsatisfied ; no ambition unattained ; no regret, no sorrow, no fear, no remorse. He could not fehake off the dews of death that gathered on his brow. He could not pierce the thick shades that rose up before him. But he knew that eternity lay close to the shores of time. He knew that his Kedeemer lived. Elo- quence, even in that hour, inspired him with his ancient sublimity of utterance. * This,' said the dying man, ' this IS THE END OF EARTH.' He pauscd for a moment, and then added, *I AM content.' Angels might well draw aside the curtains of the skies to look down on such a scene — a scene that approximated even to that scene of unapproach- able sublimity, not to be recalled without reverence, when, in mortal agony. One who spake as man never spake, said, ' It IS FINISHED !' " Only two years after the birth of John Quincy Adams, there appeared, on an island in the Mediterranean sea, a human spirit newly born, endowed with equal genius, with- out the regulating qualities of justice and benevolence which Adams possessed in an eminent degree. A like career opened to both — born like Adams, a subject of a king — the child of more genial skies, like him, became in early life a patriot and a citizen of a new and great republic. Like Adams he lent his service to the state in precocious youth, 196 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. and in its liour of need, and won its confidence. But un^ like Adams lie could not wait the dull delays of slow and laborious, but sure advancement. He sought power by the hasty road that leads through fields of carnage, and he be- came, like Adams, a supreme magistrate, a Consul. But there were other Consuls. He was not content. He thrust them aside, and was Consul alone. Consular power was too short. He fought new battles, and was Consul for life. But power, confessedly derived from the people, must be exercised in obedience to their will, and must be resigned to them again, at least in death. He was not content. He desolated Europe afresh, subverted the republic, imprisoned the patriarch who presided over Rome's comprehensive See, and obliged him to pour on his head the sacred oil that made the persons of kings divine, and their right to reign inde- feasible. He was an Emperor. But he saw around him a mother, brothers and sisters, not ennobled ; whose humble state reminded him, and the world, that he was born a ple- beian ; and he had no heir to wait impatient for the impe- rial crown. He scourged the earth again, and again for- tune smiled on him even in his wild extravagance. He be- stowed kingdoms and principalities upon his kindred — put away the devoted wife of his youthful days, and another, a daughter of Hapsburgh's imperial house, joyful]y accepted his proud alliance. Ofispring gladdened his anxious sight ; a diadem was placed on its infant brow, and it received the homage of princes, even in its cradle. Now he was indeed a monarch — a legitimate monarch — a monarch by divine appointment — the first of an endless succession of monarchs. But there were other monarchs who held sway in the earth. 'He was not content. He would reign with his kindred alone. He gathered new and greater armies — from his own land — ■ JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 197 from gnbjtigated lunds. He called forth the young and brave — ^"ne from every household — ^from the Pyrenees to Zuyder Zee — from Jura to the Ocean. He marshaled them into y Ag and majestic columns, and went forth to seize that universal dominion, which seemed almost within his grasp. But ambition had tempted fortune too far. "The nations of the earth resisted, repelled, pursued, surrounded him. The pageant was ended. The crown fell from his presumptuous head. The wife who had wedded him in his pride, forsook him when the hour of fear came upon him. His child was ravished from his sight. His kinsmen were degraded to their first estate, and he was no longer Emperor, nor Consul, nor General, nor even a citi- zen, but an exile and a prisoner, on a lonely island, in the midst of the wild Atlantic. Discontent attended him there. The wayward man fretted out a few long years of his yet unbroken manhood, looking off at the earliest dawn and in evening's latest twilight, towards that distant world that had only just eluded his grasp. His heart corroded. Death came, not unlocked for, though it came even then unwel- come. He was stretched on his bed within the fort which constituted his prison. A few fast and faithful friends stood around, with the guards who rejoiced that the hour of relief from long and wearisome watching was at hand. As his strength wasted away, delirium stirred up the brain from its long and inglorious inactivity. The pageant of ambition returned. He was again a Lieutenant, a General, a Consul, an Emperor of France. He filled again the throne of Charlemagne. His kindred pressed around him again, re-invested with the pageant of royalty. The daughter of the long line of kings again stood proudly by his side, and the sunny face of his child shone out from beneath the 17* 198 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. diadem that encircled its flowing locks. The marshals of the Empire awaited his command. The legions of the old guard were in the field, their scarred faces rejuvenated, and their ranks, thinned in many battles, replenished. Russia, Prussia, Austria, Denmark, and England, gathered their mighty hosts to give him battle. Once more he mounted his impatient charger, and rushed forth to conquest. He waved his sword aloft, and cried " Tete d'Armee." The feverish vision broke — the mockery was ended. The silver cord was loosed, and the warrior fell back upon his bed a lifeless corpse. This was the end of earth. The Corsiean was not content. " Statesmen and Citizens ! the contrast suggests its own impressive moral." This is a magnificent eulogium. In it, we may see John Quincy Adams from the loftiest point of view. But in the following description and anecdotes, from the ^' Reminis- cences" of the venerable Stansbury, we may see the man as he appeared among his friends and foes, lofty and noble, but with frailties : '' It was my privilege to be present at the inauguration of Mr. Adams. I witnessed the ceremony then for the first time, though I have seen it since that seven times repeated. The ceremony itself is of the simplest kind ; deriving its solemnity from the nature and the source of the authority conferred, together with the momentous consequences inse- parable from its assumption. A greater contrast, in all other respects, can scarcely be conceived than that between a coronation in Europe and the inauguration of an American President ; and, doubtless, to diplomatic eyes, that have witnessed the pompous accompaniments of the one, the Other may appear a petty affair. Not so to the lover of free JOHN QTJINCY ADAMS. 199 representative government ; in liis sight the spectacle is one of the most august that can be conceived, pregnant with every source of interest, and suggestive of a thousand trains of solemn thought. In the case of Mr. Adams, the cere- mony took place in the representatives' hall, though ever since that time it has been performed on the eastern portico of the capitol, or on a platform in front of it. The original intention of the great rotunda, which occupies the central portion of that vast building, was that the Presidents of the republic should on that spot be inducted into office ; but, in practice, this was found impossible, and that for several reasons. In the first place the dimensions of the saloon would not contain a tenth part of the assembly always ga- thered on such occasions. The rotunda is not a hundred feet in diameter, while the auditory collected often exceeds twenty thousand people. Then, in the second place, the dome which covers that apartment, though very lofty and crowned with a large lantern above, occasions such an echo that the mere stamping of your foot on the stone floor pro- duces a reverberation like thunder, which lasts for many seconds. When I took my little boy into this magnificent chamber for the first time, while his childish eye was lifted in wonder to the vaulted dome, broken into pannel-work and terminating in a rich gilded border surrounding the base of the lantern at the top, I made the experiment of stamping on the floor ; he instantly cried out in terror, and made his way to the door, and no persuasions could induce him to enter it again. ^I feared of the ceiling,' was the invariable reason by which he justified his refusal. ^^ The mention of the rotunda and its beautiful ceiling, reminds me of an act of presumptuous folly of which I was once guilty, but of which, on reflection, I am ashamed, I 2^0 LIVES OF THE PRESIDEN^IS. had i-eaJ, wlien a boy, about the ' whispering gallery,' in St. Paul's, Loudouj and the account made a wonderful impres- sion on my youthful curiosity. It is said that the faintest whisper, breathed on one side of a gallery which surrounds the upper part of the dome of that noble structure, is dis- tinctly audible on the other ; the exact distance of which I have forgotten. Thinking of this, one day, as I stood con- templating the dome of our rotunda, the idea struck me that very possibly the same phenomenon might be produced in here as in the dome of St. Paul's. The diameter of the circle, however, was so much greater that this was at least doubtful. I determined, however, on making the experi- ment. It happened that the walls of the building were just then being painted, (for such is the porous nature of the sand- stone, of which the whole Capitol is built, that it requires at the cost of some five thousand dollars or more a coat of paint every few years,) and the ladder of one of the painters was standing with its foot on the stone floor of the room, and its top leaning against a broad stone cornice which sur- rounds the apartment just where the arch of the dome begins to spring. A workman was then at the top. I mounted the ladder ; and, on reaching the cornice, found it to be about two feet broad, perhaps a little more, not level but shelving slightly inward toward the centre. There was nothing to hold by. The wall above was of smooth stone, and the hard stone floor was some thirty feet below. I resolved, however, to venture ; and, explaining to the astonished workman what I wanted to ascertain, asked him to place his ear against the wall, and when I was directly opposite to him on the other side, to try whether he could hear what I should whisper. I found that the only way to get safely round was not to look down ; accordingly I kept my eye looking straight forward, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 201 and with a bold and rapid step I went on, slightly touching the wall with my left hand. — Happily I reached the other side in safety, and putting my mouth against the Wall, uttered, in a very low whisper, the words — " 'Do you hear me?* " Instantly I heard the voice of the man in reply — " 'Yes, sir, I hear you plainly.' " The span across is about ninety-four or ninety-five feet. A whisper, spoken with the face turned from the wall is, I need not say, totally inaudible ; but spoken against the wall, it is distinctly reverberated to the opposite focus, and is there easily and plainly heard. I completed the circle getting safely back to the ladder, and so proud did I feel of the fool- hardy feat I had performed, that I walked, with more con- fidence and increased rapidity, completely round a second time. By the indulgence of a merciful Providence, this tempting of his care produced, to me, not the slightest injury or inconvenience ; but the close of my adventure had nearly lost the life of an honest man. The ladder was long, and the motion of a person ascending or descending caused it to vibrate in no very pleasing manner. About half way down was a board resting, at one end, on the ladder, and at the other on a narrow ledge surrounding a sunken panel in the wall. On this board, thus stretched across, was seated a painter engaged in the process of laying color on the pa- nelled wall. The vibration of the ladder slightly drew the board outwards from the wall ; and, before this efiect was perceived by either of us, it had nearly drawn it quite ofi* the ledge. Just then, fortunately, I had reached the bottom, and the action ceased. This alone prevented my unwarrantable gratification of curiosity from ending in manslaughter. When I found in what danger my fellow man had been placed, by 202 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. the indulgence of a mad freak, my heart smote me, and I inly vowed never again to be guilty of such a tempting of Providence. " But, to return from this digression. The rotunda being found unfit for the purpose, the hall of representatives was resorted to, as the next largest apartment in the building ; but this, on trial, was found to deprive so many who were eagerly desirous of witnessing the sight, that, on the next occasion, which was the inauguration of President Jackson, recourse was had to the eastern portico, and the ceremony being performed and the inaugural address being delivered between the central columns, the audience occupied the steps, the wide stone platforms on each side of them, and then the wide open space stretching from the foot of the steps to the iron fence opposite, inclosing the public grounds ; affording ample room for the immense concourse attending; though on that memorable occasion, the crowd overflowed into the grounds beyond. " Mr. Adams, as I have said, took his oath of office in the hail of the house of representatives. He appeared solemnly and deeply moved by the occasion. His education, in the land of the Pilgrims, could not fail to impress on his heart and mind the solemn nature of that too-often slighted thing, an oath. The weighty nature of the trust he was about to assume ; the solemn appeal to a present God, the King of the Universe, now his unseen Witness, hereafter to be his righteous Judge — seemed to fill, as it ought, every faculty of his soul. As he repeated the words, at the dictation of the chief justice, there was a slight tremor in the loud, sharp tone of his voice, which bore honorable testimony that he felt and fully appreciated what he was doing, and it sent a corresponding thrill of so- lemnity through the auditory. Among these were some of 13 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 203 his deadliest enemies ; several of whom commenced the war upon his administration before he had done either good or evil, and one of whom boldly avowed that if, in his adminis- tration of the Presidency, he should be as pure as the Angel Gabriel, it must and should be put down. There were others, however, just as ardently in his favor — I will not say as ardently as his friends, for it is confessedly true that Mr. Adams had not the faculty of conciliating warm personal attachments. His election was rejoiced in, rather as an act of justice to the " North, as the triumph of a certain set of principles and of a particular line of policy, than as the per- sonal victory of the man. " Mr. Adams's temperament was peculiar, his manner and address cold, if not repulsive, and his mode of shaking hands, especially, so much so, that it attained an unenviable celebrity as Hhe pump-handle shake.' He had been much abroad, had seen mankind, and appeared not to trust them. He flattered no man, and was not to be cajoled by flattery from others. An old diplomatist himself, he was proof against all the soft reproaches of the diplomatists of other govern- ments. They could make nothing of him. He listened to their polite speeches, smiled, and coldly bowed, but then went to business. His keen and piercing eye was kept steadily ad rem, I have often compared him to a slumbering volcano, covered deep in snow. Beneath the coldest manners, he possessed a depth and a power of passion as great as I ever witnessed in any human being. It seemed as if his soul glowed with an intensity precisely proportioned to the icy exterior which he presented to a stranger. This, it is true, was not so fully developed during his Presidency as afterwards, when he came into the house of representatives. There his passions were called out into open play, and they often rose 204 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. into a perfect storm. Nor was that tempest tlie mere explo* sion of a fiery temperament, which bursts into a momentary flame ^and straight is cold again.' In him the fires burnt on, and, though the outward brightness might seem to sub- side, uncover the furnace, and you would find them there intense as ever, and ready for a fresh conflagration. When attacked, or reflected on, he kept it in memory ; and the first moment the occasion presented, never failed to repay, and with a fearful accumulation of interest. He was one of the last men a prudent man would assail in a deliberative body. He was a most able debater. Skilled in dialectics, a prac- tised, ready, and forcible speaker, with a piercing voice, an iron memory, and such an array of facts on every subject he handled, as rendered him one of the most formidable ad- versaries any man could provoke. Staunch to his purpose, Bot to be baffled, not to be wearied, he pressed his point with a pertinacity and persevering vigor, both of intellect and passion, that was rarely withstood. " One thing which powerfully helped him in the duties of his office was his habits of indefatigable application. So far as it was practicable, he read over all the papers connected with every question submitted to him. He trusted to no man's representations where he could see with his own eyes. I have seen, in his business room, in the presidential mansion, a table at least twenty feet long and ten feet wide, covered thickly with papers, in bundles to the depth of a foot, all of which he jvould at least look at, and the more important of which he would read through. To get time for this, he rose before the sun, and sat up late at night. He had two excel- lent preparations for business, one was his constant habit of bathing in the Potomac by dawn of day ; the other, and far better one, was, to read a chapter of the Bible before he JOHN QUmCY ADAMS. 205 touched a paper. Gentlemen have told me that they often tried to anticipate the President in his morning bath, but never could succeed ; come as early as they would, the old man was in the river, his bald-head ducking and diving like a sea fowl, and all of his motions indicating the lively enjoy- ment he experienced from a play in his favorite element. He was an excellent swimmer, and as much at home in the water as a duck. "And, as he opened the employments of each day by reading his Bible, so he closed them with the repetition of that well-known prayer of children, which had been taught him in his infancy, by his mother ; * Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take/ " In this simple and touching observance, I presume he stands alone among all Presidents, kings or other rulers of the earth. To me it seems a beautiful and affecting sight to behold a man so eminent in every department of human attainment, occupying, too, one of the greatest and most arduous positions in human society, bowing his venerable locks and repeating at three score and ten the simple prayer of his childhood. The infidel, the statesman, the party poli- tician, the votary of pleasure, might smile at the thought ; it would be better to imitate than to smile. Simple as the little prayer may be, it goes to the deepest want of our common humanity. " Mr. Adams, like his illustrious relative of revolutionary memory, was of low stature : he was not as heavily built as his father, and possessed a firmer frame, and more enduring 18 206 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. constitution. His complexion was pale, his eye bright and piercing, and surmounted by a brow which, though on its outward part unusually elevated, was drawn down toward the nose, and when he was excited it gave his looks a terrible severity. One of his eyes, however, was affected with a disease in the lachrymatory gland, which caused it constantly to run, as with tears ; and this was connected with a de- fluction from the brain, which troubled him all his life, and was sometimes so copious as to occasion serious embarrass- ment in public speaking. His sight, notwithstanding, was so unusually good that he never used spectacles to the day of his death. There was, also, a stiffness about the joint of the middle finger of his right hand, which prevented his holding his pen as other men do, and compelled him to use a sort of thimble to aid him in retaining it in its place. He wrote very much as the Chinese do, and it occasioned him much labor ; yet he was always writing, and left behind him a vast number of volumes in MS. He wrote slowly, with a square, heavy hand, but as legible as print. It is said that men's handwriting is an index of their character ; and if art did not interfere to control nature, it would doubtless be true. It is, indeed, true to a great extent, notwithstanding. (I knew once a very passionate man who stuttered vehemently ; and his letters were wrote by jerks, and spattered all over, so as to be scarce legible.) In Mr. Adams's case the remark holds good ; for his writing has an air of clearness, firmness, bold- ness, exactitude, and laborious diligence, which well corres- ponds with the nature and habits of the man. Owing to his early training in foreign courts, and his long familiarity with public men, his mind was stored with an overflowing copious- ness of anecdote, which rendered his conversation a perpetual feast of entertainment and instruction. He seemed familiar JOHN QUINCT ABAMS. ' 207 with the character and history of every prominent man in Europe, and his anecdotes of their private manners and per- sonal habits were piquant and graphic in the highest degree. " He relished a good dinner, and when the cloth was re- moved it was a treat to be near him. He loved old wine, and would drink more of it, without injury, than most men of his years. It never produced any ' innovation' in his brain, its sole apparent effect being to banish his natural coldness of manner, and produce a cheerful excitement that made him the best of company. Mr. Adams was no poet, but he wrote respectable verse, and with much facility. His genius tended to satire, and to him were ascribed some lines upon Jefferson, replete with a contemptuous bitterness wor- thy of Churchill. Their bitterness gave them currency, and for a time they were in every body's mouth. ' Horned frogs,' * mountains of salt,' * prairie dogs,' and ' dusky Sally* figured in them with great effect. His poem, entitled * Der- mot McMorough,' (and which he had printed for gratuituous distribution among his friends,) was supposed to be a satire on General Jackson ; though Mr. Adams himself always denied the charge. It was a puzzle to his friends, and the subject of some merriment among his adversaries. I do not think it added much to his reputation. He was greatly tor- mented, dui'ing the latter part of his life, by the solicitations of young ladies to ' write something in their albums ;' and his good nature and patience under the affliction was, to those who knew the irritable character of the man, a matter of some surprise. But Mr. Adams was irritable only when attacked, or contradicted ; to ladies he was ever polite and obliging, and especially to the young he was very kind. He retained much of the simplicity of his early New England habits, amidst all the show which surrounded him. You 208 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. might see him on a cold winter's morning, in Ms plain Boston wrapper, a half-worn hat upon his head, a pair of stout shoes, his hands enveloped in large thick pointed mittens, of white wool, knit for him at his home. " It was said of Lord Chesterfield that he could deny a favor with such an inimitable show of candor and kindness as to send the applicant away better pleased with him than with many another great man who would grant the request. I believe this remark was never applied to Mr. Adams. I once heard Colonel Trumbull, the painter, describe an in- terview with the President, which, it was evident, had made him Adams's enemy for the rest of his days. Trumbull was every way a distinguished man. He had been in the military family of Washington, with whom he was a favorite. He was eminent as a painter, and that in the highest walk of the art. He had conceived the idea of embodying the most striking scenes of the revolution, in a series of histo- rical pictures, which should, at the same time, with their actions, preserve and perpetuate the personal likenesses of the actors ; and the success of the design is evinced in the four great paintings which occupy the panels in the wall of the rotunda of the capitol. To prepare himself for so laborious and difficult a work he took many portraits from the living actors in the stirring scene, while they were in the midst of the struggle, or when they had retired to pri- vate life. But some of them had left this country at the peace, and returned to their own. Of these he collected such likenesses as he could obtain here ; but, to complete his design, it became necessary to visit Europe, and there catch the features of many of the prominent men who had been his fellow soldiers during the war, before they faded in death, and were lost for eve|^ His private fortune, how- JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 209 ever, would ill bear the expense of such a tour, and with a view to diminish it, he applied to President Adams for a free passage in a frigate that was then soon to sail for England. He thought that as the pictures he designed to paint were of a national character, and would probably become public property, he was entitled, on this ground, as well as that of his revolutionary services, and the relation, especially, which he had borne to General Washington, to solicit such a favor. He obtained the desired interview, and modestly made his request. One line from under the President's hand would secure the object. The President heard him without uttering a word. At the close, his brows descended with that omi- nous frown which boded no good to the application : he sat in deep thought, as if revolving in his mind his power to give the order, and the expediency of granting it. It was amusing to see Trumbull caricature the severe look, con- tracted brows, and stern mouth of Mr. Adams at that mo- ment. A glance was enough for the indignant artist, and without another word passing on either side, he took his hat and withdrew. " Nothing is more fatal to a statesman, especially in a government like ours, than official manners of this descrip- tion. They inflict, on proud and sensitive natures, wounds which are incurable. It was the misfortune of De Witt Clinton to have the same defect : and the defect of both was enjoyed with a malignant relish that mere political opposition never could have inspired." 18^ JACKSON. ^j)Si*cb3 |^cl{soj). The name of Andrew Jackson is deeply engraven upon the history of the United States. He held many of the most responsible stations. He was a leader in times of danger and difficulty, and served his country in the council and the field. His course was always decided and deter- mined, and whether men approved or not, they were com- pelled to respect. The parents of Andrew Jackson were Irish. His father, Andrew, the youngest son of his family, emigrated to Ame- rica about the year 1765, bringing with him two sons, Hugh aiid Robert, both very young. Landing at Charleston, in South Carolina, he shortly afterwards purchased a tract of land, in what was then called the Waxsaw settlement, about forty-five miles above Camden ; at which place the subject of this history was born, on the 15th of March, 1767. Shortly after his birth, his father died, leaving three sons to be provided for by their mother. She appears to have been an exemplary woman, and to have executed the arduous duties which had devolved upon her, with great faithfulness and success. To the lessons she inculcated on the youthful minds of her sons, was, 110 doubt, owing, in a great measure, that fixed opposition to (215) 216 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. British tyranny and oppression, which afterwards so much distinguished them. Often would she spend the winter's night, in recounting to them the sufferings of their grand father, at the siege of Carrickfergus, and the oppressions exercised by the nobility of Ireland, over the laboring poor ; impressing it upon them, as their first duty, to expend their lives, if it should become necessary, in defending and sup- porting the natural rights of man. Inheriting but a small patrimony from their father, it was impossible that all the sons could receive an expensive education. The two eldest were therefore only taught the rudiments of their mother tongue, at a common country school. But Andrew, being intended by his mother for the ministry, was sent to a flourishing academy in the Waxsaw meeting house, superintended by Mr. Humphries. Here he was instructed in the dead languages, and continued until the revolutionary war, extending its ravages into that section of South Carolina, where he then was, rendered it necessary that every one should betake himself to the American standard, seek protection with the enemy, or flee his country. It was not an alternative that admitted of much deliberation. The natural ardor of his temper, deriving encouragement from recommendations of his mother, whose feelings were not less alive on the occasion than his own, quickly determined him in the course to be pursued ; and at the tender age of four- teen, with his brother Robert, he hastened to the American camp, and engaged in the service of his country. His oldest brother, who had previously joined the army, had lost Jiis life at the battle of Stono, by the excessive heat of the weather and the fatigues of the day. Both Andrew and Robert, were, at this period, pretty well acquainted with the manual exercise, and had some ANDREW JACKSON. 217 idea of the different evolutions of the field, having been indulged by their mother in attending the drill, and general musters. ^' The Americans being unequal, as well by the inferiority of their numbers, as their discipline, to engage the British army in battle, retired before it, into the interior of North Carolina ; but when they learned that Lord Cornwallis had crossed the Yadkin, they returned m small detachments to their native state. On their arrival, they found Lord Raw- don in possession of Camden, and the whole country around in a state of desolation. The British commander being advised of the return of the settlers of Waxsaw; Major Coffin was immediately despatched thither, with a corps of light dragoons, a company of infantry, and a considerable number of tories, for their capture and destruction. Hear- ing of their approach, the settlers, without delay, appointed the Waxsaw meeting house as a place of rendezvous, that they might the better collect their scattered strength, and concert some system of operations. . About forty of them had accordingly assembled at this point, when the enemy approached, keeping the tories, who were dressed in the common garb of the country, in front, whereby this little band of patriots was completely deceived, taking them for Captain Nisbet's company, in expectation of which they had been waiting. Eleven of them were taken prisoners ; the rest with difficulty fled, scattering and betaking themselves to the woods for concealment. Of those who thus escaped, though closely pursued, were Andrew Jackson and his bro- ther, who, entering a secret bend in a creek, that was close at hand, obtained a momentary respite from danger, and avoided, for the night, the pursuit of the enemy. The next day, however, having gone to a neighboring house, for the 19 218 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. purpose of procuring something to eat, they were broken in upon, and made prisoners, by Coffin's dragoons, and a party of tories who accompanied them. They had approached the house by a route through the woods, and thereby eluded the vigilance of a sentinel who had been posted on the road. " Being placed under guard, Andrew was ordered, in a very imperious tone, by a British officer, to clean his boots, which had become muddied in crossing a creek. This order he, with the courage of Caesar among the pirates, refused to obey ; alleging that he looked for such treatment as a prisoner of war had a right to expect. Incensed at his re- fusal, the officer aimed a blow at his head, with a drawn sword, which would, very probably, have tefminated his ex- istence, had he not parried its eifects by throwing up his left hand, on which he received a severe wound. His bro- ther, at the same time, for a similar offence, received a deep cut on the head, which afterwards occasioned his death. They were now taken to jail, where, separated and confined, they were treated with marked severity, until a few days after the battle at Camden, when, in consequence of a par- tial exchange, effected by the intercessions and exertions of their mother and Captain Walker, of the militia, they were both released. Captain Walker had, in a charge on the rear of the British army, succeeded in capturing thir- teen prisoners, whom he gave in exchange for seven Ame- ricans, of which number were these two young men. " Robert, during his confinement in prison, had suffered greatly ; the wound on his head, all tliis time, having never been dressed, was followed by an inflammation of the brain, which, in a few days after his liberation, brought him to the grave. To add to the afflictions of Andrew, his mother, worn down by grief, and her incessant exertions to provide ANDREW JACKSON. 219 clothing and other comforts for the suffering prisoners, who had been taken from her neighborhood, expired, in a few weeks after her son, near the lines of the enemy, in the vicinity of Charleston. Andrew, the last and only surviv- ing child, confined to a bed of sickness, occasioned by the sufferings he had been compelled to undergo, whilst a prisoner, and by getting wet, on his return from captivity, was thus left in the wide world, without a human being with whom he could claim a near relationship. The small-pox beginning, at the same time, to make its appearance upon him, had well nigh terminated his sorrows and his existence. " Having at length recovered from his complicated afflic- tions, he entered upon the enjoyment of his estate, which, although small, would have been sufficient, under prudent management, to have completed his education, on the liberal scale which his mother had designed. Unfortunately, how- ever, he, like too many young men, sacrificing future pros- pects to present gratification, expended it with rather too profuse a hand. Coming, at length, to forsee that he should be finally obliged to rely on his own exertions, for support and success in life, he again betook himself to his studies, with increased industry. He re-commenced under Mr. M'- Culloch, in what was then called the New Acquisition, near Hill's iron works. Here he revised the languages, devoting a portion of his time to a desultory course of studies. " His education being now completed, so far as his wasted patrimony, and the opportunities then afforded in that sec- tion of the country, would permit ; at the age of eighteen, he turned his attention to acquiring a profession, and pre- paring himself to enter on the busy scenes of life. The pulpit, for which he had been designed by his mother, was now aban- doned for the bar ; and, in the winter of 1784, he repaired 220 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. to Salisbury, in North Carolina, and commenced tlie study of law, under Spruce M'Cay, Esq. (afterwards one of the judges of that state,) and continued it under Colonel John Stokes. Having remained at Salisbury until the winter of 1786, he obtained a license from the judges to practise, and continued in the state until the spring of 1788. " The observations he was enabled, during this time, to make, satisfied him that this state presented few inducements to a young attorney ; and recollecting that he stood a solitary individual in life, without relations to aid him in the onset, when innumerable difficulties arise and retard success, he de- termined to seek a new country. But for this, he might have again returned to his native state ; but the death of every relation he had, had wiped away all those recollections and circumstances which link the mind to the place of its nativity. The western parts of the state of Tennessee were, about this time, often spoken of, as presenting flattering pros- pects to adventurers. He immediately determined to accom- pany Judge M'Nairy thither, who was appointed and going out to hold the first supreme court that had ever sat in the state. Having reached the Holston, they ascertained it would be impossible to arrive at the time appointed for the session of the court ; and therefore determined to remain in that country till fall. They re-commenced their journey in October, and, passing through the wilderness, reached Nash- ville in the same month. It had not been Jackson's inten- tion, certainly, to make Tennessee the place of his future residence ; his visit was merely experimental, and his stay remained to be determined, by the advantages that might be disclosed ; but finding, soon after his arrival, that a con- siderable opening was ofi*ered for the success of a young at- torney, he determined to remain. His industry and atten- ANDREW JACKSON. 221 tion soon brought him forward, and introduced him to a profitable practice. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed attorney general for the district, in which capacity he con- tinued to act for several years. " Indian depredations being then frequent on the Cumber- land, every man became a soldier. Unassisted by the go- vernment, the settlers were forced to rely for security on their own bravery and exertions. Although young, no per- son was more distinguished than Andrew Jackson, in defend- ing the country against these predatory incursions of the savages, who continually harassed the frontier^, and not unfrequently approached the heart of the settlements, which were thin, but not widely extended. He aided alike in garrisoning the forts, and in pursuing and chastising the enemy. " In the year 1796, having, by his patriotism, firmness, and talents, secured to himself a distinguished standing with all classes, he was chosen one of the members of the conven- tion, for establishing a constitution for the state. His good conduct and zeal for the public interest, on this occasion, brought him more conspicuously to view ; and, without pro- posing or soliciting, he was, in the same year, elected a mem- ber of the house of representatives, in congress, for the state of Tennessee. The following year, his reputation continuing to increase, and every bosom feeling a wish to raise him to still higher honors, he was chosen a member of the senate of the United States. " The stat-e of Tennessee, on its admission into the Union, comprising but one military division, and General Conway, who commanded it, as major-general, dying about this time, Jackson, without being consulted on the subject, and without the least intimation of what was in agitation, was chosen, by 19* 222 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. the field officers, to succeed him ; which appointment he con- tinued to hold, until May, 1815, when he was constituted a major-general in the United States service. " Growing tired of political life, for the intrigues of which he found himself unqualified, and having for two years voted in the minority in Congress, he resigned his seat in the senate, in 1799. To this measure he was strongly urged, by a wish to make way for General Smith, who, he conjectured, would, in that capacity, be able to render more important services to the government than himself. His country, unwilling that his talents should remain inactive and unemployed, again demanded his services. Immediately after his resig- nation, he was appointed one of the judges of the supreme court of the state. Sensibly alive to the difficulties of this station, and impressed with the great injuries he might do to suitors, by erroneous decisions, he advanced to the office with reluctance, and in a short time resigned it ; leaving it open to those, who, he believed, were better qualified than himself, to discharge its intricate and important duties. ^' Determined now to spend his life in tranquillity and re- tirement, he settled himself on an elegant farm, ten miles from Nashville, on the Cumberland river ; where, for seve- ral years, he enjoyed all the comforts of domestic and social intercourse. Abstracted from the busy scenes of public life, surrounded by friends whom he loved, and who enter- tamed for him the highest veneration and respect, and blessed with an afiectionate and amiable consort, nothing seemed wanting to the completion of that happiness he so anxiously desired whilst in office. But a period approached, when all these endearments were again to be abandoned, for the duties of more active life."* * Eaton. ANDREW JACKSON. 223 111 June, 1812, war was declared by the United States a5^m,3t Great Britain. Congress authorized the President- to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers. General Jackson promptly addressed the citizens of his division, and two thousand five hundred flocked to his standard. In No- vember he received orders to descend the Mississippi, for the defence of the lower country, which was threatened by the Indians, aided by a few British soldiers. Descending the Mississippi, through the severities of the season. General Jackson halted, and encamped his troops near Natchez. On the 5th of January, 1813, the secretary of war issued an order directing him to dismiss those under his command, and to transfer all public property to General Wilkinson. The clouds of war had blown over that quarter, and it was deemed unnecessary to retain the men in service. But surely it was unfeeling thus to discharge them afar from their homes and almost destitute. General Jackson deter- mined to disobey the order, and to march his army back to the country where it was raised, and that, too, at the ex- pense of the United States. Wilkinson and others attempted to dissuade the general from his purpose, but he was iron in will. The quarter-master was obliged to provide the means of transportation for the sick, and after some toil and hardship, the troops were safely conducted to their homes. The President of the United States approved the course pursued by General Jackson, and directed the ex- penses to be paid. In this, his first important military pro- ceeding, the general displayed an independent, determined, and humane spirit. Soon after this expedition, the artful and eloquent Te- cumthe visited the Indians of the south, and incited them to join the great confederacy of the north. Horrible atro- 224 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. cities were committed along the frontiers of Tennessee and Georgia. The tomahawk and scalping-knife were gorged with blood. The agent of the general government sought redress from the Indians, and some of the principal chiefs caused the murderers to be put to death. This gave rise to a civil war among the Indians, but by far the largest por- tion of the red men resolved upon a bloody war against the whites. Those who were friendly to the whites were forced to take refuge in the frontier forts. The garrison of Fort Mimms was surprised and massacred, by a band of Creeks, led by the famous Weatherford. Other outrages were ex- pected to follow, and the settlers fled from the frontier. The governor of Tennessee now issued an order to Gene- ral Jackson, who was then suffering from a wound received in a private rencontre, to rendezvous at Fayetteville, in the shortest possible time, two thousand volunteers, while Colo- nel Coffee was to raise a large body of mounted men. A vigorous campaign was resolved upon. The commanding general issued a stirring address to the volunteers, and on the 7th of October, arrived in camp. Colonel Coffee was at Huntsville, covering that portion of the country with his mounted volunteers. Receiving promises that ample supplies should be forwarded as soon as possible, General Jackson advanced to Thomp- son's creek, and there encamped. Here he was beset with difficulties. The supplies were not forthcoming, and in spite of the immense exertions of the general, the troops had the prospect of extreme want before them. However, General Jackson, receiving information that the Indians, in great force, were posted on the Coosa, at Ten Islands, distributed his small stock of provisions, and- marched against the enemy. After a difficult march, it was ascer- ANDREW JACKSON. 225 tained that the Creeks had posted themselves at Tallushat- chee. There, General Coffee, with nine hundred men, at- tacked them on the 2d of November, 1813, and after a bloody action, entirely defeated them. The loss of the In- dians was very severe, while Coffee lost but few of his men. The detachment then rejoined the main body under General Jackson. A permanent depot was established at the Ten Islands. Receiving intelligence that the Indians were concentrating their forces on the Talapoosa, at Fort Talladega, General Jack- son resolved at once to proceed against them. General White was ordered to protect the camp at Ten Islands, during the absence of the main body. At midnight, on the 7th of De- cember, General Jackson, with twelve hundred infantry and eight hundred cavalry, commenced his march. In this expedition, Jackson used the utmost circumspec- tion to prevent surprise ; marching his army, as was his con- stant custom, in three columns, so that, by a speedy manoeuvre they might be thrown into such a situation, as to be capable of resisting an attack from any quarter. Having judiciously encamped his men on an eligible piece of ground, he sent forward two of the friendly Indians, and a white man, who had, for many years, been detained a captive in the nation, and was now acting as interpreter, to reconnoitre the position of the enemy. At eleven o'clock at night, they returned, with information, that the savages were posted within a quar- ter of a mile of the fort, and appeared to be in great force ; but they had not been able to approach near enough to as- certain either their numbers, or precise situation. Within an hour after this, a runner arrived from Turkey town, with a letter from General White, stating, that after having taken up the line of march, to unite at Fort Str other, he had received 226 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. orders from General Cocke, to change his course, and pro- ceed to the mouth of Chatuga creek. This unexpected and disagreeable intelligence filled Jackson with astonishment and apprehensions ; and dreading, lest the enemy, by taking a different route, should attack his encampment in his absence, he determined to lose no time, in bringing him to battle. Orders were accordingly given to the adjutant-general to prepare the line, and by four o'clock in the morning, the army was again in motion. The infantry proceeded in three co- lumns ; the cavalry in the same order, in the rear, with flankers on each wing. The advance, consisting of a com- pany of artillerists, with muskets, two companies of riflemen, and one of spies, marched about four hundred yards in front, under the command of Colonel Carroll, the inspector-gene- ral ; with orders, after commencing the action, to fall back on the centre, so as to draw the enemy after them. At seven o'clock, having arrived within a mile of the position they occupied, the columns were displayed in order of battle. " About eight o'clock, the advance having arrived within eighty yards of the enemy, who were concealed in a thick shrubbery, that covered the margin of a small rivulet, received a heavy fire, which they instantly returned with much spirit. Agreeably to their instructions, they fell back towards the centre, but not before they had dislodged the enemy from this position. The Indians now screaming and yelling hi- deously, rushed forward in the direction of General Boberts's brigade ; a few companies of which, alarmed by their num- bers and yells, fled at the first fire. Jackson, to fill the chasm which was thus created, directed the regiment com- manded by Colonel Bradley, to be moved up, which, from some unaccountable cause, had failed to advance, in a line with the others, and now occupied a position in rear of the ANDREW JACKSON. 227 centre : Bradley, However, to whom this order was given by one of the staff, could not be prevailed on to execute it in time, alleging, he was determined to remain on the eminence which he then possessed, until the enemy should approach and attack him. Owing to this failure, in the volunteer regi- ment, it became necessary to dismount the reserve, which, with great firmness, met the approach of the enemy, who were rapidly moving in this direction. The retreating militia, seeing their places supplied, rallied, and, recovering their former position in the line, aided in checking the advance of the savages. The action now became general along the line, and in fifteen minutes the Indians were seen flying in every direction. On the left, they were met and repulsed by the mounted riflemen ; but on the right, owing to the halt of Bradley's regiment, which was intended to occupy the ex- treme right, — and to the circumstance of Colonel Allcorn, who commanded one of the wings of the cavalry, having taken too large a circuit, a considerable space was left between the infantry and the cavalry, through which numbers escaped. The fight was maintained with great spirit and effect on both sides, as well before, as after the retreat commenced ; nor did the savages escape the pursuit and slaughter, until they reached the mountains, at the distance of three miles. " In this battle, the force of the enemy was one thousand and eighty, of whom two hundred and ninety-nine were left dead on the ground ; and it is believed that many were killed in the flight, who were not found when the estimate was made. Probably few escaped unhurt. Their loss on this occasion, as stated since by themselves, was not less than six hundred : that of the Americans was fifteen killed, and eighty wounded, several of whom afterwards died. Jackson, after collecting his dead and wounded, advanced his army beyond the fort, 228 LIVES OP THE PBESIDENTS. and encamped for the night. The friendly Indians, who had been shut up for several days in Talladega, thus fortu- nately liberated from the most dreadful apprehensions, and severest privations, having for some time been entirely with- out water, received the army with all the demonstrations of gratitude, that savages could give. Their manifestations of joy for their deliverance, presented an interesting and affect- ing spectacle. Their fears had been already excited, for it was the very day when they were to have been assaulted, and when every soul within the fort must have perished. All the provisions they could spare, from their scanty stock, they sold to the general, who, purchasing with his own money, distributed them amongst the soldiers, who were almost destitute. " It was with great regret, that Jackson now found he was without the means of availing himself fully of the advantages of his victory ; but the condition of his posts in the rear, and the want of provisions, (having left Fort Strother, at the Ten Islands, with little more than one day's rations,) compelled him to hasten back ; thus giving the enemy time to recover from their consternation, and to re-assemble their forces."* On reaching Fort Strother, Jackson found that no pro- vision had yet been forwarded. The troops were almost destitute. Discontent began to show its head, and after a few days, the troops openly announced their intention to return home. Jackson determined, at all hazards, to oppose their design. On the morning when the discontents were to depart, he drew up those volunteers who were faithful to him, and, with daring determination, commanded the militia to return to their quarters. He was obeyed. The next day, however, the volunteers themselves revolted, and tb© * Eaton.. ANDREW JACKSON. 229 singular scene was presented, of the militia, under the com- mand of General Jackson, compelling them to follow the example of the day before, and retire to their quarters. The conduct of General Jackson throughout the affair was marked by wonderful firmness and decision. The cavalry, being without forage, was allowed to return home, upon condition that when supplied and recruited, the whole force would come back to the camp. By addresses and great personal exertions. General Jackson strove to cheer the spirits of his men, but their distresses and grievances were not to be quietly born. Besides, most of the troops were bold independents, unused to military subordination. Camp life was irksome to them and they wanted to be free. On several occasions, they evinced a determined spirit of mu- tiny ; but the iron resolution of their general reduced them to obedience. But for his firmness, the campaign would have been abandoned. His life was fearlessly exposed in the discharge of his duty. As it was, however, many of the troops, after much perseverance, obtained permission to return to their homes. New regiments arrived in camp. But among these discontent was early manifested. In January, 1814, General Jackson, having received in- telligence that the Indians were concentrating at Emuckfau, marched against them at the head of less than a thousand men. At dawn of day, on the 22d, when near their camp, the army was attacked with great fury. The action raged for about half an hour, when the Indians were totally routed, and pursued for two miles. But a strong force re- mained in the fortified camp. General Coffee was sent to ascertain the strength of the position, and he returned with the information that it was much too superior for him to at- tack. Soon afterwards, the Indians advanced and assailed the 20 230 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. camp of the Tennesseeans. A long and fierce struggle en- sued. No quarter was given and none was requested. The red men were routed, and they suffered terribly during the pursuit. Hundreds of them fell during the day's fighting. The loss of the whites was also severe. The next day, General Jackson, having, as he believed, effected the object of the expedition, and being greatly in want of provisions, began a return march. At night his army was encamped on the south side of Enotichopco creek. The Indians, it was evident, had followed the army during the day, and arrangements were therefore made to repel a night attack. The enemy held off until the next morning, and then commenced an attack as the troops were crossing the creek. At first a body of the troops gave way. But they were quickly rallied by the exertions of Generals Jack- son and Coffee, and after a short struggle, the Indians were compelled to retreat. Many of the latter were destroyed in the pursuit. Altogether, more than two hundred were killed. General Jackson had twenty men killed, and seventy- five wounded. On the 26th, the victorious army reached the vicinity of Fort Strother. Throughout this perilous expedition, the conduct of both officers and troops was highly honorable and efficient. The general now dismissed them to their homes with high commendation. Early in February, a much greater force of Tennesseans was brought into the field under the orders of General Jackson. But the difficulties caused by the want of sup- plies, and the want of discipline among the hardy, independ- ent sons of the west continued unabated. By constant exertion. General Jackson obtained a sufficient quantity of provision to enable him to march into the enemy's country in March, 1814. On the 27th, he reached the village of To- ANDREW JACKSON. 231 hopeka, where twelve hundred Indians were strongly posted. The bloodiest struggle of the whole war ensued. The In- dians were driven within their fort, which was then set on fire, as they refused to surrender. Still they fought with determined courage. The carnage was horrible. Few of the warriors escaped. About three hundred women and children were made prisoners. This was the last important stand made by the Indians. All hope of success deserted them. They became a miserable band of fugitives, who were hunted and destroyed like wild beasts. General Jackson now assumed a new character — that of a negotiator and peacemaker. He encamped at a place known as the Hickory Ground, where numbers of Indians daily arrived, and ojQfered to submit on any terms. General Jackson assurred them of peace and safety, if they would retire to the north of Fort William. But resolving to put their friendly professions at once to the test, he directed them to bring Weatherford, one of the first chiefs of the nation, to him. "Learning from the chiefs, on their return, what had been required of them by Jackson, Weatherford was pre- vailed upon, as being perhaps the safer course, to go and make a voluntary surrender of himself. Having reached the camp without being known, and obtained admission to the general's quarter's, he told him he was Weatherford, the chief who had commanded at Fort Mimms, and, desiring peace for himself and people, had come to ask it. Some- what surprised, that one who so richly merited punishment, should so sternly demand the protection which had been extended to others, he replied to him, that he was astonished he should venture to appear in his presence ; that he was not ignorant of his having been at Fort Mimms, nor of his 232 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. conduct there, for which he well deserved to die. * I had directed/ continued he, Hhat you should be brought to me confined ; had you appeared in this way, I should have known how to have treated you.' Weatherford replied, 'I am in your power — do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done 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 are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation.' Pleased at the firmness of the man, Jackson informed him, that he did not solicit him to lay down his arms, and become peaceable. * The terms on which your nation can be saved, and peace restored, has already been disclosed : in this way, and none other, can you obtain safety.' If, however, he wished still to continue the war, and felt himself prepared to meet the consequences, although he was then completely in his power, no advantage should be taken of that circumstance ; that he was at liberty to retire, and unite himself with the war party, if he pleased ; but if taken, his life should pay the forfeit of his crimes ; if this were not desired, he might remain where he was, and should be protected. "Weatherford answered, that he desired peace, that his nation might, in some measure, be relieved from their suf- feaings ; that, independent of other misfortunes, growing out of a state of war, their cattle and grain were all wasted and destroyed, and their women and children destitute of provisions. *But,' continued he, 'I may be well ad- dressed in such language now. There was a time when I had a choice, and could have answered you : I have none now, — even hope has ended. Once I could animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the dead. My ANDKEW JACKSON. 233 warriors can no longer hear my voice : their bones are at Talladega, Tallushatchee, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. Whilst there were chances of success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone, I now ask it for my nation, and for myself. On the miseries and misfortunes brought upon my country, I look back with deepest sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If I had been left to con- tend with the Georgia army, I would have raised my corn on one bank of the river, and fought them on the other ; but your people have destroyed my nation. You are a brave man : I rely upon your generosity. You will exact no terms of a conquered people, but such as they should accede to ; what- ever they may be, it would now he madness and folly to op- pose. If they are opposed, you shall find me amongst the strongest enforcers of obedience. Those who would still hold out, can be influenced only by a mean spirit of revenge ; and to this they must not, and shall not sacrifice the last remnant of their country. You have told us where we might go, and be safe. This is a good talk, and my nation ought to listen to it. They shall listen to it.' " The earnestness and bold independence of his conduct left no doubt of the sincerity of his professions. The peace party became reconciled to him, and agreed to bury all pre- vious animosities. In a few days afterwards, having obtained permission, he set out from camp, accompanied by a small party, to search through the forest, for his followers and friends, and persuade them to give up a contest, in which hope seemed to be at an end, and, by timely submission, to save their nation from still further disasters."* A large number of the Creeks had retired southward to * Eaton. 20* 234 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. the Gulf of Mexico, where they could be protected by tho British and Spaniards. A line of 'posts was established along the frontiers of Georgia and Tennessee to cover the country, and overawe the Indians. General Pinckney took command of what troops were to remain in the service. General Jackson and his brave Tennesseans returned home, amid the plaudits of their countrymen. "It was now eight months since General Jackson had left home, to arrest the progress of the Indian war ; during most of which time, he had been in a situation of bodily infirmity that would have directed a prudent man to his bed, instead of the field. During this period, he had never seen his family, or been absent from the army longer than to visit Deposit, and arrange with his contractors some certain plans to guard against a future failure of supplies. His health was still delicate, and rendered retirement essential to its restoration; but his uniformly successful and good conduct, had brought him too conspicuously before the pub- lic, for any other sentiment to be indulged, than that he should be placed, with an important command, in the service of the United States. " The resignation of General Hampton, enabled the go- vernment, in a short time, to afibrd him the evidences of re- spect it entertained for his services and character. A notice of his appointment as brigadier and brevet major-general, was forwarded on the 22d of May, from the war department. General Harrison having, about this time, from some cause, become disgusted with the conduct of the government towards him, had refused to be longer considered one of her military actors ; to supply which vacancy, a commission of major-ge- neral was immediately forwarded to Jackson. "The contest with the Indians being ended; the first Al^DREW JACKSON. 235 and principal object of tlie government was, to enter into some dejfinite arrangement, whicli should deprive of suc- cess, any effort that might hereafter be made, by other powers, to enlist these savages in their wars. None was so well calculated to answer this end, as that of restricting their limits, so as to cut off their communication with British and Spanish agents, in East Florida. " The citizens of Tennessee, learning that commissioners were appointed for the accomplishment of this purpose ; and believing themselves as much, or more interested than others, in having such a disposition made, as should give complete secui'ity to their borders, petitioned the government that one might be selected from their state. The efforts they had made to effect what had been done ; and the interests they had involved, were considerations that the President did not scruple to admit. He accordingly associated General Jackson in the mission, and again required his services for the establishment of a peace, on such terms as should pro- mise to be permanent. The circumstance of Colonel Haw- kins being appointed, was an additional reason, why any solicitude had been felt, or any petition forwarded. He may have been deceived, and may have founded his opinions upon data presumed to be correct ; but his continual decla- rations, that the Creek Indians intended a rigid adherence to their treaties, at the very moment they were planning their murderous schemes against the frontiers, led the western people to fear, that his agency had lasted too long, to hope that he would steadily pursue that course, which the safety and interest of the country required. " On the 10th of July, the general, with a small retinue, reached the Alabama ; and on the 10th of August succeeded in procuring the execution of a treaty, in which the Indians 236 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. pledged themselves, no more to listen to foreign emissaries, — ■ to hold no communication with British or Spanish garrisons ; guaranteed to the United States, the right of erecting mili- tary posts in their country, and a free navigation of all their waters. They stipulated further, that they would suffer no agent or trader to pass among them, or hold any kind of commerce or intercourse with their nation, unless specially deriving his authority from the President of the United States. " General Jackson having understood, that that comfort and aid, which had been already so liberally extended, was still afforded by the Spanish governor to the hostile Indians, who had fled from the ravages of the Creek war, cherished the belief that his conduct was such as deservedly to ex- clude him from that protection which, under other circum- stances, he would be entitled, from the professed neutrality of Spain. At all events, if the improper acts of the Spanish agents would not authorize the American government openly to redress herself for the unprovoked injuries she had received, they were such, he believed, as would justify any course that had for its object the putting them down, and arresting their continuance. In this point of view he had already considered it, when, on his way to the Alabama, he received certain information, that about three hundred English troops had landed ; were fortifying at the mouth of the Apalachi- cola ; and were endeavoring to excite the Indians to war. No time was lost, in giving the government notice of what was passing, and the course deemed by him most advisable to be pursued. The advantages to be secured by the pos- session of Pensacola, he had frequently urged. Whether it was that the government beheld things in a different point of view, or, being at peace with Spain, was willing to en- ANDREW JACKS0I7. 237 counter partial inconveniences, rather than add her to the number of our enemies, no order to that effect was yet given. In detailing to the secretary of war what had been commu- nicated to him, he remarks : ^ If the hostile Creeks have taken refuge in Florida, and are there fed, clothed, and pro- tected ; if the British have landed a large force, with muni- tions of war, and are fortifying and stirring up the savages ; will you only say to me, raise a few hundred militia, which can be quickly done, and with such regular force as can be conveniently collected, make a descent upon Pensacola, and reduce it ? If so, I promise you, the war in the south shall have a speedy termination, and English influence be for ever destroyed with the savages in this quarter.' "* To this communication, the general received no answer until after the battle of New Orleans. Upon his own re- sponsibility, he addressed a letter to the Spanish governor, at Pensacola, requesting that the ringleaders of the Creek confederacy, from whom new hostilities were expected, should be delivered to United States ofiicers. The governor refused, and replied to General Jackson's letter in a very lofty tone. But events were about to occur of a nature to test the energy and talents of Jackson. Every day's reports con- firmed the impression that the British were preparing a formidable armament, for a descent upon New Orleans. General Jackson urged the governors of Tennessee, Mis- sissippi, and Louisiana to be vigilant and to hold all their militia in readiness for marching at the shortest notice. The Tennessee troops were the first to advance and to reach Mobile. With a body of these and a few regulars, General Jackson started for New Orleans. He had scarcely started, before Fort Boyer, near Mobile, was attacked by a British * Eaton.. 238 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. force, commanded by Colonel Nichols. However, tlie little garrison displayed Spartan bravery, and repulsed the assailants, who then returned to Pensacola. This attack General Jackson considered as a feint, but determined to proceed to Pensacola, and upon his own responsibility, break jip the hostile band of British, Spaniards, and Indians there assembled. This was an extraordinary resolution, but the circumstances certainly justified its formation. The security of the frontier and the lives and property of American sub- jects which General Jackson was expected to defend, de- manded that the rendezvous of the enemy should be destroyed. Far from deserving censure for this project, the general merited commendation. He incurred all the risk. There was no danger of his involving his country in a war with Spain. The government might disavow his act, and punish him for its commission. When Colonel Child's brigade arrived at Fort Stephens, General Jackson's whole force amounted to three thousand men. On the 2d of November, the line of march was taken up, and on the 6th, the army reached the vicinity of Pensacola. The British and Spaniards had obtained intelligence of its approach and intentions ; and every thing was in readi- ness to dispute its passage. The forts were garrisoned, and prepared for resistance ; batteries were formed in the prin- cipal streets ; and the British vessels were moored within the bay, and so disposed as to command the main entrance to the town. Before any final step was taken, General Jackson concluded to make a further application to the go- vernor, and learn what course he would make it necessary for him to pursue. To take possession, and dislodge the British, was indispensable : to do it under such circum- stances, as should impress the minds of the Spaniards with a ANDREW JACKSON. 239 conviction, that the invasion of their territory -was a mea- sure adopted from necessity, and not from choice, or a dis- position to infringe, or violate, their neutral rights, was be- lieved to be essential. It was rendered the more so, on the part of Jackson, because a measure of his own, and not sanctioned or directed by his government. Previously, therefore, to any act of open war, he determined to try the eifect of negotiation, that he might ascertain, certainly and correctly, hoAV far the governor felt disposed to preserve a good understanding between the governments. But all attempts at a peaceable settlement were unavailing, and on the 7th, Jackson put his army in motion, and after a short conflict, compelled the governor to surrender all the works into the hands of the United States forces. Soon after the fort at Barancas was blown up, and the British vessels left Pensacola bay. Having accomplished the de- struction of a dangerous rendezvous. General Jackson resolved to return to Mobile, which place, he thought the British would again threaten. A detachment was in pursuit of those hostile Creeks who4iad fled from Pensacola. Reaching Mo- bile, the general prepared it to resist an attack. In the latter part of November, General Winchester arrived. Leaving the command of Mobile to this officer. General Jackson hastened to New Orleans, which he made his head-quarters. General Jackson was now on a new theatre, and soon to be brought in collision with an enemy, difi'erent from any he had yet encountered r the time had arrived, to call forth all the energies he possessed. His military career, from its commencement, had been obstructed by innumerable difficul- ties, but far greater were now rising to his view. His body v/orn down by sickness and exhaustion, with a mind con- stantly alive to the apprehension, that, with the means 240 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. given him, it would not be in his power to satisfy his own wishes, and the expectations of his country, were circum- stances well calculated to depress him. He was as yet with- out sufficient strength or preparation, to attempt successful opposition against the numerous and well-trained troops, which were expected shortly at some unprepared point, to enter, and lay waste the lower country. What was to be hoped, from the clemency and generous conduct of such a foe, their march to the city of Washington already announced ; while the imagination painted in lively colors the repetition, here, of scenes of desolation, even surpassing what had there been witnessed. " Louisiana, he well knew, was ill supplied with arms, and contained a mixed population, of different tongues, who per- haps felt not a sufficient attachment for the soil or govern- ment, to be induced to defend them to the last extremity. No troops, arms, or ammunition, had yet descended from the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. His only reliance for defence, if assailed, was on the few regulars he had, the volunteers of General Coffee, and such troops as the state itself could raise. What might be the final result of things, under prospects gloomy as the present, should an enemy shortly appear, was no difficult conjecture. His principal fears, at present, were, that Mobile might fall, the left bank of the Mississippi be gained, all communication with the western states cut off, and New Orleans be thus unavoidably reduced. Although continually agitated by such forebod- ings, he breathed his fears to none. Closely locking all apprehensions in his own breast, he appeared constantly serene, and as constantly endeavored to impress a general belief, that the country could and would be successfully de- fended. The manifestations of such tranquillity, and ap- ANDREW JACKSON. 241 parent certainty of success, under circumstances so un- propitious, excited strong hopes, dispelled every thing like fear, and impressed all with additional confidence in their security." General Jackson was fully aware that spies and traitors swarmed in Louisiana. He urged Governor Claiborne to be vigilant and determined in discouraging the spirit of discontent and treachery. He addressed the people of the state and urged them to make a bold stand in defence of their soil and freedom. One of the general's addresses concluded in these energetic words : — " Our country must and shall be defended. We will enjoy our liberty or die in the last ditch." The states of Kentucky and Tennessee were actively engaged in preparing their forces to advance to the defence of Louisiana. The Kentuckians were commanded by Major-General Thomas, and the Tennesseeans, by Major-General Carroll. General Jackson pushed forward extensive preparations for guarding the passes to New Orleans. ^' The legislature of Louisiana had been for some weeks in session ; and, through the governor's communication, had been informed of the situation and strength of the country, and of the necessity of calling all its resources into action ; but, balancing in their decisions, and uncertain of the best course to be pursued, to assure protection, they as yet had resolved upon nothing promising certainty and safety, or calculated to infuse tranquillity and confidence in the public mind. The arrival of Jackson, however, produced a new aspect in affairs. His activity and zeal in preparation, and his reputation as a brave and skilful commander, turned all eyes towards him, and inspired even the desponding with a confidence they had not before felt. " The volunteer corps of the city were reviewed, and a 21 242 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. visit, in person, made to the different forts, to ascertain their situation, and the reliance that might be had on them, to repel the enemy's advance. Through the lakes, their larger vessels could not pass ; should an approach be at- tempted, through this route, in their barges, it might be met and opposed by the gun-boats, which already guarded this, passage ; but if, unequal to the contest, they should be captured, it would, at any rate, give timely information of a descent, which might be resisted on the landing, before an opportunity could be had of executing fully their designs. Up the Mississippi, however, was looked upon as the most probable pass, through which might be made an attempt to reach the city ; and here were progressing suitable prepa- rations for defence. " A¥e have already noticed that Colonel Hayne had been despatched from Mobile, with directions to view the Missis- sippi near its mouth, and report if any advantageous posi- tion could be found for the erection of batteries ; and whe- ther the re-establishment of the old fort at the Balize could command the river, in a way to prevent its being ascended. That it could not be relied on for this purpose, the opinions of military men had already declared. General Jackson was always disposed to respect the decisions of those, who, from their character and standing, were entitled to confi- dence : yet in matters of great importance, it formed no part of his creed to attach his faith to the statements of any, where the object being within his reach, it was in his power to satisfy himself. Trusting implicitly in Colonel Hayne, as a military man, who, from proper observations, could infer correct conclusions, he had been despatched to examine how far it was practicable to obstruct and secure this chan- nel. His report was confirmatory of the previous informa- ANDREW JACKSON. 248 tion received, that it was incapable, from its situation, of effecting any such object. Fort St. Philips was now resorted t©, as the lowest point on the river, were the erection of works could be at all serviceable. The general had returned to New Orleans, on the 9th, from a visit to this place, which he had ordered to be repaired and strengthened. The commanding officer was directed to remove every combustible material without the fort; to have two additional platforms immediately raised ; and the embrasures so enlarged, that the ordnance might have the greatest possible sweep upon their circles, and be brought to bear on any object within their range, that might approach either up or down the river. At a small distance below, the Mississippi, changing its course, left a neck of land in the bend, covered with timber, and which obstructed the view. From this point, down to where old Fort Bourbon stood, on the west side, the growth along the bank was ordered to be cut away, that the shot from St. Philips, ranging across this point of land, might reach an approaching vessel, before she should be unmasked from behind it. On the site of Bourbon, was to be thrown up a strong work, defended by five twenty-four-pounders, which, with the fort above, would expose an enemy to a cross fire, for half a mile. A mile above St. Philips was to be established a work, which, in conjunction with the others, would command the river for two miles. At Terre au Boeuf, and at the English turn, twelve miles below the city were also to be taken measures for defence ; where it was expected by Jackson, with his flying artillery and fire ships, he would be able, cer- tainly, to arrest the enemy's advance. This system of de- fence, properly established, he believed would give security from any attack in this direction. Fort St. Philips, with 244 LIVES OE" THE PRESIDENTS. the assistant batteries, above and below, would so concentrate their fires, that an enemy could never pass, without suffering greatly, and perhaps being so shattered, that they would fall an easy prey, to those still higher up the river. The essen- tial difficulty was to have them commenced, and speedily finished. Upon lakes Borgne and Ponchartrain, an equally strong confidence was had, that all would be safe from invasion. Commodore Patterson, who commanded the naval forces, had executed every order with promptness and activity. Agreeably to instructions received from the commanding general, to extend to all the passes on the lakes every pro- tection in his power, he had already sent out the gun-boats, under Lieutenant Jones. From their vigilance and capa- bility to defend, great advantages were calculated to arise ; added to which, the Rigolets, the communication between the two lakes, was defended by Petit Coquille fort, a strong work, under the command of Captain Newman, which, when acting in conjunction with the gun-boats, it was supposed would be competent to repel any assault that might here be waged. The prospects of defence had been improved, by detachments sent out to fell timber across every small bayou and creek, leading out of the lakes, and through which a passage for boats and barges could be afforded ; and to in- crease the obstruction, by sinking large frames in their beds, and filling them with earth. Guards and videttes were out, to watch every thing that passed, and give the earliest in- formation. Certain information was at hand, of an English fleet being now off Cat and Ship island, within a short dis- tance of the American lines, where their strength and num- bers were daily increasing Lieutenant Jones, in command of the gun-boats, on Lake Borgne, was directed to recon- ANDREW JACKSON. 245 noitre, and ascertain their disposition and force ; and, in tlie event they should attempt, through this route, to effect a disembarkation, to retire to the Rigolets, and there, with his flotilla, make an obstinate resistance, and contend to the last. He remained off Ship island, until the 12th of Decem- ber; when, understanding the enemy's forces were much increased, he thought it most advisable to change his anchor- age, and retire to a position near Malheur eux island. On the 13th, Jones discovered the enemy moving off in barges, and directing his way towards Pass Christian. A strong wind having blown for some days to the east, from the lake to the gulf, had so reduced the depth of water, that the best and deepest channels were insufficient to float his little squadron. The oars were resorted to, but without rendering the least assistance : it was immoveable. Recourse was now had to throwing every thing overboard that could be spared, to lighten and bring them off; all, however, was ineffectual, — nothing could afford relief. At this moment of extreme peril and danger, the tide coming suddenly in, relieved from present embarrassment, and lifting them from the shoal, they bore away from the attack meditated ; di- rected their course for the Rigolets ; and came to anchor at one o'clock the next morning, on the west passage of Mal- heureux isles ; where, at day, they discovered the pursuit had been abandoned. - At the Bay of St. Louis was a small depot of public stores, which had, that morning, been directed, by Lieute- nant Jones, to be brought off. Mr. Johnson, on board the Sea Horse, had proceeded in the execution of this order. The enemy, on the retreat of Jones, despatched three barges to capture him ; but unable to effect it they were driven back. An additional force now proceeded against him; 21* 246 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. when a smart action commenced, and the assailants were again compelled to retire with some loss. Johiison, satisfied that it was out of his power successfully to defend himself, and considering it hopeless to attempt uniting, in face of so large a force, with the gun-boats off Malheureux, determined to blow up his vessel, burn the stores, and effect his retreat \j land. A prodigious explosion, and flames bursting on iiis view, assured Jones of the probable step that had been taken. Early on the morning of the 14th, the enemy's barges, lying about nine miles to the east, suddenly weighed their anchors ; and, getting under way, proceeded westwardly to the pass, where our gun-boats still lay. The same difficulty they had experienced yesterday was now encountered. Per- ceiving the approach of the enemy's flotilla, an attempt was made to retreat ; but in vain. The wind was entirely lulled, and a perfect calm prevailed ; while a strong current, setting to the gulf, rendered every effort to retire unavailing, l^o alternative was at hand ; but a single course was left ; — to meet and fight them. Forty-three boats, mounting as many cannon, with twelve hundred chosen men, well armed, con- stituted the strength of the assailants. Advancing in ex- tended line, they were presently in reach : and, at half after eleven o'clock, commencing a fire, the action soon became general. Owing to a strong current, setting out to the east, two of the boats, numbers 156 and 163, were unable to keep their anchorage, and floated about one hundred yards in ad- vance of the line. The enemy, coming up with the two gun-boats in ad- vance of the line, and relying on their numbers and sup- posed superior skill, determined to board. For this pur- pose, several large barges bore down on number 156, com- manded by Lieuterst^nt Jones, but failed in the attempt; ANDREW JACKSON. 247 they were repulsed witli an immense destrmtion, both in their officers and crew, and two of their boats sunk ; one of them, with one hundred and eighty men, went down, im- mediately under the stern of number 156. Again rallying, with a stronger force than before, another desperate assault was made, to board, and carried at the point of the sword, which was again repelled, with considerable loss. The con- test was now bravely waged, and spiritedly resisted. Lieu- tenant Jones, unable to keep on the deck, from a severe wound he had received, retired, leaving the command with George Parker, who no less valiantly defended his flag, until, severely wounded, he was forced to leave his post. No longer able to maintain the conflict, and overpowered by superior numbers, they yielded the victory, after a contest of forty minutes, in which every thing was done that gallantry could do, and nothing unperformed that duty required. The great disparity of force between the combatants, added to the advantages the enemy derived from the peculiar construction of their boats, which gave them an opportunity to take any position that circumstances and safety directed, while th6 others lay wholly unmanageable, presents a curious and strange result ; that, while the American loss was but SIX killed, and thirty-five wounded, that of their assailants was not less than three hundred. " Resistance on the lakes being at an end, no doubt was entertained, but that the moment for action would be, as early as the enemy could make his preparations to proceed. At what point, at what time, and with a force how greatly superior to his own, were matters wholly resting in uncer- tainty, and could not be known, until they actually trans- pired. All the means of opposition were to be seized on, W.'thout delay. 248 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. Early on the 15tli, expresses were sent off, up tlie coast, in quest of General Coffee ; to endeavor to procure infor- mation of the Kentucky and Tennessee divisions, which it was hoped were not far distant, and to urge their speedy approach. In his communication to Coffee, the general ob- serves, " You must not sleep, until you arrive within strik- ing distance. Your accustomed activity is looked for. In- numerable defiles present themselves, where your riflemen will be all important. An opportunity is at hand, to reap for yourself and brigade the approbation of your country." Having marched eighty miles the last day. Coffee encamped, on the night of the 19th, within fifteen miles of New Orleans, making, in two days, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. Continuing his advance, early next morning, he halted within four miles of the city, to examine the state and condition of his arms ; and to learn, in the event the enemy had landed, the relative position of the two armies. The advance of Colonel Hinds, from Woodville, with the Mississippi dragoons, was not less prompt and expeditious ; an active and brave oflficer, he was, on this, as on all other occasions, at his post, ready to act as was required. Having received his orders, he hastened forward, and effected, in four days, a march of two hundred and thirty miles. On the 16th, Colonel Hynes, aid-de-camp to General Carroll, reached head-quarters, with information from the general, that he would be down, as early as possible ; but that the situation of the weather, and high winds greatly re- tarded his progress. The steamboat was immediately put 01 requisition, and ordered up the river, to aid him in reach- ing his destination, without loss of time. He was advised of the necessity of hastening rapidly forward ; that the lakes were in possession of the enemy, and their arrival daily ANDREW JACKSON. 249 looked for : " But," continued Jackson, " I am resolved, fee- ble as mj force is to assail him, on his first landing, and perish, sooner than he shall reach the city." Independent of a large force, descending with General Carroll, his coming was looked to with additional pleasure, from the circumstance of his having with him a boat, laden with arms, which, destined for the defence of the country, he had overtaken on the passage. His falling in with them was fortunate ; for, had their arrival depended on those to whom they had been incautiously given, they might have come too late, and after all danger had subsided ; as was indeed the case with others, forwarded from Pittsburg, which, through the unpardonable conduct of those who had been entrusted with their management and transportation, did not reach New Orleans, until after all difiSculties had ended. Great inconvenience was sustained, during the siege, for want of arms, to place in the hands of the militia. Great as it was, it would have been increased, even to an alarming extent, but for the accidental circumstance of this boat falling into the hands of the Tennessee division, which impelled it on, and thereby produced incalculable advantage. While these preparations were progressing, to concen- trate the forces within his reach, the general was turning his attention to ward off any blow that might be aimed, be- fore his expected reinforcements should arrive. Every point, capable of being successfully assailed, was receiving such additional strength and security as could be given. Patroles and videttes were ranged through the country, that the earliest information might be had of any intended move- ment. The militia of the state was called out en masse : and, through the interference of the legislature, an embargo de- clared, to afford an opportunity of procuring additional re- 250 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. cruits for the navy. General Villery, because an inhabitant of the cointry, and best understanding the several points on the lakes, susceptible of, and requiring defence, was or- dered, with the Louisiana militia, to search out, and give protection to the different passes, where a landing might be effected. Jackson's arrangements were well conceived, and rapidly progressing ; but they were still insufficient ; and his own forebodings assured him, that, to obtain security, something stronger than had been yet resorted to, required to be adopted. That there was an enemy in the midst of his camp, more to be feared than those who were menancing from abroad, was indeed highly probable ; while an appehension indulged, that there were many foreigners, who, feeling no attachment for the country, and having nothing to defend, would not scru- ple to avail themselves of every opportunity, to give intelli- gence of the strength, situation, and arrangement of his camp, excited his fears, and induced a wish to apply the earliest possible corrective — that the country, without it, could not be saved ; he brought to the view of the legislature the propriety and necessity of suspending the writ of habeas corpus. They proceeded slowly to the investigation, and were deliberating, with great caution, upon their right and power to adopt such a measure ; when the general, sensible that procrastination was dangerous, and might defeat the objects intended to be answered, suspended their councils, by declaring the city and environs of New Orleans under martial law. With the exception of the Kentucky troops, which were yet absent, all the forces expected had arrived. General Carroll had reached Coffee's encampment four miles above the city, on the 21st, and had immediately reported to the ANDREW JACKSON. 251 commanding general. The officers were busily engaged in drilling, manoeuvering, and organizing the troops, and in having every thing ready for action, the moment it should become necessary. No doubt was entertained, but the Bri- tish would be able to effect a landing at some point ; the principal thing to be guarded against was not to prevent it ; for, since the loss of the gun-boats, any attempt of this kind could only be regarded as hopeless ; but, by preserving a constant vigilance, and thereby having the earliest intelli- gence of their approach, they might be met at the very thresh- hold, and opposed. Small gun-boats were constantly plying on the lakes, to watch, and give information of every move- ment. Some of these had come in, late on the evening of the 22d, and reported that all was quiet, and that no unfa- vorable appearance portended in that direction. With such vigilance, constantly exercised, it is truly astonishing that the enemy should have effected an invasion, and succeeded in disembarking so large a force, without the slightest inti- mation being had, until they were accidently discovered emerging from the swamp and woods, about seven miles below the town : why it so happened, traitors may conjecture, al- though the truth is yet unknown. The general impression is, that it was through information given by a small party of Spanish fisherman, that so secret a disembarkation was effected. Several of them had settled at the mouth of this bayou, and supported themselves by fish they caught, and vended in the market at New Orleans. Obstructions, had been ordered to be made on every inlet, and the Louisiana militia had been detached for that purpose. This place had not received the attention its importance merited : nor was it until the 22d, that General Villery, charged with the execu- tion of this order, had placed here a small handful of men. ?S2 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Towards day, the enemy, silently proceeding up the "bayou, landed, and succeeded in capturing the whole of this party, but two, who, fleeing to the swamp, endeavored to reach the city ; but, owing to the thick undergrowth, and briars, which rendered it almost impervious, they did not arrive, until after the enemy had reached the banks of the Mississippi, and been discovered. The approach of the enemy, flushed with the hope of easy victory, was announced to Jackson, a little after one o'clock in the afternoon. There were too many reasons, assuring him of the necessity of acting speedily, to hesitate a moment, on the course proper to be pursued. Could he assail them, and obtain even a partial advantage, it might be beneficial — it might arrest disafiection — buoy up the despondent — de- termine the wavering, and bring within his reach resources for to-morrow, which might wholly fail, should fear once take possession of the public mind. He resolved, at all events, to march, and, that night, give them battle. Generals Coffee and Carroll were ordered to proceed immediately from their encampment, and join him, with all haste. Although four miles above, they arrived in the city, in less than two hours after the order had been issued. These forces, with the 7th and 44th regiments, the Louisiana troops, and Colonel Hinds's dragoons, constituted the strength of his army, which could be carried into actioA against an enemy, whose numbers, at this time, could only be conjectured. It was thought ad- visable to leave CarroU and his division behind ; for notwith- standing there was no correct information of the force landed through Yillery's canal, yet Jackson feared that this was only a feint, intended to divert his attention, while, in all probability, a much stronger and more numerous division, hexing already gained soir > point, higher on the lake, might, ANDREW JACKSON. 253 by advancing in his absence, gain his rear, and succeed in their views. Uncertain of their movements, it was essential he should be prepared for the worst, and, by different dispo- sitions of his troops, be ready to resist, in whatever quarter he might be assailed. Carroll, therefore, at the head of his division, and Governor Claiborne, with the state militia, were directed to take post on the Gentilly road, leading from Chef Menteur to New Orleans, and to defend it to the last extrem- ity. Colonel Hayne, with two companies of riflemen, and the Mississippi dragoons, was sent forward, to reconnoitre their camp, learn their position and their numbers, and, in the event they should be found advancing, to harrass and oppose them at every step, until the main body should arrive. The general arrived in view of the enemy, a little before dark. Having previously ascertained, from Colonel Hayne, their position, and that their strength was about two thousand men, he imtiiediately concerted the mode of attack, and has- tened to execute it. Commodore Patterson, commanding the naval forces, with Captain Henley, on board the Caro- line, had been directed to drop down, anchor in front of their line, and open upon them from the guns of the schooner ; which being the signal for attack, was to be waged simul- taneously on all sides. The fires from their camp disclosed their position, and showed their encampment, formed with the left resting on the river, and extending at right angles into the open field. General Coffee, with his brigade. Colonel Hinds's dragoons, and Captain Beal's company of riflemen, was ordered to oblique to the left, and, by a circuitous route, avoid their piquets, and endeavor to turn their right wing ; having succeeded in this, to form his line, and press the enemy towards the river, where they would be exposed more completely to the fire of the Caroline. The rest of the troops, 22 254 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. consisting of the regulars, Plauche's city volunteers, Baquin's colored troops, the artillery under Lieutenant Spotts, sup- ported by a company of marines, commanded by Colonel M'Kee, advanced along the bank of the Mississippi, and were commanded by Jackson in person. " General Coffee had advanced beyond their piquets, next the swamp, and nearly reached the point to which he was ordered, when a broadside from the Caroline announced the battle begun. Patterson had proceeded slowly, giving time, as he believed, for the execution of those arrangements con- templated on the shore. So sanguine had the British been in the belief that they would be kindly received, and little opposition attempted, that the Caroline floated by the sen- tinels, and anchored before their camp, without any kind of molestation. On passing the front piquet, she was hailed, in a low tone of voice, but returning no answer, no further question was made. This, added to some other attendant circumstances, confirmed the opinion that they believed her a vessel laden with provisions, which had been sent out from New Orleans, and was intended for them. Having reached what, from their fires, appeared to be the centre of their encampment, her anchors were cast, and her character and business disclosed from her guns. So unexpected an attack produced a momentary confusion ; but, recovering, they answered her by a discharge of musketry, and flight of congreve rockets, which passed without injury, while her grape and canister were pouring destructively on them. To take away the certainty of aim afforded by their camp fires, these were immediately extinguished, and they retired two or three hundred yards into the open field, if not out of reach of the cannon, at least to a distance, where, by the darkness of the night, they would be protected. 1 ANDREW JACKSON. 255 Coffee had dismounted Ms men, and turned his horses loose, at a large ditch, next the swamp, in the rear of Lo- rond's plantation, and gained, as he believed, the centre of the enemy's line, when the signal of the Caroline reached him. He directly wheeled his columns in, and, extending his lines parallel with the river, moved toward their camp. He had scarcely advanced more than a hundred yards, when he received a heavy fire, from a line formed in his front ; this, to him, was an unexpected circumstance, as he supposed the enemy lying principally at a distance, and that the only opposition he should meet, until he approached to- wards the levee, would be from their advanced guards. The circumstance of his coming up with them so soon, was owing to the severe attack of the schooner, which had compelled them to abandon their camp, and form without the reach of her guns. The moon shone, but shed her light too feebly to dis- cover objects at a distance. The only chance, therefore, of producing certain injury, with this kind of force, which consisted chiefly of riflemen, was not to venture at random, but only to discharge their pieces when there should be a certainty of felling their object. This order being given, the line pressed on, and, having gained a position near enough to distinguish, a general fire was given ; it was too severe and destructive to be withstood; the enemy gave way, and retreated, — rallied, — formed, — ^were charged, and again retreated. These gallant men, led by their brave commander, urged fearlessly on, and drove them from every position they attempted to maintain. Their general was under no necessity to encourage and allure them to deeds of valor : his own example was sufficient to excite them. Always in the midst, he displayed a coolness and disregard 256 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. of danger, calling to his troops, that they had often said they could fight — now was the time to prove it. The enemy, driven back by the resolute firmness and ardor of their assailants, had now reached a grove of orange trees, with a ditch running past it, protected by a fence on the margin. It was a favorable position, promising security, and was occupied with a confidence that they could not be forced to yield it. Cofi'ee's dauntless yeomanry, strength- ened in their hopes of success, moved on, nor discovered the advantages against them, until a fire from the whole British line showed their defence. A momentary check was given ; but, gathering fresh ardor, they charged across the ditch, gave a deadly and destructive fire, and forced them to re- tire. Their retreat continued, until, gaining a similar posi- tion, they made another stand, and were again driven from it, with considerable loss. . Thus the battle raged, on the left wing, until the British reached the bank of the river ; here a determined stand was made, and further encroachments resisted : for half an hour, the conflict was extremely violent on both sides. The Ame- rican troops could not be driven from their purpose, nor the British made to yield their ground ; but at length, having sufi'ered greatly, the latter were under the necessity of tak- ing refuge behind the levee, which afforded a breast-work, and protected them from the fatal fire of the riflemen, Coffee, unacquainted with their position, for the darkness had greatly increased, already contemplated again to charge them ; but Major Moulton, who had discovered their situa- tion, assured him it was too hazardous ; that they could be driven no further, and would, from the point they occupied, resist with the bayonet, and repel, with considerable loss, any attempt to dislodge them. A further apprehension, ANDREW JACKSON. 257 lest, by moving still nearer to the river, he might greatly expose himself to the fire of the Caroline, which was yet spiritedly maintaining the conflict, induced Coffee to retire until he could hear from the commanding general, and receive his further orders. During this time, the right wing, under Jackson, was no less prompt and active. A detachment of artillery, un- der Lieutenant Spotts, supported by sixty marines, formed the advance, and had moved down the road, next the levee. On their left was the 7th regiment of infantry, led by Major Piere. The 44th, commanded by Major Baker, was formed on the extreme left ; while Plauche's and Daquin's battalions of city guards, were directed to be posted in the centre, between the 7th and 44th. Instead of marching in column from the first position, the troops were wheeled into an extended line, and moved off in this order, except the 7th regiment, next the person of the general, which advanced agreeably to the instructions that had been given. Having sufficient ground to form on at first, no inconvenience was at the moment sustained : but this advantage presently failing, the centre was com- pressed, and forced into the rear. The river, from where they were, gradually inclined to the left, and diminished the space originally possessed : farther in, stood Lorond's house, surrounded by a grove of clustered orange trees : this pressing the left, and the river the right wing to the centre, formed a curve, which threw the principal part of Plauche's and Daquin's battalions without the line. This might have been remedied, but for the briskness of the ad- vance, and the darkness of the night. A heavy fire from behind a fence, immediately before them, had brought the enemy to view. Acting in obedience to their orders, not to 22* 258 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. waste their ammunition at random, our troops had. pressed forward against the opposition in their front, and thereby threw those battalions in the rear. A fog rising from the river, which, added to the smoke from the guns, was covering the plain, — gradually diminish- ing the little light shed by the moon, and greatly increasing the darkness of the night : no clue was left, to tell how or where the enemy were situated. There was no alternative but to move on, in the direction of their fire, which sub- jected the assailants to material disadvantages. The British, driven from their first position, had retired back, and occu- pied another, behind a deep ditch, that ran out of the Mis- sissippi towards the swamp, on the top of which was a high fence. Here, strengthened by increased numbers, they again opposed the approach of our troops. Having waited, until they had come sufficiently near to be discovered, they discharged, from their fastnesses, a fire upon the advancing army. Instantly our battery was formed, and poured de- structively upon them ; while the infantry, coming up, aided in the conflict, which was for some time spiritedly maintained. At this moment, a brisk sally was made upon our advance, when the marines, unequal to the assault, were already giv- ing way. The adjutant-general, and Colonels Piatt and Chotard, with a part of the 7th, hastening to their support, drove the enemy and saved the artillery from capture. Ge- neral Jackson, perceiving the advantages they derived from their position, ordered their line to be charged. It was obeyed with cheerfulness, and executed with promptness. Pressing on, our troops gained the ditch, and, pouring across it a well-aimed fire, compelled them to retreat, and abandon their entrenchment. The plain, on which they were contending, was cut to pieces, by races from the river, ANDREW JACKSON. 259 to convey the water. They were therefore, very soon ena- bled to take another situation, equally favorable with the one whence they had been just driven, where they formed for battle, ancl, for some time, gallantly maintained them- selves ; but were at length forced to yield it, and retreat. The enemy, discovering the firm and obstinate resistance made by the right wing of the American army, and per- haps presuming its principal strength was posted on the road, formed the intention of attacking violently the left. Obliquing for this purpose, an attempt was made to turn it. At this moment, Daquin's and the battalion of city guards were marched up, and, being formed on the left of the 44th, met and repulsed them. The enemy had beeen thrice assailed and beaten, and been made to yield their ground for nearly a mile. They had now retired, and, if found, were to be again sought for through the dark. The general determined to halt, and ascertain Coffee's position and success, previously to waging the battle further, for as yet no communication had passed between them. He entertained no doubt, from the brisk firing in that direction, but that he had been warmly engaged ; but this had now nearly subsided ; the Caroline, too, had al- most ceased her operations ; it being only occasionally, that the noise of her guns disclosed the little opportunity she possessed of acting efficiently. The express despatched to General Jackson, from the left wing, having reached him, he determined to prosecute the successes he had gained no further. The darkness of the night, — the confusion into which his own division had been thrown, and a similar one on the part of Coffee, all pointed to the necessity of retiring from the field, and abandoning the contest. General Coffee was accordingly directed to with- 260 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. draw, and take a position at Lorond's plantation, where the line had been first formed : and thither the troops on the right were also ordered to be marched. From the experiment just made, Jackson believed it would be in his power, on renewing the attack, to capture the enemy : he concluded, therefore, to call down General Car- roll with his division, and assail him again at the dawn of day. Directing Governor Claiborne to remain at his post, with the Louisiana militia, for the defence of the Gentilly road, he despatched an order to Carroll, in the event there had been no appearance of a force during the night, in the direction of Chef Menteur, to hasten and join him with his command ; which order was executed by one o'clock in the morning. Previously, however, to his arrival, a different con- clusion was taken. Although very decided advantages had been obtained, yet they had been procured under circum- stances that might be wholly lost, in a contest waged in open day, between forces so disproportioned, and by undisciplined troops against veteran soldiers. Jackson well knew it was incumbent upon him, to act a part entirely defensive : should the attempt to gain and destroy the city succeed, numerous difficulties would arise, which might be avoided, so long as he could hold the enemy in check, and halt him in his designs. Prompted by these considerations, — that it was important to pursue a course calculated to assure safety ; and believing it attainable in no w^ay so effectually, as in occupying some point, and by the strength he might give it, make up for the inferiority of his numbers ; he determined to forbear all fur- ther efforts, until he should discover more certainly the views of the enemy, and until the Kentucky troops should reach him, which had not yet arrived. Pursuing this idea, at four o'clock, having ordered Colonel Hinds to occupy the ground ANDREW JACKSON. 261 he was then leaving, and to observe the enemy closely, he fell back, and formed his line behind a deep ditch, that ran at right angles from the river. To present a check, and keep up a show of resistance, detachments of light troops were occasionally kept in front of the line, assailing and harassing the enemy's advanced posts, whenever an opportunity was offered of acting to advantage. Every moment that could be gained, and every delay that could be extended to the enemy's attempts, to reach the the city, was of the utmost importance. The works were rapidly progressing, and hourly increasing in strength. The militia of the state were every day arriving, and every day the prospect of successful opposition was brightening. The enemy still remained at his first encampment. To be in readiness to repel an assault when attempted, the most active exertions were made on the 24th and 25th. The <;anal, covering the front of our line, was deepened and widened, and a strong mud wall formed of the earth, that had been originally thrown out. To prevent any approach until his system of defence should be in a state of forward- ness, Jackson ordered the levee to be cut, about one hun- dred yards below. The river being very high, a broad stream of water passed rapidly through the plain, of the depth of thirty or forty inches, which prevented any ap- proach of troops on foot. Embrasures were formed, and two pieces of artillery, under the command of Lieutenant Spotts, early on the morning of the 24th, were placed in a position to rake the road leading up the levee. General Morgan, who, at the English turn, commanded the fort on the east bank of the river, was instructed to pro ceed as near the enemy's camp as prudence and safety would permit, and by destroying the levees, to let in the waters of 262 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. the Mississippi between them. The execution of this order, and a similar one, previously made, below the line of de- fence, had entirely insulated the enemy, and prevented his march against either place. On the 26th, however, the commanding general, fearing for the situation of Morgan, who, from the British occupying the intermediate ground, was entirely detached from his camp, directed him to aban- don his encampment, carry off what cannon might be wanted, and throw the, remainder into the river, where they could be again recovered, when the waters receded ; to retire to the other side of the river, and, after leaving an adequate force, for the protection of Fort Leon, to take a position on the right bank, nearly opposite to his line, and have it fortified. As yet the enemy knew nothing of the position of Jackson. What was his situation — what was intended — whether offen- sive or defensive operations would be pursued, were circum- stances on which they possessed no correct knowledge ; still, their exertions, to have all things prepared, to urge their designs, whenever the moment for action should arrive, were unremitting. They had been constantly engaged, since their landing, in procuring from their shipping, every thing ne- cessary to ulterior operations. A complete command on the lakes, and possession of a point on the margin, presented an uninterrupted egress, and afforded the opportunity of con- veying what was wanted, in perfect safety to their camp. The height of the Mississippi, and the discharge of water, through the openings made in the Icvce, had given an in- creased depth to the canal, from which they had first de- barked — enabled them to advance their boats much further, in the direction of their encampment, and to bring up, with greater convenience, their artillery, bombs, and munitions. ANDREW JACKSON. 263 Thus engaged, during the first three days after their arrival ; early on the morning of the 27th, a battery was discovered on the bank of the river, which had been thrown up during the preceding night, and on which were mounted several pieces of heavy ordnance ; from it a destructive fire was opened on the Caroline schooner, lying under the opposite shore. A well grounded apprehension, of her commander, that she could be no longer defended, — the flames bursting out in different parts, and fast increasing, induced a fear, lest the magazine should soon be reached, and every thing destroyed. One of his crew being killed, and six vfounded, and there being not the glimmering of hope that she could be preserved, orders were given to abandon her. The crew reached the shore, and in a short time afterwards she blQW up. Although thus unexpectedly deprived of so material a dependence, for successful defence, an opportunity was soon presented, of using her brave crew to advantage. Gathering confidence, from what had been just effected, the enemy left their encampment, and moved in the direction of our line. Their numbers had been increased, and Major- General Sir Edward Packenham now commanded in person. Early on the 28th, his columns commenced their advance to storm the works. At the distance of half a mile, their heavy artillery opened, and quantities of bombs, balls, and congreve rockets, were discharged. At the moment that the British, in different columns, were moving up, in all the pomp and parade of battle, the batteries opened, and halted their advance. In addition to the two mounted on the works, on the 24th, three other heavy pieces of cannon, obtained from the navy department, had been formed along the line ; these opening on the enemy, checked their pro- 264 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. gress, and disclosed to them the hazard of the project they were on. From the river the greatest injury was done. Lieutenant Thompson, who commanded the Louisiana sloop, which lay nearly opposite the line of defence, no sooner discovered the columns approaching, than warping her around, he brought her starboard guns to bear, and forced them to re- treat ; but from their heavy artillery, the enemy maintained the conflict with great spirit, constantly discharging their bombs and rockets, for seven hours, when, unable to make a breach, or silence the sloop, they abandoned a contest, where few advantages seemed to be presented. The loss was se- vere. While this advance was made, a column of the enemy was threatening an attack on our extreme left ; to frustrate the attempt, 005*60 was ordered, with his riflemen, to hasten through the woods, and check their approach. The enemy, although greatly superior to him in numbers, no sooner dis- covered his movement, than they retired, and abandoned the attack they had previously meditated. The British were encamped two miles below the Ameri- can army, on a perfect plain, and in full view. Although foiled in their attempt to carry our works by the force of their batteries, on the 28th, they yet resolved upon another attack, and one which they believed would be more success- ful. The interim between the 28th of December and 1st of January was spent in preparing to execute their designs. Their boats had been despatched to the shipping, and an additional supply of heavy cannon landed through Bayou Bienvenu, whence they had first debarked. During the night of the 31st, they were busily engaged. An impenetrable fog, next morning, which was not dispelled until nine o'clock, by concealing their purpose, aided them ANDREW JACKSON. 265 in the plans they were projecting, and gave time for the com- pletion of their works. This having disappeared, several heavy batteries, at the distance of six hundred yards, mounting . eighteen and twenty-four pound carronades, were presented to view. No sooner was it sufficiently clear to distinguish objects at a distance, than these were opened, and a tremen- dous burst of artillery commenced, accompanied with con- greve rockets, that filled the air in all directions. Om* troops protected by a defence, which, from their constant labors and exertions, they believed to be impregnable, unmoved and un- disturbed, maintained their ground, and, by their skilful management, in the end, succeeded in dismounting and silencing the guns of the enemy. On the 4th of January, 1815, the long-expected reinforce- ment from Kentucky, amounting to twenty-two hundred and fifty men, under the command of Major-General Thomas, arrived at head-quarters ; but so ill provided with arms, as to be incapable of rendering any considerable service. The alacrity with which the citizens of this state had proceeded to the frontiers, and aided in the north-western campaigns, added to disasters which ill-timed polioy or misfortune had produced, had created such a drain, that arms were not to be procured. No alternative was presented, but to place them at his entrenchment in the rear ; and by the show that they might make, add to his appearance and numbers, without at all increasing his strength. Informa- tion was now received that Major-General Lambert had joined the British commander-in-chief, with a considerable reinforcement. It had been heretofore announced in the American camp, that additional forces were expected, and something decisive might be looked for, as soon as they should arrive. This circumstance, in connection with ethers, 23 266 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. no less favoring the idea, led to the conclusion that a few more days would, in all probability, bring on the struggle, which would decide the fate of the city. For eight days had the two armies lain upon the same field, and in view of each other, without any thing decisive being on either side effected. Twice, since their landing, had the British columns essayed to effect by storm the exe- cution of their plans, and twice had failed — been compelled to relinquish the attempt, and retire from the contest. The 8th of January at length arrived. The day dawned ; and the signals, intended to produce concert in the enemy's movements, were descried. On the left, near the swamp, a sky-rocket was perceived rising in the air ; and presently another ascended from the right, near the river. They announced to each other, that all was prepared and ready, to proceed and carry by storm, a defence which had twice foiled their utmost efforts. Instantly the charge was made, and with such rapidity, that our soldiers, at the out-posts, with difficulty fled in. The British batteries, which had been demolished on \he 1st of the month, had been re-established during the pre- ceding night ; and heavy pieces of cannon mounted, to aid in their intended operation. These now opened, and showers of bombs and balls were poured upon our line ; while the air was lighted with their congreve rockets. The two divi- sions, commanded by Sir Edward Packenham in person, and supported by Generals Keane and Gibbs, pressed for- ward ; the right against the centre of General Carroll's com- mand, — the left against our redoubt on the levee. / thick fog, that obscured the morning, enabled them to approach within a short distance of our intrenchment, before they were discovered. They were now perceived advancing, with ANDREW JACKSON. 267 firm, quick, and steady pace, in column, "with a front of sixty or seventy deep. Our troops who for some time had been in readiness, and waiting their appearance, gave three cheers, and instantly the whole line was lighted with the blaze of their fire. A burst of artillery and small arms, pouring with destructive aim among them, mowed down their front, and arrested their advance. In the musketry, there was not a moment's intermission ; as one party discharged their pieces, another succeeded ; alternately loading and appearing, no pause could be perceived, — it was one continued volley. The columns already perceived their dangerous and exposed sit- uation. Notwithstanding the severity of our fire, which few troops, could for a moment have withstood, some of those brave men pressed on, and succeeded in gaining the ditch, in front of our works, where they remained during the action, and were afterwards made prisoners. The horror before them was too great to be withstood ; and already were the British troops seen wavering in their determination, and re- ceding from the conflict. At this moment. Sir Edward Packenham, hastening to the front, endeavored to encourage and inspire them with renewed zeal. His example was of short continuance : he soon fell, mortally wounded, in the arms of his aid-de-camp, not far from our line. Generals Gibbs and Keane also fell, and were borne from the field, dangerously wounded. At this moment. General Lambert, who was advancing at a small distance in the rear, with the reserve, met the columns precipitately retreating, and in great confusion. His efi"orts to stop them were unavailing, — they continued retreating, until they reached a ditch, at the distance of four hundred yards, where a momentary safety being found, they were rallied, and halted. The field before them, over which they had advanced, wa* 268 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. Strewed with the dead and dying. Danger hovered still around ; yet, urged and encouraged by their officers, who feared their own disgrace involved in the failure, they again moved to the charge They were already near enough to deploy, and were endeavoring to do so ; but the same con- stant and unremitted resistance, that caused their first retreat, continued yet unabated. The batteries had never ceased their firing ; their constant discharges of grape and canister, and the fatal aim of the musketry, mowed down the front of the columns, as fast as they could be formed. Satisfied nothing could be done, and that certain destruction awaited all further attempts, they forsook the contest and the field in disorder, leaving it almost entirely covered with the dead and wounded. It was in vain their officers endeavored to animate them to further resistance, and equally vain to at- tempt coercion. The panic produced from the dreadful re- pulse they had experienced ; the plain, on which they had acted, being covered with innumerable bodies of their country men ; while, with their most zealous exertions, they had been unable to obtain the slightest advantage, were circumstances well calculated to make even the most submissive soldier oppose the authority that would have controlled him. The light companies of fusileers ; the 43d and 93d regi- ments, and one hundred men from the West India regiment, led on by Colonel Rennie, were ordered to proceed, under cover of some chimneys, standing in the field, until having cleared them, to oblique to the river, and advance, protected by the levee, against our redoubt on the right. This work having been but lately commenced, Vv'as in an unfinished state. It was not until the 4th, that General Jackson, much against his own opinion, had yielded to the suggestions of others, and permitted its projection ; and, considering ANDREW JACKSON. 269 the plan on wlilcli it had been sketched, had not yet received that strength necessary to its safe defence. The detachment, ordered against this place, formed the left of General Keane's command. Rennie executed his orders with great bravery, and, urging forward, arrived at the ditch. His advance was greatly annoyed by Commodore Patterson's battery on the left bank, and the cannon mounted on the redoubt ; but, reaching our works, and passing the ditch, Rennie, sword in hand, leaped on the wall, and, calling to his troops, bade them follow ; he had scarcely spoken, when he fell, by the fatal aim of our riflemen. Pressed by the impetuosity of superior numbers, who were mounting the wall, and entering at the embrasures, our troops had retired to the line, in rear of the redoubt. A momentary pause ensued, but only to be interrupted, with increased horrors. Captain Beal, with the city riflemen, cool and self-possessed, perceiving the enemy in his front, opened upon them, ancl at every discharge brought the object to the ground. To advance, or main- tain the point gained, was equally impracticable for the enemy : to retreat or surrender was the only alternative ; for they already perceived the division on the right thrown into confusion^ and hastily leaving the field. General Jackson, being informed of the success of the enemy on the right, and of their being in possession of the redoubt, pressed forward a reinforcement, to regain it. Pre- viously to its arrival, they had abandoned the attempt, and were retiring. They were severely galled by such of our guns as could be brought to bear. The levee afforded them considerable protection ; yet, by Commodore Patterson's re- doubt, on the right bank, they suff'ered greatly. Enfiladed by this, on their advance, they had been greatly annoyed, and now, in their retreat, were no less severely assailed. 23* 270 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. Numbers found a grave in the ditch, before our line ; and of those who gained the redoubt, no one, it is believed, es- caped ; — thej were shot down, as fast as they entered. The route, along which they had advanced and retired, was strewed with bodies. Affrighted at the carnage, they moved from the scene, hastily and in confusion. Our batteries were still con- tinuing the slaughter, and cutting them down at every step : safety seemed only to be attainable, when they should have retired without the range of our shot ; which, to troops galled as severely as they were, was too remote a relief. Pressed by this consideration, they fled to the ditch, whither the right division had retreated ; and there remained, until night permitted them to retire. The efforts of the enemy to carry the line of defence on the left, were seconded by an attack on the right bank, with eight hundred chosen troops, under the command of Colonel Thornton. Owing to the difficulty of passing th^ boats from the canal to the river, and the strong current of the Mississippi, all the troops destined for this service were not crossed, nor the opposite shore reached for some hours after the expected moment of attack. By the time he had effected a landing, the day had dawned, and the flashes of the gun announced the battle begun. Supported by the three gun-boats, he hastened forward, with his com- mand, in the direction of Morgan's entrenchment. Colonel Thornton having reached an orange grove, about seven hundred yards distant, halted ; and, examining Mor- gan's line, found it to " consist of a formidable redoubt on the river," with its weakest and most vulnerable point to- wards the swamp. He directly advanced to the attack, in two divisions, against the extreme right and centre of the line; and, having deployed, charged the entrenchment, ANDREW JACKSON. 271 defended by about fifteen hundred men. A severe discharge, from the field pieces mounted along our works, caused the right division to oblique, vf hich, uniting with the left, pressed forward to the point occupied by the Kentucky troops. Per- ceiving themselves thus exposed, and having not yet re- covered from the emotions produced by their first retreat, they began to give way, and very soon entirely abandoned their position. The Louisiana militia gave a few fires, and followed the example. Through the exertions of the officers, a momentary halt was efiected ; but a burst of congreve rockets, falling thickly, and firing the sugar-cane, and other combustibles around, again excited their fears, and they moved hastily away ; nor could they be rallied, until, at the distance of two miles, having reached a saw-mill race, they were formed, and placed in an attitude of defence. Commodore Patterson, perceiving the right flank about to be turned, had ceased his destructive fire against the re- treating columns on the other shore, and turned his guns to enfilade the enemy next the swamp ; but, at the moment when he expected to witness a firm resistance, and was in a situation to co-operate, he beheld those, without whose aid all his efi'orts were unavailing, suddenly thrown into confu- sion, and forsaking their posts. Discovering he could no longer maintain his ground, he spiked his guns, destroyed his ammunition, and retired from a post, where he had rendered the most important services. The events of this day afford abundant evidence of the liberality of the American soldiers, and show a striking dif- ference in the troops of the two nations. The gallantry of the British soldiers, and no people could have displayed greater, had brought many of them even to our ramparts, where, shot down by our soldiers, they were lying badly 272 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. wounded. When the firing had ceased, and the columns had retired, the troops, Tvith generous benevolence, advanced over their lines, to assist and bring in the wounded, which, lay under and near the walls, when, strange to tell, the enemj, from the ditch they occupied, opened a fire upon them, and, though at a considerable distance, succeeded in wounding several. A communication, shortly after, from Major- General Lambert, on whom, in consequence of the fall of Generals Packenham, Gibbs, and Keane, the command had devolved, acknowledges to have witnessed the kindness of our troops to his wounded. He solicits of General Jackson permission to send an unarmed party, to bury the dead, lying before his lines, and to bring off such of the wounded as were dan- gerous. Jackson consented that all lying at a greater dis- tance than three hundred yards, should be relieved and the dead buried : those nearer were, by his own men, to be de- livered over, to be interred by their own countrymen. This precaution was taken, that the enemy might not have an opportunity to inspect, or know any thing of his situation. General Lambert, desirous of administering to the relief of the wounded, and to be relieved from his apprehensions of attack, proposed, about noon, that hostilities should cease, until the same hour the next day. General Jackson, greatly in hopes of being able to secure an important advantage, by his apparent willingness to accede to the proposal, drew up an armistice, and forwarded it to General Lambert, with directions to be immediately returned, if approved. It con- tained a stipulation, that hostilities, on the left bank of the river, should be discontinued from its ratification, but not on the right ; and, in the interim, no reinforcements Avere to be sent across, by either party. This was a bold stroke ANDREW JACKSON. 273 at stratagem ; and, although it succeeded, even to the ex- tent desired, was yet attended with considerable hazard. Although the armistice contained a request, that it should be immediately signed and returned, it was neglected to be acted upon, until the next day ; and Thornton and his com- mand, in the interim, under cover of the night, re-crossed, and the ground they occupied left to be peaceably possessed by the original holders. The opportunity thus afforded, of regaining a position, on which, in a great degree, depended the safety of those on the opposite shore, was accepted with an avidity its importance merited, and immediate measures taken to increase its strength, and prepare it against any future attack that might be made. This delay of the British commander was evidently designed, that, pending the nego- tiation, and before it were concluded, an opportunity might be had, either of throwing over reinforcements, or removing Colonel Thornton and his troops from a situation believed to be extremely perilous. Early next morning. General Lambert returned his acceptance of what had been proposed, with an apology for having failed to reply sooner ; he ex- cused the omission, by pleading a press of business, which had occasioned the communication to be overlooked and neglected. Jackson was at no loss to attribute the delay to the correct motive : the apology, however, was as perfectly satisfactory to him, as any thing that could have been of- fered : beyond the' objects intended to be effected, he felt unconcerned, and having secured this, rested perfectly satis- fied. It cannot, however, appear otherwise than extraordi- nary, that this neglect should have been ascribed by the British general to accident, or a press of business, when it must have been no doubt of greater importance, at that mo- ment, than any thing he could possibly have had before him. . 274 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. The conflict was ended, and each army occupied its for- mer position. In appearance the enemy were visibly altered ; menace was? sunk into dejection, and offensive measures yielded for those which promised safety. The attitude so long preserved, was now abandoned ; and they were seen throwing up partial defences, to guard against expected at- tack. It had been already announced, upon good authority, that a considerable force had succeeded in passing the Ba- lize — made prisoners of a detachment there, and was pro- ceeding up the Mississippi, to co-operate with the land forces. It was intended to aid in the battle of the 8th ; but, failing to arrive the attack had been made without it. That the enemy, chagrined and mortified at the failure of an effort, into which the idea of disappointment had never entered, might again renew the attack, on the arrival of this force, was a probable ovent, and every preparation was now ordered to be made to be again in readiness to repel it. Of this formidable advance, no certain intelligence was received, until the night of the 11th, when a heavy can- nonading, supposed to be on Fort St. Philip, was distinctly heard. Jackson entertained no fears for the result. The ad- vantages of defence, which his precaution and vigilance had early extended to this passage, added to his entire confi- dence in the skill and bravery of the officer, to whom it had been entrusted, led him to believe there was nothing to be apprehended ; and that every thing which duty and bravery could achieve, would be done. Major Overton, who commanded at this place, his ofiicers and soldiers, distinguished themselves by their activity and vigilance. To arrest the enemy's passage up the river, and from uniting with the forces below the city, was of great ANDREW JACKSON. 275 importance ; and to succeed in preventing it, as much as could be expected. This was accomplished. The failure of the squadron to ascend the river, perhaps determined General Lambert, in the course he immediately adopted. His situation before our line was truly unpleasant. Our batteries, after the 8th, were continually throwing balls and bombs into his camp ; and whenever a party of troops appeared in the field, they were greatly annoyed. Thus harassed, — perceiving that all assistance through this channel had failed ; and constantly in apprehension lest an attack should be made upon him, he resolved on availing himself of the first favorable opportunity to depart and for- sake a contest, where every eiFort had met disappointment, and where an immense number of troops had found their graves. The precaution taken by the enemy, and the ground over which they were retreating, prevented pursuit, in suffi- cient numbers to secure any valuable result. The system of operations which Jackson had prescribed for himself, he believed was such as policy sanctioned, nor to be abandoned but for the advantages evidently certain, and which admitted not of question. To have pursued, on a route protected and defended by canals, redoubts, and entrenchments, would, at least, have been adventuring upon an uncertain issue, where success was extremely problematical. Thus, at last, in total disappointment, terminated an inva- sion, from which much had been expected. Twenty-six days ago, flushed with the hope of certain victory, had this army erected its standard on the banks of the Mississippi. At that moment, they would have treated with contempt an as- sertion that in ten days they would not enter the city of New Orleans. How changed the portrait, from the expected reality ! On the 20th, General Jackson, with his remaining 276 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. forces, commenced Ms marcb. to New Orleans. Tlie general glow excited, at beholding his entrance into the city, at the head of his victorious army, was manifested by all those feelings which patriotism and sympathy inspire. The win- dows and streets were crowded to view the man, who, by his vigilance, decision, and energy, had preserved the country from the fate to which it had been devoted. In March, several statements appeared in a New Orleans paper, which General Jackson thought were calculated to introduce discontent and insubordination among the troops. These statements were rumors of peace. They were true, but the general was not sure of that, or that they were not devices of the enemy, to procure a rela,xation of his military system. There were other assertions made which were no- toriously false and pernicious. As the editor refused to retract, he was arrested. Judge Hall, wishing to vidicate the supremacy of the civil authority, issued a writ of habeas corpus — General Jackson, instead of surrendering the edi- tor, arrested the judge also, and sent him into the interior, with these instructions : "I have thought proper to send you beyond the limits of my encampment^ to prevent a re- petition of the improper conduct with which you have been charged. You will remain without the line of my sentinels, until the ratification of peace is regularly announced, or until the British have left the southern coast." The justi- fication of this extraordinary proceeding is to be found in the circumstances of General Jackson's position. Surrounded as he was by persons of doubtful fidelity to the country, and uncertain in regard to the movements of the enemy, it was necessary that the stringency of the martial law he had proclaimed should be maintained. The legislature and many officials had manifested a disposition to yield the ANDREW JACKSON. 277 country to the enemy, without a struggle. To preserve Louisiana for the United States, it was necessary that their authority should be set at naught. On the 13th of March, 1815, the news of peace was re^ ceived from the general government. Judge Hall now re- turned to New Orleans, and summoning General Jackson to appear before him, became the judge in his own cause, and, refusing to hear the defence offered by the general, fined him a thousand dollars. The people of New Orleans were indignant, and made up the fine by voluntary subscrip- tion. But General Jackson paid it himself and refused to be remunerated. The general now returned to Nashville, Tennessee. His rapid and brilliant military career now came to a stand, though he held command of the southern division of the army. The legislatures of many of the states passed resolutions of approbation of his achievements, and the Congress of the United States, besides commendatory resolutions, directed a gold medal to be presented to him, commemorative of the battle of New Orleans. The Seminole Indians of Florida, showing their hostility, by committing hostilities on the frontiers, caused the general government to order General Gaines to protect the inhabi- tants of the south-western section of the Union. That ofiicer erected three forts, and strove to establish peace with the Indians, but did not succeed. Early in 1818, the Se- minoles fell in with a party of forty men, under Lieutenant Scott, at the mouth of Flint river, and massacred them all but six, who escaped by swimming. As soon as the news of this outrage reached General Jack- son, he raised two thousand five hundred men, and marched for the Mickasucky villages, which he reached on the 1st of April. The villages were deserted. General Jackson burned 24 ^78 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. them, and then hastened to St. Marks, a Spanish post, on the Apalachee Bay, in Florida. Two persons, who were traders with the Indians, namely, Arbuthnot, a Scotchman, and Ambrister, a British lieutenant of marines, wer^ made prisoners near St. Marks, by General Jackson, and confined. Both were accused of exciting the Indians to hostility, and being tried and found guilty by a court-martial were sen- tenced to death. One was shot and the other hung by order of General Jackson. About the middle of May, General Jackson took posses- sion of Pensacola and Fort Barancas, notwithstanding the remonstrance of the governor, and captured and hung two Indian chiefs, under circumstances which he deemed justi- fiable. On the 2d of June, 1818, the general informed the secretary of war, that the Seminole war might be considered as closed. He now retired to Nashville, and shortly after resigned his commission in the army. In January, 1819, General Jackson visited Washington, while his conduct in the Seminole war was under discussion in Congress. His course was approved by a large majority of the members, and by the President and a majority of the cabinet, though the Spanish posts in Florida were restored. The resolutions of censure were rejected. The general now visited various cities and towns, and was received with many marks of respect and admiration. " In June, 1821, the President appointed him governor of Florida, which office he accepted, and in August he took pos- session of the territory, according to the treaty of cession. The Spanish governor, Callava, having refused to give up certain public documents, deemed of importance, he was taken into custody, by order of Governor Jackson, and committed to prison. The papers being found, under a search-warran-t; 1 \ ANDREW JACKSON. 279 issued by Jackson, Callava, was immediately set at liberty. Jackson remained but a few montbs in Florida ; for, disliking tbe situation, and disapproving of the extent of power vested in him as governor, he resigned the office and again retired to Tennessee. President Monroe offered him the appoint- ment of minister to Mexico, which he declined in 1823. "In July, 1822, General Jackson was nominated by the legislature of Tennessee as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. This nomination was repeated by assem- blages of the people in several other states. In the autumn of 1823, he was elected by the legislature a senator from Tennessee, and took his seat in the senate of the United States in December, 1823. He voted for the protective tariff of 1824. The popularity of General Jackson with the people of the United States, was shown at the presidential election of 1824, when he received a greater number of elec- toral votes than either of his competitors, namely, ninety- nine. But Mr. Adams was chosen in the house of represen- tatives. After the election of Mr. Adams to the Presidency, the opposition to his administration was soon concentrated upon General Jackson as a candidate to succeed* him. In October, 1825, he was again nominated by the legislature of Tennessee for President, on which occasion he resigned his seat in the senate of the United States. During the canvass which resulted in his election to the Presidency in 1828, by a majority of more than two to one, of the electoral votes, over Mr. Adams, he remained in private life."* Before departing for^Washington, in 1829, to take the reins of government, the general was severely afflicted by the death of his wife, a lady of rare accomplishments. His in- auguration took place on the 4th of March, 1829. Wash- ^Statesman's Manual. 280 ., LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ington was thronged with the general's triumphant and enthu- siastic friends. The address was considered equal in point of style to those of several of his illustrious predecessors, while it was distinguished for its profession of republican principles. John C. Calhoun had been re elected Yice President. The members of Mr. Adams's cabinet having resigned, President Jackson nominated the following gentlemen for heads of the respective departments, who were promptly confirmed by the senate : Martin Van Buren, of New York, Secretary of State ; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; John H. Eaton, of Tennessee, Secretary of War ; John Branch, of North Carolina, Secre- tary of the Navy ; John McPherson Berrien, of Georgia, At- torney-General. It being determined to introduced the Post- master-General into the cabinet, the incumbent of that office, John McLean, was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court, and William T. Barry, of Kentucky, received the appointment of Postmaster-General. The great features of President Jackson's administra- tion — ^were the great number of removals from office, under the avowed doctrine that the President should reward his friends and punish his enemies ; the veto of the charter of the national bank, and the removal of the deposites — ^the firm opposition to the schemes of the nullifiers, under the lead of John C. Casiioun and Robert Y. Hayne — and the bold, decided tone held in the difficulties with France. Those are still matters for discussion, and a cool, impartial inves- tigation of their justice and expediency has yet to be made. We conceive that such an investigation would occupy too much space for our jolume, and, perhaps, be foreign to our purpose. f) I ANDREW JACKSON. 281 At a very early period of the administration, a coolness between the Vice President, Mr. Calhoun, and the Secretary of State, Mr. Van Buren, was manifested. This grew out of their rival pretentions to the succession to the Presidency. Finally, Mr. Calhoun was completely estranged from the administration, and his influence went to strengthen the opposition. Mr. Van Buren's political fortunes were thereby much advanced, and when President Jackson was persuaded to accept a nomination for another term of office, Mr. Van Buren was nominated by the same party for the Vice Presi- dency. Late in the summer of 1831, the cabinet of Presi- dent Jackson was completely re-organized, as follows : Ed- ward Livingston, of Louisiana, Secretary of State ; Louis M'Lane, Secretary of the Treasury ; Lewis Cass, of Ohio, Secretary of War; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy; Boger B. Taney, of Maryland, Attorney-General. This cabinet was not only superior to that which preceded it, in point of administrative talents, but might fairly compare with most of those of previous ad- ministrations. Foreign and domestic affairs were managed by it with consummate ability. In the fall of 1832, parties girded up their loins and lifted their banners for another presidential contest. The anti-masonic convention, which met in September, nomi- nated William Wirt, of Maryland, for President, and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, for Vice President. The great majority of the opposition supported Henry Clay, of Ken- tucky, for President, and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, was placed on the same ticket, as a candidate for the Vice Presidency. Mr. Calhoun and his South Carolina friends supported John Floyd and Henry Lee. In the electoral college, the votes for President stood as follows: Andrew 24* 282 LIVES OP THE PEESIDENTS. Jackson, two hundred and nineteen ; Henry Clay, forty- nine ; John Floyd, eleven ; William Wirt, seven. Eor Vice President — Martin Van Buren, one hundred and eighty- nine ; John Sergeant, forty-nine ; William Wilkins, thirty ; Henry Lee, eleven ; Amos Ellmaker, seven. It was anticipated that the second term of President Jack- son would pass away peaceably. But the removal of the de- posites, and the determined hostility evinced by the admin- istration, caused the bank directors to adopt measures of re- trenchment, which gave rise to much commercial distress, and ultimately strengthened the opposition in Congress. In June, 1834, Mr. M'Lane, who had succeeded Mr. Livingston, having resigned, John Forsyth, of Georgia, was appointed Secretary of State ; Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey, Sec- retary of the Navy, in place of Levi Woodbury, appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Taney had been nominated to the post of Secretary of the Treasury to effect the removal of the deposits. The senate, however, refused to confirm the nomination. The election in the fall of 1836, resulted in the election of Martin Van Buren to the Presidency and Colonel Richard M. Johnson to the Vice Presidency, the latter being chosen by the senate. These gentlemen were warm supporters of the administration of General Jackson. General Jackson now issued a farewell address to his countrymen, embodying his political principles, and after witnessing the inauguration of his successor, retired to the Hermitage, in Tennessee, his favorite residence, where he passed the remainder of his days. He was a member of the presbyterian church, and religious faith appears to have cheered the latter period of his life. He retained his men- tal faculties unimpaired, up to the hour of his decease, which occurred on the 8th of June, 1845. His countrymen ANDREW JACKSON. 283 throughout the United States, joined in tokens of respect to his memory. He left no relatives, and his estate was be- queathed to members of the Donnelson family, the relations of Mrs. Jackson.* " Jackson's face and figure were so remarkable that no- thing could be an easier task to an artist than to get a like- ness of him. His face confirmed every dictum of the physi- ognomist. It was long and narrow, and prominent below. A mouth and chin more expressive of stern decision can scarce be imagined ; the nose high and long, and a little drooping, indicating the strength of character (Bonaparte would hardly employ a man in any important trust who had not a large nose,) with a mixture of shrewdness. This quality was also strongly marked in the large folds of skin about the eyes, (often called crow's feet ;) his cheeks were hollow, the eye itself was the eye of an eagle — cold, grey, piercing in the highest degree, and when contracted by rage, darting like fire ; the brow was fretful, serious, and lowering. His figure was tall and commanding, but thin and sinewy ; his hair of iron gray, was stiff and unyielding, very abundant, and stood erect upon his head. He looked well when standing, still better when on horseback, and his appearance was much improved by a splendid uniform. When sitting, he usually crossed one knee over the other. His hands were long and bony ; toward the close of life he had a little stoop in the back, when seated, "f The chief feature in General Jackson's character was the inflexibility of his will. When he resolved, there was no possibility of swerving or bending his resolution. His pas- sions were powerful — so that his friendship was to be courted and his hatred to be feared. His mind was naturally strong * Statesman's Manual. f A. J. Stansbury. 13 284 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. and keen, and particularly fitted for originating and govern- ing military movements. Military men of reputation have borne testimony to the talents displayed by him at the battle of New Orleans, and in the Creek war, and his services certainly entitle him to the gratitude of every patriotic citi- zen. In regard to the wisdom of his statesmanship, widely different opinions are entertained. Perhaps, however, it will be agreed, that though he was occasionally arbitrary, he, in general, managed the foreign and domestic relations of the country with honesty, energy, determination, and a considerable share of judgment. ^^INY ^ (^ ^ m ffelfeiP^x V A N I'. U R E X, i^ K^^ ^itire^. The Presidents of the United States, from Washington to Jackson, were the children of the revolution. They had heard the trump of liberty and witnessed the struggles of the infant Hercules for freedom and independence. So linked with glorious memories, they could not but be patriotic, and whether they acted wisely or weakly, the people never doubted that their hearts were devoted to their country, and its welfare. But now, a new generation was to attempt to occupy the seat of the mighty men of the past. Younger hands were to be tried at the helm ; and grave fears and ap- prehensions arose that they would be unequal to the task of government. Martin Van Bur en was the first of the new school. The ancestors of Mr. Van Buren were among the early emigrants from Holland to New York. The father of the President, Abraham Van Buren, was a resident of the old , town of Kinderhook, Columbia county, on the east bank of the Hudson, a farmer of moderate circumstances, and an intelligent and upright man. He married a Miss Hoes, a distant relative, distinguished for amiability, intelligence and exemplary piety. Martin Van Buren, the eldest son of these parents, was born at Kinderhook, December 5th, 1782. 25 (289) 290 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. After acquiring the rudiments of an English education, Martin became a student in a Kinderhook academy. Here he made rapid progress in English literature and gained some knowledge of Latin. He is said to have displayed extraor- dinary quickness of observation upon character and events, and to have possessed a strong passion for composition and ex- tempore speaking. In 1796, at the age of fourteen, Martin commenced the study of the law in the office Francis Sylvester, Esq., of Kinderhook. At that time, young men, who had not enjoyed the advantages of a collegiate education, were compelled to pass seven years in preparatory studies, before they could be admitted to practise. But the management of cases before justices of the peace frequently devolved on the students, and on these occasions, Martin Van Buren displayed extraordinary penetration and readiness of speech. While pursuing his legal studies he was very attentive to political events and the relative positions of parties, and on all occasions evinced an attachment for the republican or Jefferson party. The last year of Mr. Van Buren's prepa- ratory study was passed in the city of New York, in the office of Mr. "William P. Van Ness, and under his direction. Mr. Van Ness was a distinguished member of the bar and a leader of the democratic party. He was intimate with Colonel Burr, and introduced Mr. Van Buren to the notice of that able politician. The younger lawyer thus enjoyed every advantage for studying law and politics, and he was quick and skilful in availing himself of his opportunities. In November, 1803, in the thirty-first year of his age, Mr. Van Buren was admitted as an attorney at law, to the bar of the supreme court in the state of New York, and immediately re- turned to his native village to practise his profession, in partnership, with his half-brother, the Honorable James L MARTIN VAN BUREN. 291 Van Allen. The bar of Columbia county, at that time em- braced some of the finest talent of any in New York, and Mr. Van Buren had to contend with it, on his upward way. Parties were in a very excited state at that period. The republicans were struggling hard to gain the ascendancy throughout the country. Although they had a clear majority in the state of New York, they , succumbed to the federalists in many counties. In Columbia, the reins were in the hands of the wealthy land-holders, who were generally federalists and op- posed to the extension of popular rights. Mr. Van Buren's early display of energy and ability attracted their attention, and no ordinary pains were taken to detach him from the republicans. His partner and many of his nearest relations and friends were members of the federal party, and as they considered that his political preferences would interfere with his prosperity, they strove to win him to their views. But Mr. Van Buren remained firm in the faith which his father had held in the revolution, and which he had on the onset espoused. Thus connected with the democratic party, he naturally became the vindicator not only of their political faith, but of their legal rights. The conflicts in which he engaged, rapidly invigorated and enlarged his natural powers. In 1807, Mr. Van Buren was admitted as a counsellor in the supreme court, where he was brought into more immediate collision with the most distinguished members of the legal professions. In 1808, he was appointed surrogate of Columbia county, soon after which he removed to the city of Hudson, where he resided during seven years, and maintained a high rank in his profession. His practice became extensive and lucrative. His career as a lawyer occupies a period of twenty- five yeais, and was closed in 1828. Throughout, Mr. Van 292 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Buren held an enviable reputation, for skill, learning, and integrity.* Mr. Van Buren was married in 1806, to Miss Hannah. Hoes, to whom, he had, at an early age evinced an ardent attachment. This amiable lady died of consumption, in 1818, leaving her husband four sons. Mr. Van Buren has since remained a widower. So much for the private and professional life of the subject of this memoir. Mr. Van Buren began his career as a politician at the age of eighteen years, being then deputed by the republi- cans of his native town to attend a convention of delegates to nominate a candidate for tiie legislature. His talents were exercised on that occasion in preparing an address to the electors of the district in which he resided. Mr. Jeffer- son's administration received his constant support. In the state elections, Mr. Van Buren sacrificed personal friend- ship to give his earnest and unwavering support to the regularly nominated candidates of his party, caring nothing for men, but every thing for measures. In 1812, Mr. Van Buren was, for the first time, a candi- date for an elective office, having been nominated a senator from the counties then comprising the middle district of the state. Edward L. Livingston, a man of wealthy connections, and high in the favor of the federal party, was his opponent. The struggle was close and violent. Mr. Van Buren ob- tained a majority of about two hundred votes, in an aggre- gate of twenty thousand, and was thus at the age of thirty, placed in the highest branch of the legislature. - From the commencement of his legislative career, Mr. Van Buren gave to all the war measures of Mr. Madison's administra- tion a strenuous and efficient support. * Statesman's Manual. MARTIN VAN BUREN. 293 In 1815, Mr. Van Buren 'w^as appointed attorney-general of the state of New York, and also a regent of the univer- sity. In the spring of the next year, he was re-elected to the state senate for the term of four years. As a senator, he advocated with zeal and ability the great project of in- ternal improvements contemplated by De Witt Clinton. During the war. Governor Tompkins and Mr. Van Buren were considered the leaders of the democratic party in the state of New York. In 1818, Mr. Van Buren, having determined to oppose the administration of De Witt Clinton, commenced the or- ganization of that portion of the democratic party who were dissatisfied with Clinton's election. This body is said to have swayed the destinies of New York for about twenty- five years. The "Albany Eegency," of which Mr. Van Buren was regarded as the head, was a constant butt for vituperation among the friends of Clinton. The difficulties in the democratic party, between the respective friends of Mr. Van Buren and Governor Clinton, soon caused an open rupture, the great body of the democrats siding with Mr. Van Buren. The council of appointment, being devoted to the views of the governor, in July, 1819, removed Mr. Van Buren from the office of attorney-general. This made the opposition more violent. However, Clinton was re-elected governor, in spite of the most strenuous efforts of his oppo- nents. An attempt at reconciliation was made — the office of attorney-general being again offered to Mr. Van Buren, but he declined it. In February, 1821, he was elected by the legislature of New York^ a member of the United States senate, in place of Nathsin Sandford, a democrat, whose term expired in March, 1821. In August of the same year, he took a seat in the 25* 294 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. convention to revise the constitution of the state of New York. In this convention, Mr. Van Buren proposed and advocated such amendments as he thought would secure just privileges to citizens of all grades and colors, while they would not prevent the adoption of the constitution by the people. His course was satisfactory to men of all parties, and highly honorable to his talents as a statesman. Mr. Van Buren took his seat in the senate of the United States, in December, 1821, and soon became distinguished as an active and influential legislator. He advocated with zeal and force of reason, the abolition of imprisonment for debt on actions in the United States' courts, amendments to the judiciary system, a bankrupt law — to include corpo- rations as well as persons, and the investment of the public lands in the states in which they were situated, on some just and equitable terms. When Mr. Crawford became a can- didate for the succession to President Monroe, Mr. Van Buren labored to effect his election, but was unsuccessful. He opposed the administration of Mr. Adams, and lent all his influence to strengthen the party which sought to raise General Jackson to the Presidency. In February, 1827, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to the United States senate, by the legislature of his native state. But circumstances soon caused his resignation. Governor Clinton died in February, 1828, and Mr. Van Buren was chosen to succeed him in the gubernatorial office. Entering upon his duties on the 1st of January, 1828, Mr. Van Bu- ren first devoted himself to financial matters. The famous safety-fund system, combining the monied interest of the state, which he proposed to the legislature, was adopted ; but the experience of a few years proved that it could not equal public expectation. MARTIN VAN BUREN. 295 In forming his first cabinet, President Jackson offered the post of Secretary of State to Mr. Van Buren. The general said he made the offer as a tribute to acknowledged talents and public services, and in accordance with the wishes of the republican party throughout the Union. On the 12th of March, 1829, Mr. Van Buren resigned the office of Governor of the state of New York, and soon afterwards entered upon the duties of his new position in the general government. Mr. Van Buren's management of foreign relations did not give general satisfaction. In particular, his instructions to Mr. M'Lane, minister to England, concerning the open- ing of the West Indian ports to American vessels, were severely censured. Though the treaty upon this subject was ultimately beneficial to the United States. Yet the principle contended for by Great Britain prevailed, and it was contended that the honor of the country had been sac- rificed. On the 7th of April, 1831, Mr. Van Buren re- signed the office of Secretary of State, assigning as a reason, that circumstances beyond his control had presented him before the public as a candidate for the succession to the Presidency, and that the injurious effects necessarily result- ing from a cabinet minister's holding that relation to the country, had left him only the alternative of retiring from the administration, or of submitting to a self-disfranchise- ment, hardly reconcileable with propriety and self-respect. Soon after. General Jackson's cabinet was entirely changed. Mr. Van Buren was now appointed by the President, minister to the Court of St. James. On his arrival in Lon- don, in September, 1831, he was received with distinguished favor. But his diplomatic career was destined to be very ehort. Soon after the meeting of Congress, in December, 296 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. the President submitted the nomination of Mr. Van Buren to the senate. He was rejected by that body, it was said, in consequence of their disapproval of the instructions he had, while Secretary of State, given to Mr. M'Lano, in refe- rence to the West India trade. The democratic party con- demned this rejection as an act of political persecution. The President assumed the entire responsibility of the in- structions condemned by the senate, declared they were " the result of his own deliberate investigation and reflection, and still appeared to him to be entirely proper and consonant to his public duty." On the 22d of May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- nated as a candidate for the Vice Presidency, upon the same ticket with General Jackson. The result was a tri- umphant election of both to the respective offices to which they were nominated. Mr. Van Buren received one hun- dred and eighty-nine electoral votes, to ninety-seven for all other candidates for the Vice Presidency. He returned from England to enjoy his triumph over his political oppo- nents. On the 4th of March, 1833, he was inaugurated Vice President. He presided over the senate for four years, giving general satisfaction.* On the 20th of May, 1835, the democratic convention met at Baltimore, to nominate candidates for the two highest offices in the gifts of the people. The result had been anti- cipated. Mr. Van Buren was unanimously nominated as the candidate of the party for President, and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, received the nomination for Vice President. The result of the vote by the electoral college was one hundred and seventy for Mr. Van Buren, including Michigan, (3) informal, and one hundred and twenty-four * Stateaman's Manual. MARTIN VAN BUREN. 297 for all other candidates. Colonel Johnson did not receive a majority of the electoral vote. But he was elected by the senate, according to the provisions of the constitution. Mr. Yan Buren was inaugurated as President of the United States, on the 4th of March 1837. From the assurance of the inaugural address, the people expected that the policy of the government would remain unchanged The new President selected for his cabinet, John Forsyth, of Georgia, for Secretary of State ; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Treasury ; Joel E. Poinsett, of South Carolina, Secretary of War ; Mahlon Dickerson of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy ; Amos Kendall, of Ken- tucky, Postmaster-General ; and Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, Attorney-General. All of these gentlemen, except Mr. Poinsett, had been appointed by General Jackson to the respective offices named, and they were continued by Mr. Yan Buren. The new administration commenced its career in cloudy times. Early in May, the commercial pressure was made palpable, by all the banks in New York suspending specie payments. The banks of Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and in many other towns followed the same course. On the 16th of May, the legislature of New York passed an act authorizing the sus- pension of specie payments by the banks of that state for one year. During the preceding two months, unparalleled embarrassments were experienced among the mercantile classes, and in the large cities business was at a stand. Pe- titions poured in, to the President, praying him to rescind the specie circular issued by General Jackson in 1836, which re- quired all payments for the public lands to be made in gold and silver, to defer commencing suits on unpaid bonds, and LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. to call an extra session of Congress. The President for some time, declined to act on the petitions ; but the exigency in which the financial affairs of the government were placed, finally induced him to convene Congress upon the first Monday in September. The extra Session lasted forty-three days. The democrats were in a majority in both houses ; but a small portion of the party did not coincide with the President in his views of financial affairs, and the representatives of this portion, voting with the whigs, defeated the independent treasury scheme, the favorite financial measure of the administration. This measure was proposed at the extra session, and then again at the first regular session, and each time rejected. In June, 1838, Mahlon Dickerson resigned the office of Secretary of the Navy, and James K. Paulding, of New York, was appointed in his place. It was now evident that the popularity of the administration was on the decline. At the state election the opposition gained several triumphs. New York fell into their hands. The great body of the business community was arrayed against the government. In the meantime, the Seminole War, in Florida, which had con- tinued during General Jackson's administration was drawing considerable sums from the treasury and causing the death of many valuable lives. To add to the sources of discontent, a difficulty occurred with Great Britain concerning the north-eastern boundary of the United States, which threatened war. In the summer of 1839, President Van Buren visited the state of New York for the first time since his election.* He was received with every mark of respect, by the inhabitants of the various places through which he passed upon his route. * Statesman's Manual. MARTIN VAN BUREN. 299 The opposition was unquestionably in a majority in the country. It assumed the name of the whig party, and held a national convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December, 1839, for the purpose of nominating can- didates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was the favorite of a plurality of the delegates to the convention, but General Wil- liam Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was finally adopted as the stronger candidate. John Tyler, of Virginia, was unanimously nominated for the Vice Presidency. These candidates re- ceived the support of the entire opposition. The democratic convention met on the 5th of May, 1840, and unanimously nominated Mr. Van Buren for re-election. No candidate for the Vice Presidency was put forward ; it was resolved to leave each state to make its own nomination. Richard M. Johnson was understood to be the favorite. The result of the election was the success of the whig candidates, Har- rison and Tyler, by a large majority. The electoral votes stood as follows : — Harrison, two hundred and thirty-four ; Van Buren, sixty ; for Vice President, Tyler, two hundred and thirty-four ; R. M. Johnson, forty-eight, L. W. Tazewell, eleven ; and James K. Polk, one. Some changes had taken place in President Van Buren's cabinet, in addition to those already mentioned. In 1838, Benjamin F. Butler resigned, as Attorney-General, and Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, was appointed to fill his place. In 1839, Mr. Grundy resigned, and Henry D. Gilpin, of Pennsylvania, received the appointment to the office. Amos Kendall having resigned the office of Postmaster- General, John M. Niles, of Connecticut, was appointed in his place on the 25th of May, 1840. Of the character of Mr. Van Buren's administration it is 800 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. difficult at tMs period to make an impartial judgment. His friends contend that lie completed tlie great work commenced by General Jackson, namely, the separation of bank and state, and thereby benefited the real interests of the country. His opponents maintain that his policy was destructive to the business of the nation. * After the 4th of March, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired to Kinderhook, where his fine estate of "Lindenwald" was situated. There he resided, surrounded by an admiring circle of friends, and conscious of possessing the confidence of a large political party. At the democratic convention of 1844, strenuous efibrts were made to nominate Mr. Van Buren for another presidential term. But the rules of the convention required that the candidate should receive the vote of two-thirds of the delegates ; and Mr. Van Buren, in consequence of his being adverse to the annexation of Texas, which was then agitated, could not obtain such a vote. James K. Polk of Tennessee, received the nomination for President. Mr. Van Buren gave him a cordial support, and his triumph may be attributed to the influence of the ex-President, in New York. In 1848, Mr. Van Buren received the nomination for the Presidency, from the "free soil democrats," through a con- vention held at Bufialo, New York. General Cass was the regular candidate of the democratic party, but his nomina- tion was said to have been unfairly made, and, besides, a large number of democrats in the north were opposed to the extension of slavery, and in favor of the abolition of the slave trade in the district of Columbia, in which views, the body of the party would not acquiesce. Mr. Van Buren coincided with the " free soil democrats," and therefore accepted their nomination. This party did not succeed in procuring the MARTIN VAN BUREN. 301 electoral vote of any state, but it mustered over three hun- dred thousand votes at the polls. General Taylor was the choice of the people. During the canvass, John Van Buren, the active and eloquent son of the ex-President, advocated from the rostrum, the claims of the Buffalo nominees. Since that period the ex-President has resided at Lindenwald, enjoying the conversation of his friends, and surrounded by all the comforts which wealth can purchase and a cheerful disposition delight in. In personal appearance, Mr. Van Buren is of about the middle size ; his form is erect, rather inclined to corpulence, and said to be very hardy. His hair and eyes are light, his features lively and expressive; his eyes are quick and indicate penetration and readiness of apprehension; his forehead is broad and high, indicating intellectual power. His friend and biographer. Professor Holland, thus speaks of his private character. " The private character of Mr. Van Buren is above all censure or suspicion. In the relations of father and son, of husband, brother, and friend, he has always displayed those excellencies of character and feeling which adorn human nature. Extending our view to the larger circle of his personal friends, rarely has any man won a stronger hold upon the confidence and affection of those with whom he has been connected. The purity of his motives, his in- tegrity of his character, and the steadiness of his attach- ments, have always attained for him the warm affection of many, even among the ranks of his political opponents. " The ease and frankness of his manners, the felicitous powers of conversation, and the general amiableness of his feeling, render him the ornament of the social circle. Uniting in his character, firmness and forbearance ; habitual self- 26 302 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. respect and a delicate regard for the feelings of others ; neither the perplexities of legal practice, nor the cares of public life, nor the annoyances of party strife, have ever beon able to disturb the serenity of his temper, or to derange for a moment the equanimity of his deportment. He has with equal propriety mingled in the free intercourse of private life, and sustained the dignity of oiEcial station." TlARRISON. iiii^h) Jj-e^^l) Jf^i^Hsoj). William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States, was born at Berkeley, Charles City county, Virginia. February 9, 17T3. His ancestors settled in Vir- ginia, about 1640, and the family name was always among the most prominent in her history. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a conspicuous patriot of the revolution. When a very young man, he honorably represented his native dis- trict in the house of burgesses for many years, and on the 14th of November, 1764, was one of those of its distinguished members chosen to prepare an address to the king, a me- morial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the house of commons, in opposition to the stamp act. He was a dele- gate from "Virginia to the first Continental Congress, which assembled at Philadelphia, September 1st, 1774, when he had the gratification of seeing his brother-in-law, Peyton Eandolph, placed in the presidential chair. At the Congress of the following year, 1775, after the death of Mr. Randolph, it was the wish of nearly all the southern members that Mr. Harrison should succeed him in the Presidency ; but the patriotic John Hancock, of Massachusetts, had likewise been nominated. Mr. Harrison, to avoid any sectional jealousy or unkindness of feeling between the northern and southern delegates at so momentous a crisis, with a noble self-denial (307) 808 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. and generosity, relinquislied his own claims, and insisted on the election of Mr. Hancock, who accordingly had the honor of being unanimously chosen to that high office. Mr. Har- rison still, however, continued one of the most active and influential members of the Continental Congress. On the 10th of June, 1776, as chairman of the committee of the whole house, he introduced the resolution which declared the independence of the colonies ; and on the ever memo- rable 4th of July, 1776, he reported the more formal Decla- ration of Independence, to which celebrated document his signature is attached. The legislature of Virginia returned Mr. Harrison four times as a delegate to Congress. On the expiration of his last term of congressional service, he was immediately elected to the house of burgesses from his own county, and was at once chosen speaker of that body — an office he held uninterruptedly until the year 1782, when he was elected Governor of Virginia, and became one of the most popular officers that ever filled the executive chair. This eminent patriot died in the year 1791. William Henry Harrison was left under the guardianship of Robert Morris, the distinguished financier. He entered Hampden Sidney College, and having graduated, he turned his attention to the study of medicine. But he was destined for another profession — the service of his country in the field. Before he had completed his medical studies, the barbarities of the Indians upon the western frontier so ex- cited his feelings that he resolved to give up his profession and' join the army. Mr. Morris, his guardian, strove to dissuade him from his purpose, but his resolution was not to be shaken, and on communicating with General Washing- ton, that great man cordially approved of his determination.* * Statesman's Manual. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 309 Receiving from President "Washington, the commission of ensign in a rfegiment of artillery, Harrison, then nineteen years of age, joined his corps at Fort Washington, on the Ohio, in 1791. He soon found an opportunity to distin- guish himself. A reinforcement being ordered by General St. Clair, to proceed to Fort Hamilton, Harrison was ap- pointed to command the escort. This duty was arduous, as the country swarmed with foes, yet it was performed with such skill and vigilance, as to gain for the young ensign the approbation of his general. In 1792, Harrison was promoted to a lieutenancy, and in the following year he joined the new army under General Wayne, which was destined to close the Indian war. When, in October, 1793, General Wayne marched for- ward to the Miami, he sent a detachment to take possession of the ground on which General St. Clair had suffered a defeat. Harrison volunteered for the service, and was ac- cepted by the commander. The troops took possession of the fatal field, collected the bones of those who had fallen two years before, and interred them with military honors, and erected Fort Recovery. Lieutenant Harrison bore an important part in the famous battle of the " Fallen Timbers," in which the Indians were completely defeated, by the skill of Wayne and the valor of his troops. The general, in his official account of the battle, complimented young Harrison, as his "faithful and gallant aid-de-camp, in having rendered him the most essential service in communicating his orders in every direction, and for his conduct and bravery in exciting the troops to press for vic- tory." Not long after this campaign, Harrison was promoted to the rank of captain, and placed in command of Fort Wash- ington. He was then but twenty-one years of age, yet gre? t 310 lilVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. confidence was reposed in his skill and energy. While in command at Fort Washington, Captain Harrison married the daughter of John Cleaves Symmes, the founder of the Miami settlements. In April, 1798, when Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the north-western territory, was appointed governor of the south- western country, Harrison received the appointment to fill the vacated post. In the next year a territorial government was organized, and it devolved on the legislature to elect a delegate to Congress. The candidates were Messrs. Harrison and St. Clair. Harrison was chosen by a majority of one vote. The legislature, by joint resolution, prescribed the form of a certificate of his election ; having received that certificate, he resigned the office of Secretary of the territory — proceeded forthwith to Philadelphia, and took his seat ; Congress being then in session. Though he represented the territory but one year, he obtained some important advantages for his con- stituents. He introduced a resolution to subdivide the sur- veys of the public lands, and to ofi'er them for sale in small tracts — he succeeded in getting that measure through both houses, in opposition to the interest of speculators who were, and who wished to be, the retailers of the land to the poorer classes of the community. His proposition became a law, and was hailed as the most beneficent act that Congress had ever done for the territory. It put it in the power of every industrious man, however poor, to become a free holder, and lay a foundation for the future support, and comfort of his family. At the same session, he obtained a liberal extension of time for the pre-emptioners in the northern part of the Miami purchase, which enabled them to secure their farms, and eventually to become independent, and even wealthy.* * Perkin's Annals of the West. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 311 In 1800, a government was organized for Indiana territory, and Harrison was appointed its governor, Ms commission being dated 1801. In this important office, he soon displayed a talent and activity, which resulted in great benefits to his country. On the 17th of September, 1802, Governor Harrison, at Vincennes, entered into an agreement with various chiefs of the Pottawatamie, Eel river, Piankeshaw, Wea, Kaskaskia and Kickapoo tribes, by which were settled the bounds of a tract of land near that place, said to have been given by the In- dians to its founder ; and certain chiefs were named who were to conclude the matter at Fort Wayne. This was the first step taken by Harrison in those negotiations which con- tinued through so many years, and added so much to the dominions of the confederation. He found the natives jealous and out of temper, owing partly to American injustice, but also in a great degree, it was thought, to the acts of the British traders and agents. The governor exerted himself to check a system of specu- lation in land, which had been going on for some time, and which caused disaster and difficulty to many individuals, who were duped by misrepresentation. On the 18th of Au- gust, 1804, Governor Harrison purchased from the Dela- wares, their claims to a large tract between the Wabash and the Ohio ; from the Piankeshaws, their claims to the same, and also to the lands granted to the Kaskaskias in 1803 : from the Sacs and Foxes their title to most of the immense district between the Mississippi, Illinois, Fox river, empty- ing into the Illinois, and Wisconsin rivers ; comprehending, it is said, more than fifty-one millions of acres. These im- portant treaties were not negotiated without much difficulty, caused, it is said, by the machinations of the great Sha- 812 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. wanee chief, Tecumthe, or tlie Croucliing Pantlier, and his brother, called the Prophet. " Upon the 21st of August, Governor Harrison at Vin- cennes, received from the Miamies a region containing two million acres within what is now Indiana ; and upon the 30th of December, at the same place purchased of the Pianke- shaws a tract eighty or ninety miles wide, extending from the Wabash west to the cession by the Kaskaskias, in 1803. At this time, although some murders by the red men had taken place in the far west, the body of natives seemed bent on peace. But mischief was gathering. Tecumthe, his brother the Prophet, and other leading men, had formed at Grenville the germ of that union of tribes by which the whites were to be restrained in their invasions. We are by no means satisfied that the great Indian of latter days used any con- cealment, or meditated any treachery toward the United States, for many years after this time. The efforts of him- self and his brother were directed to two points : first, the reformation of the savages, whose habits unfitted them for continuous and heroic effort ; and second, such a union as would make the purchase of land by the United States im- possible, and give to the aborigines a strength that might be dreaded. Both these objects were avowed, and both were pursued with wonderful energy, perseverance and success ; in the whole country bordering upon the lakes, the power of the Prophet was felt, and the work of reformation went on rapidly."* Still the movements of the Indian brothers led Harrison to suspect their designs and to prepare for an emergency. On the 5th of July, 1809, he wrote to the Secretary of War, as follows : * Perkin's Annals of the West, WILLIAM HENRY HAERISON. 313 . " The Shawanese Prophet and about forty followers ar- rived here about a week ago. He denies most strenuously any participation in the late combinations to attack our set- tlement, which he says was entirely confined to the tribes of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers ; and he claims the merit of having prevailed upon them to relinquish their intentions. '' I must confess that my suspicions of his guilt have been rather strengthened than diminished at every interview I have had with him since his arrival. He acknowledges that he received an invitation to war against us, from the British, last fall, and that he was apprised of the intentions of the Sacs, Foxes, &c. early in the spring, and warmly solicited to join in the league. But he could give no satisfactory explanation of his neglecting to communicate to me circum- stances so extremely interesting to us, and towards which, I had, a fevf months before, directed his attention, and re- ceived a solemn assurance of his cheerful compliance with the injunctions I had impressed upon him. " The result of all my inquiries on the subject, is, that the late combination was produced by British intrigue and influence, in anticipation of war between them and the United States. It was, however, premature and ill judged, and the event sufficiently manifests a great decline in their influence, or in the talents and address, with which they have been accustomed to manage their Indian relations. " The warlike and well-armed tribes of the Pottawatamies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Delawares, and Miamis, I believe neither had, nor would join in the combination ; and although the Kickapoos, whose warriors are better than those of any other tribe, the remnant of the Wyandot excepted, are much under the influence of the Prophet. I am persuaded that 27 314 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. they were never made acquainted witli his intentions, if these were really hostile to the United States. "In this same letter, the governor, at the request of the secretary, Dr. Eustis, gives his views of the defence of the frontiers, in which portion of his epistle many valuable hints are given in relation to the course proper to be pursued in case of a war with England. " In September, October, and December, the Governor of Indiana succeeded in extinguishing the claims of the Dela- wares, Pottawatamics, Miamies, Eel river Indians, Weas, and Kickapoos, to certain lands upon the Wabash which had not yet been purchased, and which were believed to contain copper ore. The treaties with the Delawares, Pot- tawatamics, Miamies, and Eel river Indians, were made at Fort Wayne ; the others at Yincennes ; they were protested against by Tecum the in the following year. In 1809, the western part of the Indiana Territory, long known as * the Illinois,' vras made a separate territory, with the name of the great Indian nation which had once lived there."* During the year 1810, the hostile intentions of Tecumthe and his followers were placed beyond all doubt. Tecumthe denounced the treaty of Fort Wayne, in 1809, as illegal and unjust, maintaining that no single tribe had a right to sell so much land. That British countenance was given to his plans was rendered clear, though it is believed that the rulers of Great Britain did not sanction the deeds of their agents. The great chief had formed the project of uniting all the western tribes, and had succeeded in forming a for- midable confederacy. By various acts his feelings and intentions were made known to the whites. In August, 1810, a council was held at Vincennes, in which the position of * Perkin's Annals of the West. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 315 affairs was clearly ascertained. Of this council, Mr. Drake, in liis life of Tecumthe, gives tlie following account : "Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the council on the portico of his own house, which had been fitted up with seats for the occasion. Here, on the morning of the 15th, he awaited the arrival of the chief, being at- tended by the judges of the supreme court, some officers of the army, a sergeant and twelve men, from Fort Knox, and a large number of citizens. At the appropriated hour Te- cumthe, supported by forty of his principal warriors, made his appearance, the remainder of his followers being en- camped in the village and its environs. When the chief had approached within thirty or forty yards of the house, he sud- denly stopped, as if awaiting some advance from the governor. An interpreter was sent requesting him and his followers to take seats on the portico. To this Tecumthe objected — he did not think the place a suitable one for holding the con- ference, but preferred that it should take place in a grove of trees — to which he pointed — standing a short distance from the house. The governor said that he had no objection to the grove, except that there were no seats in it for their ac- commodation. Tecumthe replied, that constituted no objec- tion to the grove, the earth being the most suitable place for the Indians, who loved to repose on the bosom of their mother. The governor yielded the point, and the benches and chairs having been removed to the spot the conference was begun, the Indians being seated on the grass. " Tecumthe opposed 'the meeting by stating, at length, his objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, made by Go- vernor Harrison in the previous year ; and in the course of his speech, boldly avowed the principle of his party to be, that of resistance to every cession of land, unless made by 816 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. all the tribes, who, he contended, formed but one nation. He admitted that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who Bigned the treaty of Fort Wayne ; and that it was his fixed determination not to permit the village chiefs, in future, to manage their affairs, but to place the power with which they had been hitherto invested, in the hands of the war chiefs. The Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea coast, and would soon push them into the lakes ; and, while he disclaimed any intention of making war upon the United States, he declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, and resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon the Indian lands. He concluded, by making a brief but impassioned recital of the various wrongs and aggressions inflicted by the white men upon the Indians, from the commencement of the revolutionary war down to the period of that council ; all of which was calculated to arouse and inflame the minds of such of his followers as were present. " To him the governor replied, and, having taken his seat, the interpreter commenced explaining the speech to Te- cumthe, who after listening to a portion of it, sprung to his feet and began to speak with great vehemence of manner. " The governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but, as he did not understand him, thought he was making some explanation, and sufi'ered his attention to be drawn towards Winnemac, a friendly Indian, lying on the grass before him, who was renewing the priming of his pistol, which he had kept concealed from the other Indians, but in full view of the governor. His attention, however, was again directed .towards Tecumthe, by hearing General Gibson, who was intimately acquainted the Shawanee language, say to Lieu- tenant Jennings, Hhose fellows intend mischief; you had WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 317 better bring up the guard.' At that moraent, the followers of Tecumthe seized their tomahawks and war-clubs, and sprung upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage himself from the arm chair in which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by his side, and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of the army, who stood near him, drew a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked his j)istol. The citizens were more numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed ; some then procured clubs and brick-bats, and also stood on the defensive. The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist church, ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself at the door to defend the family. During this singular scene, no one spoke, until the guard came running up, and appearing to be in the act of firing, the governor ordered them not to do so. He then demanded of the interpreter, an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Te- cumthe had interrupted him, declaring that all the governor had said was false ; and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and imposed on the Indians. " The governor then told Tecumthe that he was a bad man, and that he would hold no further communication with him ; that as he had come to Vincennes under the protec- tion of a council-fire, he might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the village. Here the council terminated. " The now undoubted purposes of the brothers being of a character necessarily leading to war. Governor Harrison proceeded to strengthen himself for the contest by preparing the militia, and posting the regular troops that were with him, under Captains Posey and Cross at Vincennes.* * Perkin'si Annals of the West. 2T* 318 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. In June, 1811, the governor sent the Shawanese a mes sage, bidding them beware of hostilities. To this, Tecumthe made a brief reply, promising to make the governor a visit. He kept his promise in July, coming to Yincennes with three hundred Indians. Nothing resulted from the meet- ing. The great chief proceeded to the south, it was believed to enlist the Creeks in his cause. Having received his reinforcements. Governor Harrison determined to move forward, and if necessary, to break up the Prophet's rendezvous. " On the 5th of October, he was on the Wabash, sixty or sixty-five miles above Yincennes, at which point he built ' Fort Harrison.' Here one of his sentinels was fired upon, and news were received from the friendly Delawares which made the hostile purposes of the Prophet plain. The go- vernor determined to move directly upon Tippecanoe, still offering peace, however. Upon the 31st of October he was near the mouth of the Yermilion river, where he built a block house, for the protection of his boats, and a place of of deposit for his heavy baggage ; from that point he ad- vanced without interruption into the vicinity of the Prophet's town, where he was met by ambassadors ; he told them he had no hostile intentions in case the Indians were true to existing treaties, and made preparations to encamp. We give his own account of the event which ensued : " In a few moments the man who had been with me before made his appearance. I informed him that my object for the present was to procure a good piece of ground to encamp on, where we could get wood and water ; he informed me that there was a creek to the north-west which he thought would suit our purpose. I immediately despatched two ofiicers to examine it, and they reported that the situation was ex- WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 319 cellent. I then took leave of the chief, and a mutual promise was again made for a suspension of hostilities until we could have an interview on the following day. I found the ground destined for the encampment not altogether such as I could wish it — it was indeed admirably calculated for the encamp- ment of regular troops, that were opposed to regulars, but it afforded great facility to the approach of savages. It was a piece of dry oak land, rising about ten feet above the level of a marshy prairie in front (towards the Indian town) and nearly twice that height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which and near to this bank ran a small stream clothed with willows and brushwood. Towards the left flank this bench of high land widened considerably, but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards from the right flank, terminated in an abrupt point. The two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear of this ground, at the distance of about one hundred and fifty yards from each other on the left, and something more than half that distance on the right flank — these flanks were filled up, by the first two companies of mounted riflemen, amounting to about one hundred and twenty men, under the command of Major-General Wells, of the Kentucky militia, who served as a major ; the other by Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, which amounted to eighty men. The front line was composed of one bat- talion of United States infantry under the command of Major Floyd, flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the left by one company. The rear line was composed of a battalion of United States troops under the command of Captain Baen, acting as major, and four companies of militia infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. The regular troQps of this line joined the mounted riflemen under 820 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. General Wells, on the left flank, and Colonel Decker's bat- talions formed an angle with Spencer's company on the left. " Two troops of dragoons, amounting to in the aggregate about sixty men, were encamped in the rear of the left flank, and Captain Parke's troop, which was larger than the other two, in the rear of the front line. Our order of encampment varied little from that above described, excepting when some peculiarity of the ground made it necessary. For a night attack the order of encampment was the order of battle, and each man slept immediately opposite to his post in the line. In the formation of my troops I used a single rank, or what is called Indian file — because in Indian warfare, there is no shock to resist, one rank is nearly as good as two, and in that kind of warfare the extension is of the first importance. Raw troops also manoeuvre with much more facility in single than in double ranks. It was my constant custom to assemble all my field officers at my tent every evening by signal, to give the watchword and their instructions for the night — those given for the night of the 6th were, that each corps which formed a part of the exterior line of the encampment, should hold its own ground until relieved. The dragoons were directed to parade dismounted in case of a night attack, with their pistols in their belts, and'to act as a corps de reserve. The camp was defended by two captains' guards, consisting each of four non-commissioned officers and privates. The whole under the command of a field officer of the day. The troops were regularly called up an hour before day, and made to continue under arms until it was quite light. " On the morning of the Tth, I had risen at a quarter after four o'clock, and the signal for calling out the men would have been given in two minutes, when the attack com- menced. It began on our left flank — but a single gun was WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 321 fired by tlie sentinels or by the guard in that direction, which made not the least resistance, but abandoned their officer and fled into the camp, and the first notice which the troops of that flank had of the danger, was from the yells of the savages within a short distance of the line — but even under these circumstances the men were not wanting to themselves or the occasion. Such of them as were awake, or were easily awakened, seized their arms and took their stations ; others which were more tardy, had to contend with the enemy in the doors of their tents. The storm first fell upon Captain Barton's company of the 4th United States regi- ment, and Captain Geigler's company of mounted riflemen, which formed the left angle of the rear line. The fire upon these was exceedingly severe, and they suffered severely before relief could be brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encampment near the angle, and one or two penetrated to some distance before they were killed. I be- lieve all the other companies were under arms and tolerably formed before they were fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy ; our fires afl'orded a partial light, which if it gave us some opportunity of taking our positions, was still more ad- vantageous to the enemy, affording them the means of taking a surer aim ; they were, therefore, extinguished as soon as possible. Under all these discouraging circumstances, the troops (nineteen-twentieths*of whom had never been in action before) behaved in a manner that can never be too much applauded. They took their places without noise and with less confusion than could have been expected from veterans placed in a similar situation. As soon as I could mount my horse, I rode to the angle that was attacked — I found that Barton's company had suffered severely and the left of Geigler^s entirely broken. I immediately ordered Cook's S22 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. company and the late Captain Wentworth's, under Lieute- nant Peters, to be brought up from the centre of the rear line, where the ground was much more defensible, and formed across the angle in support of Barton's and Geigler's. My attention was then engaged by a heavy firing upon the left of the front line, where were stationed the small company of United States riflemen (then, however, armed with muskets) and the companies of Baen, Snelling, and Prescott, of the 4th regiment. I found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, and understanding that the heaviest part of the fire proceeded from some trees about fifteen or twenty paces in front of those companies, I directed the major to dislodge them with a part of his dra- goons. Unfortunately the major's gallantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller force than was suf- ficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were, however, imme- diately and gallantly dislodged from their advantageous po- sition, by Captain Snelling at the head of his company. In the course of a few minutes after the commencement of the attack, the fire extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's company, which was posted on the right of the rear line, it was excessively severe : Captain Spencer, and his first and second lieutenants were killed, and Captain Warwick was mortally wounded — those companies, however, still bravely maintained their posts, but Spencer had suffered so severely, and having originally too much ground to occupy, I rein- forced them with Robb's company of riflemen, which had been driven, or by mistake ordered from their position on WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 323 the left flank, toward the centre of the camp, and filled the vacancy that had been occupied by Robb with Prescott's company of the 4th United States regiment. My great object was to keep the lines entire, to prevent the enemy from breaking into the camp until daylight, which should enable me to make a general and effectual charge. With this view, I had reinforced every part of the line that had suffered much ; and as soon as the approach of morning dis- covered itself, I withdrew from the front line, Snelling's Posey's, (under Lieutenant Albright,) and Scott's, and from the rear line, Wilson's companies, and drew them up upon the left flank, and at the same time, I ordered Cook's and Baen's companies, the former from the rear, and the latter from the front line, to reinforce the right flank ; fore- seeing that at these points the enemy would make their last efforts. Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, not knowing my intentions precisely, had taken the com- mand of these companies, had charged the enemy before I had formed the body of dragoons with which I meant to sup- port the infantry ; a small detachment of these were, however, ready, and proved amply sufiicient for the purpose. The Indians were driven by the infantry, at the point of the bayo-/ net, and the dragoons pursued and forced them into a marsh, where they could not be followed. Captain Cook, and Lieu- tenant Larebee had, agreeably to my order, marched their companies to the right flank, had formed them under the fire of the enemy, and being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had charged the Indians, killed a number, and put the rest to a precipitate flight. A favorable opportunity was here offered, to pursue the enemy with dragoons, but being engaged at that time on the other flank, I did not observe it, until it was too late. 324 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. " I have thus, sir, given you the particulars of an action, which was certainly maintained with the greatest bravery and perseverance, by both parties. The Indians, manifested a ferocity uncommon, even with them— ^to their savage fury our troops opposed that cool and deliberate valor, which is characteristic of the Christian soldier. " The Americans in this battle had not more than seven hundred efficient men, — non-commissioned officers and pri- vates ; the Indians are believed to have had eight hundred to one thousand warriors. The loss of the American army was thirty-seven killed on the field, twenty-five mortally wounded, and one hundred and twenty-six wounded, that of the Indians about forty killed on the spot, the number of wounded being unknown. " The battle of Tippecanoe was fought on the 7th of No- vember, and upon the 4th of the following month, Harrison writes that the frontiers never enjoyed more perfect repose; though it seems to be clear that the disposition to do mischief was by no means extinguished among the savages. "'*' The victory of Tippecanoe gave Harrison a high reputa- tion among his countrymen. In the west, he was very popular. Before the surrender of Hull, at Detroit, when a large volunteers force was called into the field, Harrison was appointed to command the Kentucky troops. Soon after, in compliance with the general wish, he was elevated to the responsible post of commander-in-chief over all the forces of the west and north-west. (September 17th, 1812.) "When General Harrison found himself placed at the head of military affairs in the west, his main objects were, first, to drive the Indians from the western side of the De- troit river ; second, to take Maiden ; and third, having thus * Perkin's Annals of the West. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 325 secured his communications, to recapture the Michigan ter- ritory and its dependencies. To do all this before winter, and thus be prepared to conquer Upper Canada, Harrison proposed to take possession of the Rapids of the Maumee and there to concentrate his forces and his stores ; in mov- ing upon this point he divided his troops into three columns, the right to march from Wooster through Upper Sandusky, the centre from Urbana by Fort McArthur on the heads of the Scioto, and the left from St. Mary's by the Au-Glaize and Maumee, — all meeting, of course, at the Rapids. This plan, however, failed : the troops of the left column under Winchester, worn out and starved, were found on the verge of mutiny, and the mounted men of the centre, under Gene- ral Tupper were unable to do any thing, partly from their own want of subordination, but still more from the shiftless- ness of their commander ; this condition of the troops, and the prevalence of disease among them, together with the in- creasing difficulty of transportation after the autumnal rain sets in, forced upon the commander the conviction that he must wait until the winter had bridged the streams and mo- rasses with ice, and even when that had taken place he was doubtful as to the wisdom of an attempt to conquer without vessels on Lake Erie.* Several expeditions against the Indian towns were under- taken, and they were successful to a certain extent. In December, Colonel Campbell, with about six hundred men, marched against the villages on the Mississinaway, a branch of the Wabash. He defeated the Indians in a severe battle, and destroyed several of their towns. After the massacre at Frenchtown, General Harrison fell back to the Rapids of the Maumee, and thence to the * Perkin's Annals of the West. 28 - S26 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Portage, where he waited until reinforcements increased Ms army to seventeen hundred men, and then once more ad- vanced to the Rapids, where the troops were ordered to con- centrate. He projected a winter campaign against Maiden ; but the delay of the reinforcements frustrated the plan, and he was then compelled to fortify his camp to be prepared for any hostile movement of the British and Indians. The fortified camp was called Fort Meigs. On the 28th of April, 1813, a large force of British and Indians, under the command of Proctor and Tecumthe, appeared before the works and began to erect their batteries. Harrison ordered his men to throw up a bank of earth twelve feet high, and upon a basis of twenty feet, behind which the whole garrison withdrew, upon the 1st of May, when the enemy were ready to open their fire. "Upon this bank the ammunition of his majesty was wasted in vain, and down to the 5th, nothing was effected by either party. On that day. General Clay, with twelve hundred additional troops, came down the Maumee in flat- boats, and, in accordance with orders received from Har- rison, detached eight hundred men, under Colonel Dudley, to attack the batteries upon the left bank of the river, while, with the remainder of his forces, he landed upon the southern shore, and after some loss and delay, fought his way into camp. Dudley, on his part, succeeded perfectly in cajDtur- ing the batteries, but instead of spiking the cannon, and then instantly returning to the boats, he suffered his men to waste their time, and skirmish with the Indians, until Proctor was able to cut them off from their only chance of retreat ; taken by surprise, and disorder, the greater part of the detachment became an easy prey, only one hundred and fifty of the eight hundred men escaping captivity or WILLIAM HENEY HARRISON. 827 death. This sad result was partially, though but little, al- leviated by the success of a sortie made from the fort by Colonel Miller, in which he captured and made useless the batteries, that had been erected south of the Maumee. The result of the day's doings had been sad enough for the Americans, but still the British general saw in it nothing to encourage him ; his cannon had done nothing, and were in fact no longer of value ; his Indian allies found it ' hard to fight people who lived like groundhogs ;' news of the Ameri- can successes below had been received ; and additional troops were approaching from Ohio and Kentucky. Proctor, weigh- ing all things, determined to retreat, and upon the 9th of May, returned to Maiden."* About the middle of July, however, the enemy once more appeared before Fort Meigs, and remained in the vicinity a week, using various stratagems to draw the American from their works. Being unsuccessful, they then proceeded to Fort Stephenson. But the gallant young Croghan, who commanded at that post, gave them a severe repulse, and baffled their most strenuous efforts. Proctor and Tecumthe, having the fear of Harrison as a spur, then hurried away towards Maiden. The victory gained by Commodore Perry, upon Lake Erie, was decisive of affairs in the north-west. Harrison, having received all his expected reinforcements, embarked in Perry's fleet, on the 27th of September, and set sail for the shores of Canada. Proctor abandoned Maiden, intend- ing to make his way to the heart of Canada by way of the valley of the Thames. " On the 29th, Harrison was at Sandwich, and McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan. At * Perkin's Annals of the West. 828 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. this point Colonel Johnson's mounted rifle regiment, which had gone up the west side of the river, rejoined the main army.- On the 2d of October, the Americans began their march in pursuit of Proctor, whom they overtook upon the 5th. He had posted his army with the left resting on the river, while the right flank was defended by a marsh ; the ground between the rivej and the marsh was divided lengthwise by a smaller swamp, so as to make two distinct fields in which the troops were to operate. The British were in two lines, occupying the field between the river and the small swamp ; the Indians extended from the small to the large morass, the ground being suitable for their mode of warfare, and unfavorable for cavalry. We quote from Harrison's official despatch ; " The troops at my disposal consisted of about one hundred and twenty regulars of the 27th regiment, five brigades of Kentucky volun- teer militia infantry, under his excellency Governor Shelby, averaging less than five hundred men, and Colonel Johnson's regiment of mounted infantry, making in the whole an ag- gregate of something above three thousand men. No disposi- tion of an army, opposed to an Indian force, can be safe unless it is secured on the flanks and in the rear. I had, therefore, no difficulty in arranging the infantry conformably to my general order of battle. General Trotter's brigade of five hundred men, formed the front line, his right upon the road and his left upon the swamp. General King's bri- gade as a second line, one hundred and fifty yards in the rear of Trotter's and Chile's brigade as a corps of reserve in the rear of it. These three brigades formed the command of Major-General Henry; the whole of General Desha's di- vision, consisting of two brigades, were formed en potence upon the left of Trotter. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 329 ** Whilst I was engaged in forming the infantry, I had directed Colonel Johnson's regiment, -which was still in front, to be formed in two lines opposite to the enemy, and upon the advance of the infantry, to take ground to the left and forming upon that flank to endeavor to turn the right of the Indians. A moment's reflection, however, convinced me that from the thickness of the woods and swanrpiness of the ground, they would be unable to do any thing on horseback, and there was no time to dismount them and place their horses in security ; I, therefore, determined to refuse my left to the Indians, and to break the British lines at once, by a charge of the mounted infantry : the measure was not sanc- tioned by any thing that I had seen or heard of, but I was fully convinced that it would succeed. The American back- woodsmen ride better in the woods than any other people. A musket or rifle is no impediment to them, being accustomed to carry them on horseback from their earliest youth. I was persuaded too, that the enemy would be quite unprepared for the shock, and that they could not resist it. Conformably to this idea, I directed the regiment to be drawn up in close column, with its right at the distance of fifty yards from the road, (that it might be in some measure protected by the trees from the artillery) its left upon the swamp, and to charge at full speed as soon as the enemy delivered their fire. The few regular troops of the 27th regiment under their Colonel (Paull) occupied, in column of section of four, the small space between the road and the river, for the purpose of seizing the enemy's artillery, and some ten or twelve friendly Indians were directed to move under the bank. The crotchetr formed by the front line, and General Desha's di vision was an important point. At that place, the venerable governor of Kentucky was posted, who at the age of sixty- 28* 330 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. six preserves all the vigor of youth, the ardent zeal which distinguished him in the revolutionary war, and the undaunted bravery which he manifested at King's Mountain. With my aid-de-camp, the acting assistant adjutant-general, Cap- tain Butler, my gallant friend. Commodore Perry, who did me the honor to serve as my volunteer aid-de-camp, and Brigadier General Cass, who having no command, tendered me his assistance, I placed myself at the head of the front line of infantry, to direct the movements of the cavalry, and give them the necessary support. The army had moved on in this order but a short distance, when the mounted men received the fire of the British line, and were ordered to charge ; the horses in the front of the column recoiled from the fire ; another was given by the enemy, and our column at length getting in motion, broke through the enemy with irresistible force. In one minute the contest in front was over ; the British officers seeing no hopes of reducing their disordered ranks to order, and our mounted men wheeling upon them and pouring in a destructive fire, immediately surrendered. It is certain that three only of our troops were wounded in this charge. Upon the left, however, the contest was more severe with the Indians. Colonel Johnson, who commanded on that flank of his regiment, received a most galling fire from them, which was returned with great effect. "The Indians still further to the right advanced and fell in with our front line of infantry, near its junction with Desha's division, and for a moment made an impression upon it. His excellency. Governor Shelby, however, brought up a regiment to its support, and the enemy receiving a severe fire in front, and a part of Johnson's regiment having gained their rear, retreated with precipitation. Their loss was very WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 331 considerable in the action, and many were killed in their retreat."* The victory of the Thames excited much rejoicing through- out the north-west. The President, Mr. Madison, spoke of it as "highly honorable to Major- General Harrison," and Congress adopted the following resolution : ''Resolved^ hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major-Tjeneral William Henry Harrison, and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, and through them to the officers and men under their command, for their gallant and good conduct in defeating the combined British and Indian forces under Major-General Proctor, on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the 5th day of October, 1813, capturing the British army, with their baggage, camp equipage, and artil- lery ; and that, the President of the United States be re- quested to cause two gold medals to be struck, emblematical of this triumph, and presented to General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky." General Harrison's military career was now cut short by the undignified conduct of the Secretary of War, General Armstrong, who gave instructions to inferior officers, with- out consulting the commander-in-chief, and discovered a strong prejudice against him. Harrison visited Washington, receiving many demonstrations of respect and gratitude upon the route, and tendered his resignation. President Madison was then absent from the capital, and the war de- partment accepted the general's resignation without con- sulting him. It is said that Mr. Madison greatly regretted that he had not received some intimation of Harrison's in- * Perkin's Annals of the West 332 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. tentions before they were fulfilled. However, the President gave him a fresh token of his confidence, by appointing him, in the summer of 1814, in conjunction with Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians at Greenville. During the following year, when the treaty of Ghent provided for the pacification of several important tribes, he was placed at the head of the commission. In 1816, General Harrison was chosen to represent the district of Ohio, in which he resided, in the house of repre- sentatives of the United States, to fill a vacancy, afid for the two succeeding years. He had scarcely taken his seat at Washington before his conduct while in command of the north-western army was impugned. At the instance of the general, a committee of investigation was appointed, of which Colonel Johnson was chairman. The result was a triumphant vindication of the patriotism, disinterestedness, and ability of the slandered soldier. While in Congress, General Harrison labored to accom- plish two important objects ; a reform in the militia, and the relief of the veterans of the revolution and the disabled in the late war. The first he could not efi*ect. But the second was accomplished, and many a pensioner had reason to re- gard General Harrison as a benefactor. He generally con- curred in the views of the statesman, Henry Clay, but did not agree with him in his wholesale censure of General Jackson's conduct in the Seminole war. Harrison gave Jackson credit for patriotic motives, and approved of many of his acts.* In 1819, General Harrison was elected to the senate of Ohio. In 1824, he was chosen one of the presidential electors of that state, on the ticket formed by the friends * Statesman's Manual. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 333 of Mr. Clay, and gave his vote for that statesman as his choice for President. In the same year, he was elected a member of ihe senate of the United States. Soon after taking his seat in that body, he vras appointed chairman of the military committee in place of General Jackson, who had resigned. He was a supporter of the administration of John Quincy Adams, and in 1828, he was appointed by that President, minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Columbia. Arriving at Bogota, in December, 1828, Harrison found the country in a state of confusion. Though at first re- ceived with many token of respect, his plain republican manners ultimately caused him to be suspected of favoring the liberal party, and subjected him to many annoyances. However, he was speedily relieved. One of the very first acts of General Jackson's administration was to recall him from the mission. Before leaving Columbia, Harrison ad- dressed to General Bolivar his famous appeal in favor of constitutional liberty, a document which has so often been quoted in North and South America. The pure principles and fervid eloquence of this appeal have always been deemed highly honorable to its author. Upon his return to the United States, General Harrison retired to his farm at North Bend, on the Ohio, a few miles below Cincinnati. As a means of contributing to his sup- port, he accepted the ofiice of clerk to the court of Hamilton county, in which he resided. This station he held up to the time of election to the Presidency, evincing an utter con- tempt for the false notions of dignity prevalent among those who had held high office under the general government. In 1835, the friends of General Harrison determined to bring him forward as a candidate for the Presidency to sue- 834 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. ceed General Jackson. Mr. Van Buren was the adminis- tration candidate. The opposition could not unite in sup- port of Harrison. If it had been otherwise, it -is believed that he might have been elected. Judge Hugh L. \Yhite, of Tennessee ; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts ; and "Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, were nominated and voted for bj portions of the party opposed to the succession of Mr. Van Buren. The election occurred in 1836, and the result showed the popularity of General Harrison. Without any general concert among his friends, he received seventy- three electoral votes, and in many of the states which cast their vote for Mr. Van Buren, received strong manifestations of the people. On the 4th of December, 1839, the national whig conven- tion assembled at Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presi- dency. Three well-known names were brought forward — those of General Harrison, Henry Clay, and General Scott. Twenty-two states were represented in the convention, and on an informal ballot per capita^ it was found that Mr. Clay had a decided plurality, but neither of the candidates had a clear majority of the delegates. It was then determined to vote by states, each state to have as many votes in the con- vention as it had electoral votes. On the first ballot, one hundred and three voted for Clay, ninety-four for Harrison, and fifty-seven for Scott. The delegates then compared their views to ascertain which of the candidates had the best chance of success. Harrison's friends were successful. After a session of three days, the convention took a final ballot, when Harrison received one hundred and forty-eight votes ; Clay, ninety ; and Scott, sixteen. General Har- rison was therefore declared the nominee for the Presidency. WILLIAM HENRY HAKRISON. 835 John Tyler, of "Virginia, was unanimously nominated for the Vice Presidency. These gentlemen concentrated the whole force of the opposition throughout the country. The con- test was very spirited, but the result was the triumph of Harrison and Tyler, by an overwhelming majority. Har- rison received two hundred and thirty-four electoral votes ; Mr. Van Buren only sixty. During the contest, General Harrison attended several mass meetings, in Ohio, and ad- dressed the people, with power and effect. His success occasioned general rejoicing. Much was expected from his well-known honesty and patriotism. General Harrison left home for the capital, in February, 1841. Along his route, he was greeted by immense assem- blages of the people, and treated with every mark of respect, by his enthusiastic and triumphant friends. He was then sixty-five years of age, and his venerable appearance ex- cited that attention from his opponents, which, perhaps, the recollection of his public services, and of the fact that he was the last President, upon whose youth Washington had gazed, could not have secured. The inauguration drew a vast number of strangers to Washington City, and the attending pageants were of a splendid character. A gri«nd procession in the day, and several balls in the evening, occupied the great throng of visitors. The inaugural address of General Harrison was aa able and eloquent production. It gave a review of the powers granted to the general government, and an estimate of the abuses to which they were liable and had been applied. His opinions were of the Jefferson stamp. He considered th^ powers committed to the hands of the President as too sweep- ing and dangerous, and declared his intention of exercising them with moderation. In what other republic, has an ex - 836 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. ecutive officer thus spoken ? In the republic of the ancient world, the grasp of power was universal. The following quotation from General Harrison's address will give an idea of the character of his views. '' Upwards of half a century has elapsed since the adop- tion of our present form of government. It would be an object more highly desirable than the gratification of the curiosity of speculative statesmen, if its precise situation could be ascertained, a fair exhibit made of the operations of each of its departments, of the powers which they respectively claim and exercise, of the collisions which have occurred be- tween them, or between the whole government and those of the states, or either of them. We could then compare our actual condition, after fifty years' trial of our system, with what it was in the commencement of its operations, and ascertain whether the predictions of the patriots who op- posed its adoption, or the confident hopes of its advocates, have been realized. The great dread of the former seems to have been, that the reserved powers of the state would be absorbed by those of the federal governments, and a conso- lidated power established, leaving to the states the shadow, only, of that independent action for which they had so zea- lously contended, and on the preservation of which they relied as the last hope of liberty. Without denying that the result to which they looked with so much apprehension is in the way of being realized, it is obvious that they did not clearly see the mode of its accomplishment. The gene- ral government has seized upon none of the reserved rights of the states. As far as any open warfare may have gone, the state authorities have amply maintained their rights. To a casual observer, our system presents no appearance of discord between the dififerent members which compose it. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 837 Even tlie addition of many new ones has produced no jarring. They move in their respective orbits in perfect harmony with the central head, and with each other. But there is still an under current at w^ork, by which, if not seasonably checked, the worst apprehensions of our anti-federal patriots will be realized. And not only will the state authorities be overshg^dowed by the great increase of power in the execu- tive department of the general government, but the cha- racter of that government, if not its designation, be essen- tially and radically changed. This state q^ things has been, in part, effected by causes inherent in the constitution, and in part, by the never-failing tendency of political power to to increase itself. '' By making the President the sole distributor of all the patronage of the government, the framers of the constitu- tion do not appear to have anticipated at how short a period it would become a formidable instrument to control the free operations of the state governments. Of trifling importance at first, it had, early in Mr. Jefferson's administration, be- come so powerful as to create great alarm in the mind of that patriot, from the potent influence it might exert in controlling the freedom of the elective franchise. If such could have then been the effects of its influence, how much greater must be the danger at this time, quadrupled in amount, as it certainly is, and more completely under the control of the executive will, than their construction of their limited powers allowed, or the forbearing characters of all the early Presidents permitted them to make ? But it is not by the extent of its patronage alone that the executive department has become dangerous, but by the use which it appears may be made of the appointing power, to bring under its control the whole revenues of the country. The 29 338 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. constitution has declared it to be the duty of the President to see that the laws are executed, and it makes him the commander-in-chief of the armies and navy of the United States. If the opinion of the most approved writers upon that species of mixed government, which, in modern Eu- rope, is termed monarchy^ in contradistinction to despotism, is correct, there was wanting no other addition to the powers of our chief magistrate to stamp a monarchical cha^ racter on our government, but the control of the public finances. And to me it appears strange indeed, that any one should doubt that the entire control which the President possesses over the officers who have the custody of the public money, by the power of removal, with or without cause, does, for all mischievous purposes at least, virtually subject the treasury also to his disposal." President Harrison nominated the following gentlemen to form his cabinet : Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Se- cretary of State ; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; John Bell, of Tennessee, Secretary of War; George C. Badger, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; Francis Granger, of New York, Postmaster-General ; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, Attorney-General. The nominations were all confirmed by the senate. The cabinet was one of great ability, and much was expected from its administration. On the 17th of March, President Harrison issued a pro- clamation, calling an extra session of Congress, principally on account of the revenue and finances of the country, to begin on the last Monday in the ensuing May. But before that meeting, the country was called upon to mourn the loss of its chief magistrate. On Saturday, March 27th, President Harrison, after WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 339 several days previous indisposition from the effects of a cold was seized with a chill and other symptoms of fever. These were followed by bilious pleurisy, which resisted all the art of medicine, and terminated the President's eventful life on the 4th of April, at the age of sixty-eight years. The last words he was heard to speak were as follows : " Sir, I wish you to understand the principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." He fancied he was addressing his successor. At the announcement of the death of the President, grief was general throughout the country. Never since the time of Washington has one man so concentrated upon himself the love and confidence of the American people.* From all sides came the sounds of woe. The nation put on mourn- ing for the loss of its patriotic son and venerated ruler. On the 7th of April, the funeral of President Harrison took place at "Washington. The civil and military procession was large and imposing. The body was interred in the Congres- sional burying ground, but afterwards removed to North Bend, Ohio, at the request of the family of General Harrison. Throughout the country funeral honors were awarded to the memory of the illustrious dead. In courts, legislatures, churches, and societies, the event was solemnly mentioned. In person, General Harrison was tall and rather thin. By habits of activity and temperance he enjoyed bodily health and vigor even at an advanced age. He had a mild benevo- lent expression of countenance, and his dark eye was remark- able for its quickness and fire. His talents were of a very high order, and his acquirements extensive. All his compo- sitions display taste and judgment. As a general, he was bold, active, prudent and fertile of resource. * National Intelligencer. lo\\^ Iljieh ViKGiNiA has been called " tlie motlier of Presidents." Of the thirteen chief magistrates whom the people have chosen, seven were born in Virginia, viz.: Washington, Jef- ferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, and Taylor. May the Old Dominion have many more " such seeds within her breast!" Her warriors, orators, and statesmen, have proved to be of a growth unsurpassed in any country — tha flower of mankind. Their swords, pens, p-nd tongues have battled upon the side of freedom and independence, and they have held the helm of state with firm and skilful hands. If Virginia should continue to produce such men, her sister states can well afi'ord to allow her to lift them to the presidential chair. John Tyler, who succeeded General Harrison in the pre- sidential office, was the sixth chief magistrate whose birth- place was in the " Old Dominion." His ancestors were among the early English settlers in that province. It is understood that the family traces its lineage to "Walter or Wat Tyler, who, in the fourteenth century, headed an in- surrection in England, in defence of the rights of the people. John Tyler, the grandfather of the subject of this memoir, was marshal of the colony, under the royal government, up to his death, which occurred after the remonstrances against (345) S46 ; **. ^ LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. the Stamp act. His patrimonial estate covered a large tract of country in and about Williamsburg. His son, also named John, entered into the discussion concerning the grievances of the colonies, and became distinguished as an ardent pa- triot. The Virginians successively raised him to the offices of speaker of the house of delegates, governor of the state, and judge of one of their highest courts. At the breaking out of the war of 1812, he was appointed by President Ma- dison, a judge of the federal court of admiralty. In Feb- ruary, 1813, he died, full of years and honors, leaving three sons, Wat, John, and William.* John Tyler, the subject of this memoir, was born in Charles City County, Virginia, on the 29th of March, 1790. After receiving the usual elementary education, he entered Wil- liam and Mary College, being then twelve years old. He graduated at the age of seventeen, and on that occasion delivered an address on the subject of "female education," which was pronounced by the faculty a most masterly per- formance. The two years subsequent to his graduation, Mr. Tyler spent in reading law, under the instruction of his father and Edmund Randolph. At nineteen years of age, young Tyler received a certifi- cate that he was competent to practise his profession. His success was singular. Ere three months had elapsed, there was scarce a disputable case on the docket of the court in which he was not retained. When but twenty years old, he was offered a seat in the legislature. But he declined the honor until the following year, when he was chosen nearly unanimously, a member of the house of delegates. (December, 1811.) Mr. Tyler was attached to the party of Jefferson and * Statesman's Manual. JOHN TYLER. 347 Madison. Upon the breaking out of the war, he supported the policy of the administration, and advocated with an eloquence that attracted general attention, the most ener- getic measures. Messrs. Giles and Brent, the senators in Congress from Virginia, at that time, were instructed by the legislature to vote against the renewal of the charter of the national bank. Mr. Brent disobeyed. Mr. Tyler then introduced a resolution of censure into the house of dele- gates, animadverting severely upon the course of the senator, and laying it down as a principle, that any person accept- ing the office of senator of the United States, from the state of Virginia, tacitly bound himself to obey the instructions of the legislature. This movement, in favor of the much discussed "right of instruction," shows Mr. Tyler to have entertained the broadest democratic opinions. He was elected to the legislature for five successive years, on some occasions, receiving nearly the unanimous vote of his native county. At the time the British forces were in the Chesapeake Bay, Mr. Tyler raised a volunteer company, and strove to effect a thorough organization of the militia in his neighbor- hood. But he never had an opportunity of bringing his troops into action, and his military career was therefore nipped in the bud. His conduct, however, evinces his patriotism and desire to serve his country. During the legislative session of 1815-16, Mr. Tyler was elected a member of the executive council, in which capacity he served until November, 1816, when after a close and exciting contest, he was elected to fill a vacancy in the representation of the Richmond district in Congress. An- drew Stevenson, a distinguished politician of the same school as Mr. Tyler, was the opposing candidate. The next SiS LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. month, Mr. Tyler, then twentj-six years old, took his seat in the house of representatives of the United States. In April, 1817, he was re-elected by an overwhelming majority over his former rival, Mr. Stevenson. In Congress Mr. Tyler maintained the state-right, strict- construction doctrines of the dominant party in Virginia. He opposed a system of internal improvements and a national bank ; but agreed with Mr. Clay and others in censuring the conduct of General Jackson in the Seminole War. His speeches brought him into general esteem. In 1819, he was re-elected to Congress, there being no opposing candidate. He took an active part in the debate upon the Missouri ques- tion, sanctioning the southern side, opposed a protective tariff, and labored earnestly as a member of the committee of ways and means. Constant toil and confinement almost prostrated a constitution naturally weak. Mr. Tyler was compelled to resign his seat before the expiration of the term, and retire to his estate in Charles City county, to recruit his health. At the same time he recommended his former rival, Andrew Stevenson, to the favor of his constituents. In the spring of 1823, after much urgent solicitation, Mr. Tyler consented to become again a candidate for the legis- lature. He was elected by a large majority, and in Decem- ber, he took his seat. As a legislator for his native state, he soon displayed rare energy and talent. He took the lead in proposing and carrying through a number of internal im- provements of great importance, and strove to awaken the Virginians to a sense of the necessity of action if they would not fall behind the people of the other states in power and prosperity. Many of the finest public works in the state were the fruit of his toil. In the legislature, his reputation as an orator and statesman was fully established. JOHN TYLER. • . 349 In December, 1825, Mr. Tyler was elected governor of Virginia by a large majority. His administration was pros- perous and beneficial. Internal improvements still engaged his attention, and he did all in his power to heal sectional divisions, and awaken the people to their true interests. In July, 1826, he delivered an eloquent eulogy on the death of Thomas Jefferson. During the next session of the legisla- lature, Mr. Tyler was re-elected governor of Virginia. But it was thought that the talents of Mr. Tyler would be advantageously employed in the national field. A por- tion of the democratic party were dissatisfied with the course pursued by John Randolph in the senate of the United States. His genius and principles were admitted to be of the loftiest stamp, but his eccentric bearing and frequent onslaught upon democrats, prevented him from receiving that respect and deference that is usually the reward of dignified manners. Governor Tyler was the only man who possessed sufficient popularity to succeed against Mr. Randolph, and he was so- licited to stand as a candidate. He consented, but reluc- tantly and after much persuasion. Upon the first ballot in the legislature, he received one hundred and fifteen votes, and John Randolph one hundred and ten. This proof of confidence was highly gratifying to the feelings of Mr. Tyler. Their selection was generally sanctioned by the Virginians. A few days after his election to the senate of the United States, Mr. Tyler sent to the legislature his resignation of the office of governor. The following is an extract from his message on this occasion : " The principles on which I have acted, without abandon- ment, in any one instance, for the last sixteen years, in Con- gress and in the legislative hall of this state, will be the principles by which I will regulate my future political life. 30 550 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. Keeping them constantly in view, yielding tliem neither to the force of circumstances nor to the suggestions of expe- diency, and thereby seeking to promote the lasting interests of my beloved country, if I do not acquire the individual confidence of Virginia, I shall at least have preserved my own consistency, and secured the peace of my mind through the days of my increasing years, and in the hour of my final dissolution." Upon the occasion of his retirement from the chief magis- tracy of the state, he was invited to a public dinner, by a large number of the members of the legislature, and of the citizens of Richmond. In answer to the following toast — " John Tyler our friend and guest — a republican too firm to be driven from his principles — too upright to be swerved by the laws of ambition or power" — Mr. Tyler, among other remarks, said : " I can be at no loss to ascribe this manifestation of public respect to its proper source. It flows from the late senatorial election, and the incidents connected with it. I place upon it, therefore, the highest possible value. The recesses of my heart have been attempted to be scanned with the view of detecting some lurking wish at variance with my public declarations. Had I desired a change, what was there to have prevented me from openly seeking it ? Are not the offices of the republic equally open to all citizens ? When was an exclusive monopoly established? or when was it before that ' Rome contained but one man' ? Virginia, thank Heaven, depends on no one of her citizens, however distin- guished by talents, for her character or standing. Slie has been compared to the mother of the Gracchi, and I trust she may still be permitted to be proud of her sons. For one who had been taught in early infancy that golden rule, that, JOHN TYLER. 351 next to his Creator, his first duty belonged to his country, and his last to himself, how could I have stood acquitted, had I permitted private considerations to have controlled the obligations of public duty ? By accepting the appointment, while I interfered with the pretensions of no other citizen, I have acquitted myself of a sacred obligation." After speaking at large upon the administration, and what he had hoped would have been the policy of Mr. Adams, he said : " Candor requires me here publicly to say, that his first splendid message to Congress long since withered all my hopes. I saw in it an almost total disregard of the federa- tive principle — a more latitudinous construction of the con- stitution than has ever before been insisted on ; lying not so much in the particular measures recommended — which, though bad enough, had some excuse in precedent — as in the broad and general principles there laid down as the basis of governmental duty. From the moment of seeing that message, all who have known any thing of me have known that I stood distinctly opposed to this administration ; not from a factious spirit, nor with a view to elevate a favo- rite, or to advance myself, but on the great principles which have regulated my past life. I honestly believe the preser- vation of the federative principles of our government to be inseparably connected with the perpetuation of liberty."* As soon as Mr. Tyler took his seat in the senate, he joined the ranks of the opposition. On all occasions he up- held the doctrines so popular in Virginia, concerning the powers of the general government, and the commercial po- licy of the country. When General Jackson succeeded Mr. Adams in the presidential chair, Mr. Tyler supported his * Statesman's Manual. 352 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. administration in general, but on certain occasions, pursued an independent course. Where the President acted accord- ing to the Jeffersonian views of the powers of the general government, he was ably supported by Mr. Tyler, and most of the southern members. They opposed the re-charter- ing the national bank, a tariff for the chief purpose of pro- tecting home industry, and a national system of internal improvements. Mr. Tyler's speech against the tariff, was long, earnest, eloquent, and forcible. He sympathized with Mr. Calhoun and his friends upon the question of nullifica- tion, and thereafter withdrew his support from General Jackson's administration, on the ground that the President had abandoned the principles of Jefferson. Mr. Tyler's is the only vote recorded in opposition to the force bill. The removal of the deposites excited his determined resistance. He considered the act an outrage upon the laws. Though anxious for the destruction of the national banking system, he wished it to die by law. Mr. Tyler was re-elected to the senate of the United States for six years from the 4th of March, 1833. As a member of the committee of finance, he labored with zeal and ability. Having made a voluminous report upon the condition and affairs of the United States Bank, he found it furiously attacked by Mr. Benton, of Missouri. In reply, Mr. Tyler made a speech worthy of his position and repu- tation. . He said, " He has loudly talked of the committee having been made an instrument of by the bank. For myself, I re- nounce the ascription. I must tell the senator that I can no more be made an instrument of by the bank, than by the Btill greater and more formidable power, the administration. I stand upon this floor to accomplish the purposes for which. JOHN TYLER. 853 1 am sent. In the consciousness of my own honesty, I stand firm and erect. I worship alone at the shrine of truth and honor. It is a^ precious thing in the eyes of some, to bask in the sunshine of power. I rest only upon the sup- port which has never failed me — the high and lofty feelings of my constituents. I would not be an instrument even in their hands, if it were possible for them to require it of me, to gratify an unrighteous motive. " The committee, in their investigations, have sought for nothing but the truth. I am opposed — have always been opposed — to the bank. In its creation I regard the consti- tution as having been violated, and I desire to see it expire. But the senate appointed me, with others, to inquire whether it was guilty of certain charges, and I should regard myself as the basest of mankind were I to charge it falsely. The report is founded on unquestionable documentary evidence. I shall hold myself ready to answer all the objections which can be raised against it, and to prove, from the documents themselves, that the report is made with the utmost fairness, and the most scrupulous regard to truth." In March, 1835, near the close of the session, Mr. Tyler was elected president of the senate, pro tempore^ by the united votes of the whig and state-rights senators. In Feb- ruary, 1836, the legislature of Virginia passed resolutions instructing senators from that state to vote for a resolution directing the resolution of March 28th, 1834, censuring the conduct of General Jackson, to be expunged from the jour- nal of the senate. Mr. Leigh, the colleague of Mr. Tyler, refused to obey or resign his seat, and wrote a long and able letter in defence of his course. He considered the expunging resolution unconstitutional, and was of opinion that the legislature had no right to instruct him to sanction 30* 354 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. a violation of that constitution lie had sworn to supjoort. Mr. Tjler took a different course. He had advoca,ted ''the right of instruction," while in the legislature, and he could not now gainsay that right, with any regard for truth or consistency. Yet he believed the expunging resolution to be unconstitutional, and that he could not violate his oath, as a senator of the United States. To resign appeared to him to be the proper course, and accordingly, he sent in his resignation, with a letter reviewing the political principles which had guided his life. On retiring to his estate and the practice of his profession, Mr. Tyler carried with him the good wishes of the majority in Virginia, and throughout the union. His course was considered that of a true and firm Jeffersonian. A public dinner was tendered Mr. Leigh and himself, and compli- ments were showered upon them both. In 1830, Mr. Tyler had removed from Charles City county to Gloucester, where his family resided until 1835. He then returned to Wil- liamsburg, and devoted himself to private pursuits. In the same year, Mr. Tyler was nominated in Maryland for the Vice Presidency, and was placed upon the same ticket with General Harrison. He was not considered the whig candidate for that office, however. The state-rights party in the south generally supported him. At the elec- tion in 1836, he received forty-seven electoral votes. In the spring of 1838, Mr. Tyler was elected by the whigs of James City county, a member of the house of delegates of Virginia, and during the subsequent session of the legislature, he acted with the whig party, under which name the different sections of the opposition to Mr. Van Buren's administration were amalgamated. A nobler, but a more doubtfully acted, part was now to JOHN TYLER. 355 be performed by Mr. Tyler. In 1839, he was elected one of the delegates from Virginia to the whig national conven- tion, which met at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to nominate candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. In common with nearly alUthe southern delegates, he preferred Henry Clay, of Kentucky. Being chosen one of the vice presidents of the convention, Mr. Tyler exerted himself to procure the nomination of Mr. Clay. But Gene- ral Harrison obtained a majority of votes. To conciliate the irritated friends of the Kentucky statesmen, the con- vention then nominated Mr. Tyler for the Vice Presidency, and he consented to stand as a candidate. The acceptance of a nomination from a party with whom he did not entirely agree in opinion was a questionable course of action. But it is urged by Mr. Tyler's friends, that when he consented to stand as the candidate for the whigs, he did not believe that he would be required to give his influence to the esta- blishment of a national bank, and that such a course could not have been expected by any one who was acquainted with his previous political career. Probably, the convention acted with as little discretion in making the nomination as Mr. Tyler did in accepting it. No man should be nominated for the Vice Presidency who cannot be trusted with the Presidency. The speeches, letters, and declarations of Mr. Tyler, during the canvass of 1840, were satisfactory to the whigs, who interpreted them to assist their expectations. The party was triumphant. Harrison and Tyler were elected by an overwhelming majority, and both Houses of Congress were of the whig complexion. On the 4th of March, 1841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice President of the United States, and one month after- wards, by the death of General Harrison, he became Presi- 356 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ' dent. Mr. Tyler was at liis residence in Virginia, when the news of the death of the President was announced to him. He immediately hurried to Washington, arriving on the morning of the 6th of April. The members of the cabinet waited on him, and he informed them that he wished them to retain their posts. He then took the oath of office. On the following day, he attended the funeral of President Harrison. After the solemnities were concluded, he issued an address to the people of the United States, as an informal inaugural document, setting forth the principles which should guide his administration. The retention of the cabinet and the tone and sentiments of the inaugural address inspired the whigs with confidence. An extra session of congress had been convened by Pre- sident Harrison. In this measure, Mr. Tyler concurred. One of his first acts was to recommend a day of fast- ing and prayer ta the people of the United States, on ac- count of their recent bereavement. The removals and appointments made by the new chief magistrate were satis- factory to the whigs. When Congress assembled upon the 31st of May, 1841, it was debated in the house, whether Mr. Tyler should be addressed as President of the United States, or as Vice President, acting as President, and de- cided in favor of the first form. The message of the Presi- dent was well received. The veto of the national bank was the great feature of Mr. Tyler's administration. On the 12th of June, the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Ewing made a report, and with it sent a bill for the incorpo- ration of " the fiscal bank of the United States." This plan for a bank was free from all the objectionable features of the former fiscal institutions, and was supposed to have the ap- probation of the President. A bill similar in substance wag JOHN TYLER. 357 introduced in Congress, and finally passed on the 6tli of August, and sent to the President for his decision. The President retained the bill until the 16th of August, and then returned it to the senate in which it originated, with his veto message. This bewildered the whigs. Their leaders remon- strated with the President, and sought to repair the evil effects which threatened the party with dissolution. They had yet a hope. In his veto message he shadowed out the plan of a bank which he said had long been endeared to him, that of a fiscal agent devested of the discounting power and limited to dealing in bills of national exchange. By the 3d of Sep- tember, a bill, establishing a bank of this character, passed Congress and was presented to the President. On the 9th, he returned it to the house of representatives, with his objec- tions. The following day it was taken up in the house, but was lost, two-thirds not voting for it. The reasons which induced President Tyler to veto the last bank bill were not of a nature to satisfy the whigs that he had acted with any degree of sincerity. It is now certain that the disclosure of an intention upon the part of a member of the ruling party to circumvent the man whom they, had elected to office had much influence in determining his com-se. A letter from John M. Botts, an eminent whig of Virginia, which contained expressions of a resolution to "head" the President was published in the administration organ, the Madisonian. How could it be expected that Mr. Tyler should favor the schemes of a party which treated him in such a manner. Still, this disclosure would not justify the veto of a great public measure. The President brought forward constitutional objections to the bill to support his course. The veto was received by the opposition with exultation. They applauded Mr. Tyler's independence, though they did 358 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. not give liim any reason to hope that lie would become the head of the democratic party and a candidate for re-election. On the other hand, the great body of the whigs throughout the country were indignant, and denounced the President as a recreant. On the 11th of September, all the members of the cabinet, Except Mr. Webster, feeling that all confidence between the President and themselves was at an end, resigned. Mr. Webster concluded to remain in the cabinet, believing that he could harmonize with Mr. Tyler upon the subject of foreign relations, and that differences upon the questions of revenue ought not to disturb their relations. On the 11th of September, the whig members of Congress held a meeting, and appointed a committee of three senators and five members of the house, to prepare an address to the people of the United States, concerning the measures which had been adopted and those which had failed at the extra session, with such other matters as might exhibit the condi- tion and prospects of the whig party. The address which was adopted proclaimed that all political alliance between the whigs and Mr. Tyler was at an end and set forth the reasons of the state of things. During the extra session, a protective tariff bill, a bill for the appropriation of the proceeds of the sales of public lands, and a uniform bankrupt law, passed Congress and received the sanction of the President. Mr. Tyler had previously been opposed to the protective tariff. That he now approved one gave rise to considerable speculation in regard to his real views. It was expected the new cabinet would be formed out of tliG democratic ranks. But the President appointed the fol- \o^l ing distinguished whigs and conservatives to office. Walter Forward, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury; John JOHN TYLER. 359 McLean, of Ohio, Secretary of War ; Abel P. Upsliur, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy ; Charles A. WicklijQfe, of Kentucky, Postmaster-General ; Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, Attorney-General. These nominations were all confirmed by the senate previous to the termination of the extra session. Judge McLean declined to resign his seat on the bench of the supreme court, and John C. Spencer was then appointed to take charge of the war department. Li the next congressional session, the President found that he could not count upon the support of either party. Mr. Rives, in the senate, and four or five whigs in the house were his only reliable friends. The hopes of forming a third party were shown to be fruitless and vain. In 1842, an important treaty was negotiated at Washington, by Secretary Webster, and Lord Ashburton, a special minister from Great Britain, settling the north-eastern boundary question, providinor for the final suppression of the African slave trade, and for the surrender of fugitives from justice, in certain cases. By this treaty, the greatest good feeling was restored between the two nations. The 28th Congress commenced its first session on the 4th of December, 1843, and adjourned on the 17th of June 1844. There was a large democratic majority in the house of representatives. The whigs had a majority in the senate. In consequence of the disagreement between the two houses, but few acts of general interest were passed this session. In March, 1843, Mr. Forward resigned the post of Secretary of the Treasury, and John C. Spencer was transferred from the war department to that of the treasury. Caleb Cushing had been previously nominated to the treasury department, but had been rejected by the senate. Mr. Webster resigned the office of Secretary of State, in May, 1843, and Hugh S. 360 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Legare, Attorney General was appointed in his place. Eut the latter gentleman soon after died at Boston. In July, 1843, the President re-organized his cabinet, as follows . Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, Secretary of State ; John C. Spencer, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury ; James M. Porter, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; David Hen- shaw, of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, Postmaster General ; John Nelson, of Maryland, Attorney General. At the next session, the senate rejected the nomination of Messrs. Porter and Hen- shaw. The President then nominated "William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War ; and Thomas W. Gilmer, of Virginia, for Secretary of the Navy, and they were con- firmed by the senate. But the cabinet was destined to further shifts and changes. By the explosion of one of the large gnns of the steamship Princeton, on the Potomac, the Secretary of State, Mr. Upshm^ and the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Gilmer, lost their lives. In consequence of this catastrophe, and of the difficulty of choosing successors, to the unfortunate ministers. Attorney General Nelson dis- charged the duties of Secretary of State, and Commodore Warrington officiated as Secretary of the Navy, ad interim. Finally, the President appointed John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, Secretary of State, and John Y. Mason, of Vir- ginia, Secretary of the Navy; both of these nominations were confirmed by the senate. In May, 1844, Mr. Spencer resigned the office of Secretary of the Treasury, and George M. Bibb, of Kentucky, was appointed in his place. The negotiation of a valuable treaty with China, by Caleb Cushing, Esq. in 1843, the commissioner to that country, and the Texas annexation treaty, negotiated at Washington, April 12th, 1844, by Secretary Calhoun, on the part of the JOHN TYLER. 361 United States, and Messrs. Yan Zandt and Henderson, on the part of Texas, were the most important events of the remainder of Mr. Tyler's administration. The senate con- firmed the treaty with China, but rejected the annexation scheme. It was evident, however, that the Texas question would enter into the next presidential election, and Mr. Tyler's friends strove to make it the stepping stone for his accession to a second term. The national conventions of the great political parties were held in Baltimore, in May, 1844. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, were chosen by the whigs as their candidates for the two highest offices in the nation. Mr. Clay was nominated by the most enthusiastic acclamations. In the democratic con- vention, Mr. Van Bur en had a plurality of votes ; but he was opposed to the annexation of Texas, and it had been determined by the democratic party that the candidate must favor the scheme. Two thirds of the votes were required to make a nomination, and these, Mr. Van Buren could not obtain. At length, after eight ballotings, James K. Polk, of Tennessee, received the nomination. Silas Wright, of New York, was nominated for the Yice Presidency, but he declined, and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, was then nominated in his stead. A convention of Mr. Tyler's friends was held in Baltimore, about the same time, and he was placed before the people as a candidate for re-election. But in August, Mr. Tyler yielded to the persuasions of the de- mocrats and threw his influence into the scale in favor of Messrs. Polk and Dallas. Those gentlemen were elected after a very exciting contest. Joint resolutions, annexing Texas to the Union, passed Congress on the 1st March, 1845, and were approved by 31 362 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. President Tyler. The administration ended on tlie 3d of March. Mr. Tyler's last act was what is called " the pocket veto," which he exercised by retaining the river and harbor appropriation bill over the time specified by the constitution. Mr. Tyler generally surrounded himself with able advisers, and his government was vigorous and decided. But he re- tired from office without the regret of either party. Indeed, he has ever since received the most bitter denunciations from the whigs. He has been accused not only of a want of judgment, but of a want of good faith. That he was a determined man, the whigs will be forced to concede, when they consider his resistance to an able cabinet and a large party in power ; and before he became President his intellectual excellencies were generally admitted. In person, Mr. Tyler is rather tall and thin, with a light complexion, blue eyes, high forehead and prominent nose. His manners are simple and afiable, and his whole bearing in private life is of a character to win him friends. In 1813, Mr. Tyler, when twenty-three years old, married Miss Letitia Christian, of Kent county, Virginia. This amiable and accomplished lady died at Washington, in Sep- tember, 1842, leaving three sons and three daughters. On the 26th of June, 1844, Mr. Tyler was again married, to Miss Julia Gardiner, of New York, a daughter of Mr. David Gardiner, who was killed by an explosion on board the steamship Princeton. The lady was young, beautiful, and wealthy. Since his retirement from the Presidency, Mr. Tyler has resided at his seat near Williamsburg, Virginia, in the enjoyment of the society of his friends. POLK. li(\i\c§, T^if)ox folk. The persons who were elevated to the presidential chaii in the early days of the republic were long before the people and were long mentioned in connection with that high office ere they were brought forward as regular candidates. Their powers and acquirements were generally known, though dif- ferently estimated. When they were presented as candidates, nobody was surprised, and nobody was doubtful as to their qualifications and the character of their policy. These persons had either passed through a regular gradation of offices or were known for some particular service done for the country, either in the field or in the council. Latterly, however, there has been evinced a different state of affairs. Parties, more anxious for systems and measures than men have been satisfied to place in nomination persons who, although with- out great administrative genius or a very extensive experi- ence in state affairs have fixed political principles, strong practical sense and an honest determination. The history of the world has satisfied the people, that though genius is of much value, the pure and patriotic will should be ranked above it, and — a still higher truth — that men are frail — in- stitutions, certain and reliable. The nomination of James K. Polk, of Tennessee, for the Presidency, surprised the (367) S6S LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. great body of the democratic party. Even those "who were acquainted with his talents and acquirements had not looked for such a consummation. His opponents delighted to in- quire — " Who is James K. Polk? " But the election proved that the whole democratic party could rally to the support of a man, who, to the best of his ability, would carry into effect democratic measures. The name Polk is a corruption of Pollock, originally Scotch, and corrupted in Ireland. The founder of the Polk family in America was Robert Polk, who emigrated from Ireland to the eastern shore of Maryland, between 1735 and 1740. Some of his descendants are still to be found in that state. Other members of the family, including Thomas, Ezekiel and Charles Polk, followed the current of emigration which swept onward to the base of the Alleghanies, and located tempo- rarily in the neighborhood of Carlisle, in Pennsylvania. Thence, the three brothers, Thomas, Ezekiel and Charles, removed to the south-western frontier of North Carolina, about 1750, and settled in the county of Mecklenburg, then a part of Anson county. Ezekiel subsequently changed his residence to South Carolina. Thomas, who, as the eldest was considered the head of the family, has the credit of the principal agency in bringing about the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, which preceded the one issued at Philadelphia by more than a year. It is certain, that both he and Ezekiel were staunch and resolute patriots in the revolution. James Knox Polk was born in Mecklenburg county. North Carolina, on the 2d day of November, 1795, and was the oldest of ten children. His father was Samuel Polk, a son of Ezekiel Polk. His mother was Jane Knox, the daughter of James Knox, after whom her eldest son was JAMES KNOX POLK. 369 named, a resident of Iredell county, North Carolina, and a captain in the war of the Revolution. Samuel Polk, the father, was a i^lain, unpretending farmer, but of enterprising character ; from necessity and inclination, frugal in his habits and style of living, yet kind and generous in disposition. ' Thrown upon his ovm resources in early life, he became the architect of his own fortunes.' Immediately after the close of the Revolution, a strong tide of emigration set in from Mecklenburg and the adjoining counties, and flowing over the mountains, rolled down upon the ranges of grassy hills, the undulating plains, the exten- sive reaches of grazing land, and the fertile valleys of Ten- nessee. Attracted by the glowing accounts, given by the first settlers and adventurers, of the beautiful daughter of his native state, Samuel Polk formed a determination to remove thither with his family; and if honesty of purpose, enterprise and industry, could accomplish that end, to achieve a com- petence for himself, and those who looked up to him for support and protection. From one cause or another the fulfilment of his desio-n was postponed till the autumn of the year 1806, when, ac- companied by his wife and children, he followed the path of emigration to the rich valley of the Duck river, one of the principal tributaries of the Tennessee. Here, in the midst of the wilderness, in a tract of country erected in the fol- lowing year into the county of Maury, he established his new home. His example was imitated by all the Polk family in North Carolina, who, with the exception of one branch, ' "emigrated, and cast their lot in with the bold spirits that sought a home in the great valley of the Mississippi,' Having purchased a quantity of land, Samuel Polk em- ployed himself in its cultivation ; following at intervals, the 370 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. occupation of a surveyor. By dint of patient industry and economy, and by his untiring and energetic perseverance, he acquired a fortune equal to his wishes and his wants. He lived to behold the country around him become flourishing and prosperous ; to see its dark forests pass away like some vision of enchantment, and its broad plains and valleys blooming with fruits and flowers, and teeming with the luxu- riant produce of a fertile soil. Respected as one of the first pioneers of Maury, and esteemed as a useful citizen and an estimable man, he finally closed his life at Columbia, in 1827. His wife, a most excellent and pious woman, afterwards married a gentleman by the name of Eden, and is now living at Columbia. Her son, James, passed his boyhood in the humble position in life which his parents occupied. The lessons 'that he learned in this school were never forgotten. He was by no means a stranger to what, — ^unless, as in his case, accompanied by a happy and contented heart, — is the drudgery of daily toil. He assisted his father in the man- agement of his farm, and was his almost constant companion in his surveying excursions. They were frequently absent for weeks together, treading the dense forests and traversing the rough cane-breaks which then covered the face of the country, and exposed to all the changes of the weather, and the dangers and vicissitudes of a life in the woods. On these occasions, it was the duty of James to take care of the pack- horses and camp equipage, and to prepare the scanty and frugal meals of the surveying party. When a lad, he was strongly inclined to study, and often busied himself with the mathematical calculations of his father. He was very fond of reading, and was of a reflective turn of mind. " In the infancy of the state of Tennessee, as is always the case in new settlements, the opportunities of instruction • JAMES KNOX POLK. 371 were quite limited. The father of young Polk was not in aSuent circumstances, though able to give all his children a good education. He regarded with favor the natural bent of his son's mind toward study, and kept him pretty con- stantly at school. Though afflicted for many years by a painful affection, from which he was only relieved by a sur- gical operation, James had been completely successful in mastering the English studies usually taught, when his health began to give way. Fearing that his constitution had become so much weakened as to unfit him altogether for a sedentary life, his father, not without many an earnest remonstrance from his son, placed him with a merchant, with the view of fitting him for commercial pursuits. "After remaining a few weeks with the merchant, James obtained the permission of his father, by much entreaty and persuasion, to return home ; and in the month of July, 1813, he was placed under the tuition of the Eev. Dr. Henderson. Subsequently he was sent to the Murfreesborough Academy, then under the superintendence of Mr. Samuel P. Black, one of the most celebrated classical teachers in Middle Ten- nessee. Henceforward there were no obstacles in the way of his obtaining the education he so ardently desired. In less than two years and a half he prepared himself thoroughly for an advanced class in college ; and in the autumn of 1815, being then in his twentieth year, he entered the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, at the beginning of the sophomore year. This venerable institution, at which so many of the most distinguished statesmen, and the most emi- nent divines, in the southern part of the union, have been educated, was then under the charge of the Eev. Dr. Joseph Caldwell, 'justly styled the father of the University.' Co- lonel William Polk, late of Raleigh, and the first cousin of 372 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. the father of President Polk, was also one of the most in- fluential and active of the trustees, and had been such from about the time of the first establishment of the institution. At the University, Mr. Polk was most exemplary in the performance of all his duties, not only as a member of col- lege, but also of the literary society to which he belonged. He was punctual and prompt in every exercise, and never absent from recitation or any of the religious services of the institution. Of the exact sciences he was fond, and he was also an able linguist. At each semi-annual examination he bore away the highest honors, and at the close of the junior year the first distinction was awarded to him and Ex-Governor Wil- liam D. Mosely, of Florida. He graduated in June, 1818, with the highest distinction, which was assigned to him alone, as the best scholar in both the mathematics and the classics, and delivered the Latin Salutatory Oration. Mr. Polk did not forget his Alma Mater amid the busy scenes, the turmoil and confusion, of his active life ; nor did she lose sight of one who reflected so much credit upon her, in every station that he filled. He often revisited her shrine, and attended the pleasant re-unions of the mother and her sons ; and at the annual commencement, in June^ 1847, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him, together with John Y. Mason, late Secretary of the Navy, of the class of 1816, and Willie P. Mangum, of the Senate of the United States, and a member of the class of 1815. When Mr. Polk left the university, his health 'was con- siderably impaired by constant and unremitting application to his studies. But a few months of relaxation and respite ' from study, were sufficient fully to restore him ; and the JAMES KNOX POLK. 373 choice of a profession was then to be considered and decided. This was not at all difficult. His thoughts had long been directed toward the law, and each succeeding year had served to confirm and strengthen the desire which he had half formed ere the time came for serious reflection. At the beginning of the year 1819, he entered the office of Felix Grundy, at Nashville. Mr. Grundy was then in the zenith of his fame — at the head of the Tennessee bar — enjoying the professional honors and rewards which continued to flow liberally upon him — and with the laurels he had won on the floor of the house of representatives of the United States in defence of the war measures of President Madison, blooming freshly on his brow. In him Mr. Polk found a legal preceptor whose rich stores of learning were freely opened to his benefit. Beside being the favorite student of Mr. Grundy, it was the good fortune of Mr. Polk, during his residence at Nash- ville, to attract the attention and win the esteem of one who bound his friends to him with hooks of adamant, and whose favor could not be too highly prized ; of one whose influence over him, powerful though it was, was at all times voluntarily and cheerfully acknowledged ; of Andrew Jackson, the gallant defender of New Orleans, already occupying a proud position among the great men of the nation. Both preceptor and pupil were ever welcome guests at the Hermitage ; both contributed in after years, to the elevation of its occupant to the highest station in the land, and, the one in the senate, and the other in the house, sustained and defended his administration against whomsoever assailed it, in storm and in sunshine, from its commencement to its close. General Jackson Avas always warmly attached to Mr. Polk ; he looked upon him in the light of a protegee, and took a deep interest in his political advancement. 32 374 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. "Within tTYb years from the time he entered the office of Mr. Grundy, Mr. Polk made sufficient progress in his legal studies to 'entitle him to an examination, and near the close of 1820, he was regularly admitted to the bar. He now returned to Maury county, and established himself in prac- tice at Columbia, among the companions of his boyhood, who had grown up with him to man's estate, — among those who had known and esteemed him from his earliest years. His advantages were great, in consequence of the connec- tion of his family, by the ties of blood or friendship, with most of the old inhabitants and their descendants. His success, therefore, was equal to his fondest hopes. Mr. Polk remained at the bar, it may be said, up to the time of his election as Governor of Tennessee, but for seve- ral years he devoted himself exclusively to the laborious duties of his calling, constantly adding to his practice and his reputation, and annually reaping a rich harvest of pro- fessional emoluments. Though " there were giants in the land," he stood in the front rank among his cotemporaries. During some portion of this period he was associated with other practitioners in business, and at other times he was alone. Among his law partners were Anson V. Brown, of Pulaski, for some years a representative in Congress from the sixth district (Tennessee) and governor of the state from 1845 to 1847, and Gideon J. Pillow, a major-general in the army during the war with Mexico. The father of the late President belonged to the JefFer- sonian school of politics ; he supported its founder in the great contest of 1800, and up to the close of his life was the firm and consistent advocate of democratic principles. The associations of Mr. Polk himself, in early life, and while he was reading law, naturally inclined him to adopt the same I JAMES KNOX POLK. 375' opinions ; but the convictions of Ms matured judgment ac- corded with and approved them. It is rarely the case, in this country, that the politician and lawyers are not united in one and the same person ; and Mr. Polk was not an exception to this general rule. As soon as he became a voter he attached himself to the democratic party, and after his admission to the bar, was an active par- ticipant in the political contests of that day. His style and manner as a public speaker were calculated to win the favor of a popular assembly, and he was often sent for many miles from his home to address the meetings of his party friends. His reputation in this respect was extensive. Possessing all the advantages of mind and disposition so necessary to success in an aspirant for political honors ; rooted in the affections of a large circle of admiring friends ; the hope of the party to which he belonged, he entered public life at an early age. His first employment in this character was that of chief clerK to the house of representatives of the Tennessee legislature ; and in the summer of 1823, in accord- ance not more with his own desire than with the wishes of his friends, he took the stump against the former member of that body from Maury. A most formidable opposition was encountered, but after an animated canvass he secured his election by a heavy majority. He remained in the legislature for two successive years, being regarded as one of the most talented and promising members. Most of the measures of the then President, Mr. Monroe, received his unqualified support and approbation, and he was ardently desirous that the successor of the former should be one who had no sympathy for the latitudinarian doctrines with reference to the constitution which appeared to be gaining ground. Animated by this motive, he approved 876 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. of the nomination of Andrew Jackson for the Presidency, made by the Tennessee legislature in August, 1822 ; and in the autumn of the following year, he contributed by his in- fluence and vote to the election of his distinguished friend to the senate of the United States. While a member of the general assembly, Mr. Polk succeeded in procuring the passage of a law designed to pre- vent duelling. Though residing in a section of the union where this mode of vindicating one's honor when assailed has ever been sustained by the general sense of the commu- nity, oftentimes in opposition to positive enactments, he was never concerned in a duel, during his whole life, either as principal or second. This was the more remarkable, be- cause of the many stormy epochs in his political career. His aversion to duelling did not proceed from constitutional timidity ; he was utterly opposed to the practice, from prin- ciple ; and though he made no unbecoming parade of his sentiments, he did not care to conceal' them. No one ever invaded his personal rights without finding him prepared to defend them. Mr. Polk always doubted the power of the general go- vernment to make improvements in the states ; and his doubts ultimately became absolute denials of the right. He concurred, however, with Mr. Monroe, in the belief that such improvements were desirable, and that it would be pro- per to amend the constitution so as to confer the power, although, in the absence of such an amendment, they might be carried on with the consent of the states in which they were located. When, therefore, the President so far yielded to those of his friends who had long vainly attempted t.o persuade him to lend his countenance to an extensive sys- tem of internal improvements, as to give his consent to the JAMES KNOX POLK. 377 act of 1824, authorizing surveys to be made of the routes of of such roads and canals as he might deem of national im- portance, Mr. Polk looked upon the measure with favor. The views of Mr, Polk on this question of internal improve- ments subsequently underwent a change ; and when he saw what great latitude had been taken under the constitution as it was, and how much danger there was to be appre- hended from the undue enlargement of the power of the general government by the adoption of the proposed amend- ment, he took decided ground against any change, and ex- erted all his influence and authority to bring back the ship of state to her ancient channel. On the 1st day of January, 1824, Mr. Polk was mar- ried to Sarah Childress, the daughter of Joel Childress, a wealthy and enterprising merchant of Rutherford county, Tennessee. Mrs. Polk was well fitted to adorn any station. To the charms of a fine person she united intellectual accomplish- ments of a high order. Sweetness of disposition, graceful- ness and ease of manner, and beauty of mind, were happily blended in her character. Her unfailing courtesy, and her winning deportment, were remarked by every one who savr her presiding at the White House. In the spring of 1825, Mr. Polk offered himself to the electors of the sixth or Duck river district, in which he re- sided, as their candidate for Congress. At this time the subject of internal improvements was attracting unusual at- tention in Tennessee, owing, probably, to the examinations recently made by the board of engineers, under the act of 1824, of the country between the Potomac and the Ohio rivers. Indeed, it was the only political question of im- portance, — except the manner in which General Jackson, 32* 878 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. whom Mr. Polk liad ardently supported, had been defrauded, as was alleged by bis friends, of the Presidency, — that was then agitated or discussed ; for, although there had been several candidates voted for at the late presidential election, they all claimed to belong to the same party. " Although Mr. Polk, like many other young men be- longing to the democratic party, was disposed, in 1825, to adopt the impression that the authority to construct works of internal improvement was comprehended in the money- power conferred by the constitution, further reflection and experience caused him to change his opinion. At the Au- gust election, in 1825, he was chosen a member of Congress, by a flattering vote. That he discharged his duties to the entire satisfaction of those whom he represented, is evidenced by the fact, that he was repeatedly returned by the same constituency, for fourteen years in succession, from 1825 to 1839. In the latter year he voluntarily withdrew from another contest, in which his success was not even ques- tionable, in order to become a candidate for the office of governor of his adopted state. "Mr. Polk first took his seat in the house of representa- tives, as a member of the sixteenth Congress, in December, 1825 : being, with one or two exceptions, the youngest member of that body. The same habits of laborious appli- cation which had previously characterized him, were now displayed on the floor of the house and in the committee- room. He was punctual and prompt in the performance of every duty. " Immediately after the organization of the two houses of Congress, in December, 1825, the peculiar circumstances attending the election of Mr. Adams, through the influence and aid of Mr. Clay, were brought up in review. Amend- JAMES KNOX POLK. 879 ments to tlie constitution were proposed in tlie senate, by Mr. Benton, of Missouri, providing for a direct vote by the people, in districts, for President, and dispensing with the electoral colleges ; and by Mr. McDuffie, of South Carolina, in the house, authorizing the electors to be chosen by dis- tricts, and containing provisions which would prevent the choice of President, in future, from devolving on the house of representatives. Mr. Polk made his dehut as a speaker on this question, and advocated the amendment of the con- stitution, in such a manner as to give the choice of Presi- dent and Vice President directly to the people. As one of the friends of General Jackson, he entered warmly into the subject, and his speech was characterized by what was with him an unusual degree of animation in addressing a delibc" rative body. He afterwards earnestly opposed the Panama mission, the object of which was to form an alliance, oifensive and defensive between the North and South American re- publics, and spoke against a protective tariff and a system of internal improvements. In reference to the Panama mission, Mr. Polk introduced the following resolutions. " Resolved^ That it is the constitutional right and duty of the house of representatives, when called upon for appropri- ations to defray the expenses of foreign missions, to deliberate on the expediency or inexpediency of such missions, and to determine and act thereon, as in their judgment may seem most conducive to the public good. " Resolved J That it is the sense of this House, that the sending of ministers, on the part of the United States, to take part in the deliberations of the Congress of South Ameri- can nations, at Panama, would be a total departm^e from the uniform course of policy pursued by this government, from the adoption of the Federal Constitution to the present period ; 880 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. and might, and in all probability would, have a tendency to involve the nation in ' entangling alliances,' and endanger the neutrality and relations, of amity and peace, which at present happily subsist between the United States and the belligerent powers — old Spain and the southern republics of this continent." Mr. Polk defended his resolutions, and enforced his views upon the question, in an argumentative speech. During the whole period of General Jackson's admini- stration, as long as he retained a seat on the floor, he was one of its leading supporters, and at times, and on certain question of paramount importance, its chief reliance. In the hour of trial he was never found wanting, or from his post. In December, 1827, two years after his entrance into the house, Mr. Polk was placed on the important committee of foreign affairs, and some time after was appointed, in ad- dition, chairman of the select committee to which was re- ferred that portion of the President's message calling the attention of Congress to the probable accumulation of a surplus in the treasury, after the anticipated extinguisliT ment of the national debt. As the head of this committee, he made a lucid report, replete with Jeffersonian doctrines, ably enforced, denying the constitutional powers of Congress to collect from the people, for distribution, a surplus beyond the wants of the government, and maintaining that the re- venue should be reduced to the exigencies of the public servi ce. The session of 1830 will always be distinguished by the death- blow which was then given to the system of internal improve- ments by the general government. The Maysville road veto was second in importance to none of the acts of General Jackson's administration. When the bill was returned by the President unsigned, a storm arose in the house, in the midst JAMES KNOX POLK. 381 of which the veto was attacked by a torrent of passionate declamation, mixed with no small share of personal abuse. To a member from Ohio, whose observations partook of the latter character, Mr. Polk replied in an energetic improvi- sation, vindicating the patriotic resolution of the Chief Ma- gistrate. The friends of state-rights in the house rallied upon the veto. The result was the bill was rejected. In September, 1833, the President, determined upon the bold measure of the removal of the deposits, which was ef- fected in the following month. The act produced much ex- citement throughout the country, and it was foreseen that a great and doubtful conflict was about to ensue. At such a crisis it became important to have at the head of the com- mittee of ways and means, a man of courage to meet, and firmness to sustain, the formidable shock. Such a man was found in Mr. Polk, and he proved himself equal to the oc- casion. Congress met, and the conflict proved even fiercer than had been anticipated. The cause of the bank was sup- ported in the house by such men as Mr. McDufiee, Adams, and Binney, not to mention a host of other names. Mr. McDuflic, the distinguished leader of the~ opposition in this eventful conflict, bore testimony, in his concluding remarks, to the boldness and manliness with which Mr. Polk had assumed the only position which could be judiciously taken. All the measures of the committee, including those of para- mount importance, relating to the bank and the deposits, were carried in spite of the most immitigable opposition. Although the vote of Tennessee, given at the presidential election, in 1828, was almost unanimously in favor of Ge- neral Jackson, indications of dissatisfaction were manifested by some of the most prominent members of the democratio party in that state, at an early period of his administration. 382 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. As the time approached, for the selection of his successor, the elements of discord and disaffection were more plainly visible. His preference for Mr. Van Buren were well known, as they were never disguised. But in Tennessee, a large portion of the democratic party were in favor of HugK L. White, an estimable and talented citizen of that state, then one of its senators in Congress. Governor Carroll, Ex-Governor Blount, Felix Grundy, James K. Polk, Cave Johnson, and other discerning men in the democratic ranks, in Tennessee, saw, at a glance, that the prospects of Judge White were utterly hopeless. Ten- nessee had been honored with a President of her own choice, for eight years in succession ; and there was nothing in the public services, or in the character of Judge White, that pe- culiarly entitled him to inherit this distinction, in opposition to the candidates whose nomination was desired in other states. Besides, the general sentiment of the democratic party in the nation, as manifested in a thousand ways, and in the most unequivocal manner, had indicated a decided preference for Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Polk and his friends were disposed to yield a ready acquiescence to what appeared to be the controlling desire of their democratic friends out of Ten- nessee. He was himself urgently solicited to join in some public manifestation in behalf of Judge White ; but he firmly and constantly refused to lend his name or his influence for any such purpose. In the house of representatives, the White interest was represented by John Bell, one of the colleagues of Mr. Polk, and between whom there had long existed a sort of rivalship. Both claimed to be the sincere friends of General Jackson, and both approved of the veto of the United States Bank, and the removal of the deposits. But Mr. Bell was ia favor JAMES KNOX POLK. 383 of the incorporation of another bank, while Mr. Polk, in accordance with what had now become one of the cardinal doctrines of the party to which he belonged, avowed his un- compromising hostility to such an institution. In June, 1834, the speaker of the house, Andrew Stevenson, of Vir- ginia, resigned his seat in Congress, in consequence of his nomination as minister to Great Britain. Mr. Polk was instantly selected by a majority of the democratic members, as the administration candidate for the vacant position. But the friends of Judge White refused to support him, and voted for Mr. Be*Il, who, with the aid of the whig members, was elected over Mr. Polk on the tenth ballot. Shortly after the adjournment of Congress, Mr. Van Bu- ren was regularly put in nomination as the democratic can- didate fop President, by the unanimous voice of the national convention assembled at Baltimore, in May, 1835. Mr. Polk took no part in calling or recommending this convention. It was entirely a new movement, and originated mainly in a desire to organize the democratic party in a most efficient manner, in anticipation of a powerful effort on the part of the opponents of the administration to defeat their candi- dates. After the nominations were made, and received with an almost universal expression of approbation in every state in the Union, Tennessee alone excepted, Mr. Polk an- nounced his determination not to separate himself from the democratic party of the nation. Messrs. Carroll, Blount, Grundy, and Johnson, agreed with him in sentiment, and active preparations were immediately made to carry the state at the gubernatorial and congressional elections, in August, 1835. But the time proved too short to counteract the im- pressions which had been formed, and to change the direction of the popular current. The whigs united with the friends 384 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. of Judge White, and succeeded in defeating Governor Car- roll, who was nominated for re-election, and all the admi- nistration candidates for Congress, gave Mr. Polk and Mr. Johnson. Judge White ultimately received the support only of the opponents of the administration and of the friends of the United States Bank, except that in a very few instances he obtained the votes of persons in the southern states, who thought Mr. Van Buren would be unable to carry them, and desired to prevent the election of General Harrison, the whig candidate at the north. In the state of Tennessee, Mr. Polk and his friends engaged with great activity in the contest, in support of Mr. Van Buren ; but the White elec- toral ticket, with the whig opposition united in its favor, succeeded by about nine thousand majority. Shortly after the August election, in 1835, Mr. Polk visited Nashville, when on his way to Rutherford county. While at the seat of government, the compliment of a public dinner was tendered to him by the democrats of that city ; but he was forced to decline the proffered invitation, on account of the poor state of his health. When the members of the twenty-fourth Congress assem- bled at the capitol for their first regular session, in Decem- ber, 1835, it was found that the friends of the administra- tion were largely in the majority. Mr. Polk was selected by general consent as their candidate for speaker, not merely as an act of justice on account of the circumstances under which he was defeated the previous year, but as a tribute to the firmness and independences he had exhibited during the canvass in Tennessee. Mr. Bell was once more the opposing candidate, but he received only eighty-four votes, while one hundred and thirty-two were given for Mr. JAMES KNOX POLK. 385 Polk. At the first, or extra session of the twenty-fifth Congress, held in September, 1837, the same candidates were pitted against each other — Mr. Bell being at that time thoroughly identified with the opposition. Parties were more equally divided in this Congress, but Mr. Polk was again chosen over his opponent by thirteen majority. As the speaker of the twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth Congress, Mr. Polk occupied the chair of the house during five sessions. It was his fortune to fill this distinguished position when party feelings were excited, to an unusual degree. During the first session, more appeals were taken from his decisions, than were ever before known ; but he was uniformly sustained by the house, and frequently by the most prominent members of the opposition. He was courteous and afi'able toward all who approached him, and in his manner, as the presiding officer, dignity and urbanity were appropriately blended. At the close of the twenty- fourth Congress, in March, 1837, a unanimous vote of thanks to the speaker was passed by the house. In adjourning the house, on the 4th of March, 1839, and terminating for ever his connection with the body, of which he had been so long a member, Mr. Polk delivered a fare- well address of more than ordinary length, but characterized by deep feeling. Still higher honors awaited Mr. Polk. His long and ar- duous service in the national representation, and more es- pecially the circumstances attending the presidential canvass •. '' 1836, had familiarized the people of Tennessee with his name and character. To the democrat party he was endeared for his sacrifices in their behalf, by his devotion to their in- terests, and his steadfast maintainance of their principles. At the earnest request of his friends, Mr. Polk consented 33 886 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. to become tlie candidate of the democrats of Tennessee, at the August election, in 1839, for the office of governor. It was very evident that none but the strongest man in the party could enter into the canvass with any thing like a fair prospect before him ; and it was exceedingly doubtful whether he could be successful. Mr. Polk accepted the nomi- nation which was tendered to him by the unanimous consent of his democratic friends, in the fall of 1838, and at a bar- becue in Murfreesborough publicly declared himself a candi- date. He immediately took the stump, but was only able to make a few speeches that fall, as it was necessary for him to repair to Washington in time for the opening of the session of Congress. At the close of the session, in the spring of 1839, he hastened home without delay, and his voice was soon heard uttering its appeals, that aroused the energies of the party. The canvass was warm and spirited. The state had for years been, in the hands of the opposition, and they now rallied with enthusiasm and alacrity in support of Governor Cannon, the incumbent of the office, who was a candidate for re-election. The exertions of Mr. Polk during this canvass deserved the success with which they were rewarded. He was elected over Governor Cannon by upwards of twenty-five hundred majority, and on the 14th of October took the oath of office at Nashville, and entered upon the discharge of his duties. On this occasion, he delivered an address, which is consi- dered to be one of the clearest and ablest documents that ever came from his pen. By the amended constitution of Tennessee, provision was made for such works of internal improvements as the geo- graphical position of the state rendered necessary ; and in his first regular message, delivered to the two houses of the JAMES KNOX POLK. 387 general assembly, on the 22d of October, 1839, Governor Polk advised the " vigorous prosecution of a judicious sys- tem of internal improvements," and that " a board of public works, to be composed of two or more competent and scien- tific men, should be authorized, and their duties established by law." In the same message, he recommended the revi- sion of the laws prohibiting the practice of betting on elec- tions, which, he says, " begets excitement and engenders strife ; and it but too often happens, that those who have stakes at hazard, become more interested to secure them, than by a dispassionate exercise of the right of sufirage, to secure the public good." Of irresponsible issues of paper money, or paper credits intended for circulation as money, he was always jealous; and in his second regular annual message to the legislature, in 1841, he advised " a revision of the laws prohibiting the issuance of any exchange tickets or small paper bills, by individuals and corporations other than banks," for the reason, as stated by him, that " some of the internal im- provement companies in which the state was a copartner," had issued " small paper bills in the form of script or checks, and put them into circulation as money, without any specie basis upon which to rest, and without authority of law." The administration of the state government by Mr. Polk was satisfactory to the public, and his course as chief magis- trate was well calculated to harmonize the party of which, by the death of his old friend and preceptor, Mr. Grundy, in 1840, he had become the acknowledged head. The term of office of Mr. Polk expired in October, 1841, but at the August election of that year, he was again a candidate. His prospects were dark — the Harrison electoral ticket had suc- ceeded in the state by more than twelve thousand majority. 388 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. To overcome this heavy vote was impossible ; but Mr. Polk entered upon the canvass with his accustomed spirit and ability. His competitor was James C. Jones, a most effective speaker, and decidedly the most popular man at that time in the whig party of the state. Personal good feeling on the part of the opposing candi- dates characterized this contest, as it had that of 1839. Mr. Polk frankly and cordially met Mr Jones on the stump and travelled in company with him. But the efforts of Mr. Polk proved unavailing. The politics of the state were for the time firmly fixed in opposition to his own. He was defeated, but reduced the whig majority to about three thousand. In 1843, he was once more a candidate opposed to Governor Jones, but the latter was re-elected by nearly four thousand majority. On leaving the executive chair of Tennessee, Mr. Polk returned to private life. He possessed a competence — all that he needed or desired — which enabled him to be liberal in the bestowment of his charities, and to dispense a generous hospitality to his numerous friends. Mr. Polk was not without ambition; but he preferred henceforth for others to secure his advancement, if they de^ sired so to do, and contented himself with being in the main a passive instrument in their hands. In 1841 and 1843, he came forth as a candidate for governor, only in compliance with the general desire of his party. The wishes and ex- pectation of his immediate friends were early fixed on the presidential office. At the session of the Tennessee legis- lature, in 1839, he was nominated by that body for the Vice Presidency, to be placed on the ticket with Mr. Van Buren, and with the expectation, no doubt, that he might p 2ceed that gentleman in the higher office. He was after- JAMES KNOX POLK. S89 wards nominated in other states for the same position ; but as Colonel Johnson seemed to be the choice of the great body of the democratic party in the union, no efforts of im- portance were made by the former, and at the election, in 1840, he received but one electoral vote, in the college of Virginia. From the time of the defeat of Mr. Van Buren, in 1840, up to within a few weeks previous to the assembling of the national democratic convention at Baltimore, in 1844, public opinion in the democratic party seemed to be firmly fixed upon him as their candidate for re-election to the station he had once filled. But in the month of April, 1844, a treaty was concluded, under the auspices of President Tyler, between the representatives of the government of the United States and of the republic of Texas, providing for the an- nexation of the latter to the American Confederacy. This measure, though long in contemplation, was fruitful in strife and dissension. Hitherto it had been conceded on every hand, that Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Clay ought to be, and would be, the rival candidates for the Presidency, in 1844 ; but now the political elements were thrown into complete confusion. The opinions of every public man in the United States were sought ; and among others, Mr. Polk was ad- dressed. He replied, arguing in favor of annexation. When the Texas question was presented in this manner to the American people, public men, and the parties to which they belonged, arrayed themselves on one side or the other. The whig party at the north opposed the annexation. The democratic party generally favored the annexation ; but a small portion of the party at the north, and a few of its members residing in the slave states opposed it. In the midst of the commotion produced by the agitation 83* 390 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. « of" tile Texas question, the national democratic convention assembled at Baltimore, on the 27th of May, 1844. Until the publication of his Texas letter, Mr. Van Buren had teen bj far the most prominent candidate ; but when the conven- tion met, Lewis Cass, of Michigan ; Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky ; James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, all of whom were in favor of the immediate annexation of Texas, were supported for the nomination by their respective friends, with greater or less earnestness. Immediately after the organization of the convention, a rule was adopted, in accordance with the pre- cedents established by the conventions of 1832 and 1835, requiring a vote of two-thirds to secure a nomination. Mr. Van Buren received a majority of votes on the first ballot ; seven additional ballotings were then had, but at no time did he receive a vote of two thirds ; whereupon his name was withdrawn by the New York delegation. The delegates op- posed to the nomination, after the first ballot, concentrated their strength mainly upon Mr. Cass ; but as the friends of Mr. Van Buren numbered more than one-third of the con- vention, and were irreconcilably hostile to the selection of any of the other candidates originally proposed, it was appa- rent that no nomination could be made without their consent. The name of Mr. Polk had been freely spoken of in con- nection with the Vice Presidency, and when the convention found itself in this dilemma, a number of his friends among the delegates voted for him on the eighth ballot as the pre- sidential candidate. On the ninth ballot he received nearly all the votes of the members of the convention, and the vote was subsequently made unanimous. The nomination for the Vice Presidency was tendered with great unanimity to Silas Wright, of New York, a distinguished friend of Mr. Van Buren, JAMES KNOX POLK. 391 but it was declined ; and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylva- nia, was then put in nomination. The closing proceedings of the convention were marked by great good feeling and enthusiasm. The nomination of Mr. Polk was communicated to him by a committee appointed by the convention. Unexpected as wasi the honor thus conferred upon him, he did not decline it. In reply to the committee he returned a letter of acceptance, in which he avowed his firm determination in the event of his election, not to be again a candidate. Prior to its adjournment, the Baltimore convention adopted a series of resolution, setting forth the principles that distinguished them as a party. By the acceptance of their nomination, Mr. Polk signified his approbation of those resolutions. The candidates selected by the whig party, in opposition to the democratic nominees, were Henry Clay, of Kentucky, for President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, for Vice President. Mr. Tyler, the then President, was also put in nomination for the Presidency, by a convention of his friends, but he subsequently withdrew his name and gave his support to the democratic ticket. The nomination was not only well received, but a spirit of enthusiasm was soon aroused in his favor. The election was conducted with great spirit and animation. Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Cass, with the other candidates before the national convention, and their friends cordially supported the ticket. In the electoral colleges, Mr. Polk received one hundred and seventy votes, and Mr. Clay one hundred and five. The majority of Mr. Polk over his distinguished competitor, on the popular vote, was about forty thousand, exclusive of the vote of South Carolina, whose electors are chosen by the 392 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. state legislature. The total vote was a little less than two million seven hundred thousand. On the 28th of November — the result of the election being then known — Mr. Polk visited Nashville, and was honored with a public reception by his democratic friends, together with a number of his opponents in the late contest, who cheerfully united with them in paying due honors to the Pre- sident elect of the people's choice. A brilliant civic and military procession escorted him to the public square in front of the court house, where he was addressed by the Honorable A. 0. P. Nicholson, on behalf of the large assembly, that had collected to welcome him to the seat of government. To the address of Mr. Nicholson, congratulating him on his success, and assuring him of the highest respect and admi- ration entertained for his intellectual capacity and his private virtues by the people of Tennessee, Mr. Polk rejflied in a conciliatory and grateful spirit. Mr. Polk left his home in Tennessee, on his way to Wash- ington, toward the latter part of January, 1845. He was accompanied on his journey by Mrs. Polk, and several per- sonal friends. On the 31st instant, he had a long private interview at the Hermitage, with his venerable friend, Andrew Jackson. The leave-taking was affectionate and impressive, for each felt conscious, that, in ail probability it was a fare- well for ever. On the first of February, Mr. Polk and suite left Nashville, and proceeded as rapidly as possible, considering the demon- strations of respect with which he was every where received on his route, to the seat of government of the nation. The President elect and his party an-ived at Washington on the 13th of February, and was immediately waited upon by a committee of the two houses of Congress, wJio informed JAMES KNOX PO^iK. 393 fiim that the returns from the electoral colleges had been opened, and the ballots counted, on the previous day ; and that he had been declared duly elected President of the United States. He thereupon signified his acceptance of the office to which he had been chosen by the people, and desired the committee to convey to Congress his assurances, that ." in executing the responsible duties which would de- volve upon him, it would be his anxious desire to maintain the honor and promote the welfare of the country." On the 4th day of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated President of the United States. An immense concourse of people assembled at Washington — every quarter of the Union being well represented — to witness the imposing ceremony. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the procession moved from the quarters of the President elect, at Coleman's hotel — Mr. Polk and his predecessor, Mr. Tyler, riding together in an open carriage. Arriving at the capitol, the President elect and the Ex-President entered the senate chamber. Here a procession was formed, when they pro- ceeded to the platform on the east front of the capitol, from which Mr. Polk delivered his inaugural address.* This paper was long, clearly written^ and argumentative. The policy of the incoming administration was defined, and strongly enforced. The oath of office was then administered by Chief Justice Taney, and Mr. Polk returned to the pre- sidential mansion. In the evening, the President and his lady attended two balls given in honor of the inauguration. President Polk's cabinet was made up from the most dis- tingushed members of the democratic party, as follows : James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of State; * We are indebted for the greater part of this sketch to the ably written "Life of James K. Polk," by John S. Jenkins, Esq. 894 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Treasury ; William L. Marcy, of New York, Secretary of War ; George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, Postmaster General ; and John Y. Mason, of Virginia, Attorney General. With such a mi- nistry, it was expected that the President would satisfy the expectations of the democratic party. The first important achievement of the new administra- tion — that which influenced the remainder of his term — was the consummation of the annexation of Texas to the union. Shortly before the close of Mr. Tyler's term of office, joint resolutions in favor of the annexation of Texas had passed both houses of Congress, and in pursuance of them, President Polk instructed the charge d'affairs of the United States, in Texas, to make the necessary overtures. The people of the infant republic accepted the proffered terms, then held a convention, framed and adopted a state constitution, and prepared themselves for admission into the union. In his first annual message. President Polk called the attention of Congress to the importance of pass- ing at an early day, an act recognizing Texas as a sister ^of the confederacy. The "Army of Occupation," which had been ordered to take post between the Neuces and del Norte (Rio Grande) was under the command of brevet Brigadier-General Taylor, the fleet in the gulf#f7as under the orders of Commodore Conner. Of the events which brought about the declaration of war, and upon which so much discussion has been held, vfe have not "room Kere to speak. The opposition in Congress denounced the war as unjust, and as being unconstitutionally begun by the President. It was sold that the President had authorized such aggressive JAMES KNOX POLK. 395 meai^Tires as were calculated to provoke war, and that he then called upon Congress to recognize the existence of hostilities. War was declared against Mexico. Even before the de- claration passed Congress, General Taylor fought two bat- tles, with a much superior Mexican force, commanded by General Arista, and gained two glorious victories — those of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. From that time the contest was prosecuted by the United States forces, with as- tonishing vigor and success. Generals Taylor and Scott, with a gallant band of officers and troops won imperishable laurels. Monterey, Buena Vista, Bracita, Sacramento, Doni- phan's march, the capture of Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulloa, Sierra Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molina del Bey, Cha- pultepec, and Mexico will ever remain as brilliant testimonials to the skill and indomitable courage of the American soldiery. Stockton, Kearney, and Fremont made an almost bloodless conquest of Alta California, which was afterwards ascertained to be one of the richest countries in the world, and is now the magnet of so many hearts. New Mexico was conquered by Kearney without a battle. After the capture of her cap- ital, Mexico was willing to negotiate for peace. On the 2d of February, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a treaty was con- cluded by the United States commissioner, Mr. N. P. Trist, and three Mexican commissioners. By this treaty, the Bio Grande was established as the boundary between the United States and Mexico, below El Paso ; the extensive provinces of New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the United States, in consideration of the payment to the go- vernment of Mexico, the sum of fifteen millions of dollars, and the assumption by the former claims of her citizens. This treaty with some modifications was ratified by both govern* 396 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ments, the United Strtes forces evacuated Mexico, and peace once more smiled upon the two republics. The recommendations of President Polk, in his first annual message, the restoration of the independent treasury system — the revision of the tariff act of 1842, substituting ad valorem for specific dates, and reducing it to a revenue standard — ■ the increase of the navy ; and the gradation of the price of the public land, were approved and carried into effect by Congress. A bill, appropriating nearly one million five hun- dred thousand for the improvement of certain harbors and rivers, was passed by Congress in the latter part of July 1846. On the 3d of August, Mr. Polk returned it with a message, stating his objection. From the President's previous course in regard to internal improvements, this veto might have been expected. But it excited much clamor. In the house, the bill was reconsidered, but a two-thirds vote could not be obtained. But few changes took place in the cabinet during Mr. Polk's administration. Mr. Bancroft was appointed minis- ter to England, and John Y. Mason, the Attorney General, was transferred to the post of the Secretary of the Navy. Nathan Clifi'ord, of Maine, was appointed Attorney General. In the summer of 1847, President Polk made a tour through the middle and eastern states, proceeding as far as Portland, Maine. He was received with every demonstration of respect. The opposition obtained a small majority in the house of re- presentatives of the thirtieth Congress, and elected Robert E. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, speaker. The first session of this congress extended from the 1st of December, 1847, till the 14th of August 1848. The opposition maintained that the government should pursue a defensive policy in the war with Mexico, but to this the President was utterly op- JAMES KNOX POLK. 397 posed and lie stated his reasons at length in his message to Congress. Much of the session was occupied in discussion of the war measures. The bill providing a territorial govern- ment for Oregon, and prohibiting the institution of slavery therein, passed Congress not long before its adjournment, and was approved by the President. Mr. Polk heartily approved of the nominations for Presi- dent and Vice President made by the democratic convention, which met at Baltimore, in May, 1848. In a letter to the convention, he declined to, be considered a candidate. At the election, the opponents of the administration were suc- cessful. General Taylor and Millard Pillmore obtained a majority over the democratic nominees. General Cass and General Butler. Congress assembled, for the last time during the admini- stration of Mr. Polk, on the 4th of December, 1845. In his message, the President took occasion to enlarge upon the policy of the administration, and to its justice and expedi- ency. In particular, he strove to justify the exercise of the veto power. No acts of importance were passed during this congressional session, which lasted until the 3rd of March, 1849. Mr. Polk remained in Washington, and took part in the ceremonies attending the inauguration of General Tay- lor ; and then returned to Tennessee by way of Kichmond, Charleston, and New Orleans. At the various points upon his route, he was greeted with public receptions. Mr. Polk had purchased the estate which formerly be- longed to his preceptor, Felix Grundy, situated in the heart of Nashville. There he determined to pass the remainder of his life, surrounded by comforts and conveniences, and in the enjoyment of an affectionate and admiring circle of friends. But he was not permitted to linger among the de- 34 398 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. lightful shades of domestic life. In June, 1849, tlie cholera, like a desolating blast, swept over the valley of the Missis- sippi, carrying off thousands, with the suddenness of the plague of the old world. On his way from New Orleans up the Mississippi, in March, 1849, Mr. PoMs: had suffered much from diarrhaea; but it was^checked and he seemed to be restored to perfect health. But he was not long at home, before he was again beset with chronic diarrhsea, which ter- minated its work in death, on the 15th of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. Mr. Polk left no children. His property was bequeathed to his widow, and to an adopted son of his brother Marshall. In person, Mr. Polk was about the average height, and rather thin. He had a full forehead, expressive blue eyes, and in general a serious, earnest cast of countenance. He was plain in his habits, and blameless in his private life. As a statesman, he was decided in his views, and firm in the maintainance of his opinions. As an orator, he was ready and earnest, but seldom brilliant. As a writer, he was clear and correct, but occasionally diffuse. He will be re- membered, as having conducted one of the most eventful administrations known to the history of the United States, and as having exercised an important influence upon the politics of the country. TAYLOR. Z^e()^i*D I^ljioh Popularity, like a butterfly, frequency, rests upon those who least care for catching it. There are certain qualities which, as soon as displayed win the general love, and ever call forth the public admiration. It is common to say that audacity alone secures popular esteem, and that modest merit lies unappreciated. But facts prove it to be other- wise. The mass have clearer vision than the few, and no counterfeit coin can long be imposed upon them. They re- cognize integrity, intelligence, and heroism, as soon as pre- sented to their view, and immediately give these qualities their due regard. Integrity, they value above all other features of character. In their opinion — " An honest man^s the noblest work of God." They give their hearts to a man upon whose word and action they know they can safely build. Intelligence they look at last ; because they know that determined common sense can never be very far out of the right path. It was for integrity and determination that the people raised Zachary Taylor to the highest office in their gift. Zachary Taylor was born in Orange county, Virginia, in the year 1784. His father, Colonel Richard Taylor, (403) 404 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. a zealous patriot of the revolution, soon after tlie birth of Zachary, removed to the state of Kentucky, and settled near Louisville. At the age of six years, Zachary was placed under a private tutor, a Mr. Ayres, who was pecu- liarly fitted for the task of " teaching the young idea how to shoot." All accounts agree that young Taylor displayed rare force of character, and evinced a passion for military exercise and active sports. As he ardently desired to enter the army, his father, in 1808, procured him the commission of lieutenant, in the 7th regiment of the United States infantry. Not long after, he joined the army at New Orleans, then under the command of General Wilkinson. In 1810, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Smith, of Maryland, a lady in all respects worthy of his afiections. In the fol- lowing November, he was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1811, he was placed in command of Fort Knox, on the Wabash, in the vicinity of Vincennes. From this station he was ordered to the east, a short time before the battle of Tip- pecanoe. In 1812, he received orders to take command of Fort Harrison, a post situated on the Wabash, seventy-five miles above Vincennes and fifty miles beyond the frontier settlements. This was an important trust for one of his age. But certain events proved the sagacity of the appointment. While in command of Fort Harrison, Captain Taylor became the hero of one of the most desperate conflicts fought during the war. This frontier post was nothing more than a slight stockade, which had been thrown up by General Harrison in 1811, while on his march to Tippecanoe. The defences were of the most simple and primitive kind. The whole was built of unseasoned timber ; and was formed on three sides by single rows of pickets ; the fourth side con- ZACHAEY TAYLOE. 405 sisting of a range of log huts, appropriated as barracks for the soldiers, and terminated at either extreme by a block house. When Captain Taylor assumed the command of this rude fortification, it was exceedingly ill provided either for comfort or defence, and was garrisoned by a single broken company of infantry. On the third of September, 1812, two men were murdered by the Indians within a few hundred yards of the fort. Late on the evening of the 4th, between thirty and forty Indians arrived from Prophet's town, bearing a white flag. They were principally chiefs, and belonged to the various tribes that composed the Prophet's party. Captain Taylor was informed that the principal chief would make him a speech the next morning, and that the object of their visit was to get something to eat. The plot was well conceived, and boldly executed ; but it was instantly detected by the eagle eye of the young commander, and he redoubled his exertions to put the fort in a proper state of defence. The premeditated attack, so craftily arranged, was made as expected. About eleven o'clock, Captain Taylor was awakened by the firing of one of his sentinels. He imme- diately ordered his men to their posts, and the firing became ge- neral on both sides. In the midst of the uproar, it was disco- vered that the Indians had set fire to the lower block-house. Without a moment's pause. Captain Taylor directed buckets to be brought, and the fire to be extinguished. But it was much easier to give the order than to have it executed. The men appeared to be paralyzed and stupified. The alarm of fire had thrown the garrison into the greatest confusion, in the midst of which all orders were unheard or disregarded. Unfortunately, there was a great quantity of whisky among the contractor's stores deposited in the block-house, which 406 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. having caught fire, caused the flames to spread with great rajDidity, and rage Avith irresistible fury. During this time the Indians were not idle, but kept up an incessant and rapid discharge of rifles against the picketing, accompanied by a concert of the most infernal yells that ever issued from the throat of man, beast, or devil. The fire soon ascended to the roof of the block-house, and threatened to wrap the whole fort in a sheet of flame. The men gave themselves up for lost, and ceased to pay any attention to the orders. Disorder was at its height, and the scene became terrific. The fire raged, and surged, and roared — the Indians howled and yelled — dogs barked — the wounded groaned ; and high above all, arose the shriek of woman in her terror, sending its keen and thrilling accents through the mingled sounds of battle — the surrounding forest, bathed in bloody light, returned a fiery glare, yet more appalling from the intense darkness of the night ; and all combined made up a time of awful terror, before which the stoutest heart quailed and quaked. In the midst of this pandemonium stood the youthful hero, like a living rock, firm and collected, rapid and decisive, at a single glance intuitively determining the order of defence, animating his comrades to confidence and constancy, and by the irre- sistible force of example, imparted a spirit of determined and courageous perseverance even to the weaker sex. The roof of the block-house was thrown off; the other buildings were kept wet, and by the greatest exertions the flames kept under. The opening made in the line of the defences by the burning of the block-house, was supplied by a temporary breastwork; and after keeping up a constant fire until about six o'clock in the morning, the Indians retired. The loss of the garrison, in this affair, was only one man ZACHARY TAYLOR. 407 killed, and two wounded. That of the Indians was very considerable. Captain Taylor, for this affair, was promoted to the rank of major by brevet. It was the first brevet conferred during the war : and never was similar reward more justly merited. Major Taylor continued actively engaged in va- rious deparments of service in the west, constantly extend- ing the sphere of his reputation and influence, until 1814, when he was placed temporarily at the head of the troops in Missouri, until the arrival of General Howard, the com- manding officer ; and was busily employed on that frontier till the month of August. In October, Major Taylor was called to St. Louis by the sudden death of General Howard ; and in November, accom- panied Colonel Russel several hundred miles up the Missouri, to relieve a small settlement much exposed to Indian depre- dations. In December he was transferred to Vincennes, and assumed the command of the troops in Indiana, where he remained until the termination of the war. A short time before the conclusion of peace, he had been promoted to a majority in the 26th regiment of infantry, and ordered to join the regiment at Plattsburg : but when the army was disbanded, he was retained on the peace establishment with only the rank of captain. Declining to come into this ar- rangement, he resigned his commission, and retired to his farm near Louisville. In 1816, he was reinstated in the army with his original rank, and placed in command of Fort Crawford, at the mouth of Fox river, which empties in Green Bay. He continued in the command of various posts in the west until the breaking out of the Black Hawk war, in 1832, when he was again called into active service. In 1832, he was promoted to the 408 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. rank of colonel, and served under General Atkinson in his various campaigns against the Indians. It in scarcely ne- cessary to say, that in this service, he fully sustained his high military reputation. He commanded the regulars in the bloody and decisive battle of the Wisconsin, which resulted in the capture of Black Hawk and the Prophet, and the termination of the war. In 1836, Colonel Taylor was ordered to Florida, at that time the scene of a bloody war between the United States and the Seminole and other tribes of southern Indians. This war, perhaps, was the most extraordinary in which the United States was ever engaged. It had been protracted from year to year at an immense expense of blood and treasure, unsig- nalized by any decided advantage ; and when Colonel Tay- lor was transferred to that theatre, there appeared no better prospect of its termination than at its first commencement. Our best and bravest officers had sunk under the hardships of a service in which no glory was to be won, and which pre- sented no inducement to skill or courage, but patriotism. In this vexatious and exhausting service. Colonel Taylor soon became distinguished for zeal, energy, activity, and indomi- table hardihood. The uniform policy of the Indians had been to avoid battle ; directing their operations against small de- tachments and isolated individuals, thus destroying our forces in detail, without incurring the hazard of a defeat. This plan of carrying on the war. Colonel Taylor resolved to ter- minate, and bring the Indians to a battle at all hazards. Fortune aided him, and he was successful. On the 23rd of December, 1837, he brought the Indians to a general action at Okeechobee, and after a contest of about three hours routed them. The hostile forces suffered about equally in killed and wounded — but the Indians did not re- iS^ ZACHART TAYLOR. 409 cover from the blow. Colonel Taylor's conduct in this battle was duly appreciated by the government. The Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett, gave him the warmest commendation in his report to Congress ; and, he was immediately pro- moted to the brevet rank of brigadier-general, with the chief command in Florida. His head-quarters were in the neigh- borhood of Tampa Bay. From this point, he directed the " war of movements," so difficult and discouraging to an ardent officer, until 1840, when he was relieved by General Armistead, who was now ordered to take the command in Florida. General Taylor was now ordered to the command of the southern department of the army, including the states of of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, with his head-quarters at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana. His appoint- ment to this command led to his being subsequently placed at the head of the "Army of Occupation." It is foreign from this work to discuss the causes of the war with Mexico, in which General Taylor so remarkably distinguished himself. His connection with it was simply that of a military commander acting under authority, which it was his duty to respect. The army under General Taylor occupied a position at Corpus Christi, west of the Nueces, as early as August, 1845, having been ordered to take a position between the river Nueces and the Rio Grande, and to repel any invasion of the Texan territory, which might be attempted by the Mexican forces. The army occupied this position from August, 1845, until the 11th of March, 1846, when it re- moved westward, and on the 20th of that month reached the Colorado, where some disposition to resist its progress being evinced by a Mexican force, the army was formed into 35 410 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. line of battle. A road was tlien opened down the beach of the river ; and while it was in progress, the enemy was notified by General Taylor, that when it was completed he should cross the river and fire upon any one who appeared in arms to oppose his march. The artillery was placed so as to cover the ford, and the port-fires were lighted. Gene- ral Mejia, aid to the Mexican commander, now arrived with a letter to General Taylor, apprising him that if the Ame- rican army should cross the Colorado, it would be consi- dered a declaration of war, and would immediately be followed by actual hostilities. The crossing took place nevertheless ; and that too at a point where an excellent opportunity was presented of suc- cessfully resisting the advance of the Americans. On the 22d, the army advanced across the prairie in the direction of Matamoras ; but General Taylor, hearing that the Mexi- cans held Point Isabel, halted on the 24th, and leaving the army under the command of General Worth, advanced to that place with the dragoons, occupied it, and received from steamboats, which arrived opportunely at the same time, a quantity of supplies for the army. Passing by the spot where subsequently the battle of Re- saca de la Palma was fought, and which General Taylor did not fail to point out as a favorable position for a fight, the army arrived upon the east bank of the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, at noon of the 28th of March. Gene- ral Worth and his staff were now ordered to cross the river to Matamoras, bearing despatches from General Taylor to the commanding officer of the Mexicans and the civil authorities. They were met by a Mexican party, bearing a white flag, who landed on the eastern bank ; and an in- terview with the authorities was requested by General Worth. I. ZACHART TAYLOR. 411 After some delay he was invited to cross the river. On reaching the right bank, he was met by General Yega and some ofi&cers. The reception of the despatches was declined. An interview with the American consul at Matamoras was demanded and refused, and General Worth returned. General Taylor now commenced throwing up intrench- ments, while the Mexicans were evincing decisive symptoms of hostility. Several attempts of American soldiers to de- sert were defeated by shooting the deserters. One was killed by a sentinel at a distance of two hundred yards, after swimming the river and commencing his ascent on the op- posite bank. Some, however, succeeded, and were very hospitably received in Matamoras. Soon after, a proclamation issued by General Ampudia, oifering inducements to the troops of General Taylor to de- sert, fell into the hands of the American commander. The proclamation was ineffectual. On the 5th of April, a small intrenchment was raised for the reception of cannon expected from Point Isabel. The main intrenchment. Fort Brown, meantime, was in progress, under the direction of Captain Mansfield, of the engineers. It had six bastion fronts, and was capable of accommodating five regiments of infantry. On the 10th of April, Colonel Cross, the deputy quarter- master-general, was murdered by the Mexicans while taking a ride near the American camp. His body was not discovered till the 21st, and it is still somewhat doubtful by what particular party of the enemy he met his fate. On the 11th of April, General Ampudia arrived at Mata- moras ; and on the 12th, he sent a flag with a communica- tion to General Taylor, requiring him to break up his camp and retire beyond the Nueces within twenty-four hours. 412 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. General Taylor replied, stating his instructions, and Ms determination to abide by them. The murder of Lieutenant Porter, immediately after this, tended to exasperate the Ame- ricans. Several communications passed between General Taylor and the Mexican general, Arista, who had now taken command of the army at Matamoras. Point Isabel had been made the depot for military stores for the Army of Occupation. The Mexicans had already crossed the Rio Grande, and intercepted the communication between this post and Port Brown, and General Taylor was engaged in making preparations for re-opening the commu- nication between the two posts. Teams despatched from Port Isabel to Port Brown had been compelled to return, and Captain Walker, of the Texan Rangers, who went out on the 28th to reconnoitre, was driven back to Fort Isabel, with the loss of some of his party. He reported having en- countered a force of the enemy, which he estimated at fifteen hundred. Notwithstanding this, he started on the 29th, with a message from Major Munroe to General Taylor, and after a series of "hair-breadth escapes" succeeded in delivering it. After receiving this message. General Taylor (May 1st, 1846) took up his line of march for Point Isabel, with the main body of the army, leaving a regiment of infantry and two companies of artillery at Port Brown, under the com- mand of Major Brown. The Mexicans, who had very pru- dently refrained from attacking the army while General Taylor was present, commenced, on the 3d of May, a furious fire, on the small force left in Port Brown, from a battery of seven guns. The fire was instantly returned with spirit, and the battery was silenced in twenty minutes after the Americans commenced firing. Another attack was com- ZACHARY TAYLOR. 413 menced with shot and shells from another battery, killing a sergeant, but effecting no other damage. The firing at Fort Brown being heard by General Taylor, he despatched Captains May and Walker to obtain intelli- gence from the fort ; and by this means received intelligence that Major Brown was in a condition to maintain his post. On the morning of the 5th of May, Fort Brown was as- sailed by a heavy force of the enemy on the rear, where the Mexicans had placed a strong battery during the preceding night. At the same time the battle was renewed from Mata- moras, and the gallant fellows in the intrenchment were thus exposed to a galling cross fire, with the prospect of a speedy assault. Nothing daunted, however, they returned the fire on both sides, maintaining the unequal contest with perfect coolness, until the firing of the enemy ceased. On the even- ing of this day, Major Brown, in obedience to orders which he had received from General Taylor, fired his eighteen- pounders at stated intervals, as a signal that he was sur- rounded. On the forenoon of the 6th, Major Brown, the gallant commander of the fort, was mortally wounded by a shell from one of the Mexican batteries. He was succeeded in the command by Captain Hawkins, who, at half past four o'clock, was summoned to surrender the fort, and, of course, refused. The firing was then renewed and continued for the rest of the day. At daylight of the 7th, the firing was renewed ; but soon after suddenly ceased. It was again renewed and continued for six hours. The firing at Palo Alto, where General Tay- lor was engaged with the Mexicans, was then heard at Fort Brown, with what mixed emotions the reader may conceive. The Americans welcomed the sound with a tremendous shout. The enemy recommenced the bombardment with 35* 414 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. redoubled energy ; but tbe continuous and exulting sbouts of the Americans finally silenced the bombardment. At sunset a Mexican deserter brought the news of the victory of Palo Alto; and the wearied garrison felt that their labors and dangers were nearly closed. But General Taylor expressed his determination to march from Point Isabel to Port Brown, and to fight any force of the enemy that might oppose his progress. The following letter, from an eye-witness of his operations, gives a clear view of the battles of the 8th and 9th of May, and the succeeding events. By the last departure I wrote to you briefly of the opera- tions of the army up to that time, of the bombardment of the fort opposite Matamoras, and the movement of General Taylor with the main body to this place, for the purpose of strengthening its defences. Having eflected this, he marched, without waiting for reinforcements, on the evening of the 7th ; and on the 8th, at two o'clock, found the enemy in position, in front of a chapparal, which lies opposite to the timber of a stream called Palo Alto. The train was closed up, the troops filled their canteens, and General Taylor promptly formed his line of battery. The first and only important movement attempted by the enemy, was by a detachment of their cavalry to make a detour around a clump of chapparal on our right, and attack the train. Captain Walker, of the Texas Rangers, promptly reported this, and the 5th infantry was detached to meet it, which it did handsomely, receiving the lancers in square, and driving them by a well-delivered volley. The cavalry then pushed on again for the train, and found the 3rd in- fantry advancing in column of divisions upon them. They then retired, and as they repassed the 5th, they received a ZACHAHY TAYLOR. 415 fire from Lieutenant Kidgely's two pieces, -whicli had ar- rived at the nick of time. Two field-pieces, which were following the enemy's cavalry, were also driven back with them. Meanwhile the enemy's left was riddled by the eighteen- pounders, which slowly advanced up the road — Duncan's battery on the left, neglecting the enemy's guns, threw their fire into the Mexican infantry, and swept whole ranks. The 8th infantry on the left suffered severely from the enemy's fire. The grass was set on fire at the end of an hour's cannonading, and obscured the enemy's position completely, and an interval of three-quarters of an hour occurred. During this period our right, now resting on the eighteen-pounders, advanced along the wood, to the point originally occupied by the Mexican left, and when the smoke had cleared away sufficiently to show the enemy, tho fire was resumed with increased rapidity and execution. Duncan divided his battery on the left, giving a section to Lieutenant Roland, to operate in front, and with the other he advanced beyond the burning grass, (which was three feet high, and the flames rolled ten feet in the strong breeze,) and seized the prolongation of the enemy's right, enfilading that flank completely. Night found the two armies in this position. On the 9th, the general packed the heavy train, collected the enemy's wounded in hospital, bui-ied their dead, arranged our own wounded (among whom we have to regret the sudden death of Major Ringgold, and probably Captain Page,) and moved on in pursuit of the enemy on the Matamoras road. They had taken post in the chapparal, the second time, oc- cupying the bed of a stream called Resaca de la Palma, with their artillery on the road at the crossing. The general 416 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. brought Tip his troops by battalions, and posted them, mtb brief orders to find the enemy with the bayonet, and placed the artillery where they could act in the road. The dragoons were held in reserve, and as soon as the advance of our line had uncovered the Mexican batteries. General Taylor told Captain May that Ms time had come : "Here's the enemy's battery, sir, take it, nolens volens.'' May dashed upon it with his squadron, and lost one-third of it ; but he cleared the battery and captured its commander. General Vega, in the act of raising a port-fire, to fire a piece himself. May took his sword, and brought the general off. The enemy remanned the guns, and lost them a second time to the 5th infantry. Captain Barbour, of the 2d infantry, with his single com- pany, and a few from the 5th, who joined him m the chap- paral, threw his back against a clump of bushes, and received and gallantly repelled a charge of cavalry. Captain Duncan, with his battery, did terrible execution. Lieutenant Ridgely was also amongst the foremost. In truth, it was a series of brilliant skirmishes, and heavy shocks, in which fifteen hun- dred fighting men met six thousand hand to hand — over- whelmed them with the precision of their volleys, and the steady coolness of the bayonet, and drove them from the field with the loss of their artillery, baggage, pack-mules, fixed ammunition, and near two thousand stand of muskets. Fort Brown, meantime, had been summoned, with true Mexican duplicity, and told that Taylor was flying. The Matamoras newspapers and official bulletins called him a cow- ardly tailor. In answer to the summons, the officers plunged their swords in the parapet, and replied " to the hilt." Up to the evening of the 9th, fifteen hundred shells and three thousand shot had been thrown, and the only loss was that ZACHARY TAYLOR. 417 of the brave commander, Major Brown, and one sergeant and one private killed, and eleven wounded. The general rctm-ns to the army to-night, and will cross the river to-morrow or next day. The fort will be increased in guns, and especially provided with mortars, which will bring the town to terms at once. The navy will co-operate at the mouth of the river, and steam-boats begin to carry supplies by that route. General Taylor has just given General Vega a letter to General Gaines, and a letter of credit on. his factor. The officers here and in the main body vied with their com- mander in delicate attentions to a brave and accomplished enemy, who won their admiration on the field, and was taken like a soldier, in full harness, and fighting gallantly to the last. Our loss about thirty killed, and one hundred and forty wounded. Mexican loss at Palo Alto, set down by themselves at four hundred and fifty ; at Resaca de la Palma, two thousand missing. Since the battle, our dragoons have been exchanged grade for grade ; and the Mexican wounded sent over to Matamoras. On the morning after the battle of Resaca de la Palma, General Taylor with his usual humanity, sent to Matamoras for Mexican surgeons to attend their wounded, and for men to bury their dead ; and the same day was occupied by the Americans in burying their dead. On the 11th of May, an exchange of prisoners took place ; and General Taylor started for Point Isabel, for the pur- pose of communicating with Commodore Conner, command- ing the American squadron in the Gulf of Mexico, and who sailed to Brazos Santiago, in order to render aid to the general. 418 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. » The 13tli an 14th of May were spent by General Taylor in organizing and despatching a force to capture Barita, a town near the mouth of the Rio Grande, on the Mexican side, where the enemy was said to be concentrating the remains of his shattered and vanquished army. Commodore Conner ordered a part of his fleet to co-operate, and the place was quietly taken on the loth, the inhabitants fleeing on the approach of the Americans. The next operation was the capture of Matamoras. Every thing was ready for an attack on the town, on the evening of the 16th. On the morning of the 18th, General Taylor commenced crossing the river. No resistance was offered by the Mexicans on the bank of the river, and it is said many of them assisted in landing the boats. Arista re- treated to Reynosa, where he encamped, waiting a rein- forcement from Parades. General Taylor although in possession of Matamoras, found himself in no condition to advance further into the enemy's country. He was deficient not only in troops, but in supplies and the means of transportation. It became necessary, therefore, for him to remain at this post through the greater part of the summer, waiting for the necessary means of prosecuting the invasion. In the beginning of June, General Taylor's force did not exceed nine thousand men, including seven hundred and fifty stationed at Barita, and five hundred at Point Isabel. Reinforcements were coming in slowly from the diff'erent states of the union, and, although he was anticipating the arrival of a sufficient force to warrant his advance towards Monterey, where the enemy was concentrating his forces, neither men nor steam-boats had yet arrived sufficient to en- able him even to fix the time of his departure. By the mi- ZACHARY TAYLOR. 419 litary arrangements wliicli followed the re-organization of the government, General Arevalo was sent to Monterey, and Bravo to Mexico, while Mejia was placed in the command of the northern army, and Ampudia was ordered to San Luis Potosi. Monterey, being considered the most probable scene of General Taylor's operations, was strongly fortified and furnished with provisions and munitions of war. Before the end of June, General Taylor w^as strongly reinforced by the arrival of numerous bodies of fresh volunteers from various parts of the union ; but his means of transportation were still deficient. In the meantime Captain McCulloch, with the Texan rangers, had seized and occupied the Mexican ports of Rey- nosa, Camargo, and Mier, without resistance on the part of the enemy. It was not until the 5th of August, nearly three months after the battle of Besaca de la Palma, that General Taylor was able to take up his line of March from Mata- moras to Camargo. On arriving at that place. General Worth was detached to San Juan, while Captain Wall oc- cupied Reynosa, and General Twiggs had been left in com- mand of Matamoras. Towards the end of August, General Worth was ordered to advance to Seralvo, and there to await further orders. From this port he sent advices to General Taylor on the 5th of September, that Monterey had just been reinforced by the arrival of three thousand men under General Ampudia, thus increasing the garrison to four thousand. This important information determined General Taylor to advance immediately and attack Monterey. He accordingly took up his march towards Seralvo on the 7th, leaving General Patterson in command of all the forces sta- tioned between Camargo and Matamoras. On his arrival at Seralvo, instead of waiting for further reinforcements or 420 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. fresh orders before attacking so formidable a fort witli so light a force, he pushed forward for Monterey with his main body, consisting of but little more than six thousand men. On the morning of the 19th of September, the army encamped at the ''Walnut Springs," within three miles of the city of Monterey. Here they could survey the prospect before them — Monterey seated in a beautiful valley, bosomed among lofty and imposing mountains on the north, west and south, and open to a plain on the east, fortified with thick stone walls in the old Spanish fashion of another century, with ail the apparatus of ditches and bastions, and lowering upon them with deep mouthed cannon. From their elevated po- sition the Americans could see in part what they had already learned from spies and deserters, that the flat-roofed stone houses of the city itself, had been converted into fortifications. Every street was barricaded, and every housetop was bris- tling with musketry. On one side the Americans could see the Bishop's palace, a strong post, well fortified ; on the other, redoubts well manned ; and in the rear of all, a river. Such was the city which vfas destined after three days of desperate fighting, to surrender its garrison of ten thousand men, its castles, redoubts, cannon, and munitions of war, to an Ame- rican army of seven thousand men, inspirited by the guiding genius of Taylor. After reconnoitering the defences of the city, General Tay- lor detached General Worth to gain a position on the Saltillo road ; and the next day, the 21st of September, vfhile Worth advanced and gained a good situation, the commander-in- chief pushed the attack vigorously against the centre and left of the town. The firing on both sides was tremenduous. The assailants displayed the greatest valor. By the evening, General Taylor had obtained a foot-hold in the town. ZACHARY TAYLOR. 421 • The 22d passed without any operations in the lower ^^vt of the city. The Mexicans gradually withdrew from thnt por- tion. On the same day, Worth attacked and carried the Bishop's Palace and the adjacent batteries. On the 23d, both divisions pressed to the attack, and the gallant Worth, over- coming the greatest obstacles advanced far into the town. The next morning, propositions were made for a capitulation, which was at length arranged. Monterey and the material of w^ar, with certain small exceptions were placed in the hands of the Americans. Ampudia and his force were allowed to retire. The entire loss of the assailants was one hundred and twenty men killed, and three hundred and sixty-eight men wounded. The Mexican loss was supposed to be much greater.* The achievement was glorious, and the gallant commander and his troops deserved the applause they received from their countrymen. We doubt whether such a fortress was ever before taken with such means as those at the command of General Taylor. After establishing his head-quarters at Monterey, General Taylor detached Brigadier-General Worth with twelve hun- dred men and eight pieces of artillery to Saltillo ; Brigadier- General Wool and the column under his command, two thous- and four hundred strong, with six pieces of artillery, were ordered to occupy the town of Parras. Saltillo and Parras were occupied by the Americans without any opposition, the enemy having fallen back as far as San Luis rotosi. Santa Anna had now been recalled to Mexico, and placed at the head of affairs, and Parades deposed. Santa Anna was no- minally commander-in-chief of the Mexican armies, really dictator. He was raising a formidable army to resist the further advance of General Taylor. Before December, he had succeeded in raising twenty thousand men, and coacen- 422 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. trating them at San Luis Potosi, which he strongly fortified, and filled with military stores. After awaiting the advance of this formidable force for some time, General Taylor determined to meet them on their own ground. General Taylor was now superseded in the chief command of the Army of Occupation, by Major-General Winfield Scott, who was appointed commander-in-chief of all the land forces in Mexico, and at the various posts on the Rio Grande. The theatre of Scott's operations was difi'erent from that of Taylor's. His main object was the reduction of the city of Vera Cruz, and the fort of San Juan de Ulloa, by a combined land and sea force. Vera Cruz being the key of the main road to the capital. General Scott thought that its reduction would compel the Mexicans to sue for peace. To effect this object it became necessary for him to draw from General Taylor the main body of his regular forces. Not only were nearly all the regulars withdrawn from him but his noble coadjutor General Worth was detached and ordered to march at the head of them from his post at Sal- tillo towards Vera Cruz, while Taylor was advised to fall back on Monterey and await the arrival of fresh recruits, volunteers who were destined to take the place of the vete- ran warriors of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey. His address to these veterans was full of sensibility. On reaching Monterey, his regular force was six hundred, including May's dragoons. In February, he had received reinforcements raising his army to nearly six thousand men. Anticipating an attempt on the part of Santa Anna, to possess himself of the line of posts between himself and Matamoras, he determined to advance and fight a pitched battle with him. Accordingly, on the 20th of February, we find him encamped at Agua Nueva, eighteen miles south of ZACHARY TAYtOE. 423 Saltillo, and sending out videttes, who return with intelligence that Santa Anna is within thirty miles of his position, rapidly advancing with some twenty thousand men against his forlorn hope of five thousand four hundred. On receiving tliis intelligence, General Taylor determined to choose his own battle ground, and accordingly fell back to an admirable position in front of Buena Vista, seven miles south of Saltillo. The following extracts, from the dispatch of the commander himself, will give the best general view of the battle. The army broke up its camp, and marched at noon on the 21st, encamping at the new position a little in front of the hacienda of Buena Vista. With a small force I proceeded to Saltillo, to make some necessary* arrangements for the defence of the town, leaving Brigadier- General Wool in the immediate command of' the troops. Before these arrange- ments were completed, on the morning of the 22d, I was advised that the enemy was in sight, advancing. Upon reaching the ground, it was found that his cavalry advance was in our front, having marched from Encarnacion, as we have since learned, at eleven o'clock on the day previous, and driving in a mounted force left at Agua Nueva to cover the removal of the public stores. Our troops were in posi- tion, occupying a line of remarkable strength. The fea- tures of the ground were such as nearly to paralyze the ar- tillery and cavalry of the enemy, while his infantry could not derive all the advantages of its numerical superiority. In this position we prepared to receive him. At eleven o'clock I received from General Santa Anna a summons to surrender at discretion, which, with a copy of my reply, I have already transmitted. The enemy still fore- bore his attack, evidently waiting for the arrival of his rear 424 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. columns, which could be distinctly seen by our look-outs as they approached the field. A demonstration made on his left caused me to detach the 2d Kentucky regiment and a section of artillery to our rigl^t, in which position they bivou- acked for the night. In the mean time the Mexican light troops had engaged ours on the extreme left (composed of parts of the Kentucky and Arkansas cavalry dismounted, and a rifle battalion from the Indiana brigade, under Major Gorman, the whole commanded by Colonel Marshall,) and kept up a sharp fire, climbing the mountain side, and appa- rently endeavoring to gain our flank. Three piec^ of Cap- tain Washington's battery had been detached to the left, and were supported by the 2d Indiana regiment. An occasional shell was thrown by tlfe enemy into this part of our line, but without effect. The skirmishing of the light troops was kept up with trifling loss on our part until dark, when I became convinced that no serious attack would be made before the morning, and returned, with the Mississippi regiment and squadron of 2d dragoons, to Saltillo. The troops bivouacked without fires, and laid upon their arms. A body of cavalry, some fifteen hundred strong, had been visible all day in rear of the town, having entered the valley through a narrow pass east of the city. This cavalry, commanded by General Minon, had evidently been thrown in our rear to break up and harass our retreat, and perhaps make some attempt against the town, if practicable. Having made dispositions for the protection of the rear, I proceeded on the morning of the 23d to Buena Vista, ordering forward all the other available troops. The action had commenced before my arrival on the field. During the evening and night of the 22d, the enemy had thrown a body of light troops on the ^ ZACHARY TAYLOR. 425 mountain side, with the purpose of outflanking our left ; and it was here that the action of the 23d commenced at an early hour. Our riflemen, under Colonel Marshall, who had been reinforced by three companies under Major Trail, 2d Illinois volunteers, maintained their ground handsomely against a greatly superior force, holding themselves under cover, and using their weapons with deadly efi'ect. About eight o'clock a strong demonstration was made against the centre of our position, a heavy column moving along the road. This force was soon dispersed by a few rapid and well-directed shots from Captain Washington's battery. In the mean time the enemy was concentrating a large force of infantry and cavalry under cover of the ridges, with the obvious intention of forcing our left, which was posted on an extensive plateau. The 2d Indiana and 2d Illinois regiments formed this part of our line, the former covering three pieces of light, artillery, under the orders of Captain O'Brien — Brigadier-General Lane being in the immediate command. Captain O'Brien found it impossible to retain his position without support, but was only able to withdraw two of his pieces, all the horses and cannoneers of the third piece being killed or disabled. Colonel Bissell's regiment, 2d Illinois, which had been joined by a section of Captain Sherman's battery, had be- come completely outflanked, and was compelled to fall back, being entirely unsupported. The enemy was now pouring masses of infantry and cavalry along the base of the mountain on our left, and was gaining our rear in great force. At this moment I arrived upon the field. The Mississippi regiment had been directed to the left before reaching the position, and immediately came into action against the Mexican infantry which had turned our flank. Discovering that the enemy was heavily pressing upon the Mississippi 86* 426 IIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 9 regiment, the 3d Indiana regiment, under Colonel Lane, was despatched to strengthen that part of our line, which formed a crotchet perpendicular to the first line of battle. At the same time. Lieutenant Kilburn, with a piece of Captain Bragg's battery, was directed to support the infantry there engaged. The action was for a long time warmly sustained at that point — the enemy making several efforts both with infantry and cavalry against our line, and being always repulsed with heavy loss. I had placed all the regular cavalry and Captain Pike's squadron of Arkansas horse under the orders of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel May, with directions to hold in check the enemy's column, still advancing to the rear along the base of the mountain, which was done in conjunction with the Kentucky and Arkansas cavalry, under Colonels Marshall and Yell. In the mean time our left, which was strongly threatened by a superior force, was farther strengthened by the detachment of Cap- tain Bragg's, and a portion of Captain Sherman's batteries to that quarter. The squadron of the 1st dragoons, under Lieutenant Rucker, was now ordered up the deep ravine which these corps were endeavoring to cross, in order to charge and disperse them. The squadron proceeded to the point indicated, but could not accomplish the object, being exposed to a heavy fire from a battery established to cover the retreat of those corps. While the squadron was detached on this service, a large body of the enemy was observed to concentrate on our ex- treme left, apparently with the view of making a descent upon the hacienda of Buena Yista, where our train and bag- gage were deposited. Lieutenant-Colonel May wns ordered to the support of that point, with two pieces of Captain Sherman's battery, under Lieutenant Reynolds. In the mean ZACHARY TAYLOR. 427 time, tlie scattered forces near tlie hacienda, composed in part of Majors Trail and Gorman's commands, had been to some extent organized under the advice of Major Monroe, chief of artillery, with the assistance of Major Morrison, volunteer staff, and vrere posted to defend the position. Before our cavalry had reached the hacienda, that of the enemy had made its attack ; having been handsomely met by the Ken- tucky and Arkansas cavalry under Colonels Marshall and Yell. The position of that portion of the Mexican army which had gained our rear was now very critical, and it seemed doubtful whether it could regain the main body. At this moment I received from General Santa Anna a message by a staff officer, desiring to know what I wanted ? I immedi- ately despatched Brigadier-General Wool to the Mexican general-in-chief, and sent orders to cease firing. Upon reaching the Mexican lines General Wool could not cause the enemy to cease their fire, and accordingly returned without having an interview. The extreme right of the enemy con- tinued its retreat along the base of the mountain, and finally, in spite of our efforts, effected a junction with the remainder of the army. During the day, the cavalry of General Minon had ascended the elevated plain above Saltillo, and occupied the road from the city to the field of battle, where they intercepted several of our men. Approaching the town, they were fired upon by Captain Webster from the redoubt occupied by his com- pany. The enemy made one or two efforts to charge the ar* tillery, but was finally driven back in a confused mass, and did not ag^n appear upon the plain. In the mean time, the firing had ceased upon the principal field. The enemy seemed to confine his efforts to the protection of his artillery, 428 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. m and I had left tlie plateau for a moment, when I was recalled thither bj a very heavy musketry fire. On regaining that position, I discovered that our infantry (Illinois and 2d Ken- tucky) had engaged a greatly superior force of the enemy — evidently his reserve — and that they had been overwhelmed by numbers. The moment was most critical. Captain O'Brien with two pieces, had sustained this heavy charge to the last, and was finally obliged to leave his guns on the field — his infantry support being entirely routed. Captain Bragg, who had just arrived from the left, was ordered at once into bat- tery. Without any infantry to support him, and at the im- minent risk of losing his guns, this officer came rapidly into action, the Mexican line being but a few yards from the muzzle of his pieces. The first discharge of canister caused the enemy to hesitate, the second and third drove him back in disorder, and saved the day. The 2d Kentucky regiment, which had advanced beyond supporting distance in this affair, was driven back and closely pressed by the enemy's cavalry. Taking a ravine which led in the direction of Captain Wash- ington's battery, their pursuers became exposed to his fire, which soon checked and drove them back with loss. In the mean time the rest of our artillery had taken position on the plateau, covered by the Mississippi and 3d Indiana regiments, the former of which had reached the ground in time to pour a fire into the right flank of the enemy, and thus contribute to his repulse. In this last conflict we had the misfortune to sustain a very heavy loss. Colonel Hardin, 1st Illinois, and Colonel McKee and Lieutenant-Colonel Clay, 2d Ken- tucky regiment, fell at this time while gallantly leading their commands. No farther attempt was made by the enemy to force our position, and the approach of night gave an opportunity to ZACHARY TAYLOR. 429 pay proper attention to the wounded, and also to refresh the Boldiers, who had been exhausted by incessant watchfulness and combat. Though the night was severely cold, the troops were compelled for the most part to bivouac without fires, expecting that morning would renew the conflict. On the evening of the 26th, a close reconnoissance was made of the enemy's position, which was found to be occupied only by a small body of cavalry, the infantry and artillery having retreated in the direction of San Luis Potosi. On the 27th, our troops resumed their former camp at Agua Nueva, the enemy's rear-guard evacuating the place as we approached, leaving a considerable number of wounded. The American force engaged in the action of Buena Vista is shown, by the accompanying field report, to have been three hundred and thirty-four officers, and four thousand four hundred and twenty-five men, exclusive of the small com- mand left in and near Saltillo. Of this number, two sqadrons of cavalry and three batteries of light artillery, making not more than four hundred and fifth-three men, composed the only force of regular troops. The strength of the Mexican army is stated by General Santa Anna, in his summons, to be twenty thousand ; and that estimate is confirmed by all the information since obtained. Our loss is two hundred and sixty-seven killed, four hundred and fifty-six wounded, and twenty-three missing. The Mexican loss in killed and wounded may be fairly estimated at one thousand five hun- dred, and will probably reach two thousand. At least five hundred of their killed were left upon the field of battle. We have no means of ascertaining the number of deserters and dispersed men from their ranks, but it is known to be very great. The rest of this despatch is devoted to complimenting particular officers. 430 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. The battle of Buena Yista will stand as an evidence of the great military qualities of the American general. The field was skilfully chosen, and all the efforts of a vastly superior enemy was met with a wise and determined resist- ance. General Taylor performed no further remarkable service during the war. Upon his return to the United States, he was received with every demonstration of gratitude and admiration. Although he retired to his plantation on the Mississippi, his countrymen were determined that there he should not be permitted to rest. Before the general had left Mexico, he had been nominated for the Presidency in various sections of the union, and a disposition was now manifested to bring him forward as the candidate of the national whig party. The general had meddled little with politics. He declared himself " a whig, but not an ultra whig." Violent partizans found no favor with him. His opinions were those of the Jefferson stamp, while he ex- pressed his ardent admiration for the policy of Washington. He objected to the frequent exercise of the veto power by the President — believing such a course detrimental to liberty, and antagonistic to the design of the framers of the consti- tution. It was understood that his views in regard to the revenue and internal improvements agreed with those of the leading whig statesmen. In June, 1848, the national convention of the whigs met in Philadelphia. Upon the third ballot, General Taylor received a majority of votes, and was, therefore, declared the nominee for President. Millard Fillmore, of New York, was placed upon the same ticket as a candidate for the Vice Presidency. General Taylor accepted the nomination with a diffidence that evinced how little he had sought for it. The canvass was an exciting one. General Lewis Cass, of ZACHAKT TAYLOR. 431 Michigan, and General William 0. Butler, of Kentucky, were the candidates of the democratic party ; while Martin Van Buren, of New York, and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, were the candidates of a new organization, called "the free soil party," which was opposed to the ex- tension of slavery. The result of the election thus appeared in the electoral college : For Zachary Taylor, one hundred and eighty-five; for Lewis Cass, one hundred and sixty; for Millard Fillmore, one hundred and eighty-five ; for Wil- liam 0. Butler, one hundred and sixty.- Messrs. Taylor and Fillmore were thus elected. The progress of the President elect from his residence in Louisiana to Washington, in February, 1849, was a con- tinued triumph. In all the towns through which he passed, he was greeted with gorgeous processions and the most en- thusiastic acclamations. The old warrior was rewarded for all his hard service upon the frontier, in the swamps of Florida, and in the hot fields of Mexico. On the 4th of March, the ceremony of inauguration was performed, amid a vast assemblage of citizens, from all parts of the union. General Taylor's address was brief, but eloquent, and all that the occasion demanded. He expressed his intention of making honesty, capacity, and fidelity, the qualifications for office, and of guiding his administration by the bright example of Washington. The following eminent whigs were chosen to form the cabinet : John M. Clayton, of Delaware, Secretary of State ; William M. Meredith, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Inte- rior ; George W. Crawford, of Georgia, Secretary of War ; William B. Preston, of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy; Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Attorney General ; Jacob 432 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. Collamer, of Vermont, Postmaster General. The office of Secretary of the Home Department, or of the Interior, had been created at the previous session of Congress. It was designed to relieve the state and treasury department of a portion of their onerous duties. * , Of the events of General Taylor's administration, we may speak, but not judge. They have passed too recently to allow the cool settlement of an opinion of them. In Congress, the opposition had a decided majority. Howell Cobb, de- mocrat, was elected speaker of the house, at the second session of Congress, after General Taylor's inauguration, but not until after a struggle of six weeks' duration, pro- duced by the question of slavery in the territories causing a division in the democratic ranks. Great excitement per- vaded the country. California had applied for admission into the union, but this was opposed by southern members of Congress. Texas laid claim to a portion of the territory of New Mexico, and threatened to take forcible possession. It was proposed to give Utah and New Mexico territorial governments, but the question of the prohibition of slavery interfered. The President was understood to be in favor of the admission of California independent of other mea- sures, and of leaving the question of slavery or no slavery in the territories to the people concerned. But Messrs. Foote, Bell, and Clay, in the senate, proposed a series of compro- mise measures, which they contended would settle the diffi- culty. A select committee of thirteen senators, of which Henry Clay was chairman, reported these measures com- bined in what was called an " omnibus bill." This bill caused a lengthy and exciting discussion in Congress, the best talent of the country being called into the arena of debate. ZACHARY TAYLOR. 433 Preparation being made in soutliern ports to set on foot an expedition to revolutionize the Island of Cuba, in the summer of 1850, President Taylor issued a proclamation, expressing his determination to uphold and vindicate the neutral laws of the United States. The expedition, under General Narciso Lopez, however, sailed, ^nd troops were landed at Cardenas. After a day's fighting, which proved that the invaders had few friends on the island, they re- embarked and returned to the United States. The coui'se of the president, in regard to this expedition, was generally approved. The discussion upon the compromise measure was at its height. The storms of sectional hostility threatened the union, when suddenly the pilot was stricken down while at the helm. On the 4th of July, 1850, President Taylor at- tended the ceremony of laying the corner stone of the na- tional monument to Washington. It is believed that the exposure to a heat of unusual intensity caused a malady, which about half-past ten o'clock, on the night of the 9th of July, terminated his eventful and honorable life. His last words indicated his character : "I am not afraid to die. I am ready; I have endeavored to do my duty," said the dying patriot. The mournful announcement of the death of the chief magistrate caused universal sorrow. Those who had opposed the policy of his administration were now forward in doing honor to the great and good qualities of the deceased. Throughout the land the sounds of woe and lamentation were to be heard. Both houses of Congress had adjourned when it was reported that the President was not expected to live above a few hours. When they assembled the next day, and the tidings was officially communicated to them, impressive 37 434 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. eulogies were delivered by members from various states. In tbe senate, Mr. Webster and other distinguisbed orators eulogized tbe deceased. In tbe bouse, among several eloquent eulogies, tbose of Robert C. Wintbrop, of Massachusetts, and of Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky, were particularly noted as giving the true idea of tbe character of General Taylor, and of the affliction of the nation at bis loss. " Great, without pride ;" said Mr. Marshall, " cautious, without fear ; brave, without rashness ; stern, without harshness ; modest, without bash- fulness; apt, without flippancy; intelligent, without the pedantry of learning ; sagacious, without cunning ; benevo lent, without ostentation ; sincere and honest as the sun, tbe ' noble old Roman' has at last laid down bis earthly har- ness — ^his task is done. He has fallen as falls the summer- tree in the bloom of its honors, ere the blight of autumn has seared a leaf that adorns it." A committee from both bouses was appointed to make tbe necessary arrangements for the funeral. The obsequities were solemnized with great magnificence, and were worthy of a nation's sorrow. The funeral procession was long and splendid. An eloquent sermon was delivered by the Rev. Smith Pyne, and tbe ser- vice of the Episcopal Church was performed. All tbe pro- ceedings were impressive and worthy of their illustrious subject. On tbe 17th of July, the senate adopted a resolution proposed by Mr. Webster, to erect a neat monument to the memory of General Taylor. The house concurred in this measure. President Taylor left a widow and two daughters — ^both married. His fortune was never extensive, but he left sufficient property to render bis widow independent. i FILLMORE ^IW^^^^ TlW^oH. The life of Millard Fillmore is full of bright lessons. No more forcible illustration of the power of energy and intel- lect over obstructing cirrumstances — ''low birth and iron fortune" — can be found. To every young American it speaks, teaching resolution and perseverance. His father, Nathaniel Fillmore, is the son of one of like name, who served in the French war, and was a, true whig of the revolution, proving his devotion to his country's cause by gallantly fighting as lieutenant under General Stark, in the battle of Bennington. He was born at Bennington, Vermont, in 1771, and early in life removed to what is now called Summec Hill, Cayuga county, New York, where Mil- lard was born, January 7th, 1800. He was a farmer, and soon after lost all of his property by a bad title to one of the military lots he had purchased. About the year 1802, he removed to the town of Sempronius, now Niles, and lived there till 1819, when he removed to Erie county, where he still lives, cultivating a small farm with his own hands. He was a strong and uniform supporter of Jefferson, Madison, and Tompkins, and is now a thorough whig. The narrow means of his father, deprived Millard of any advantages of education beyond what were afforded by the (439) 440 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. imperfect and ill-taught schools of the cotinty. Books were scarce and dear, and at the age of fifteen, young Fillmore had read but little except his common school books and the Bible. At that period he was sent to the then wilds of Liv- ingston county, to learn the clothier trade. He remained there about four months, and was then placed with another person, to pursue the same business and wool carding, in the town where his father lived. A small village library, which was formed there soon after, gave him the first means of acquiring general knowledge through books. He improved the opportunity thus ofi'ered. The thirst for knowledge soon became insatiate, and every leisure moment was spent in reading. Four years were passed in this way, working at his trade, and storing his mind with the contents of books of history, biography, and travels. At the age of nineteen he fortunately made the acquaintance with Walter Wood, Esq., who advised him to quit his trade and study law. In reply to the objection of a lack of education, means, and friends, to aid him in a course of professional study. Judge Wood kindly offered to give him a place in his office, to ad- vance money to defray his expenses, and wait until success in business should furnish the means of re-payment. The ojffer was accepted. The apprentice bought his time ; en- tered the office of Judge Wood, and for more than two years applied himself closely to business and study. He read law and general literature, and studied and practised surveying. Fearing he should incur too large a debt to his benefactor, he taught school for three months in the year, and acquired the means of partially supporting himself. In the fall of 1821, he removed to the county of Erie, and the next spring entered a law office in Buffalo. There he sustained himself by teaching school, and continued his legal studies until the MILLARD FILLMORE. 441 spring of 1823, wlien he was admitted to the Common Pleas, and commenced practice in the village of Aurora, where he remained until 1830, when he again removed to Buffalo, and has continued to reside there ever since. His first entry into public life was in January, 1829, when he took his seat as a member of the legislature, from Erie county, to which office he was re-elected the two following years. His talents, integrity, and assiduous devotion to public business, soon won him the confidence of the house. The most important measure that came up during his service in the legislature, was the bill to abolish imprisonment for debt. In behalf of that philanthropic measure, Mr. Fillmore took an active part, urging its justice and expediency, and as a member of the committee on the subject, aiding to per- fect its details. That portion of the bill relating to justices' courts was drafted by him, the remainder being the work of the Hon. John C. Spencer. He was elected to Congress in 1832, and took his seat in the stormy session of 1833-34, immediately after the remo- val of the deposits. In those days, the business of the house and debates were led by old and experienced members — new ones, unless they enjoyed a widespread reputation, rarely took an active part. Little chance was afforded him of display- ing his abilities, but the school was one admirably qualified to develop and cultivate his powers. He discharged his duty with scrupulous fidelity, never omitting any effort to advance the interest of his constituents. At the close of his term of service, he resumed the practice of his profession, until, yielding to the public voice, he was re-elected to Congress, in 1836. In that Congress, Mr. Fillmore took a more ac- tive part than he had during his first term, and at the next contest he was re-elected by an increased majority. 442 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. On tlie assembling of the next Congress, to "wliicli Mr. Tillmore was re-elected by the largest majority ever given in his district, he was placed at the head of the committee or^ways and means. The chairman of this important com- mittee is virtually the leader of the house. The duties of that responsible station, always arduous, were at this period peculiarily so. A new administration, with an entire new domestic policy had come into power. To replenish the treasury, to provide means that would enable the government to meet the demands against it, to pay off the debt, to revive trade and industry — these onerous tasks devolved upon the committee of ways and means. With an energy and devo- tion to the public weal, truly admirable, Mr. Fillmore applied himself to the work, and, sustained by a majority, succeeded in accomplishing his aims. He was an ardent and perse- vering advocate of the protective tariff policy, and his views generally coincided with those of the whig champion, Henry Clay. After his long and severe labors in the committee room — ^labors sufficiently arduous to break down any but an iron constitution — he was required to give his unremitting attention to the house, to make any explanation that might be asked, and be ready with a complete refutation of every cavil or objection that the minority might devise. For the proper performance of these duties, few men are more properly qualified than Mr. Fillmore. In 1844, Mr. Fillmore was selected as the whig candidate for governor of New York. The able and popular Silas Wright was his opponent. Wright was elected. Confident, however, that Mr. Fillmore could command a great vote in New York, the whigs nominated him for the responsible office of Comptroller, in 1847, and succeeded in electing him by an unprecedented majority. MILLARD FILLMORE. 443 In June, 1848, tlie national whig convention to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency was held in Philadelphia. General Zachary Taylor was nominated for the first office, and Millard Fillmore for the second. The canvass was most exciting. The result was a triumph for General Tayior and Mr. Fillmore. Entering on the duties of his office on the 4th of March, 1849, Mr. Fillmore presided over the senate of the United States, with a dignity and ability worthy of an experienced parliamentarian, until the death of General Taylor, on the 9th of July 1850, when, according to the provision of the constitution, he became President of the United States. Immediately after the accession of Mr. Fillmore, all the members of the cabinet of General Taylor tendered their resignations. It was understood that they differed Avith the new President upon important public measures. A new cabi- net was not organized without unusual difficulty. At length the ministry was completed as follows : Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Secretary of State ; Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Virginia, Secretary of the Interior ; Charles C. Conrad, of Louisiana, Secretary of War; William H. Graham, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, Attorney General; Nathan K. Hall, of New York, Postmaster General. As the opposition had a majority in both houses of Con- gress, it was not expected that the administration could carry through any of the measures which the whigs maintained to be just and wise. The passage of the compromise measures, settling, as supposed, the question of slavery, had the effect to lull the public mind into its usual calm and steady move- ments. Another expedition with the object of securing the 444 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. independence of the Island of Cuba, called forth a proclama- tion from President Fillmore, declaring that all violations of the neutral laws of the United States should be punished and that all those who embarked in such expeditions should place themselves beyond the protection of the laws of the country. The armament, under General Lopez, sailjed, however, and landing in Cuba, the troops fought several battles. But they were finally defeated and dispersed. General Lopez was garotted — Colonel Crittenden and fifty-two men were shot, and more than a hundred were sent to Spain, where they were reprimanded and liberated. It is agreed that Mr. Fillmore has filled his high station with honor. His opponents have admitted his patriotism, 'ntegrity, and energy. He can look back upon his career, with feelings of pride and self-approval — like those of a person, who has, almost unaided, climbed to the peak of a lofty and rugged mountain. He is a true representative of the American character — with all its simplicity, industry, and aspirations. Since he has held the office of President, one of his daughters might have been found teaching a public school in New York. About such a President, there can be no tinsel, nor monarchical reserve. He is worthy to be the servant of a people who look to institutions, not to men, for happiness and prosperity. In person, Mr. Fillmore is rather above the middle height, and strongly built. Though still young, compared with the statesmen who surround him, his hair is gray, and his general appearance venerable. The expression of his countenance is cheerful, benevolent, and intelligent. His bearing is dignified and courteous. FRANKLIN PIERCE r^^^^ki^^ ^ie^ce« The baffling of wire-worMng politicians, and the selec- tion of meritorious but unpretending persons as candidates for the highest offices in the gift of the nation, are com- mon features in the actions of recent nominating conven- tions. The laurel always confers most honor when it is deserved and yet unsought. There is something so noble about modest merit that even conventions made up of noisy, trading politicians are compelled to yield its tribute of re- spect. The national convention that nominated Franklin Pierce for the Presidency of the United States illustrated this remark. Franklin Pierce was born at Hillsborough, ISTrw Hamp- shire, on the 23d of November, 1804. His father. General Benjamin Pierce, was a distinguished patriot and soldier of the revolution, and afterwards governor of New Hampshire. Franklin was the sixth of eight children. During the war of 1812, the father and brothers of the subject of this me- moir were thoroughly imbued with the military spirit, and strenuous supporters of the Madison democratic party. From them Franklin gained his first lessons in democracy and patriotism. General Benjamin Pierce, having all his life felt the dis- 88* (449) 450 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. advantages of a defective educatioiij resolved to give his son every chance of improving his mind and acquiring knowledge. Franklin was sent to an academy at Hancock, and afterwards to that of Francestown, where he was re- ceived into the family of Peter Woodbury, father of the late distinguished Judge Woodbury. He was not a precocious child, and was rather remarkable for generosity of disposition than extraordinary talent. In the year of 1820, at the age of sixteen, Franklin entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine. Among his class-mates was the present Professor Calvin E. Stowe ; and in the College, at the same time, were Nathaniel Haw- thorne, the distinguished writer of romance, and John P. Hale, of oratorical fame. During one of his winter vaca- tions, young Pierce taught a country school, which was in want of a teacher, and yet could not pay a sufficient salary. This was highly honorable in the collegian. His class- mates now living, remember him as a generous friend as well as a tolerable scholar. He displayed his fondness for the military profession, while at college, in forming a com- pany, of which he was chosen an officer. Leaving college in 1824, Franklin Pierce returned to Hillsborough. Soon afterwards he chose the law as a pro- fession, and became a student in the office of Judge Wood- bury, of Portsmouth. The two last years of his studies were spent at the law school of Northampton, Massachu- setts, and in the office of Judge Parker, of Amherst. In 1827, Mr. Pierce was admitted to the bar, and began to practise his profession, at Hillsborough. At first, he did give promise of eminence. His first case was a marked failure. But, conscious of the power within him, the young lawyer resolved to make it manifest. Politics, however, FRANKLIN PIERCE. 451 drew away his attention for a time. Like his father, Franklin Pierce was a warm supporter of General Jackson, and he had scarcely been admitted to the bar before he took an active part in politics. In 1829, the town of Hillsborough elected Franklin Pierce its representative in the legislature of the state. He served in that body four years ; in the two latter of which he was chosen speaker by large majorities. It is rare to find so much confidence placed in the abilities of so young a man. In 1833, Mr. Pierce, then twenty-nine years of age, was elected to Congress. In that body, he was a labo- rious rather than a conspicuous member. He was too modest to speak frequently where older and more experienced men were legislating ; but in the committee-room, he was recog- nised as a trusty and valuable member of the national house. He supported the administration of President Jackson through all the storms by which it was assailed. His prin- cipal speeches were made in opposition to the bill authoriz- ing appropriations for the Military Academy at West Point, an institution to which he subsequently became friendly. Having remained a member of the house of representa- tives about four years, Franklin Pierce was, in 1837, elected to the Senate of the United States. That body then con- tained Clay, Calhoun, Webster, and other extraordinary men, and Mr. Pierce took his seat among them when scarcely thirty years of age. While he continued in the senate, the administration President Van Buren received his cordia!'; support. He seldom spoke ; but always worked and voted . In 1840, Mr. Pierce, then a member of the committee on revolutionary pensions, made a forcible speech, in which, while he acknowledged the strong claims of the revolutionary patriots upon the gratitude of the country, he took grounc 452 . LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. against the extensive system of pensions. After the acces* sion of the whig party to power, in 1841, Mr. Pierce made a vigorous speech, denunciatory of the removals from office made by the Harrison administration. Upon the whole, the congressional career of Franklin Pierce conferred high honor upon himself, and considerable benefit upon the na- tional legislation. In June, 1842, he signified his purpose of retiring from the senate. In 1834, he had married Jane Means, a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Appleton, formerly president of Bowdoin College. Three sons, the first of whom died in infancy, had been born to him ; and having hitherto been kept poor by his public services, he became sensible of the expediency of making some provision for the future. This was the reason of his resignation. Mr. Pierce now took up his residence at Concord, and devoted liimself, with the most brilliant success, to the prac- tice of the law. Those who had remarked the efi'ort of his first failure at the bar, were astonished and delighted with the powerful speeches which he now made on many occa- sions. He was soon considered at the head of the New Hampshire bar. In 1846, President Polk tendered to Mr. Pierce the high position of attorney-general of the United States ; but, from family reasons, he declined the honor. He also declined an appointment of United States senator by Governor Steele, and the nomination of the democratic convention for governor. Pew men have rejected so many opportunities of distinction as Franklin Pierce. Honors came unsought, and he refused them. On. the breaking out of the Mexican war, in 1846, Frank- lin Pierce showed his patriotism by enrolling himself as the earliest volunteer of a company raised in Concord. On the passage of the bill for the increase of the army, he received FRANKLIN PIERCE. 453 the appointment of colonel of the 9th regiment ; and shortly afterwards, he was commissioned as brigadier-general in the army. On the 27th of May, 1847, he sailed from Newport in the bark Kepler, and after a voyage of a month reached Vera Cruz. General Scott, with his victorious army, was then far on his way towards the city of Mexico, and com- munications between the army and Vera Cruz were cut off by swarms of guerillas. General Pierce was compelled to await the arrival of his whole brigade, and the supplies in- tended for General Scott. On the 16th of July, he left Vera Cruz, and began his perilous march. At San Juan and other points, the brigade was assailed by guerillas, but the rapid charges ordered by General Pierce were effectual in beating them back. After a fatiguing and exhausting march, he reached the main army at Puebla, on the 7th of August, with twenty four-hundred men, in good order, and without the loss of a single wagon. General Pierce took an active part in the battles fought in the valley of Mexico, and though disabled for a time by the fall of his horse, had opportunities of which he took advantage, to prove himself a brave and skilful officer. After the capture of the city of Mexico, and the beginning of negotiations, for peace, General Pierce returned to the United States. In Concord, he was welcomed with enthusiasm, and many marks of honor were conferred upon him. He resigned his commis- sion in the army, and returned to the practice of the law. The citizen soldier was not long permitted to enjoy the sweets of private life. He was elected a member of the convention, called in 1850, to revise the constitution of New Hampshire. In that body he acted as president, and possessed great influence. General Pierce approved of the Compromise measures passed by Congress, in 1850, 454 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. and procured for them the support of a large majority of the democratic party in New Hampshire. On the 11th of June, 1852, the Democratic National Convention assembled at Baltimore, in order to select a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. The democracy of New Hampshire had indicated General Pierce as its preference, but, at his request, his name was not at first presented to the convention. Thirty-five ballotings were held and still there was no choice. Then Virginia cast her vote for Franklin Pierce, and on the forty-ninth ballot, the vote stood, for Franklin Pierce, two hundred and eighty- two, and for all other candidates, eleven. William R. King, of Alabama, was nominated on the same ticket for the Yice- Presidency. General Pierce accepted the unexpected nomi- nation, with an expression of diffidence which was highly honorable to his character. The canvass was conducted with spirit. The whig party brought forward as its candidates. General Winfield Scott, of New Jersey, and William A. Graham, of North Carolina. The election was held on the 2d of November; and the next day it was known that the democratic candidates had been chosen by an unprecedented majority. Only four states — ^Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee, were found in the ranks of the opposition. On the 4th of March 1853, Franklin Pierce was inaugu- rated President of the United States. His address con- tained a plain avowal of his political principles, which were those of a large majority of the democratic party. A love of the Union was conspicuous in this inaugural declaration. The cabinet of the new President was formed as follows : — William L. Marcy, of New York, Secretary of State ; Ro- bert M'Clelland, of Michigan^ Secretary of the Interior; FRANKLIN PIERCE. 455 James Guthrie, of Kentucky, Secretary of tlie Treasury ; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, Secretary of War 5 James Dobbins, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General ; and James Campbell, of Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General. The admi- nistration of President Pierce began under the brightest auspices, having the support and confidence of a powerful party. By an accident on a railroad in Massachusetts, soon after the presidential election, Mr. Pierce lost his only son. He is childless. His wife and his country are all that re- main to him demanding his care. Should his future for- tune be as bright *as his past career, he will furnish an ex- ample to young Americans, as one who obtained the highest honors his country could bestow, without resorting to par- tisan tricks, or mean subterfuge — as one whom office sought because it found him worthy. THE END.