Qass. 
 Book 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 
 
LIFE AND EVENTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM B. VICTOR. 
 
 q^'VMj^ 
 
 
 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 APPLEGATE& CO., 43 MAIN STREET. 
 1859. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, 
 By WILLIAM B. VICTOR, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 District of Ohio. 
 
n E D I C A T E r> 
 
 SACRED CAUSES OF TRUTH, JUSTICE, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 UNION OF THE STATES, 
 
E X P L A NATION. 
 
 It is clue the families and individuals whose names are 
 used or referred to in this work, to state that ii was 
 conceived, and has been written by its Author without 
 their knowledge or consent; and that the Author, and the 
 Author only, is solely and wholly responsible for it. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 The Colonization of North America: 
 
 The Revolution and Independence of the Colonies : 
 
 The Constitution of the United States: 
 
 The first Great Struggle under the Constitution as to the 
 powers and policy of the Government: 
 
 The settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, and the 
 acquisition of Louisiana: 
 
 The Great Contest with South Carolina, and the doctrines 
 of Nullification by the States: 
 
 The late War with England: 
 
 The Colonization and acquisition of Tesas and the Cali- 
 fornias : 
 
 The consequences of the Colonization of Texas to individ- 
 uals and to the government: 
 
 The policy of the Government in regard to further acquisi- 
 tion of Cuba, Mexico, and Central America : 
 
vi Contents. 
 
 The history and Constitutional rights of African slavery 
 in the Union: 
 
 The relations of the general government to the Territories 
 and States, as developed by the Kansas contest: 
 
 The Conclusion. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In observing the historical map of the worhl, we 
 see a few great facts as prominent above the rest, as 
 the bold mountains of the globe. Among these are the 
 discovery and colonization of America ; the Indepen- 
 dence and Union of the States ; the subsequent addi- 
 tion of new States, and the vast extension of the 
 blessings of freedom. 
 
 To us, the most important portion of the history 
 of our race is the history of our own country. That 
 history is strikingly composed of individual and united 
 struggles and achievements. Although able and ex- 
 tensive American histories and biographies have been 
 written, some of their great and important truths have 
 been given in the abstract only; others erroneously 
 given, whereby some persons have received more and 
 others less than their share of honor. 
 
 It is the object of this humble effort to place those 
 great truths in their true connection ; to record others 
 that have been omitted ; to show how great events 
 have been produced by individual efforts ; to render 
 a just tribute to the memories and services of some 
 of our Fathers ; to show the injustice that has been 
 done, and to indicate further attempts that have been 
 made and committed upon some of their children ; 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 to show how National growth, and wealth, and gloiy 
 have cost, in some instances, individnal life and fam- 
 ily prosperity ; yet to discover the direction which the 
 great and glorious hand of the past points out as the 
 only trne course of that grand destiny for which our 
 country seems to have been designed, and which she 
 will certainh' attain, if she prove faithful to herself 
 and the sacred causes committed to her hands. 
 
LIFE AND EVENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "History is Pliilosophy teaching by example." 
 
 When this continent was a -wilderness, Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, under the auspices of Queen 
 Elizabeth, sent two ships to America for pur- 
 poses of discovery. On their arrival, they were 
 cordially welcomed by the natives, and were 
 treated throughout their stay with the most af- 
 fectionate hospitality. When they returned to 
 England, the accounts they gave of the country 
 produced great sensations among the classes, and 
 the Queen named it Virginia in honor of herself. 
 The next year. Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Wal- 
 ter's associate, sailed from Plymouth with seven 
 ships, well provided with arms and stores, and a 
 company of volunteers to form a colony in Vir- 
 ginia. The principal motive of this adventure 
 was the discovery of gold and the precious 
 metals. Shortly after their arrival on the coast, 
 for a trivial offence. Sir Richard burnt the town 
 and cornfields of a native tribe. After locating 
 his colony at Roanoak, he returned to England. 
 His colony thus embroiled in war with the na- 
 
10 Life and Events. 
 
 tives, became so disheartened that they soon left 
 the country forever. Soon after this, Sir Rich- 
 ard arrived with three ships and plenty of pro- 
 visions. Being unwilling to lose possession of the 
 country, he left another colony on the Island of 
 Roanoak, and built houses for their protection. 
 But the destiny of his colony seems to have 
 been fixed. They were all destroyed by the 
 natives — not one was left to tell the sad story of 
 their fate. 
 
 A kind Providence had endowed Elizabeth of 
 England with faculties given to but few of her 
 sex, and permitted her to wear the crown of the 
 great kingdom of the earth, but she so lived 
 and died as to be called the Virgin Queen ; so 
 it seems ordered that this prolific nation of ours 
 should not receive its birth from her hands. 
 
 The next colony was sent over by a London 
 company, under the patronage of James I. They 
 sailed under sealed instructions, to be opened 
 atter their arrival in Virginia. They landed 
 13th of May, 1607, and located their colony 
 at Jamestown, on James River — so named by 
 themselves in honor of their patron King. The 
 sealed packages were opened, the names of his 
 majesty's council proclaimed, and a President 
 appointed by the council. During their voyage, 
 the superior qualities of the renowned Capt. 
 John Smith, brought upon him the hatred of the 
 council. They imprisoned him under the charge 
 of an intention to murder the council, and make 
 
Life and E vents. 11 
 
 himself king of Virginia. After their arrival, 
 they urged him to return under this charge, to 
 England; but refusing to go, he demanded his 
 trial, and was triumphantly acquitted. In a short 
 time the odious conduct of the President aroused 
 the indignation of the colony. Besides his pre- 
 vious indifference to their sufferings, when they 
 were reduced by famine and sickness, and were 
 threatened with destruction by the natives, they 
 detected him in attempting to escape with the 
 only vessel left for their safety. He was deposed 
 and his successor appointed by the council. The 
 inefficiency of the second soon became known, 
 when the colony rose in the majesty of their 
 rights, declared Capt. John Smith their Presi- 
 dent, and clothed him with full authority. Pos- 
 sessed of every noble qualification for the posi- 
 tion assigned to him, Capt. Smith soon proved 
 himself worthy to be the first American — the 
 first democratic President, elected by the people, 
 on the continent of America. After his election, 
 while exploring the neighboring country. Presi- 
 dent Smith was taken prisoner by a large body 
 of Indians. They marched him in triumph lo 
 the palace of Powhatan, the great King of the 
 country. He was condemned to suffer death ! 
 His head was placed upon the block ! the death 
 blow was raised above him, when the young and 
 beautiful Pocahontas sprang to his side, folded 
 her arms about his neck, and placed her head 
 upon his to receive the fatal bluw! The arm of 
 
12 Life and Events. 
 
 the executioner was paralyzed. The blow fell 
 harmless to the ground. She was the Princess 
 daughter of King Powhatan. President Smith, 
 thus saved, was pardoned by the King. He re- 
 turned to his colony, just in time to save it. 
 He found them reduced to thirty-eight persons, 
 and in the act of leaving the country forever. 
 A few years afterward, Pocahontas was united, 
 by affection and by marriage, with Mr. Rolf, an 
 English citizen of the colony. Their marriage 
 was blessed with happiness and with children. 
 
 From these important circumstances, we may 
 learn lessons of wisdom applicable to all times 
 and countries. Whenever a great undertaking 
 is actuated by bad or impure motives, it is al- 
 most sure to fail. Whenever generous and 
 affectionate hospitality is outraged by the ruth- 
 less hand of ingratitude, the perpetrators of the 
 crime are almost sure to be punished. While 
 Providence seems to have defeated the fruitless 
 Virgin Queen in her efforts to become the mother 
 of America; while He seems to have chastised 
 the mercenary motives of Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 and the outrageous conduct of Grenville against 
 the natives; while He seems also to have frowned 
 upon the efforts of the London company to tyr- 
 anize the first colony through odious and dast- 
 ardly officers, He seems to have smiled, gra- 
 ciously, upon the first fruits, the first offering of 
 American democracy, and upon the virgin Prin- 
 cess who saved it at its birth, and thus became 
 
Life and Events. 13 
 
 its mother. Thus united by heroic deed, by af- 
 fection, and by blood, the children of the first 
 colony of the United States, and the children of 
 the noblest Princess of the continent, struggled 
 together for liberty through every trial and every 
 peril, until the priceless boon was won. Their 
 fame and their lives shall forever mingle in its 
 joys. 
 
 The spirit of liberty that burst into life in 
 Virginia, was first responded to by her only con- 
 genial companion on the globe, the United Re- 
 public of Germany. In 1614, a colony from that 
 confederacy commenced the present city and 
 State of New York. It was not until 1620, that 
 the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock, 
 and founded New England. Thus the great 
 State of the south and the great State of the 
 north — thus "liberty and union'"' began. 
 
 The Pilgrim Fathers next founded the colony 
 of Massachusetts Bay. Driven by religious per- 
 secution from all the endearments of their native 
 land, they landed on the inhospitable shores of 
 the north, in a cold and stormy December night. 
 Thoy had sailed from the same Plymouth Sir 
 Richard Grenville sailed from, though moved by 
 a vastly different motive. How equally diiferent 
 their destiny ? 
 
 Before leaving the little barque that had borne 
 them safely across the Atlantic's boisterous waves, 
 they solemnly declared they had undertaken to 
 establish a colony for the glory of God and the 
 
14 Life and Events. 
 
 advancement of the Christian faith ! No one 
 acquainted with their suiferings and persecutions, 
 can doubt the truth of their solemn declaration. 
 No one who has read their history, can doubt 
 that in every good effort, they received the 
 smiles of Him they came to worship and in 
 whom they placed their trust". Through every 
 danger and every trial, they and their children 
 struggled with Christian fortitude and heroic 
 courage, until their efforts were crowned with 
 freedom and success. Although the bones of 
 the fathers have long since mouldered into dust, 
 their sons and their daughters, and the truths 
 ihey supported, "still live," and will live " for- 
 evermore." 
 
 The colony of Delaware was founded by the 
 Swedes. Their courage, too, and their devotion 
 to their rights, were soon tried and fully estab- 
 lished. It is by no means strange that the land 
 which then furnished a colony for American Lib- 
 erty, though far away in the frozen regions of 
 the north, should have since produced the match- 
 less songstress of the age — the plaintive night- 
 ingale whose soft and sweetly thrilling notes 
 have given transported thousands a taste of hea- 
 venly joys. 
 
 Maryland was settled chiefly by Catholics. 
 True to their mission in the new world, they 
 have fully proved their devotion to freedom. 
 The colony that produced Charles Carroll, of 
 Carrollton, must ever have cherished in her 
 
Life and Events. 15 
 
 bosom the living germ — tlie true spirit of the 
 Goddess of Liberty ! 
 
 Pennsylvania was commenced by the Quakers. 
 Driven by persecution from England, they first 
 sought an asylum in the land of the Pilgrim 
 fathers. The legislature of that colony, in a 
 dark and evil hour, in violation of their own 
 history and most sacred obligations, in violation 
 of their own solemn declaration of purpose, not 
 only passed laws for their banishment, but pro- 
 vided, if any Quaker should return to the colony 
 and renew his practices, he should be put to 
 death ! Under this law, four persons suffered 
 death ! This shocking violation of their most 
 sacred obligations and principles, Providence 
 seems to have chastised afterwards. The horri- 
 ble consequences of their insane delusions in re- 
 gard to the work of the devil, through the 
 instrumentality of witches, seem to be the pun- 
 ishment. After this persecution, the Quakers 
 resolved to form a colony where religious opin- 
 ion and worship might be fully enjoyed. They 
 accordingly sailed from England in 1681, and 
 landed where the Quaker city stands. In the fol- 
 lowing year, William Penn arrived with a large 
 number of emigrants, and founded the city of 
 Philadelphia and colony of Pennsylvania. Thus 
 doubly persecuted, first driven from their native 
 land, then from the land of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
 they founded the city and colony that have been 
 doubly blest and honored — the city that gave 
 
16 Life and Events. 
 
 birth to the independence of the American col- 
 onies, and to the Constitution of the United 
 States of America. Considering their origin, 
 viewing the grand events that will honor them 
 forever, we are admonished of evil, but then look 
 with delight at the greatness and happiness of a 
 people, clothed with a fall share of the honors 
 of a glorious history and union of States, and 
 with the smiles of a benignant Providence. 
 This is the keystone of the American arch of 
 States — an arch as beautiful among the various 
 kingdoms of the earth, as the rainbow in the 
 cloudy sky — as durable, we hope, as the coven- 
 ant of Him who placed it there. 
 
 In 1765, Mr. George Grenville introduced into 
 Parliament the notorious stamp act, to tax all 
 the colonies. When in advocating its passage, 
 Mr. Charles Townsend used the following lan- 
 guage: "and now will these Americans, children 
 planted by our care, nourished by our indul- 
 gence of them, until they have grown to a de- 
 gree of strength and opulence; and protected by 
 our arms ; will they grudge to contribute their 
 mite to relieve us ? " He was replied to thiis 
 by the eloquent and chivalric Barre : " They 
 planted by your care — no — your oppression 
 planted them in America ; * * * They nour- 
 ished by your indulgence ! They grew up by 
 your negligence of them! * * * They protected 
 by your arms J * * * They have nobly taken 
 up arms in your defense, have exerted a valor 
 
Life and Events. 17 
 
 amidst their constant and laborious industry, for 
 the defence of a country Avhose frontier was 
 drenched in blood. " The passage of this act, 
 aimed equally at the liberties of all the colonies, 
 aroused and united them. In this important 
 move, Virginia again took the lead. On the 
 28th May, 1765, the illustrious Henry intro- 
 duced his celebrated resolutions in the house of 
 Burgesses. The resolutions declared in substance 
 that the colonies were not bound to obey the 
 act ; that they alone had always possessed the 
 right to tax themselves. It was in the defense 
 of these resolutions that he gave utterance to 
 that equally celebrated burst of eloquence : " Cae- 
 sar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Crom- 
 well, and George the Third" — Treason ! Trea- 
 son ! cried the speaker and many members of the 
 house — "may profit by their example" — thun- 
 dered the dauntless Henry! 
 
 These resolutions were communicated to the 
 other colonies. They all passed similar ones 
 through their respective assemblies, and a con- 
 vention of colonial deputies met the same year 
 in the city of New York. In this coincidence we 
 again see liberty and Union hand in hand. 
 
 From the memoir of Jefferson, 
 
 " The next event which excited our sympathies 
 for Massachusetts was the Boston port-bill, by 
 which that port w^as to be shut up from the 1st 
 June, 1774. This arrived while we were in session 
 in the Spring of that year. The lead in the house, 
 
18 Life and Events. 
 
 on these subjects, being no longer left to the old 
 members, Mr, Henry, R. H. Lee, Mr. L. Lee, 
 three or four others and myself, agreeing that wc 
 must boldly take an unequivocal stand in the line 
 with Massachusetts, determined to meet and con- 
 sult on the proper measures in Council Chamber, 
 for the benefit of the library in that room. We 
 were under the conviction of the necessity of arous- 
 ing our people from the lethargy into which they 
 had fallen, as to passing events ; and thought that 
 the appointment of a day of general fasting and 
 prayer would be most likely to call up and alarm 
 their attention ; no example of such a solemnity had 
 existed since the days of our distress in the war 
 of '55, since which a new generation had grown 
 up. With the help of Rushforth whom we rumaged 
 over for the revolutionary precedents, and forms of 
 the puritans of that day, preserved by him, we 
 cooked up a resolution somewhat modernizing their 
 phrases, for appointing the 1st day of June on 
 which the port-bill was to commence for a day of 
 fasting and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert 
 from us the evils of civil war, to inspire us with 
 firmness in support of our rights, and to turn the 
 hearts of the king and parliament to moderation 
 and justice. To give greater emphasis to our pro- 
 position, we agreed to wait on Mr. Nicholas, (Robert 
 Carter Nicholas,) whose grave and religious charac- 
 ter, was more in unison with tl;ke tone of our resolu- 
 tion, and to solicit him to move it. We accordingly 
 went to him in the morning. He moved it the same 
 
Life and Events. 19 
 
 day; 1st June was proposed and it passed without 
 opposition. 
 
 The Governor dissolved us as usual. We retired 
 to the Apollo as before, agreed to appoint deputies to 
 meet in Congress at such place annually, as should 
 be determined, to direct from time to time the 
 measures required by the general interest; and we 
 declared that an attack on any one colony, should 
 be considered as an attack on the whole. This was 
 in May, We further recommended the several 
 counties, to elect deputies to meet at Williamsburgh 
 the 1st August ensuing, to consider the state of 
 the colony, and particularly to appoint delegates 
 to a general Congress, should that measure be ac- 
 ceded to by the committee of correspondence gen- 
 erally. It was acceded to and Philadelphia Avas 
 appointed for the place, and the fifth of September 
 the time of meeting. We returned home, and in 
 our several counties, invited the clergy to meet as- 
 semblies of the people on the 1st June, to perform 
 the ceremonies of the day, and to address them dis- 
 courses suited to the occasion. The people met 
 o-enerally with anxiety and alarm on their counte- 
 nances, and the eflFcctof the day through the whole 
 colony was like a shock of electricity, arousing 
 every man and placing him erect and solidly on his 
 center. 
 
 The religious sentiment of a country has 
 always been the strongest feeling of society, and 
 has always exerted the most powerful influence 
 over the destiny of every people. While Robert 
 
20 Life and Events. 
 
 C Nicholas was not at first, owing to his reh'gious 
 aversion to war, as active as Henry and JejQferson, 
 yet in the hour of need he thus aroused the reli- 
 gious sentiment of the colonies in behalf of the 
 cause ; this gave it the highest sanction and aided in 
 placing it and the people " erect and solidly on their 
 centers." According to the appointment of these 
 resolutions, and the impulse thus given to the 
 cause, the Congress of the colonies met for the first 
 time, in Philadelphia. Of this Congress Mr. Web- 
 ster thus spoke : 
 
 "The proceedings of this Congress are well known 
 and have been universally admired. It is in vain 
 that we look for superior proofs of wisdom, talent, or 
 patriotism. Lord Chatham said that for himself he 
 must declare, that he had studied and admired the 
 free states of antiquity, the master states of the 
 world, but that for solidity of reasoning, force of 
 sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, no body of men 
 could stand in preference to this Congress." Mr. 
 Webster adds " there is indeed nothing superior to 
 them in the range of political disquisition. They 
 not only embrace, illustrate and enforce everything 
 which political philosophy, the love of liberty and 
 the spirit of free inquiry had antecedently produced, 
 but they add new and striking vicAvs of their own, 
 and apply the whole with irresistible force in sup- 
 port of the cause which had drawn them together." 
 
 Thus the prjminent part and influence, performed 
 and exerted by Mr. Nicholas, in connection with 
 his illustrious compatriots, led directly to the 
 
Life and Events. 21 
 
 greatest of acliievements, American Indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 From these additional testimonials it is easy to 
 understand how and why it was, that Mr. Nicholas 
 exerted such an influence upon his country, in 
 these her most trying struggles. 
 
 Bishop Mead, in his work on old churches, min- 
 isters and families in Virginia, in giving a history 
 of Williamsburgh, Bruton Parish, gives the names 
 and sketches of some of the vestry-men of that 
 Parish. Among these he adds, " there appears 
 George Nicholas and his son Robert Carter Nicho- 
 las. The former came to this country a physician, 
 doubtless duly qualified. His son Robert Carter 
 Nicholas, was distinguished at the bar in Williams- 
 burgh, in the House of Burgesses, in the Council, 
 as treasurer of the State, and as a patriot in the 
 Revolutionary war. But he had higher praise 
 than all these offices could give him ; for he was a 
 sincere Christian and a zealous defender of the 
 church of his fathers, when he believed her rights 
 were assailed." 
 
 Mr. Hugh Blair Griggsby, in his early descrip- 
 tion of the Burgesses of 1776, thus describes him : 
 " He loved indeed a particular form of religian, but 
 he loved more religion itself. In peace or war, at 
 the fireside or on the floor of the House of Bur- 
 gesses, a strong sense of moral responsibility was 
 seen through all his actions. If a resolution 
 appointing a day of fasting and prayer, or acknowl- 
 edging the providence of God in crowning our 
 
22 Life and Events. 
 
 arms with victory, though drawn by men of 
 worldly views was to be, it was from his hands it 
 was to be presented to the House, and from his 
 lips came the persuasive words that fell not in 
 vain on the coldest ears. Indeed such was the 
 impression which his sincere piety, embellishing as 
 it did the sterling virtues of his character, made 
 upon his own generation, that influence was felt 
 upon that which succeeded it." 
 
 Nor was his piety less conspicuous in a private 
 sphere. Visiting on one occasion Lord Bottetourt 
 with whom he lived in the strictest friendship, he 
 observed to that nobleman, "my Lord, I think you 
 will be very unwilling to die ;" and when asked 
 what gave rise to that remark, " because said he 
 you are so social in your nature, and so much 
 beloved, and have so many good things around you, 
 that you must be loath to leave them.'' Ilis wor- 
 ship made no reply, but a short time after, being 
 on his death-bed, he sent in haste for Colonel 
 Nicholas, who lived near the palace, and who 
 instantly repaired thither, to receive the last sighs 
 of his dying friend. On entering his chamber he 
 asked his commands. Nothing replied his Lord- 
 ship, but to let you see that I resign the good 
 things of which you formerly spoke, with as much 
 composure as I enjoyed them ; after which he 
 grasped his hand with warmth and instantly 
 expired." 
 
 " The children of R. C. Nicholas were blessed 
 with a mother of equal worth. She was the 
 
Life and Events. 23 
 
 daughter of Col. Wilson Gary of Hampton, a 
 descendant of one of tlie first families Avho settled 
 in the lower part of Virginia." 
 
 Let the following letter to her son Wilson Gary 
 Nicholas, on entering public life bear witness : 
 
 '•'■ Dear Wilson: — I congratulate you on the 
 honor your country has conferred on you, in 
 choosing you their representative with so large a 
 vote. I hope you are come into the Assembly 
 without those trammels which some people submit 
 to wear for a seat in the House. 
 
 ***** >i^ * 
 
 I think from observation, T can venture to assert 
 that the man of integrity, Avho observes one equal 
 tenor in his conduct, who deviates neither to the 
 one side nor the other from the proper line — has 
 more of the confidence of the people, than the 
 compliant time-server. I flatter myself too, you 
 will act on a more liberal plan, than some members 
 have done, in matters in which the honor and 
 interest of this State are concerned ; that you will 
 not to save a few pence for your constituents, dis- 
 courage the progress of the arts and sciences, nor 
 pay with a scanty hand persons who are eminent 
 in cither. This parsimonious plan of late adopted, 
 will throw us behind the other States in all valua- 
 ble improvements, and chill like a frost, the spring 
 of learning and the spirit of enterprise. I have 
 insensibly extended what I had to say beyond m}^ 
 first design, but will not quit the subject without 
 giving you a hint from a very good friend of yours. 
 
24 Life and Events. 
 
 that your weight in the House will be much greater 
 if you do not take up the attention of the Assem- 
 bly on trifling matters, nor too often demand a 
 hearing. To this I must add a hint of my own, 
 that temper and decorum is of infinite advantage 
 to a public speaker ; and a modest diffidence to a 
 young man just entering the stage of public life. 
 The neglect of the former throws him off his guard, 
 breaks the chain of reasoning, and has often pro- 
 duced in England, duels that have terminated 
 fatally. The natural effect of the latter will ever 
 be procuring a favorable hearing, and all those 
 advantages that a prepossession in favor of the 
 speaker produces. 
 
 You see my son, that I take the privilege of a 
 mother in advising you, and be assured, that you 
 have no friend so solicitous for your welfare, tem- 
 poral and eternal, as your mother. 
 
 AxNE Nicholas." 
 
 " Tradition says, that Mrs. Nicholas after the 
 death of her husband, K. C. Nicholas, at his seat 
 in Hanover, w^as visited by some British officers 
 and received them with great dignity. Her daugh- 
 ter-in-law, wife of her son George, and sister to 
 Governor Samuel Smith of Baltimore, being re- 
 cognized by one of the officers as an old acquaint- 
 in Carlisle Pennsylvania, secured polite treatment 
 for the family ; but the officers, on discovering 
 jewels and other valuables in the house, seized upon 
 them and carried them off." 
 
 " Col. Nicholas died at his seat in Hanover 
 
Life and Events. 25 
 
 leaving five sons, among these were George who 
 afterwards removed to Kentucky, and Wilson 
 Gary, who was a member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives and Senate of the United States, and 
 Governor of Virginia." 
 
 It is one of the remarkable facts of history that 
 the best native blood of the new world has been 
 mingled Avith the blood of the old, and with the 
 great events of American history. One of the 
 descendants of Pocahontas, Mr. Randolph, b "came 
 united by marriage and blood with Thomas Jeffer- 
 son, the father of Independence ; his grand-child, 
 uniting the blood of himself and Pocahontas, the 
 mother of the first colony, became united by 
 marriage and blood with the grand-daughter of 
 Robert Carter Nicholas, who co-operated with 
 Mr. Jefierson in the immediate steps to indepen- 
 dence, and engrafted into the cause the religious 
 element. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 "History is philosophy teaching by example." 
 Beautiful definition — beautiful because true. There 
 is in every people a sort of sacred regard for his- 
 tory ; a readiness to believe its records and pay 
 grateful homage to its heroes. This lojal senti- 
 ment, this grateful feeling deserves the truth, 
 because it is always ready to believe it, and to 
 learn from the experience of fathers, brothers, or 
 from distant or ancient peoples. One of the high- 
 est incentives, to chivalric or patriotic efforts, is 
 that a grateful country will honor and a faithful 
 historian record those efforts. What greater 
 meanness than ingratitude ? No people have been 
 so blessed as ours — have received a heritage so 
 ample and so rich. The greater the debt we owe 
 to them who gave it ; the greater the obligation to 
 render at least justice to their memories. What 
 is history ? It is a Avritten statement of the acts 
 of its characters. A historian is a witness, a wit- 
 ness not sworn — not sworn to tell the truth the 
 ■whole truth and nothing but the truth. Personal 
 and political preferences and prejudices, sometimes 
 bitter recollections and rancorous animosities are 
 left free to suppress, distort or falsify the truth. 
 Hence the o-reat number and diflTerence in hi'stories. 
 
Life and Events. 27 
 
 This is so fully known to be the case that it is 
 often said, the true history of an event or genera- 
 tion can not be written until all such causes shall 
 have passed away ; then a faithful pen may record 
 the truth. When a man takes pen in hand to 
 write history, he should say to himself, this pen 
 shall aspire to no higlier achievement than to record 
 the truth. What, falsify history ! Defame great 
 patriots; let their great deeds die forgotten; sup- 
 press or distort them ; pervert and mislend a 
 people ! Rather let this pen refuse to write, this 
 hand refuse to move ! 
 
 Whatever a man undertnkes to do, he ought 
 faitlifully to perform. With these motives and 
 objects, tlie writer of this book resumes his sub- 
 ject. He does not propose to write a full history ; 
 but only to place great achievements in their true 
 connection, and to record great truths that have 
 been omitted. 
 
 The next great events in the history of our 
 country were the Declaration of Independence, the 
 achievement of that independence, and the consum- 
 mation of the revolution by the formation and 
 adoption of the Constitution of the United States. 
 From the beginning to the consummation of this, 
 the grandest effort and achievement of men, Virginia 
 and Massachusetts and their sons, chiefly main- 
 tained the lead. Thomas Jefferson, the inspired 
 author of the " unanimous Declaration of the thir- 
 teen United States of America," was A^irginia's 
 son. John Adams the boldest and ablest advo- 
 
28 Life and Events. 
 
 cate of that declaration was Massachusetts' son. 
 He who maintained that dechiration and achieved 
 that independence, through the long and bloody 
 struggle as the great chief of war — George Wash- 
 ington ! " first in peace, first in war, and first in 
 the hearts of his countrymen," was Virginia's 
 son ! James Madison too, the mover, the princi- 
 pal author, the father of the Constitution of his 
 country, was Virginia's son. 
 
 Through the trying scenes of the revolution and 
 the following years of peace, the articles of confed- 
 eration had proved wholly inadequate to the great 
 objects of the Union of the States. The Constitu- 
 tion Avas framed and submitted to the people of 
 the several States, for their adoption or rejection. 
 True, as it must have been, to its origin and his- 
 tory, that constitution did not propose to violate 
 any of the rights, principles or liberties that pro- 
 duced it. It not only left with the people of the 
 States, all the great rights of life, liberty, and 
 property they possessed before, but it proposed to 
 sanction, secure and guarantee them forever. In 
 the fullness of its wisdom, looking through the 
 vicissitudes of time upon the millions to come, it 
 provided for its own expansion and improvement, 
 commensurate with every measure, and the dis- 
 covery of every truth calculated to perpetuate the 
 rights and liberties, to alleviate the wants and suf- 
 ferings, and to advance the happiness, and great- 
 ness of its people. When the Constitution was 
 submitted, Virginia Avith her Washington, her Jef- 
 
Life AND Events. 29 
 
 ferson, her Henry, her Madison, and a host of 
 great statesmen and orators besides, then stood 
 among her sister States pre-eminent. Her adop- 
 tion or rejection of that Constitution, must have 
 been with her sister States, great, perhaps deci- 
 sive, for good or for evil. Notwithstanding her 
 great statesmen had been united as a family of 
 brothers, in the great cause of independence, their 
 liberties achieved, they differed widely in forming 
 a government and Union of the States. When 
 the Virginia delegates met in convention to decide 
 the question of adopting that constitution, the 
 result of their action, was a question of doubt 
 and great anxiety. Jefferson was absent as Min- 
 ister to France. Washington and Madison had 
 already exerted their great powers in favor of the 
 constitution, yet the opposition threatened to 
 defeat its adoption, headed as as it was by 
 Patrick Henry, George Mason, William Gray- 
 son, James Monroe, and other distinguished patri- 
 ots. At this critical period, and upon this great 
 theatre, there appeared a member, who, though 
 younger in years, and yet less distingnislied than 
 some of his seniors, was not then unknown to 
 fame. George Nicholas, a son of Robert Carter 
 and Ann Nicholas, was a civilian ; a lawyer by 
 profession and practice, yet his zeal for the great 
 cause of his country, had been honored by the 
 rank and commission of Colonel in the great revo- 
 lution of the Colonies. At the bar and in the 
 legislature of Virginia, he had met the learned 
 
30 Life and Events. 
 
 and eloquent lawyers "and statesmen of his State. 
 In these meetings and upon these theatres, he had 
 displayed that knowledge of law and of govern- 
 ment, and those elements of character, that had 
 already given him rank "with the great lawyers 
 and statesmen of that period of unrivalled splendor 
 in Virginia history. But he was now called upon 
 one of the highest and most important theatres 
 on which men are ever called to act. The destiny 
 of his country was the issue. Determined in their 
 purpose to make their utmost effort in favor of 
 adoption, the friends of the Constitution ar- 
 rayed themselves for the conflict. In the lead, 
 this chivalric column of heroic statesmen, placed 
 their brother compatriot. Col. George Nicholas. 
 Although Madison, the father of the Constitution 
 Avas among them, Nicholas was the chosen leader 
 of his colleagues to meet the gigantic Henry and 
 his Coadjutors. Equal to the position assigned to 
 him, he opened the debate by a powerful effort in 
 favor of the Constitution. He was met by the 
 dauntless Henr^' ; from this beginning the contest 
 continued through many anxious days. Conspic- 
 uously through that conflict of giants, can yet be 
 seen in the mirror of its records, the herculean 
 form, and yet lieard from tradition the echo voice 
 of George Nicholas. Supported by his noble 
 colleagues, he not only held at bay the charges of 
 opposition, led on by the hitherto matchless 
 Henry, but turning the tide of the great contest, 
 he came out a victorious advocate of the Constitu- 
 
Life and Events. 31 
 
 tion of his country. Its adoption -was the consum- 
 mation of the great mission of the mother Colon- 
 ies — the grand achievement of the revolutionary'' 
 fathers — the establishment of the purest, the 
 wisest, and the noblest system of government ever 
 conceived or formed by man. It was the begin- 
 ning of a new era, not only in the history of States 
 but in the history of the world. 
 
 When it is remembered that in addition to the 
 great opposition referred to, a majority of the 
 people of Virginia were tlien opposed to the 
 adoption of the constitution, that at the next 
 election in that State, a majority of the members 
 elected to Congress, including the two Senators 
 elected by the Legislature, one of them being the 
 gifted Grayson, were opposed to the Constitution ; 
 Avhen it is considered that if Virginia had remained 
 out of the Union even a single year, that circum- 
 stance alone would have deprived the country of 
 the great influence of AVashington as President; of 
 Jefferson as Secretary ; of Madison as Congress- 
 man ; when it is considered that the absence of these 
 great men would have left the new government 
 so weak — so wanting in the dignity and confidence 
 which they were able to give it ; that without them 
 and their influence it would probably have been 
 dissolved, or would have mouldered and decayed 
 away, the patriot philanthropist, can but pause at 
 this glimpse of the magnitude of that achievement, 
 as well at the time and under the circumstances, 
 as for the greatness of the victory itself. Hence 
 
32 Life and Events. 
 
 glancing abroad and down the stream of time, he 
 catches a glimpse of the value of the efforts of 
 George Nicholas ; of him who is foremost and 
 greatest in one of those contests, which had for 
 its issue the destiny of the American continent, 
 perhaps of liberty herself throughout all future 
 time. 
 
 While the adoption of the Constitution was the 
 completion of a past age, it was the beginning 
 of a new one. The government must be put 
 into action ; the constitution must be construed, 
 interpreted and applied to practical purposes. Its 
 meaning to some extent must ever be constructive. 
 The meaning given to it by its contemporaries in 
 the discussion of its adoption, is therefore of great 
 importance for all future time. That discussion 
 throws great and important light upon the true 
 interpretation of those provisions, from which dis- 
 putes have arisen or may hereafter rise in the 
 administration of its government. The writings 
 and speeches of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, 
 Madison, Hamilton, and others containing their 
 interpretations of the Constitution, and the argu- 
 ments in favor of its adoption and preservation, 
 have been published at length. Their great and 
 inestimable services to their country, are thus pre- 
 served for their country's good. The speeches 
 and writings of Col. Nicholas have never been 
 published in full. His early death in the midst of 
 a great political struggle, left all his worldly 
 affairs in a confused and scattered condition, and 
 
Life and Events. 33 
 
 it would extend this beyond the limits of an 
 intended sketch, to give more than a few extracts 
 from his speeches, as reported in the debates of 
 the Virginia convention. 
 
 On the third day of the convention, he thus des- 
 cribes the efforts that had been made before the peo- 
 ple, to arouse their opposition to the Constitution. 
 
 " It is true, sir, that many people have declared 
 against a Constitution which thev were told would 
 destroy trial by jury; against a government, sir, 
 which would establish a standing army ; against a 
 government which would abridge the liberty of 
 the press ; against a government which would tax 
 all their property from them ; against a govern- 
 ment which would infringe the right of conscience ; 
 and against a government, sir, which should banish 
 them to France as common soldiers, and which 
 should destroy all their rights and liberties ! This, 
 sir, is the government of which they have given 
 their disapprobation." — Virginia Debates, p. 82. 
 
 In defending the Constitution from such assaults 
 and in advocating its adoption. Col. Nicholas, 
 defined those great principles of the Constitution 
 that have since governed the great conservative 
 party of the Union, the reproduction of which, 
 from time to time, have given to other statesmen 
 immortal honors. In the speech last quoted 
 from, he expressed the great ideas and principles 
 of the Constitution, that have more than once, 
 saved the Union from being severed by the oppo- 
 site radical doctrines of nullification by the States. 
 
34 Life and Events. 
 
 Mr. Henry had thus expressed one of his objec- 
 tions to the Constitution ; " My political curiosity, 
 exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public 
 welfare, leads me to ask who authorized them to 
 speak the language, We, the peojole, instead of We, 
 the States. States are the characteristics and the 
 soul of a confederation. If the States be not the 
 agents to this compact, it must be one great con- 
 solidated government." 
 
 Col. Nicholas replied : " The worthy gentleman 
 entertained us very largely on the impropriety 
 and dangers of the powers given by this plan, to 
 the general government. * * * j^ amounts to 
 this, that the powers given to any government, 
 ought to be small. I believe, sir, this is a new 
 idea in politics. Powers being given for some 
 certain purpose, ought to be proportionate to that 
 purpose, or else the end for which they are del- 
 egated will not be answered. It is necessary to 
 give powers to a certain extent, to any govern- 
 ment. If a due medium be not observed in the 
 delegation of such powers, one of two things must 
 happen ; if they be too small, the government 
 must moulder and decay away ; if too extensive, 
 the people will be oppressed. As there can be 
 no liberty without government, it must be as 
 dangerous to make powers too limited as too 
 great. He tells us the Constitution annihilates 
 the confederation. Did he not prove that every 
 people have a right to change their government 
 when it should be deemed inadequate to their 
 
Life and Events. 35 
 
 happiness ? The confederation being found utterly 
 defective, will he deny our right to alter or abolish 
 it? But he objects to the expression "we, the 
 people," and demands the reason why they had 
 not said, " we, the United States of America ! In 
 my opinion, the expression is highly proper. It 
 is submitted to the people, because on them it is 
 to operate. Till adopted, it is but a dead letter 
 and not binding on any one; when adopted, it 
 becomes binding on the people who adopted it. 
 We are under great obligations to the Federal 
 Convention, for recurring to the people, the source 
 of all power. The gentleman's argument militates 
 against itself; he says that persons in power 
 never relinquish their powers willingly. If then, 
 the State legislatures would not relinquish part 
 of the power they now possess, to enable a gen- 
 eral government to support the Union, refer- 
 ence to the people is necessary." — Va. Debates, 
 p. 79. 
 
 Again, he says : " Can we trust our liberties 
 to the President— to the Senate — to the House of 
 Representatives? We do not trust our liberties 
 to a particular branch; one branch has not the 
 whole power; ore branch is a check upon the 
 other. The representatives have a controlling 
 power over the whole." — Va. Debates, p. 165. 
 
 " The gentleman has adverted to what he calls 
 the sweeping clause, and represents it as replete 
 with great dangers. Tbis dreaded clause runs in 
 the following words : " To make all laws which 
 
36 Life AND Events, 
 
 shall be necessary and proper, for carrying into 
 execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
 powers vested by this Constitution in the govern- 
 ment of the United States or any department or 
 officer thereof." 
 
 The Committee will perceive that the Consti- 
 tution had enumerated all the powers which the 
 general government should have, but did not 
 say how they were to be exercised. * * * * 
 Does this give any new power? I say, not. It 
 only enables them to carry into execution, the 
 powers given to them, but gives them no addi- 
 tional power. ****** 
 
 " But it is objected to for want of a bill of 
 rights. It is a principle universally agreed upon 
 that all powers not given are retained. Where, 
 by the Constitution, the general government has 
 general powers for any purpose, its powers are 
 absolute. Where it has powers with some ex- 
 ceptions, they are absolute with those exceptions. 
 In England, in all disputes between king and 
 people, recourse is had to the enumerated rights 
 of the people to determine. Are the rights in 
 disputes secured ? Are they secured in Magna 
 Charta, Bill of Rights, etc. ? If not, they are 
 generally speaking, within the king's prerogative. 
 In disputes between Congress and the people the 
 reverse of the proposition holds. Is the dispu- 
 ted right enumerated ? If not, Congress can 
 not meddle with it. Which is the most safe ? 
 The people of America know what they have 
 
Life and Events. 37 
 
 relinquished for certain purposes. They also 
 know that they retain every thing else." — Va. 
 Debates, p. 179. 
 
 The provision of the sixth article is, "that 
 this Constitution and the Laws of the United 
 States, which shall be made in pursuance thereof, 
 and all treaties made or which shall be made 
 under the authority of the United States, shall 
 be the supreme law of the land notwithstanding 
 anything in the Constitution or laws of particular 
 States." — Virginia Debates, p. 380. 
 
 Another one of the most powerful opponents, 
 Mr. George Mason, thus expressed one of his 
 objections to the Constitution : 
 
 " Is there anything in this Constitution which 
 secures to the States the powers which are said 
 to be retained? Will powers remain to the 
 States, that are not expressly guarded and 
 reserved ? I will suppose a case, gentlemen may 
 call it an impossible case, and suppose that Con- 
 gress will act with wisdom and integrity. Among 
 the enumerated powers, Congress are to lay and 
 collect taxes, duties, imports and excises, and to 
 pay the debts and provide for the general welfare 
 and common defence, and by that clause, so often 
 called the sweeping clause they are to make all 
 laws necessary to execute those laws. Now sup- 
 pose oppression should arise under this govern- 
 ment, and any writer should dare to stand forth 
 and expose the government at large in the 
 abuse of those powers, could not Congress, under 
 
38 Life and Events. 
 
 the idea, of providing for the general welfare, 
 and under their construction, say that this was 
 destroying the peace, encouraging sedition and 
 poisoning the minds of the people ? And could 
 not they, not in order to provide against this, 
 lay dangerous restrictions on the press? Might 
 they not even bring the trial of this restriction 
 within the ten miles square, when there is no 
 restriction against it? Might they not thus 
 destroy the right of trial by jury? Would they 
 not extend their implication ? It appears to me 
 they might and would ? That Congress should 
 have power to provide for the general welfare 
 of the Union, I grant — but I wish a clause in 
 the Constitution, with respect to all powers which 
 are not granted, that they are retained by the 
 States. Otherwise the poAver of providing for the 
 general welfare may be perverted to their destruc- 
 tion." — Virginia Debates, p. 313-14. 
 
 In his reply Col. Nicholas said : 
 
 "The opposers of this clause, which gave the 
 powers of providing for the general welfare, 
 supposed its dangers to result from its connection 
 and extension of the powers granted in other 
 clauses. He endeavored to show the committee, 
 that it only empowered Congress, to make such 
 laws as would be necessary to enable them to 
 pay the public debts and provide for the general 
 defence ; that this general ivelfare was not united 
 with the general power of legislation, but to the 
 particular power of laying and collecting taxes, 
 
Life and Events. 39 
 
 imposts and excises for the purpose oL paying 
 the debts and providing for the common defence. 
 The clause wliich was affectedly called the sweep- 
 ing clause, contained no new grant of power. 
 To illustrate this position he observed, that if it 
 had been added at the end of every enumerated 
 power, instead of being inserted at the end of all, 
 it would be obvious to any one, that it was no 
 augmentation of power. As for instance, if at 
 the end of the clause granting power to lay and 
 collect taxes, it had been added, that they should 
 have power to make all laws necessary and 
 proper, to colfect taxes, .who could suspect it 
 to be an addition? as it would grant no new 
 power, if inserted at the end of each clause, 
 it could not when subjoined to the whole. But 
 who is to determine the extent of such powers ? 
 I say the same potver ivhich in all well regulated 
 communities determines the extent of legislative 
 powers. If they exceed those powers, the judiciary 
 will declare it void. 
 
 ;K * * * * 
 
 It is a simple and plain proposition. It is 
 agreed by all, that the people have all power. If 
 they part with any of it, is it necessary to declare 
 that they retain the rest. 
 
 Liken it to any other similar case. If I have 
 one thousand acres of land and I grant five hun- 
 dred acres of it, must I declare that I retain the 
 other five hundred ? Do I grant the whole thou- 
 sand acres when I grant the five hundred, unless 
 
40 Life and Events. 
 
 I declare that I retain the five hundred? It is 
 so in this case; after granting some powers the 
 rest must remain with the people. — Va. D. p. 
 314-15. 
 
 " Again he says 
 
 " In Virginia all powers were in the government 
 Avithout any exception. It was different with the 
 general government to which special powers were 
 delegated for certain purposes. 
 
 " The gentleman last up, says that the general 
 power of legislation includes everything. A gen- 
 eral power does; but this is a special power of leg- 
 islation ; therefore it does not contain that plenitude 
 of power which he imagines. They can not legis- 
 late in any case but in those particularly enu- 
 merated." ****** 
 
 " The liberty of the press is secured. What 
 secures it in England? Is it secured by Magna 
 Charta, the declaration of rights or by any other 
 express provision? It is not. They have no 
 express security for the liberty of the press. 
 They have a reliance on parliament for their 
 protection and security. In the time of king 
 William, there parsed an act for licensing the 
 press. That was repealed and since that time 
 it has been looked upon as safe. The people 
 have depended on their representatives. They 
 will not consent to pass an act to infringe it, 
 because such an act would irritate the nation. 
 It is equally safe with us. As to trial by 
 
Life and Events. 41 
 
 jury, it is not on a better footing. It is by 
 implication under tbe control of the legisla- 
 ture."— Fa. i>. p. 179-80. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the liberty of 
 speech, of the press, and the right of trial 
 "by jury, were expressly secured soon afterward, 
 by amendments to the Constitution. 
 
 Early in the debate, Mr. Henry made the 
 following statement, as one of his numerous 
 objections to the adoption of the Constitution: 
 
 "There is a dispute between us and the 
 Spaniards about the right of navigating the 
 Mississippi. This dispute has sprung from the 
 federal government. * 
 
 " In my opinion the preservation of that river 
 calls for serious consideration. It was figitated 
 in Congress. Seven States have voted so that 
 it is known to the Spaniards, that under our 
 existing system, the Mississippi shall be taken 
 from them. Seven States wished to relinquish 
 this river to them. The Southern States opposed 
 it. Seven States not being sufficient to convey 
 it away, it remains now ours. If I am wrong 
 there are a number on this floor who can con- 
 tradict me— I will readily retract. This new 
 government, I concieve, will enable those states 
 that have already discovered their inclination to 
 give away this river. Will honorable gentlemen 
 advise us to relinquish this inestimable naviga- 
 tion, and place formidable enemies at our backs?" 
 — Va. B.p. 115. 
 
42 Life and Events. 
 
 Another, one of the most powerful opponents of 
 the Constitution, Mr. George Mason, had thus ex- 
 pressed one of his objections to the Constitution. 
 
 " It is ascertained by history, that there 
 never was a government over a very extensive 
 country without destroying the liberties of the 
 people : History, also supported by the opinions 
 of the best writers, shows us that a monarchy 
 may suit a large territory ; and despotic govern- 
 ments over so extensive a country ; but that 
 popular governments can only exist "in small 
 territories. Is there a single example on the 
 face of the earth to support the contrary opin- 
 ion? was there one exception to this rule? was 
 there ever an instance of a general government 
 extending over so extensive a country, abounding 
 in such a variety of climates, where the people 
 retained their liberties?" — Va. D. p. 65. 
 
 In reply Col. Nicholas proceeded : 
 
 " It is a fact known to many members, within 
 my hearing, that several members have tried 
 their interest out doors to induce others to op- 
 pose this system. Every local interest that 
 could affect their minds, has been operated upon. 
 Can it be possible that gentlemen elected for 
 their ability and integrity, to represent the peo- 
 ple of Virginia in this convention, to determine 
 this question, can be influenced by motives like 
 these ? * >K * ^n answer which has been 
 given in this, that if this Constitution be adopted, 
 the western counties will be be lost. It is bet- 
 
 m 
 
Life and Events. 43 
 
 ter that a few counties should he lost, than all 
 America! But, sir, no such consequences can 
 follotv from its adoption, they will he much more 
 secure than they are at present.'" 
 
 ^ * ^< * * * 
 
 This Constitution, sir, will secure the equal liberty 
 and happiness of all. It will do immortal honor to 
 the gentlemen who framed it! * * * He (Mr. 
 Henry) has touched on a strin<^ which will have great 
 effect. The western country is not safe if this plan 
 be adopted. What do they stand in need of 1 Do 
 they want protection from enemies ? The present 
 weak government can not protect them. But the 
 exercise of the Congressiontil poAvers, proposed by 
 this Constitution will afford them ample security, 
 because the general government can command the 
 whole strength of the Union, to protect any parti- 
 cular part. There is another point wherein this 
 government will set them right. I mean the west- 
 ern posts. This is a subject with which every gen- 
 tleman here is acquainted. They have been with- 
 held from us by the British since the peace. * * As 
 to the navigation of the Mississippi, it is one of the 
 most inalienable rights of the people, and ought to 
 be relinquished on no consideration. The strength 
 of the western people is inadequate to its retention 
 and enjoyment. They can receive no aid from the 
 confederation. This navigation can only be secured 
 in one of two ways, by force or by treaty. As to 
 force, the new government will be more likely to 
 retain it than the old. It will also be more likely 
 
44 Life and Events. 
 
 to retain it by means of treaties; because, as it 
 will be more powerful and respectable, it will be 
 more feared ; and as they will have more power 
 to injure Spain, Spain will be more inclined to 
 do them justice." — Va. D. p. 174. 
 
 He concluded " by making a few observations 
 on the general structure of the government, and 
 its probable happy operation. He said that it 
 ivas a government calculated to suit almost any 
 extent of territory. He then quoted the opinion 
 of the celebrated Montesquieu, from Vol. 1, bk. 
 ix, where that writer speaks of a confederated 
 Republic, as the only safe means of extending the 
 sphere of a Republican government to any con- 
 siderable degree." — Va. D. p. 180. 
 
 Again he exclaimed to his opponents ; " will you 
 join an opposition which so directly tends to dis- 
 union ? Can any member here think of disunion 
 without horror ! — Va. D. p. 176. 
 
 In the same speech he likewise spoke : 
 
 " It was said that France and Spain would not 
 be pleased, to see the United States united in one 
 great empire. Shall we remain feeble and con- 
 temptible to please them ? Shall Ave reject our 
 own interest to promote theirs ?" 
 
 Under the articles of confederation, it required 
 the consent of nine States to make a treaty. Mr. 
 Henry, and other great opponents, made powerful 
 efforts against the Constitution upon the ground, 
 that there being but seven States in favor of relin- 
 quishing the Mississippi, it was, under the old sys- 
 
Life and Events. 45 
 
 tern safe to the west ; but under the proposed 
 Constitution the Senators from the States in favor 
 of relinquishing that river, being largely over two- 
 thirds of a quorum, might ratify a treaty giving up 
 that river. 
 
 This was a most powerful weapon with the western 
 members, and imperiled, the entire vote on the final 
 question. 
 
 In replying again to these objections, Col. Nic- 
 holas said, " we have been alarmed about the loss 
 of the Mississippi in and out of doors. What does 
 it all amount to ? * * * Is the right better 
 secured under the present confederation, than the 
 new government ? 
 
 I beg leave to draw the attention of the com- 
 mittee to this question. It is objected by my 
 friend to the left, (Mr. Henry,) that two thirds of 
 the Senate present, may advise the President to 
 give up this right by a treaty, by which five States 
 may relinquish it. It is provided in the first article, 
 that a majority of each house, shall constitute a 
 quorum to do business, and then in the second arti- 
 cle, that the President, by and with the consent of 
 the Senate, shall have power to make treaties. 
 What part of the Senate ? It adds, " provided two 
 thirds of the Senators concur. What is the infer- 
 ence ? That there must be a quorum, and two 
 thirds of the whole must agree." * * * * 
 
 " But the worthy member says, that this strong 
 government is such a one as Kentucky ought to 
 dread. Is this just, Mr. Chairman? Is it just by 
 
46 Life and Events. 
 
 general assertions, without arguments or proofs to 
 cast aspersions on it ? 
 
 What is the situation of that country? If she 
 has a r'ght and is in possession of that river, I ask 
 the gentleman why she does not enjoy the fruits of 
 her right? I wish, if she has the river, she would 
 give the people passports to navigate it. What do 
 ^/ie?/want? They want a government which will 
 force from Spain the navigation of that river. I 
 trust, sir, that let the situation, government and 
 politics of America, be Avhat they may, I shall live 
 to see the time, when the inhabitants of that coun- 
 try will wrest from that nation, that right Avhich 
 she is so justly entitled to. If we have that 
 government which we ought to have, they will have 
 the ability to enforce their right. 
 
 5i; * * * ^ * 
 
 " I think that Kentucky has nothing to expect 
 from any one State, alone, in America. She can 
 expect succor alone from a strong, eflficient gov- 
 ernment, which can command the resources of the 
 Union when necessary. She can receive no sup- 
 port from the old confederation. Consider the 
 present state of that country : declared independent 
 of Virginia, to whom is she to look for succor ? No 
 sister State can help her. She may call on the 
 present general government, but, whatever may be 
 the wish of Congress, they can give them no relief. 
 There is my property, and there I intend to reside. 
 I should be averse to the establishment of any sys- 
 tem which would be injurious to it. I flatter 
 
Life and Events. 47 
 
 myself that this government "will secure their hap- 
 piness and liberty." 
 
 j(i ^ 5jl ?[C 3p 5f* 5f> !fi 
 
 Near the close of the debate a scene took place 
 between him and Mr. Henry, which shows that 
 some feeling had been aroused between them, in 
 the discussion: 
 
 "Mr. Nicholas, * * * as to the claims of 
 certain companies who purchased lands of the In- 
 dians, they were determined, prior to the opening 
 of the land office, by tlie Legislature of Vir- 
 ginia, and it is not to be supposed they will 
 be returned again. But, sir, there are gentle- 
 men who have come by large possessions that it 
 is not so easy to account for. Here Mr. Henry 
 interfered, and hoped the honorable gentleman 
 meant nothmg personal. Mr. Nicholas observed, 
 I mean what I say, sir." * * * 
 
 " Mr. Henry, If the gentleman means personal 
 insinuations, or to wound my private reputation, 
 I think this is an improper place to do so. * * * 
 As to land matters I can tell how I came by what 
 I have — but I think that gentleman, Mr. Nicholas, 
 has no right to make that enquiry of me, I mean 
 not to offend any one, I have not the most distant 
 idea of injuring any gentleman, my object was to 
 obtain information. If I have offended in private 
 life or wounded the feelings of any man, I did not 
 intend it. I beg pardon, sir, for having inter- 
 rupted thus far." 
 
 " Mr. Nicholas ; Mr. Chairman, I meant no 
 
48 Life and Events. 
 
 personality in what I said, nor did I mean any 
 resentment. If such conduct deserves the con- 
 tempt of that gentleman, I can assure him it 
 meets with an equal contempt from me." 
 
 " Mr. President, observed that he hoped gen- 
 tlemen would not be personal ; that they would 
 proceed to investigate the subject calmly and in 
 in a peaceable manner." 
 
 " Mr. Nicholas, replied that he did not mean 
 the honorable gentleman, (Mr. Henry,) but he 
 meant those who had taken up large tracts of 
 lands in the western country. The reason he would 
 not explain himself before was, that he thought 
 some observations dropped from that gentleman, 
 that ought not to have come from one gentleman 
 to another." 
 
 The objections to the adoption of the Consti- 
 tution referred to by the preceding quotations, 
 and others were presented through the discussion 
 with all the intrepid eloquence of Henry, the 
 "Roman energy," and dense logic of Mason and 
 the glowing genius of Grayson. 
 
 With the same ability indicated by the quo- 
 tation from his speeches, Col. Nicholas defined 
 and defended every important portion of the 
 Constitution, embracing the nature, extent and 
 division of the powers of the government and the 
 security of the people, as the supporters and 
 controllers of the entire system through their 
 own chosen officers. 
 
 On the 25th June, 1788, Col. Nicholas announ- 
 
Life and Events. 49 
 
 ced that the friends of the Constitution desired 
 no further discussion ; that they were convinced, 
 further time would only serve those, who wished 
 to destroy the Constitution ; that its friends 
 wished it to be ratified, and such amendments 
 as might be necessary, to be subsequently con- 
 sidered by a committee, in order to be recom- 
 mended to Congress, to be acted upon accord- 
 ing to the amendatory mode presented in itself. 
 This closed the discussion, and the Constitution 
 of the United States was ratified on the same day, 
 by a majority of ten votes of the members of the 
 Virginia convention ; the same being, ayes 89, 
 noes 79, votes. 
 
 After Independence was secured and also 
 after the adoption of the Constitution of the 
 United States, the next great question that agita- 
 ted the people of the Union, was a question of 
 territorial policy. In order to understand this 
 question, it is necessary to commence with its 
 beginning. When it became certain that the 
 Independence of the Colonies was established, 
 the friendly courts of Spain and France, mani- 
 fested great uneasiness about the western limits 
 of the new Republic. Spain being the owner of 
 immense possessions on the Mississippi, and 
 France in the West Indies, it became the object of 
 both to make the Alleghanies the western bound- 
 ary of the United States. Failing in this, Leon 
 Gardoqui, the Spanish Minister, in pursuit of 
 their next object, opened a negotiation in 1786 
 
50 Life and Events. 
 
 ■with John Jay, the Secretary of foreign aifairs 
 for the United States, concerning the Mississippi 
 river. Jay's instructions from Congress, forbade 
 him from conceding any right of the States to 
 that river, but he reported to Congress, that 
 by relinquishing their right to navigate it 
 for twenty years, the States could obtain more 
 than an equivalent for the same. Thereupon 
 seven north-eastern States voted to rescind Jay's 
 instructions, for the purpose of enabling him to 
 cede away all right to the use of that river for 
 twenty years. In 1787, Kentucky made her fifth 
 application for admission into the Union, Her 
 application was made through John Brown, 
 an eminent lawyer and statesman, resident of 
 Kentucky. He informed his constituents, that he 
 believed the jealousy of the New England States, 
 to any increase of Southern States had defeated 
 their efi'orts, and he thought the same cause would 
 have a similar effect with the new government. 
 He gave it as his opinion that Kentucky would 
 declare her independence. 
 
 In 1787, Hon. Henry Innis, a man of high and 
 distinguished personal and political position, wrote 
 to the Governor of Virginia, giving it as his 
 opinion that Kentucky would form herself into an 
 independent State in two or three years, because 
 Congress did not protect her, and under the 
 existing system she could not protect herself. 
 He adds, " I have just dropped this hint to your 
 excellency for matter of reflection." 
 
Life AND Events. 51 
 
 While the people of Kentucky were thus baffled 
 in every effort for admission into the Union; 
 while they had failed in every effort to obtain 
 protection for their frontiers, the Indians con- 
 tinued, incessantly their shocking murders. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Kentucky was 
 called upon to elect delegates to the Virginia con- 
 vention, called to adopt or reject the Federal 
 Constitution; and from these causes nearly the 
 entire population, including nearly all the leading 
 men in Kentucky, were opposed to the adoption 
 of the Constitution. The principal grounds of 
 their opposition was the previous refusal of the 
 General Government to protect their frontiers ; 
 her refusal to admit them into the Union as a 
 State, and her refusal to secure them the use of 
 the Mississippi river. In 1787, Kentucky held 
 her seventh convention in Danville, having for its 
 object the consideration of these measures. 
 
 But she was again foiled in her efforts and con- 
 tinued to struggle for the right of becoming a 
 State, and of navigating the Mississippi river. 
 This was her condition when George Nicholas 
 advocated the adoption of the Constitution of the 
 United States, and when soon afterwards he made 
 her his home. His first public effort after his 
 removal is referred to as follows by a distinguished 
 gentleman and writer : 
 
 " In December, 1791, the ninth and last con- 
 vention was elected, who assembled at Danville 
 in April following, and framed the first constitu- 
 
52 Life and Events. 
 
 tion of Kentucky. George Nicholas, who had 
 been eminently distinguished in the Virginia con- 
 vention, which adopted the Federal Constitution, 
 was elected a member of the Kentucky conven- 
 tion from the county of Mercer, and took an 
 active and leading part in the formation of the 
 first Constitution." Kentucky was soon after- 
 wards admitted into the Union ; the first fruits of 
 Independence and of the Constitution of the 
 United States, she thus commenced a career of 
 glory with her maternal States. 
 
 In 1793, it was rumored that Jay, who was 
 regarded as an enemy to Kentucky, was to be 
 sent as Minister to England, and that the naviga- 
 tion of the Mississippi was to be abandoned by 
 our government. These rumors, in the abscence 
 of contradiction, and, coupled as they were with 
 the failure of the General Government to protect 
 Kentucky from the incessant murders of the 
 Indians, and her failure to protect the Mississippi 
 trade, produced the fiercest excitement with the 
 people. 
 
 There being no such thing then as transporta- 
 tion by steam, the currents of that great river 
 and its ti-ibutaries, were the only outlets for 
 the produce of its great valleys. Their pros- 
 perity, present and future, depended upon it. 
 The general government was then negotiating 
 a treaty with Spain on the subject. Fearing 
 it would direct emigration and trade from the 
 north-eastern States, there was a party there, 
 
Life and Events. 53 
 
 and its allies in the west, making every effort 
 to defeat any acquisition in this direction. In 
 Kentucky the people were denouncing them 
 in the bitterest terms for a course of policys, 
 so ruinous to their prospects. 
 
 We have already seen from his declarations 
 in the Virginia convention, that Col. Nicholas 
 considered the navigation of the Mississippi, 
 one of the inalienable rights of the citizens of 
 its valleys, and advised the government to 
 wrest that right from Spain, by force if neces- 
 sary, and secure it to our citizens. But after 
 the adoption of the Constitution, the general 
 government kept secret from the west her long 
 delayed negotiations on the subject, and failed 
 to protect the people in the use of the river. 
 This created great dissatisfaction in the west, 
 and led the people to believe, that the party 
 in power would delay, and perhaps finally defeat 
 the measure. 
 
 Their only hope then was to maintain friendly 
 relations with Spain, until they could get an 
 administration that would use the power of the 
 government, to secure to them this inestimable 
 boon. These were the circumstances and objects 
 comprehended by Col. Nicholas and his party. 
 Some of the enemies of that vitally important 
 measure — enemies to the acquisition of the 
 Mississippi — have attempted to slander their 
 course as they did their policy. 
 
 Such attempts oulj show the vindictiveness or 
 
54 Life and Events. 
 
 short-sightedness of those who made it. A rash 
 or insulting act, would have insulted the haughty 
 Spanish monarch, and so far as could then be seen 
 or supposed, would have endangered, perhaps 
 defeated their wishes and objects. 
 
 The subsequent course of events proves this 
 to have been the object of the opposition ; 
 to quarrel with Spain ; thus defeat the acquisition 
 by treaty ; to refuse to hold the river by force 
 or conquest, and thus entirely defeat that great 
 measure. It is the true record of history, that 
 the administration did dispute with Spain over 
 this question ; that it did also refuse to protect 
 the citizens in the use of that river, and finally 
 so insulted the government of Spain, that, in 
 1800, she ceded the whole of the territory 
 of Louisiana to France by secret treaty ; and 
 nothing but the approaching Avar with England 
 in 1803 induced the ambitious Napoleon to sell 
 that inestimable country to the United States 
 of America. Even after this acquisition the 
 opposing party never ceased to pursue its old 
 policy; and it is astonishing to witness the fact, 
 that the same party ever so far obtained the con- 
 fidence of the Monroe administration, as to influ- 
 ence it to cede a large portion of Louisiana — 
 the portion since called Texas — to Spain, and 
 that too for a very inconsiderable consideration. 
 
 The party in power did not stop at these efforts, 
 blighting as they would have been to the pros- 
 pects of the great Mississippi Valley. The 
 
Life and Events. 55 
 
 increase of foreign emigration to the United 
 States, and its rapid tendency to the West 
 were some of the reasons that induced the same 
 party to pass the alien and sedition laws. 
 
 The close of the Revolution, the adoption of 
 the Constitution of the United States, and the 
 admission of Kentucky into the Union, caused 
 a great rush of emigration to the rich and 
 beautiful lands of the west. Kentucky having 
 been the dark and bloody ground of Indian 
 war, this first fair daughter of the revolution 
 was peopled by many of the boldest spirits of 
 the east. Shut out as they were by the impassa- 
 ble AUeghanies, from the Atlantic Markets, their 
 only hope for trade was in the south ; their 
 means of transportation, the currents of her rivers. 
 Before them stretched an almost boundless coun- 
 try, peopled by their deadly, hereditary foes — 
 the cruel Indians. Here was the great heart and 
 artery of a mighty empire, inviting millions to fell 
 her forests, cultivate her soil, and build all the 
 wants and institutions of civilization. When, there- 
 fore, this party proposed by these measures — 
 proposed to surrender the Mississippi, destroy for- 
 eign emigration, and even silence opposition to 
 these stupendous usurpations, it is not at all 
 surprising that Kentucky was the first state to 
 present her bold front against the party and the 
 measures which threatened to blight forever the 
 fairest prospect on the globe. 
 
 The people of the eastern ^states, even Vir- 
 
56 Life and Events. 
 
 ginia, did not at first see nor feel the pending 
 ruin of the west. Jefferson and Madison, both 
 men of peaceful dispositions ; — Jefferson being in 
 the Vice Presidency, it was the destiny of Ken- 
 tucky chivalry first to feel the blows aimed at 
 her liberty and prosperity, and to rise in con- 
 stitutional rebellion against them ; it was the 
 great spirit of George Nicholas that chiefly led 
 this army of patriots. 
 
 Soon after the Virginia Convention, Col. Nich- 
 olas removed to Kentucky. Here he devoted 
 himself assiduously to his profession and main- 
 tained among her most gifted votaries, the highest 
 position. But the great questions of that great 
 period demanded a portion of his efi"orts. Ken- 
 tucky struggling to become a State of the Union, 
 and the Union herself just commencing her 
 career for weal or for woe, demanded his assis- 
 tance. As a delegate from the county of Mercer, 
 he was chiefly the author of Kentucky's first 
 Constitution. He also accepted the office of At- 
 torney General or Constitutional adviser to Ken- 
 tucky's first, and a second time her pre-eminent 
 Governor, who was a distinguished patriot and 
 soldier of the revolutionary war. In connection 
 with the questions of the State, he was the great 
 leader of his party on the national issues. His 
 writings spread truth abroad and his speeches 
 aroused great enthusiasm at home. When an- 
 nounced that he wptild speak on the great ques- 
 tions of the times^ multitudes of his countrymen 
 
Life and Events. 57 
 
 gathered to hear him. Surrounded by great 
 opposition, yet his bold facts and arguments pro- 
 duced the clearest conviction, and his appeals to 
 patriotism were responded to by irresistable ma- 
 jorities. His efforts procured and produced the 
 almost imanimous passage of the celebrated reso- 
 lutions of '98, through the legislature of Ken- 
 tucky ; his letter on the great questions of 
 the day was then written and published to the 
 country. He thus gave the first great impulse 
 to the cause ; to the cause that proclaimed Thomas 
 .Tefferson Chief Magistrate of the Union, and 
 thus commenced a career of goodness and of 
 greatness unrivalled in the history of parties or 
 governments. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Jefferson to a son 
 of Col. Nicholas, gives the history of the cele- 
 brated resolutions of '98. 
 
 Monticello, Dec. llth, 1821. 
 
 To Nicholas : 
 
 Dear Sir : — Your letter of Dec. 19th places 
 me under a dilemma which I can not solve, but 
 by an exposition of the naked truth. I would 
 have wished this rather to have remained as 
 hitherto without inquiry, but your inquiries 
 have a right to be answered. 1 will do it as 
 exactly as the great lapse of time and a 
 waning memory will enable me, I may misre- 
 member indifferent circumstances but can be 
 right in substance. 
 
58 Life and Events. 
 
 At the time when the republicans of our 
 country were so much alarmed at the proceed- 
 ings of the federal ascendency in Congress, in 
 the executive and judiciary departments, it be- 
 came a matter of serious consideration, how 
 head could be made against their enterprises 
 on the Constitution. The leading republicans in 
 Congress found themselves of no use there, 
 brow-beaten as they were by a bold and over- 
 whelming majority. They concluded to retire 
 from that field, take a stand in the State legis- 
 latures and endeavor there to arrest their progress. 
 The alien and sedition laws furnished the par- 
 ticular occasion. The sympathy between Vir- 
 ginia and Kentucky was more cordial and more 
 intimatly confidential, than any other States of 
 the republican policy. Mr. Madison came into 
 the Virginia legislature. I was then in the Vice- 
 Presidency and could not leave my station. But 
 your father (Col. Geo. Nicholas), Col. W. C. 
 Nicholas, (a brother) and myself happening to 
 be together, the engaging the co-operation of 
 Kentucky in an energetic protestation against the 
 constitutionality of those laws, became a subject 
 of consultation. 
 
 Those gentlemen pressed me strongly to sketch 
 resolutions for that purpose, your father under- 
 taking to introduce them to that legislature, 
 with a solmen assurance which I strictly required 
 that it should not be known from what quarter 
 they came. I drew and delivered them to him, 
 
Life and Events. 59 
 
 and in keeping their origin secret, he fulfilled 
 his pledge of honor. Some years after this Col. 
 Nicholas asked me, if I would have any objec- 
 tion to its being known that 1 had drawn them, 
 I pointedly enjoined that it should not. Whether 
 he had unguardedly intimated it before to any 
 one, I know not ; but afterwards observed in the 
 papers repeated imputations of them to me, on 
 which, as has been my practice on all cases of 
 imputation, I have observed entire silence. The 
 question, indeed, has never before been put to 
 me, nor should I answer it to any other than 
 yourself; seeing no good end to be proposed by 
 it, and the desire of tranquility inducing, with 
 me, a wish to be withdrawn from public notice. 
 
 Your father's zeal and talents were too well 
 known, to derive any additional distinction from 
 the penning of these resolutions. That circum- 
 stance, surely, was of far less merit, than the 
 proposing and carrying them through the legis- 
 lature of his State. 
 
 The only fact in this statement, on which my 
 memory is not distinct, is the time and occasion 
 of the consultation -with your father and Col. 
 Nicholas. It took place here, I know ; but 
 whether any other person was present or com- 
 municated with, is my doubt. I think Mr. 
 Madison was either with us, or consulted, but 
 my memory is uncertain as to minute details. 
 
 I fear, dear sir, Ave are now in such another 
 crisis, with this difference only, that the judiciary 
 
60 Life and Events. 
 
 branch is alone and single-handed in the present 
 assaults on the Constitution. But its assaults 
 are more sure and deadly, as from an agent 
 seemingly passive and unassuming. 
 
 May you and your cotemporaries meet them 
 with the same determination and effect, as your 
 father and his did the alien and sedition laws, 
 and preserve a Constitution which, preserved in 
 all its chastity and purity, will prove a blessing, 
 in the end, to all the nations of the Earth. 
 
 With these prayers, accept those for your 
 own happiness and prosperity. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson." 
 
 On the same day. Col. Nicholas caused these 
 resolutions to be carried through the legislature 
 of Kentucky, he commenced his great l6tter to 
 his friend in Virginia ; to wit, November 10th, 
 1798. This letter preceded Mr. Madison's cele- 
 brated report about a year, and it is believed 
 that the patriot, lawyer or statesman can read 
 it with emotions only of grateful pleasure and 
 pride. When it is considered that it was written 
 in the first great contest of practical statesman- 
 ship, under the Constitution of our country ; 
 written in defiance of the pains and penalties of 
 the laws and powers it denounced, it may then 
 be appreciated as one of the efforts of a patriot 
 in defence of the Constitution of his country, 
 under the most trying circumstances, and in 
 the most important period of her history. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 I 
 
 Lexington, Ky., Nov. 10, 1798. 
 
 My Deak Sirs : 
 
 ***** Having shown me 
 that part of your letter to him which respects 
 our politics, and myself, I have prevailed on 
 him to lend me the letter, that I might have 
 it in my power to answer it. I am induced to 
 do this as well from a desire to remove the unjust 
 impressions and representations which have heen 
 received hy and made to our fellow citizens, of 
 our views and designs, as from a wish, that by 
 making our real sentiments public, an opportu- 
 nity may be afforded of detecting the errors 
 on which they are founded, if they really are 
 erroneous. 
 
 Before I enter on the subject, let me request 
 your calm and deliberate consideration of what 
 I shall advance. Opinions and reasoning which 
 are in opposition to what we think right our- 
 selves, are often condemned and rejected too 
 hastily ; but this is not the way to remove 
 errors; full and dispassionate investigation is 
 the only means of arriving at truth, and the 
 real patriot can have no other object in his 
 political inquiries. 
 
 The warmth of my own passions, the improper 
 influence which I am conscious, that they too 
 
62 Life and Events. 
 
 often have over my judgment, and the particular 
 tendency which I feel, that they possess to 
 lead the mind astray, in its attempts to form 
 a just opinion, as to our present political ques- 
 tions, all conspire to make me urge this request 
 on my friends whose good opinion I wish to 
 preserve, whose unintentional errors I wish to 
 see corrected, and whose well known patriot- 
 ism I wish to rouse, before that period shall 
 arrive, when a conviction of the most important 
 truths will come too late ; and when the remem- 
 brance that it was not felt earlier, will be 
 attended with the most heartfelt sorrow and con- 
 cern. If after having devoted the prime of your 
 life to the establishment of the liberty of your 
 country, if after having shed your blood in its 
 defense, if after seeing you surrounded with 
 children and grand-children, for whose sake you 
 have voluntarily submitted to all the ills neces- 
 sarily attendant on revolutions and wars, what 
 would be your feelings in the decline of life, 
 if you should see that liberty destroyed? I 
 know you so well as to be satisfied that nothing 
 could add to the bitterness of such a situation, 
 but the recollection that you had, by an improper 
 and unlimited confidence, even undesignedly con- 
 tributed to it. Pause then, my friend, and think 
 deliberately and dispassionately, and do not let 
 any improper conduct in a foreign nation to 
 which your attention is artfully turned on one 
 side, blind you to the eminent danger which 
 
Life and Events. 63 
 
 hangs over the liberties of your country, on the 
 other. At the time you are calling out arm, arm, 
 against a foreign foe, who you say threatens 
 the independence of our country, do not shut 
 your eyes to domestic violations of our con- 
 stitution and our liberties. What will it avail 
 us, if we can preserve our independence as a 
 nation, nay, if we can even raise our country 
 to the highest pitch of national glory, provided 
 we at the same time lose our own liberties ? 
 If France is at this time subjected at home to 
 the military despotism which is said to reign 
 there, will the conquest achieved by her arms, 
 and the glory which surrounds her, compensate 
 the people of that country in the smallest 
 degree for their lost liberties ? Can the power 
 and confidence of tyrants ever aleviate the 
 miseries of their slaves? If they can not, we 
 ought to consider it as a truth of the most 
 important nature, that independence abroad is 
 of no real value unless it is accompanied with 
 liberty at home. 
 
 The preamble to our Constitution declares, 
 that the securing this liberty was the great 
 and primary consideration, which induced the 
 people of America to form that Constitution ? 
 " We, the people of the United States, in order 
 to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 insure domestic tranquility, provide for the c^om- 
 mon defence, promote the general welfiire, and 
 secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
 
64 Life and Events. 
 
 our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- 
 stitution for the United States of America." 
 
 My feelings have forced from me these ob- 
 servations : I will now answer your letter. 
 
 You say, " we entertain none of your fears ; 
 our liberties we think are not in danger." It is 
 not at all surprising when we form such different 
 opinions of our political situation, that our con- 
 duct also should be so materially different ; but 
 as the conduct of either can be right only as 
 far as the opinion by which it is actuated shaU 
 prove to be just, we ought carefully to ascertain 
 which of those opinions is founded on propriety. 
 No country can be free, unless it has a Consti- 
 tution limiting in a sufficient degree, the powers 
 of those who are appointed to administer the gov- 
 ernment ; and also guarding those powers from 
 abuse, as far as such a guard can be established. 
 The most effectual guard which has yet been dis- 
 covered against the abuse of power; is the division 
 of it. It is our happiness to have a Constitution 
 which which contains it, a sufficient limitation to 
 the power granted by it, and also a proper 
 division of that power. But no Constitution 
 affords any real security to liberty, unless it is 
 considered as sacred and preserved inviolate ; 
 because that security can only arise from an 
 actual, and not from a nominal limitation and 
 division of power. Every violation of such a 
 Constitution must be made in one of two ways ; 
 either by an assumption by the government at 
 
Life and Events. 65 
 
 large, of greater powers than is given to it by the 
 Constitution, or by one branch of th^ government 
 assuming to itself, or having transferred to it by 
 the other branches, powers which the Constitu- 
 tion declares shall be exercised only by the other 
 branches, or by the whole government. This 
 transfer even of the Constitutional powers, from 
 the whole to a part, or from the part to 
 which they are given by the Constitution, to 
 a part to which they are not given; is as dan- 
 gerous to liberty, as an assumption by the whole 
 of the government, of more power than is given 
 to it by the Constitution, because the division 
 of the power which is given, is as essential as 
 its limitation to the preservation of liberty. 
 Before, therefore, we can admit the truth of 
 your opinion, that "our liberties are not in 
 danger," we must be satisfied that our govern- 
 ment has neither assumed to itself, others or 
 greater powers than are assigned to it by the 
 Constitution, by permitting any one branch of 
 the government to exercise powers especially 
 confiided by the Constitution, either to the whole 
 or to other parts of the government. 
 
 I will examine a number of the acts of our 
 government by these tests. The Constitution 
 declares that " Congress shall have power to raise 
 and support armies," an act passed by Congress 
 gives the President power in the event of the 
 declaration of war against the United States, or 
 of actual invasion of their territory by a foreign 
 
Qij ' Life AND Events. 
 
 power, or of iminent danger of sucli invasion, 
 discovered in his opinion to exist, before the next 
 session of Congress to cause to be enlisted and to 
 call into actual service, a number of troops not 
 exceeding 10,000 ; to be enlisted for a term not 
 exceeding three years." The same bill also enacts, 
 " that in addition to the aforesaid number of 
 troops ; the President is hereby empowered, at 
 any time within three years after the passing of 
 this act, if in his opinion the public interest shall 
 require it, to accept any company or companies 
 of volunteers either of artillery, infantry or 
 cavalry, who may associate and offer themselves 
 for the service, Avho shall be armed and equipped 
 and clothed at their own expense, and whose com- 
 missioned officers the President is hereby author- 
 ized to appoint, who shall be liable to be called 
 to do military duty at any time the President 
 shall adjudge proper, within two years after he 
 shall accept the same." Ijj this act the power ves- 
 ted by the Constitution in Congress, " to raise 
 armies," has been by them transferred to the 
 President; and he is made the sole judge of the 
 necessity of raising this army, and of the number 
 that it shall consist of, so that the regulars do 
 not exceed 10,000 ; but without any restrictions 
 as to the number of volunteers, and as the Presi- 
 dent is at liberty to accept of volunteers at any 
 time within three years after the passage of the 
 act, and as they are liable to be called on to do 
 military duty at any time the President shall 
 
Life and Events. 67 
 
 adjudge proper, witbin tAvo years after he shall 
 accept of their services, it may be truly said, 
 that he has an absolute power for five years, to 
 raise an army to any amount he pleases, to be 
 commanded by ofiicers of his own appointment, 
 and to do such service as he shall be pleased to 
 direct ; and if these corps of volunteers are to 
 be considered as select corps of militia, in which 
 light they appear to have been considered by the 
 amendatory act passed on this subject, which 
 declares that after their service are accepted 
 by the President, that they shall be exempted 
 from military duty in other corps. The power 
 given to the President by the bill, to appoint 
 their commissioned ojQacers, violates that part of 
 the- Constiution which "reserves to- the States 
 respectively the appointment of the military 
 officers." The Constitution also gives power to 
 Congress, "to provide and maintain a navy," but 
 they have authorised the President to accept by 
 the Avay of a loan, of any number of ships that 
 may be offered to him. The Constitution has also 
 given power to Congress " to borrow money on 
 the credit of the United States ; but they have 
 given the President power to borrow 5,000,000 
 of dollars without any limitation as to the amount 
 of the interest to be paid on the loan. Thus 
 Congress have by these different acts, to the 
 degree that I have stated, transferred the power 
 over the purse and the sword vested in them by 
 the Constitution, to the President; and if a power 
 
68 Life and Events 
 
 over the purse and sword has always been properly 
 considered as including within it all other powers, 
 and if this power to the extent to which it hath 
 been now given to the President hath already, as 
 you suppose, produced forty ships of war, and 
 10,000 volunteers, and will also shortly produce 
 more than 10,000 regulars, all officered by chosen 
 spirits selected by the President himself, and 
 dependant on him for their continuance in office, 
 I beseech you, to inform me on what it is that you 
 found your opinion, that our " liberties are not 
 in danger." So far from my being able to concur 
 with you in this way of thinking, after the 
 most serious reflections on the subject, I am 
 clearly of opinion that if the real difference be- 
 tween our government, as fixed by our Constitu- 
 tion and an absolute government could be ascer- 
 tained, it would be found that those who have 
 administered our government, have already by 
 their different violations of the Constitution, and 
 of the republican principles on which it is founded, 
 done away and destroyed much the greater and 
 most poAverful part of this guard to liberty, 
 which are contained in that Constitution ; and 
 which originally copstitiited the essential differ- 
 ence between our government and a despotic 
 government. And that if, they have in so short a 
 time, with the means which they had in their 
 power, and when the Constitutional barriers, been 
 able to affect so much that it will not require any 
 great effort on their part, to remove the remaining 
 
Life and Events. 69 
 
 difference between the two governments, when their 
 means of attack are increased in a twenty fold 
 degree, and when the principal Constitutional 
 barriers are already laid prostrate at their feet, 
 unless the people of America, will rally around 
 their Constitution for itsprotection. 
 
 You say also, "the alien law you wish perpetu- 
 ated." My knowledge of you convinces me, that 
 you will recall that wish, if I can satisfy you that 
 this law violates the Constitution, by exercising 
 a power not delegated to Congress by the Consti- 
 tution, and by infringing on authority which prior 
 to the Constitution was vested in the State gov- 
 ernments, and which the Constitution still reserved 
 to them, that it violates rights secured to alien 
 friends by the Constitution, of the Federal as well 
 as the State governments ; that it is impolitic, 
 and that it is unjust and unnecessary. You know 
 that this act concerns alien friends only, their 
 being another special act of Congress directing 
 what shall be done with alien enemies, this will 
 render it necessary in the discussion of this ques- 
 tion to take any notice of the doctrine concerning 
 alien enemies. To understand the Constitutional 
 powers of Congress on this subject, we should 
 recollect the State in which this business was, 
 prior to the adoption of the Constitution, and then 
 ascertain the change which was made in it by 
 that Constitution. Prior to the adoption of the 
 Constitution, the people inhabiting the different 
 States might have been divided into two classes, 
 
70 Life and Events. 
 
 natural born citizens, or tliose born within the 
 States, and aliens or such as were born out of it ; 
 the first by their birth-right became entitled to 
 all the privileges of citizens, the second were 
 entitled to none, but such as were held out and 
 given by the laws of the respective States prior 
 to their emigrating to them, I say, by the laws 
 that were in force prior to their emigrating 
 to the State, because, although each State as a 
 sovereign and independent State, had an unques- 
 tionable right to declare on what terms strangers 
 should be permitted to come into the State, and 
 what privileges they should be entitled to, after 
 they had emigrated to the State ; these terms 
 after a stranger had in consequence of their being 
 offered to him actually removed to the State, 
 constituted a compact between him and the State, 
 which could no more be changed by one party 
 to it without the consent of the other, than 
 any other compact can be altered. But still the 
 State had a right to change those terms whenever 
 it adjudged it proper to do so, as to all future 
 emigrants. The laws then of each State must be 
 resorted to, to ascertain what were the privileges 
 granted to emigrants, and upon what- terms, and 
 at what times they were entitled -to those privi- 
 leges. In this State and in Virginia the privileges 
 of alien friends depended on the Constitution of 
 each State, the acts of its legislature and the 
 common law ; by these they were considered, 
 according to the time of their residence and their 
 
Life and Events. 71 
 
 having -complied with certain requisites pointed 
 out by .these laws, either as denizens or natural- 
 ized citizens. As denizens, "they were placed 
 in a kind ,of middle, state between aliens and 
 natural born citizens ;" by naturalization, they 
 were exactly in the same condition that they 
 would have beer, if they had been born within 
 the State, except as far as was especially excepted 
 by the laws of each State. The degree of privi- 
 leges to which each class of aliens v was entitled 
 was different, but the claims of each to the 
 privileges annexed by the law to this class, was 
 equally well established, and the one could no 
 more, with justice or by law, be deprived of his 
 inferior privileges than the other could of his 
 extensive one. And as far as these privileges did 
 extend, they both had the same legal claim to 
 them, that the natural born citizen had to his 
 privilege. Like the natural born citizen, they 
 both owed allegiance to the State, were equally 
 liable to be punished for offences against it, and 
 were equally entitled to the protection of the laws 
 to security against oppression, and to every legal 
 means of self-justification, when attacked by the 
 process of law. The distinction between these 
 two classes of aliens was not only known to, and 
 established by law, but each class had a particular 
 name affixed to it by law, the law denominating 
 one of them denizens, the others naturalized 
 citizens, and the common law had affixed such 
 distinct and appropriate ideas to the terms deniza- 
 
72 Life and Events. 
 
 tion and naturalization, that tliej can not be 
 confounded together, or mistaken for each other, 
 in any legal transaction •whatever. 
 
 They were so absolutely distinct in their natures, 
 that in England the rights they convey, can not 
 both be given by the same power ; the King 
 can make denizens, but nothing but an act of 
 parliament can make a naturalized subject, and 
 although the powers which belong to both King 
 and parliarafnt, under the English Government 
 were vested in the State government at the time 
 of the revolution, still they have always been 
 considered as distinct powers, and as such exer- 
 cised by granting the different degrees of privileges 
 upon the different terms specified by law, as quali- 
 fications necessary to entitle each class of alien 
 friends to the privileges annexed to that class ; 
 and the legal distinction between them and the 
 appropriate meaning given to the name by which 
 each class was distinguished, continued to be re- 
 cognized by the laws of the States in the same 
 manner that it was in England, as may be fully 
 proved by the act of the Virginia legislature, 
 " to naturalize the Marquis LaFayette." This was 
 the legal state of this subject in Virginia, when 
 the Federal Constitution was adopted ; it declares 
 that " Congress should have power to establish 
 an uniform rule of naturalization throughout the 
 United States," but it also declares that " the 
 powers not delegated by the Constitution to 
 the United States, nor prohibited by it to the 
 
Life and Events. 
 
 States, are reserved to the States respectively, 
 or to the people." The power of naturalization, 
 and not that of denization, not heing prohibited 
 to the States by the Constitution, that power 
 ought not to be considered as being given to 
 Congress by the Constitution ; but, on the con- 
 trary as being reserved to the States. As the 
 "words do not give this power, neither does it 
 come within the reason on which the other 
 power was given. The Constitution declares that 
 " the citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
 all the privileges and immunities of citizens in 
 the several States ; " if, therefore, the power of 
 naturalization had been left in the respective 
 States, this consequence would have followed ; 
 they might have established diiferent rules, and 
 a man who could not have been naturalized 
 by the law of Virginia, he might have been 
 naturalized by the law of Maryland, and then 
 as a citizen of Maryland, he would have been 
 entitled to all the privileges and immunities of 
 a citizen of Virginia. It was, therefore, abso- 
 lutely necessary to prevent this inconvenience, 
 and the evils which would necessarily grow out 
 of it, to vest Congress with the exclusive power 
 of naturalization ; as by this means no man 
 coukl be admitted as a naturalized citizen of 
 one State, by any qualification different from 
 that which would be required in any other 
 State. But tliis reason did not apply to the 
 riffht of denization because this did not make 
 
74 Life and Events. 
 
 a citizen of an alien, but only placed liim in 
 a middle State between tlie two ; and because 
 it only gave him local privileges, which he 
 w^as so far from being entitled to carry witli 
 him into another State, that he actually lost 
 them by his removal from the State giving 
 them. And, although the individual State might 
 for the reasons assigned, have been willing to 
 give up to Congress the power of naturaliza- 
 tion, it would have been very dangerous and 
 impolitic to put it in the power of a majority 
 of the States in the Union, to prohibit emi- 
 ffration to the other States. The ninth section 
 of the first article, and the fifth article of the 
 Constitution, prove beyond contradiction that the 
 Constitution so far from intending to give 
 Congress any other powers on this subject but 
 that which it does expressly give to the body, 
 " to establish an uniform rule of naturali- 
 zation, " has expressly forbid such a power 
 being given them, even by an amendment to 
 the Constitution, prior to the year 1800 ; and, 
 therefore, must prove also that this act is un- 
 constitutional. But admitting for argument sake 
 that Congress had a right to legislate on this 
 subject, I conceive that the act which they have 
 passed respecting it, is unconstitutional, from' the 
 nature of the provision contained in the act. 
 
 ' If they had a right given them by the Consti- 
 tution to legislate on this subject, it could be 
 no greater rig-ht than Avas before vested in the 
 
Life and Events. - 75 
 
 State governments ; and the State laws -which 
 have been passed respecting it prior to the 
 adoption of that Constitution, were unquestionably 
 in force until Congress did le^'islate concerning 
 it, and all the terms held out by those laws 
 were binding on the United States, as to all 
 who had emigrated here prior to the first act 
 of legislation by Congress respecting it. If 
 those State laws are examined, it will be found 
 that every security which is given to a natural 
 born citizen, for the enjoyment of his privileges. 
 is also given to all alien friends for the enjoy- 
 ment of theirs ; and that those laws were so 
 far from intending to deprive persons in their 
 situation, of any privilege which would prevent 
 them from having as full and as fair trials as 
 natural born citizens were entitled to, that they 
 have in certain cases allowed them to claim 
 privileges in our Courts, (such as that their jury 
 should consist of half foreigners,) which were 
 allowed to no other persons ; and the federal 
 Constitution also declares thnt in all criminal 
 prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a speedy and public trial by jury, and the 
 trial of all crimes shall be by jury. We find 
 in these clauses no terms of restriction, which 
 can confine their operation, or the privileges 
 which they are intended to grant to any par- 
 • ticular persons; on the contrary the expressions 
 used in the Constitution are general. 
 
 Suppose an alien who had resided here many 
 
76 Life and Events. 
 
 years under the protection of tlie State, the 
 laws and in the enjoyment of the privileges 
 given him by those laws, without being natu- 
 ralized under the laws of the United States, 
 was to be prosecuted for treason, would he be 
 tried by a jury ? Certainly he would. If so, 
 it would be because the law directs that this 
 shall be the case; for there can be but one 
 legal mode of trial, no discretionary power having 
 been vested in any court to prescribe or alter 
 the mode which shall be pursued. If this is 
 the legal mode of trial, it is the privilege of 
 the alien to have it followed, and in a prose- 
 cution for treason he could not be legally deprived 
 of it. And if this would be his privilege in a 
 prosecution for treason, although he had never 
 been naturalized, the Constitution secures it to 
 him equally in all other cases, where accusa- 
 tions are brou2;ht against him, because it declares. 
 " that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
 shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public 
 trial by an impartial jury of the State and 
 district wherein the crime shall have been com- 
 mitted ; which district shall have been previously 
 ascertained by law ; and to be informed of the 
 nature and cause of the accusation, to be con- 
 fronted with the witnesses against him ; to have 
 compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
 favor ; and to have the assistance of the counsel 
 for his defence." 
 
 Considering this punishment of banishment as 
 
Life and Events. 77 
 
 a novelty in our law, it is for tliat reason 
 also unconstitutional, because the Constitution 
 declares that, " cruel and unusual punishment 
 shall not be inflicted." 
 
 And, although this law directs this punish- 
 ment to be inflicted on alien friends only, if the 
 principle is once admitted to be a Constitutional 
 one, it will soon be extended to natives also ; 
 and then the best of our patriots, would under 
 new fangled charges of sedition, be sent to Botany 
 Bay, to lament the general downfall of liberty, 
 with the British patriots who have been already 
 exiled there, under sentences given on similar 
 charges. 
 
 This act is also unconstitutional, because the 
 Constitution declares, " that the judicial power 
 of the United States, shall be vested in courts, 
 to be established by Congress, the judges of 
 which shall hold their offices during good beha- 
 vior," whereas this act gives the President power 
 to judge and determine in this case ; if that 
 deserves to be called a judgment, Avhich is given 
 without a trial of any kind, and on a suspicion 
 only. 
 
 If, then, the aliens* who came to this country 
 in consequence of the legal assurances they had 
 received, that they should enjoy certain privileges; 
 that they, in common with all others residing here, 
 should be protected in the enjoyment of all their 
 just privileges ; that they should never forfeit 
 them but in consequence of their own improper 
 
78 Life and Events. 
 
 conduct, and not then, until tlie charge against 
 them had been established before a proper tri- 
 bunal, after a full, fair, and legal investigation 
 of that charge ; I must be warranted in saying, 
 that this law is unconstitutional, because it puts 
 it in the power of the President to banish them, 
 a punishment hitherto unknown to our laws, and 
 now confined to them alone, and that upon sus- 
 picion only, and, without a previous trial of any 
 kind. That this act is imjsolitic, no man can 
 doubt, who knows the extent of the present 
 uncultivated tracts of country, in the United 
 States. 
 
 Until within a very short period, it has been 
 universally admitted as a truth, that there was 
 no line of policy so important to us, as the 
 encouraging of emigration ; as a proof of it, 
 the Declaration of Independence states it as one 
 of our charges against the tyrant, George III, 
 " that lie endeavored to prevent the population 
 of these States, for that purpose obstructing the 
 laws of naturalization of foreigners, refusing to 
 pass others to encourage emigration hither and 
 raising the conditions of new appropriations of 
 lands." 
 
 The true way to remove all danger from emi- 
 grants is to make it general. In religion, a 
 general toleration prevents danger from any one 
 sect, as all others would unite against one which 
 should attempt to act improperly. So it would 
 happen if emigrants from every quarter of Europe 
 
Life and Events. 79 
 
 were admitted to America. The danger appre- 
 hended from them is, that. notAvithstanding their 
 removal to this country, they would still retain 
 a stronger attachment to their native land, than 
 to America. Although the truth of this proposi- 
 tion might well be doubted from the reason of 
 the thing, when applied to those who voluntarily 
 left one country from disgust, to remove to the 
 other from choice, and whose future prospects, 
 both for themselves and their children, would 
 depend altogether on the prosperity of that 
 country to which they had removed ; and, 
 although the general conduct of the natives 
 of the British dominions, wlio then resided in 
 America, proved the conti'ary in our war with 
 that nation, I will for argument sake, admit 
 it to be true in its fullest extent, and yet I 
 should conclude that no danger could arise 
 from it, provided those emigrants from Europe 
 prefer America to any other country but their 
 own. This would certainly happen as well from 
 that predilection to America which brought them 
 here, as from the antipathy which generally 
 prevails between the citizens of the different 
 countries of Europe. Then in case of a rupture 
 between America and any one nation of Europe, 
 besides her own natural subjects, she Avould be 
 aided to the utmost by all the emigrants from 
 every other part of the world. This is also 
 verified by the conduct of foreigners in general, 
 residing in America in our present contest with 
 
80 Life and Events. 
 
 France ; so that, instead of emigrants weakening 
 America in time of war, she would, by their 
 means, gain as mucli additional strength, as the 
 total number would exceed the whole number 
 from that nation with which she was at war ; 
 and the emigrants even from that country, would 
 be restrained from " adhering to their former 
 countrymen, or from giving them aid or com- 
 fort," by the penalties annexed to Treason, which 
 such conduct would subject them to. Perhaps 
 it might have been hoped and expected by the 
 friends of this bill, that a law of this kind would 
 make all persons coming within its descriptions 
 perfectly subservient to the will of the President. 
 This idea is confirmed by an address from a 
 number of aliens in Albany, in whioii they 
 pledge themselves by every consideration bind- 
 ing upon persons and property, to support all 
 the measures of the governmont. In answer to 
 this, they are told by the President, that as 
 long as they do act up to their promise, by 
 supporting by every means in their power, all 
 the acts of the government, that they shall be 
 treated with hospitality. Perhaps also a knowl- 
 edge of human nature might have convinced the 
 framers of this bill, that the absolute power 
 Avhich i^ gives to the President over those coming 
 within its provisions, would enable him to dictate 
 also, to all their connexions, friends and acquain- 
 tances, who whould not wish to see them banished 
 from the country, and all that they held most 
 
Life AND Events. 81 
 
 dear. But, if the policy of the party extended its 
 views still further, and from a knowledge of the 
 existing convulsions in Europe, and the causes 
 which have produced them, wished to put it in 
 the power of the President to discourage and 
 prevent all who are engaged there in fruitless 
 struggles for liberty, from emigrating to Amer- 
 ica, if tliey are unsuccessful at home, at the 
 same time the door was left open to receive all 
 abettors of tyranny if they failed in their present 
 contests. This act may go a great ways towards 
 contaminating and destroying those republican 
 principles, which now exist in America, and 
 which are the only real support of our present 
 Constitution. Whatever effect these suggestions 
 may have on your judgment, I flatter myself that 
 I must have proved to your satisfaction that this 
 act is unconstitutional, unjust, impolitic and un- 
 necessary. 
 
 You say " we think that no words can justify 
 sedition under a constitution formed as a basis 
 of government amongst a civilized people. We 
 submit with cheerfulness to laws regularly en- 
 acted by a great majority of our rulers." 
 
 It is not necessary for us to inquire whether 
 the authors of false and malicious publications, 
 which the law denominates libels, ought to be 
 made punishable by law, because they have 
 always been liable to such punishment. The 
 question is, has Congress a right to pass a law 
 on the subject, and under the pretext of pro- 
 
82 Life and Events. 
 
 viding a punishment for that offence, which the 
 laws of the different States had before sufficiently 
 provided, to destroy the liberty of the press, 
 contrary to an express prohibition contained in 
 the federal Constitution. Seditious writings do 
 not constitute the only, or the greatest offence 
 which can be committed against the community, 
 why then has not Congress provided punishment 
 for the others ? Certainly for this reason, be- 
 cause they had no constitutional power given 
 them to pass such laws. There is the same 
 reason against their passing laws on this subject, 
 with this additional one, that the Constitution 
 expressly declares, that they "shall pass no law 
 abridging the freedom of the press." If it is 
 asked where is the injury arising from this law, 
 if there were other laws on the same subject, 
 existing in the different States, prior to the 
 passage of this law ? I answer that the wrong 
 consists in their assuming to themselves a power 
 to legislate on a subject, not only not entrusted 
 to them, but absolutely forbid them by the Con- 
 stitution, that if this is once allowed, the only 
 barriers contained in the Constitution for the 
 security of liberty will be destroyed, and that 
 this law ought to be considered, not as the final 
 regulation which is intended to be made on this 
 subject, but as an experiment, only to try the 
 temper of the people, and as the forerunner of 
 other acts, that would soon be passed respecting 
 it, upon a much more extensive scale, if this 
 
Life and Events. 83 
 
 is submitted to. If any man doubts that this 
 would be the case, let him examine the sedition 
 bill passed by the Senate, which destroyed the 
 liberty of speech, as well as the freedom of the 
 press — a bill which was altered in the House 
 of Representatives, so as to bring it into its 
 present shape only by a very small majority. 
 But even that bill was not more unconstitutional 
 than the one which has actually passed, because 
 the Constitution gives no other security for the 
 enjoyment of one of these privileges, than it 
 does for the other, and they might also, at 
 the same time as constitutionally, have attacked 
 religious liberty, because that also depends on 
 the same clause in the Constitution, which is 
 in these words : " Congress shall make no law 
 respecting an establishment of religion, or pro- 
 hibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging 
 the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the 
 right of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
 to petition the government for a redress of 
 grievances." But it is argued by the friends 
 of the law, that if similar laws do now exist 
 in the different States, that this law does not 
 abridge the freedom of the press, and, therefore, 
 is no violation of the Constitution. This by 
 no means follows as a consequence, for although 
 the State legislatures may have constitutionally 
 passed laws on this subject, under the powers 
 given to them by the State constitutions, yet 
 Congress could have no right to pass such laws. 
 
84 Life and Events. 
 
 when the Federal Constitution declares that they 
 shall pass no laws respecting it. The prohibi- 
 tion contained in the Federal Constitution is, 
 that Congress shall not exercise this power at 
 all, but leaves the power as it stood before, in 
 the State governments, and the laws existing in 
 the State governments render the passing of 
 such a law by Congress, altogether unnecessary. 
 Because as seditious writings were forbid and 
 punishable by the laws of every State, and no 
 officer of the general government lost the pro- 
 tection of the State laws by going into office, he 
 would have the same right to apply to a court 
 under the State laws, for redress of any injury 
 of this kind that any other citizen would have. 
 Besides the remedies given by this act, are 
 public prosecutions, and it has been formerly 
 determined in common law courts, that a libel 
 against an official character, belonging even to a 
 foreign country, is cognizable and punishable in 
 those Courts : there can be no doubt, therefore, 
 but that a libel against an officer of the general 
 government, which is so immediately connected 
 with the State governments, as to be in some 
 respects the government of each State also, and 
 whose constitutional acts are the supreme law 
 in each State, would also be cognizable in the 
 State courts. This argument may also be 
 strongly illustrated another way : " the United 
 States, in their united or collective capacity, are 
 the objects to which all general provisions in 
 
Life and Events. 85 
 
 the Constitution must refer." Now it is evident, 
 that though restrictions on the freedom of the 
 press, with various limitations, are known In each 
 State individually, vet in the United States, as 
 such, no such restriction was known, prior to 
 the adoption of that Constitution ; when, there- 
 fore, the Constitution declares that Congress 
 shall pass no law abridging the freedom of the 
 press, it must mean, that they should establish 
 no legal restrictions whatever on it, because any 
 restriction, however small, when imposed by them, 
 would be abridging the freedom of the press In 
 the United States, as such, as no restriction by 
 them had ever existed prior to that .time. If 
 this clause receives the construction that I con- 
 tend for, it has an important and forcible meaning, 
 that Congress shall not legislate at all upon this 
 subject, and leaves It with the mass of powers 
 which w^ere reserved to the State governments. 
 But if it is construed to have reference to the 
 restrictions imposed by the State governments, 
 on the freedom of the press, by authorizing 
 Congress to impose similar ones, it is nugatory ; 
 because it would make the extent of their power 
 depend on the State regulations, on this subject, 
 and would make their laws change and fluctuate, 
 with all the alterations that would be made by 
 the States respecting it, and it would be void 
 also, for Its uncertainty, because as the restric- 
 tions are diff'erent In the several States, and as 
 the laws of no particular States are declared 
 
86 Life and Events. 
 
 to be the criterion which should regulate the 
 conduct of Congress on this subject, any law 
 they could pass respecting it, would " abridge 
 the freedom of the press," in some of the States, 
 although it might not do it in others. Unfor- 
 tunately for the favorers of this doctrine, their 
 oracle, Hamilton, has reasoned against it in the. 
 most conclusive manner, when proving that a 
 bill of rights, was not only unnecessary in the 
 proposed Constitution, but would have been even 
 dangerous. 
 
 He says : " I go further, that bills of rights in 
 the sense and in the extent in which they are con- 
 tended for, are not only unnecessary in the pro- 
 posed Constitution, but would even be dangerous. 
 They would contain various exceptions to powers 
 which are not granted, and on this very account 
 would afford a colorable pretext, to claim more 
 than were granted. For why declare that things 
 shall not be done which there is no power to do ? 
 Why, for instance, should it be said that the 
 liberty of the press shall not be restrained, when 
 no power is given, by which the restriction may 
 be imposed ? I will not contend that such a pro- 
 vision would confer a regulating power, but it is 
 evident that it would furnish, to men disposed to 
 usurp, a plausible pretence for claiming that power. 
 They might urge with semblance of reason, that 
 the Constitution ought not to be charged with the 
 absurdity of providing against the abuse of an 
 authority which was not given, and that the pro- 
 
Life AND Events. 87 
 
 vision against restraining the liberty of the press, 
 aiForded a clear implication, that a power to pre- 
 scribe proper regulations concerning it was intend- 
 ed to be vested in the national government. This 
 may serve as a specimen of the numerous handles 
 which Avould be given to the doctrine of the 
 constructive powers, by the indulgence of an in- 
 judicious zeal for bills of rights." This reasoning 
 of his is also a sufficient answer to the argument 
 which they draw, from this prohibition on the 
 power of Congress being contained in an amend- 
 ment to the Constitution, which, as they suppose, 
 .is an admission by implication, that the Constitu- 
 tion itself did give a power to abridge the liberty 
 of the press. This argument may also receive 
 several other satisfactory answers. Suppose this 
 reasoning was just, would it not follow that after 
 the amendment had taken place, by which a 
 change had been made in the power given to 
 Congress in this respect by the Constitution, that 
 that power, as far j^s was consistent with the 
 amendment, would be as effectually done away, 
 as if it had never been given by the Constitution ; 
 and as the amendment says they shall pass no law 
 abridging the freedom of the press, it certainly 
 does it away entirely. Besides the preamble to 
 amendments, states that "the conventions of a 
 number of the States, having at the time of their 
 adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in 
 order to prevent a misconstruction or abuse of 
 its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive 
 
88 Life and Events. 
 
 clauses should be added and as extending tlia 
 ground of public confidence in the government, 
 will best ensure the beneficient ends of its insti- 
 tution." Considering then this particular clause 
 in the amendment, as being either declaratory 
 or restrictive, it would be contrary to common 
 sense, as well as every rule of legal construction, 
 to make this clause, which also in itself contains 
 the strongest prohibition against the exercise of 
 such power, amount to an authority to exercise it. 
 Further, admit that this amendment does prove 
 in the fullest manner, that the Constitution did 
 give Congress such power, yet as they had never, 
 prior to the adoption of that amendment, really 
 exercised that power, the amendment does away 
 that power as effectually as if it had never 
 existed at all. For, as the liberty of the press 
 was not actually abridged, although Congress had 
 a power under the Constitution to abridge it, 
 until they had actually exercised that power, 
 Congress could not after the adoption of the 
 amendment pass any on that subject, because that 
 law would then, as the United States for the first 
 time, " have abridged the freedom of the press," 
 which the amendment declares, that no law of 
 their shall do. Another strong argument that the 
 Constitution did not intend to give, and that the 
 amendment did not intend to prohibit altogether ; 
 the poAver of making laws on this subject, is that 
 no checks are to be found in either, similar to 
 those in the bill of ricrhts in the several State 
 
Life and Events. 89 
 
 Constitutions, guarding this power against abuse. 
 But because this bill admits that every such law 
 ought to be guarded against an abuse of the 
 power which it gives; did the framers of this 
 Constitution then intend to leave it to the pleas- 
 ure and patriotism of the friends to arbitrary 
 power, either to guard their bills of this kind 
 properly, or to send them out unshackled, that 
 they might the better effect their purpose of 
 inspiring terror. 
 
 The advocates of this bill give it great merit, be- 
 cause it declares that in every prosecution founded 
 on it, the defendant shall be at liberty, " to give 
 in evidence in his defence, the truth of the mat- 
 ter contained in the publication charged as a libel." 
 But in the prosecutions contemplated and au- 
 thorized by this act, this would, in ninety-nine 
 cases out of a hundred, be no privilege at all . This 
 act declares that, "if any person shall publish 
 any false scandalous, or malicious writings against 
 either house of Congress of the United States, 
 or the President of the United States, with intent 
 to defame or bring them or either of them into 
 contempt or disrepute, or to excite against them 
 or either of them, the hatred of the good people 
 of the United States, that he shall be punished 
 by fine and imprisonment." Now it must be 
 obvious that very few charges that will be brought 
 against either house of Congress, or the President, 
 wtll be founded on a single or a simple fact, which 
 will be capable of being proved. 
 
90 Life a^d Events. 
 
 All political writings contain not only facts, 
 but also reasoning and deductions drawn from 
 those facts, and the object of the writer must 
 generally be illustrated by the reasoning and 
 deductions drawn from the facts and not from 
 the facts themselves; and the libel, if it is one, 
 will consist generally in what is contained in 
 that reasoning, and those deductions, and not in 
 the facts. But evidence can be given only of 
 tlie truth of facts, and no testimony can be 
 brought to prove the truth of the opinions 
 stated, as arising out of those facts. The con- 
 sequence, therefore, must be either that A. will 
 be found guilty of the charge brought against 
 him, because he does not prove the truth of 
 that which is incapable of being proved, that he 
 will be found guilty or acquitted, according to 
 the political sentiments of his jury ; upon the 
 same charge, a jury of republicans would acquit 
 him, a jury of aristocrats would condemn him. 
 A. Avould be acquitted to-day, and B. condemned 
 to-morrow, for the same publication. Can this 
 be right? If it is not, does it not prove un- 
 questionably, that this pretended privilege is a 
 delusion only. I will illustrate this by two 
 examples — suppose A. was to publish, in writing, 
 that the President had by his writings declared 
 his approbation and esteem of monarchial gov- 
 ernments, and disapprobation of, and dislike to 
 republican principles, and was to argue from 
 thence, that he was unworthy of the confidence 
 
Life and Events. 91 
 
 of a people, living under and attached to re- 
 publican government; and was also to assert, 
 that the sedition bill was a violation in a very 
 plain instance, and was then to argue that all 
 who had been concerned in the passing of it 
 had violated that Constitution, and by doing so, 
 had also violated their oaths, by which they 
 were bound to support that Constitution. If A. 
 was tried for this publication, he might prove by 
 the President's writings, and the sedition bill, that 
 what he said, as to them, was true ; but how could 
 he prove by the inferences that he drew from 
 them— that the President was unworthy of pub- 
 lic confidence, and that all concerned in passing 
 the sedition bill had wilfully violated the 
 Constitution and their oaths, were true also? 
 Neither could it be proved by testimony, and 
 yet as a freeman, A. had a right to form this 
 opinion, and the opinion itself being founded 
 on facts, he had a right to communicate it 
 to his fellow citizens, to prevent them from 
 placing an improper confidence a second time 
 in these men. But for this opinion A. would 
 be either applauded or condemned by a jury, 
 according to their private political sentiments. 
 This law then, in the first place, declares it 
 to be an offence to publish a writing, the truth 
 of which is from its nature incapable of being 
 proved, and then graciously adds, that before 
 you are convicted of this offence you may, if 
 you please, make an attempt to prove the truth 
 
92 Life AND Events. 
 
 of the charge, although that attempt when made, 
 must be ineffectual, because it is to do a thing 
 which is impossible to be done. If the writer's 
 condemnation or acquittal is to depend on the 
 political opinion of a jury, collected in a coun- 
 try rent into political factions, and selected 
 by an oiBcer under the absolute influence and 
 control of his prosecutors and enemies ; will it 
 not put a total stop to all political writings? 
 but those in favor of government, and how 
 long even will the shadow of liberty remain, 
 after the door of information is, by that means, 
 effectually barred against the body of the peo- 
 ple. So far from its being right to abridge 
 the freedom of speech or of the press, 
 when it is exercised to censure the measures 
 of government, it is the only time when it is 
 necessary to protect either of them. As long 
 as the speaker or writer approves of their 
 measures, he may not only proceed with safety, 
 but he will be thanked and paid for it. If 
 he praises handsomely he will be taken into 
 favor, if he deifies the object of his flattery, 
 he will confess that he has " melted his heart." 
 It is said that a pleasing song has been paid 
 for with an office ; that many have been given 
 as rewards for addresses, and that more than 
 one have been taken from those who refused to 
 become addressers. 
 
 What has been said must prove that the 
 liberty of the press, ought to be left where the 
 
Life and Events. 93 
 
 Constitution has placed it without any power 
 in Congress to abridge it, that if they can 
 abridge it, they will destroy it, and that 
 whenever that falls, all our liberties must fall 
 with it. I can not close this part of the sub- 
 ject better than by copying what was said 
 respecting it, by our late envoys, their expres- 
 sions on this occasion, are so just and forcible, 
 as to give real excuse to lament that their 
 abilities are not oftener exerted in illustrating 
 and enforcing republican principles. They say 
 " the genius of the Constitution, and the opinions 
 of the people of the United States, can not be 
 Overruled by those who administer the govern- 
 ment. Among those principles deemed sacred to 
 America, among those sacred rights considered as 
 forming the bulwark of their liberty, which the 
 government contemplates with awful reverence, 
 and would approach only with the most cautious 
 circumspection, there is none, of which the im- 
 portance is more deeply impressed on the public 
 mind, than the liberty of the press. That this 
 liberty is often carried to excess, that it has 
 scip-ietimes degenerated into licentiousness, is seen 
 and lamented, but the remedy has not yet been 
 discovered. Perhaps it is an evil inseparable from 
 the good with which it is allied, perhaps it is 
 a shoot which can not be stripped from the stalk 
 without wounding vitally, the plant from which it 
 is torn." Do you not discover how materially the 
 language of many of the warmest advocates of the 
 
 / 
 
94 Life and Events. 
 
 measures of government has been changed respect- 
 ing these bills. When they were first enacted, 
 they were the cause of great joy and triumph, 
 to the whole party, and the most zealous 
 amongst them, insulted, bullied, and threatened 
 all who would not admit that they were both 
 constitutional and necessary, and every art and 
 argument was used, to bring the people into 
 this way of thinking, and notwithstanding they 
 had been opposed by nearly one-half of the 
 House of Representatives, were disliked by a 
 great majority of the people of America, and 
 were considered as unconstitutional, by great 
 numbers Avho had always been among the warm- 
 est supporters of the government, many of the 
 most influential characters in the government 
 party took every opportunity to express their 
 contempt, for all who disapproved of them ; and 
 the officers of government, to imitate them as 
 much as possible, gave the title of these bills 
 as names, to two of the public armed vessels, 
 calling one " The Sedition Act Cutter," and the 
 other " The Alien Law Smack." 
 
 But these men do not acknowledge, that they 
 are unconstitutional; there. ore, if they have it 
 in their power so to do, they must, to be consist- 
 ent with themselves, vote for similar bills, when- 
 ever they suppose they will be expedient. 
 
 The people who oppose these bills on the ground 
 of their being unconstitutional, ought never to 
 vote for men, who are opposed to them, only 
 
Life and Events. 
 
 95 
 
 because they, consider them inexpedient at this 
 time. It is also extraordinary that these 
 men who declare that they consider these bills 
 as useless and impolitic, are against the repeal 
 of them, upon a supposition that an effort to 
 repeal them would irritate men's minds to such a 
 degree, as to baffle the opposition to the attempt 
 that they suppose will be made by the govern- 
 ment party, for their revival, after the term for 
 which they are now in force shall expire. The 
 policy of these gentlemen amounts to this, it will 
 be expedient to let these bills, which they ac- 
 knowledge to be useless and impolitic, and which 
 nine-tenths of the people believe to be dangerous 
 and unconstitutional, continue in force two years 
 lono-er, for fear of irritating and offending those, 
 who by their votings for, and patronizing these 
 bills, have already proved themselves to be 
 enemies to our Constitution and our liberties. 
 Away with reasoning of this kind ! Intelligent 
 freemen can not be deceived by it ; they will 
 discover that it is an electioneering trick in- 
 tended to put them off their guard, and to induce 
 them to trust their liberties in the hands of men, 
 who, even if they are honest in their declara- 
 tions, differ with them in opinion, as to the true 
 meaning of some of the most important parts 
 of our Constitution, and who from their own 
 acknowledgments, must be bound in conscience 
 to vote for similar bills, Avhenever they shall 
 judge it expedient to do so. 
 
96 Life and Events. 
 
 The private viftues of sucli men ought to be 
 no inducement with the people to elect them, as 
 they will cause them to persevere in opinions 
 which the people consider as dangerous and 
 destructive, and in those cases their superior 
 talents, instead of being a public benefit, will 
 only enable them to spread the poison contained 
 in their opinions the more diffusively. A promise 
 on the part of a representative to obey the 
 instructions of "his constituents, is no security 
 to them, when they differ from him as to im- 
 portant political principles. Instructions must go 
 to specified objects, but after they are obeyed, 
 as to those objects, the obnoxious principle which 
 was contained in them, may be thrown into 
 another shape, and then the representative may 
 consider himself as being at liberty to follow his 
 own inclinations. If, therefore, the alien and 
 sedition bills were repealed in consequence of 
 instructions, and not because those who voted for 
 their repeal thought them unconstitutional, the 
 same principles might afterwards be approved o f 
 by the representatives in other bills, before their 
 constituents would have an opportunity of instruct- 
 ing them, as to them also, and thus there would 
 be an eternal war between the principles and acts 
 of the representative, and the wishes and inter- 
 ests of his constituents. The only real security 
 that can be given to the people, that their interest 
 and principles will always be duly attende d to by 
 their representatives, must arise from their placing 
 
Life and Events. 97 
 
 that truth in no rain who does not profess both 
 an interest and principles similar to their own. 
 All true patriots should unite in declaring these 
 bills to be political monsters, and in demanding 
 that they shall be put out of existence, as soon 
 as it can be done constitutionally, and to prevent 
 other bills of a similar nature from rising out of 
 their ashes, they would vote for no man who will 
 not, unequivocally declare, that Congress have no 
 constitutional power to pass such bills, under any 
 possible state of things. 
 
 But you declare that "you are satisfied with 
 these laws, because they have been regularly 
 enacted by a great majority of our rulers." You 
 are certainljr mistaken as to the fact of their 
 having been passed by a great majority. These 
 bills, as well as several other very important 
 measures, were adopted by very small majorities, 
 which circumstance alone, ought to have been 
 sufficient, with moderate men, to have prevented 
 their voting for them, because in a free country, 
 radical changes, even if constitutional, ought not 
 to be made but by general consent. As to the 
 regularity of their passage, I have not inquired 
 into it, but if they had no right to pass such acts, 
 the observance of no forms in the passing of them, 
 could make them constitutional when passed, the 
 most wretched of all governments, is that, where 
 the form of it is restrained, after the substance 
 is lost. 
 
 You say "we hope to see a force raised sufficient 
 
98 Life and Events. 
 
 to keep peace at home, and awe all foreign pow- 
 ers." If I understand this properly, it amounts 
 only to a wish to see a standing army, but also 
 to have one of the largest size, because no other 
 kind could possibly " awe all foreign powers." 
 This then, is another improvement, which has 
 lately been introduced into our political system. 
 Our old patriots considered standing armies as 
 the most powerful engines of arbitrary power, 
 and the most dangerous enemies to republican 
 governments; but our modern patriots have dis- 
 covered that this was an error, and that a large 
 standing army is a necessary ingredient in a good 
 republican government although the^ sometimes 
 inform us, also, that France has, within five years, 
 lost her liberty by the means of one, and that 
 she is now governed by a military despotism. 
 I have read with emotion, the arguments which 
 have been used in a hireling paper and by the 
 tools of party in Congress, to prove the necessity 
 of having a large standing army, to keep in awe 
 free citizens of our repulican government ; because 
 I despised them, as well as their arguments, but 
 to see those arguments now repeated by the pen 
 of a well informed patriot, makes me shudder. 
 Look at the public declarations of '76, in which 
 you concurred — see how different the sentiments 
 they contain, are from what you now avow and 
 then inform me of the cause of the change. It 
 can not proceed from any apprehensions enter- 
 tained of internal commotions upon the present 
 
Life and Events. 99 
 
 occasion, because you declare that, "tlie unan- 
 imity of the people of America is astonishing, 
 and that Kentucky is the only discontented State 
 in the Union." I beseech you, my friend, recon- 
 sider this subject, and do not put in the power of 
 the friends of arbitrary power, to quote your 
 opinion as an authority in favor of one of their 
 most damnable doctrines. 
 
 " We have been repeatedly informed that it has 
 been reported in the other States as well as here, 
 
 that it is our wish to separate from the Union." 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 - It has been currently reported and vehemently 
 asserted, that those persons who in this State, 
 declared their disapprobation of some of the 
 measures of the general government, are actuated 
 by a design to destroy the Constitution and the 
 Union of the States. * * * 
 
 If I understand the nature of the charge, it 
 is not founded on the supposition that " we have 
 not understanding enough to enable us to com- 
 prehend Avhat the real interests of our county is, 
 but that we are wicked enough to wish to sacrifice 
 that interest. What are the advantages which to 
 national men, situated as we are, could be sufii- 
 cient to compensate us for the Union, and the 
 destruction which would certainly be brought 
 upon ourselves, our country and posterity by the 
 adoption of such a course?" 
 
 ^ I?! -t* 't* H* 
 
 I have stated my opinion that it was false as 
 
100 Life and Events. 
 
 to others ; so far as it concerns my myself, I 
 know and declare it to be false. * * * 
 
 We are Americans, having no political objects 
 in view but the welfare, liberty and independence 
 of our country. 
 
 GEORas Nicholas". 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The foregoing letter, taken from a late paper, 
 and the speeches of Col. Nichols quoted from 
 the Virginia debates, were published and reported 
 after his death, and were never revised by him. 
 They, no doubt, contain errors of language, 
 phraseology, etc., but they contain enough to 
 show the character of the mind and heart that 
 • dictated them. Col. Nicholas died in the midst 
 of the great contest indicated by this faint sketch 
 of his efforts ; but the triumph of his cause in 
 the election of Mr. Jefferson, secured the fruits 
 of his efforts to his country. The immediate 
 effect of this triumph was the repeal of the 
 alien and sedition laws, and the success of that 
 great measure which will ever distinguish the 
 administration of Jefferson ; the acquisition of 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The following extracts from the Statesman's 
 Manual, convey a brief sketch of the early diffi- 
 culties concerning, and the final acquisition of, 
 that vast territory. 
 
 " The disputes with the Spanish, respecting 
 the South- Western boundary line of the United 
 States, and the right of navigating the Missis- 
 sippi River, had often caused difficulties, between 
 the people of the West and South-West, and 
 the Spanish authorities and inhabitants of the 
 
102 Life and Events. 
 
 Spanish territories. These affiiirs assumed a new 
 aspect, by the intelligence received in the United 
 States, in the Spring of 1802, that Spain, hj 
 secret treaty, in October, 1800, had ceded Louis- 
 iana to France." 
 
 It thus appears that when Spain saw the certain 
 success of the Republican party, she ceded the 
 territory to France. Spain knew she could not 
 hold it from the grasp of the Republican party, 
 and availed herself of the first opportunity to 
 cede it to a country that she supposed could 
 and would hold it beyond the reach of the 
 States. 
 
 " Mr. Jefferson had information of the cession 
 of Louisiana to France in 1802, and wrote to 
 Mr. Livingston, United States Minister to France, 
 in April, 1802, giving his views on the subject. 
 It was understood that the Floridas, either were 
 included in the cession, or would be added to 
 it, a supposition which proved to be incorrect. 
 The views of the President as stated to Mr. 
 Livingston, were, that if France took possession 
 of New Orleans, the United States must become 
 allies of Great Britain, and antagonists of France. 
 He then suggests, however, that if France con- 
 siders Louisiana as indispensible to her interests, 
 she may still cede to the United States, the 
 Island of New Orleans and the Floridas." * * 
 " With a view of carrying his pacific policy into 
 effect, he on the 10th of January, 1803, appointed 
 James Monroe Minister Plenipotentiary to France, 
 
Life and Events. 103 
 
 to act with Mr. Livingston in the purchase of New 
 Orleans and the Floridas. The nomination of Mr. 
 Monroe was confirmed by the Senate, and Congress 
 appropriated, at the request of Mr. Jefferson, two 
 million dollars for the objects of the mission." 
 
 "Napoleon Bonaparte was then First Consul 
 of France. He supposed, when informed of the 
 instructions of Mr. Monroe and Livingston, that 
 those ministers were authorized, if necessary, to 
 enter into more extended stipulations in relation 
 to the projected acquisition. Europe was then 
 enjoying a momentary respite after the wars 
 and revolutions she had undergone. But another 
 war was about breaking out between France and 
 England." 
 
 " The Marquis de Marbois was directed by 
 Napoleon, to negotiate with the American min- 
 isters. ' L-resolution and deliberation' said the 
 first Consul, ' are no longer in season. I renounce 
 Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will 
 cede; it is the whole colony, without any reser- 
 vation. I know the price /of what I abandon, 
 and I have sufficiently proved the importance that 
 I attach to this province, since my first diplomatic 
 act with Spain had for its object the recovery of 
 it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To 
 attempt to retain it would be folly.' " 
 
 " Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of 
 April, 1803, and did not hear without surprise, 
 the first overtures that were frankly made by M. 
 de Marbois. Instead of the cession of a town 
 
104 Life and Events. 
 
 and its inconsiderable territory, a vast portion of 
 America was offered to the United States." 
 
 " Deliberation suceeeded to astonishment. The 
 two joint plenipotentiaries, without asking an 
 opportunity for concerting measures out of the 
 presence of the French negotiator, immediately 
 entered on explanations, and the conferences 
 rapidly succeeded one another." 
 
 " The treaty was concluded on the 30th of 
 April, 1803, and the respective instruments which 
 were drawn up in French and English, were 
 signed by the three ministers, four days after- 
 ward. Two months had not then elapsed since 
 Mr. Monroe had sailed from New York for France. 
 As soon as they had signed the important papers 
 the negotiators rose and shook hands, when Mr. 
 Livingston, expressing the general satisfaction, 
 said : ' We have lived long, but this is the noblest 
 work of our whole lives. The treaty which we 
 have just signed, has not been obtained by art, 
 or dictated by force ; equally advantageous to the 
 two contracting parties, it will change vast soli- 
 tudes into flourishing districts. From this day, 
 the United States take their place among the 
 powers of the first rank ; the English lose all 
 exclusive influence in the affairs of America.' 
 The first Consul observed : ' This accession of 
 territory strengthens forever, the power of the 
 United States ; and I have just given to Eng- 
 land a maratime rival, that will, sooner or later, 
 humble her pride.' " 
 
Life and Events. 105 
 
 " The area of country thus ceded, according to 
 the claims of France, and the estimates of Mr. 
 Jefferson, exceeded a million of square miles ; 
 but all but a small portion of it was occupied by 
 savages. Its inhabitants were principally French 
 and the descendants of French, with a few Spanish 
 Creoles, Americans, English and Germans inclu- 
 ding about 40,000 slaves." 
 
 "The American ministers, instead of merely 
 purchasing New Orleans and the Floridas, as 
 •had been the first and main object of Mr. Jeffer- 
 son, were able to effect a purchase of all Louisiana, 
 equal in extent to the whole previous territory 
 of the United States." 
 
 In order to understand the influence of George 
 Nicholas in producing these results, the great 
 fact must be remembered that, when he com- 
 menced and had greatly advanced in his efforts 
 against the principles and measures of the 
 federal party, and of the Adams administration, 
 there was comparative quiet out of Kentucky, 
 throughout the Union, and a general acquiescense 
 in regard to those principles and measures. The 
 people had not been aroused to a sense of the 
 dangers besetting their liberties, nor the loss 
 of the great Mississippi Valley. Jefferson and 
 Madison were comparatively quiet, and no one 
 in the east had aroused the public mind. This 
 fact is referred to in a spirit of triumph by 
 the Virginia letter, to which the letter of Col. 
 Nicholas is a reply, as follows : " The una- 
 
106 Life and Events. 
 
 nimity of the people of America is astonisliing, 
 and Kentucky is the only discontented State 
 in the Union," with the Adams administration. 
 When it is remembered that this declaration 
 came from a patriot of the revolution, who had 
 " devoted the prime of his life in the establish- 
 ment of the liberty of his country and had 
 shed his blood in its defence," it throws a flood 
 of light upon this great question. This declara- 
 tion and Mr. Jeiferson's letter, corroborated as 
 they have always been by faithful tradition, 
 show the great truth, that Kentucky was the first 
 State, and George Nicholas the great spirit 
 that aroused the country, and gave the first 
 great movement to the republican party which 
 resulted, not only in the election of the im- 
 mortal Jefferson and the consumation of his 
 measures, but in thus giving that direction to 
 American affairs which has been and must ever 
 be her greatness, her glory, and her destiny. 
 
 The next great contitutional struggle, grew 
 out of the nullifying acts of South Corolina. 
 
 In his reply to Col. Hayne, Mr. Webster 
 expressed himself on that great occasion as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " I understand the honorable gentleman from 
 South Carolina to maintain that it is a right 
 of the State legislatures to interfere, whenever, 
 in their judgment, this government transcends its 
 constitutional limits and to arrest the operation 
 of its laws." 
 
Life and Events. 107 
 
 " I understand liim to maintain this rio;ht as a 
 right existing under the Constitution, not a right 
 to overthrow it, on the ground of extreme neces- 
 sity, such as would justify violent revolution." 
 
 " I understand him to maintain an authority on 
 the part of the States, thus to interfere for the 
 purpose of correcting the exercise of power by 
 the general government, of checking it and of 
 compelling it to conform to their opinion of the 
 extent of its power." 
 
 " I understand him to maintain that the ultimate 
 power of judging of the constitutional extent of 
 its own authority, is not lodged exclusively in 
 the Federal Government or any branches of it, 
 but that, on the contrary, the State, may lawfully 
 decide for themselves, and each State for itself, 
 whether in a given case the act of the general 
 government transcends its power." 
 
 " I understand him to insist that, if the exigency 
 of the case, in the opinion of any State govern- 
 ment, require it, such State may, by its own 
 sovereign authority annul an act of the general 
 government, which it deems plainly and palpably 
 unconstitutional." 
 
 Mr. Hayne afterwards rose and said : "lie did 
 not contend for the mere right of revolution, but 
 for the right of constitutional resistance. What 
 he maintained was, that in case of a plain, palpa- 
 ble violation of the Constitution by the general 
 government, a State may interpose, and that this 
 interposition is constitutional." 
 
108 Life and Events. 
 
 Mr. Webster resumed. 
 
 " So sir, I understand the gentleman, and am 
 happy to find that I did not misunderstand him. 
 What he contends for is, that it is constitutional 
 to interpret the administration of the Constitution 
 itself, in the hands of those who are chosen and 
 sworn to administer it, by direct interference in 
 form of law of the States, in virtue of their 
 sovereign capacity. The inherent right in the 
 people to reform their government I do not deny ; 
 and that they have another right, and that is to 
 resist unconstitutional laws without overturning 
 the government. It is no doctrine of mine that 
 unconstitutional laws bind the people. The great 
 question is whose prerogative is it to decide on the 
 imoonstitidionaliiy of the latvs. On that the main 
 debate hinges. The proposition that in case of a 
 supposed violation of the Constitution by Con- 
 gress, the States have a constitutional right to 
 interfere and annul the law of Congress, is the 
 proposition of the gentleman, I do not admit it. 
 
 " This leads us to inquire into the origin of this 
 governrnqnt and the source of its power. Whose 
 agent is it ? Is it the creature of the State legis- 
 latures, or the creature of the people? If the 
 government, then they may control it, provided 
 they can agree in the manner of controlling it ; 
 if it is the agent of the people, then the people 
 alone can control it, restrain it, modify and 
 reform it. It is observable enough, that the doc- 
 
Life and Events. 109 
 
 trine for which the honorable gentleman contends 
 leads him to the necessity of maintaining not only 
 that this general government is the creature of 
 the States, but that it is the creature of each 
 of the States severally ; so that each may assert 
 the power for itself, of determining whether it 
 acts within the limits of its authority. It is the 
 servant of four and twenty masters of different 
 wills and different purposes, and yet bound to 
 obey all. This absurdity, (for it seems no less) 
 "arises from a misconception as to the origin of 
 this government and its true character. It is, 
 sir, the people's Constitution, the people's govern- 
 ment; made for the people, made by the people, 
 answerable to the people. The people of the 
 United States have declared that this Constitu- 
 tion shall be the supreme law. * * * The 
 national government possesses those powers which 
 it can be shown the people have conferred on it, 
 and no more. All the rest belongs to the State 
 governments, or to the people themselves. So far 
 as the people have restrained State sovereignty 
 by the expression of their will, in the Constitution 
 of the United States. So far, it must be admitted 
 State sovereignty is effectually controlled. I do 
 not contend that it is, or ought to be controlled 
 further." 
 
 * * ilc * * 
 
 The people, then, sir, erected this government. 
 They gave it a Constitution, and in that Con- 
 stitution they have enumerated the powers they 
 
110 Life and Events. 
 
 bestow on it. Thej have made a limited govern- 
 ment. They have defined its authority. They 
 have restrained it to the exercise of such powers 
 as are granted ; and all others they d'^clare, are 
 reserved to the State, or to the people. But, 
 sir, they have not stopped here. If they had, 
 they would have accomplished but half their 
 work. No definition can be so clear as to avoid 
 the possibility of a doubt ; no limitation so precise 
 as to exclude all uncertainty. Who, then, shall 
 construe this grant of the people ? Who shall 
 interpret their will, where it may be supposed 
 they have left it doubtful ? With whom do 
 they leave this ultimate right of deciding on 
 the powers of the government ? Sir, they have 
 settled all this in the fullest manner. They have 
 left it with the government in its appropriate 
 branches. * * ^ * * * 
 
 The people have wisely provided, in the Consti- 
 tution itself, a proper, suitable mode and tribunal 
 for settling questions of constitutional law. * * 
 How has it accomplished this great and essential 
 end ? By declaring, sir, that the Constitution 
 and the laws of the United States, made in pur- 
 suance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the 
 land, anything in the Constitution or laws of any 
 State, to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 " This, sir, was the first great step. By this, 
 the Supremacy of the Constitution and laws of 
 the United States is declared. The people so 
 will it. No State law is to be valid which comes 
 
Life and Events. Ill 
 
 in conflict with the Constitution or any law of 
 the United States. But who shall decide this 
 question of interference ? To whom lies the 
 last appeal ? This, sir, the Constitution itself, 
 decides also, by declaring " that the judicial 
 power shall extend to all cases arising under 
 the Constitution and laws of the United States. 
 These two provisions, sir, cover the whole ground. 
 They are indeed the keystone of the arch. With 
 these it is a government ; without them it is a 
 confederacy." 
 
 Notwithstanding this masterly illustration of the 
 Constitution and nature of our government, early 
 in 1830, to which the eyes and ears of the nation 
 were most earnestly attracted, the legislature of 
 South Carolina afterwards, in 1832, passed acts 
 to nullify and resist certain laws of the United 
 States. 
 
 " 1st. An Act to carry into effect, in part, an 
 ordinance to nullify certain acts of the Congress 
 of the United States, purporting to be laws laying 
 duties on the importation of foreign commodities, 
 passed in convention of this State, at Columbia, 
 on the 24th of November, 1832." 
 
 " The next is called an act to provide for the 
 security and , protection of the people of the 
 State of South Carolina." 
 
 " This act provided, that if the government 
 of the United States or any officer, shall, by the 
 employment of naval or military force, attempt 
 to coerce the State of South Carolina into 
 
112 Life and Events. 
 
 submission to the acts of Congress, declared by 
 ordinance null and void, or to resist the en- 
 forcement of the ordinance, or of the laws in 
 persuance thereof, or in case of any armed or 
 forcible resistance thereto, the governor is au- 
 thorized to resist the same, and to order 
 into service whole or so much of the military 
 force of the State, as he may deem necessary ; 
 and in case of any overt act or coercion or 
 intention to committ the same, manifested by 
 an unusual assemblage of naval or military 
 forces in or near the State, or the occurrence 
 of any circumstances indicating that armed force 
 is about to be employed against the State, or 
 in resistance to its laws, the governor is au- 
 thorized to accept the services of such volun- 
 teers and call into service such portions of the 
 military as may be required to meet the emer- 
 gency." " This act also provides for accepting 
 the service of volunteers and for the purchase 
 of arms, ammunition." 
 
 The AQt also made it the duty of the gov- 
 ernor to call forth the militia and volunteers if 
 necessary, and cause the laws of the State to be 
 executed. 
 
 We here see that Union of States which had 
 been united in the common cause of Indepeneence, 
 and had run together the most glorious carreer in 
 history, carried by excitement and false doctrine 
 to the verge of dissolution and war. We here see 
 the people of the States, not only turning from the 
 
Life and Events. 113 
 
 glorious scenes and recollections of the past, 
 but almost in tlie act of giving up the great- 
 est earthly enjoyment of liberty and prosperity 
 in the present, and the brightest prospects for the 
 future, and rushing into all the hoirors of civil war. 
 But a Providence ever kind to this his favored 
 land had given to the country the man for the 
 times. Andrew Jackson, himself a Southern man, 
 seemed to have been fitted, in every respect by 
 nature, for the high purposes and achievements of 
 the age and country in which he lived. Although 
 accused of being a reckless man of war, deter- 
 mined to wield the tyrant's rod, his dauntless 
 courage, his sometimes seemingly hasty acts, his 
 ardent and impetuous nature, proved in every 
 emergency to be guided by wisdom, and fully 
 imbued with fraternal and patriotic affection. 
 
 He did not hastily ami rudely attempt to crush 
 out this threatened rebellion. Knowing the fear- 
 less courage, the high chivalry and the honest 
 purpose of that' excited and resisting State, he 
 addressed her people as an affectionate father, 
 determined to maintain that rightful authority 
 indispensible to a proper government of the family 
 of States. After setting forth the various, legis- 
 lative acts of South Carolina, the President ad- 
 dressed Congress and the people of the United 
 States in the spirit and manner exhibited by the 
 following brief extracts from his message : 
 
 " By these various proceedings, therefore, the 
 State of South Carolina, has forced the general 
 
114 Life and Events. 
 
 government, unavoidedly, to decide the new and 
 dangerous alternative of permitting a State to 
 obstruct the execution of the law within its limits, 
 or seeing it attempt to execute a threat of with- 
 drawing from the Union. That portion of the 
 people, at the present exercising the authority of 
 the State, solemnly, assert their right to do either, 
 and as solemnly announced their determination to 
 do one or the other. 
 
 In my opinion both purposes are to be regarded 
 as revolutionarj^ in their character and tendency, 
 and subversive of the supremacy of the laws and 
 integrity of the Union. The result of each is 
 the same ; since a State in which, by a usurpation 
 of power, the constitutional authority of the 
 Federal Government is openly defied and set aside, 
 wants only the form to be independent of the 
 Union. 
 
 The right of the people of a single State to 
 absolve themselves at will, and without the consent 
 of the other States, from their most solemn obli- 
 gations, and hazzard the liberties and happiness 
 of the millions composing this Union, can not be 
 acknowledged. Such authority is believed to be 
 utterly repugnant both to the principles upon 
 which the general government is constituted, and 
 to the objects which it was expressly formed to 
 attain. 
 
 Against all acts which mav be alled;Ted to trans- 
 cend the constitutional power of the government, 
 or which may be inconvenient or oppressive in 
 
Life and Events. 115 
 
 tlieir operation, the Constitution itself lias pre- 
 scribed the mode of redress. It is the acknowl- 
 edged attribute of free institutions, that under 
 them the empire of reason and law is substi- 
 tuted for the power of the sword. To no other 
 source can appeals for supposed wrongs be made, 
 consistently with the obligations of South Car- 
 olina; to no other can such appeals be made with 
 safety at any time, and to their decision, when 
 constitutionally pronounced, it becomes the duty, 
 •no less of the public authorities than of the 
 people, in every case to yield a patriotic submis- 
 sion. ***** 
 
 If the Federal Government exercise powers not 
 warranted by the Constitution, and immediately 
 aifecting individuals, it will scarcely be denied 
 that the proper remedy is a recourse to the judi- 
 ciary. Such undoubtedly, is the remedy for those 
 who deem the acts laying duties on imposts and 
 providing for their collection to be constitutional." 
 
 * ^ jK >1; * 
 
 "In closing this communication, I should do 
 injustice to my own feelings not to express my 
 confident reliance upon the disposition of each 
 department of the government to perform its 
 duty, and to co-operate in all measures neces- 
 sary in the present emergency 
 
 The crisis undoubtedly invokes the fidelity of 
 the patriot and the sagncity of the statesmen, 
 not more in removing such portion of the public 
 burthen as may be necessary, than in prcserv- 
 
116 Life and Events. 
 
 ing the good order of society and in the main- 
 tenance of well regulated liberty. While a for- 
 bearing spirit may, and I trust will, be exer- 
 cised toward the errors of our brethren in a 
 particular quarter, duty to the rest of the Union 
 demands that open and organized resistance to 
 the laws should not be executed with impunity. 
 The rich inheritance bequeathed by our fathers 
 has devolved upon us, the sacred obligation of 
 preserving it by the same virtues which conduc- 
 ted them through the eventful scenes of the 
 revolution, and ultimately crowned their strug- 
 gles with the noblest model of civil institutions. 
 They bequeathed to us a government of laws, 
 and a Federal Union founded upon the great 
 principle of popular representation. After a 
 successful experiment of forty-four years, at a 
 moment when the government and the Union 
 are objects of the hopes of the friends of civil 
 liberty throughout the world, and in the midst 
 of public and individual prosperity unexampeled 
 in history, we are called upon to decide wliether 
 these laws possess any force, and that Union 
 the means of self-j^reservation. The decision of 
 this question by an enlightened and patriotic 
 people, can not be doubtful. For myself, fellow- 
 citizens, devoutly relying upon that kind Prov- 
 idence who has hitherto watched over our 
 destinies, and actuated by a profound reverence 
 for those institutions, I have determined to 
 spare no effort to discharge the duty ^Yllich in 
 
^LiFE AND Events. 117 
 
 this conjucture is devolved upon me. That a 
 simiLar spirit will actuate the representatives of 
 the American people is not to be questioned ; 
 and I fervently prny that the great Ruler of 
 nations may so guide our deliberations and our 
 joint measures as that they may prove salutary 
 examples, not only to the present but to future 
 times ; and solemnly proclaim that the Constitu- 
 tion and laws are supreme and the Union 
 
 indissoluble. 
 
 Andrew Jackson." 
 
 The forbearance recommended by the Presi- 
 ident, and his immovable firmness of purpose 
 in the last resort, but chiefly the truths pro- 
 claimed by him, produced an early and an 
 easy solution of the dangerous question. His 
 conduct upon this question mast ever be regard- 
 ed as araonor the most brilliant of his achiev- 
 ments. The masterly speech of Webster, and 
 the irresistable messages of Jackson, won for 
 each of them the fairest flower in that civic 
 wreath with which fame will ever crown them ; 
 justice and gratitude unite their tribute to the 
 memory of those who first proclaimed those 
 truths and principles, which thus saved a coun- 
 try so dear to its people and so important to 
 mankind. It has already been shown that George 
 Nicholas was one of the foremost of those who 
 first defined and proclaimed the doctrines and 
 principles of the Constitution, thus reproduced 
 
118 Life and Events. 
 
 and applied by Webster and Jackson in this 
 great crisis of their country ; that he proclaimed 
 them in the beginning — at the birth and in 
 pleading for the adoption of that Constitution, 
 they were thus called to defend and preserve. 
 He advocated its adoption as necessary to 
 preserve America ; he advocated its adoption as 
 necessary to secure the Mississippi river ; he 
 declared its capacity to govern a vast extent 
 of country ; he declared the navigation of the 
 Mississippi as one of the inalienable rights of 
 the citizens of its valley ; he announced the 
 doctrine of a strict construction of the Consti- 
 tution, confining the powers of Congress to those 
 expressly delegated ; he declared the judiciary 
 to be the final peaceful arbiter of all disputes 
 under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the 
 Union ; he aroused the young giant Kentucky, 
 and thus Virginia and the whole Union against 
 the alien and sedition laws in order to pre- 
 serve the liberties of the people and promote 
 emigration to the great Mississippi Valley ; he 
 thus announced rights, and commenced measures, 
 that have made the Mississippi Valley the 
 great heart, not only of the Union, but of the 
 Continent herself ; he thus early, before the 
 great ninteenth century had dawned, defined and 
 advocated those great principles of the Constitu- 
 tion, and great objects and measures of the govern- 
 ment, with which the people of the Union have 
 thus far, secured the great achievements and 
 
Life and Events. 110 
 
 persued the great mission of their country. 
 Destiny seems to have assigned to every great 
 man a mission to fulfill, but not to permit him 
 to achieve more than one man's share. Jefferson 
 won his immortality as the author of the 
 declaration of Independence; righteous immor- 
 tality to him whose genius conceived and whose 
 pen proclaimed the Independence, the Union, 
 the liberty and the destiny of his country. 
 Madison won his by his conception of and his 
 efforts in forming the Constitution of the Union. 
 That Constitution will ever stand as the mon- 
 ument of his exalted mind, and his ardent 
 devotion to his country. Although he did this, 
 he was not the ablest exponent or defender 
 of that Constitution as a whole after it was 
 formed. Like the exausted mother of her 
 first born child, he was not so competent to 
 understand its system, or to defend it from the 
 assaults of enemies, as the learned and faith- 
 ful friend in the freshness and vigor of man- 
 hood. To Nicholas destiny assigned such a posi- 
 tion to the Constitution of his country. Greatness 
 of intellect; a profound knowledge of law, of 
 history, and of government; devotion to his 
 country and fearless courage, united and made 
 him a man to perform a great and leading 
 part with his illustrious cotemporaries, in the 
 the consummation of the American revolution; 
 in the adoption of the Constitntion, and in giv- 
 ing that life and action to the new government 
 
120 Life and Events. 
 
 which have since crowned the history of our 
 country as the most glorious in the annals of 
 time, and secured a happiness to its people un- 
 known to any other portion of the world. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The second war with England was an impor- 
 tant event to the United States. The conduct 
 of Great Britain made it a measure of like 
 importance to the honor and interest of the 
 Union. While the injuries committed by her 
 upon American citizens and American commerce, 
 .had aroused great indignation in the country, 
 yet the declaration of war with England was a 
 question of moment; a measure attended with 
 o-reat opposition and delay. From the time of 
 her admission into the Union, Kentucky had 
 filled an important space, and performed an 
 important part in the politics of the Union. 
 While John Brown, Judge Innis, John Breck- 
 enridge, George Nicholas, and other distinguished 
 fathers of the State, had passed, not only from 
 the political arena, hut from the stage of life, 
 their places were occupied by Joseph H. Davis, 
 Jesse Bledsoe, Isham Talbott, John Pope, John 
 Rowan, Ben Hardin, William T. Barry, Thomas 
 Metcalfe, Richard M. Johnson, William 0. Butler, 
 Henrjf Clay, and other distinguished patriots. 
 
 A glance at the times and the men of that 
 period, is sufficient to recall the high position 
 and and great influence of ICentucky, in the 
 measures and politics of the Union. Among 
 these distinguished citizens, and at this period, 
 
122 Life and Events. 
 
 appeared Joseph H. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins was 
 a native of Powbattan County, Virginia, but was 
 then a citizen and lawyer of Lexington. From his 
 profession, he was called into politics by the 
 stirring events preceding the war. When barely 
 eligible, he was elected in 1810, by the county of 
 Fayette, to the legislature of Kentucky. The fol- 
 lowing year, (1811) he was again returned a mem- 
 ber. This was one of the most important sessions 
 of Kentucky legislation. The question of war was 
 still pending. In some portions of the Union, 
 and in Congress, it was a question of most 
 angry discussion. Under these circumstances, the 
 action of Kentucky could not fail to exert an impor- 
 tant influence over the sentiment of the country, 
 and the fate of the measure. After the organization 
 of the legislature of 1811, Mr. Hawkins was the 
 author of the first resolutions of the session. 
 They are here copied, to illustrate the character 
 of their author, and the subject to which they 
 relate : — 
 
 ''Impressed with the belief that national feel- 
 ing and gratitude, are the best security to the 
 endurance of our republic, give life and energy 
 to the body politic, and render us firm in our 
 union and formidable to our enemies : that it is 
 a country's gratitude that compensates the soldier 
 for his scars, perpetuates grateful recollections of 
 his services, and induces the living to emulate the 
 heroic deeds of the dead : that it is a country's 
 gratitude that softens the pangs of those left 
 
Life and Events. 123 
 
 to mourn husbands, fathers and friends, lost in 
 avenging a country's wrongs : with a view to a 
 proper expression of this gratitude, 
 
 " Resolved hy the General Assembly of Ken- 
 tucky, That the brave deeds of our sohliers in 
 the late battle on the Wabash, deserve not enco- 
 miums only, but, unfading fame in the hearts of 
 their countrymen. 
 
 " Resolved, That the members of this body, and 
 their officers, will, for the space of thirty days, 
 .wear crape on their left arms, in testimony of 
 their deep regret for the loss of the brave and 
 meritorious Col. Davis and Owen, and the other 
 volunteers from Kentucky, who fell in battle; 
 
 and as a tribute to their memory, that 
 
 dollars be appropriated to the erection (within 
 the State House yard) of a plain, substantial 
 monument of marble with appropriate inscrip- 
 tions, etc." — House Journal, 1811, p. 7. 
 
 With a small amendment, the preamble and 
 resolutions passed, and the House appointed Mr. 
 Hawkins to carry them to the Senate and request 
 their concurrence. 
 
 On the 16th of December of the same session, 
 Mr. Hawkins being their author, offered the 
 preamble and resolutions on the all-absorbing 
 question of war with England. Owing to their 
 length, a full insertion of them here would carry 
 this beyond the limits assigned to it ; a portion 
 only is, therefore, copied as follows : 
 
 " We could willingly have hailed a friend in a 
 
124 Life and Events. 
 
 former unnatural parent, and from the experi- 
 ence of her regard to principles of justice and 
 reciprocal good offices, have ceased to recall 
 those cruelties that alienated us forever, from 
 her family. But when we have discovered a 
 systematic course of injury from her towards our 
 country, evidencing too clearly to be mistaken, 
 an utter disregard of almost every principle of 
 acknowledged right between independant nations; 
 endeavoring by almost every act of violence on 
 the high seas, on the coasts of foreign powers 
 with whom we are in amity — and even in sight 
 of our own harbors ; by capturing and destroying 
 our vessels ; confiscating our property ; forcibly 
 imprisoning and torturing our fellow-citizens ; 
 condemning some to death; slaughtering others, 
 by attacking our ships of war ; impressing all 
 she can lay her hands upon to man her vessels; 
 incitins; tlie savages to murder the inhabitants 
 of our defenceless frontiers ; we can be at no 
 loss what course to pursue. Should we tamely 
 submit, the world ought to despise us — we should 
 despise ourselves — she herself would despise us ! 
 Wherefore, 
 
 " Resolved^ That the citizens of Kentucky are 
 ready to take the field when called upon : * * 
 That Avhile they have undiminished confidence in 
 the administration of the General Government of 
 the United States, that, in their opinion the crisis 
 calls for energetic measures." — House Journal^ 
 1811, pages 62-3-4. 
 
Life and Events. 125 
 
 The preamble and resolutions passed the House 
 December 20th; and Mr. Ilawldnks was appointed 
 to carry them to the Senate, and request their 
 concurrence in the same. 
 
 On the 30th January, he offered the following 
 resolution, which passed the next day : 
 
 '• Rcmlvcd, That the Governor be, and is hereby 
 requested, to make immediate application to the 
 General Government, for the proportion of arms 
 to which this'' State, is entitled, by virtue of an 
 Act of Congress, passed April 10th, 1808," 
 - — House Journal, 1811, p. 198. 
 
 The importance of these steps by the legisla- 
 ture of Kentucky, is strikingly apparent, moving, 
 as they did, in advance of the declaration of war, 
 by Congress in 1812. 
 
 From the spirit and sentiments of these res- 
 olutions, the reader can form an opinion of 
 the character of their youtlfid author. But the 
 efforts of Mr. HaAvkins in this session were no 
 limited by these measures ; the journal shows his 
 prominence throughout the entire session, and 
 his connection with every important act : That, 
 in addition to the labors here indicated and 
 others of a general nature, he was appointed 
 to serve on more than twenty special or select 
 committees. While the sentiments of the pre- 
 amble and resolutions were being vindicated by 
 the nation, the patriotic people of the county of 
 Fayette, gave signal expression to their approba- 
 tion of the course of Mr. Hawkins, by returning 
 
126 Life and Events. 
 
 him to the legislature ; and the State did likewise, 
 through their representatives, by unanimously 
 electing him Speaker of the House, for the ses- 
 sion of 1813. For this office he was nominated 
 by Thomas Metcalfe, afterward distinguished as a 
 member of Congress and Governor of Kentucky. 
 
 About the close of this war — this second 
 struggle for American independence — its great 
 advocate in the halls of the nation, was appointed 
 one of three ministers to repair to Europe, 
 for the purpose of treating with the enemy. In 
 order to be understood, it were scarcely necessary 
 to state that the appointment here referred to, 
 was that of Henry Clay ; his countrymen, in 
 response to his voice of thrilling eloquence, to 
 his burning words of patriotism on the one hand, 
 and his withering, blighting denunciation on the 
 other, however they may have divided in opinion 
 on his subsequent course, then rushed to deeds 
 of daring on the battle fiekl, and yet proclaim 
 him then the matchless advocate of his country's 
 cause. 
 
 Mr. Clay's departure on this mission to Europe, 
 made a vacancy in Congress which, it was neces- 
 sary for the people of his district to fill. This 
 thej? did by electing Joseph H. Hawkins, who 
 was nearly ten years the junior of Mr. Clay, 
 a member of that body. The journal of that 
 Con2;res3 not beinor before the writer, he can not 
 state the part he took in its proceedings. The 
 fact only of his election is referred to, as show- 
 
Life and Events. 127 
 
 in"- the approval by his fellow-citizens, of his 
 past efforts, and the estimate they placed on 
 his talents and patriotism. Before the expiration 
 of his term in Congress, peace was restored 
 to the country. Retiring at the close of the 
 term from political life, he engaged in profes- 
 sional and business pursuits. But justice to his 
 memory, as well as to history, requires a state- 
 ment of his subsequent efforts for his country. 
 
 The colonization of Texas must ever be re- 
 o-arded as one of the most important events in 
 American history. Considering the time, the 
 circustances attending it, and the consequences 
 that have followed and will ever follow it, it 
 ranks with the great events in history. The 
 achievment of her independence ; her admission 
 into the great Union of States ; the Mexican 
 war with its immortal deeds of valor and its 
 invaluable conquest of soil and of gold; the 
 extension of the Union from the Sabine to the 
 Rio Grande and from the Gulf to the Pacific, 
 are some of its past results, while those yet to 
 follow, must ever be of the first importance and 
 inseparably connected with the destiny of our 
 country. A faithful sketch of the origin of 
 these events and results, can not fail to interest 
 every patriotic inquirer for the truth of history. 
 Several histories of Texas have been written, but 
 this sketch will differ widely from all of them 
 on the subject of the establishment of the first 
 colony. Prefering the narrative to the contro- 
 
128 Life and Events, 
 
 versial method, the writer will present facts 
 without reference to the difference, leaving the 
 reader to judge for himself. 
 
 While residing in Lexington in 1807, Joseph 
 n. Hawkins met with a youth from Mis- 
 souri. Mr. Hawkins invited him to his house ; 
 the invitation was accepted and from this home 
 he went to one of the schools of the city. 
 
 Li reference to the relations thus established, 
 a distinguished cotemporary of the parties 
 observes, in a note on the subject to the writer ; 
 " the kindness Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins extended 
 to Stephen F. Austin, while he lived in their 
 family, was followed by enduring friendship be- 
 tween the parties." 
 
 Moses Austin, the father of Stephen F., then 
 residing in the wilds of Missouri, at " Mine A* 
 Burton," afterwards came to the city with his 
 family, and he, too, found a friend in the per- 
 son of this friend to his son. About the year 
 1809, the Austins returned to Missouri. In the 
 year 1819, Mr. Hawkins removed to the city 
 of New Orleans. There he afterwards met 
 again with Stephen F. Austin. The result of 
 this renewal of their acquaitance, was the under- 
 taking, by M^\ Hawkins and Moses Austin, to 
 colonize Texas, then a province of Spain, and 
 a distant country, inhabited only by the sons 
 of the forest. 
 
 In pursuit of this object, Moses Austin made 
 a contract with the Spanish ofBciul for the 
 
Life and Events. 129 
 
 establishment of a colony of three hundred fam- 
 ilies in Texas. But before any further steps 
 were taken in the matter, this daring and 
 patriotic adventure was defeated by his death. 
 Soon after this event, his son, Stephen F., upon 
 application was substituted for his fsither. But 
 this done, it was a colony on paper only. In the 
 hands of a young man, unknown to the public, 
 wholly without means or sufficient emigrants, it 
 would' have remained forever, to Stephen F. 
 Austin and to the country, a colony on paper, 
 had he not received the all important aid of 
 his early friend, Joseph H. Hawkins. While 
 young Austin possessed all the requisite qual- 
 ities and qualifications to carry out such an 
 adventure, neither time nor circumstances had 
 yet given him the position or the means to do 
 so. To enlist a colony of three hundred families 
 in the United States, and send them to the 
 distant and hazardous country of Texas, at that 
 day, must have been the work, to an important 
 extent, of a tried man, in every sense, of high 
 position in the public confidence. Such was 
 the position and such the assistance of Joseph 
 H. Hawkins. The Austins made the arrange- 
 ments with the Spanish officials for the estab- 
 lishment of the colony ; Joseph H. Hawkins 
 sent nearly the whole of that colony to Texas. 
 It was the first colony or settlement of Americans 
 ever established in the country. 
 
 This brief statement of facts differs so widely 
 
130 Life and Events. 
 
 from all previous history, tliat it is due to the 
 subject to appeal to the proof. 
 
 This will introduce the reader to an important 
 paper. Important because it is the only paper 
 that contains a true description — true and faith- 
 ful evidence of the beginning of a series of 
 important events. It has been preserved by the 
 wife and daughter of Ml. Hawkins, but has 
 never been published. It was written by Mr. 
 Hawkins, and is now in possession of the author. 
 It is not the paper, the writing, but the conse- 
 quences that have followed the enterprize set 
 forth by it, that constitute its importance. 
 
 Contract between JoseijJi H. JIawMns and Stephen 
 F. Austin for Colonizing Texas. 
 
 " Articles of agreement made and concluded 
 this fourteenth of November, 1821, between 
 Stephen F. Austin and Joseph H. Hawkins of 
 New Orleans, witnesseth : That whereas a con- 
 tract was heretofore entered into between the 
 parties hereto, the said Austin acthig for and 
 on behalf of his father, Moses Austin, and in 
 virtue of an authority from him, whereby the 
 said Moses Austin by his agent and son, coven- 
 anted and agreed to sell, and did sell to Joseph 
 H. Hawkins one equal half part of all lands 
 granted by the Spanish government to said 
 Moses Austin in the province of Texas, together 
 with one equal half part of all town lots, emol- 
 
Life a-nd Events. 131 
 
 uments, profits, monies, or effects derivable 
 from the settlement and sale of lands and lots, 
 so agreed to be settled by said Moses Austin ; 
 and whereas, since the Spanish government in 
 Texas have confirmed to said S. F. Austin, 
 the grant of lands originally contemplated to 
 be granted to his father, the said Stephen F., 
 having resolved to effect the settlement and 
 carry the grant into execution upon the same 
 principles stipulated and agreed to by his said 
 •deceased father, and whereas, the consideration 
 to be paid by said Hawkins, to said Moses 
 Austin, was the advance of monies necessary to 
 defray the expenses incurred in obtaining said 
 grant, and which have already been advanced 
 by said Hawkins : now the parties hereto cov- 
 enant and agree as follows : the said S. F. 
 Austin hereby acknowleges to have received 
 from said Hawkins the sum of four thousand dol- 
 lars, in full of all monies to be advanced by him 
 under this contract, or the contract before re- 
 ferred to, made by said S. F. Austin, under 
 the direction and authority of and for his father 
 as aforesaid ; and for and in consideration of 
 the said sum of four thousand dollars so paid 
 by said Hawkins, the said S. F. Austin, doth 
 hereby for himself and the other legal re- 
 present^itives of his said father, covenant and 
 and agree, that after making the necessary 
 survey, the said Hawkins shall be entitled to 
 and receive one equal half part of the monies, 
 
132 Life and Events. 
 
 eflFects, property and profits arising from the 
 sale of lands, lots, or from nnv other source 
 growing out of the grant of lands before refer- 
 red to or the settlement thereof. And all lands, 
 lots, and other property so derived, shall be 
 from time to time divided between said parties 
 hereto in equal moities ; and it is further agreed 
 by and between the parties hereto, that a joint 
 and equal co-partnery is established between 
 said S. F. Austin and said Hawkins, in all mat- 
 ters and concerns touching the lands to be granted 
 to them or either of them, touching the emoluments 
 or profits derivable from said grant of lands, or the 
 sale and settlement thereof, and all other pur- 
 poses and objects in which they may embark 
 in said province of Texas ; the said Austin fur- 
 thermore covenants and agrees to cause as many 
 individuals grants of lands to be made to the 
 said Hawkins and himself, and such persons as 
 they may name, as can be obtained from the 
 proper legal authority in said province of Texas. 
 And in all lands granted to said Austin, either 
 party is at liberty to consider himself a joint 
 owner should he elect so to do. In embarking 
 in objects requiring disbursements of monies or 
 monied responsiljilities, it must be done by joint 
 and mutual consent. 
 
 Witness our hand and seals this 14th day of 
 November, 1821. 
 
 Stephen F. Austin. 
 Joseph H. Hawkins. 
 
Life and Events. 133 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Hawkins, declared in a 
 letter to a friend his intention to remove to 
 Texas and make her his home. 
 
 ''New Orleans, Feb., 2m, 1822. 
 ****** I do not 
 
 hesitate to declare, that if my expectations are 
 realized I shall not long be a resident of this 
 city. Texas will be my home. 
 
 Jos. H. Hawkins." 
 
 The following, from the published letters of 
 W. B. Dewees, contain his statement in reference 
 to the establishment of the first colony. Being 
 one of the first emigrants and having no known 
 motive to falsify the truth, his statement so far 
 as he is considered reliable : 
 
 LETTER 3. 
 
 ''Pecan Point, Ark., June 10 th, 1821. 
 Dear Friend : — * * ;;< ^ic 
 During my stay in Nacogdoches, I learned 
 that Mr. Moses Austin of Missouri, had received 
 permission from the Mexican government to 
 establish a colony in the State of Coahila and 
 Texas. We then made immediate preparations to 
 return to this place, having determined to join 
 Austin in the enterprise. 5i< >[; * 
 
 W. B. D." 
 
134 Life and Events. 
 
 LETTER 4. 
 
 ^^ Brazos River, Ooaliila and Texas, y 
 July 16th, 1822. | 
 Dear Friend : — After a long and toilsome 
 journey, I arrived at this point from Red River 
 in Company with three or four families from 
 that country, on the first of January last. 
 
 •J(. ^< >}; ;1; ^ * >!< 
 
 On arriving at . the Brazos we found two 
 families Garrett and Hibblings, who had got 
 there a few days before us, and were engaged 
 in erecting cabins. * * VY. B. D." 
 
 The following is also taken from his com- 
 pilation of letters published in 1854. 
 
 ''San Antonio, Feb. 2d, 1829. 
 ■ Dear Friend : — You requested me in your 
 last letter to give the names of the diiferent 
 emprisarios of Texas, and a history of the set- 
 tlement of the colonies of Texas, by the differ- 
 ent emprisarios, as also the location. Were I 
 to give you a full account of it, the subject 
 might prove tedious to you, but the brief outline 
 which I shall take great pleasure in sending you 
 will, I trust, prove not oiily interesting but 
 instructive," 
 
 "In January, 1821, Moses Austin, of Missouri, 
 received permission from the Supreme govern- 
 ment of the internal provinces of New Spain, 
 to introduce a colony of three hundred families 
 in the province of Texas. Before any steps 
 
Life and Events. 135 
 
 had been taken to establish the colony Austin 
 died." 
 
 " His son, Stephen F. immediately took up 
 the enterprise ; he proceeded to Texas where 
 he arranged the preliminaries with the Spanish 
 authorities, and was commissioned by the gov- 
 ernment to take charge of the local govern- 
 ment of the new settlement until it could be 
 otherwise arranged." 
 
 " In December, 1821, he arrived at the Brazos 
 .with the first emigrants, and settled at the old 
 La Bahia crossino;." 
 
 " During the interval between the day of his 
 permission and the time of his arrival, Mexico 
 had shaken off the Spanish dominion, and it be- 
 came necessary for him to proceed forthwith to 
 Mexico." 
 
 >i; * ^ ^ :^ 
 
 "In August, 1823, Col. Austin arrived at the 
 Colony accompanied by the Baron De Bastrop, 
 who had been appointed by the Governor of 
 Texas, Commissioner on the part of the govern- 
 ment, to survey the lands for the settlers, and in 
 union with Austin, issue titles to each, in the 
 name of the government." 
 
 W. B. D. 
 ***** * 
 
 The next statement is from another of the 
 original colonists. It was made in response to 
 the following interrogatories addressed to her by 
 the author of this book. 
 
136 [Life and Events. 
 
 Lexington, Ey., June 23c7, 1855. 
 To Mrs. Angelina B. Eberly: — Will you 
 please state vfhether or not you emigrated to 
 Texas at an early day ; if so, when, •\^■ith -whom, 
 and how you went there. State whether or not 
 you were one of the first families that settled 
 in Texas. If so, please state the circumstances 
 that came under your personal observation and 
 knowledge, concerning the establishment of that 
 colony, and what you learned from the emigrants 
 and others connected with the colony. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Wm. B. Victok. 
 
 a rjiQ ^^ g_ Victor : — Your inquiries above, 
 I will answer. In the Spring of 1822, my 
 husband and myself went to New Orleans for the 
 purpose of locating there, or of emigrating to 
 Cuba. Shortly after our arrival in New Orleans, 
 we were informed that a colony was being estab- 
 lished in Texas. The country was represented 
 as being a very fine one, the inducements to 
 emigrants great, and we concluded to go there. 
 We were informed that a short time before, a 
 vessel had been sent with the first emigrants, 
 by Joseph H. Hawkins, who then lived in New 
 Orleans ; that the vessel had been wrecked on 
 the voyage, and that Mr. Hawkins had sent a 
 vessel called the "Only Son" in search of the 
 wrecked vessel and emigrants. 
 
 The " Only Son" returned from the search, 
 
Life and Events. J37 
 
 and I, with about one lum<lred and fifty emi- 
 grants, departed from New Orleans on the " Only 
 Son" for Texas, on the first of June, 1822. 
 When we were near starting, and also while on 
 the vessel, before leaving, we were informed that 
 Joseph H. Hawkins had, by great efforts and 
 persuasion, chartered the ship, lor this voyage 
 to Texas. I saw Joseph H. Hawkins receiving 
 many of the emigrants on board the vessel, 
 giving directions in relation to, and receiving 
 supplies and stores for the emigrants, and con- 
 trolling the preparations for the departure of 
 the vessel. I was told by the Captain of the 
 " Only Son," that he had been employed by Mr. 
 Hawkins to search for the vessel first sent out, 
 that was wrecked, and that Mr. Hawkins had 
 sent supplies to the suffering emigrants that were 
 on her ; that the Captain of the " Only Son" had 
 found the emigrants near the mouth of the Col- 
 orado in great distress and destitution. 
 
 The Captain also told me that he did not want 
 to make the trip which carried us over, but had 
 been induced to do so by Mr. Hawkins. Some 
 of the emigrants were able to pay their passage, 
 but a great many were not, being without money. 
 It was known, and often talked of among the 
 emigrants, that Mr. Hawkins paid the passage, 
 by chartering the vessel, of all those who had 
 no money, and also furnished them with supplies. 
 About the time of the departure of the " Only 
 Son" from New Orleans on this voyage, Mr. 
 
138 Life and Events. 
 
 Hawkins started another vessel to Texas, which 
 was the third one sent with emigrants and 
 supplies. We arrived in Texas at the Colorado 
 landing on the 18th of June, 1822. When we 
 arrived there, the other vessel, started by Mr. 
 Hawkins about the same time ours started, had 
 already arrived before us. We also found at the 
 old Colorado landing, the surviving emigrants of 
 the first vessel that was wrecked. Several of 
 them had perished and some had wandered off. 
 They told us their vessel had been wrecked on the 
 Texas coast, and they had been piloted by the 
 Indians to the old Colorado landing, or a good 
 portion of the way. After our arrival we had 
 soon to separate, to some extent, to raise corn, 
 build cabins, and perform the necessary labors, 
 in a new country, to make a living. We were 
 often annoyed by robbers and Indians. Our 
 situation was on^ of privation and uncertainty. 
 Stephen F. Austin was in Mexico, where he 
 had gone to complete the grant of lands for the 
 emigrants, and we yet had no certainty that the 
 promised grant would be complied with. This 
 was the first colony ever established in Texas, 
 and is commonly called Austin's colony. 
 
 Mr. Austin remained in Mexico until in 1823. 
 The emigants or colony had not seen him. He 
 had gone in the Fall or Winter of 1821, from 
 Missouri, by land, with some fifteen others, to 
 San Antonio, and from there he went to Mexico. 
 He was not in New Orleans when Mr. Hawkins 
 
Life and Events. 139 
 
 sent any of the vessels and emigrants to Texas. 
 During Mr. Austin's stay in Mexico, Mr. Hawkins 
 sent supplies and farming implements to tlie 
 colony. There was but one feeling and opinion 
 among the emigrants and colony for Joseph H. 
 Hawkins; that was the liighest estimation and 
 w^armest gratitude for his kindness and his 
 efforts in their behalf. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Austin returned from Mexico 
 to Texas, he located the town of San Philippe, 
 and established a land office there. He then 
 surveyed and located other towns, and laid oflf 
 to the emigrants, the land they were entitled to 
 under the colonization contract. 
 
 Mr. Austin afterwards obtained grants for other 
 emigrants, and devoted himself to the settlement 
 and improvement of the country until his death. 
 
 The colonies entertained for him feelino;s of 
 the warmest esteem and gratitude. 
 
 Before obtaining the lands from Mexico, he 
 was very poor, indeed had nothing at the time 
 and before the colony went to Texas ; but by 
 his success in this colony he made and left a 
 large fortune. 
 
 A. B. Eberly." 
 
 State of Kentucky, 1 
 Fayette County, to wit: / 
 
 I Benj. F. Graves, a commissioner for the 
 State of Texas, residing in the city of Lexing- 
 ton Kentucky, do hereby certify, that Mrs. A. 
 B. Eberly, personally appeared before me, and 
 
140 Life and Events. 
 
 signed, and acknowledged the foregoing instru- 
 ment of writing. I further certify that said 
 instrument, was read over to said A. B. Eberly, 
 and she did declare that the matters and things 
 stated therein were true. 
 
 Given under my hand this 26th day of June, 
 A. D., 1855. 
 
 Benj. F. Graves. 
 Commissioner for Texas in Kentucky. 
 
 The foregoing statement is no doubt true ; 
 corroborated as the facts are. by numerous co- 
 temporaries, and by the acts of Mr. Austin 
 himiself, these facts may be placed upon the 
 tablet of truthful history. She had no motive 
 or inducement to make any but a truthful 
 statement. Her well known independence and 
 fearlessness, would naturally prompt her to scorn 
 the slightest coloring of the facts, while her 
 clear head and strong mind make her statement 
 doubly reliaide. This is her character. Her 
 statement illustrates the previous history, of the 
 movements of Mr. Austin in the beginning of 
 the colony, and shows the part performed by 
 Mr. Hawkins, at the same time, to wit : That 
 Mr. Austin went by land in the fall of 1821 to 
 Texas with a few emigrants :' about fifteen in 
 number; That he then went first to San Anto- 
 nio and thence to Mexico ; that he remained in 
 Mexico until his return to the colony in Au- 
 gust, 1823; that during this time in the Spring 
 
Life and Events. 141 
 
 of 1822, Mr. HaAvkins sent the colony of three 
 liundred families Avith provisions to Texas, and 
 afterwards sent implements and supplies to 
 assist in sustaining them. The important part 
 thus performed by Mr. Hawkins in essab- 
 lishing the first colony in Texas, was exten- 
 sively known at the time in New Orleans and 
 was deeply appreciated by the colony. It is 
 therefore one of the extraordinary omissions in 
 the Texas drama, that all history previous to 
 this time, should have given the fame so justly 
 belonging to him, wholly to others. The injus- 
 tice of this, will be more fuly felt by the reader, 
 when he shall have learned something of the 
 sacrifices which this colony cost Mr. Hawkins 
 and those nearest and dearest to him. 
 
 In letters written cotemporaneously with the 
 beo'inning and progress of this colony, Mr. Haw- 
 kins wrote as follows. 
 
 The letters from which the extracts are taken 
 are in possession of the author. 
 
 Neio Orleans, July 2G^A, 1821. 
 My Dear Sik: 
 
 * ;l^ * * * 
 
 I have long wished to say something as to 
 your removal from Kentucky. The unhealthful- 
 ness to which we are subject here forbids your 
 coming to this city. I do not see your way at 
 Tcnsacola as yet. Time may present something 
 here. Aftel- every inquiry I believe Texas, 
 
142 Life and Events. 
 
 ■whicli Mr. Monroe gave to Spain for nothing, 
 is the finest spot in North America, taking 
 soil, climate, air, water and products altogether. 
 I am interested in a large grant of land there. 
 Should it turn out according to my expectations 
 we shall all have a home. 
 
 On *my return from Mohile I will write you 
 fully and enclose you the plan of our colony, 
 description of the country, &c., &c. * * 
 
 Joseph H. Hawkins. 
 
 He wrote : 
 
 New Orleans, Sept. 21st, 1821. 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 ****** 
 
 If the accounts we have received be correct, 
 and there seems to be no difference of opinion, 
 the province of Texas is the best spot for your 
 enterprise and favorite pursuits, perhaps in the 
 world. I am extremely anxious for you to see 
 that country. I send you by this days mail 
 a paper containing Mr. Austin's publication. I 
 have a right to one half this grant and all the 
 benefits resulting from it. 
 
 I have not seen the exact boundaries, but as 
 they have been communicated they are as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Beginning at and including Matagorda harbor, 
 the landing of Lasalle, and running up the river 
 Gaudaloupe to what is called the Labadue trace, 
 thence along that trace to the Colorado river, 
 &c.,^&c. * * * 
 
Life and Events. 143 
 
 The lands are rich, part wood hind well 
 watered, susceptible of growing sugar, cotton, 
 tobacco, corn, rice, the tropical fruits, and I 
 presume the vine; the country abounding in 
 sheep, wild horses, cattle and mules, and cer- 
 tainly a healthful clime. Is not the country worth 
 visiting, &c., &c ? * * * 
 
 Shall the temporary rule of a Spanish Governor 
 prevent us from doing so ? 
 
 Joseph H. Hawkins." 
 
 Again, in urging his friends to prepare for 
 their removal to Texas, he wrote : 
 
 " Let us move where the means of living will 
 be cheap, Avhere the theatre of usefulness would 
 be extended, and where our children would share 
 the advantages of their parents having shared 
 in the difficulties of settlement, and the labors 
 necessary to the maturity of institutions promo- 
 tive of general happiness. Go, in fine, where 
 both ourselves and children will have room 
 and feel that they are adding to their own 
 ditniity, and the happiness of their parents. 
 
 * * ;ii ^i; >K 
 
 Joseph H. Hawkins." 
 
 It is worthy of consideration, that the objects 
 Mr. Hawkins had in view, in reference to Texas, 
 were to regain a territory that had been conveyed 
 away ; to make that country the home of himself 
 and such friends as he could induce to join him ; 
 
144 Life and Events. 
 
 and to aid in maturing institutions promotive 
 of general happiness. It is also worthy of con- 
 sideration, that Texas, as a part of Louisiana, 
 had been obtained by the Republican party, and 
 had been ceded to Spain by Mr. Monroe, under 
 the influence of the old opposition to Louisiana. 
 
 The efforts and money expended in behalf of this 
 colony, made it necessary for Mr. Hawkins to exert 
 the powers of his mind and body to their utmost 
 tension, to support his family, and accomplish 
 his objects. During this period, he wrote to 
 his friend as follows : 
 
 "You would scarcely recognize me as the same 
 man when we parted. Mj cares and labors have 
 so Avorn me out, that both my mind and body 
 are thread-bare. I mention this that you may 
 not deem me callous to the recollections and 
 emotions which will always endear you to me." 
 
 In another letter, he wrote in reply to his 
 friend : 
 
 " My anchorage you say is on the bed of 
 death. It is even so, and I have looked on 
 until I have become familiarized with it. Awful 
 indeed has been the desolation around me. To 
 presume that I alone am to be exempt, would 
 be to presume against the will of heaven. Three 
 of my family (a 3'oung man teaching French, 
 and Jonathan and Jack) are already gone. I 
 owe my life at present, to timely and powerful 
 medicines, and leaving town for the sea-shore. 
 The storm has gone by, and like the mariner 
 
Life and Events. 145 
 
 who escaped from wreck, I cling the closer to 
 the barque, to which I owe my safety. As to 
 constitution, I feel it daily giving ground." 
 
 " I look back upon Kentucky with the melan- 
 choly feelings which a retrospect of the scenes 
 of infancy and the early attachments of life, 
 always excite. I sometimes censure myself for 
 having left you ; at others the flattering hopes 
 of a temperament always too sanguine, encourage 
 me to toil on and hope for the better." 
 
 A short time before his death, he again wrote 
 to his friend : 
 
 "I should have visited Kentucky, if circum- 
 stances had permitted, this summer. But my 
 life resembles little else than the convulsive 
 struggles of an expiring lamp. * * * j -vYigi^ 
 you very much to see Texas. If I could be 
 located there with you, it might prevent a 
 removal beyond this." 
 
 Again he says : 
 
 " My life has been a forced one for several 
 years. Having many causes for marked and 
 distinct feelings, yet each day obtrudes on, and 
 wears out, its predecessor. The resolves of the 
 nifht are effiiced by new occurrences of the 
 morning, and the fatigues of the day, leave but 
 little for mental or bodily effort at night." 
 
 As the consequence of an effort which has 
 resulted so greatly for the good of his country, 
 the writer supposes that the facts disclosed by 
 the letters of Mr. Hawkins, will find a genuine 
 
 10 
 
146 Life and Events. 
 
 sympathy in every true and patriotic heart. 
 He also supposes that something more of the 
 character of a man who thus served the great 
 cause of civilization, and the extension of Re- 
 publican liberty, will be properly and kindly 
 received. 
 
 His early acquaintance with the Austins in 
 Lexington ; the residence of Mr. Hawkins in 
 New Orleans ; their achievement of the colony, 
 and his early melancholy death, seem to have 
 been a destiny, than which there was no other 
 for him. Of this, his letters disclose a wonder- 
 ful presentiment, at times a corresponding des- 
 pondency, but ever the heroic struggles of a 
 true heart and a noble spirit in pursuit of its 
 cherished objects. 
 
 We again quote his letters from New Orleans : 
 " Is it not time to deem ourselves peculiarly 
 subject to the chastening rod of Providence ? 
 Does it not naturally lead us to look beyond the 
 grave for the only fruition of promises deferred, 
 of hope bereft ! Can it be possible that the 
 nothingness of this life, limits our intellectual 
 immortality ! Why has God endowed us with 
 the faculty of looking and hoping for more ? 
 Shall those powers whose range has yet found 
 no limits, find their end in the feeble frame that 
 bears them ? If so, there remains but little in- 
 ducement for all our toils and struggles here. 
 * * * But my attachment and predilections 
 for a few objects near and dear to the heart, 
 
Life and Events. 147 
 
 and for occupations hitherto without interest, 
 increases, as former and other feelings give way, 
 * * *= The dear pledges and objects of affec- 
 tion — the wives and chddren of our bosoms cling 
 the closer, and are prized the higher, as the 
 period of final separation approaches." 
 
 On the same subject he writes again : 
 
 " Your friend seems greatly distressed, judging 
 from the painful necessity he feels under, of 
 joining the church, to get on in the world. Woe 
 be to him who shall kneel at the foot of the 
 cross of an insulted Savior, shielding the political 
 strifes of this world, with pretended piety towards 
 God ! Blessed are they, who with pure and con- 
 trite hearts, mingle at the alter of the Redeemer's 
 blood, tears of penitence, and prayers for forgive- 
 ness." 
 
 After seeing the reflection of such a pure and 
 noble soul, it is not at all surprising that he who 
 possessed it, should have been employed by a wise 
 Providence, to aid in laying the foundation of 
 an empire of civilization and religion, to endure 
 forever. 
 
 His colony was established ; his mission was 
 
 fulfilled; in his own soul he had felt, and from 
 
 his own hand came the precursor of the event 
 
 n^xt announced by one of his nearest friends : 
 
 '• 
 
 " Neio Orleans, Oct. 11th, 1823. 
 My Dear Sir : — All our plans and prospects are 
 at last blasted by the death of Mr. Hawkins. 
 
148 Life and Events. 
 
 Having been called to Bayou Sara on busi- 
 ness, the latter part of last month, when I 
 returned on the 2d inst., the first communi- 
 cation, on landing, without any previous indi- 
 cation of his illness, was the dreadful news of 
 our irreparable loss. I immediately got a small 
 schooner bound for Madisonville, to see and 
 learn the pleasure of Mrs. Hawkins under such 
 an affliction. Her determination is to return to 
 Kentucky. ^ * :^ 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
 Owing to his feeble condition of health, Mr. 
 Hawkins had gone to the more healthful shores 
 of Lake Ponchartrain. While there the suffering 
 mariners of a vessel in danger, or wrecked near 
 by, called for assistance. He exerted himself 
 in their relief, until exhaustion compelled him 
 to cease. He returned to his family, but the 
 cold grasp of death had fastened upon him. In 
 a few days he was a corpse. 
 
 Thus at the age of thirty-seven years ended 
 the life of Joseph H. Hawkins ! Ever devoted 
 to the cause of humanity, how melancholy it is 
 to see his ejQTorts in her behalf thus end his 
 career. Thus take him from his devoted com- 
 panion, and leave all desolate and heart-brok^ 
 with five helpless children. Sad as it is tRe 
 scene is not relieved by the subsequent fate of 
 that stricken family. Mrs. Hawkins returned 
 to her native city ; — to the scenes of her 
 
Life and Events. 149 
 
 infancy, girlhood, and marriage ; slie was the 
 daughter of Col. George Nicholas and bore 
 his name, George Ann ; she received every 
 attention of sympathy and aiFection, but all 
 failed to save her ; the death stroke of her 
 husband, gave her a wound that would receive 
 no balm of relief, until the heart it had pierced 
 ceased forever to beat. 
 
 The following letters contain further proof 
 that Texas cost Mr. Hawkins his all ; his estate 
 and his life. 
 
 " Neiv Orleans, April 26th, 1823. 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 ****** 
 
 For my friend, Mr. Hawkins, I wish that I could 
 say all that I desire. As a man, a friend and 
 neighbor, I am happy in the extreme, in saying 
 how dearly he is appreciated by us; but the 
 Austin grant in Texas has kept him poor, and 
 will continue so to do, I apprehend, for years to 
 come. I have no doubt he has made at least 
 twenty thousand dollars by the practice of his 
 profession since he came to New Orleans, and 
 the whole of it is gone. I hope, however, that 
 he is determined to make no more advances. 
 In that case his circumstances will soon be 
 easy, for his practice is very considerable. 
 
 ***** ^ 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
150 Life and Events. 
 
 He wrote again soon afterwards : 
 
 " Netv Orleans, Bee. btJi, 1823. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I wrote you a few days since, after the death 
 of Mr. Hawkins, but it could not have reached 
 you at the date of your esteemed favor of the 
 ^rd ult., only just now at hand. I do not recol- 
 lect the contents of my former letter, and not 
 having had the pleasure, (for such it would 
 have been, though a melancholy one,) of seeing 
 Mr. Hawkins in his late illness, I can not go 
 into details for since the fatal event, I have 
 never felt bold enough to speak on the subject 
 to his disconsolate widow. 
 
 How happy I should be, if in a few years, the 
 interest in the province which has cost us so many 
 IJangs, should turn out a fortune for her and 
 her children, and this is far from being unlikely. 
 The grant from the best information I can obtain, 
 consists of a very large portion of the very 
 best sugar and cotton lands, a fine stock coun- 
 try, and possesses many other qualities to make 
 it desirable. Such a country must be settled 
 in time, and I hope, long before Mrs. Hawkins 
 has lost her relish of life, and that in the end, 
 she may have the satisfaction of seeing her 
 children well provided for. This wish and soli- 
 citude is due to the exertions and deprivations 
 of her lamented husband. 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
Life and Events. 151 
 
 The next letter from Mr. Cox states facts that 
 have hitherto been known to comparatively few; 
 certainly not by the great majority of the people 
 of Texas, or their course in some respects 
 would have been difierent, in relation to the 
 memory and family of one of her fathers and 
 benefactors : 
 
 ''New Orlearis, Feb. 12//i, 1824. 
 DteAR Sir: 
 
 I have just copied for Mrs. Hawkins the con- 
 tract between her deceased husband and Stephen 
 F. Austin for your inspection. The original I 
 think it best to retain here, subject to your 
 future views and instructions. I also retain all 
 Austin's letters in case he should doubt the 
 propriety of the large suras advanced by Mr. 
 Hawkins for the purchase of vessels, goods, &c., 
 &c. These letters are full of authority for the 
 purchases, in addition to which I have a late 
 one from him ordering goods to the amount of 
 ten thousand dollars. In a former letter to you, 
 I mentioned that Mr. Hawkins had made very 
 considerable advances towards the province, but 
 until a thorough examination of the papers I 
 had not the remotest idea of the amount so 
 squandered. I have just made up the amount 
 to forward to Austin, by the first opportunity, 
 which amounts including interest to upwards of 
 thirty thousand dollars. I shall write to Mr. 
 Austin on the subject fully and freely; and if 
 
152 Life and Events. 
 
 he has either gratitude or justice in his compo- 
 sition, he will do something for the relief of 
 Mrs. Plawkins and her children. * * 
 
 To Mrs. Hawkins I shall be able to give little 
 more than will take her to Lexington. * * 
 
 The house and lot and all the negroes are 
 mortgaged to Gen. Wilkinson, for the four thou- 
 sand dollars obtained from him to advance Austin. 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
 " JVew Orleans, June bth, 1824. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The affairs of Mrs. Hawkins may require that 
 an agent be sent to the province of Texas next 
 winter. The situation will I presume be left 
 to you and Mr. H. A letter which will ac- 
 company this, from Mr. Austin to Mrs. Haw- 
 kins, will set forth more particularly than I 
 can do the duties to be performed by the agent. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ Jji JfC Ijc 
 
 Austin's letters to me breathe nothing but 
 the best of feelings for Mrs. Hawkins and her 
 family. This is expected at his hands for the 
 many favors granted him, to the entire sacriiBce 
 of her husband's fortune and his life — for if 
 he had never seen Austin, he would this day 
 be at the head of the New Orleans bar. 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
 " New Orleans, May 19t7i, 1825. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I find with great pleasure, that many reputable 
 
Life and Events. 153 
 
 persons are looking out for passage to Austin's 
 grant in the province of Texas. I hope there- 
 fore yet to see the day, and that not far distant, 
 ■when Mrs. Hawkins can feel . herself independ- 
 ent from the same source which caused her so 
 much misery, for to that grant and that alone, I 
 must attribute the death of her lamented husband. 
 The advances made to Austin had such an ef- 
 fect upon him that he could not sustain it. 
 
 Nath. Cox." 
 
 The destroying effect upon Mr. Hawkins refer- 
 red to, was the result of the heavy embarrass- 
 ments in which he thus placed himself for his 
 country. He mortgaged the home of himself 
 and family, the servants that nursed the helpless 
 children and delicate companion of his bosom, 
 for a distant land and people. The anxieties 
 and labors thus brought upon him, in the debili- 
 tating climate of New Orleans, exhausted and 
 prepared him for a premature grave. Having 
 a spirit of the loftiest pride, and sensibilities 
 of the keenest nature, he labored intensely and 
 incessantly to establish his colony, to meet the 
 engagements the effort had brought upon him, 
 and at the same time to support the expensive 
 style of life indispensible to the habits of his 
 family, and his position in New Orleans society. 
 In these efforts and distress he threw himself 
 and the family so dear to him, upon the provi- 
 
154 Life and Events. 
 
 dence of the God he worshipped, and with a 
 heroic spirit struggling with adversity, he never 
 ceased to struggle for the prize of his calling. 
 Nothing but the consciousness of a high purpose 
 could have sustained him so long or so well. 
 None could have felt more keenly or deeply than 
 himself his personal sacrifices, but none knew 
 or believed so fully as himself, that his loss would 
 be his country's gain; the brilliant eye of his mind 
 and the strong emotions of his soul, saw and 
 felt that be was engaged in a work for millions 
 and for all time to come. 
 
 The establishment of the first colony, and 
 the large advances made by Mr. Hawkins, ena- 
 bled Mr. Austin to go on and establish other 
 colonies. In 1825 he petitioned for permission 
 to colonize five hundred families. The proposi- 
 tion was accepted, and the families were colon- 
 ized in the limits of the first colony. In 1827, 
 Mr. Austin made another contract for the settle- 
 ment of one hundred families. In 1828, he 
 contracted to set<"le another colony of three 
 hundred families. The success of the first col- 
 ony, and the means advanced by Mr. Haw- 
 kins, directed emigration to Texas, gave confi- 
 dence in her success and enabled Mr. Austin 
 to establish these additional colonies, as pay 
 for which he received large grants of lands 
 for himself. Thus it is clear that Mr. Austin 
 owed his success, his fortune and his fame, in a 
 great measure, to the kindness, the efforts and 
 
Life and Events. 155 
 
 the means of Joseph H. Hawkins. Without them 
 tbe whole scheme would have been a failure. 
 Not only that, but the whole subsequent history 
 and destiny of Texas would have been differ- 
 ent. If you tear away the foundation of any 
 building, the whole superstructure falls to the 
 ground! AH things earthly have had a begin- 
 nino-, and that beginning can not be supplied 
 by ""any other supposed similarity of subsequent 
 events or beginnings. 
 
 The rise and progress of nations are like the 
 life of man ; born at a particular time, nursed and 
 schooled under a particular combination of ever- 
 changing circumstance? ; thus arriving at man- 
 hood! he must and does act through life ac- 
 cording to these great controlling circumstances 
 of his'destiny. If the beginning in point of 
 time only be changed, that brings the man or 
 nation into life and action under circumstances, 
 which might and most probably would have pro- 
 duced difterent results. While this is true m pni- 
 losophv, while it is known by the experience and 
 observation of every man to be true, it is not less 
 important than true in the colonization and subse- 
 quent history of Texas. When the application was 
 made to Spain for permission to establish the first 
 colony, the prejudices of the Spaniards against 
 the people of the United States, would have de- 
 feated the project but for the circumstance that 
 Mexico, long discontented with foreign rule, was 
 about to declare her independence. The Spanish 
 
156 Life and Events. 
 
 authorities then supposed that hy interesting and 
 making dependant upon her the colonies pro- 
 posed, she would strengthen her position in the 
 north. While the establishment of the colony 
 was progressing, Mexico declared her independ- 
 ence, and for the same reason she confirmed the 
 first grant, and continued the same policy. Had 
 the first colony failed or been delayed a few 
 years, the subsequent history of the country 
 between the Gulf and the Pacific would have 
 been difi'erent. Her growth, her independence, 
 her annexation to the Union, the war with its 
 priceless trophies, have all grown from this origin, 
 and depended from time to time, upon the very 
 coincidences of political events and parties, that 
 have produced the very results that have followed. 
 
 While such were the brilliant results of the 
 first colony to Mr. Austin, and to the country, 
 the consequences to Mr. Hawkins and his family 
 must not be forgotten. His noble soul panted 
 for them, yet it was never the destiny of Joseph 
 H. Hawkins to behold the growth, or taste any 
 of the fruits of his planting, or even to see 
 the beautiful land thus redeemed and bequeathed 
 to his country. 
 
 Nor was it the fortune of his endeared wife 
 ever to receive any aid or benefit from it. The 
 best excuse that can be offered for Mr. Austin 
 is, if true, that he applied all the means at his 
 command to the cause of the colonies and the 
 country. 
 
Life and Events. 157 
 
 Nor is this all. The orphans sought a home 
 in the country thus reclaimed by their father 
 and friends, but their fate too, is a story of deep- 
 est sorrow. The fate of one of them^ Norbourne 
 B. Hawkins, (named for the friend of his great 
 grand-father, Norbourne Bottetourt,) exhibits con- 
 duct, alike cruel — horrible in the enemy and noble 
 in himself. A delicate youth of only sixteen sum- 
 mers, with the rifle he had born from his native 
 land, he joined, and marched with the lamented 
 Fannin, in defence of Texas, his adopted home. 
 The fate of Col. Fannin and his companions in 
 arms, is one of the most horrible in the 
 history of wars ! After surrendc ing under the 
 most solemn stipulations that they would be 
 treated with all the kindness due to prisoners, 
 three hundred and thirty were shockingly mur- 
 dered ! The following extracts from Professor 
 Yoakum's late history of Texas, convey a faint 
 idea of the horrible scene. 
 
 " Col. Fannin had surrendered on the 20th of 
 March, 1836. After the surrender, the prisoners 
 were crowded m an old church at Goliad, with 
 no other food than a scanty pittance of beef, 
 without bread or salt. Thus they were confined, 
 yet sustained by the promise that they would be 
 sent to the United States, so soon as a vessel 
 could be procured to carry them. 
 
 " The evening of the 26th passed off pleas- 
 antly enough. Col. Fannin was entertaining his 
 friends, with the prospect of returning to the 
 
158 Life and Events. 
 
 United States ; and some of the young men who 
 coiiUl perform on the flute, were playing, ' Home, 
 Sweet Home.' At seven o'clock that night, an 
 order, brought by an extraordinary courier from 
 Santa Anna, required the prisoners to be shot. 
 " At dawn of day on Palm Sunday, March 
 27th, the Texans were awakened by a Mexican 
 officer, who said he wished them to form a line, 
 that they might be counted. They were then 
 marched out in separate divisions, under different 
 pretexts. Dr. Shackelford, who had been invited 
 by Col. Guerrier to his tent, about a hundred 
 yards south-eastwardly from the fort, says : ' In 
 about half an hour we heard the report of a 
 volley of small arms toward the River and to 
 the east of the fort. I immediately inquired 
 the cause of the firing, and was assured by the 
 officer, that he did not know, but supposed 
 it was the guards firing their guns. In about 
 fifteen or twenty minutes thereafter, another such 
 volley was fired directly south of us and in front. 
 At the same time I could distinguish the heads 
 of some of the men through the boughs of some 
 peach trees, and could hear their screams ! It 
 was then for the first time the awful conviction 
 seized upon our minds, that treachery and murder 
 had begun their work. In about an hour more, 
 the wounded were dragged out and butchered ! 
 The dead were then stripped, and their bodies 
 thrown into piles. A few brush were placed 
 over them, and an attempt made to burn them 
 
Life and Events. 159 
 
 up, but with such poor success, that their hands 
 and feet, and much of their flesh were left a 
 prey to dogs and vultures!'" 
 
 A like scene of shocking brutality has never 
 been perpetrated on American soil ! Such was 
 the effect produced by it, even on the subor- 
 dinate ofiicer who commanded it, that he wrote 
 to his general : 
 
 " I feel much distress at what has just oc- 
 curred here ; a scene enacted in cold blood having 
 passed before my eyes, which has filled me with 
 horror ! All that I can say is, that my duty 
 as a soldier must be my guarantee. 
 
 " I repeat it, I am willing to do anything, save 
 and excepting the work of a public executioner, 
 by receiving orders to put more persons to death!" 
 
 But in addition to this ; after the army were 
 made prisoners, and were condemned to suffer 
 death, the Mexican officer, attracted by the 
 delicate and youthful appearance of young Haw- 
 kins, upon ascertaining who he was, proposed to 
 give him an opportunity to escape ; to this he 
 replied, that two cousins had joined the army 
 with him ; they were prisoners also ; if they 
 could be permitted to escape, he would gratefully 
 accept the offer. This the officer refused ; young 
 Hawkins replied, " I will share the fate of my 
 cousins." They were marched out and murdered 
 with the others ! 
 
 The two cousins thus massacred with Norbourne 
 Hawkins, were Robert, a son of Col. Owings, and 
 
160 Life and Events. 
 
 Samuel, a son of Col. Saunders ; three sisters' 
 children ; their mothers, daughters of Colonel 
 George Nicholas. Their fate seems to be the 
 sealing with their pure, young, patriot blood — 
 the crowning sacrifice of a family thus devoted 
 to their country's cause, and thus connected with 
 her great events, and her still greater destiny. 
 
 The American Muse has sung her plaintive 
 song to the memories of the suffering pilgrims 
 of Plymouth Rock ; she has made that Rock to 
 blossom and bloom beautiful flowers and delicious 
 fruits forever ; the deep-toned voice, the per- 
 vading intellect, the grand coEception, and the 
 sombre eloquence of Webster, have immortalized 
 the sufferings and achievements of the Pilgrim 
 Fathers, and the valorous deeds on Bunker Hill; 
 the American heart has matronized Virginia, as 
 the mother of States and of statesmen ; yet here 
 are sacrifices and sufferings not less bitter ; here 
 are deeds of valor not less noble ; here are 
 services and consequences second only in import- 
 ance to the country ! 
 
 Though this frail pen can not portray the 
 scenes and sufferings through which they passed, 
 surely it may pay its feeble tribute to their 
 memories, and the heart may offer its incense 
 gratitude, and of prayer for their eternal happi- 
 ness. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 While sucli have been some of the con- 
 sequences to Joseph Hawkins and his family, of 
 colonizing Texas, let us consider briefly the 
 results to the people of the Union and the pro- 
 gress of society. 
 
 That vast country between the Gulf and the 
 Pacific, has been brought into the American 
 Union ; under all the influences of the Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 The citizens there and the people of the 
 United States, have thus acquired a beautiful 
 and fertile country, having a variety of clime, 
 of soil, and productions, unsurpassed by any 
 other portion of the Union, perhaps of the 
 globe herself. So long as civilization shall live 
 and move, it will grow and flourish there. 
 
 The people of those States and territories 
 now possess unsurpassed w^ealth, and look to 
 a future as brilliant as ever dawned upon 
 American eyes. Whatever greatness of num- 
 bers, of wealth, of civilization, and happiness 
 they may attain, will be a growth from the 
 parent colony. 
 
 That colony of three hundred families that 
 cost Joseph Hawkins his all, now spreads over 
 Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and California. 
 Texas contains two hundred and thirty-seven 
 
 11 
 
162 Life and Events. 
 
 thousand five hundred square miles — is nearly 
 six times as large as the old Keystone State. 
 It is a well known fact that Texas produced 
 the acquisition of the other countries between 
 her and the Pacific. Texas and the countries 
 thus acquired, contain nine hundred thousand 
 square miles — an area nearly three times as 
 large as the thirteen original States. But the 
 results are yet but partially stated — are local 
 in their character. The consequences to the 
 Union and to the civilized Avorld are not less 
 marked in history, or great in fact. The 
 foundation for the greatest empire has thus 
 been completed ; uniting an extent and variety 
 of soil, clime, productions and mineral resources, 
 possessed by no other people on the globe. The 
 hundreds of millions of California gold thus ob- 
 tained have given a new impulse to society. While 
 it is contended by some that the increase of gold 
 has not been, and will not be productive of good 
 results, the position is clearly erroneous. Since 
 commerce commenced, the precious metals have 
 been the basis of currency representing labor and 
 all her productions. Society can not progress 
 without such a representative standard of value. 
 Commerce in modern times has increased beyond 
 the increase of coin currency. There is yet a 
 deficiency of gold to represent commerce. A 
 resort to paper money has been the result with 
 all its fluctuations and calamities. California 
 gold has, to some extent, supplied the former 
 
Life and Events. 163 
 
 deficiency, lias furnished a greater and more 
 solid basis for paper money, and both together 
 have given the late impulse to industry, em- 
 ployment, education and the whole machinery 
 of society, and caused it to move with unparalleled 
 rapidity. Whenever there shall be a suffi- 
 cient quantity of gold to represent commerce, 
 paper money will disappear, except for distant 
 exchange, and a solid and uniform currency 
 will • thus be secured to all classes of men. 
 Take for illustration the effect of California 
 gold upon one branch of industry and improve- 
 ment. Before the acquisition of Texas and 
 California, the people of the United States had 
 built six thousand miles of railroad. Since that 
 time, they had in 1855 built sixteen thousand 
 miles of railroad, and then had sixteen thousand 
 miles more in course of construction. This 
 work has been done at a cost of five hundred 
 millions of dollars. Directly or indirectly the 
 money came from the California mines, and the 
 supplies of her exhaustless bosom yet flow in 
 undiminished streams. While such have been and 
 will continue to be, the efTects of California gold, 
 another result no less important has resulted to, 
 and will ever continue Avith the country. The 
 system of railroads thus built, when completed 
 by the one projected to the Pacific Ocean, se- 
 cures us forever from foreign invasion, even 
 against the combined powers of the world. It has 
 long been supposed that republicanism wdll have 
 
164 Life and Events. 
 
 a great defence to make against the attacks of 
 monarchy and despotism combined. 
 
 The combined fleets of such an enemy, could 
 throw into our cities and upon our shores, vast 
 armies for invasion ; but "with our railroad system, 
 \fe could concentrate, on short notice, a force suf- 
 ficient to defeat any army that could be borne 
 here by all the fleets of the ocean. This secures 
 us forever from foreign invasion, closes forever 
 our ports against foreign foes, and saves tens 
 of thousands of American citizens from being 
 slain at home by foreign arms. 
 
 Having obtained such treasures and conse- 
 quences from the California mines, surely, the 
 wisdom and patriotism of the Union will pro- 
 vide for the use of a portion of her own 
 productions, for building a railroad to her shores. 
 Such a work is justly due her, and would not only 
 complete the security of the Union from invasion, 
 but would be the wisest measure of safety to the 
 Union, and of commercial policy to the people. 
 
 The humble author has thus endeavored to 
 trace, and present some of the great facts of 
 American history, and to render something like 
 justice to the deeds and memories of some of the 
 great and good men who have thus served their 
 country and mankind. He has endeavored to 
 accomplish this object without injuring or de- 
 tracting from others. He has relied much more 
 upon the intrinsic force of facts, than upon any 
 poor efi'orts of his, in connecting and presenting 
 
Life and Events. 165 
 
 them. Having learned that the ancestors of 
 his wife and children, the only surviving child 
 and grand-children of Joseph Hawkins, were thus 
 connected with the great chain of events and 
 achievements of their country, he .has felt that 
 his relation to them, has increased his duty 
 to render justice to their memories. He has 
 no fears that a liberal and impartial public 
 will misconstrue his motives or his objects. 
 
 The author must be permitted to add that 
 these facts and events have not been written 
 in a spirit of vain-glorious pride, but having been 
 deeply impressed with them, he ventures to 
 present them as historical truths. 
 
 They belong to the country, and it has been 
 the endeavor of the writer, to place them 
 before a grateful country. 
 
 The current of life and events has appeared 
 to the writer as remarkable in history. The 
 Old and the Kew Worlds wxre first united 
 by the marriage of Pocahontas and Mr. Rolf 
 under the solemn and sacred rites of the tes- 
 tament. Here is the beginning of the new 
 Christian civilization ; from this beginning to the 
 achievements of the Revolution ; the addition of 
 new States; the acquisition and settlement of 
 Louisiana and the great Mississippi Valley; the 
 colonization, independence and acquisition of 
 Texas, and the countries between her and 
 the Pacific ocean; thus a union and a cur- 
 rent of life and events, beginning with the first 
 
166 Life and Events. 
 
 colony, extending across the continent, and down 
 to the present time. 
 
 The wants, the happiness, and the greatness of 
 a people consist of territorial resources and their 
 cultivation of them on the one hand, and their 
 mental and religious culture on the other. 
 The people of the United States have secured an 
 extent and variety of territory, with material 
 sufficient to supply hundreds of millions of peo- 
 ple with all the necessaries and most of the 
 luxuries of life. They need give themselves 
 no concern at present for the further exten- 
 sion of their territory. This great object, the 
 foundation of a great Union of States has been 
 secured. They want the Island of Cuba, not so 
 much for her territory, as for the high purposes 
 of peace justice and commerce. Their inter- 
 nal system has secured them from invasion by 
 land, and they want Cuba as a work of defense 
 and of peace on the ocean. Great wars at sea 
 have always been and will always be, attended 
 with great loss of life, and of commerce. Every 
 people that have a flag upon the ocean have an 
 interest for peace. Cuba is the natural bulwark of 
 the commerce of the shores of the Gulf and the 
 great valleys and plains of the West and South. 
 The possession of her by a distant owner and 
 oppressor, is cue of the vestiges of a past age 
 which the arrangements of nature and the de- 
 mands of modern progress, must soon remove 
 
Life and Events. 167 
 
 and bring her into the great American Union of 
 States. 
 
 The great work for the American people to 
 accomplish is to preserve and imprjve what 
 thej have. But some of our statesmen advocate 
 the aquisition, not only of Cuba, but of Mexico, 
 and Central America. It is to be hoped, that the 
 American people, "will pause, consider well, and 
 be certain of safety and a sufficient inducement, 
 before making any further continental extension 
 of their government. The two causes most likely 
 to produce a disruption of the Union, thouo-h sep- 
 arate, yet they co-operate in tending to this end; 
 the premature acquisition of Mexico and Central 
 America and the question of African slavery. 
 
 The acquisition of those countries would brino- 
 into the Union millions neither fit for slavery 
 nor for successful freedom. The premature ac- 
 quisition of much more territory than our popu- 
 lation want or can use, in any reasonable length 
 of time, would be so managed as to induce a 
 great increase of foreign emigration. This added 
 to the mixed population belonging to those 
 countries, would form a state of society, that 
 could neither add to the safety, the prosperity 
 nor the happiness of the present population of 
 the Union. Such an extension of territory and 
 the accumulation of such a population, would 
 greatly weaken the bonds of the Union. While 
 our system of government is capable by timely 
 expansion of embracing a vast extent of territory, 
 
1C8 Life and Events. 
 
 properly divided into States, having a homogen- 
 eous and intelligent population, such an addi- 
 tional mixture would make the people more 
 likely to be carried away by the tempests of 
 passion beyond the point of retreat, a dissolu- 
 tion of the Union of the States. This result has 
 always been regarded with the greatest terror 
 by the wisest and best patriots our country has 
 produced. It would certainly throw the States 
 into chaos, and their struggles with each other 
 and with monarchy and despotism from abroad, 
 would in all human probability, be fatal to liberty 
 and happiness forever. 
 
 The premature acquisition of Mexico and Cen- 
 tral America would be a great movement towards 
 a dissolution of the Union. Such an extent of 
 country, added to the Southern States, would 
 give them such a field for slave labor, for a 
 splendid Southern confederacy, as would soon 
 cause them to endeavor to withdraw from the 
 Union. However brilliant the prospect of two 
 great separate Unions of free and slave States, 
 there is the greatest danger that the pres- 
 ent Union once dissolved, the States would be 
 convulsed and blighted by perpetual strug- 
 gles and civil wars. Such a result in com- 
 parison with the present condition and prospects 
 of the Union wisely conducted, is the most ter- 
 rible that tlie wreck of earthly happiness and pros- 
 pects could present. To avert this end on the one 
 hand and to pursue the great mission of peace on 
 
Life and Events. 169 
 
 the other, it should be the grand object of every 
 American statesman and philanthropist, to aid in 
 preserving and justly conducting the constitutional 
 Union of the States. There is one feeling com- 
 mon to every American patriot, that is, that our 
 our system of government shall endure for and 
 with our posterity forever. The thought of 
 leaving them in all the miseries, calamities and 
 crimes of destroying each other, is most revolting 
 to the mind and agonizing to the heart of every 
 philanthropist. 
 
 The writer ventures to suggest as a remedy 
 for the tendency of our government, to make 
 further acquisitions of territory, the strict enforce- 
 ment of the Monroe doctrine to the line of South 
 America. This will secure Central America and 
 Mexico to the Union when the people shall really 
 need and can acquire them with safety. 
 
 The following, written while the conduct of Com- 
 modore Paulding, and the policy of the United 
 States in reference to Central America was pend- 
 ing before Congress, expresses the humble opinion 
 of the writer on the important subject referred 
 to by it : 
 
 [For the Kentucky Statesman.] 
 Lexington, Kentuchy, Feb. 1, 1858. 
 " Hon, ***** 
 
 Knowing you more intimately than any other 
 member of Congress, I take the liberty of calling 
 your attention very briefly to the late capture of 
 
170 Life and Events. 
 
 Walker and his companions in Central America ; 
 and the bringing of them by force to the United 
 States. 
 
 If the history of the government has estab- 
 lished a solitary principle of liberty it is the 
 right of expatriation. It is not only the great 
 principle and fact of our government, but of 
 civilization herself. 
 
 The march of Moses ^^'ith his people under 
 the command of the Almighty himself, is the first 
 great instance of expatriation, or emigration 
 from one country to take possession of another. 
 Pharaoh denied this right and pursued them. 
 Instead of the success he so confidently expected, 
 the wrath of an ofi"ended Deity overwhelmed 
 him and his hosts in the dark depths of the sea. 
 The Israelites pursued their journey and made 
 forcible conquest of the land of Canaan, and 
 thus laid the foundation of all subsequent civili- 
 zation and true religion. Passing over the many 
 intervening instances, the next greatest instance 
 of the kind is found in the history of our own 
 country. The Pilgrim Fathers had to escape 
 from the tyranny and pursuit of their op- 
 pressing government. It is thus described by 
 the great Webster in his discourse on the settle- 
 ment of New England. 
 
 At the present period, it seems incredible that 
 the learned, accomplished, unassuming, and inof- 
 fensive Robinson, should neither be tolerated in 
 his peaceable mode of worship in his own coun- 
 
Life and Events. 171 
 
 try, nor suffered quietly to depart from it. Yet 
 such was the fact. He left his country by stealth 
 that he might elsewhere enjoy those rights which 
 ought to belong to men in all countries. The de- 
 parture of the Pilgrims for Holland is deeply 
 interesting, from its circumstances, and also as it 
 marks the character of the times, independently 
 of its connection with the names now incorpora- 
 ted, with the history of empire. The embarka- 
 tion was intended to be made in such a manner, 
 that it might escape the notice of the govern- 
 ment. Great pains had been taken to secure 
 boats which should come undiscovered to the 
 shore, and receive the fugitives; and frequent 
 disappointments had been experienced in this 
 
 respect. 
 
 At length the appointed time came, bringing 
 with it unusual severity of cold and rain. An 
 unfrequented and barren heath, on the shores of 
 Lincolnshire, was the selected spot, where the 
 feet of the Pilgrims were to tread, for the last 
 time, the land of their fathers. The vessel which 
 was to receive them did not come until the next 
 day, and in the meantime the little band was 
 collected, and men and women and children and 
 baggage were crowded together, in melancholy 
 and distressed confusion. The sea was rough, 
 and the women and children were already sick, 
 from their passage down the river to the place 
 of embarkation on the sea. At length the 
 wished-for boat silently and fearfully approaches 
 
172 Life and Events. 
 
 the shore, and men and women and children, 
 shaking with fear and with cold, as many as 
 the small vessel could bear, ventured off on 
 a dangerous sea. Immediately the advance of 
 horses is heard from behind, armed men appear, 
 and those not yet embarked are seized, and taken 
 into custody. 
 
 Thus we see that their oppressors did not 
 pursue them on the high seas, nor on foreign 
 soil. 
 
 It was, in the exercise of this right of emi- 
 gration, that all the American colonies were 
 established, and finally made independent States. 
 Every American knows that our colonial fath- 
 ers drove the Indians, by countless bloody con- 
 flicts, still further and further from the At- 
 lantic coast, and took from them the lands 
 they occupied. It is well known to have been 
 sanctioned by the great precedent of Moses 
 and his people, directed by God himself; sanc- 
 tioned by the practice of all subsequent peo- 
 ples, and by every principle of morality and 
 religion. Not that it is right to rob individuals 
 or communities of their property ; but where a 
 savage or degraded people are found in posses- 
 sion of a country whose richness they spurn and 
 abuse, that country may be rightfully taken, by 
 force, if necessary, for all the high purposes of 
 civilization and religion. The war of 1812, with 
 England, grew out of the same question. The 
 United States asserted the right of expatriation, 
 
Life and Events. 17i 
 
 and denied Enj^-land's right to board our vessels 
 at sea to search for subjects. It was in vindica- 
 ting this position and principle that Henry Clay 
 declared that ' the flag that floats at the mast 
 bead is the credentials of American seamen.' Let 
 us apply these great precedents to the case of 
 Walker and the conduct of Commodore Pauldino;. 
 Gen. Walker and his companions first went to 
 Central America, as he states, under the coloniza- 
 tion laws of that country, and became citizens 
 there. He further states that he Avas afterwards 
 elected President of that country ; that a revolu- 
 tion reduced him to the situation of danirer from 
 which he was relieved by the American vessel 
 which brought him to this country. While here he 
 proposed to return to his adopted country, and in- 
 vited emigrants to go with him. No one can deny 
 his right to do so, whether a citizen of the United 
 States or not. No one can deny the right of our 
 citizens to go with him to that or any other country. 
 No one can deny their right to carry arms and 
 munitions, whether for defence or agression, provi- 
 ded they do not form themselves into a military 
 organization in the United States. Our govern- 
 ment has nothing to do with their intentions, unless 
 they commit the overt acts of organizing into an 
 army or expedition, as forbidden by our laws. If 
 they did that, they were subject to arrest and pun- 
 ishment. To arrest on our own soil, or within our 
 own jurisdiction ; within the marine league of our 
 own shores, or on our own vessels at sea. The 
 
174 Life and Events. 
 
 law and offense being local, the right to arrest 
 or punish is likewise local. 
 
 The jurisdiction of a government is of right, 
 and must be confined to her own territories, and 
 to her own vessels at sea. 
 
 The rights of persons on foreign soil at 
 ]3eace with us, have always been held sacred. 
 Even the traitor Arnold who betrayed and tried 
 to destroy the liberties of his country, was secure 
 on foreign soil. And who does not know, that 
 even the worst of criminals against foreign laws 
 are secure on our vessels, under our flag at sea, 
 and on our soil. 
 
 If Walker and his men violated our laws they 
 ought to have been arrested while in the juris- 
 diction of our laws and tried for the offense. 
 But I believe we may safely refer to a similar 
 case in some points of law, and in policy. 
 In 1793, it was rumored that Jay, who Avas 
 regarded as hostile to the West, was to be 
 sent as minister to England, and that the nav- 
 igation of the Mississippi River, was to be 
 abandoned by our government. Under these cir- 
 cumstances a strong military force was being 
 organized in Kentucky to be commanded by 
 Gen. George Rogers Clark, it was said, to make 
 conquest of the lower Mississippi. In November, 
 1793, the Governor received a second communi- 
 cation from the President, most earnestly urging 
 him to suppress the expedition. In reply to 
 this order the dauntless patriot declined to use 
 
Life and Events. 175 
 
 force 'against men Avhom I consider' says he 
 ' as friends and brethren in favor of a man whom 
 I view as an enemy. I shall feel but little in- 
 clination to take an active part in punishing or 
 restraining my fellow citizens for supposed inten- 
 tions only, to gratify or remove the fears of the 
 minister of a Prince who openly withholds from 
 us a most invaluable right.' Again, under the 
 administration of Jefferson, Miranda fitted out an 
 expedition in this country, and sailed to Caracas 
 for the purpose of revolution. Mr. Jefferson gives 
 the following account of it himself: ' He informed 
 lis he was about to attempt the liberation of his 
 native country from bondage, and intimated a 
 hope of our aid or connivance at least. He was 
 at once informed that, although we had great 
 cause of complaint against Spain, and even of 
 war, yet whenever we should think proper to act 
 as her enemy, it should be openly and above 
 board, and that our hostility should never be 
 exercised by such petty means. We had no sus- 
 picion that he expected to engage men here, but 
 merely to purchase military stores. Against this 
 there was no law, nor consequently any authority 
 for us to interpose obstacles.' Although his 
 measures were many days in preparation in New 
 York, we never had the least intimation or sus- 
 picion of his engaging men in his enterprise 
 until he was gone; until it was too late for any 
 measures to be taken at Washington to prevent 
 their departure. The officer in the customs 
 
176 Life and Events. 
 
 who participated in this transaction with Miranda 
 we immediately removed, and shoidd have had 
 him and others further punished had it not been 
 for the protection given them by private citizens 
 at New York.' 
 
 We here see that notwithstanding!; the indigna- 
 tion of Jefferson against his officers for enabling 
 Miranda to escape, yet he never dreamed of 
 pursuing the expedition on the high seas or on 
 foreign soil. 
 
 While history has thus established the practice 
 of nations it is certainly the policy of this coun- 
 try not to violate these great principles when 
 that violation will produce great injury to our 
 own country. Central America is the most im- 
 portant natural point with reference to the 
 greatest commerce of the globe. 
 
 England and France, especially England, have 
 their eyes on that country. We have only to 
 recall the fact that the great Russian war saved 
 us from a threatened conflict with the allies in 
 the Gulf. When they shall have sufficiently re- 
 covered their resources they will be likely to revive 
 and execute the then threatened invasion. They 
 want that country for the commercial advantages it 
 would give them. We do not want the country, 
 but our people will never permit them to have it. 
 It is more desirable to us that it should be set- 
 tled and governed by Americans of our own kin- 
 dred and language, whose preference for us would 
 not permit them to discriminate agatinst us. If 
 
Life and Events. 177 
 
 there he a difference it is much more important 
 to the North-east, than to any other portion of 
 the Union for that country to become settled by 
 Americans. The South ah-eady have as much 
 territory as they want or can manage, and can 
 not be profited by encouraging competition in 
 their own peculiar productions. The North-east 
 are a manufacturing and commercial people and 
 being much nearer to the East Indies through 
 that route, will have vastly the advantage in 
 that great trade, if they have equal privileges of 
 transit. France and England know this and 
 will endeavor to get superior rights there to over- 
 balance our nearer position. We had better there- 
 fore let our people emigrate to and govern the 
 country, than to give it up to influences that 
 will finally place it under the control of England 
 and France, and thus be compelled to wrest it 
 froiii them by war. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Leighton." 
 
 When we consider the rapid increase of our 
 country, we know that the time will soon arrive, 
 when it will contain a great population. Eighty. 
 five years ago, they numbered less than three 
 millions of people. They now number twenty- 
 eight millions — more than nine times the num- 
 ber on Independence Day. At the expiration 
 of a century from Independence, the States 
 will probably contain forty millions of people ; 
 
 12 
 
178 Life and Events. 
 
 fourteen times their number in the beginning 
 of their great struggle for freedom. If the 
 increase of the second century shall only be 
 four times the number at the time of its 
 beginning, instead of fourteen timics, as in the 
 first century, then at the expiration of the 
 second century, the population of the Union 
 will be one hundred and sixty millions, and the 
 government will yet be, or rather ought to be, 
 in her infancy. That our population will reach 
 this number at the end of the second century 
 without any additional inducem'ents to foreign 
 emigration, and without the acquisition of a fixed 
 population with the soil, there can be no reason- 
 able doubt. These great facts are worthy of 
 being considered, and must be considered by 
 the people, in order to secure the safety, and 
 promote the permanent good of their country. 
 We can not shut our eyes upon the fut^ire. 
 While in the prime of manhood it is the duty 
 of the parent, to educate and provide for his 
 children. It is likewise the duty of the citizen 
 to act in such a manner, in reference to the 
 great measures of his country, as will secure 
 the rights and promote the prosperity and hap- 
 piness of his family, his neighbors, and his 
 country ; not only for the present, but for all 
 time to come. Considering the perfect security 
 of our country from foreign invasion so long as 
 they remain united themselves, considering the 
 causes most likely to continue that Union, and 
 
Life and Events. 179 
 
 at the same time the prosperity and happiness 
 of the people, looking to their increasing numbers, 
 the consequent diminution of cheap lands, and the 
 competition of every description of labor, looking 
 at the great facts and philosophy of history, that 
 as a country grows old, it generally grows corrupt, 
 that a dense population struggling for bread, is 
 not a happy state of society, that such a popula- 
 tion, composed of mixed colors, races, languages 
 and interests, — can not long remain free, happy 
 and united, these dangerous tendencies of our 
 ago and country, ought, by all means, now to be 
 checked, and controlled through all future time. 
 Should foreign emigration ever become a bur- 
 then to the people of the Union, their sense of 
 danger, their love for their children and the law 
 of self-preservation, will certainly rouse them, 
 and cause them to regulate or prevent it. In 
 the days of the Colonies, and the early days 
 of the present government, it was a question of 
 very different circumstances. Then, here was a 
 Continent to subdue and bring into cultivation, 
 with comparatively few to accomplish the object ; 
 now, the independence and security of our people 
 having been established, our population and gov- 
 ernment having taken position Avith the great 
 powers of the earth, the question is and Avill 
 be, how can we best preserve our system of gov- 
 ernment, and promote the welfare and happiness 
 of the country. In pursuit of these objects, 
 those who have come from abroad and those who 
 
180 Life and Events. 
 
 may hereafter become residents of the country, 
 have a like interest with the native citizens ; 
 the welfare of themselves, their families and 
 their country. 
 
 In addition to these views separately con- 
 sidered, they connect themselves with a kindred 
 subject. The greater the number, mixture and 
 extent of population, the greater the danger to 
 the Union from that fearful question, the sub- 
 ject of slavery. This is the great question of 
 danger to the peace and perpetuity of the 
 Union. Whether African slavery will ever be 
 abolished in the States, or in any of them, is 
 not a question to be here considered. But it 
 may be observed without going farther into 
 that branch of the subject, that this as all 
 other great radical changes in society, can only 
 be affected in one of two Avays ; by the peaceful, 
 constitutional action of the States containg it, 
 or by revolution and war. As none but mad- 
 men contend for the latter, the question ought 
 to be left with the former method. In view 
 therefore of the peace and welfare of the coun- 
 try — in view of the great mission and destiny 
 of our country, let us briefly review the history of 
 
 THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY ; AND 
 
 The decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States in the case of Dred Scott. 
 Since the union of the States, no question 
 has produced so much excitement among our 
 
Life and Events. 181 
 
 people, or threatened so seriously a disolution 
 of the Union as the attacks through Congress 
 upon African slavery as it exists in the Union. 
 The question whether or not Congress, has the 
 constitutional right or power to prohibit slavery 
 in the Territories belonging to the Union, is 
 the one out of which the excitement has chiefly 
 grown, but it has also included the fugitive slave 
 law and the importation of slaves from one State 
 to another, where slavery exists. 
 
 The Congress and the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, assisted by all the accumulated 
 light and experience on the subject, have re- 
 cently decided the main question, but there 
 is a political party in the country of great 
 power and extent still attempting to get control 
 of the government and overthrow that decision. 
 Inasmuch as the success of that attempt would 
 almost certainly result in a disolution of the 
 Union, and one of the greatest and most dis- 
 astrous of wars, every citizen who will throw a 
 new ray of light upon the subject, or excite a 
 glow of patriotic emotion, will render important 
 service to his country, and the great causes of 
 republican liberty. 
 
 In making this effort, he must eradicate from 
 his mind every motive but those springing from 
 an honest search for truth, united with the 
 high objects and pursuits of his country. 
 
 In order to ascertain the power of the Con- 
 gress of the United States or of the Supreme 
 
182 Life and Events. 
 
 Court upon any question of reasonable contro- 
 versy, it is necessary to trace the history of 
 that Constitution under which the power is 
 claimed. 
 
 In order to understand what the law is, it 
 is necessary to know what the law was, is a 
 maxim founded in the clearest truth and com- 
 mon sense. So also to understand the nature, 
 extent, bearing or effect of any of the great 
 institutions of man or facts of history, we must 
 trace that institution from its origin to the 
 present time. In order to understand the na- 
 ture and extent of a government or of any 
 law under it, we must understand the condition 
 and language of society when the government 
 was formed, and the facts to which the law 
 was made to appply. Let us therefore briefly 
 glance, unpleasant as is the thought of such a 
 necessity, at the history of human slavery, 
 tracing it from its known origin down to the 
 period when our system of government was 
 formed. While our examination of it must be 
 very brief, it must embrace all the great facts 
 and laws affecting the subject. This course and 
 this only, will enable us to discover the actual 
 condition of society, the state of case then 
 existing, the objects our fathers had in view, 
 and the meaning of the language used by them 
 when they united the colonies as independent 
 States, and formed the governments under which 
 we live. 
 
Life and Events. 183 
 
 We learn from holy writ that our first parents 
 were created pure, but were seduced to fall from 
 tlieir high estate. Their first born were created 
 equal ; but the one found greater favor with his 
 creator ; the other became his murderer, and lost 
 his equality forever. After this, the wickedness 
 of man became so great that his Creator swept 
 him from the earth, saving only the family of a 
 just and obedient man. When the descendants 
 of Noah had multiplied into great nations of the 
 earth, God permitted his chosen people, his 
 select children of Israel, to be enslaved for four 
 hundred years. When they had multiplied to 
 the number of a million of people, He led them, 
 by his oracle, their great chief, Moses, from 
 slavery into a land of plenty and of freedom. 
 While on this great journey He appeared to 
 them and delivered to them through Moses, 
 a code of laws for their government. Imme- 
 diately after he had delivered the ten com- 
 mandments to Moses, "all the people saw the 
 thunderings, and the lightning and the noise 
 of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and 
 when the people saw it they stood afar off," 
 * * * " and Moses said unto the people, fear 
 not, for God has come to prove you and that 
 his fear may be before you that ye sin not 
 >;-, >!: t. u ^^^ the Lord said unto Moses thou 
 shalt say unto the children of Israel" '^ * " now 
 these are the judgments which thou shalt set 
 before them" ''' * " If thou buy a Hebrew servant 
 
184 Life and Events. 
 
 six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he 
 shall go out free for nothing." "If he were 
 married, then his wife shall go out with him." 
 
 * * "If his master have given him a wife, and 
 she have home him sons and daughters, the wife 
 and the children shall be her master's, and he 
 shall go out by himself. And if he shall plainly 
 say, I love my master, my wife and my children, 
 I will not go out from them, then his master 
 shall bring him unto the judges ; he shall also 
 bring him to the door or unto the door post, 
 and his master shall bore his ear with an awl, 
 and he shall serve him forever." (1) The Almighty 
 spoke again to Moses in Mount Sinai : " Speak 
 unto the children of Israel and say unto them 
 when ye come into the land which I give you, 
 then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the 
 Lord" * * * "and ye shall hallow the fiftieth 
 year and proclaim liberty throughout all the 
 land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be 
 a jubilee unto you and ye shall return every man 
 to his family. A jubilee that fiftieth year be 
 unto you. Ye shall not sow, neither shall ye 
 reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor 
 gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed." 
 
 * ^ " I am the Lord your God which brought 
 you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the 
 land of Canaan and to be your God. And if 
 thy brother that dwelleth by thee waxen poor 
 
 (1) 20 and 21 ch. Exodus. 
 
Life and Events. 185 
 
 and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him 
 to serve as a bond-servant, but as a sojourner 
 be shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto 
 the year of jubilee and then he shall depart 
 from thee, both he and his children with him, 
 and shall return unto his own family, unto the 
 possession of his family shall he return: For 
 they are my servants which I brought forth out 
 of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold 
 as bondmen. Thou shalt not rule over them 
 with rigor, but shalt fear thy God: Both thy 
 bond-men and thy bond-maids which thou shalt 
 have, shall be of the heathen which are round 
 about thee ; of them shall ye buy and of their 
 families which they begat in your land; and 
 they shall be your possession ; and ye shall take 
 them as an inheritance for your children forever, 
 but over your brother, the children of Israel, 
 ye shall not rule one over another with rigour." 
 Could language or intention be plainer ? Here 
 is defined a code of laws for a chosen people who 
 are treated as equals respecting each other, but 
 superior to the heathen and stranger to whom 
 more rigorous laws are applied. While the gen- 
 eral law is that of equality and freedom, yet 
 the exception is as clearly set forth and applied, 
 no doubt to the physical as well as the moral 
 and religious difference in the persons to whom 
 they were applied by the Creator himself. These 
 laws, spoken by the great Jehovah himself, none 
 but fanatics can to question their wisdom or 
 
186 Life and Events. 
 
 justice. Thej remained many centuries the laws 
 of God directly to man, and still remain so 
 unless they have been repealed. 
 
 As the Father of all, He spoke to his chosen 
 children ; he gave in person the ten command- 
 ments and the other laws for their government, 
 so likewise his only Son, the Saviour of his 
 people delivered in person his great sermon 
 on the Mount to the descendants of those 
 children. 
 
 The sermon on the Mount stands in its perfec- 
 tion as high above the efiorts or laws of man, as 
 the speaker was above his hearers. That sermon 
 and the other truths, proclaimed by him, contained 
 all the great laws for His government of the 
 world. So far as the old laws were incompati- 
 ble with them, they were repealed; but the 
 Saviour did not anywhere forbid or repeal 
 the institution of slavery. Although under the 
 Mosaic law and throughout the world slavery had 
 existed in great severity and extent — millions had 
 been and were then in cruel slavery — the Saviour 
 did not forbid or repeal its laws: Although, as 
 is recorded by the great historian Bancroft, 
 " Slavery and the slave trade were older than 
 the records of human society, and pervaded 
 every nation of civilized antiquity" — although 
 " the light that broke from Mount Sinai scatter- 
 ed the corrupting illusions of Polytheism, slavery 
 planted itself even in the promise land on the 
 banks of the Slloa, near the oracles of God;" 
 
Life and Events. 187 
 
 althongh the tragical fate of the beautiful Vir- 
 ginia, is an instance and an index to slavery under 
 the Roman law— and there " the father could sell 
 his children, the creditor his insolvent debtor, 
 the warrior his captive,— there the influence of 
 slavery was carried into the condition of every 
 contract, into the heart of every unhappy land 
 that was invaded by the Roman eagle ;" and " the 
 slava markets of Rome were filled with slaves 
 of every complexion and from every clime," yet 
 the Saviour did not forbid or repeal, but recog- 
 nized the institution of slavery. In delivering his 
 great sermon on the Mount " Ho taught as one 
 having authority." "And when he was come 
 down from the Mount great multitudes followed 
 hira," S and when he was entered into Capernaum 
 there came unto him a centurion beseeching him 
 and saying," "Lord my servant lyeth at home 
 sick of the palsey, grievously tormented:" " And 
 Jesus saith unto him," "I will come and heal 
 him." " The centurion answered and said," " Lord 
 I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under 
 my roof; but speak the word only and my 
 servant shall be healed." " He said to them that 
 followed," " verily I say I have not found so great 
 faith in Israel." He said to the centurion "go 
 thy way, and as thou believed so be it unto 
 thee; and his servant was healed the self same 
 hour.'" (2) The centurion was a Roman officer. 
 
188 Life and Events. 
 
 He was not one of the children of Israel. His 
 servant was one of the bondmen of the Mosaic 
 law, a slave under the Roman law. The Saviour 
 forbid and denounced all sins that he disapproved 
 of, and while he commanded repentance, meek- 
 ness, charity, brotherly love and justice, yet he 
 did not directly interfere with any of the laws of 
 man. His disciple, Peter, also taught : " servants 
 be subject to your master's with all fear." For this 
 is thank-worthy if man for conscience toward 
 God endure grief, suffering wrongfully; for 
 what glory is it, if when ye be buffetted for 
 your faults ye shall not take it patiently ; but 
 when ye do well and suffei for it, ye take it 
 patiently, this is acceptable with God." 
 
 The Saviour came not to make governments or 
 kingdoms for men. His kingdom was not of the 
 world. He left those duties with man, leaving 
 at the same time his pure and holy precepts — 
 His mission of love, charity and salvation to 
 every class and condition of men. 
 
 Thus, notwithstanding His mission was ful- 
 filled in the Roman Empire, slavery continued, 
 unforbidden by him, throughout her dominions, 
 until she was overthrown by northern barbarians 
 and ceased to exist as one of the powers of the 
 earth. But her overthrow was not the overthrow 
 of slavery. The conquering tides that swept 
 over her vast domains, continued slavery and 
 the slave trade. From the Baltic to the Medi- 
 terranean across the entire continent, including 
 
Life and Events. 189 
 
 all western Europe to the Atlantic coast, so also 
 throughout Palestine and portions of Asia and 
 Africa, slavery and the slave trade were continued 
 to a great extent and in a most oppressive form. 
 Through those dark and desolating centuries Avhen 
 the christian world was struggling to wrest the 
 holy land from infidel hands, "in the camp of the 
 leader whose pious arms redeemed the sepulchre of 
 Christ from the mixed nations of Asia and Lydia, 
 the price of a horse was three slaves." Through 
 those long and bloody wars between the Chris- 
 tians and Moors, that convulsed western Europe 
 for seven centuries, slavery was, on either side, 
 the doom of the captive, and millions suffered 
 the penalty in its severest forms. The final 
 victory of the Christians drove the Moors to 
 the northern coast of Africa where they contin- 
 ued not only to retaliate upon their Christian 
 enemies, but began to deal in the natives of 
 Africa who had been subject to slavery from 
 immemorial time. 
 
 The African race had always held possession 
 of a rich quarter of the globe ; a vast popula- 
 tion, they had always been divided into petty 
 kingdoms and tribes ; without civilization and 
 the christian religion, they had no fixed laws 
 of justice, no governments but those of force 
 directed by the will of savage kings. The 
 warmth of their climate, the richness of their 
 soil and its spontaneous productions, rendered 
 necessary very little labor to sustain their 
 
190 Life and Events. 
 
 swarms of people. Their chief employment 
 was war ; kingdoms against kingdoms ; tribes 
 against tribes ; brothers against brothers. — 
 Prisoners, according to their law had forfeited 
 their lives. They were either put to death in a 
 cruel manner, or lived as slaves at the will of 
 their barbarous masters. Thus African slaves 
 were carried to modern, as they had been to 
 ancient Europe. The traffic was established half 
 a century before Columbus discovered the Amer- 
 ican Continent. And, although the influence of 
 the christian religion, the revival of education, 
 the cultivation of the arts and sciences, the 
 general diffusion of intelligence among, and the 
 great increase of population, have, to a great 
 extent, dispelled the darkness of the middle ages, 
 reconstructed the governments of Europe, and 
 emancipated her people from slavery ; yet, the 
 ^frican slave trade has been continued to the 
 new continent from its early settlement to 
 the present time. Until a recent period, this 
 trade was not only sanctioned by the great 
 powers of Europe, but, for a considerable time, 
 it was forced upon the North American colonies 
 by the kingdom of Great Britain herself. When 
 the Spaniards colonized the West India Islands, 
 they reduced the natives to slavery, and by 
 a cruel oppression destroyed, in a few years, 
 millions of Indians. The benevolent Las Casas, 
 moved by a desire to save the remainder of that 
 suffering race, proposed to substitute slaves from 
 
Life and Events. 191 
 
 Africa. Touched by his appeals, Charles the 
 Fifth granted a license to one of his courtiers 
 to import four thousand negroes to the Islands. 
 This is tlie origin of slavery in America, nearly 
 a century before the colony of Virginia. Slaves 
 were brought into that colony by a man-of-war 
 in 1820. As the other colonies grew up, it spread 
 through them all. The importation of slaves was 
 for more than a century almost solely the work 
 of the English. As early as the days of William 
 and ^lar}", the Commons declared tor the traffic ; 
 the statutes of the kingdom soon after sanctioned 
 and justified it ; Queen Anne boasted to her par- 
 liament of having secured to her subjects a new 
 market for slaves in Spanish America ; under 
 George the Second, the parliament established 
 African forts ; and as late as 1750 a member of 
 the House of Lords stated that " six and forty 
 thousand" slaves Avere sold every year to the 
 English plantations alone. 
 
 Virginia first checked the importation of slaves 
 by a tax, but the influence of the African com- 
 pany procured a repeal of the law. Thus the 
 English continued the trade until it was taken 
 from them by their more daring American com- 
 petitors. While the people of the colonies must 
 have disapproved the capture and importation of 
 slaves, it was no sin for them to purchase tlicm. 
 Having been made slaves in their native land 
 some of them were brought to our colonies. 
 The Spanirads had made conquest not only of 
 
192 Life and Events. 
 
 the West India Islands, but of Central America, 
 Peru, and Mexico. Having destroyed millions 
 of Indians in slavery, they were carrying the 
 Africans to their colonies. It was far better 
 then for the African slave to be purchased and 
 held by the humane citizens of our colonies, 
 than to have been doomed to the cruel slavery of 
 the Spaniards. While, therefore, the govern- 
 ments and traders that established the business 
 of capturing and importing slaves may deserve 
 to be censured, the conduct of our citizens who 
 purchased and treated them kindly, is not only 
 free from just censure, but far above the reach of 
 slander. 
 
 The slaves imported to, and purchased in the 
 colonies, were held as property under the laws 
 and usages of all the colonies. The carrying of 
 slaves fcom one colony to another, and selling 
 them there, always existed among the colonies. 
 Before the Revolution, the people of the colonies 
 were dependent, to some extent, upon the 
 British government, and acknowledged allegiance 
 to her King ; but their relation to each other 
 was that of equal and separate communities. In 
 all the colonies, and throughout their territories, 
 slaves were held as property, were bought and 
 sold, were liable to the laws of descent, of debt, 
 and of capture wheresoever they escaped. 
 
 Thus, from its first introduction, slavery grew 
 up with American institutions, become a part of 
 American civilization, and the common law of 
 
Life and Events. 193 
 
 America. It was thus sanctioned and maintained 
 by the statutes, the courts, and the colonies, 
 when they were united by their Declaration of 
 Independence. That Declaration did not repeal 
 or impair any law or custom affecting African 
 slavery. 
 
 It is contended that it proclaimed certain great 
 self-evident truths, and natural rights, directly 
 at war. with the institution of slavery ; " that all 
 men are created equal, that they are endowed 
 by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; 
 that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
 of happiness." It is evident from the language, 
 " all men," that the author and signers of the 
 Declaration intended to express truths and prin- 
 ciples of justice belonging in all ages of the 
 world, to every people capable of understanding 
 and reducing them to practice. 
 
 The signers of the Declaration had no power 
 to construct a constitution for the internal govern- 
 ment of the colonies. Their objects and powers 
 were both limited to a declaration of independ- 
 ence, and the assertion of those great truths 
 from which the colonies derived their right of 
 independence as the equals of their British op- 
 pressors. While those truths have been adopted 
 as the basis of our system of government, 
 as they should be of every one, yet they 
 can not be of universal application, either in 
 point of time, place or to persons. The history 
 of the world proves them to have been applica- 
 
 13 
 
194 Life and Events. 
 
 ble to those commuiiities only, who are able to 
 receive and carry them into practice. The Holy 
 Scriptures contain the purest principles of conduct 
 and promise salvation equally to all who obey them, 
 they also declare that God is equally just towards 
 all, yet they do recognize that inequality of men, 
 which they have brought upon themselves and 
 their children. While, likewise, the author and 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence pro- 
 claimed the great general political truth, that 
 all men are created with certain equal, inaliena- 
 ble rights, among which are life and liberty, yet 
 they neither had the power nor the intention 
 thereby to liberate the imprisoned or the en- 
 slaved. They intended to, as they did, lay down 
 certain great general principles, having excep- 
 tions, which they proved themselves by retaining 
 prisoners lawfully confined, and by holding slaves 
 according to the laws and usages of the colonies. 
 They did not in the Declaration refer to or 
 include the African in America as having any 
 political rights whatever. While they denounced 
 the British for having incited insurrection among 
 their people, refering in this instance alone to 
 the African race, they did not in the remotest 
 degree apply those truths and rights of liberty 
 to the African race in America. Their conduct, 
 corresponding as it did with this interpretation 
 of their intentions, is the most conclusive proof 
 of its correctness. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The next Union of the States was by virtue of 
 their Articles of Confederation. 
 
 Article 1st provides "that the style of this 
 Confederation shall be the United States of 
 America." 
 
 By Article 2d, "each State retains its sove- 
 reignty, freedom and independence, and every 
 power, jurisdiction or right which is not by this 
 confederation expressly delegated to the United 
 States in Congress assembled." 
 
 There was no power, nor the slightest sem- 
 blance of power, delegated to Congress to prohibit 
 slavery any where, or to impair the rights of 
 individuals to their slaves, or restrict the full 
 sovereignty of the States over the subject. It 
 remained as before throughout the States and 
 Territories and no one then questioned this 
 universal understanding and practice of the peo- 
 ple of the States. The States continued this 
 confederacy until they superceded the articles 
 by adopting the Constitution of the United 
 States. 
 
 The preamble of the Constitution declares it to 
 be the Constitution of the i^eople of the United 
 States ; and the first article provides that " all 
 legislative powers herein granted shall be vested 
 in a Congress of the United States, which shall 
 
196 Life and Events. 
 
 consist of a Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives." It then goes on to express all the powers 
 it does vest in and delegate to Congress. After 
 enumerating those powers, it provides that " the 
 enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, 
 shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
 others retained by the people." 
 
 Thus, the history and provisions of the Consti- 
 tution confine the powers of Congress to those 
 expressly enumerated in the Constitution, and such 
 as are " necessary and proper" for carrying them 
 into execution. 
 
 One of the highest rights of the citizen is the 
 right of property. It has always been classed 
 with life and liberty, because it proceeds from 
 them, and continually re-supplies them, the source 
 of its own existence, with food necessary to theirs. 
 The life-blood that courses the veins, giving power 
 to the body and mind, the motion that executes 
 the will in pursuit of food, are the elements of 
 the life, liberty and property that constitute every 
 individual and political existence. They are so 
 intimately connected with and dependent upon 
 each other, that the one can not be injured with- 
 out producing a corresponding effect upon the 
 other. As in tbe one case it is sometimes neces- 
 sary to take a part of the blood, to regulate the 
 exercise of the body and the use of food, in 
 order to preserve life and health ; so it is like- 
 wise sometimes necessary to take individual life, 
 liberty and property, to preserve the life and 
 
Life and Events. 197 
 
 health of society. But this can never rightfully 
 be done, except by the highest sovereign power, 
 under the necessity of taking a part to preserve 
 the remainder. The great object of government 
 is the preservation, not the destruction or invasion 
 of life, liberty and property. It is a fact as clear 
 as the sun in heaven, that when the Constitution 
 of the United States was formed, African slaves 
 were ' held as individual property throughout the 
 States and their territories, excepting in one of 
 each ; that the liberty the Constitution was made 
 to preserve, was not the liberty of the slave ; 
 that the Constitution was made with reference to 
 and in full knowledge of slavery ; and if it had not 
 contained a word respecting slavery, it would have 
 remained with the people among the States as 
 before. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States did and 
 does, not only recognize slavery as lawful property, 
 but it commands Congress to include three-fifths 
 of the slaves in making Congressional apportion- 
 ments, and it guarantees the rights of individuals to 
 all their property. That clause of the Constitution 
 which provides that " the migration or impor- 
 tation of such persons, as any of the States now 
 existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
 prohibited by Congress prior to the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eight," has always 
 been known and acted upon as referring to the 
 slave trade from abroad, whereby the Constitution 
 sanctioned the importation of slaves to be held 
 
198 Life and Events. 
 
 as property. So also that portion of the second 
 section of the fourth article of the Constitution, 
 "which declares, that no person held to service 
 or lahor in one State under the laws thereof, 
 escaping into another, shall, in consequence of 
 any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
 such service or labor, but shall be delivered upon 
 claim of the party to whom such service or labor 
 may be due," has always been known and acted 
 upon as referring to slaves as property. The 
 power, therefore, to prohibit slavery, or any other 
 description of property, must be one of the great 
 powers of original or primary sovereignty which 
 could only exist in a State, or in the Congress of 
 the United States, by virtue of a clearly expressed 
 delegation of power from the people. There is 
 nowhere to be found in the Constitution of the 
 United States any such delegation of power. 
 The only clause from which, prima facie, such 
 power might be claimed for Congress over the 
 Territories, with any semblance of reason, is 
 the one which declares, " the Congress shall 
 have power to dispose of and make all needful 
 rules and regulations, respecting the Territories 
 or other property belonging to the United States." 
 But when taken in connection with the history, 
 and other provisions of that Constitution, it is 
 clear that it was not intended to, and does 
 not, confer such power upon Congress. It is 
 expressly confined in its application to property 
 belon";ino; to the United States, and does not 
 
Life and Events.] 199 
 
 reach so far as to take hold of the property of 
 the citizen. It places the Territory on precisely 
 the same footing with other property, whether 
 it be in the States or Territories. Congress 
 may, under this clause, pass laws or rules and 
 regulations to govern her Custom House or Navy 
 Yard at New Orleans, yet no intelligent citizen 
 will contend that she can prohibit the officers 
 of . government therein employed from holding 
 slaves at their residences. The power of Con- 
 gress is expressly confined to the "territory or 
 other property," belonging to the United States, 
 and does not include the property of a person 
 who may hidd an office, buy land of, or live in 
 the Territory, under the government of the 
 United States. 
 
 It is contended that, under this provision. 
 Congress has unlimited sovereignty over the 
 Territories, unless expressly prohibited or limited 
 by other provisions of the Constitution. This 
 seems to have been the idea of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, Avhen they declared, 
 that, " In legislating for the Territories, Congress 
 exercises the cojnhined powers of the General and 
 State Governments." This is a self-evident absur- 
 dity, and must be considered simply as an unguard- 
 ed expression. The idea of Congress exercising 
 the combined powers of State and General Gov- 
 ernment ! There is not a lawyer in America, who 
 does not know, after a moment's reflection, that 
 the legislative powers of the States and of the 
 
200 Life and Events. 
 
 National Government, are perfectly separate and 
 distinct, even v^lien concurrent, in all things and 
 all cases. Tliey derive their powers from different 
 constitutions, and are as several in their acts and 
 powers as the different acts of the several States. 
 The Constitution expressly gives Congress legis- 
 lative power over the territories, and gives it to 
 Congress alone, as a sole and single power, so 
 far as it goes, as the Congress and as one of the 
 co-ordinate branches of the government of the 
 United States, not in combination with the power 
 of a State ; yet it does not give Congress un- 
 limited power. It might be safely said that the 
 power given by the Constitution to Congress, 
 over the Territories is in the nature of, or similar 
 to, the power possessed by the States within 
 their limits ; but to say that it is a combination 
 of the powers of " the General and State gov- 
 ernment," is an almost inexcusable inadvert'ance. 
 It is from this greatest of errors that its next 
 in sequence follows, to wit : That as the sole 
 and unlimited sovereign, she may pass all laws 
 that she may deem needful for the Territories. 
 So she may for the Territories as property belong- 
 ing to the Union, but not for the people — not 
 for those to whom she sells her land, and whom 
 she invites from all the States to live in the 
 territories. They have many reserved rights of 
 persons and property, that Congress can not 
 invade, although as unlimited in regard to them 
 as the right in question. What is the sovereign 
 
Life and Events. 201 
 
 power of a government? We understand it to 
 be that power, to make and execute laws, which 
 belongs to the citizens of a State or government. 
 Thus, the citizens are the original sovereigns, and 
 their officers possess so much power only as is 
 granted by the sovereigns in their Constitution. 
 So far as the grant extends, so far the officers 
 may go; no farther. While this is true^ in 
 pliilosophy, it is pre-eminently the great idea 
 and principle of the government of the United 
 States. In the States, as single and original 
 sovereigns, the citizens have generally conferred 
 all legislative power not prohibited by their Con- 
 stitutfon; but the reverse of this rule is found 
 at the very threshhold, and pervades every depart- 
 ment of the government of the United States. 
 Silence in, the Constitution gives no consent to 
 the claim of power by Congress. Such a position 
 points only towards despotism. Where does the 
 member of Congress from Texas get his right to 
 vote on a measure affecting the destiny of the 
 citizens of Main, or of any of the distant Ter- 
 ritories of the Union ? Is it from silence ? From 
 no provision in the Constitution ? Or is it irom mu- 
 tual delegation of power for mutual protection and 
 benefit ? The history and provisions of the Consti- 
 tution, the great principle that pervades every part 
 of it, the rights and liberties of the people, and 
 the continued union of the States, all answer, 
 from the latter ! Thus, if there were no limita- 
 tions to the power of Congress, but the very 
 
202 Life and Events. 
 
 nature of the clause under which the power 
 is claimed, still Congress could not, under that 
 clause, prohibit the people of any portion of the 
 United States from holding any kind of property 
 which existed, and wherever it existed, when the 
 Constitution was adopted. We have already 
 shown that the people of the colonies and States 
 possessed and reserved the right of holding their 
 slaves as property, of carrying them into any 
 of the States or Territories for sale or use, 
 unless expressly prohibited by the State ; and 
 the right of recovering their slaves: "That this 
 was the law and usage of all the States and 
 Territories, when the Constitution was adopted : 
 That the Constitution not only recognized it to 
 be law and fact, but expressly sanctioned and 
 guaranteed all these rights to the people. It 
 not only sanctions their existence affirmatively, 
 but commands Congress to legislate upon these 
 rights ; to provide for the recovery of slaves 
 as property, to permit its increase by restraining 
 Congress from prohibiting the importation of 
 slave property prior to 1808. The Constitution 
 also limits the power of Congress by providing 
 that no person shall be deprived of his property 
 without due process of law, and that private 
 property shall not be taken for public use with- 
 out rendering just compensation for the same. 
 These provisions were not only made with refer- 
 ence to the existence of slavery as property in 
 the existing States and Territories. They are 
 
Life and Events. 203 
 
 all jointly and severally express limitations upon 
 the power of Congress over the people of the 
 territories, because they apply directly to the 
 subject, and to Congress co-extensively with her 
 legislative action. 
 
 In conclusion, and in proof of the correctness 
 of this view of this portion of the question, we 
 ao-ain appeal to the Constitution itself: 
 
 *'A11 legislative powers herein granted shall 
 consist of a Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives." " The enumeration in the constitution of 
 certain rights shall not be construed to disparage 
 others retained by the people." "The powers 
 not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
 stitution, nor prohibited by it the States, are 
 reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people." 
 
 It is also contended that the clause of the 
 Constitution which gives Congress the power to 
 admit new States, carries with it the power to 
 prepare the Territory, by all such laws as Con- 
 gress may judge needful, for her admission as 
 a State. The answer to this is very brief. We 
 all know that Congress has no power to make 
 a State Constitution, nor can she admit a State 
 without a Constitution. The people of the Ter- 
 ritories must make their own Constitution, and 
 if that Constitution be republican, although it 
 may permit slavery, the State must be admitted 
 on an equality with the other States. If, before 
 or at the time of the formation of such State 
 
204 Life and Events. 
 
 Constitution, Congress prohibit slavery, or any 
 other kind of property existing when the Con- 
 stitution was made, and still exists in any of 
 the States, thit is a violation of one of the vital 
 rights of republican equality with the States. If 
 a State come into the Union, thus shorn of her 
 sovereign equality with the other States, thus 
 under Congressional duress, it is a violation of 
 that equality of the States which is one of the 
 foundations of our system. 
 
 If Congress has the right to prohibit slave 
 property in the Territories, she has the same 
 right to prohibit any other kind of property, 
 wherever it may be, within the jurisdiction 
 of the Union. The Constitution declares that 
 " private property shall not be taken for public 
 use without just compensation." Congress cer- 
 tainly has no power under this clause to purchase 
 or forfeit slaves for the public use of either 
 holding or emancipating them. The " public 
 use" contemplated by the Constitution, is for 
 carrying on the business of government in its 
 legitimate sphere of action. This certainly does 
 not extend so far as to enable the government 
 to become a great slave holder or emancipator. 
 She must hold before she can emancipate ; and 
 if the power to purchase and hold slaves exists 
 at all, it is without limit — she can hold at dis- 
 cretion. The greatest- pro-slavery propagandist 
 in the South does not claim for the government 
 of the United States such a power. 
 
Life and Events. 205 
 
 The treaty making power of this government 
 may acquire territory. It is contended that 
 the power to acquire, necessarily carries with it 
 the power to preserve ; that the power to preserve 
 being unrestricted, the treaty may prohibit slavery, 
 and the government must execute the treaty ; or 
 if the treaty makes no provision, the Congress 
 may decide Avhat laws are best calculated to pre- 
 serve ; that she may prohibit slavery as being 
 "necessary and proper" to preserve the territory 
 or to carry out the treaty. 
 
 This position is clearly untenable. In the 
 first place, it confounds the different departments 
 and powers of the government. The President 
 and Senate constitute the treaty making power. 
 They may acquire territory by treaty, but when 
 acquired, they can not legislate over it. Their 
 power ends when the acquisition is made, and 
 there the poAver of Congress begins. When ac- 
 quired, the territory must be governed by the 
 stipulations of the treaty, so far as it does not 
 conflict with the Constitution of the United States. 
 To the extent of such conflict, the treaty is void; 
 because the treaty making power itself is con- 
 ferred and limited by the Constitution ; it must 
 be governed by the express provisions of that 
 Constitution which creates it, and which recog- 
 nizes slaves as property co-extensively with the 
 Union, unless prohibited by the States, and guar- 
 antees that no person shall be deprived of life, 
 liberty or property, without due process of law." 
 
206 Life and Events. 
 
 The Constitution can not mean that either the 
 holding or carrying Africans, already slaves, is 
 the depriving of a person of liberty, because the 
 slave is recognized as property by previous law 
 and fact, and is placed upon an equal footing 
 of security with life and liberty. If the Con- 
 stitution mean that a slave has been deprived 
 of the liberty to which it refers, then the slave 
 could claim his freedom by due process of law 
 under the Constitution itself; there would be no 
 necessity for an act of Congress respecting either 
 the Territories or the States. But it has always 
 been known and acted upon, that the liberty 
 referred to by the Constitution is not the liberty 
 of the slave it recognizes as property. The de- 
 cision of the Supreme Court, therefore, correctly 
 announces the fact and principle, that the word 
 citizen, or people, in the Constitution, does not 
 include the African race. They were not referred 
 to or included by the Declaration of Independence, 
 the Articles of Confederation,or the Constitution 
 of the United States, as having and political rights 
 whatever. 
 
 However unjust this may appear, it is sustained 
 by a precedent of the highest authority. The 
 Almighty declared to the children of Israel, 
 " Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and 
 proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all 
 the inhabitants thereof; " yet this referred 
 to the children of Israel only, and did not include 
 the bondmen or slaves owned by them ; for in 
 
Life and Events. 207 
 
 the same connection immediately afterwards, He 
 declared, " For thej are my servants which I 
 brought forth out of the land of Egypt, they 
 shall not be bondmen. Both thy bondmen and 
 thy bondmaids which thou shalt have, shall be 
 of the heathen round about thee ; of them shall 
 ye buy, and of their families which they begat 
 in your land, and they shall be your possession 
 and ye shall take them as an inheritance for 
 your children forever ; but over your brother, 
 the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one 
 over another with rigor." Thus the great Jeho- 
 vah himself excluded the slave from all political 
 existence. Although He commanded liberty to 
 be proclaimed throughout the land to every in- 
 habitant, the bondmen or slaves were not 
 recognizsd as inhabitants. Under the same divine 
 law, they were held as slaves forever. 
 
 The Constitution provides for the acquisition 
 of territory, and confers certain powers upon 
 Congress for admitting new States into the 
 Union, not allowing any inequality concerning 
 either the territories or the States. When it 
 was adopted, slavery existed in all the States 
 and territories but in one of each ; can it then 
 be swpposed that the people intended to pro- 
 vide for having themselves or their children 
 prohibited from carrying their slaves or other 
 property into their own territories ? If they 
 desired or intended such a result, would they 
 not have made a direct express constitutional 
 
208 Life and Events. 
 
 provision to that effect ? If they did not intend 
 to prohibit slavery by a direct Constitutional 
 provision from those then heloiiging to the Union, 
 but intended to prohibit it in territories after- 
 wards acquired, or intended to confer that power 
 in either case upon Congress, would they not 
 have made a plain express constitutional pro- 
 vision directly in point, and thus have saved 
 the country from the dangers resulting from 
 such an interpretation of their intentions ? 
 
 Before the Constitution was adopted, Virginia 
 had expressly prohibited slavery in the terri- 
 tory ceded by her to the United States, and the 
 cession had been accepted. It was not there- 
 fore such a new and unimportant question as 
 to justify us in the conclusion that the power 
 was intended to be conferred upon Congress 
 in the secondary or implied powers. The ques- 
 tion of slavery has always been one of the 
 first magnitude in American politics. 
 
 Virginia had the right to prohibit slavery in 
 the north-west, because she was the sole owner and 
 sovereign over the soil and sovereign over her peo- 
 ple. It is contended that the government of the 
 United States, for the same reasons, by virtue 
 of the same powers, has the same rights over 
 her territories. The cases are not at all analo- 
 gous. The territories of the United States are held 
 as the property and for the benefit of the people 
 of all the states, and must be governed by Con- 
 gress, not according to the idea of original absolute 
 
Life and Events. 209 
 
 sovereignty over the citizens of the same, and 
 over their property, such as exists in a State ; 
 but according to tlie express provisions of the 
 Constitution which recognize slaves as prop- 
 erty co-extensivcly with the Union, except where 
 prohibited by a State, and command the gov- 
 ernment to protect all property. Congress has 
 full power to protect all persons in all such 
 rights, liberties and properties which existed 
 when the Constitution Avas adopted, which have 
 not been restricted by the Constitution, which 
 still exist in any of the states or territories ; 
 and all such property may be carried into the 
 territories for the use of its citizens; because 
 those rights existed when the Constitution was 
 adopted, and the Constitution recognized and 
 guaranteed them to the people. And it is the 
 duty of Congress to protect all such rights, 
 liberties and properties. To the extent that 
 she has power at all she has full power, and 
 here duty is added to power. The people are 
 the source of all political power. Such rights 
 as they have never surrendered to the govern- 
 ment of the United States nor to the several 
 States, they have retained as individuals. They 
 have never surrendered their right to carry their 
 slaves, or any other kind of property existing 
 when the Constitution was adopted, into the 
 territories of the Union. While the people of 
 the several States have reserved the original 
 power to prohibit the importation or existence 
 
 14 
 
210 Life and Events. 
 
 of slaves within their limits, no such power has 
 been delegated to Congress. The Court of 
 Appeals in Kentucky, in affirming such a pow- 
 er to a State, declared that, " We regard it 
 a fundamental principle, which, so far as we 
 know, is denied by no citizen, that each State 
 possesses the unquestionable right of determi- 
 ning for itself, whether, and to what extent, 
 the right of property in the African race shall 
 be recognized within its limits." In the case 
 of Grove and Slaughter, (15 Peters,) the Su- 
 preme Court of the United States decided that 
 " the power over this subject, (the subject of 
 carrying slaves from one State to another,) is 
 exclusively with the several States, and each of 
 them has a right to decide for itself whether 
 it will or not allow persons of this description 
 to be brought within its limits from another 
 State either for sale or use." Yet it is con- 
 tended by the opposition that, under the clause 
 of the Constitution which gives Congress power 
 " to regulate commerce among the States," that 
 Congress can prohibit slaves from being carried 
 from one State to another where slavery exists. 
 If, as decided by the above Courts, the 
 power to prohibit belongs exclusively to the States, 
 it can not belong to Congress ; the territories, 
 therefore, as they become States by the forma- 
 tion of their Constitution, must, as previously 
 shown, have an equal right with the other 
 States of prohibiting slavery. 
 
Life and Events. 211 
 
 The Constitution leaves slaves in the District 
 of Columbia just where it found them, on the 
 same footing of security as any other property. 
 The people of the district reserved the same 
 right to them, and the Constitution secures 
 it. Although Congress has exclusive legislative 
 power over the district, she has not absolute 
 power. She can not take private property for 
 public use without just compensation. Under 
 an express grant in the Constitution, Congress 
 has exercised the power of prohibiting the im- 
 portation of slaves into the district for sale. 
 This power has been wisely conferred by the 
 Constitution to prevent the capital of the Union 
 from being annoyed by slave depots and mar- 
 kets. While the rights of the citizens to hold 
 their slaves is fully protected by the Consti- 
 tution, yet it Avas eminently proper and just 
 to give Congress the power to protect the 
 capital and metropolitan district of the Union 
 from such annoyances. But the grant of power 
 to Congress over the district is as different from 
 that over the territories as the nature of the 
 places and the objects of the grant need make 
 them. The one gives Congress power " to exer- 
 cise exclusive legislation in all cases whatever," 
 and is limited only by the express provisions of 
 the Constitution. The other only gives Congress 
 "the power to dispose of and make all need- 
 ful rules and regulations respecting the territories 
 or other proi'ierty belonging to the United States," 
 
212 Life and Events. 
 
 the latter being, as shown, restricted as well by 
 the nature and language of the grant as by the 
 other provisions in the Constitution. 
 
 We have thus arrived at the conclusion that 
 the Congress or government of the United States 
 has no power whatever to prohibit slavery in the 
 States or territories of the Union. But it is 
 consoling to know this conclusion does not pro- 
 pose to extend the area, rivet the chains or 
 prolong the existence of slavery. It simply 
 leaves the subject with the wisdom, experience, 
 humanity, and all the influences of an enlight- 
 ened Christian age upon, and of the people of 
 the several States. 
 
 If the patriots of America will maintain these 
 Constitutional principles, and will carry out the 
 decision of their supreme tribunal they will thus 
 remove the greatest enemy to the peace and 
 harmony of the people of the States, and 
 thus most surely preserve their union. They 
 will thus preserve the purest, the wisest, and 
 the greatest government of men, and thus most 
 surely promote the happiness of their own and 
 of the African race. If, on the contrary, that 
 decision shall be reversed, and conflict and dis- 
 solution should follow, it would most probably 
 result in the formation of a great Southern em- 
 pire, including Mexico and Central America with 
 all South America, for future extension. Thus 
 slavery would be established over a vast area, 
 and in all probability for all time to come. 
 
Life and Events. 
 
 213 
 
 Those ■who take the opposite side of these con- 
 clusions fortify themselves with the precedents 
 of the legislative branch of the government, the 
 ordinance of '87, the Missouri compromise, and 
 the Oregon bill, -which prohibited slavery in 
 their respective territories. Unfortunately for 
 the country, more importance has been attached 
 to these .precedents than they deserve. They 
 are well calculated at first to mislead, embra- 
 cing, as they do, a period of over sixty years 
 of a most important portion of the history of 
 our country, and having been enacted nearly 
 thirty years distant from each other. Tliere is 
 a patriotic loyalty among our people — a vene- 
 ration for important things done by our fathers 
 in government, that is at first shocked by the 
 sudden undoing of what they did. While this 
 sentiment is right within itself — is one of the 
 great elements of the safety and strength of 
 our republic, yet it must be directed by clear 
 truth, the supreme law of the land, the Con- 
 stitution of the republic itself. This is also 
 sound national policy. 
 
 In the first instance, the ordinance of '87, 
 according to the understanding of the writer, 
 proves the absence, the reverse of the power 
 it is called tD sustain. 
 
 Virginia, the sole and absolute owner of the 
 northwest territory, conveyed it to the States 
 while they Avere united by the articles of con- 
 federation. In 1787, the then Congress organ- 
 
214 Life and Events. 
 
 ized a government for that territory, in which 
 they prohibited slavery. Mr. Madison, in wri- 
 ting nearly cotemporary on the government 
 under the articles of confederation, said in ref- 
 erence to this ordinance of '87 : " Congress have 
 proceeded to form new States ; to erect tempo- 
 rary governments ; to appoint officers for them ; 
 and to prescribe the condition on which new 
 States shall be admitted into the confederacy ; 
 all this has been done, and done without the 
 least color of Constitutional authority ; yet no 
 blame has been whispered, no alarm sounded; 
 a great and independent fund of revenue is 
 passing into the hands of a single body of men, 
 who can raise troops to an indefinite number, 
 and appropriate money for their support for 
 an indefinite period of time ; and yet there are 
 men who have not only been silent spectators of 
 this prospect, but who are advocates of the sys- 
 tem which it exhibits." 
 
 When this ordinance passed the Old Congress, 
 the Convention was framing the Constitution 
 of the United States. It has been urged " that 
 it is apparent in the frame of the Constitution 
 that the convention recognized its validity and 
 adjusted parts of their work with reference to 
 it." This can not be admitted as a fact, because 
 the Constitution contains no express reference to 
 it, and none can be implied, because there is no 
 provision in the Constitution which would not 
 be proper and applicable to the condition of 
 
Life and Events.] 215 
 
 tilings in the absence of or without any such 
 ordinance. But if the Constitution had expressly 
 recognized the validity of the ordinance, that 
 would have given it no additional force then, 
 because the Constitution was not then finally 
 adopted. Such sanction must have related to 
 the final adoption of the Constitution, not to 
 be retrospective upon a void act of Congress 
 under a different form of government. The nul- 
 lity of this ordinance was virtually admitted by 
 the Congress that passed it, for she submitted 
 it to Virginia for her adoption. It was adopted 
 by Virginia, and incorporated into her original 
 act of cession before the final adoption of the 
 Constitution. Virginia also adopted the Consti- 
 tution, and thereby ratified every clause contained 
 
 in it. 
 
 After the adoption of the Constitution, Congress 
 re-enacted the ordinance. If the statesmen who 
 re-enacted it thought it had been sanctioned by 
 the Constitution, why did they not declare the 
 fact, or at least recite it in the re-enactment? 
 The re-enactment of it as a whole only gave 
 validity to such parts of it as Congress had a 
 right to enact. And it was re-enacted as a whole 
 for the very purpose of giving Congressional 
 validity under the Constitution to whatever, if 
 any, legal sanction or authority Congress might 
 have power to give to any of its parts. The 
 re-enactment by Congress could give the anti- 
 slavery clause no force beyond the Constitution, 
 
216 Life and Events. 
 
 or Constitutional powers. Whether, therefore, 
 the Constitution recognized it or not, its validity, 
 legal and Constitutional, was derived solely and 
 exclusively from the State of Virginia, through 
 her adoption of it by her legislature and her 
 adoption of the Constitution. 
 
 The first Congressional act under our present 
 Constitution, prohibiting slavery in any of the 
 Territories, known as the Missouri Compromise, 
 passed in 1820, and applied to the Territory 
 north of 36-30. The generation in the North 
 who had a personal knowledge of the history 
 and condition of African slavery, had then almost 
 entirely passed away. The northern peculiari- 
 ties of soil, climate and commerce, had made 
 slaves unprofitable there. They had been sold 
 and sent farther south, and prohibited by those 
 States. The new generation there had very little 
 knowledge of slavery. The northern people, like 
 those of the South, were devoted to the cause 
 of freedom. For centuries they had been subject 
 to great periodical excitements in liberty's cause. 
 Having struggled through dangers and suffer- 
 ings in Europe in pursuit of the precious boon ; 
 having helped to win it in America ; this heredi- 
 tary devotion to her cause became the great, 
 and sometimes misguided passion of New England 
 society. It had then been forty years since the 
 great revolutionary, and twenty years since the 
 alien and sedition struggle ; it is therefore, easy 
 to understand how, in the midst of this first 
 
Life and Events. 217 
 
 great strife, on the subject, the wisest and firmest 
 statesmen became alarmed ! How they sanction- 
 ed or acquiesced in a measure which seemed 
 necessary to avert and survive the storm ! To 
 accomplish this object — to avert the horrors 
 of a conflict of sister States, until reason and 
 patriotism should resume their sway, wise and 
 patriotic statesmen sanctioned or acquiesced in 
 the . measure ! Again, when southern patriots 
 had built up a new republic in the South, and 
 national patriots had incorporated her into the 
 great Union of States ; when the cruel despotism 
 from which she ha-d thus been wrung, had first 
 waged a war of extermination against her citizens, 
 and then a Avar against the United States to 
 re-subject her great lost State ; when our gallant 
 armies had driven back the dark tide of invasion, 
 and pursued them into the heart of their own 
 country ; when the honor of our country and 
 her thousands of suffering soldiers in Mexico 
 were in the hands and at the mercy of Congress, 
 again the cry was raised against the acquisition 
 of those inestimable territories, unless southern 
 institutions should be prohibited there. But when 
 the dangers of war had passed, the wisest patriots 
 of the times, casting aside every thought and 
 motive but their country's good, standing in the 
 light and aided by the experience of the past, 
 refused to claim a power sanctioned under neces- 
 sity only ; refused to become a foreign oppressor 
 or to exclude their brothers from their blood 
 
218 Life and Events. 
 
 bought lands ; but generously and nobly repro- 
 duced and proclaimed the great principle of '7G ! 
 The principle that produced the revolt, the union 
 and the independence of the States ! The eternal 
 principle of truth and justice among equals of 
 the same color and race ! The principle that 
 when the son of the free is clothed with the 
 dignity of manhood, he becomes himself a free- 
 man ; — the principle of an equality of freemen 
 and of States ! The principle, that when the 
 people of a Territory or State, form their State 
 Constitution, they are the rightful sovereign of 
 all the vital, domestic concerns of life, liberty 
 and property. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 i 
 
 The portion of tlie preceding chapter that 
 treats of slavery, and the decision of the Supreme 
 Court, was written by the author, and published 
 in November, 1857. From the time the decision 
 was given, it had been opposed by some of the 
 ablest lawyers in Kentucky, and the Union. The 
 agitation of the question was increased at the 
 same time, by the excitement and difficulties 
 in Kansas. The Lecompton Constitution had 
 been formed for admission into the Union. It 
 contained two clauses on the subject of slavery 
 —one for, and the other against it. These pro- 
 visions only were submitted to the voters of 
 Kansas, for them to decide which they would 
 accept. The other portions of the Constitution 
 were not submitted. 
 
 While the steps that had been taken in pursu- 
 ance of which it had been formed, had all the 
 forms of law, and had been so recognized by the 
 government at Washington, yet it was obvious 
 to all those acquainted with the facts, that a 
 large majority of the voters of Kansas, were 
 opposed to the adoption of that Constitution, 
 and to admission into the Union under its gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 They declared it had been formed by fraud, 
 and force in fact, and never having been sub- 
 
220 Life and Events. 
 
 mitted for the acceptance or rejection of the 
 people it proposed to govern, they would never 
 submit to its government. 
 
 In view of these facts — in view of the approach- 
 ing session of Congress, and the gathering storm 
 of sectional strife, the humble author wrote the 
 following preamble and resolutions, as a basis 
 for the adjustment of those, and other analogous 
 questions. In order to understand the proposed 
 plan of adjustment, it must be remembered, 
 that the Lecompton Constitution, contained two 
 clauses relative to its amendment ; one declaring 
 that the people have at all times the right 
 to amend, reform or abolish their Constitu- 
 tion ; the other declaring affirmatively, that 
 they might amend it after 1864, but not pro- 
 hibitino; its beiuo; done before that time. 
 From these provisions, one party took the posi- 
 tion, that if the Lecompton Constitution, should 
 be admitted into the Union, it could not be chang- 
 ed before 1865 ; the other party, being a large 
 majority in Kansas, declared that if admitted, 
 they Avould resist and disregard it. These were 
 the questions which threatened revolution and 
 civil war, when the following was proposed by 
 the author. 
 
 [From the Kentucky Statesman.] 
 
 Democratic Meeting in Fayette. 
 
 At a called meeting of the democracy of 
 Fayette County, held at the Court House, in 
 
Life and Events. 221 
 
 Lexington, on Monday, December 14tli, for the 
 purpose of appointing delegates to the State 
 Convention at Frankfort, on the 8th of January- 
 next, Col. C. C. Rogers was called to the chair, 
 and Frank Waters appointed Secretary. 
 
 Col. W. B. Victor then offered the following 
 resolutions : 
 
 Admission op Kansas. 
 
 Whereas the difficulties in the Territory of 
 Kansas have, to a lamentable extent been de- 
 structive of life, liberty and property ; have 
 come near involving the people of the United 
 States in civil war, and still threaten those 
 disastrous results, it is the duty of every Amer- 
 ican patriot to exert himself to bring about a 
 speedy, just and peaceful termination of those 
 difficulties : That it is but too evident from the 
 past, that the only safe and honorable adjust- 
 ment of those difficulties is and must be her 
 admission into the Union as a State, upon just 
 and rightful principles : And 
 
 Whereas, great and dangerous dissatisfaction 
 exists among the people, with the submission by 
 the Convention of a portion only of the Con- 
 stitution to the people of the Territory, which 
 threatens civil war, we are of opinion that 
 it may be laid down as a principle which 
 Avill safely and correctly regulate our system 
 of Government in this regard : That Avhen a 
 Constitution is formed which proposes to change 
 
222 Life and Events. 
 
 a Territorial into a State government when 
 admitted into the Union, such Constitution, in 
 order to be republican, must be ratified by a 
 majority of the citizens it proposes to govern, 
 or it must not contain any material obstruction, 
 to their amendment of it, so as to enable them 
 to make it their Constitution. If such Consti- 
 tution does not contain one or the other of 
 these vital elements of republicanism, it ought to 
 be rejected by the Congress of the United States 
 when presented for admission into the Union. 
 
 Believing that the Constitution of Kansas, 
 recently formed and submitted, contains no 
 material obstruction to its ratification, amend- 
 ment or change immediately after admission 
 into the Union, we are of opinion that Congress 
 oucjht to admit her into the Union with said 
 Constitution, and with such declaratory act, and 
 such preliminary provisions and conditions as 
 will guarantee to the people of said State, the 
 ratification, change or amendment of their Con- 
 stitution accordingly as they may decide : And 
 further. 
 
 Resolved, That we will not allow ourselves to 
 believe that the Representatives of those patriotic 
 hosts who elevated our administration to power, 
 will materially differ from that administration 
 in the application of those principles and the 
 consummation of those measures which were the 
 life, soul and body of the great achievement 
 deferred to. 
 
Life and Events. 223 
 
 Resolved, That -while we have undiminished 
 confidence in both, the crisis calls for prudence 
 and the exercise of the wisest statesmanship in 
 the consummation of the delicate, difficult and 
 dangerous affairs of Kansas. 
 
 On motion of Maj. T. H. Waters, a committee 
 was appointed to draft suitable resolutions, to 
 whom Col. Victor's resolutions upon the Kansas 
 question be referred. 
 
 The committee reported the following resolu- 
 tions, which were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the resolutions of Col. Victor, 
 relative to Kansas, be laid over, in order that 
 a more deliberate and advised action be taken, 
 and a full and careful discussion had on Saturday 
 night next at 7 o'clock." 
 
 These resolutions and preamble were written 
 1st December, were printed, and copies of them 
 sent to a member of Congress, before the Pres- 
 ident's Message had appeared, and before the 
 parties had defined their positions on the subject 
 in Congress. 
 
 This, so far as the author was then, or is yet 
 advised, was the first plan proposing such an 
 adjustment of the question. Several weeks after- 
 wards, the Lecompton Constitution was presented 
 to Congress for admission. 
 
 One of the great political parties in Congress 
 advocated absolute and unqualified admission ; 
 the other took position for absolute rejection. 
 The bitterness of the contest both in and out of 
 
224 Life and Events. 
 
 Congress, and the dangers with which it threat- 
 ened the Union, are too well remembered to 
 require more than a reference to the facts. 
 
 It will be remembered that the foregoing res- 
 olutions suggest two modes of adjustment. 1st, 
 Admission subject to ratification. 2d, Admission 
 with a declaration that the people of Kansas had 
 the right, under the Constitution of Kansas, to 
 change or amend it, without waiting until 1865, 
 as the time of beginning the change. 
 
 Several months afterwards the amendment of 
 Senator Green was adopted bj the Senate, just 
 before the final vote on the passage of the bill. 
 It is as follows : " And nothing in this act shall 
 be construed to abridge or infringe any right of 
 the people, asserted in the Constitution of Kansas, 
 at all times to alter, reform or abolish their form 
 of government in such manner as they may think 
 proper — Congress hereby disclaiming any author- 
 ity to intervene or declare the construction of the 
 Constitution of a State, except to see that it he 
 reijuhlican in form, and not in conjiict with the 
 Constitution of the United States." 
 
 After the Senate bill failed in the House, Mr. 
 Crittenden's bill that passed the House but failed 
 in the Senate, contained the following clause : 
 
 " This admission of her [Kansas] into the 
 Union as a State is here declared to be upon 
 this fundamental condition precedent, namely : 
 That the said constitutional instrument shall be 
 first submitted to a vote of the people of 
 
Life and Events. 225 
 
 Kansas, and assented to by them, or a major- 
 ity of the voters, at an election to be held for 
 that purpose ; and as soon as such assent shall 
 be given, and duly made known to the President 
 of the United States, he shall announce the same 
 by proclamation, and thereafter, and without any 
 further proceedings on the part of Congress the 
 admission of the said State of Kansas into the 
 Union on an equal footing with the original 
 States, in all respects whatever, shall be com- 
 plete and absolute." 
 
 After the failure of this bill in the Senate, 
 the English Conference bill passed both houses, 
 and became a law. It contains the following 
 clauses : 
 
 " Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the United States of America in 
 Congress assembled : That the State of Kansas 
 be and is hereby admitted into the Union on an 
 equal footing with the original States in all re- 
 spects whatever, but upon this fundamental con- 
 dition precedent, namely : That the question of 
 admission, with the following proposition, in lieu 
 of the ordinance framed at Lecompton, be sub- 
 mitted to a vote of the people of Kansas and 
 assented to by them, or a majority of them 
 voting at an election to be held for that pur- 
 pose, namely : " 
 
 Here follows the proposition to grant a large 
 quantity of land to Kansas, if the voters of the 
 territory accept the same with said Constitution; 
 
 15 
 
226 Life and Events. 
 
 or ratlier, if as above provided, they accept 
 " the Constitution with the following proposition ;" 
 the language being, " the question of admission 
 with the following proposition, in lieu of the 
 ordinance passed at Lecompton, be submitted 
 to a vote of the people of Kansas." 
 
 This the writer understood to be substantially 
 a submission of the question to the people of 
 Kansas ! 
 
 The result demonstrates the correctness of this 
 position. Kansas did not become a State with 
 the Lecompton Constitution. The voters of the 
 territory, by a majority of over five to one, re- 
 fused to accept that Constitution, although 
 Cono-ress olfered them five millions of land to 
 accept it. 
 
 These facts are not stated for the purpose of 
 claiming honors justly belonging to others, nor 
 of claiming honors for himself. But the writer 
 believes it is allowable for him to state the facts, 
 thus leaving the subject with others. That these 
 principles have been vindicated in times of danger 
 to the country, is now a matter of history ; that the 
 people of Kansas did not accept the Lecompton 
 Constitution, however it may be regretted by some, 
 ouo-ht to be remembered as the exercise of their 
 sovereign right to reject it ; that peace and 
 harmony has thus, in a great measure, been re- 
 stored to the country, should be a matter of 
 sincere rejoicing; that the rights and principles 
 thus defined, and the experience of the past, 
 
Life and Events. 227 
 
 will be a safe guide for the adjustment of sim- 
 ilar questions, should they arise in the future, 
 should be the hope and effort of every lover of 
 his country; that the Union shall be preserved, 
 and that she will move onward in her high 
 career, of goodness, of greatness, and of glory, 
 should be the ardent desire and faithful effort of 
 every citizen^ 
 
 If any party shall again endanger the Union, 
 surely there are patriots enough to preserve it. 
 There is yet a great party of true and faithful 
 patriots in the country. The dissolution parties, 
 whether in the North or South ; whether they 
 they propose to accomplish their object directly 
 or indirectly ; whether dissolution be the object 
 or not, if they propose measures that would pro- 
 duce that result, can be defeated by the party 
 that has defeated every former effort to blight 
 the prosperity and liberties of the people, or 
 dissolve the Union of the States. 
 
 When this great party shall see and feel, that 
 the laws of equal justice and the principles of 
 republican liberty, the equal rights of citizens 
 and of States — when the patriots of America, 
 by whatever names they may have been called, 
 shall see and feel, that the ever brightening truths 
 and victories of the past are in danger ; that the 
 civilization and happiness of great communities 
 are in danger of being broken up, perhaps 
 destroyed, they will rise in every region of the 
 Union and march to the rescue. 
 
228 Life and Events. 
 
 Love of Country has always been one of the 
 deepest and strongest passions of the human 
 breast. The preservation of a country's liberties 
 and the promotion of her happiness, have always 
 been among the highest conceptions and noblest 
 objects of the human mind. These inherent at- 
 tributes of human nature, spring from the love 
 of kindred, of self, and of friends ; from a com- 
 mon cause of preservation, of prosperity and of 
 happiness; of sorrows and calamities; from all 
 the interests, ties, and sympathies of a common 
 destiny. These causes, attributes, and objects, 
 have always been found in every people, from 
 the arctic regions of the poles, to the burning 
 sands of the equatorial sun ; from the lowest sav- 
 ages to the most refined and religious nations. 
 The great lesson, the great duty of man is to 
 learn from the great past how to progress through 
 the still greater future : how to preserve all that 
 is good and discard all that is bad; how to pro- 
 mote the happiness of this life and seek for 
 safety and happiness in the life to come ! 
 
 These are the great objects of government ; 
 she has no vindictive feelings to gratify. Govern- 
 ment is simply the laws and means by which soci- 
 ety endeavors to secure her right to the pursuit of 
 happiness. In order to accomplish this object it 
 must be founded upon and conducted according to 
 the great laws of nature, and the revealed will of 
 the great Ruler of all. There is a similarity 
 of the present with original society. In the ere- 
 
Life and Events. 229 
 
 ation of the world we discover the great foundation 
 for life. In the creation of man and the com- 
 mencement of his career, we see the great objects, 
 the philosophy and the prototype of law, of gov- 
 ernment and of destiny. 
 
 The Almighty breathed into Adam the breath 
 of life, and he became a living soul ! Life was 
 common to all animal existence, but the soul was 
 a gift only to man ; it come fresh • from the great 
 Creator of all, and will live as long as the God 
 who gave it birth, and thus gave it these attri- 
 butes of His own exalted and immortal spirit ! 
 With the lives of Adam and Eve commenced 
 the operation of those great laws that have since 
 governed the world, and directed the destiny of 
 man. In the creation of the world, with all her 
 wealth, her luxuries, her beauties, and sublimi- 
 ties ; in the creation of man, and in the gift 
 of all to man, we can see nothing but the wis- 
 dom, power, and goodness of God. The restraint 
 placed upon man, and the penalty of disobedience 
 announced at the time, were necessary for the 
 maintenance of the authority of the Creator 
 and Ruler of all. His infinite wisdom and good- 
 ness decreed it to be necessary to maintain His 
 supreme authority and His exalted dignity ! 
 Man was made perfect, because he was thus cre- 
 ated, thus endowed, and thus made free to fall. 
 He has no right to complain of his benificent 
 Creator. He is under the greatest obligations, 
 and has the highest inducements to endeavor to 
 
 t 
 
230 Life and Events. 
 
 obtain pardon for his great offence and to regain 
 his lost estate. These great objects can only 
 be accomplished by obedience to the great laws of 
 his government, civil and divine. Of this great 
 truth history contains the fullest proof, and the 
 history of our own country the brightest exam- 
 ple. 
 
 The North American colonies were founded on the 
 divine revelation to man. The Jamestown colony 
 was sent to Virginia under the reign of the King 
 who translated the Bible. It laid its foundations 
 on that Bible and Avorshipped at the foot of the 
 Cross. The second colony came from the refor- 
 mation land. The third came to worship God in 
 freedom. The colonies grew and flourished under 
 the greatest trials until they declared themselves 
 independent States. They then appealed to the 
 Almighty to vindicate their motives and sus- 
 tain their cause. "When they had become 
 independent States ; when they formed a more 
 perfect union for their government, they laid its 
 foundations on the equal justice of the Holy 
 Scriptures and the perfect freedom of conscience 
 and of worship. Thus every great movement and 
 event in the rise and progress of the States, has 
 been made in obedience to the divine laws with 
 fervent prayers for Divine assistance, and has 
 been crowned with that success which divine 
 Providence alone could give. These great facts 
 and lessons of history should never be forgotten. 
 The continued welfare and progress of the people 
 
Life and Events. 231 
 
 and the States will depend upon obedience to 
 the great laws of the Bible. If any of the civil 
 laws be wrong or defective let them be repealed 
 or improved in a lawful manner. This is not 
 only the great principle and vital law of civil 
 government, but it is the command of the 
 Almighty himself. The co-operation of laws 
 civil and divine is absolutely necessary to the 
 prosperity and happiness of peoples and of 
 States. Their existence in the books only can 
 not produce good results. They are designed and 
 decreed to be carried into practice ; to enter into 
 and control individuals and communities. Thus 
 and only thus can society be preserved and im- 
 proved through all future time. 
 
 All questions of government are subjects in 
 which the people have a like or equal in- 
 terest; questions that should be considered 
 and acted upon in the same fraternal spirit as 
 any other great question affecting the safety, 
 progress and happiness of the people. All dif- 
 ferences of opinion and party strifes should be 
 controlled by truth, reason and justice, or results 
 mio-ht follow that could never be recalled. A 
 people possessed of the best quarter of the globe 
 and the best government on earth, ought not and 
 will not permit such blessings to be ruined or 
 lost forever. A people Avhose rise and every 
 great struggle have received the divine assist- 
 ance, ought not and will not limit their efforts 
 by the mere pursuits of time or the highest phys- 
 
232 Life and Events. 
 
 ical attainments. They will also pursue the 
 higher and holier objects of life. They can thus 
 and only thus make society what it seems designed 
 to be, an index to the life to come ; each happy 
 in the performance of his duties and in the joys 
 given by the Holy Spirit of heaven ! 
 
 There are occasions and ulances of life that 
 point to a far brighter and a happier future ; 
 they linger in the memory like visions of sainted 
 friends and the sound of melancholly joys ; they 
 seem to reveal holiness divine and the brijiht 
 images of the happy spirits of heaven. 
 
iiPPLEGATE & COMPANY, 
 
 No. 43 MAIN STREET, CINCINNATI. 
 
 In inldition to a larire anil varied as>:ortment of 
 
 Schocl, Classical, Theological and Miscellaneous Books, 
 
 wliicli tliey have constantly on hand, publish a series of 
 
 V ALU ABIE STANDARD WORKS, 
 suitable for the family circle, as well as public libraries. 
 
 At this time, when the press teems so abundantly with ephe- 
 meral literature, the thinking mind experiences a need of more 
 substantial aliment ; of something which shall at the same time 
 furnish not only enjoyment for the present, but for after thought ; 
 something from the perusal of which, one can arise a Aviser, if not 
 a better man : and among their publications, they flatter them- 
 eelves such books will be found. It is their aim to select such 
 works, the intrinsic worth of which will cause them to be sought 
 after by enlightened and discriminating minds, and as worthy 
 of gracing tl e shelves of their libraries. 
 
 Among their publications may be found the following, to 
 which they would respectfully invite attention. To these it is 
 their intention to add the best works of the standard Historical 
 and other authors, and the}' trust that their s'dections will bo 
 such as to entitle them to a liberal share of the patronage of the 
 book-buying public. 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 DK. ADAM CLAEKE'S COMPLETE COMMENTARY 
 ON THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 
 
 With a portrait of the author, engraved expressly for 
 this edition, accompanied with Maps, &c. Plain and em 
 bossed gilt. 
 
 From the Nashville and Louisville Christian Advocate. 
 " It would be difficult to find any contribution to Sacred 
 Literature that has attained to a higher rank tlian the 
 Commentaries of Dr. Adam Clarke. Whether regarded 
 as a prodigy of human learning, or as a monument of 
 what perseverence and industry, within the compass of a 
 single lifetime, can accomplish, it will long continue to 
 challenge the admiration of men as a work of unrivalled 
 merit. It is a treasury of knowledge, in the accumula- 
 tion of which, the author seems to have had no purpose 
 in view but the apprehension of truth ; not to sustain a 
 particular creed,- but the apprehension of truth for truth's 
 own sake, restrained in the noble pursuits of no party 
 tenets by no ardor for favorite dogmas. It is difficult to 
 conceive of a complete library without this valuable work, 
 and yet alone of itself, it affi.>rds to its possessor no mean 
 variety of entertainment. Besides forming a moderate, but 
 clear elucidation of the true meaning of the Sacred Word, it 
 abounds with illustrations in science, the literature of all 
 ages, and the history of all times and all countries ; and as 
 a lexicon for the exposition of abstruse phrases, of difficult 
 terms, and the true genealogy of words of doubtful import, 
 it immeasurably surpasses all similar works of the age." 
 
 DE. ADAM CLAEKE'S COMMENTARY ON THE 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 2 vols, super-royal 8vo. Plain and embossed gilt. 
 
 The increasing demand for Dr. Clarke's Commentary 
 on the JS^ew Testament, has induced us to issue an edition 
 on superior paper, large clear type, handsomely and sub- 
 stantially bound, containing 1978 pages, with a portrait 
 of the author. 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE COMPLETE WORKS OF THOMAS DICK, LL. D 
 
 1 1 vols, in 2 ; containing An Essay on the Improvement 
 of Society; The Philosophy of a Fuiure Slate ; The Phi- 
 losophy of Reliyion ; Hie Mental Illumination and Moral 
 Improvement of Mankind; An Essay on the Sin and Evils 
 of Covetousness ; The Christian Phih^suplier, or Science 
 and Religion; Celectial Scenery, illustrated; Sideral Hea- 
 vens, Planets, etc.; The Practical Astronomer; The Solar 
 System, its Wonders ; The Atmosplu-re and Atmospherical 
 Phenomena, &c. Illustrated with numerous engravinu-s 
 and a portrait. 2 vols, royal 8vo. Plain and emboosed 
 gilt. 
 
 This edition is jJrivted from entirely vew jdates, confain- 
 ing the recent revisions of the autliur, uiid is the only com- 
 plete edition published in the United States. 
 
 " Dick's Works. — Those who read at all, know both 
 the name of Dr. Dick and the work itself now reprinted. 
 It has long found acceptance with the i)V.b\\c."—J^resl/y- 
 terian Review, Ediidmrg. 
 
 "We hail this remarkably cheap and greatly improved 
 edition of Dr. Dick's admirable and highly populai- Works. 
 It it is a real love to the millions to be able to purchase 
 such an excellent work for so inconsiderable a cost. We 
 earnestly recommend tiiis work to all our readers, and es- 
 pecially to all who desire to store their minds with gene- 
 ral information." — Wesleyni Associated Magazine, London. 
 
 " Eleven different woiks are embraced in these vol- 
 umes, making it an edition full v id otanplete. The rang* 
 of subjects embraced in these s- veial essays and scientific 
 treatises is varied, are all Iiighly important, and of prac- 
 tical utility to mankind generally. Tliese characteristics 
 of Dr. Dick's writings, "while liiey render th-m perma- 
 nently valuable, insure for them also a wide circulation 
 amoiio- all classes of readers." — Freshyteriun of the West. 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 EOLLIN'S ANCIENT HISTORY. 
 The Ancient History of the Carthagenians, Assyrians, 
 Babylonians, Medes an*Persians, Grecians and Macedo 
 nians, including a Histoiy of the Arts and Sciences of tlu 
 Ancients, with a Life of the Author. 2 vols, royal Cvo 
 Plain and embossed gilt. 
 
 " A new edition of Rol'in's Ancient History has jus\ 
 been issued by Apph'gaii' &, Co. The value and impor- 
 tance of this work ;>re universally acknowledg«'d. Every 
 private library is deficient without it; and it is now fur- 
 ni.--hed at so clieap a late, that every family should have 
 it. It should be placed in the hands ot all our youth, as 
 infinitely moi'e instructive and useful than the thousand 
 and one trashy jmblicatiDns with which the country is 
 deluged, and which are .so apt to vitiate the taste, and luin 
 the minds of } oung readeis. One word more in behalf oi 
 this new edition of Rollin : It may not be geneially known 
 that in previous English editions a large and interesting 
 portion of the woik has been suppressed. The deficien- 
 cies are here sup])!ied and restoied from the French edi- 
 tions, giving the copy of Messrs. Applegate & Co. a supe- 
 riority over previous English editions." — Weatern Recorder. 
 
 "A superb edition of this indispensable text and refe- 
 rence book is published by Messrs. A])plegale ife Co. 
 The work in this form has been for son)e years before the 
 public, and is the best and most complete edi ion pub- 
 lished. The woik is comprisul in two volumes of about 
 6U(I pages each, containing the prefaces of Rollin and the 
 "History of the Arts ai I Sciences of the Ancients, which 
 have been omitted in me <t American editions." — Sjjrinff- 
 Jield Hepuhlic. 
 
 " The work is too well known, and has too long been a 
 favorite, to require any commendation from us. Though 
 in some matters more recent investigations have led to 
 conclusions different from those of the Author, yet his 
 general accuracy is un(j[uestionable." — West. Chris. Adv. 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ■ - ....._ — " " ji 
 
 THE SPECTATOR. . 
 
 1 vol. royal 8vo, 750 pages, with a portrait of Addi- 
 son. Plain and embossed gilt. 
 
 The numerous calls for a complete and cheap edition of 
 tliis valuable work, have induced us to newly siereotyjye it, 
 in this form, corresponding in style and price with our 
 other books. Its thorough revisions have been committed 
 to competent hands, and will be found complete. 
 
 From the Central Christian Herald, 
 " One hundred and forty years ago, when there were 
 no daily newspapers nor periodicals, nor cheap fictions for 
 the people, the Spectator had a daily circulation in Eng- 
 land. It was witty, pithy, tastefiil, and at times vigorous, 
 and lashed the vices and follies of the age, and inculcated 
 many useful lessons which would have been disregarded 
 from more serious sources. It was widely popular. It 
 contains some very excellent writing, not in the spasmodic, 
 moon-struck style of the fine writing of the present day, 
 but in a free, graceful and flowing manner. It used to be 
 considered essential to a good style and a knowledge of 
 Belles-Lettres to have studied the Spectator, and we are 
 certain our age is not wise in the selection of some of 
 the substitutes which are used in its stead. It should yet 
 be a parlor volume, which should be read with great profit.. 
 " But we do not design to criticise the book, but have 
 prefixed these few facts for the information of our readers 
 to a notice of a new edition of the work by Messrs. Apple- 
 gate & Co. It is entirely of Cincinnati manufacture, and 
 is in a style very creditable to the enterprising hous« 
 which has broucrht it out." 
 
 From the Cincinnati Cn^nmercial. 
 " Applegate & Co., 43 Main street, have just published, 
 in a handsome octavo volume of 750 pageS-, one of th« 
 very best classics in our language. It would be super- 
 fluous at this day to write a line in commendation of this 
 work. The writings of Addison are imperishable, and 
 will continue to charm youth and age while lang-uage lasts." 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MOSHEIM'S CHURCH HISTORY. 
 
 Ancient and Modern, from the birth of Christ to the 
 Eighteenth Century, in which the Rise, Progress, and Varia- 
 tions of Church Power are considered in their connection 
 with the state of Learning and Phih^sophy ; and the Politi- 
 cal History of Europe during that period, continued up to 
 the present time, by Charles Cuote, LL. D. 806 pages, 
 1 vol., quarto, spring back, marble edge. 
 
 From the Masonic Review. 
 
 This great standard history of the Church from the birth of 
 Christ, lias just been issueii in a new dress by the extensive pub- 
 lis.liing liiHise of Applegate cfe Cu. Notlung need be said by us 
 in relation to the nierits or reliability of Mosheiin's History : it 
 has long borne ihe approving seal of the Protestant world. It 
 has become a standard work, and no public or private library is 
 complete without it ; nor can an individual be w.ell posted in the 
 history of the Christian Church for eighteen hundred years, 
 witlioul having carefully studieil M<j<^heini, We \\isli, however, 
 particularly to reconinieud the present edition. The pages are 
 in large dtiuble columns ; tlie type is large and very distinct, and 
 the printing is admirable, on tine wl.ite paper. It is really a 
 pleasure to read such print, and we recommend our friends to 
 pu. chase this edition of this indispensable work. 
 
 From the Telescope, Da/jtnn, O. 
 
 This work has been placed upon our table by the gentlemanly 
 ind enterprising publi;-hers, and we are glad of an opportunity 
 to introduce so beautiful an edition of tliis standard Church his- 
 tory to our readers. The work is printed on beautiful white 
 [uiper, clear large type, and is bound in one handsome volume. 
 Xo man ever sat down to read Muslieim in so pleasing a dress. 
 What a treat is such an edition to one who has been studying 
 this elegant work in small close print of other editions. 
 
 Frovi Professor Wri</htson. 
 
 Whatever bo<^k has a tendency to add to our knowledge of 
 God, or the character or coinluct of his true worshijiers, or that 
 points out tlie^errors and mistakes of former generations, must 
 hare an elevating, expanding, and purifying influence on the 
 human mind. Such a work is Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. 
 Like " Rt)llin's History of the Ancients," it is the standard, and 
 is too well known to need a word of comment. 
 
APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 PLUTARCH'S LIVES. 
 
 With Historical and Critical Notes, and a Life op Plu- 
 tarch. Illustrated with a portrait. Plain and embossed 
 gilt. 
 
 This edition has been carefully revised and corrected, 
 and is printed upon entirely new plates, stereotyped by 
 ourselves, to correspond with our library edition of Dick's 
 Works, &c. 
 
 Frmn the Nashville and Louisville Christian Advocate. 
 " Plutarch's Lives. — This great work, to which has 
 long since been awarded the fii\st honors of literatute, is 
 now pubHshed complete in one vokime by Messrs. Apple- 
 gate & Co., of Cincii.uati, and offered at so low a price as 
 to place it within the reach of all. This is a desideratum, 
 especially in this age of 'many books.' Next in impor- 
 tance to a thorough knowledge of history, and in many 
 respects fully equal to it, is the study of well authenti- 
 cated biography. For this valuable purpose, we know of 
 no work extant superior to the fifty lives of Plutarch. It 
 is a rare magazine of literary and biographical knowledo-e. 
 The eminent men whose lives compose this work, consti- 
 tute almost the entire of that galaxy of greatness and 
 brightness, which stretches across the horizon of the dis- 
 tant past, and casts upon the present time a mild and 
 steady luster. Many of them are among the most illus- 
 tj'ious of the earth." 
 
 From the Ladies' Repository. 
 " It is a better piece of property for a young man to 
 own, than an eighty acre lot in the Mississippi Valley, or 
 many hundred dollars in current money. We would 
 rather leave it as a legacy to a son, had we to make the 
 choice, than any moderate amount of property, if we were 
 certain he would read it ; and, we are bound to add, that, 
 were we now going to purchase a copy, this edition would 
 have the preference over every other of which we hav« 
 any knowledge." 
 

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 '"- 'T ^ g. 
 
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 APPLEGATE & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 NOTES ON THE TWENTY-FIVE AETICLES OF RE 
 
 LIGION, as received and taught by Methodists in ths 
 
 United States, 
 
 In which the doctrines are carefully considered and 
 supported by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. By 
 Rev. A. A. JiMESoN, M. D. 12mo, embossed cloth. 
 
 This book contains a clear exposition of the doctrines of 
 the Articles, and of the errors against which the Articles 
 were directed, written in a popular style, and divided into 
 sections, for the purpose of presenting each doctrine and 
 its opposite error in the most prominent manner. 
 
 From Rev. John Millee. 
 " It is a book for the Methodist and for the age — a re- 
 ligious mvUum in parvo — combining sound theology with 
 practical religion. It should be found in every Methodist 
 family." 
 
 From Rev. W. R. Babcock, Pastor of the Methodist Church in St 
 Louis, Missouri. 
 "From our intimate acquaintance with the gifted and 
 pious Author of these 'Notes,' we anticipate a rich intel- 
 lectual feast, and an able defense of the Biblical origin of 
 the doctrines of the Articles of Pieligion, as contained in 
 the Discipline of the Methodist Church." 
 
 •' The laymen of the Methodist Church have long need- 
 ed this work. Although we regard the Twenty-Five Ar- 
 ticles as self-evident truths — the concentrated teachings of 
 the Holy Bible, and the bulwark of the Protestant Faith 
 — they are not sufficiently understood and comprehended 
 by those professing to believe them. Dr. Jimeson has 
 furnished us, in a condensed form and popular style, with 
 a lucid exposition and triumphant defense of our faith, 
 sustained and supported by history and the opinions of 
 the Fathers, and adapted to the present wants of the 
 Church." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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