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AUTHENTIC 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OP 
 
 COLONEL RICHARD M- JOHNSON, 
 
 OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 PRINTED BY HENRY MASON, 
 
 76, MAIDEN LANE. 
 
 1833. 
 

 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, by William Em- 
 mons, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 
 
 It is with heartfelt pride and gratificaton that the publisher 
 has it in his power to present to the American public the fol- 
 lowing authentic outline of the life and actions of Colonel 
 Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. This sketch, faint 
 and imperfect as it is, will serve to record some few of the 
 meritorious services which have distinguished his career 
 and rendered him an object of general admiration and res- 
 pect. In him we find combined, in an eminent degree, 
 the qualities which distinguish the philanthropist, the 
 statesman, and the hero. We see him, while yet in early 
 youth, pleading the cause of the poor against the rich, in the 
 courts of law, without the least prospect of fee or emolument, 
 and thus exposing himself to the ill will of the wealthy an 
 influential, as well as to the censures of his brethrern of the 
 profession. We see him again at the early age of twenty > 
 filling, to the satisfaction of his constituents, a seat in the 
 legislative councils of the state ; and soon after, while 
 yet under the constitutional age, called, by popular 
 acclamation, at a critical period, to represent the state in 
 the national councils. In his congressional career of thirty 
 years, as a senator and representative, we find him the promi- 
 nent, bold, ardent, and unwavering champion of liberal and 
 national principles, espousing the cause of humble and 
 friendless claimants,— sustaining national honor and inte- 
 rests against the efforts of party zeal,-— combatting the 
 prejudices of ages, in favor of honest and oppressed debtors, 
 stemming by his personal influence and resistless eloquence 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 the combined exertions of misguided religious enthusiasm, 
 and strongly discountenancing, at the sacrifice of some per- 
 sonal partialities, the dangerous political heresy which 
 lately threatened our Union. 
 
 If we follow him to the field, we see him inspiring confi- 
 dence among his followers, and carrying terror to the hearts 
 of the foe ; freely pouring out his blood in the cause of his 
 country, or returning the herald of victory. Now we see 
 him, at the age of fifty two, in the full vigor of life, not only 
 the favorite of Kentucky, but the boast of Americans, and 
 still ready and able, at the call of his country, to do her good 
 service in the cabinet or in the field. 
 
 Surely, then, the publisher may, with confidence and pleas- 
 ure, present to the public the biography of so illustrious a 
 citizen. His fame is already in the keeping of the Ameri- 
 can people, and in their hands it will be safe; for they are 
 a grateful people, and will ever hold his character and ser- 
 vices in grateful remembrance. 
 
 - 
 
 " Let the heart of his country cherish 
 His high and well earned fame, 
 Till a glory that cannot perish 
 Be gathered around his name." 
 
 ASHEL LaNGWORTHY. 
 
 New fork, July 1, 1833. 
 
BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OP 
 
 COLONEL RICHARD M. JOHNSON, 
 
 OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 Col. Richard Mentor Johnson was born in 
 Kentucky in the autumn of the year 1781. He 
 was the third son of Col. Robert Johnson, a 
 native of Virginia, who had emigrated to Kentucky 
 during the revolutionar}?- war, and while it was 
 vet a county of that state. Col. Robert Johnson 
 partook strongly of that high toned integrity and 
 courage which marked the times in which he 
 lived, and the race to which he belonged. The 
 men of that day seem to have been specially gift- 
 ed by Divine Providence with those heroic virtues 
 which befit the fathers and founders of a republic. 
 To them was assigned the task of erecting in the 
 new world, a new political system, under which 
 the long forgotten rights of man could take shelter 
 and abide. By them was the forest to be felled and 
 the earth made to yield its harvests. The new 
 settlements were to be protected from the hostility 
 of the aborigines, and in support of their rights, 
 liberty, and independence, a long, bloody and 
 desperate struggle was to be maintained with the 
 mother country. Magnanimity, perseverance and 
 self-denial were essential to their success; and 
 2 
 
BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 these qualities they possessed in the highest de- 
 gree. Prominent among these men was Col. Ro- 
 bert Johnson. His wisdom, integrity, and discre- 
 tion secured to him the esteem and confidence of 
 his fellow citizens, which they manifested by re- 
 peatedly electing him to the general assembly. 
 An inflexible adherence to the principles of justice, 
 a life of Christian morality and fervant piety, and 
 a manner happily combining gravity with gentle- 
 ness, gave him a commanding influence in society. 
 Kentucky, at the period of Col. Johnson's re- 
 moval to it, was called the "Bloody ground? on 
 account of the frequent and sanguinary wars waged 
 upon the settlers by the natives, in which whole 
 neighborhoods were often desolated, the settlers 
 being- massacred without discrimination of sex or 
 ao-e, and their habitations laid in ashes, and 
 the crops destroyed. In these wars Col. Johnson 
 took an active part; and such was the confidence 
 reposed, by his fellow citizens, in his courage and 
 conduct, that he was called to a conspicuous sta- 
 tion in every bold and hazardous adventure. His 
 country's cause he regarded as his own ; and he 
 deemed it his duty, as a citizen, freely to put at 
 peril his personal interests, and even his life, in de- 
 fence of the commonwealth. This sentiment he 
 inculcated upon the minds of his children, with 
 earnest solicitude. He early inured them to the 
 endurance of hardship and privation. So far, in- 
 deed, did he adopt this Spartan mode of education, 
 that when his eldest son, Col. James Johnson, was 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 7 
 
 but fifteen years of age, and too feeble to undergo 
 the fatigues of the wilderness, he took him to the 
 conflict with the savage foe, with a servant to carry 
 his rifle, and assist him in difficult passages, that 
 he might thus learn from early habit, to endure the 
 toils and brave the dangers of war. 
 
 After the termination of hostilities with the In- 
 dians, Col. Johnson devoted himself assiduously to 
 his favorite employment of agriculture, and to the 
 education of his large family; Still he was not 
 neglectful of the public interests ; and, to the close 
 of his life, with but few and short intervals, he 
 continued to discharge various and honorable 
 trusts reposed in him by his fellow citizens. He 
 was a member of the convention which framed the 
 state constitution of Kentucky, upon her admission 
 into the union ; and also, of the convention by which 
 that constitution was revised. He served, for many 
 years, in the state legislature, to the entire satis- 
 faction of his constituents. It was his uniform 
 rule to refuse offices of every description, except 
 such as emanated directly from the people ; and 
 their confidence he retained unshaken to the end 
 of his life. Though he was of respectable parent- 
 age and connexions, he had no inheritance ; but, 
 by a long course of industry and enterprise, he 
 accumulated an ample fortune, sufficient to rear 
 and educate a large number of children, and give 
 to each a handsome estate. Such, and so pure, 
 disinterested, energetic, useful, and unobtrusive, 
 was the life of Col. Robert Johnson. He was one 
 
8 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of those men who planted civilization, and civil and 
 religious liberty in the magnificent valley of the 
 Ohio ; who gave an impulse to its agriculture, com- 
 merce, and general improvement, which will carry 
 it to a height of prosperity and glory, unrivalled 
 in the world ; and who have left upon their descend- 
 ants the indelible impress of their own exalted cha- 
 racter. What nation or state of ancient or modern 
 days, can boast of such founders as were the first 
 settlers of Kentucky ? They were brave, virtuous, 
 and intelligent. They were fierce and daring in 
 war, but in all the pursuits of peace, industrious and 
 enterprizing ; free from religious superstition, cant, 
 and priestcraft ; but pure in their lives, benevolent 
 in their dispositions, and rigidly just in all their 
 transactions ; of unbounded devotion to liberty, but 
 still abhorrent at licentiousness. The sons of 
 such sires cannot soon degenerate. Long may 
 they continue to present, as they do, to the country 
 and to the world, illustrious examples of public 
 virtue and private worth. 
 
 Justly apreciating the advantages of knowledge, 
 Col. Johnson gave his children the best education 
 which the literary institutions of Kentucky, then 
 in their infancy, could afford. The means of clas- 
 sical education were, at that time, very limited ; 
 but he omitted no exertions to impart to them such 
 knowledge as would tend to enlighten their under- 
 standing and imbue their minds with virtuous and 
 honorable sentiments. The success of his endea- 
 vors demonstrates the wisdom of his course. 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 9 
 
 Richard was the first of his sons who resolved to 
 qualify himself for a learned profession. At the 
 age of fifteen, he accordingly left his father's house 
 in quest of advantages superior to those which 
 were presented in that vicinity, and entered an ex- 
 cellent country school, where he acquired a gram- 
 matical knowledge of the English language and the 
 rudiments of the Latin. From this seminary, he 
 went to the Transylvania university, at Lexington, 
 where he finished his classical and scientific course. 
 While there, his industry was unremitted and his 
 progress rapid. 
 
 On leaving the university, he selected the pro- 
 fession of the law, for his future pursuit: and 
 commenced the study under that celebrated states- 
 man and counsellor, Col. George Nicholas, but a 
 few weeks before his death. On the decease of 
 this gentleman, he placed himself under the direc- 
 tion of the Honorable James Brown, now of the 
 state of Louisiana, and late a senator in Congress 
 from that state, and since, an envoy and minister 
 plenipotentiary from the United States to the court 
 of France, but who was then a distinguished mem- 
 ber of the bar in Kentucky. With this eminent citi- 
 zen who has been alike distinguished for eloquence, 
 learning, courtesy, and manly feeling, he finished 
 his studies preparatory to the practice of the law. 
 
 At the age of nineteen years, under the disad- 
 vantages of a hurried education, he entered upon 
 the arduous and responsible duties of his profes- 
 sion. But if fortune had not favored him with all 
 2* 
 
10 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the advantages which he would have desired, 
 during his noviciate, these deficiencies were am- 
 ply made up by his characteristic industry and 
 perseverance. An acute, discriminating mind fur- 
 nished him, intuitively, with many valuable attain- 
 ments in his profession, which most others acquire 
 only by a long course of laborious investigation. 
 The active energies of his mind immediately be- 
 gan to develope themselves, and his success sur- 
 passed the most sanguine expectations of his friends. 
 But the qualities of his heart, which have since so 
 much endeared him to the most virtuous portion 
 of the community, were soon brought into more 
 public notice. Many indigent, but honest citizens, 
 were exposed to embarrassment and ruin from 
 tedious and expensive litigations with their artful 
 and designing neighbors, especially in the clash- 
 ing of land claims, an evil incident to most new 
 settlements ; and as few are found to plead the 
 cause of the poor, a disinterested friend must be to 
 them, an invaluable acquisition. Such a friend they 
 found in Col. Johnson. His humanity and love 
 of justice would not suffer him to remain an idle 
 spectator of injustice and oppression. Often he 
 espoused the cause of the poor against the rich, 
 without the least prospect of recompense; and he 
 was never known to withhold his professional aid, 
 even in the most intricate and laborious cases, on 
 account of the inability of the client to pay the fee. 
 By this course he secured to himself, without even 
 a seeming ambition to gain it, the just reward of 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 11 
 
 his virtues, the approbation and esteem of his fel- 
 low citizens. 
 
 He manifested an early fondness for the study 
 of political economy, and of the science of govern- 
 ment ; and his reputation for attainments, as well as 
 for integrity, brought him, at an early age, upon 
 the theatre of public life. The citizens of Scott 
 county elected him to represent them in the 
 legislature of Kentucky, more than a year before 
 he had arrived at the age, designated in the con- 
 stitution of that state, as a qualification for that 
 office. But such was the confidence reposed in 
 him, and such the anxiety of his fellow-citizens to 
 secure his services, that all inquiries concerning 
 the qualification of age were suppressed, and he 
 was elected almost by acclamation. As a member 
 of the legislature, he acquitted himself to the en- 
 tire satisfaction of his constituents. Having serv- 
 ed two years in this station, he was called, by the 
 voice of his fellow-citizens, to a seat in the national 
 legislature, as a more extensive theatre for the 
 exercise of his useful abilities. At the age of 
 twenty-four years he was elected a representative 
 in the Congress of the United States ; and in Octo- 
 ber, 1807, when he had passed the age of twenty- 
 five but a few weeks, he took his seat in that body 
 a short time after the memorable attack of the 
 British frigate, Leopard, upon the frigate Chesa- 
 peake. The whole country was thrown into a 
 flame by this event ; and party politics became still 
 more violent and excited. The politicians of that day 
 
12 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 were divided into two great parties, denominated 
 federalists and republicans ; though neither party 
 would disclaim the denomination of the other, both 
 of right belonging to every real American. To the 
 latter of these Col. Johnson attached himself, not 
 from a time-serving policy, but a fixed and uniform 
 attachment to the principles of democracy, from 
 which he never swerved. Naturally of an ardent 
 disposition, he often engaged in the excited debates 
 which then agitated the national councils ; but be- 
 lieving that many of the opposite party were 
 governed by high sentiments of patriotism, and 
 acted under honest convictions, he always careful- 
 ly distinguished the measures which he opposed, 
 from the men who were their advocates. In this 
 course he obtained the confidence of all parties; and 
 even his warmest political opponents universally 
 esteemed him as a gentleman of strict integrity and 
 honor, both as a politician and a man. Immedi- 
 ately upon taking his seat in Congress, he was 
 placed upon some of the most important commit- 
 tees, to digest and prepare business for the whole 
 body ; and in the discharge of this duty his indus- 
 try and discrimination soon became conspicuous. 
 At the second session of his first term he was made 
 chairman of the committee of claims. In this ca- 
 pacity an opportunity of more than ordinary inte- 
 rest presented itself for proving the liberality of his 
 sentiments and the strength of his judgment. 
 General Alexander Hamilton, whose services and 
 talents will ever fill a conspicious place in Ameri- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 13 
 
 can history, had been more mindful of the fortunes 
 of his country than of his own family ; and by his 
 untimely death, his amiable widow, with several 
 children, were left with but scanty means of sup- 
 port. She was therefore constrained to appear 
 before the government as a claimant, and to de- 
 mand a partial remuneration for the services of 
 her late husband, which he had never received, 
 and which, had he lived, he would never have 
 required. But General Hamilton had been identi- 
 fied with the federal party, which was now in the 
 minority ; and justice, as is too often the case, was 
 blinded by party zeal. The claim was referred to 
 the committee of which Col. Johnson was chair- 
 man. He investigated the subject with his usual 
 industry and care, and was fully satisfied with the 
 justice of the claim. Contrary to the expectations 
 of many, he brought into the house an able report, 
 favorable to the claimant, which he vindicated 
 in one of the most eloquent and argumentative 
 speeches ever delivered in that body. Though yet 
 but a youth in years, as well as legislation, he fully 
 equalled the highest expectations which would 
 have been excited from the advantages of age and 
 experience. His mind, on this, as on all occasions, 
 rose entirely superior to all the prejudice of party, 
 and evinced a rigid adherence to justice, which he 
 vindicated with a zeal and ability that did honor 
 both to his head and heart. Though his la- 
 bors were not at that time attended with the success 
 which they merited, a subsequent Congress has 
 
14 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 allowed the claim which he then advocated, 
 after a debate in which he also had the satisfaction 
 to bear a part. 
 
 Congress, by law, had provided, that claims upon 
 the government, if not presented within a limited 
 time, should be forever barred on account of that 
 neglect ; which law, obtained the name of " the 
 statute of limitation" ; a statute, which, though 
 beneficial in some cases, has operated in many in- 
 stances, to deprive the citizen of his just due, and 
 the widow and fatherless of their righteous sup- 
 port. Col. Johnson was of opinion that this rule, 
 however wisely adapted to the liquidation of claims 
 by accounting officers, ought not to be applied to 
 the principles of legislation. The investigation 
 of many claims, which disclosed the necessary cau- 
 ses of delay, so fully confirmed him in this sentiment 
 that he became weary with advocating a point 
 which would not be conceded by the house. He 
 was therefore, at his own request, left out of this 
 committee, and placed, by the speaker, upon the 
 committee of ways and means. In this last com- 
 mittee he bore an active part in the whole system 
 of finance which was resorted to for the carrying 
 on of the war that followed, when the former 
 sources of revenue were cut off, and the expenses 
 of the government so greatly augmented. 
 
 The course which he uniformly pursued, from 
 the commencement of his congressional career, 
 was so entirely conformed to the views of his im- 
 mediate constituents, and the ability with which he 
 acquitted himself, so universally acknowledged, 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 15 
 
 that his popularity continued to increase with his 
 experience, till it became altogether unrivalled, not 
 only in his own district, but throughout the whole 
 state of Kentucky. Nor was his fame confined to 
 his own state. Every part of the Union admired 
 his talents, and revered his virtues. In every 
 question of great national concern, he bore an inte- 
 resting part in the debate; and they who differed 
 from him in point of policy, always acknowledged 
 their conviction of the sincerity of his intentions, 
 and the utility of his objects. Though wise and 
 good men often differ in views, as to the attainment 
 of their desires, yet the grand ultimatum of every 
 genuine patriot is one — the liberty and happiness 
 of their country; and not one of his political com- 
 batants, even in the most violent clashing of parties 
 which this country ever witnessed, will deny that 
 this was the darling object of Col. Johnson. 
 
 From the time of his first entrance upon the 
 national theatre, clouds were gathering around our 
 horizon, and sometimes the political hemisphere 
 seemed overspread with darkness. But no por- 
 tending calamity ever diverted him, for one single 
 moment, from that course which he conceived to 
 be most consistent with the independence and ho- 
 nor of his country. The storm at length came on. 
 At the meeting of Congress, in the fall of 181 1, the 
 state of our foreign relations was such that, in the 
 opinion of many, war with Great Britain was in- 
 dispensable. All concurred in the sentiment that 
 war was to be deprecated as a great national cala- 
 
16 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 mity ; and that nothing but the preservation of our 
 independence, and protection of those rights which 
 are its essential attributes, would justify a resort to 
 that unhappy alternative. Col. Johnson was among 
 those who were convinced that the time had now 
 arrived when no other alternative remained. He 
 therefore gave his entire support to all the prepa- 
 ratory measures, which the approaching crisis re- 
 quired ; with this determination, that unless Great 
 Britain should recede from the ground which she 
 had taken, in her repeated depredations upon our 
 commerce, before the close of that session, he 
 would give his voice for the last resort of nations, 
 an appeal to arms. In June, 1812, war was declar- 
 ed by Congress ; and for that declaration Col. 
 Johnson gave his vote. 
 
 This new state of things introduced him upon a 
 theatre very different from any on which he had 
 before acted, and gave a fair occasion for the 
 developement of those powers which have been 
 viewed with admiration by the world, and which, 
 but for this event, might have remained dormant. 
 He manifested no ambition to shine in the military 
 annals of his country, nor to eclipse the splendor 
 which might irradiate the brow of her heroes. But 
 having given support to the measures which pro- 
 duced the crisis, the same patriotic ardor urged 
 him to the field, where he might share, with 
 his fellow citizens, the toils and dangers which the 
 common cause demanded. His mind, which is 
 naturally bold and intrepid, had been accustomed 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 17 
 
 to danger in early childhood. While an infant, 
 he was among the number of women and children 
 in the fort at Bryan's station, when a furious 
 assault was made upon it by five hundred Indians, 
 and successfully defended by only thirty, men. 
 Dangers like these, which attended him continu- 
 ally in youth, had formed his mind to habits of peril, 
 that made an impression never to be erased. His 
 friends believed him to be possessed of military 
 talents, capable of elevating him to a rank among 
 the first commanders of the day. But to this dis- 
 tinction he never aspired. Being, honored with 
 the entire confidence of his fellow citizens, in the 
 national legislature, and persuaded that the issue 
 of the contest, in a great measure, depended upon the 
 firmness and decision of that body, he determined 
 not to enter the military service under the general 
 government, which would have required him to re- 
 linquish his seat in Congress, but to perform such 
 sevice as he might be able to render in the common 
 cause, in no other capacity than that of a volunteer, 
 under the laws of his own state. He had evinced a 
 readiness to march to the call of his country, on a 
 former occasion. When the Spanish Intendant, in 
 1802, closed against the United States the port of 
 New Orleans, in violation of the existing treaty, a 
 general excitement was produced throughout Ame- 
 rica, especially in the western states, and a war 
 with Spain was strongly apprehended. On that 
 occasion Col. Johnson, then a youth, only in his 
 twentieth year, volunteered his services, among 
 
 3 
 
18 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 many others, to pass down the western waters and 
 make a descent upon New Orleans, in case of a 
 war. In a few days he enrolled a large company, 
 and was, by their voice, chosen to the command. 
 The settlement of this dispute with Spain sus- 
 pended the necessity of the service. 
 
 Very different was the result of the dispute with 
 Great Britain. War being openly proclaimed in 
 June 1812, the session of Congress, soon after, 
 was brought to a close ; when he hastened home, 
 where he arrived in July, an anxious spectator 
 of passing events, till clouds of darkness began 
 to thicken around the north western horizon. 
 Gen. Hull, with a considerable force, composed 
 principally of Ohio volunteers, had marched to 
 Detroit, and thence passed over into Upper Ca- 
 nada, and raised the American standard at Sand- 
 wich. Suddenly the prospect of success was 
 changed for that of disaster and disgrace. The 
 army lost confidence in Gen. Hull as their com- 
 mander ; and the retrogression of his movements, 
 the indecision of his conduct, together with the loss 
 of time in availing himself of advantages which had 
 presented themselves, began to portend defeat and 
 ruin to the whole army. No sooner had these ru- 
 mors reached Kentucky, than Col. Johnson 
 was roused to arms. In sixty days, duty called 
 him to his seat in Congress ; but believing that 
 the fate of the army would be determined in a short 
 time, he resolved on repairing to the scene of dan- 
 ger, with as many of his neighbors as would unite 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 19 
 
 with him in the undertaking, to meet the advancing 
 foe. Isaac Shelby, Esq. then Governor of Ken- 
 tucky, called a council of war to deliberate upon 
 the measures which ought to be taken for the re- 
 lief of the army. Col. Johnson attended this coun- 
 cil. It was agreed that Gen. Harrison, then Go- 
 vernor of Indiana, should take command of the 
 Kentucky troops, which should be called out on the 
 occasion, by virtue of the brevet rank of Major 
 General conferred upon him by the Gov. of Ken- 
 tucky. Col. Johnson offered his services to Gen. 
 Harrison as a volunteer aid, and asked leave to 
 raise a volunteer corps of mounted men, to join 
 him as soon as possible. This service was grate- 
 fully accepted, and the request granted. Col. 
 Johnson immediately made an appeal to the patri- 
 otism of his fellow citizens in his own and the ad- 
 jacent counties, and in a very short time a large 
 battalion joined his standard, consisting of some of 
 the most respectable citizens of Kentucky, and, in 
 many instances, of veteran warriors, whose age 
 and former toils had rendered them incapable of 
 enduring the fatigue of long marches on foot. 
 This kind of force, for rapid movements, in defend- 
 ing- an extensive frontier, was esteemed a most valu- 
 able acquisition ; and this kind of service seemed 
 to be the favorite of Col. Johnson. 
 
 This Spartan band, for such it was sometimes 
 called, was organized into three companies, under 
 the command of Col. James Johnson, an elder bro- 
 ther of Richard, Major John Arnold, and Capt. 
 
20 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Charles Ward, men distinguished for their brave- 
 ry and experience in Indian warfare, and long 
 known as the genuine friends of liberty and their 
 country. As the officers were chosen by the men, 
 so mutual confidence existed ; and all animated by 
 the same spirit of patriotism, they formed one fra- 
 ternal, one harmonious, one invincible band of 
 heroes. 
 
 On the eighth of September, 1812, they reached 
 head quarters at St. Mary's, at which time the north 
 western army was at the point of marching to the 
 lief of Fort Wayne, then infested with five hun- 
 dred Indians. In the mean time the calamity 
 which had been feared was realized. Gen. Hull 
 had surrendered his army to the British. Machi- 
 nac had been given up, and Chicago abandoned by 
 our troops. This battalion was now organized, 
 and Col. Johnson elected to the command. He 
 was always appointed to form a part of the front 
 rank of the army, and performed his duty with 
 such perfect satisfaction to the whole, as could 
 not fail to inspire the highest confidence. The 
 service was short, but very arduous, in their 
 marches to fort Wayne, Elkhart, and back to St. 
 Mary's, where he arrived on the thirtieth Septem- 
 ber. Here his force was augmented by a battalion 
 of mounted volunteers, under command of Major 
 Rossier ; and being organized into a regiment by 
 general order, Col. Richard M. Johnson was elect- 
 ed to the command, at a time when the whole army 
 was under marching orders for Fort Defiance, to 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 21 
 
 the relief of the advance army under Gen. Win- 
 chester, which was threatened with an attack, by a 
 superior force of British and Indians. In the ap- 
 proach of the army to Fort Wayne, which was be- 
 sieged by a superior force, Col. Johnson selected a 
 party, under command of Major Suggett, a brave 
 and distinguished officer, for the purpose of pene- 
 trating to the Fort, to advise the garrison of the ad- 
 vance of the army to their relief, lest they might be 
 induced to surrender. This party met with about 
 the same number of the enemy, who had been sent 
 to reconnoitre our army. After a severe skirmish, 
 Suggett' s party routed the enemy, and killed an In- 
 dian chief. This gave great credit to the mounted 
 regiment, and so animated the spirits of the whole 
 army, that all became ardent for battle. The op- 
 portunity, however, did not offer, before the service 
 terminated for that season. After a very active 
 campaign, for about fifty days, he returned to Ken- 
 tucky, for the purpose of proceeding to Washington 
 to take his seat in Congress. 
 
 Although not much was done during this cam- 
 paign, yet Col. Johnson gained much advantage 
 from his improvement on the subject of military 
 operations. From the commencement of hostili- 
 ties, he, with his brother James, a hero of inestima- 
 ble worth to his country, applied all his leisure 
 moments to the study of the military art ; and this 
 short campaign enlarged their views upon the sub- 
 ject, by giving them practical knowledge of the 
 police of the camp, the order of march, the forma- 
 3* 
 
22 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 tion of the line of battle, and other important mili- 
 tary evolutions, which were now become familiar. 
 It also furnished fuel to that fire which the love of 
 country had kindled in his bosom ; and by increas- 
 ing his ardor for the contest, in which he conceiv- 
 ed the honor and happiness of his country to be 
 involved, it probably contributed, in some measure, 
 to the success of the following campaign, which 
 terminated so beneficially to his country, and so 
 gloriously to himself. 
 
 During the session of Congress which followed, 
 1812-13, he matured and reduced to writing, the 
 plan of a winter campaign against the Indians, and 
 submitted it to the President of the United States 
 for consideration. The President referred it to 
 Gen. Harrison, a major general in the serviceof the 
 United States, and high in the confidence of the 
 country, for his opinion thereon. Gen. Harrison 
 approved the plan, except as to time, believing that 
 the winter would be less favorable to the object 
 than a milder season, but recommended that it 
 should be undertaken in the summer. In conse- 
 quence of this the President determined that the 
 plan should be put to the test of experiment the 
 following season. Accordingly, Gen. Armstrong, 
 then secretary of war, authorized Col. Johnson to 
 organize, and hold in readiness, a regiment of one 
 thousand mounted volunteers, the officers to be 
 commissioned by the Governor of Kentucky after 
 the men should be enrolled. On the adjournment 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 23 
 
 of Congress in March, 1813, he hastened home, for 
 the accomplishment of his object. 
 
 The little service he had performed had raised 
 the highest confidence in his military skill, and 
 this, with his general popularity, ensured the most 
 complete success to his undertaking. In a few- 
 weeks his regiment was filled with citizens of the 
 most respectable character, for morality, bravery, 
 and fortune. A very considerable proportion were 
 professors of the Christian religion ; and while in 
 service, except on forced marches, meetings for 
 prayer and religious exercises were held in the 
 camp, almost every evening, as well as on the 
 Sabbath. The officers, as on the former occasion, 
 being elected by the men, were persons of the high- 
 est merit, enjoying the entire confidence of the re- 
 giment. Soon after the regiment was organized, 
 with Col. Johnson at its head, and his brother 
 James, a gentleman of equal merit, for his lieut. 
 colonel, Gov. Shelby, of Kentucky, received intelli- 
 gence that Col. Dudley, at the head of a detach- 
 ment of the Kentucky militia, under Gen. Green 
 Clay, had been defeated opposite Fort Meigs, on 
 the Miami of the lakes; that Fort Meigs was be- 
 sieged by a large force of British regulars and 
 Indians; and that immediate aid was necessary. 
 In demanding succors of Governor Shelby, many 
 letters spoke of the mounted regiment under Col. 
 Johnson, in terms of the highest confidence; and 
 the genera] desire appeared to be, that he should 
 march forthwith to the relief of Fort Meigs, and the 
 
24 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 defence of the Frontier of Ohio, which was then 
 much exposed to the ravages of the Indians. His 
 former services on that frontier had given him 
 character as a young officer of uncommon enter- 
 prize. The Governor of Kentucky, at the request 
 of Col. Johnson, permitted him to collect his regi- 
 ment, then scattered over a considerable teritory, 
 and march to the scene where his suffering coun- 
 try called. At his own expense, which was never 
 an object with his generous mind, the companies 
 and parts of companies were notified to rendezvous 
 at two points ; and in ten days the whole regiment, 
 in complete readiness, was under marching orders 
 for the frontier of Ohio. 
 
 Here commenced that attention to order and 
 good conduct, which marked the whole service of 
 the corps — here commenced that attention to 
 military discipline, which united the regiment as 
 one man in the day of battle, when it fought 
 and conquered double its number. 
 
 From this moment, its labors were unre- 
 mitted ; the usefulness of its services, extensive ; 
 and the success of its undertakings, unrivalled. 
 It formed a complete bulwark to the frontier 
 of Ohio, which had been exposed to the mer- 
 ciless havoc of the tomahawk and scalping 
 knife. Continually exposed to the toils of forced 
 marches ; or, when resting for a moment, engaged 
 in skirmishes with the enemy, and making inroads 
 upon him, their exercises w r ere so severe that more 
 than five hundred horses were lost in the cam- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 25 
 
 paign ; yet, such was their vigilance in providing 
 supplies, that they never suffered any material 
 inconvenience on account of the loss. The regi- 
 ment soon acquired a name that attracted the admi- 
 ration of the country, and induced numbers to 
 leave their homes and follow it ; so that, although 
 their loss was considerable, in fatigues and skir- 
 mishes, yet their number was fully as great, on the 
 day of the celebrated battle of the Thames, as the 
 day they marched from Kentucky. Lieut. Col. 
 James Johnson, whose military talents, intrepidity, 
 and decision, would have entitled him to a general 
 command, was doubtless of great benefit to his 
 brother, in the discipline and order of the regiment, 
 and the annals of America will award to him the 
 full share of glory which this little band acquired. 
 He was constantly engaged in the discipline of the 
 regiment; and through their united efforts, together 
 with all the officers, it might challenge comparison 
 with any corps that was ever organized, for per- 
 fection of discipline and order. Nor was their dis- 
 cipline that of despotic power on the one side, and 
 degrading submission on the other. It was that 
 of choice. The officers never forgot that the men 
 were their brothers and their equals; nor did 
 the men lose the spirit of independence, while they 
 yielded a willing obedience to the officers of their 
 own choice. In this harmony of concert did they 
 move on to victory and glory. The Colonel, al- 
 most every day, addressed the men upon the 
 righteousness of their cause, the necessity of deter- 
 
26 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 mined valor, and the advantages, both to them- 
 selves and country, which would be derived from 
 success ; all of which he was well qualified to do, 
 in a manner that could not fail to bring into action 
 every latent power of the soul. Chicago, the river 
 Raisin, and Fort Meigs, witness the utility of 
 their movements, in their excursions into the heart 
 of the enemy's lines. The splendid victories of 
 the American navy were frequent topics of con- 
 versation, and often brought to view, by the Col. 
 and his brother, as examples worthy of imitation ; 
 and by unanimous vote they agreed that when 
 ever they should come to battle each one would 
 do his best endeavor to bring it to a close in thirty 
 minutes, and that they would die like brothers at 
 the side of each other, or share the victory. In the 
 day of trial their resolution was not forgotten. 
 
 In their march towards Detroit, an express was 
 received from Gen. Clay, commanding Fort Meigs, 
 so called in honor of the patriotic Governor of 
 Ohio, giving information of the approach of a large 
 body of the enemy, whom he expected to surround 
 the fort before succors could arrive, Col. Johnson 
 immediately set out with his'regiment to their relief, 
 by forced marches, being about fifty miles distant. 
 As they drew near, in expectation of a bloody con- 
 flict, the Colonel drew up his men, and in an ani- 
 mated harangue, seemed to infuse new vigor into 
 their souls. He told them that in a little time they 
 would be opposite Fort Meigs, when they should 
 probably find the enemy, in superior numbers, 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 27 
 
 occupying the only ground that would answer for 
 an encampment; that they must now come to 
 the determined resolution of breaking through the 
 lines of the enemy, with their inferior force, or to 
 die in the attempt ; that no thought of retreat 
 must be indulged; and he who was not fully re- 
 solved on victory or death, must immediately sepa- 
 rate himself from the army. " The tide of fortune," 
 said he, "must now be turned in our favor, and 
 Kentucky must no longer mourn the fall of her 
 gallant sons, but in the arms of victory." To this 
 address the regiment, as with one voice, proclaim- 
 ed their entire accordance, and reechoed, with three 
 cheers, the sentiments of their commander. The 
 march was resumed; and having advanced fifty 
 miles in one day, they encamped opposite the fort 
 the same night, the enemy not having made his 
 appearance. 
 
 Col. Johnson, knowing that the efficiency of his 
 regiment depended much upon arrangements to 
 provide against unforeseen and unavoidable contin- 
 gencies, was careful to have active and enterprizing 
 officers continually employed in the interior procur- 
 ing horses, and receiving such volunteer recruits 
 as were disposed to unite their destinies with those 
 of his command ; and such was the favorable result 
 of this timely precaution, that he carried with him 
 into battle a thousand effective men, all well mount- 
 ed, though they had lost about five hundred horses, 
 during the campaign. 
 But we should not omit to notice that at this time, 
 
28 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 while he was leading his Spartan band to victory 
 and glory, an extra session of Congress was con- 
 vened, to deliberate upon the means, and devise the 
 proper measures for successful prosecution of the 
 war. As a representative, duty called him to the 
 councils of the nation ; but as a citizen in arms, 
 resolved to maintain his country's rights, it urged 
 him to the field of battle. Many of his friends, and 
 all his political opponents, desired him to return 
 from the pursuit of the enemy, or resign his seat in 
 Congress. He was not insensible to the critical 
 situation in which he was thus placed. He saw 
 that he was the favorite of the regiment ; and to 
 leave his command, at that juncture, would be 
 highly injurious. Knowing that the session of 
 Congress would be short ; that if he should resign 
 he would displease most of his best friends, and 
 without a possibility of their electing another repre- 
 sentative to take his seat before the close of the ses- 
 sion, he resolved, in accordance with the minds of a 
 great majority of his constituents, neither to resign 
 his seat in Congress, nor to leave his regiment till 
 the close of the campaign. To this determination, 
 he was influenced from the consideration that our 
 arms had been unsuccessful in the north, and that 
 more than ordinary exertions were necessary to 
 check the triumph of the enemy, to counteract the 
 disasters which had been experienced, and to rescue 
 from danger the glory of the nation and character 
 of its prowess. 
 As the crisis of the northwestern army approach- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 29 
 
 ed, Col. Johnson, with his regiment, having effect- 
 ed the object of his march to Fort Meigs, pursued 
 his way towards Detroit. Governor Shelby had 
 already crossed over into Canada at Portage, with 
 a large volunteer force of Kentucky militia, while 
 Col. Johnson, with his regiment, continued his 
 march upon this side of the line, with the view of 
 guarding the country more effectually against 
 savage depredations. When within a few miles of 
 lake Erie, the joyful news was announced of a 
 signal victory gained by Commodore Perry, with 
 the squadron under his command, over the whole 
 British force on that lake ; by which the way was 
 now opened to the invasion of Canada. These 
 welcome tidings filled every bosom with rapture. 
 A glow of enthusiasm shone upon every counte- 
 nance, and the heavens were rent with acclama- 
 tions of joy. If this auspicious event opened an 
 easy access into Canada, it was no less propitious 
 to the military ardor of the whole army. Gen. 
 Harrison, the commander in chief, was with Go- 
 vernor Shelby ; while Col. Johnson, with his regi- 
 ment, alone was upon the American side, perform- 
 ing a long and hazardous march, exposed to the 
 attacks of Indians in double numbers, that might, 
 without difficulty, cross over from Maiden and at- 
 tack him by surprize. The manner in which this 
 march was performed reflects much credit upon 
 his military talents. His regiment consisted of 
 eleven hundred men. One company of about one 
 hunderd men had been detached to escort provi- 
 
 4 
 
30 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 sions, and was dismounted, and crossed over with 
 Gen. Harrison at Portage. He formed out of his 
 regiment six companies to act as artillerists and 
 march at the head of four charg-insf columns, with 
 four six pounders that he had taken with him from 
 Fort Meigs. At night he encamped in a hollow 
 square, with his field pieces at the four corners, 
 placed in such position as to be able to rake all the 
 lines. During the whole of the service of this re- 
 giment, his camp was always fortified, and when 
 in any apprehension of danger, was effectually se- 
 cured against surprize. In this order he reached 
 Detroit, without suffering an attack, or meeting 
 with any occurrences worthy of note. On his 
 arrival at Detroit, orders were given him to cross 
 the river into Canada in pursuit of Gen. Proctor, 
 who was on the retreat. On the first of October 
 he crossed over from Detroit; and on the third 
 came up to the rear of the enemy. A continued 
 skirmish was kept up with them, for two days pre- 
 vious to the decisive engagement ; during which 
 time he left the body of his regiment under Lieut. 
 Col. James Johnson, to be kept in constant order 
 for battle ; while he was himself with a recon- 
 noitering party harrassing the rear of the enemy, 
 and making his movements. The number of 
 British regulars, under Gen. Proctor, could not 
 then be ascertained, nor the number of Indians 
 who acted with them ; but it was evident that the 
 American force, under Gen. Harrison and Gover- 
 nor Shelby, consisting of part of a regiment of 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 31 
 
 regulars, and principally of Kentucky volunteer 
 militia, was greater than that of the enemy. The 
 British and Indians however were retreating into 
 their own country, where their numbers were con- 
 tinually augmenting ; and without the aid of 
 mounted men it was impossible to bring them to 
 battle. To effect this object Col. Johnson, with 
 his reconnoitering party, pressed continually upon 
 them, till they were forced to make a stand. From 
 a videt whom he made a prisoner at that fortunate 
 moment, and whom he accused with being a spy, 
 but promised to save on the condition of his giving 
 a faithful account of the numbers and position of 
 the enemy, he learned that the British regulars, 
 between seven and eight hundred in number, were 
 drawn up in a line from the river Thames on their 
 left to a narrow swamp, impassible except at par- 
 ticular points, running parallel with the river at 
 a distance of nearly a hundred yards from its 
 margin ; that, on the right of the regulars, west 
 of this swamp, were lying in ambush about fifteen 
 hundred Indians, under the command of that cele 
 brated Indian warrior, Gen. Tecumseh. Thus, 
 advantageously posted, it appeared evidently the 
 design of the enemy, if the mounted regiment 
 should attack and force them to retreat, for the In- 
 dians to fall upon their rear and cut them off from 
 the main army, which was three or four miles back 
 Col. Johnson lost no time in communicating to 
 Gen. Harrison the information he had thus ob- 
 tained. The General, confiding in the valor of 
 
32 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the mounted regiment to sustain the combat till the 
 whole army could be brought up, gave immediate 
 orders for the regiment to divide, and at the same 
 moment charge the regulars on horseback, and 
 the Indians in their own manner of warfare. Never 
 was an order more wisely given, or more perfectly 
 executed. Satisfied, from the many trials which 
 had been made in the training of the regiment to 
 this kind of exercise, they would succeed in this 
 novel method of charging, and believing that no 
 other expedient would be effectual to prevent a re- 
 treat before the whole force could be brought to 
 bear upon the enemy, and at the same time defeat 
 his object of bringing the Indians upon their rear, 
 the order for a simultaneous attack, and in the 
 manner in which it was executed, reflects immortal 
 honor upon the General. 
 
 In obedience to this order, Col. Johnson divided 
 his regiment. Finding a point at which he could 
 pass the swamp, he with one half moved on to at- 
 tack the Indians, leaving his brother, Lieut. Col. 
 James Johnson, with the other half, to lead the 
 charge against the regulars ; and that both might 
 be simultaneous, the sound of a trumpet was to 
 announce to the Lieut. Col. the moment when the 
 Col. was ready for the conflict. The battalion 
 under the Lieut. Col. moved regularly on till with- 
 in about ahundred yards distance of Gen. Proctor's 
 regulars, where they waited the signal for attack. 
 To draw from the enemy their fire, Major Suggett, 
 at the head of about a hundred men, dismounted 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 33 
 
 and advanced within about forty yards of the ene- 
 my, giving orders that when the trumpet from be- 
 yond the swamp should sound, each man should 
 deliberately present and fire at the enemy. This 
 order was strictly obeyed, and the fire was most 
 effectual. It drew from the enemy a hasty fire, 
 which proved perfectly harmless. The charge 
 was instantaneously made by the mounted battal- 
 ion, moving in full speed and with a universal 
 shout, which carried consternation and dismay 
 through all the ranks of the enemy, breaking 
 through his line, and proving a destructive fire 
 upon his rear. Gen. Proctor, and a few dragoons, 
 made their escape by flight, and all the remainder 
 of his army surrendered. This was effected, with 
 a force far inferior, without the loss of a single 
 man. The charge was led by the intrepid, the 
 persevering Lieut. Col. James Johnson, whom no 
 dangers could dismay, no obstacles discourage ; 
 and the men whom he commanded were worthy 
 of such a leader. 
 
 The. task of Col. Richard M. Johnson was still 
 more*>|ii^zardous ; for he had Tecumseh for his 
 combatant, with a force three times more numerous 
 than his own. As he advanced against the In- 
 dians, who, according to their custom, were con- 
 cealed from view by lying in the grass and bushes, 
 and behind trees, he selected twenty men, with 
 whom he advanced a few rods in front of the main 
 body, to bring on the battle without exposing the 
 whole to the first fire of the Indians. While thus 
 
 4* 
 
9 
 
 4 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 advancing, they received the fire of their savage 
 enemies, and nineteen of the twenty fell, leaving 
 but one man of that number, besides the Colonel, 
 to pursue the charge. This shot brought the In- 
 dians from their ambush. He immediately order- 
 ed his men to dismount and advance to the com- 
 bat. The order was promptly obeyed : the Col 
 only remained mounted. A dreadful conflict en- 
 sued. In the midst of this scene of slaughter, the 
 Colonel, still moving forward into the midst of the 
 Indians, observed one who was evidently a com- 
 mander of no common order. His gallantry was 
 unrivalled, and his presence inspired a confidence 
 among his followers, equal to what might have 
 been expected from an Alexander. He was a 
 rallying point for the Indians, and where he stood 
 they were impregnable. Col. Johnson did not 
 know the man ; but observing his intrepidity, and 
 the effect which his example had upon the others, 
 and knowing the great superiority of their num- 
 bers, he considered it necessary to dispatch him 
 in order to secure the victory. The Colonel had 
 already received four wounds, and was greatly 
 weakened by the loss of blood. His horse also 
 had been so wounded as to be unable to move faster 
 than a walk. He could not approach the chief in 
 a right line, on account of the trunk of a very 
 large tree which was lying before him. He there- 
 fore rode round the head of the tree, which was at 
 his right, and turning his horse directly towards 
 the chief, advanced upon him. At the distance of 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 35 
 
 a few yards, the Colonel's horse stumbled, but, 
 providentially, did not entirely fall. This gave 
 the Indian the first notice of his approach ; who 
 instantly leveled his rifle at the Colonel, and gave 
 him another wound, the severest which he receiv- 
 ed in the battle. He did not however fall, but 
 continued his movement towards the Indian till he 
 came so near that the Indian was raising a toma- 
 hawk to strike him down. The Colonel had a 
 pistol in his right hand, charged with a ball and 
 three buckshots, which he had held against his 
 thigh, so that the Indian had not discovered it. 
 This chief was arrayed in the habiliments of war 7 
 clad in the richest savage attire, and his face 
 painted with alternate circular lines of black and 
 red from the eye downward, which increased the 
 natural ferocity of his savage countenance, and 
 apparently indifferent to every danger which 
 awaited him, seemed confident of his victim; and 
 as he raised his tomahawk, with a fierce look of 
 malicious pleasure, 
 
 " Grinned horribly a ghastly smile." 
 
 At this moment the Colonel raised his pistol, and 
 discharging its contents into the breast of the In- 
 dian chief, laid him dead upon the spot. The 
 Indians near him, filled with consternation on 
 seeing their commander fall, raised a horrid yell 
 and instantly fled. The Colonel, covered with 
 wounds, twenty-five balls having been shot into 
 him, his clothes and his horse, was unable any 
 longer to act, but was taken from the battle ground 
 
36 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 faint, and almost lifeless. The battle at that point 
 was ended, except in pursuing the retreating foe ; 
 though in other parts of the line it continued for a 
 considerable time, till the main body of the army 
 drew so near as to send a reinforcement to the 
 left wing of the battalion, when the retreat of the 
 Indians became universal. 
 
 This was one of the most glorious victories of 
 the war. The battalion under Col. Johnson con- 
 sisted of about five hundred men ; the number of 
 the savages was not less than fifteen hundred. 
 The Indians chose their own manner of fighting ; 
 and it was in close contest, each man being stained 
 with the blood of his victim by means of their 
 nearness. The number of killed and wounded of 
 Johnson's battalion was about fifty. That of the 
 Indians could not be ascertained, as they are in 
 the habit of carrying off as many of their dead as 
 possible. Eighty were found lying upon the field, 
 besides many others slain in the pursuit, and borne 
 away by those who escaped. 
 
 The effects of this victory were also as salutary 
 as its achievement was glorious. It put a com- 
 plete period to the war upon the northwestern 
 frontier, and ended the cruel murders that had been 
 so frequently perpetrated in those regions, in 
 which female tenderness and helpless infancy had 
 been the common victims of savage barbarity. 
 
 No sooner had the battle ended, than it was dis- 
 covered by those of the regiment who were viewing 
 the scene of horror which the battle ground present- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 37 
 
 ed, that the Indian whom the Colonel had slain 
 was, in all probability, the celebrated Tecumseh ; 
 and before the Colonel had so far revived as to be 
 able to speak, the tidings ran through the camp, 
 that he had killed Tecumseh. This was for some- 
 time undisputed ; but whether envy, or honest doubt 
 led to a denial of the fact, is neither certain nor im- 
 portant, yet it afterwards became a subject of dis- 
 pute whether it was Tecumseh that he slew. 
 Some of the circumstances which confirm the fact, 
 shall here be noted. It is known that Tecumseh 
 was killed in this battle, and that the person whom 
 Col. Johnson killed was a chief warrior. It is 
 also known that but one other chief was killed, in 
 any way answering to the description given of this 
 person, and that he, a brother-in-law to Tecumseh, 
 was killed in another part of the battle. Several 
 persons who were in the battle, and who were 
 perfectly indifferent to the hand by which he fell, 
 have avered to the writer of this, that Tecumseh 
 was found dead upon the very spot where Col. 
 Johnson killed this chief; and that a medal was 
 taken from that body which was known to have 
 been presented to Tecumseh by the British Go- 
 vernment. Anthony Shane, a celebrated Indian 
 warrior, who is partially civilized, is a man of high 
 character for honor and integrity, and has been 
 the uniform friend of the United States : he was 
 at the Thames at the time of battle, and had been 
 intimately acquainted with Tecumseh from early 
 childhood. The writer of this inquired of Shane, 
 
38 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 what he knew of the death of Tecumseh. He an- 
 swered, that immediately after the battle of the 
 Thames was ended, he went to the spot where se- 
 veral of the men had seen Col. Johnson kill an 
 Indian commander, and there he saw Tecumseh 
 lie dead upon the ground ; that he examined his 
 body, and observed that he must have been killed 
 by a person on horseback, for a ball and three 
 buckshot were shot into his breast, and the ball 
 passed through his body and came out at the lower 
 part of his back. While looking at the body, he 
 was asked if he was certain it was Tecumseh. 
 Shane told them he was certain, for. he had known 
 him from childhood, and that if they would ex- 
 amine his thigh they would discover a remarkable 
 scar occasioned by the misfortune of Tecumseh 
 having his thigh broken many years before ; that, 
 on examining, they found the scar as he had de- 
 scribed. Shane knew this person to be Tecumseh, 
 and his body was found where Col. Johnson had 
 killed an Indian commander. He was killed by 
 a person on horseback ; and Col. Johnson was the 
 only person in that part of the battle who fought 
 on horseback. He was shot with a ball and three 
 buckshot ; and the pistol with which Col. Johnson 
 shot the Indian chief was charged with a ball and 
 three buckshot. These circumstances establish 
 the fact beyond all reasonable doubt, and as con- 
 clusively as any historical fact can be established, 
 that Col. Johnson, in this chivilrous act, slew Te- 
 cumseh, and delivered his country from the most 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 39 
 
 courageous, the most hostile, the most skilful, and 
 the most terrific savage foe that America ever had. 
 His enmity was like that of Hannibal to the Ro- 
 mans, and his arm not less powerful ; but before 
 the unconquerable spirit of Johnson he fell, and 
 terror fled from the habitations of the frontiers. 
 
 The war in that quarter being now ended, the 
 army, after a few days' respite, took up its march 
 towards their own homes ; but Col. Johnson, 
 whose wounds for a considerable time rendered 
 his recovery very doubtful, was unable to continue 
 with his regiment. He was brought to Detroit by 
 water, where, after nine days' confinement, he found 
 himself strengthened to such a degree as to com- 
 mence his journey homeward, upon a bed prepared 
 for him in a carriage. After a distressing jour- 
 ney, in which he endured, with a characteristic 
 fortitude almost peculiar to himself, the most ex- 
 crutiating sufferings, he reached his own home in 
 Kentucky in the early part of November. His 
 recovery was very gradual ; but the condition of 
 the country being such as demanded the united 
 wisdom and energies of all her legislators, and not 
 only his immediate constituents, but the most de- 
 voted patriots of every part of the union shewing 
 a solicitude to see him once more at his post as a 
 representative of the heroes who had just been his 
 companions in victory and in suffering, he was anx- 
 ious to take his seat in Congress before the close 
 of the session which commenced about that time. 
 Accordingly, about the last of January following, 
 
40 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 before he had yet been able to walk out of his own 
 door, he set out for the seat of government, a jour- 
 ney of six hundred miles, with none but a faithful 
 servant to accompany him. In February, 1814, 
 he reached Washington, where he received the 
 most cordial salutations of every member of the 
 government. His political opponents, deeply sen- 
 sible of his sincerity, his patriotism, and his valor, 
 cordially united, assigning him the meed of honor. 
 The country was still involved in war, 
 and there was no prospect of a speedy close of 
 hostilities. The treasury was exhausted, and 
 armies could neither be raised nor supported with- 
 out money. The opposition which existed in the 
 public councils against the measures of the go- 
 vernment became still more clamorous, and seem- 
 ed for a time to increase in strength. The disas- 
 ters which had attended our military operations at 
 other points, had almost disheartened the defenders 
 of the countrj'-, and contributed greatly to the diffi- 
 culty of making new enlistments. Our naval 
 victories had indeed procured immortal glory to 
 that branch of the service ; but, to prosecute the 
 war to a successful termination, it was necessary 
 that something important should be done upon the 
 land ; and every eye was directed to the measures 
 which Congress might adopt. At such a crisis, 
 nothing could have been more fortunate for the 
 country than the victory of the Thames, and the 
 appearance again in Congress of Col. Johnson, 
 whose conduct and gallantry had so eminently 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 41 
 
 contributed to that happy event, produced a sensa- 
 tion of universal delight. The dark cloud which 
 then lowered, was viewed by him with calmness. 
 To despondency he was a stranger ; and his mind 
 in the greatest exigencies which ever presented 
 themselves always rose with the occasion, and 
 seemed to acquire new strength for the develope- 
 ment of its resources. Conscious of the righteous- 
 ness of his country's cause, he never for a mo- 
 ment doubted that, under the direction of Heaven, 
 the contest would ultimately result in the success 
 of that side where justice was. In this confidence 
 he again entered upon the duties of legislation, 
 with a determination to pursue the undeviating 
 course, which, in his opinion, would most effectu- 
 ally contribute to this desirable end. His volun- 
 tary services in the field, and the scars of honor 
 which he bore, increased the weight of his counsel; 
 and in all the subsequent measures which gave 
 energy to the war, he bore an active and an influ- 
 ential part. 
 
 In August, 1814, the enemy had made a sudden 
 incursion into the country ; and before a sufficient 
 force could be collected to repel the invasion, they 
 reached the capital, burned the public offices, and 
 by forced marches effected their retreat. Congress 
 met the following month ; and the occasion was 
 seized upon by some who were unfriendly to the 
 measures of the government, with others who had 
 never been gratified in the location of the seat of 
 its capital, to bring forward a proposition for its 
 
 5 
 
42 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 removal. Col. Johnson took an active and decisive 
 stand against the proposition. He regarded it as 
 not involving the question of elegibility as to its 
 location, but whether we should be compelled to 
 abandon it by the success of the enemy. Under 
 such circumstances, it was impossible for him to 
 hesitate as to the course which policy dictated. 
 Though prudent in all his movements, he never 
 could be persuaded for a moment that prudence, 
 under any circumstances, would justify a course 
 calculated to increase the exultation of the enemy, 
 much less to give them a triumph which they did 
 not even claim. The measure was happily de- 
 feated. Col. Johnson then brought forward the 
 motion to inquire into the causes of the capture of 
 Washington, and was appointed chairman of the 
 committee to whom the investigation was confided. 
 In the discharge of the duty which this business 
 involved, he was indefatigable in his labors, and 
 successful in his efforts to present the whole sub- 
 ject before the American public and the world, 
 which was done in an elaborate report drawn up 
 by himself, presenting a valuable document for the 
 future historian. 
 
 The taking of Washington was the termination 
 of success on the part of the enemy. From that 
 moment, defeat attended all their movements. 
 Col. Johnson had never for a moment doubted the 
 ultimate result of an appeal to arms ; and now that 
 success was evidently attendant on all our efforts, 
 he did not in the least degree relax his exertions to 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 43 
 
 bring the war to a speedy and successful termina- 
 tion. Ministers at Ghent in Flanders, were en- 
 gaged in negociations for peace ; but no certain 
 issue could be predicted, and Col. Johnson acted 
 uniformly upon the principle which he had pre- 
 scribed to himself as the most safe, never to make 
 any calculation but for the most vigorous prosecu- 
 tion of the war, till peace should be actually pro- 
 claimed. He had brought forward in Congress a 
 proposition for the employment of volunteer mili- 
 tia, to an indefinite amount, for carrying on the 
 war with the greatest possible vigor in the territory 
 of the enemy; which, had the war continued, 
 would probably have dismembered the British em- 
 pire of at least one of its American provinces before 
 the close of another campaign ; and at the same' 
 time given to the world farther demonstration of 
 his military prowess. But while this measure 
 was maturing, in February 1815, peace was pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 Nothing remained important to be done during 
 this session, but to fix the military peace establish- 
 ment in providing for the disbanding of the army. 
 On this point, a great diversity of opinion existed 
 in Congress and in the nation. At the com- 
 mencement of the war the nation was without an 
 organized army : its conclusion witnessed the 
 possession of a highly disciplined and effect- 
 ive one. The policy of disbanding the great 
 body of this army, which had been raised and 
 instructed in the art of war at such great sa- 
 
44 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 crifice, was doubted by many. On the other hand, 
 it was urged, that a large army in time of peace was 
 not a sure defence against the danger which ano- 
 ther war would bring ; that it would presenta strong 
 obstacle to the restoration of the national credit, by 
 continual pressure upon its pecuniary resources, 
 and at the same time prevent the most effectual 
 means of protection, by absorbing the funds which 
 might otherwise be appropriated to fortifications 
 and other permanent measures of defence. Col- 
 Johnson was found among those who supported 
 the latter proposition, and gave his vote for a re- 
 duction of the army to the smallest number propos- 
 ed, which was six thousand. The policy which 
 he advocated, was to restore public credit by re- 
 plenishing the treasury — to encourage patriotic 
 sacrifices in future emergencies, by a righteous 
 remuneration for the past — to prepare for future 
 ruptures by a gradual increase of the navy, by 
 fortifications, by procuring ample supplies of im- 
 perishable munitions — and to retain no greater 
 military force than was necessary to keep these 
 munitions in a proper condition for use, and to 
 preserve the practical knowledge of military 
 science. This policy has at length fully prevailed ; 
 and the whole nation seems now convinced of its 
 wisdom. 
 
 Having determined the policy which should 
 regulate his future legislati veacts, he never devi- 
 ated from it. For all these measures, which have 
 at length so happily prevailed, he never failed to 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 45 
 
 give his vote ; and to his support their success is 
 in no small degree to be ascribed. Nor is it a 
 small part of his felicity, that this policy, in many 
 respects, was most congenial to the liberality of 
 his soul. The war had deprived many families of 
 their guardians; and when the return of peace 
 brought joy and gladness to the abodes of freedom, 
 that joy was damped by the tears of the widow — 
 that gladness was interrupted by the orphan's cry. 
 But the widow and the orphan found in Col. 
 Johnson a substantial friend. If he had braved 
 the dangers of the field for their protection ; if he 
 had mingled his blood with that of their dying 
 husbands and fathers, his generous heart was now 
 as ready to mingle its sympathies with them in 
 their sorrows ; and that hand which had dealt out 
 destruction to their enemies was now employed to 
 wipe their tears. 'He took a leading part in all 
 those measures which were adopted by congress 
 to provide pensions for the widows and children 
 of those who had perished in the war, and to make 
 remuneration for property sacrificed in the coun- 
 try's cause. These measures have done more 
 honor to the nation than all the victories which 
 were gained — they have effectually rebutted the 
 calumny of ingratitude, which has been poured 
 upon republics with such a lavish hand. They 
 were originated by Col. Johnson ; and by his per- 
 severing support, they were carried through. 
 Their wisdom was doubted by some, lest they 
 should impoverish the nation ; but he regarded 
 5* 
 
46 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 them as acts of justice and never doubted that jus- 
 tice is the foundation of true wisdom, and the most 
 permanent rock of safety on which a nation can 
 establish its policy. He always rejoiced in nation- 
 al prosperity ; but was never desirous of a splendid 
 fabric, cemented by the orphan's groan or the 
 widow's tear. He pleaded their cause in the 
 national council, with the eloquence of feeling 
 — an eloquence which the hearts of the brave 
 could not withstand — success attended his efforts, 
 and upon his head rests the blessing of the widow 
 and the fatherless. 
 
 With equal success he advocated the measure 
 which was brought forward to provide for the in- 
 digent survivors of the soldiers of the revolution. 
 In a speech which he delivered on that occasion, 
 he broke out in a strain of eloquence which deep- 
 ly affected every heart, and drew the tear of com- 
 miseration from many an eye. As he concluded, 
 a statesman was heard to say "that speech will cost 
 the nation a million of dollars." But the money 
 was not lost to the nation. It was applied to the 
 payment of a debt of gratitude; and without dimi- 
 nishing the nation's wealth, to felicitate the declin- 
 ing years of those to whom the nation, under the 
 direction of Divine Providence, owes its existence. 
 
 No trait is more prominent in the character of 
 Col. Johnson than his untiring industry. He never 
 defers^what can be done at the present moment. The 
 dull delays which are common to deliberate bodies, 
 had become so habitual to Congress, that a pro- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 47 
 
 tracted session would close, and leave much im- 
 portant business unfinished. To remedy this evil 
 he conceived the expedient of providing by law 
 for compensating members of Congress by an an- 
 nual stipend in lieu of the compensation per diem, 
 the method which had always before been observ- 
 ed. After advising with several others upon the 
 subject, he brought forward in the House of Re- 
 presentatives, the proportion, which passed both 
 Houses of Congress, providing that the annual 
 compensation to each Representative and Senator 
 should be $1500, without regard to the period of 
 each session. This law was passed in December 
 1815; and from the general excitement which it 
 produced, obtained the name of the celebrated com- 
 pensation law. It produced the effect contemplated 
 by its mover ; for before the the close of that ses- 
 sion, Congress disposed of every subject before 
 them, and, for the first time since the formation of 
 the government, adjourned without having any 
 unfinished business. But the measure was 
 not approved by the great mass of the American 
 people. This was the first, and the only act of 
 Col. Johnson's political life that gave displeasure 
 to his constituents. His sole object was the ac- 
 complishment of the public business, and the 
 effect justified his expectation in this point ; but 
 complaint ran through the country, of the prodi- 
 gality of Congress in lining their own purses from 
 the public treasury. No person who knew the 
 liberality of Col. Johnson, suspected for a moment 
 
48 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 that parsimonious motives actuated him ; but he 
 was the father of the measure, and it was unpopu- 
 lar. The excitement, though in a great degree 
 artificial, was strong and general. On this occa- 
 sion, the fairest opporturity that had ever occurred 
 presented itself to effect his political overthrow. 
 A cloud for a moment gathered over him, and 
 threatened his defeat. At the ensuing election, a 
 candidate was brought forward to oppose him 
 whose talents were highly respectable, and to 
 whose political principles no exception could be 
 taken. Many, who had on all former occasions 
 given him their cordial support, now for the mo- 
 ment forsook him. He met the question with his 
 usual firmness, and openly discussed it with his 
 opponent at every election poll in his district. On 
 one of these occasions, finding himself in the midst of 
 those who disapproved the measure, though most of 
 them had been his companions in danger, and 
 were reluctant to abandon him, he exclaimed, 
 while addressing them, " Admitting this measure 
 to be as injurious as some represent it ; if you 
 owned a rifle which had never missed fire — if 
 with it, you had shot a hundred deer and twenty 
 of your country's enemies — but on one unfortu- 
 nate occasion it should miss fire would you throw it 
 away? or would you pick the flint and try it again?" 
 " Stop there ; " interrupted a veteran warrior, " stop 
 there — Do you admit it to be a snap ?" "A snap, 1 ' 
 answered the Colonel. " Then," replied he, 
 amid the shouts k of the people, — " then we will 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 49 
 
 pick the flint and try the old rifle again. 1 ' Here 
 the Colonel ceased, and the company in a body 
 moved onward to the poll and gave him their vote. 
 He was re-elected by a majority of nearly a thou- 
 sand votes over his opponent. This w r as one of 
 the most honorable triumphs of his life. But few 
 who voted for the law were re-elected, and in no 
 state did the excitement run higher than in Ken- 
 tucky. Col. Johnson had been the mover of the 
 law r , and yet such was their affection for him, such 
 their confidence in his principles and talents, that 
 the great body of the people would not — could not 
 forsake him. Nor did he disappoint that confi- 
 dence. At the next session of Congress he 
 brought forward the motion for its repeal ; alleging 
 as his reason, that the people whom he served 
 were not favorable to its operation, and to their 
 sovereign will he had ever deemed it his duty, as 
 their representative, to bow. The law was repeal- 
 ed, the excitement had subsided, and he was, if 
 possible, more than reinstated in their confidence 
 and affections. 
 
 His re-election to Congress seems to have been 
 a providential interference, for the political salva- 
 tion of one of the greatest men of the age. Gen. 
 Andrew Jackson, who had, with the undisciplined 
 volunteers of the west, achieved the most brilliant 
 victories in the war, both among the savages and 
 over the veterans of Lord Wellington, had been 
 subsequently employed to protect the defenceless 
 frontier of the south against the Seminole Indians, 
 a large and warlike tribe, lying upon the borders 
 
 
50 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of Georgia and Florida. He had completely de- 
 featedthem, by pursuing them even into Pensacola, 
 the capital of Florida, where they had fled for 
 promised protection from the Spanish Governor, 
 and had executed two British emissaries, who 
 were proved to have been the prime instigators of 
 the savages to the many cruel murders which they 
 had committed. The conduct of Gen. Jackson in 
 this campaign, was made a subject of Congres- 
 sional inquiry, and Col. Johnson was the chairman 
 of the committee to whom it was referred. It was 
 generally conceded that Gen. Jackson's operations 
 were of the most salutary effect, and that no 
 other cause could have proved permanently 
 beneficial. The Indians had but an artificial line to 
 cross to enter the Spanish territory, where pro- 
 tection was afforded them; and without invading 
 that territory, nothing effectual could be done. 
 But its legality was questioned by some. The 
 instigators of the savages were not American citi- 
 zens, and the legal right to punish them was also 
 denied by many. The committee, after an invest- 
 igation of the documents in this case, determined, 
 by a majority of their number, to report against 
 Gen. Jackson. In this decision Col. Johnson did 
 not concur, and refused to draw up, or present 
 their report. While another member of the com- 
 mittee was doing this, Co). Johnson prepared a 
 counter report, giving a luminous view of the 
 whole subject, and shewing facts, which led to 
 the irresistible conclusion, that Gen. Jackson's con- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 51 
 
 duct was not worthy of censure. This document 
 is unquestionably among- the ablest state papers 
 which the archives of the nation can boast. When 
 the report of the committee was presented to the 
 house of representatives, this counter report was 
 presented by Col. Johnson, who moved that it 
 should be received as a substitute for that of the 
 majority of the committee. The ability with which 
 it was drawn, the perspicuous light in which the 
 subject was exhibited, and the conclusion to which 
 it so naturally conducted the mind, were obvious 
 to the great majority of the house. A discussion 
 ensued, which brought forth the ablest talents of 
 the nation. Mr. Clay, then the presiding officer 
 of the house, and whose eloquence was unrivalled, 
 took the lead in opposition to Gen. Jackson, and 
 Col. Johnson took the lead in his support. The 
 eloquence of Clay was more than counterbalanced 
 by the strength of argument, and pathetic appeal 
 to the heart by Col. Johnson. The counter report 
 was sustained by the house, and by a consider- 
 able majority adapted as a substitute for that 
 which the committee had reported. This was 
 among the happiest acts of Col. Johnson's life. 
 By his laborious research and persevering at- 
 tention, the subject was so presented as to shew 
 to the house the true character of the Gene- 
 ral's measures ; and to this act, under the provi- 
 dence of Heaven, the nation is indebted for the 
 preservation of that great man's reputation from a 
 shade which might forever have obscured his 
 virtues and his fame. 
 
52 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 During this session Col. Johnson, wearied 
 with the turmoils of public life, resolved upon re- 
 tirement. He saw his country prosperous and 
 happy; her character respected abroad, and the 
 great principles of liberty and independence 
 established upon a basis which promised perpe- 
 tuity. His labors had been unremitted, and his 
 course singulary successful. But he had never 
 changed. The same sentiments which had actuated 
 him in his entrance upon public life, he was now 
 about to carry with him into retirement. 
 
 Congress had publicly acknowledged his services 
 in the field, and by a joint resolution of both 
 houses, presented him a sword. He had serv- 
 ed his constituents for twelve successive years 
 as their representative in Congress, and voluntarily 
 retired in 1819, honored by the whole nation, and 
 happy in the best wishes of those who had so long 
 sustained him. 
 
 But his own native state, of which he had be- 
 come almost the idol, would not suffer him to 
 enjoy the retirement which he sought. He was 
 immediately selected to represent the county in 
 which he resided in the legislature of the state, and 
 he could not resist their call. He had but just 
 taken his seat in the legislature, when that body 
 elected him to the senate of the United States. 
 Thisjwas in December, 1819, and though retire- 
 ment was his object in withdrawing from the 
 house of representatives, this renewed expression 
 of the wishes of his fellow-citizens was not to be 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 53 
 
 resisted. He accordingly repaired to the seat of 
 the general government, and took his seat before 
 the close of that month; and having been subse- 
 quently unanimously re-elected, there remains a 
 demonstration of their continued confidence. 
 
 Col. Johnson has ever considered all men by 
 nature equal ; and that in forming rules for the 
 government of society, each member of that society 
 is entitled to an equal voice. In the representa- 
 tive system, which grows out of necessity in 
 a populous community, this principle can only 
 be preserved by an immediate responsibility, which 
 will check the disposition, so common in man, to 
 exercise despotically that power which he only 
 holds in trust. The obligation of the representa- 
 tive to obey the will of his constituents is there- 
 fore a settled principle with him, and ought to 
 be regarded as a political axiom by every repub- 
 lican. The independent sovereignity of the in- 
 dividual states he has regarded as the safest re- 
 pository of the people's rights, and has ever viewed 
 with a jealous eye any act of the general govern- 
 ment which threatened to invade that sovereignty, 
 beyond the exercise of powers expressly delegated 
 by the states. The federal judiciary, which is a 
 body independent of the states and of the people, 
 had assumed a prerogative highly dangerous to 
 the sovereignty of the states, that of declaring their 
 laws unconstitutional, and therefore of no force. 
 He was of the opinion that this authority had 
 never been delegated by the federal compact, and 
 
 6 
 
54 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 safety required that it should be arrested. H» 
 therefore brought forward in the senate a proposi- 
 tion so to amend the constitution of the United 
 States, as that the federal judiciary should be de- 
 clared to have no power to declare that state laws 
 were unconstitutional, without an appeal to the 
 United States Senate, where the sovereignty of 
 each state is equally represented, and where such 
 questions might therefore be safely settled. This 
 principle he defended in one of the ablest speeches 
 that he ever delivered ; and which, for clearness 
 and soundness of argument, has seldom been equal- 
 led by any of our statesmen. An unwillingness 
 however to touch the judiciary, which, from the 
 prejudice derived from our British ancestors, we 
 are taught so highly to venerate, prevented the 
 proposition from suceeding. 
 
 His next great effort was directed to a subject, 
 on which humanity and justice are most potent 
 advocates ; the subject of imprisonment for debt. 
 In contemplating the legal establishment of the 
 country, in which his mind always reverts to pri- 
 mitive principles, from which their present design 
 and utility are naturally brought to view, the in- 
 quiry naturally arose, why are prisons erected ? 
 Man is fond of liberty, and nature designed him 
 to be free. Why then should he be deprived of its 
 enjoyment? If the safety of society requires his 
 confinement, prisons should be built ; but no man 
 can be justly imprisoned, unless his freedom is 
 dangerous to society. If the lion or the tiger is 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 55 
 
 exhibited to man, a cage is necessary to secure 
 man from his ferocity. If a man is a murderer or 
 a thief, the safety of society will justify his con- 
 finement. But is this the only use to which pri- 
 sons are appropriated 1 No : they are the habita- 
 tions of the innocent victims of misfortune. Men 
 who may enjoy society with safety are found to con- 
 stitute the most numerous class of the inhabitants 
 of prisons. The philanthropy of Howard is cele- 
 brated and admired by all the world ; and his no- 
 blest acts consist in his visiting prisons ; not to en- 
 courage crime, by diminishing its punishments, 
 but by extenuating the miseries of the unfortunate. 
 If these were the proper objects of commisseration, 
 and their relief justly excited the admiration of a 
 nation, why should a nation sanction the system 
 which rendered that commisseration necessary? 
 Let the prison doors be unbarred, and they are re- 
 lieved by their own efforts. May not the legisla- 
 ture of the nation, then, by one act, do more than 
 many Howards % Thoughts like these so power- 
 fully operated upon the mind of Col. Johnson, 
 that he boldly ventured to encounter the long es- 
 tablished prejudice of the world, by proposing the 
 entire abolition of imprisonment for debt. The 
 proposition, at first, found but few advocates. It 
 was novel. The prejudice of ages was against it. 
 The despotic feelings of the wealthy were against 
 it. Every creditor, desiring authority over his 
 debtor, was opposed to it ; and the cry of the needy, 
 who by long oppression was almost taught to 
 
56 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 believe that oppression was righteous, seemed too 
 feeble to be heard. But for Col. Johnson, it was 
 always sufficient to know that misery existed ; and 
 without waiting for the supplicating cry of the 
 wretched to penetrate his ear, he was ready to 
 raise his voice and his hand to remove it. A deputa- 
 tion of Indians, visiting the interior of the states, 
 was led by direction of the government through 
 some of our populous cities, with the hope that, 
 seeing the effects of civilization, they might learn 
 its advantages, and induce their tribes to make it 
 their choice. When looking into a prison, and 
 inquiring the cause of the confinement of the dif- 
 ferent prisoners, they were informed that the per- 
 sons in one apartment were there for debt. An 
 aged chief shrunk back with indications of horror, 
 exclaiming, " There is no beaver there." He left 
 the place with disgust, denouncing the habits of 
 the white men, because they shut one another up 
 in prison for debt, where they could neither pro- 
 vide for themselves nor pay their creditors. A 
 custom which untaught savages must reprobate 
 because it inflicts misery without benefiting socie- 
 ty, and renders the unfortunate more unfortunate 
 without a solitary benefit to any, could not remain 
 unheeded by Col. Johnson, whatever opposition 
 his generous efforts might have to endure. He 
 defended his proposition in a speech of considera- 
 ble length; which, for strength of argument, depth 
 of research, and perspicuity of thought, enforced by 
 the most powerful appeal to the noblest sensibili- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON, 57 
 
 ties of the heart, is seldom equaled. He com- 
 manded universal attention, and, before the close 
 of the session, had the felicity to find that many 
 were enlisted with him in the same cause. His 
 speech was published through all parts of the 
 country, and produced an excitement in favor of 
 the measure, which the whole nation felt. He 
 received letters from every section of the union > 
 approbating- his course and soliciting him to per- 
 severe. He entertained no hope of effecting its 
 passage in one year. Ancient and deep rooted 
 prejudices were to be eradicated, and much sel- 
 fishness subdued. His success however exceeded 
 his anticipation, and encouraged him to renew the 
 proposition at the next session. He had pondered 
 the subject well, and in another speech, not infe- 
 rior to his first, he again brought to view the cause 
 of righteousness and humanity, and exposed the 
 principles of liberty in a manner that did equal 
 honor to his head and heart. In the second 
 attempt, he found more support than in the former. 
 Some of the best statesmen and most eloquent ora- 
 tors in the nation united with him in support of 
 the measure. Though yet unsuccessful, it pro- 
 duced a salutary effect upon the victims of 
 misfortune. Imprisonments for debt became more 
 seldom in the different parts of the country, and the 
 prison bounds were extended to whole counties. 
 The current of public opinion is evidently chang- 
 ing, and no doubt remains that he will be ultimate- 
 ly successful. The measure requires a change 
 
 6 # 
 
58 BIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 which time only can produce : and he still mani- 
 fests the determination never to suffer the subject 
 to rest, till prisons shall be used for none but cul- 
 prits. 
 
 Col. Johnson, having been engaged in the war 
 against the Indians, was led to a deep consideration 
 of their character and condition. He has ever 
 regarded them as the deluded instruments of their 
 civilized allies; and though compelled in his coun- 
 try's defence to draw the sword, his heart melted 
 with pity while he punished their cruelties. As 
 soon as the war had ended, his mind was employ- 
 ed in devising the most effectual method of civi- 
 lizing and reforming them. He took the lead in 
 a society which was formed for their benefit, and 
 caused a school to be established near his own 
 home for the instruction of their youth. The pre- 
 vailing sentiment had been, that the plan of esta- 
 blishing schools in their own country would be 
 most likely to effect the object: but, on this point, 
 Col. Johnson entertained strong doubts. Believ- 
 ing that, from the depravity of human nature, there 
 is a stronger propensity in man to turn from the 
 civilized to the savage, than from the savage to the 
 civilized state, and having witnessed some awful 
 examples of the fact, he entertained the opinion 
 that, to produce the desired change, it would be 
 necessary to bring their youth into the midst of 
 civilized society, where example and habit would 
 enforce the precepts which should be given them. 
 Therefore, while he gave full support to one esta- 
 
COLONEL JOHNSON. 59 
 
 blishment among them, he was anxious also that 
 trial should be made of, at least, one among 
 the whites. The first attempt failed for want 
 of proper aid. But his effort had given him 
 the confidence of the Indians, and borne full con- 
 viction to their minds that he was their friend. 
 In a treaty subsequently entered into with the 
 Choctaws, provision was made for the annual 
 expenditure of a considerable sum of money under 
 the direction of government, for the education of 
 their youth. After the ratification of the treaty, 
 the Indians signified to the agent a desire to send 
 their young men among the whites to be instruct- 
 ed, provided they might be placed under the 
 guardianship of Col. Johnson, whom they selected, 
 without his knowledge, as the friend of the Indians. 
 The government acceded to their wishes ; and 
 Col. Johnson, in compliance with their solicitation, 
 permitted the establishment to be located on his 
 own farm. This establishment is called the Choc- 
 taw Academy. It is under the direction of a 
 clergyman recommended by Col. Johnson, and 
 appointed by the government. The Choctaws at 
 first sent but a small number of their youth; but 
 learning on trial the advantages of their situation, 
 they have increased the number to nearly a hun- 
 dred ; and other Indian nations are now anxious 
 to place their youth at the same school. It was 
 the name of Col. Johnson which drew them there, 
 and they all regard him as their benefactor. 
 
 If the faithful and disinterested discharge of 
 
60 BIOGRAPHY OF COL. JOHNSON. 
 
 every trust committed to a man, returns a recom- 
 pense of reward into the bosom of the philanthro- 
 pist — if the alleviation of misery and the augment- 
 ation of happiness, in others, is a rich luxury to the 
 generous mind, Col. Johnson, while loved by his 
 friends, revered by his country, honored by the 
 world, enjoys in his own heart the highest attain- 
 ment of sublunary bliss. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE 
 
 SPEECH OF MR. ELY MOORE, 
 
 At the great Meeting at Masonic Hall, on the 
 loth March last, which recommended Col. Rich- 
 ard M. Johnson, as a candidate for the Vice 
 Presidency. 
 
 There is something cheering and peculiarly 
 gratyfying in witnessing such a unanimous, ardent, 
 and honest expression of sentiment in behalf of use- 
 ful talent and exalted worth as is manifested on 
 this occasson. It affords a strong and consolitary 
 evidence that we are not unmindful thai " closely 
 allied to love of country is gratitude to its bene- 
 factors." And, gentlemen, it does appear to me that if 
 there is one man more emphatically entitled to the 
 gratitude of this nation, and one having stronger 
 claims upon its suffrages than another, that man 
 is Col. R. M. Johnson, of Kentucky. In express- 
 ing this opinion, I would not be understood as 
 wishing to detract from the merits or preten- 
 sions of either of the respective candidates for the 
 Vice Presidency — far from it. I am willing to 
 admit that each of them has " done the state some 
 
62 APPENDIX. 
 
 service." I am willing to admit they are honora- 
 ble men — all honorable men! But when their 
 pretensions are compared with those of the veteran 
 statesman of the west, every candid man must 
 admit they are altogether inferior — that they are 
 "as dust in the balance." 
 
 No doubt we shall be assailed by those whose 
 interest it may be to farther the views of other 
 candidates. They, probably, will impugn our mo- 
 tives and misrepresent our principles, because w T e 
 are unwilling to sacrifice at the shrine of party 
 what we conceive to be the interest of our country. 
 Be it so. We conceive it to be our duty, we 
 know it to be our right as free citizens, to meet in 
 public for the purpose of recommending to office 
 such of our fellow citizens as we may think best 
 qualified to serve the country. It was such an 
 expression of public opinion that first called Gen. 
 Washington to preside over the destinies of the 
 Republic ; and it was such an expression of public 
 opinion that called the present Chief Magistrate to 
 the presidential chair. And if similar means fail 
 to elevate Col. Johnson to the Vice Presidency, it 
 will be, either because the spirit of genuine demo- 
 cracy shallhave departed from among us, or that a 
 fatal lethargy shall cramp and stifle its influence. 
 
 Notwithstanding every individual within the 
 sound of my voice maybe familiar with the history 
 of Col. Johnson, yet I will take the liberty of dwell- 
 ing for a few moments upon some of the most pro* 
 
APPENDIX. 63 
 
 minent events of his life. Accompany me, then 
 (in imagination), to the banks of the Thames, in 
 Canada, where Col. Johnson first signalized him- 
 self as an officer and a soldier. # # # 
 
 Seldom, indeed, do the occurrences of real life 
 furnish a more interesting, a more animating and 
 spirit stirring picture — one in which is so strongly 
 marked the character of patriotism and of high 
 souled chivalry, as was displayed in the character 
 and conduct of Col. Johnson in that memorable 
 battle. In that hour of peril, when the savage foe, 
 led on by the brave and desperate Tecumseh, were 
 pushing their way to victory, behold him rallying 
 his little band of mounted riflemen — animating 
 them with his own determined spirit — breathing 
 into them the soul of heroism, and at their head 
 dashing amidst the thickest of the battle. Behold 
 him, when unhorsed, covered with wounds and 
 bleeding at every pore, vigorously renew the fight ; 
 with his own determined arm roll back the tide 
 of battle, and decide the fate of that well fought 
 day, by despatching him who was the life and soul, 
 the heart and head, of the Indian phalanx, and of 
 Indian chivalry. Behold him, and his noble bro- 
 ther, with his two youthful but gallant sons, stand- 
 ing foot to foot, and hilt to hilt, with the ruthless 
 foe — battling side by side, and dealing stroke for 
 stroke, in their country's defence, and for their 
 country's honor! There they stood, brothers, sire 
 and sons, firm as the deep rooted oak of their own 
 mountain land ; forming on the one hand, a rally- 
 
64 APPENDIX. 
 
 ing point to the American soldier, and on the other 
 an impenetrable rampart to the enemy. There 
 they stood ! shoulder to shoulder, staunch as did 
 ever Spartan at the Pass, or Lacedemonian on 
 " Old Platea's day." When reeling, and well 
 nigh falling from loss of blood, yet did he face his 
 foes — brandish his mangled arm in their very 
 teeth, and cheer his brave Kentuckians, ever and 
 anon, with the animating cry of " onwai' d-o?iward 
 
 -ONWARD !" 
 
 ######## 
 
 Col. Johnson has not only proved himself a 
 heroic soldier, but a profound and honest statesman. 
 He has not only won the blood stained laurel, but 
 the civic wreath. He not only merits our esteem 
 and admiration for breasting the battle storm — for 
 risking his life in the deadly breach ; but, also, for 
 the firm, patriotic, and undeviating course that has 
 marked his political life; and especially is he en- 
 titled to our love and gratitude, and to the love and 
 gratitude of all good men, — of all who love their 
 country, — for his able, patriotic and luminous re- 
 port on the Sunday mail question. # # # 
 I will hazard the declaration, that Col. Johnson 
 has done more for liberal principles, for freedom of 
 opinion, and for pure and unadulterated democracy, 
 than any man in our country — by arresting the 
 schemes of an ambitious, irreligious priesthood. 
 Charge him not with hostility to the principles of 
 religion, because he opposed the wishes and 
 thwarted the designs of the clergy — rather say 
 
APPENDIX. 65 
 
 that he has proved himself the friend of fur e reli- 
 gion, by guarding it against a contaminating alli- 
 ance with politics. His strong and discriminating 
 mind detected and weighed the consequences that 
 would result from such a measure. He sifted the 
 projectors of this insiduous and dangerous scheme, 
 and resolved to meet them full in the face, and by 
 means of reason and argument to convince the 
 honest and silence the designing. The honest he 
 did convince — the designing he did defeat, though, 
 strange to tell, did not silence : — their obstinacy can 
 only be equalled by their depravity. Their per- 
 severance, however, can accomplish nothing, so 
 long as the people prize their liberties, and can 
 have access to the constitution and Johnson's Re- 
 ports. * I would not be under- 
 stood to say that a majority of the people do not 
 properly estimate the importance of those docu- 
 ments — that they do not duly appreciate their 
 merits. I should not feel myself warranted in so 
 doing. But I will say that, if they do, Col. John- 
 son will be our next Vice President. 
 
 That man who can contemplate the misery and 
 degradation that have ever resulted to the many 
 from a union of the ecclesiastical and secular pow- 
 ers, must be a stranger to every patriotic feeling ; 
 callous to every noble impulse, and dumb to all the 
 emotions of gratitude, not to admire and revere, 
 honor and support, the man who had the honesty 
 and moral heroism to risk his popularity, by stem- 
 ming the current of public prejudice ; by exciting 
 
 7 
 
66 APPENDIX. 
 
 the bigot's wrath, and provoking the vigilant and 
 eternal hostility of a powerful sect, whose influence 
 is felt and whose toils are spread from Maine to 
 Florida, and from the Oregon to the Atlantic. 
 But the same determined spirit, the same sacred 
 love of country, that prompted Col. Johnson to face 
 that country's open foe on the battle field, urged 
 him with equal ardor to grapple with its secret 
 enemies in the Senate chamber. Shall he go un- 
 rewarded? # * # 
 
 He who considers the influence which those re- 
 ports are calculated to exert over the destinies of 
 this Republic as trifling, or of small importance, 
 is but little acquainted with the history of the past, 
 and consequently but ill qualified to judge of the 
 future. 
 
 Col. Johnson had been instructed by the philo- 
 sopher and faithful historian, as well as by the 
 teachings of his own mighty mind, that " human 
 nature is never so debased as when superstitious 
 ignorance is armed with power." 
 
 He knew full well, that wherever the ecclesias- 
 tical and secular powers were leagued together, 
 the fountains of justice were polluted — that the 
 streams of righteousness were choked up, and that 
 the eternal principles of truth and equity were ba- 
 nished the land — that the people were degraded — 
 their understanings enthralled, and all their ener- 
 gies crushed and exhausted. He knew full well 
 that all the evils combined, which convulse the na- 
 tural world, were not so fatal to the prosperity of 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 67 
 
 a nation as religious intolerance ; for even after 
 pestilence has slain its thousands — the earthquake 
 swallowed up its victims, and the desolating whirl- 
 wind swept the land — yet may a new and better 
 world spring from the desolation ; but when reli- 
 gion grasps the sword, and superstition rears her 
 haggard form, hope has fled forever. Do you call 
 for the evidence ? The histories of Spain, of Italy, 
 and of Portugal, are before you. They tell you 
 these states were powerful once. What are they 
 now % " Infants in the cradle, after ages of nonen- 
 tity." * # * * * 
 
 Col. Johnson had not only a regard to the politi- 
 cal, but also to the religious welfare of his country, 
 when he drafted these Reports. He had been in- 
 structed, by the history of the past, that in propor- 
 tion as a sect becomes powerful, from whatever 
 cause, it retrogades in piety, and advances in cor- 
 ruption and ambition. He was aware that the 
 Christian religion no longer partook of the charac- 
 ter of its founder, after the civil arm was wielded 
 in its behalf. After it was taken into keeping by 
 Constantine, that royal cut-throat — that anointed 
 parricide — that baptized murderer — from that time 
 to the present, with but few intervals, it has been 
 wielded as a political engine, prostrating the li- 
 berties and paralizing the energies of the nations. 
 We hazard but little in predicting that the Re- 
 ports of the Kentucky statesman, calculated as 
 they are to guard us from a like curse, will survive 
 and nourish — will be read and admired — honored 
 
68 APPENDIX. 
 
 and revered, by the freemen of America, when 
 the edicts of kings and of emperors, and the creeds 
 of councils, shall have been swept from the memo- 
 ry of man. # # # * 
 
 Gentlemen, we behold in Col. Richard M. 
 Johnson a man of Roman stamp in Rome's best 
 age. We behold in him not only the tried and in- 
 vincible soldier — the dauntless asserter of the rights 
 of conscience, but also the enlightened philanthro- 
 pist and righteous legislator, as is abundantly evi- 
 dent from his recent and masterly Report on the 
 subject of Imprisonment for Debt. * * 
 Ever actuated by the principles of patriotism and 
 honor, as well as by the feelings of humanity, this 
 great and good man is constantly toiling, by day 
 and by night, in season and out of season, for his 
 country's good and for his country's glory. And, 
 gentlemen, that country will not only prove itself 
 ungrateful to its benefactor, but unfaithful to itself, 
 yea, reckless of its own best interests, if it neglects 
 to reward services so important, merit so transcend- 
 ant. 
 
22dCoNGRESS, ) r> tvt mi ^ u r> 
 
 . . „ ' > Rep. No. 194. < Ho. of Reps. 
 
 l5t Session. ) ( 
 
 ABOLISH IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. 
 
 January 17, 1832. 
 
 Mr. R. M. Johnson, from the Select Committee 
 to which the subject had been referred, made the 
 following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 The Committee, to whom was referred so much of 
 the message of the President of the JJnited States, 
 as respects Imprisonment for Debt, report: 
 
 That, acting; under a constitution of limited 
 powers, delegated by the people of the several 
 States, an act of Congress to abolish imprisonment 
 for debt, can have effect only in cases belonging 
 to the federal courts. The primary and only legi- 
 timate object of Government is to secure to each 
 individual the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness. These cannot be forfeited 
 without crime. It is essential to the preservation 
 of liberty, that crime should be defined, and its 
 punishment determined by law. To protect the 
 citizen from acts of tyranny, the constitution se- 
 cures, in all cases, to the accused, the right of trial 
 by an impartial jury. The violation of this prin- 
 
70 APPENDIX, 
 
 ciple is the essence of despotism. If insolvency 
 is fraud, and if that fraud is a crime which justly 
 deprives the insolvent of his liberty, the law should 
 define it as such, and fix its punishment. The trial 
 should be, like that of other crimes, by an impar- 
 tial jury, in the State and district where the crime 
 is committed ; and the punishment should be pro- 
 nounced by -the court, subject, as in other convic- 
 tions, to the pardoning power, in the discretion of 
 the Executive. In the punishment of debtors 
 all these sacred principles are subverted. The 
 citizen is deprived of his liberty, without the accu- 
 sation of a crime, without a criminal prosecution, 
 and without a jury to decide upon his guilt ; and 
 his punishment is submitted to the sole discretion 
 of an individual creditor. 
 
 In all the catalogue of human crimes, there is 
 none which more imperiously requires definition, 
 than that of fraud. To punish a crime which is 
 not well defined by law, is always more injurious 
 to society, because of the abuse of power to which 
 it subjects the accused, than to suffer it with impu- 
 nity. Why does not the law define and punish 
 ingratitude, a crime which is marked with univers- 
 al execration 1 Because of the difficulty of giving 
 to it such a precise definition as would separate 
 the innocent from the guilty. By omitting to 
 punish this vice, we avoid a greater evil. So, in 
 abolishing imprisonment for debt, absolutely and 
 without condition or reservation, we shall avoid 
 an evil infinitely greater than can be obviated by 
 
APPENDIX. 71 
 
 any restriction. Our constitution denounces pri- 
 vileged orders. The warning voice of history, 
 bearing, like peals of thunder, the cries of the op- 
 pressed from ancient and modern nations, where 
 these orders have existed, and still exist, demanded 
 this security for the citizens of our own country. 
 But to give to the creditor, in any case whatever, 
 power over the body of his debtor, is a violation of 
 this principle. It subjects the liberty of the great 
 mass of our most useful, because most enterprising 
 and industrious, citizens, to the caprice, the ven- 
 geance, or forbearance, of the wealthy and the more 
 fortunate. Why do we reprobate the act which 
 crowded so many human beings in the black hole 
 of Calcutta, where mortal pestilence was inhaled 
 from the infected atmosphere'? Because it was 
 an act of cruelty ; and it is the same abhorrence 
 that elicits this popular cry, which has become 
 almost universal against imprisonment for debt. 
 
 Yet legislators, the majority of whom have 
 generally been of the wealthier class, or at least 
 free from pecuniary difficulties, have so compli- 
 cated the system that it has become involved in a 
 labyrinth of mystery ; and to secure its existence 
 they have surrounded it with such dark suspicions 
 of fraud, that the subject can scarcely be approached 
 without embarrassment. Thus, like all other sys- 
 tems of despotism, it has imposed on the minds of 
 men, with some shadow of plausibility, the idea of 
 necessity ; till, by long habit, they have gradually 
 become, in some degree, reconciled to the oppres- 
 
72 APPENDIX. 
 
 sion. The victim is cut off from society ; and be- 
 cause he pines in solitude, where his miseries are 
 not seen, nor his complaints heard, his case is 
 passed over, as an instance of individual misfor- 
 tune, for which there is no remedy, and which is 
 scarcely worthy of observation. But if all of these 
 victims of oppression were presented to our view 
 in one congregated mass, with all the train of 
 wives, children, and friends, involved in the same 
 ruin, they would exhibit a spectacle, at which hu- 
 manity would shudder. It was a remark of one 
 of the sages of antiquity, that the best government 
 is that where an injury to one citizen is resented as 
 an injury to the whole. Here, in our own free 
 and happy country, many thousands of our fellow- 
 citizens are suffering annually the deepest injury. 
 Children are deprived of their natural guardians, 
 families of their support, and freemen of their 
 liberty, by a remnant of barbarism, which requires 
 nothing but the voice of legislation to blot it out 
 for ever. From the earliest dawn of civilization, 
 it has been a subject of the severest censure, and 
 of the most unqualified denunciation. 
 
 But history teaches us that men, accustomed to 
 bondage, may contract a fondness for the chains 
 that bind them. The subjects of monarchs become 
 attached to their aristocratic establishments; and 
 are hardly persuaded to forego the splendors of 
 royalty, for the simplicity of republican govern- 
 ment. So in relation to this vestige of despotism 
 amongst us; the most obstinate prejudices are en- 
 
APPENDIX. 73 
 
 listed in its favor, sustained by all the cupidity of 
 sordid minds. The injustice and cruelty of the 
 system are generally conceded; but the wisest 
 heads and purest hearts have found some insur- 
 mountable difficulty in devising a remedy, which 
 will at once eradicate the evil, and guard against 
 imaginary dangers, that the preservation of per- 
 sonal liberty must be regarded as hopeless, upon 
 any other principle than that of the total and abso- 
 lute abolition of imprisonment for debt. For ages 
 past, the common rights of humanity have been 
 violated upon the pretext that, in some cases, fraud 
 may exist, and to such a degree as may justly de- 
 prive a citizen of his liberty. The committee are 
 aware that such cases may exist ; but can there be 
 no other remedy provided than that of submitting 
 it to the arbitrary will of the creditor, to punish at 
 discretion the innocent and the guilty? Shall 
 ninety-nine innocent victims of misfortune be cut 
 off from their families and the world, that one 
 fraudulent debtor may be punished without trial, 
 and without proof of guilt ? It is inconsistent with 
 the whole spirit of our institutions, to urge, as ar- 
 guments in favor of the system, that creditors are 
 seldom vindictive against honest debtors ; or that 
 fraudulent debtors are more numerous than cruel 
 creditors ; or that public sentiment will correct the 
 disposition to act with severity. 
 
 The acts are often the reverse. Creditors are 
 often relentless. It is doubtful whether fraud is 
 not as common on the part of the creditor, as on 
 
74 APPENDIX. 
 
 that of the debtor {and cruelty more common than 
 either) ; and public sentiment has but little influ- 
 ence over an avaricious mind. The system origi- 
 nated in cupidity. It is a confirmation of power 
 in the few against the many ; the fortunate against 
 the unfortunate ; the Patrician against the Pie* 
 bian ; and it is doubtful whether that civilized 
 community ever existed, which would tolerate 
 this system, if the sentiments of all could be known 
 and faithfully represented. But we learn, from 
 long habit, to endure, and even to advocate, what 
 becomes most execrable to us when the fetter is 
 broken. So long as a solitary benefit is known 
 to result from any established custom, however 
 oppressive or absurd in its general tendency, still 
 there is a reluctance to change. The Spanish In- 
 quisition, now the abhorrence of all enlightened 
 minds, was long sustained in many countries, by 
 the tyrant's plea of necessity for restraining vice ; 
 and its cruelties were long tolerated, upon the 
 principle that some solitary benefit might result. 
 Even in this country, and to the present day, the 
 force of ancient prejudice is so strong that persons 
 are found who are fearful for the interest of reli- 
 gion, if undefined and unprotected by legislative 
 acts ; and, in support of the principle, some in- 
 stance may be cited, in which this interference 
 may have restrained licentiousness. In the burn- 
 ing a thousand heretics, the world may have been 
 delivered from one dangerous citizen. In the de- 
 struction of a thousand sorcerers, convicted of 
 
APPENDIX. 75 
 
 witchcraft, one knave may have perished. The 
 benefit of clergy, which secured from capital pu- 
 nishment, for petty offences, all who could read and 
 write, while the more ignorant were doomed to 
 death for the same crimes, may have saved some 
 useful lives, when a milder and more equitable 
 administration of justice would have saved many. 
 A despot, clothed with unlimited power, governing 
 without law, may have punished some offenders, 
 who would have escaped under our republican 
 institutions. 
 
 All these cruelties have been legalized ; and 
 while bleeding humanity was sinking under the 
 burthen of oppression, the few instances of appa- 
 rent benefit sustained the whole system of tyranny ; 
 and the world became so reconciled to the bondage, 
 that every reformation has been effected by vio- 
 lence, and toil, and blood. Of a similar character 
 is this remaining vestage of barbarity, which 
 dooms the victim of misfortune to the culprit's 
 destiny. It is sustained upon the same principle. 
 In the imprisonment of a hundred debtors, one 
 may have deserved the punishment for fraud; and 
 in this solitary case of just retribution, the cries of 
 the ninety-nine innocent sufferers are unheard or 
 unregarded. The obligation of a contract is sa- 
 cred. The committee would not recommend a 
 measure calculated to impair it. The property of 
 the debtor is made liable for its discharge, in all 
 well regulated societies, with such reservations as 
 are deemed necessary by the sovereign power, 
 
76 APPENDIX. 
 
 such as giving immediate relief to the wife and 
 children, together with such implements as will 
 enable the husbandman and mechanic to pursue 
 their useful vocations. These reservatons were 
 made in the early ages of the Grecian Republics ; 
 and the principle has been held sacred by muni- 
 cipal law, by common law, by civil law. It is a 
 regulation which the prosperity of the common- 
 wealth requires, because industry is the life of the 
 country. 
 
 A nation may exist without professional men, 
 without a monied capital ; but it cannot exist, in a 
 civilized state, without agriculturalists and artizans. 
 But it is of little avail to reserve their implements 
 of labor, and imprison their persons. The State 
 sustains a loss, the families are ruined, and the 
 creditors are not benefitted. When the effects of 
 the debtor are exhausted, and his debts remain un- 
 liquidated, the world has been divided in sentiment 
 as to the extent of a pecuniary obligation against 
 the personal liberty of the debtor. In ancient 
 Greece, the power of creditors over the persons of 
 their debtors was absolute; and, as in all cases 
 where despotic control is tolerated, their rapacity 
 was boundless. They compelled the insolvent 
 debtors to cultivate their lands like cattle, to per- 
 form the service of beasts of burthen, and to trans- 
 fer to them their sons and daughters, whom they 
 exported as slaves to foreign countries. 
 
 These acts of cruelty were tolerated in Athens 
 during her more barbarous state, and in perfect 
 
APPENDIX. 77 
 
 consonance with the character of a people, who 
 could elevate a Draco, and bow to his mandates 
 registered in blood. But the wisdom of Solon cor- 
 rected the evil. Athens felt the benefit of the re- 
 form, and the pen of the historian has recorded the 
 name of her lawgiver, as the benefactor of man. 
 In ancient Rome, the condition of the unfortunate 
 poor was still more abject. The cruelty of the 
 Twelve Tables against insolvent debtors, should 
 be held up as a beacon of warning to all modern 
 nations. After judgment was obtained, thirty days 
 of grace were allowed, before a Roman was deli- 
 vered into the power of his creditor. After this 
 period, he was retained in a private prison, with 
 twelve ounces of rice for his daily sustenance. He 
 might be bound with a chain of fifteen pounds 
 weight ; and his misery was three times exposed 
 in the market place, to excite the compassion of 
 his friends. At the expiration of sixty days, the 
 debt was discharged by the loss of liberty or life. 
 The insolvent debtor was either put to death, or 
 sold in foreign slavery beyond the Tiber. But if 
 several creditors were alike obstinate and unrelent- 
 ing, they might legally dismember his body and 
 satiate their revenge by this horrid partition. 
 Though the refinements of modern criticisms have 
 endeavored to divest this ancient cruelty of its hor- 
 rors, the faithful Gibbon, who is not remarkable 
 for his partiality to the poorer class, preferring 
 the liberal sense of antiquity, draws this dark 
 picture of the effect of giving the creditor power 
 
 8 
 
78 APPENDIX. 
 
 over the person of the debtor. No sooner was the 
 Roman Empire subverted, than the delusion of 
 Roman perfection began to vanish ; and then the 
 absurdity and cruelty of this system began to be 
 exploded : a system which convulsed Greece and 
 Rome, and filled the world with misery; and 
 without one redeeming benefit could no longer be 
 endured ; and, to the honor of humanity, for about 
 one thousand years during the middle ages, im- 
 prisonment for debt was generally abolished. 
 They seemed to have understood what, in more 
 modern times, we are less ready to comprehend — 
 that power, in any degree, over the person of the 
 debtor, is the same in principle, varying only in 
 degree, whether it be to imprison, to enslave, to 
 brand, to dismember, or to divide his body. But 
 as the lapse of time removed to a great distance 
 the cruelties which had been suffered, the cupidity 
 of the affluent found means again to introduce 
 the system ; but by such slow gradations, that the 
 unsuspecting poor were scarcely conscious of the 
 change. The history of English jurisprudence 
 furnishes the remarkable fact, that, for many cen- 
 turies, personal liberty could not be violated for 
 debt. Property alone could be taken to satisfy a 
 pecuniary demand. It was not until the reign of 
 Henry III., in the thirteenth century, that the 
 principle of imprisonment for debt was recognized 
 in the land of our ancestors, and that was in favor 
 of the barons alone ; the nobility against their 
 bailiffs, who had received their rents, and had ap- 
 
APPENDIX. 79 
 
 propriated them to their own use. Here was the 
 shadow of a pretext. The great objection to the 
 punishment was, that it was inflicted at the pleas- 
 ure of the baron without a trial — an evil incident 
 to aristocracies, but obnoxious to republics. The 
 courts, under the pretext of imputed crime, or con- 
 structive violence on the part of the debtor, soon 
 began to extend the principle, but without legisla- 
 tive sanction. In the eleventh year of the reign 
 of Edward L, the immediate successor of Henry, 
 the right of imprisoning debtors was extended to 
 merchants — Jewish merchants excepted, on ac- 
 count of their heterodoxy in religion — and was 
 exercised with great severity, This extension 
 was an act of policy on the part of the monarch. 
 The ascendency obtained by the barons menaced 
 the power of the throne ; and, to counteract their 
 influence, the merchants, a numerous and wealthy 
 class, were selected by the monarch, and invested 
 with the same authority over their debtors. But 
 England was not yet prepared for the yoke. She 
 could endure a hereditary nobility ; she could tole- 
 rate a monarchy ; but she could not yet resign her 
 unfortunate sons, indiscriminately, to the prison. 
 The barons and the merchants had gained the 
 power over their victims ; yet more than sixty 
 years elapsed, before Parliament dared to venture 
 another act, recognizing the principle. During 
 this period, imprisonment for debt had, in some de- 
 gree, lost its novelty. The incarceration of the 
 debtor began to make the impression, that fraud, 
 
80 APPENDIX. 
 
 and not misfortune, had brought on his catastro- 
 phe, and that he was, therefore, unworthy of the 
 protection of the law, and too degraded for the so- 
 ciety of the world. Parliament then ventured, in 
 the reign of Edward III., in the fourteenth century, 
 to extend the principle to two other cases — debt 
 and detinue. This measure opened the door for 
 impositions which were gradually introduced by 
 judicial usurpation, and have resulted in the most 
 cruel oppression. Parliament, for one hundred 
 and fifty years afterwards, did not venture to out- 
 rage the sentiments of an injured and indignant 
 people, by extending the power to ordinary credit- 
 ors. But they had laid the foundation, and an 
 irresponsible judiciary reared the superstructure. 
 From the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Ed- 
 ward III., to the nineteenth of Henry VIII., the 
 subject slumbered in Parliament. In the mean 
 time, all the ingenuity of the court was employed, 
 by the introduction of artificial forms and legal 
 fictions, to extend the power of imprisonment for 
 debt in cases not provided for by statute. The 
 jurisdiction of the court called the King's bench, 
 extended to all crimes or disturbances against the 
 peace. Under this court of criminal jurisdiction, 
 the debtor was arrested by what was called the 
 writ of Middlesex, upon a supposed trespass or 
 outrage against the peace and dignity of the crown. 
 Thus, by a fictitious construction, the person who 
 owed his neighbor was supposed to be, what every 
 one knew him not to be, a violator of the peace, 
 
APPENDIX. 81 
 
 and an offender against the dignity of the crown ; 
 and while his body was held in custody for this 
 crime, he was proceeded against in a civil action, 
 for which he was not liable to arrest under statute. 
 The jurisdiction of the court of common pleas, ex- 
 tended to civil actions arising between individuals 
 upon private transactions. To sustain its import- 
 ance upon a scale equal with that of its rival, this 
 court also adopted its fictions, and extended its 
 power upon artificial construction, quite as far be- 
 yond its statutory prerogative ; and upon the ficti- 
 tious plea of trespass, constituting a legal supposi- 
 tion of outrage against the peace of the kingdom, 
 authorized the writ of capias, and subsequent 
 imprisonment, in cases where a summons only was 
 warranted by law. The court of exchequer was 
 designed to protect the king's revenue, and had 
 no legal jurisdiction, except in cases of debtors to 
 the public. The ingenuity of this court found 
 means to extend its jurisdiction to all cases of debt 
 between individuals, upon the fictitious plea that 
 the plaintiff, who instituted the suit, was a debtor to 
 the king, and rendered the less able to discharge 
 the debt by the default of the defendant. Upon 
 this artificial pretext, that the defendant was debtor 
 to the king's debtor, the court of exchequer, to se- 
 cure the king's revenue, usurped the power of ar- 
 raigning and imprisoning debtors of every descrip- 
 tion. Thus, these rival courts, each ambitious to 
 sustain its relative importance, and extend its ju- 
 risdiction, introduced, as legal facts, the most pal- 
 8* 
 
82 APPENDIX. 
 
 pable fictions, and sustained the most absurd 
 solicisms as legal syllogisms. 
 
 Where the person of the debtor was, by statute, 
 held sacred, the courts devised the means of con- 
 struing the demand of a debt into the supposition 
 of a crime, for which he was subject to arrest on 
 mesne process ; and the evidence of debt, into the 
 conviction of a crime against the peace of the 
 kingdom, for which he was deprived of his liberty 
 at the pleasure of the offended party. These prac- 
 tices of the courts obtained by regular gradation. 
 Each act of usurpation was a precedent for similar 
 outrages, until the system became general, and at 
 length received the sanction of Parliament. The 
 spirit of avarice finally gained a complete triumph 
 over personal liberty. The sacred claims of mis- 
 fortune were disregarded ; and, to the iron grasp 
 of poverty, were added, the degredation of infamy, 
 and the misery of the dungeon. 
 
 Parliament appeared sometimes to relent, and 
 made several efforts to correct the abuses; but the 
 influence of creditors, and the poAver of the courts, 
 were too formidable for Parliament itself; and 
 while a vestage of the system remains, the oppres- 
 sion will never terminate. The time was, when 
 personal liberty in England was so highly valued, 
 that before the institution of a suit against an indi- 
 vidual, the plantifF was required to give real and 
 responsible pledges, to prosecute the suit with ef- 
 fect; and if the action proved to be groundless, or 
 malicious, he was subjected to damages. But 
 ultimately, the courts, without the authority of sta- 
 
APPENDIX. 83 
 
 tute, broke this common law barrier against op- 
 pression, and for real pledges substituted fictitious 
 names, as John Doc and Richard Roe ; while, 
 upon the mere suggestion or oath of the plantiff, 
 the defendant may be arrested and imprisoned, 
 before the debt is proven ; unless he can procure 
 bail for his appearance. Thus was the whole 
 artifice of the learned benches of England, with all 
 the authority of the aristocracy, employed for 
 centuries to introduce, by the most gradual mea- 
 sures, imprisonment for debt, even before a people, 
 accustomed to all the abuses of hereditary power, 
 could be brought under its control. But when it 
 was established, our ancestors, with the whole 
 system of British jurisprudence, brought it with 
 them to this new world. It has been long endured 
 and its miseries have been extensively felt. It is 
 this day depriving our country of the industry of 
 many of her citizens, and carrying distress into 
 their numerous families. But there is evidently 
 a spirit of reformation awakened in the public 
 mind, and the redeeming voice of the people de- 
 mands the change. 
 
 Public sentiment, like the general tendency of 
 our laws, is in favor of the unfortunate debtor. It 
 speaks for liberty, and gives it an estimate above 
 the value of gold. If there is a country on earth, 
 in which personal liberty has a claim to the pro- 
 tection of the law, paramount to every other claim, 
 it is found on these western shores. But while 
 the body, under any circumstances, is liable to ar- 
 
84 APPENDIX. 
 
 rest on mense process, or after judgment is obtain- 
 ed, whether to coerce a surrender of property, or 
 to punish for real insolvency, there is no security 
 for liberty. Till the destinies of fortune shall be 
 subject to human control, no citizen, however 
 meritorious, is certain to close his days without 
 being immured in the walls of a prison. If stolen 
 goods are secreted, the oath of suspicion is neces- 
 sary to procure a search warrant ; and then the 
 person suspected is free from arrest, till the pro- 
 perty is found in his possession. But in case of 
 debt, the person is liable to be arrested and to be 
 held in custody, even under the mildest insolvent 
 laws, till the debtor shall, on oath, make a surren- 
 der of his effects. The plea of necessary coercion 
 furnishes a poor apology. Man, held in confine- 
 ment one hour, by the lawful authority of his 
 fellow-citizens, is degraded in the estimation of 
 society, and is liable to lose respect for himself. 
 The spirit of freedom, which achieved, and which 
 still sustains our independence, is broken ; and he 
 often sinks into a state of ruinous despondency — 
 or is urged on to acts of desperation. The only 
 safe course is, to destroy the capias ad satisfacien- 
 dum, the writ which takes the body upon a judg- 
 ment, and as experience may point the necessity 
 of other measures to secure the surrender of the 
 property, time will perfect them. The power of 
 the State Legislatures is ample, and they will not 
 fail to provide the remedy ; and the committee be- 
 lieve it will be most wise to leave that power with 
 
APPENDIX. 85 
 
 the States. Whatever may be the theory of legis- 
 lation, the true character of a system is demontrated 
 by its effects. If it renders society more free and 
 happy, it should be retained : but if it augments 
 the sufferings of the community, without producing 
 benefits which will more than countervail the evils, 
 it ought to be abandoned. The spurious origin 
 of this system is not the leading point on which 
 the committee would dwell — nor even the gene- 
 rous sympathies which its victims excite. Its 
 ruinous consequences to society, without benefit 
 even to the creditor, show the necessity of its 
 abolition. 
 
 The power of the creditor is generally exerted 
 under feelings of irritation, and to satiate a spirit of 
 revenge. The American citizen, who has bled 
 for his country, or whose penury has resulted from 
 his father's sacrifices in the cause of independence, 
 is reduced to a condition in which he cannot meet, 
 with punctuality, the claims against him. What 
 is the consequence? From that moment his liberty 
 is forfeited to the discretion of his creditor. His 
 patriotisn, his integrity of character, avail him no- 
 thing. If he is permitted, in his daily exercise, to 
 pass the bounds of a prison wall, it is by the for- 
 bearance of another. He is liable to be held in 
 degrading custody, even under the mildest laws of 
 insolvency, till he shall have taken the oath pre- 
 scribed; and then, like the culprit who has received 
 punishment for his crime, he is discharged from 
 prison. This is the liberty which Americans 
 
86 APPENDIX. 
 
 enjoy, under the system of imprisonment for debt. 
 Even the illustrious Jefferson, that patriarch of 
 liberty, and the virtuous and patriotic Monroe, 
 whose lives were devoted to their country in its 
 darkest hours, enjoyed their freedom, during the 
 shades of retirement, not by the protection of the 
 law, but by the forbearance of their creditors. A 
 citizen cannot, by contract, consign himself to bond- 
 age. He may fix his signet to the indenture, 
 that purports to bind him, but the law will break 
 the fetter. A man may forfeit his liberty by the 
 commission of crime ; the safety of society may re- 
 quire that he shall be locked out from the world ; 
 but the debtor is not convicted of a crime : his li- 
 berty is not dangerous to society ; yet, by technical 
 implication, he may be consigned to prison. 
 
 The slave, while he toils for his master, contri- 
 butes to the nation's wealth, and to the benefit of so- 
 ciety. The resources of a nation consist principal- 
 ly in the industry of its citizens ; and labour, by 
 whatever hands performed, is a contribution to the 
 public weal. But he who pines a day in prison, 
 drags out that portion of his life in useless indo- 
 lence; starving in misery, or living upon another's 
 labor, while society is deprived of his own. The 
 miseries of the debtor's prison present a picture of 
 wretchedness which fancy could scarcely draw. 
 These miseries are not confined to the prisoner's 
 cell. They extend, in all their horror, to the hum- 
 ble dwelling of his family. The broken-hearted 
 wife, sourrounded with helpless, suffering children, 
 
APPENDIX. 87 
 
 weeping for the return of an affectionate father, 
 innocent and ignorant of the fell destiny which 
 dooms them to a state of untimely orphanage, is 
 driven to despondency, and somtimes to acts of in- 
 famy. Nor is the evil obviated by the argument 
 that the mildness of the insolvent laws furnishe 
 an easy release from confinement. The moment 
 a citizen enters a prison, at the command of his 
 fellow-citizen, his mind is humbled; and the prin- 
 ciple is the same, whatever may be the duration, 
 whether it can deprive him of his liberty for a day, 
 a month, a year, or three score years and ten. Not- 
 withstanding all the boasting of the mildness of our 
 insolvent laws, our jails are crowded with debtors 
 — thousands are annually imprisoned for debt in 
 these United States. These facts amply demon- 
 strate that the existing insolvent laws do not fur- 
 nish a remedy for the evil. It must be eradicated 
 by an entire and total abolition. 
 
 In the courts of the United States, no security 
 can be demanded against groundless or malicious 
 actions, except the legal costs of suit. But by ge- 
 neral practice under the laws, the simple affidavit of 
 the plaintiff that the defendant is indebted to him, 
 is sufficient to consign the defendant to prison, un- 
 less some responsible person will befriend him by 
 becoming his bail. He is not required to state that 
 the obligation was incurred by false pretences, nor 
 that the defendant was suspected of an intention to 
 secret his property, or to withdraw his person, or 
 to entertain any fraudulent design. Nothing is 
 
88 APPENDIX. 
 
 required but the plantifF's oath of debt, to place 
 the liberty of the defendant beyond the protection 
 of law, and subject him to the favor of an individu- 
 al to save him from prison. It is difficult to ascer- 
 tain any fixed principle upon which imprisonment 
 for debt is advocated. It is regarded by some as 
 a punishment for a crime ; by others, a mode of co- 
 ercion ; by some, a fulfilment of an implied con- 
 tract ; by others, again, a matter of public policy. 
 If it is a crime, the object of punishment should be 
 the reformation of the offender, and the prevention 
 of future offences. An offence is against society ; 
 the guilt of the offender should be ascertained by 
 a jury ; the penalty should be fixed by law, accord- 
 ing to the degree of guilt, and pronounced by the 
 court without consulting the pleasure of an indi- 
 vidual. (But in imprisonment for debt, there is 
 no reformation.) Society is not disturbed by a 
 criminal act. No guilt is imputed to the debtor. 
 The law furnishes no penalty. The court pro- 
 nounces no sentence. There are no grades of of- 
 fence. All is left to the discretion of an individual, 
 and the law operates indiscriminately upon the frau- 
 dulent and unfortunate. If it be a means of coer- 
 cion, it is inefficacious. It connot compel the ho- 
 nest man to pay what he has no means of paying. 
 It places him beyond the possibility of procuring 
 those means. The dishonest man will devise a 
 method of placing his property beyond the reach of 
 his creditors, by preparing himself in anticipation 
 of the result. He will triumph in the impotence 
 
APPENDIX. 89 
 
 of the laws. The innocent are always degraded, 
 and often ruined, while the guilty escape the pun- 
 ishment which their crimes deserve. It is not the 
 fulfilment of a contract. No fair construction, even 
 under all the fictions of law, can justify the conclu- 
 sion that a debtor agrees to forfeit his personal li- 
 berty to the will of his creditor. The debtor, as a 
 citizen and free man, is in all respects equal to his 
 creditor. No contract Could deprive him of person- 
 al independance ; and in contracting a debt, he has 
 no intention to compromit his freedom. A contract 
 upon such a principal, would be void, both in law 
 and in equity. In contracting a debt there is a mu- 
 tual agreement between the parties, in whch both 
 are interested. If a loan, it is for usury ; if a sale, 
 it is for profit; if an act of friendship, gratitude is the 
 safest pledge for its return, when circumstances 
 will permit. But in all cases, the ability of the debt- 
 or, from the property which he holds, or may ac- 
 quire, is the only proper means of payment ; and it 
 is the only legitimate resource which the creditor 
 can honorably and lawfully anticipate. If his ob- 
 ject is to obtain power over the liberty of the debtor, 
 it is dark, designing, dishonorable in the extreme, 
 and utterly unworthy the sanction of law. If his 
 dependence is upon the friends of the debtor, by 
 exciting their commisseration, through cruelty, it 
 deserves public reprobation. Lord Mansfield just- 
 ly observes, if any near relation is induced to pay 
 the debt for the insolvent to keep him out of prison, 
 it is taking an unfair advantage. No credit is de- 
 
 9 
 
90 APPENDIX. 
 
 sirable in a free country, predicated upon the im- 
 prisonment of the debtor, and it ought not to be 
 granted upon such considerations. 
 
 In a country without a uniform bankrupt law, 
 the cruelty of the system is beyond the endurance 
 of freemen. As a matter of policy, the committee 
 cannot discover either the wisdom or the justice of 
 the system. To oppress the poor may well enough 
 consist with the policy of despots ; but to an Ameri- 
 can citizen, whose birthright is liberty, it must be 
 odious. The wealth and prosperity of a nation, 
 the comforts of society, and the happiness of fami- 
 lies, depend upon active industry, combined with 
 well directed enterprise. Our laws and institutions 
 recognize no classes. Farmers, mechanics, mer- 
 chants, professional men, and the capitalist, are all 
 peers. The revolutions in propertjr, and distinc- 
 tions resulting from industry, virtue, and talent 
 alone, are as certain as the revolutions of the sea- 
 sons. They cannot be perpetuated in one family, 
 nor excluded from another. The poor may be- 
 come w r ealthy, and the rich poor. 
 
 The prospect of success invigorates the hand of 
 industry, and gives them impetus to the noblest 
 enteprise. To these exertions, every encourage- 
 ment should be given ; but when the cloud of 
 misfortune lowers, to consign its victim to the pri- 
 son, is to blast his future prospects, and to fix upon 
 his family the mark of degradation. To maintain 
 that confidence which is necessary to a fair and 
 reasonable credit, effectual remedies should be 
 
APPENDIX. 91 
 
 provided against the property of the debtor, always 
 reserving from execution such articles as are ne- 
 cessary for the pursuit of his calling ; but that he 
 may retain the spirit of useful enterprise, for the 
 benefit of both his family and the community, those 
 reservations should be carefully guarded, and the 
 freedom of his person always secured. It cannot 
 be denied that great calamities, both public and 
 private, have arisen from too much credit — seldom 
 or never, from too little ; and it is equally certain 
 that the excess of credit as frequently proceeds 
 from him who gives, as from him who receives it. 
 If imprisonment for debt shall be totally abolish- 
 ed, the parties will understand the proper legiti- 
 mate resource for the fulfilment of a contract. It 
 will then rest upon its proper basis. The person 
 granting credit will confide in the ability of the 
 debtor to meet the claim, or he will require satis- 
 factory pledges. Whatever censure may attach to 
 the abuse of credit, it is but just to divide it between 
 them. It is frequently as injurious to the one as 
 to the other; and without the voluntary consent of 
 both, it cannot exist. In the present state of socie- 
 ty, the injury of the system may be seen and felt 
 in a limited degree, and persons not accustomed to 
 visit the abodes of misery, will scarcely be con- 
 vinced of its dangerous tendency. But as popu- 
 lation becomes more dense, the difficulty of procur- 
 ing the comforts of life must be increased. Then, 
 if the power of the creditor over the personal li- 
 berty of his debtor shall remain, it will be exercis- 
 
92 APPENDIX. 
 
 ed with unrelenting severity. Though our re- 
 publican forms may be preserved, their essence 
 may be destroyed. The country will be divided 
 into two great classes, creditors and debtors ; be- 
 tween whom the most obstinate hostilities will 
 exist ; and, as in Greece and Rome, society may be 
 convulsed, confidence destroyed, and liberty en- 
 dangered. 
 
 We should legislate with a view to posterity ; 
 that, with our fair inheritance, we may transmit to 
 them a harmonious system, calculated to sustain 
 their rights, and perpetuate the blessings of freedom. 
 While imprisonment for debt is sanctioned the 
 threats of the creditor are a source of perpetual 
 distress to the dependant, friendless debtor, holding 
 his liberty by sufferance alone. Temptations to 
 oppression are constantly in view. The means of 
 injustice are always at hand ; and even helpless 
 females are not exempted from the barbarous 
 practice. In a land of liberty, enjoying in all 
 other respects the freest and happiest government 
 with which the world was ever blessed, it is a mat- 
 ter of astonishment that this cruel custom, so ano- 
 i .lous to all our institutions, inflicting so much 
 n ?ery upon society, should have been so long 
 endured. It is at variance with the settled cha- 
 racter of our population. Whenever objects of 
 charity present themselves, all of our sympathies 
 are called into action. There is scarcely a hamlet 
 in our country, where benevolent societies do not 
 exist — often extending their munificence to fami- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 93 
 
 lies deprived of their support by this oppressive 
 system. We have not only expended our treasure 
 to enlighten the sons of the forest, but we have 
 sought out the victims of misfortune in foreign 
 regions. The isles of the Pacific, the burning 
 climes of Africa, the children of wretchedness in 
 Europe and in Asia, even the land of Palestine, 
 have enjoyed the fruits of American benevolence, 
 obtained by voluntary contribution, while the cries 
 of the unfortunate debtor, among us, are unheard 
 and unrequited. Public sentiment demands his 
 release, but avarice pleads the cause of oppression, 
 and prejudice rivets the chain. 
 
 The committee ask leave to report a bill. 
 
 The following extract, taken from the Report of 
 the Visiters and Governors of the Jail of Bal- 
 timore county, and which is appended to the 
 Report, is the result of one county in Maryland, 
 and under mild and humane insolvent laws. 
 
 EXTRACT. 
 
 " It appears that during the year, ending on the 
 26th of November 1831, 959 of our fellow-citizens 
 have been deprived of their liberty, for this cause 
 (imprisonment for debt), more than half of them for 
 debts under $10, and only thirty-four of the whole 
 number for debts exceeding $100. More than 
 half have been discharged from prison, by taking 
 the benefit of the insolvent laws, or by the creditor 
 declining to pay maintainance money; and the 
 
94 APPENDIX. 
 
 records of the prison present only eighty-one as 
 having been discharged by paying their debts. 
 The expense of boarding these debtors is $1,430 
 41 cents, and the amount of debts paid in jail, $466 
 6 cents." 
 
 " The inference we draw from this statement, 
 is, that little money is recovered by imprisonment 
 for debt, and that any advantages which may pos- 
 sibly result from the practice, are greatly over- 
 balanced by the loss which the community suffers 
 in being deprived of the services of its members ; 
 amounting, during the past year, to 7657 days, 
 which would have been appropriated to productive 
 labor, in paying for their support, while imprison- 
 ed, and in the baneful effects which imprisonment 
 is calculated to produce on the individuals who 
 are its subjects." 
 
 Again " number of debtors for 1 dollar, and 
 
 less, 53 
 
 For more than 1, and less than 5, 306 
 
 more than 5, and less than 10, 219 
 more than 10, and less than 20, 179 
 more than 20, and less than 100, 168 
 more than 100, 34 
 
 959 
 
COL. JOHNSON'S REPORTS, 
 
 IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, ON 
 THE SUNDAY MAIL QUESTION. 
 
 FIRST REPORT. 
 
 In the Senate of the United States, January 19, 1829, Mr. 
 JOHNSON, of Kentucky, made the following Report : 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the several Petitions 
 on the subject of Mails, on the Sabbath, or first day of the 
 week, report — 
 
 That some respite is required from the ordinary vocations 
 of life, is an established principle, sanctioned by the usages 
 of all nations, whether Christian or Pagan. One day in 
 seven has also been determined upon as the proportion of 
 time ; and, in conformity with the wishes of a great majority 
 of the citizens of this country, the first day of the week, com- 
 monly called Sunday, has been set apart to that object. The 
 principle has received the sanction of the national legisla- 
 ture, so far as to admit a suspension of all public business 
 on that day, except in cases of absolute necessity, or of great 
 public utility. This principle the committee would not wish 
 to disturb. If kept within its legitimate sphere of action, no 
 injury can result from its observance. It should, however, 
 be kept in mind, that the proper object of government is to 
 protect all persons in the enjoyment of their religious as well 
 as civil rights; and not to determine for any, whether they 
 shall esteem one day above another, or esteem all days alike 
 holy. 
 
 We are aware that a variety of sentiment exists among 
 the good citizens of this nation, on the subject of the sabbath 
 day, and our government is designed for the protection of 
 one, as much as of another. The Jews, who, in this coun- 
 try, are as free as Christians, and entitled to the same pro- 
 tection from the laws, derive their obligation to keep the 
 sabbath day from the fourth commandment of the decalogue, 
 and, in conformity with that injunction, pay religious ho- 
 mage to the seventh day of the week, which we call Satur- 
 
96 APPENDIX. 
 
 day. One denomination of Christians among us, justly 
 celebrated for their piety, and certainly as good citizens as 
 any other class, agree with the Jews in the moral obligation 
 of the sabbath, and observe the same day. There are also 
 many Christians among us, who derive not their obligations 
 to observe the sabbath from the decalogue, but regard the 
 Jewish sabbath as abrogated. From the example of the 
 apostles of Christ, they have chosen the first day of the 
 week, instead of that set apart in the decalogue, for their re- 
 ligious devotions. These have generally regarded the ob- 
 servance of the day as a devotional exercise, and would not 
 more readily enforce it upon others than they would enforce 
 secret prayer or devout meitations. Urging the fact that 
 neither their Lord, nor his disciples, though often censured 
 by their accusers for a violation of the sabbath, ever en- 
 joined its observance, they regard it as a subject on which 
 every person should be fully persuaded in his own mind, 
 and not coerce others to act on his persuasion. Many Chris- 
 tians, again, differ from these professing to derive their obli- 
 gation to observe the sabbath from the fourth commandment 
 of the Jewish decalogue, and bring the example of the apos- 
 tles, who appear to have held their public meetings for wor- 
 ship on the first day of the week, as authority for so far 
 changing the decalogue, as to substitute that day for the 
 seventh. The Jewish government was a theocracy, which 
 enforced religious observances ; and though the committee 
 would hope that no portion of the citizens of our country 
 would willingly introduce a system of religious coercion in 
 our civil institutions, the example of odier nations should 
 admonish us to watch carefully against its earliest indica- 
 tions. 
 
 With these different religious views, the committee are of 
 opinion that congress cannot interfere. It is not the legiti- 
 mate province of the legislature to determine what religion 
 is true, or what false. Our government is a civil, not a reli- 
 gious institution. Our constitution recognizes, in every 
 person, the right to choose his own religion, and to enjoy it 
 freely, without molestation. Whatever may be the religious 
 sentiments of citizens, and however variant, they are alike 
 entitled to protection from the government, so long as they 
 do not invade the rights of others. 
 
 The transportation of the mail on the first day of the week, 
 it is believed, does not interfere with the rights of conscience. 
 The petitioners for its discontinuance, appear to be actuated 
 by a religious zeal, which may be commendable, if confined 
 to its proper sphere ; but they assume a position better suited 
 to an ecclesiastical, than to a civil institution. They appear, 
 in many instances, to lay it down as an axiom, that the 
 
APPENDIX. 97 
 
 practice is a violation of the law of God. Should congress, 
 in their legislative capacity, adopt the sentiment, it would 
 establish the principle that the legislature is a proper tribun- 
 al to determine what are the laws of God. 
 
 It would involve a legislative decision in a religious con- 
 ti*oversy ; and, on a point in which good citizens may 
 honestly differ in opinion, without disturbing the peace of 
 society, or endangering its liberties. If this principle is 
 once introduced, it will be impossible to define its bounds. 
 Among all the religious persecutions with which almost 
 every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suf- 
 fered, but for the violation of what government denominated 
 the law of God. To prevent a similar train of evils in this 
 country, the constitution has wisely withheld from our go- 
 vernment the power of defining the divine law. It is a right 
 reserved to each citizen, and while he respects the equal 
 rights of others, he cannot be held amenable to any human 
 tribunal for his conclusions. 
 
 Extensive religious combinations, to effect a political ob- 
 ject, are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. 
 This first effort of the kind, calls for the establishment of a 
 principle, which, in the opinion of the committee, would lay 
 the foundation for dangerous innovations upon the spirit of 
 the constitution and upon the religious rights of the citizens. 
 If admitted, it may be justly apprehended that the future 
 measures of government will be strongly marked, if not 
 eventually controlled, by the same influence All religious 
 despotism commences by combination and influence ; and, 
 when that influence begins to operate upon the political in- 
 stitutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it; 
 and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful 
 warning of the consequences. 
 
 Under the present regulations of the post office depart- 
 ment, the rights of conscience are not invaded. Every agent 
 enters voluntarily, and, it is presumed, conscientiously, into 
 the discharge of his duties, without intermeddling with the 
 conscience of another. Post offices are so regulated, as that 
 but a small proportion of the fi day of the week is \ 
 quired to be occupied in official business. In the transport- 
 ation of the mail, on that day, no one agent is employed 
 many hours. Religious persons enter into the business 
 without violating their own conscience, or imposing any re- 
 straints upon others. Passengers in the mail stages are 
 free to rest during the first day of the week, or to pursue 
 their journeys at their own pleasure. While the mail is 
 transported on Saturday, the Jew and the Sabbatarian may 
 abstain from any agency in carrying it from conscientious 
 scruples. While it is transported on the first day of the 
 
98 APPENDIX. 
 
 week, another class may abstain from the same religious 
 scruples. The obligation of government is the same to both 
 these classes ; and the committee can discover no principle 
 on which the claims of one should be more respected than 
 those of the other, unless it should be admitted that the con- 
 sciences of the minority are less sacred than those of the 
 majority. 
 
 It is the opinion of the committee, that the subject should 
 be regarded simply as a question of expediency, irrespective 
 of its religious bearing. In this light, it has, hitherto, been 
 considered. Congress have never legislated upon the sub- 
 ject. It rests, as it ever has done, in the legal discretion of 
 the postmaster general, under the repeated refusals of Con- 
 gress to discontinue the sabbath mails. His knowledge and 
 judgment, in all the concerns of that department, will not 
 be questioned. His immense labors and assiduity have re- 
 sulted in the highest improvement of every branch of his 
 department. It is practised only on the great leading mail 
 routes and such others as are necessary to maintain their 
 connexion. To prevent this, would, in the opinion of the 
 committee, be productive of immense injury, both in its 
 commercial, political, and in its moral bearings. 
 
 The various departments of governmet require, frequently, 
 in peace, always in war, the speediest intercourse with the 
 remotest parts of the country; and one important object of 
 the mail establishment is to furnish the greatest and most 
 economical facilities for such intercourse. The delay of the 
 mails one day in seven, would require the imployment of 
 special expresses, at great expense, and sometimes with 
 great uncertainty. 
 
 The commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural in- 
 terests of our country are so intimately connected, as to 
 require a constant and most expeditious correspondence be- 
 tween all seaports, and between them and the most interior 
 settlements. The delay of the mails during the Sunday, 
 would give occasion to the employment of private expresses, 
 to such an amount that probably ten riders would be em- 
 ployed where one mail stage is now running on that day ; 
 thus diverting the revenue of that department into another 
 channel, and sinking the establishment into a state of pusil- 
 lanimity, incompatible with the dignity of the government 
 of which it is a department. 
 
 Passengers in the mail stages, if the mails are not per- 
 mitted to proceed on Sunday, will be expected to spend that 
 day at a tavern upon the road, generally under circum- 
 stances not friendly to devotion, and at an expense which 
 many are but poorly able to encounter. To obviate these 
 difficulties, many will employ extra carriages for their con* 
 
APPENDIX. 99 
 
 Veyance, and become beavers of correspondence, as more 
 expeditious than the mail. The stage proprietors will 
 themselves often furnish the travellers with those means of 
 conveyance; so that the effect will ultimately be only to stop 
 the mail, while the vehicle, which conveys it, will continue, 
 and its passengers become the special messengers for con- 
 veying a considerable proportion of what would, otherwise, 
 constitute the contents of the mail. 
 
 Nor can the committee discover where the system could 
 consistently end. If the observance of holydays becomes 
 incorporated in our institutions, shall we not forbid the 
 movement of an army ; prohibit an assault in time of war; 
 and lay an injunction upon our naval officers to lie in the 
 wind upon the ocean on that day ? Consistency would seem 
 to require it. JNor is it certain that we should stop here. 
 If the principle is once established, that religion, or religious 
 observances, shall be interwoven with our legislative acts, 
 we must pursue it to its ultimatum. We shall, if consistent, 
 provide for the erection of edifices for the worship of the 
 Creator, and for the support of Chtistian ministers, if we 
 believe such measures will promote the interests of Chris- 
 tianity. It is the settled conviction of the committee, that 
 the only method of avoiding these consequences, with their 
 attendant train of evils, is to adhere strictly to the spirit of 
 the constitution, which regards the general government in 
 no other light than that of a civil institution, wholly destitute 
 of religious authority. 
 
 What other nations call religious toleration, we call reli- 
 gious rights. They are not exercised in virtue of govern- 
 mental indulgence, but as rights, of which government can- 
 not deprive any portion of her citizens, however small. 
 Despotic power may invade those rights, but justice still 
 confirms them. Let the national legislature once perform 
 an act which involves the decision of a religious controversy, 
 and it will have passed its legitimate bounds. The prece- 
 dent will then be established, and the foundation laid, for 
 that usurpation of divine prerogative in this country, which 
 has been the desolating scourge to the fairest portions of the 
 world. Our constitution recognizes no other power than 
 that of persuasion, for enforcing religious observances. Let 
 the professors of Christianity recommend their religion by 
 deeds of benevolence — by Christian meekness — by lives of 
 temperance and holiness. Let them combine their efforts to 
 instruct the ignorant — to relieve the widow and the orphan 
 — to promulgate to the world the gospel of the Saviour, re- 
 commending its precepts by their habitual example: go- 
 vernment will find its legitimate object in protecting them. 
 It cannot oppose them, and they will not need its aid. 
 
100 ArPENDIX. 
 
 Their moral influence will do infinitely more to advance 
 the true interests of religion, than any measure which they 
 may call on congress to enact. 
 
 The petitioners do not complain of any infringement upon 
 their own rights. They enjoy all that Christians ought to 
 ask at the hand of any government — protection from molest- 
 ation in the exercise of their religious sentiments 
 
 Resolved, That the committee be discharged from the 
 further consideration of the subject. 
 
 SECOND REPORT. 
 
 In the House of Representatives of the United States, 
 March 4, 1830, Mr. JOHNSON, of Kentucky, made the 
 following Report. 
 
 The Committe on Post Offices and Post Roads, to whom 
 the Memorials were referred for prohibiting the trans- 
 portation of the Mails, and the opening of Post Offices. 
 on Sundays, report — 
 
 That the memorialists regard the first day of the week as 
 a day set apart by the Creator for religious exercises ; and 
 consider the ttansportation of the mail, and the opening of 
 the post offices, on that day, the violation of a religious duty, 
 and call for a suppression of the practice. Others, by coun- 
 ter memorials, are known to entertain a different sentiment, 
 believing that no one day of the week is holier than another. 
 Others, holding the universality and immutability of the 
 Jewish decalogue, believe in the sanctity of the seventh day 
 of the week as a day of religious devotion ; and by their me- 
 morial now before the committee, they also request that it 
 may be set apart for religious purposes. Each has hitherto 
 been left to the exercise of his own opinion ; and it has been 
 regarded as the proper business of government to protect all, 
 and determine for none. But the attempt is now made to 
 bring about a greater uniformity, at least, in practice ; and, 
 as argument has failed, the government has been called 
 upon to interpose its authority to settle the controversy. 
 
 Congress acta^under a constitution of delegated and limit- 
 ed powers. The committee look in vain to that instrument 
 for a delegation of power authorizing this body to inquire 
 and determine what part of time, or whether any, has been 
 set apart by the Almighty for religious exercises. On the 
 contrary, among the few prohibitions which it contains, is 
 one that prohibits a religious test; and another which de- 
 clares that congress shall pass no law respecting an esta- 
 
APPENDIX. 101 
 
 blishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there- 
 of. The committee might here rest the argument, upon the 
 ground that the question referred to themj does not come 
 within the cognizance of congress ; but the perseverance 
 and zeal with which the memorialists pursue their object, 
 seems to require a further elucidation of the subject. And, 
 as the opposers of Sunday mails disclaim all intention to 
 unite church and state, the committee do not feel disposed to 
 impugn their motives ; and whatever may be advanced in 
 opposition to the measure, will arise from the fears enter- 
 tained of its fatal tendency to the peace and happiness of 
 the nation. The catastrophe of other nations, furnished the 
 framers of the constitution a beacon of awful warning, and 
 they have evinced the greatest possible'care in guarding 
 against the same evil. 
 
 The law, as it now exists, makes no distinction as to the 
 days of the week, but it is imperative that the post masters 
 shall attend at all reasonable hours, in every day, to perform 
 the duties of their offices ; and the post master general has 
 given his instructions to all post masters, that, at post 
 offices, where the mail arrives on Sunday, the office is to be 
 kept open one hour, or more, after the arrival and assorting 
 the mail ; but in case that would interfere with the hours of 
 public worship, the office is to be kept open for one hour 
 after the usual time of dissolving the meeting. This liberal 
 construction of the law does not satisfy the memorialists. 
 But the committee believe that there is no just ground of 
 complaint, unless it be conceded that they have controlling 
 power over the consciences of others. If congress shall, by 
 the authority of law, sanction the measure recommended, it 
 would constitute a legislative decision of a religious con- 
 troversy, in which even Christians themselves are at issue. 
 However suited such a decision may be to an eccleasiastical 
 council, it is incompatible with a republican legislature, 
 which is purely for political, and not religious purposes. 
 
 In our individual character, we all entertain opinions, 
 and pursue a corresponding practice, upon the subject of 
 religion. However diversified these may be, we all har- 
 monize as citizens, while each is willing that the other 
 shall enjoy the same liberty which he claims for himself. 
 But in our representive character, our individual character 
 is lost. The individual acts for himself; the representative, 
 for his constituents. He is chosen to rep resent their politi- 
 cal, and not their religious views — to guard the rights of 
 man; not to restrict the rights of conscience. Despots may 
 regard their subjects as their property, and usurp the divine 
 prerogative of prescribing their religious faith. But the 
 history of the world furnishes the melancholy demons tra- 
 
 10 
 
102 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion that the disposition of one man to coerce the religious 
 homage of another, springs from an unchastened ambition, 
 rather than a sincere devotion to any religion. The prin- 
 ciples of our government do not recognize in the majority, 
 any authority over the minority, except in matters which 
 regard the conduct of man to his fellow man. A Jewish 
 monarch, by grasping the holy censer, lost both his sceptre 
 and his freedom ; a destiny as little to be envied, may be 
 the lot of the American people, who hold the sovereignty of 
 power, if they, in the person of their representatives, shall 
 attempt to unite, in the remotest degree, church and state. 
 
 From the earliest period of time, religious teachers have 
 attained great ascendency over the minds of the people ; and 
 in every nation, ancient or modern, whether Pagan, Ma- 
 hometan, or Christian, have succeeded in the incorporation 
 of their religious tenets with the political institutions of 
 their country. The Persian idols, the Grecian oracles, the 
 Roman auguries, and the modern priesthood of Europe, have 
 all, in their turn, been the subject of popular adulation, and 
 the agents of political deception. If the measures recom- 
 mended should be adopted, it would be difficult for human 
 sagacity to foresee how rapid would be the succession, or 
 how numerous the train of measures which might follow, 
 involving the dearest rights of all — the rights of conscience. 
 It is, perhaps, fortunate for our country that the proposi- 
 tion should have been made at this early period, while the 
 spirit of the revolution yet exists in full vigor. Religious 
 zeal enlists the strongest prejudices of the human mind: 
 and, when misdirected, excites the worst passions of our 
 nature, under the delusive pretext of doing God service. 
 Nothing so infuriates the heart to deeds of rapine and blood ; 
 nothing is so incessant in its toils ; so persevering in its de- 
 termination ; so appalling in its course; or so dangerous in 
 its consequences. The equality of rights secured by the 
 constitution, may bid defiance to mere political tyrants : but 
 the robe of sanctity too often glitters to deceive. The con- 
 stitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred as that 
 of the Christian; and gives no more authority to adopt a 
 measure affecting the conscience of a solitary individual, 
 than that of a whole community. That representative who 
 would violate this principle, would lose his delegated cha- 
 racter, and forfeit the confidence of his constituents. If 
 congress shall declare the first day of the week holy, it will 
 not convince the Jew nor the Sabbatarian. It will dissatisfy 
 both; and, consequently, convert neither. Human power 
 may extort vain sacrifices ; but deity alone can command 
 the affections of the heart. It must be recollected that in 
 the earliest settlement of this country, the spirit of persecu- 
 
APPENDIX. 103 
 
 tion which drove the pilgrims from their native home, was 
 brought with them to their new habitations; and that some 
 Christians were scourged, and others put to death, for no 
 other crime than dissenting from the dogmas of their rulers. 
 
 With these facts before us, it must be a subject of deep 
 regret that a question should be brought before congress, 
 which involves the dearest privileges of the constitution, and 
 even by those who enjoy its choicest blessings. We should 
 all recollect that Cataline, a professed patriot, was a traitor 
 to Rome; Arnold, a professed whig, was a traitor to Ame- 
 rica; and Judas, a professed disciple, was a traitor to his 
 divine master. 
 
 With the exception of the United States, the whole human 
 race, consisting, it is supposed, of eight hundred millions of 
 rational beings, is in religious bondage; and, in reviewing 
 the scenes of persecution which history every where pre- 
 sents, unless the committee could believe that the cries of the 
 burning victim, and the flames by which he is consumed, 
 bear to heaven a grateful incense, the conclusion is inevita- 
 ble that the line cannot be too strongly drawn between 
 church and state. If a solemn act of legislation shall, in one 
 point, define the law of God, or point out to the citizen one 
 religious duty, it may, with equal propriety, proceed to de- 
 fine every part of divine revelation ; and enforce every reli- 
 gious obligation, even to the forms and ceremonies of wor- 
 ship ; the endowment of the church, and the support of the 
 clergy. _ _ _ 
 
 It was with a kiss that Judas betrayed his divine master, 
 and we should all be admonished, — no matter what our faith 
 may be, that the rights of conscience cannot be so success- 
 fully assailed, as under the pretext of holiness. The Chris- 
 tian religion made its way into the world in opposition to 
 all human governments. Banishment, tortures, and death, 
 were inflicted in vain to stop its progress. But many of its 
 professors, as soon as clothed with political power, lost the 
 meek spirit which their creed inculcates, and began to in- 
 flict on other religions, and on dissenting sects of their own 
 religion, persecutions more aggravated than those which 
 their own apostles had endured. The ten persecutions of 
 Pagan emperors, were exceeded in atrocity by the massa- 
 cres and murders perpetrated by Christian hands; and in 
 vain shall we examine the records of imperial tyranny for an 
 engine of cruelty equal to the holy inquisition. Every re- 
 ligious sect, however meek in its origin, commenced ths 
 work of persecution as soon as it acquired political power. 
 The framers of the constitution recognized the eternal prin- 
 ciple, that man's relation with his God is above human le- 
 gislation, and his rights of conscience unalienable. Rea- 
 
104 APPENDIX. 
 
 soning was not necessary to establish this truth ; we are 
 conscious of it in our own bosoms. It is this consciousness 
 which, in defiance of human laws, has sustained so many 
 martyrs in tortures and in flames. They felt that their duty 
 to God was superior to human enactments, and that man 
 could exercise no authority over their consciences ; it is an 
 inborn principle which nothing can eradicate. 
 
 The bigot, in the pride of his authority, may lose sight 
 of it — but strip him of his power ; prescribe a faith to him 
 which his conscience rejects ; threaten him in turn with the 
 dungeon and the faggot; and the spirit which God had im- 
 planted in him, rises up in rebellion and defies you. Did 
 the primitive Christians ask that government should recog- 
 nize and observe their religious institutions 1 All they asked 
 was toleration ; all they complained of, was persecution. 
 What did the protestants of Germany, or the Hugenots of 
 France, ask of their catholic superiors 1 Toleration. What 
 do the persecuted catholics of Ireland ask of their oppressors 1 
 Toleration. 
 
 Do all men in this country enjoy every religious right 
 which martyrs and saints ever asked 1 Whence, then, the 
 voice of complaint 1 Who is it, that, in full enjoyment of 
 every principle which human laws can secure, wishes to 
 wrest a portion of these principles from his neighbor'? Do 
 the petitioners allege that they cannot conscientiously parti- 
 cipate in the profits of the mail contracts and post offices, 
 because the mail is carried on Sunday 1 If this be their 
 motive, then it is worldly gain which stimulates to action. 
 andjnot virtue or religion. Do they complain that men, less 
 conscientious in relation to the sabbath, obtain advantages 
 over them, by receiving their letters and attending to their 
 contents % Still their motive is worldly and selfish. But, 
 if their motive be to induce congress to sanction, by law, 
 their religious opinions and observances, then their efforts 
 are to be resisted, as in their tendency fatal, both to religious 
 and political freedom. Why have the petitioners confined 
 their prayer to the mails 1 Why have they not requested to 
 suspend all its executive functions on that day "? Why do they 
 not require us to enact that our ships shall not sail 1 that our 
 armies shall not march 1 that officers of justice shall not seize 
 the suspected, to guard the convicted 1 They seem to forget 
 that government is as neeessary on Sunday as on any other 
 day of the week. The spirit of evil does not rest on that day. 
 It is the government, ever active in its functions, which enables 
 us all, even the petitioners, to worship in our churches in 
 peace. 
 
 Our government furnishes very few blessings like our 
 mails. They bear from the centre of our republic to its dis- 
 
APPENDIX. 105 
 
 tant extremes, the acts of our legislative bodies, the decisions 
 of the judiciary, and the orders of the executive. Their 
 speed is often essential to the defence of the country, the 
 suppression of crime, and the dearest interests of the people. 
 Were they suppressed one day of the week, their absence 
 must be often supplied by public expresses ; and besides, 
 while the mail bags might rest, the mail coaches would pur- 
 sue their journey with the passengers. The mail bears, 
 from one extreme of the Union to the other, letters of rela- 
 tives and friends, preserving a communion of heart between 
 those far separated, and increasing the most pure and refined 
 pleasures of our existence; also, the letters of commercial men 
 convey the state of the markets, prevent ruinous speculations, 
 and promote general, as well as individual, interest ; they bear 
 innumerable religious letters, newspapers, magazines, and 
 tracts, which reach almost every house throughout this wide 
 republic. Is the conveyance of these a violation of the sabbath 1 
 The advance of the human race in intelligence, in virtue, and 
 religion itself, depends in part upon the speed with whicn a 
 knowledge of the past is disseminated. Withont an inter- 
 change between one country and another, between different 
 sections of the same country, every improvement in moral or 
 political science, and the arts of life, would be confined to the 
 neighborhood where it originated. The more rapid and the 
 more frequent this interchange, the more rapid will be the 
 march of intellect, and the progress of improvement. The 
 mail is the chief means by which intellectual light irradiates 
 to the extremes of the republic. Stop it one day in seven and 
 you retard one seventh the advancement of our country. So 
 far from stopping the mail on Sunday, the committee would 
 recommend the use of all reasonable means to give it a greater 
 expedition and a greater extension. What would be the ele- 
 vation of our country, if every new conception could be made 
 to strike every mind in the Union at the same time'? It is not 
 the distance of a province or state from the seat of government, 
 which endangers its separation ; but it is the difficulty and 
 unfrequency of intercourse between them. Our mails reach 
 Missouri and Arkansas in less time than they reached Ken- 
 tucky and Ohio in the infancy ot their settlements ; and now, 
 when there are thre-i millions of people extending a thousand 
 miles west of the Allegany, we hear less of discontent, then 
 when there were a few thousand scattered along their west- 
 ern base. 
 
 To stop the mails one day in seven would be to thrust the 
 whole western country, and other distant parts of the repub- 
 lic, one day's journey from the seat of government. But 
 were it expedient to put an end to the transmission of letters « 
 and newspapers on Sunday, because it violates the law of 
 
106 APPENDIX. 
 
 God, have not the petitioners begun wrong in their efforts 1 
 If the arm of government be necessary to compel men to res- 
 pect and obey the laws of God, do not the state governments 
 possess infinitely more power in this respect 1 Let the peti- 
 tioners turn to them, and see if they can induce the passage of 
 laws to respect the observance of the sabbath : for, if it be sin- 
 ful for the mail to carry letters on Sunday; it must be equally 
 sinful for individuals to write, carry, receive, or read them. It 
 would seem to require that these acts should be made penal, 
 to complete the system. Travelling on business or recreation, 
 except to and from church ; all printing, carrying, receiving, 
 and reading of newspapers ; all conversations and social inter- 
 course, except upon religious subjects, must necessarily be 
 punished to suppress the evil. Would it not also follow, as 
 an inevitable consequence, that every man, woman, and child, 
 should be compelled to attend meeting 1 and, as only one sect, 
 in the opinion of some, can be deemed orthodox, must it not 
 be determined, by law, which that is, and compel all to hear 
 those teachers, and contribut to their support 7 ? If minor 
 punishments would restrain the Jew, or the Sabbatarian, or 
 the infidel, who believes Saturday to be the subbath. or 
 disbelieves the whole, would not the same require that we 
 should resort to imprisonment, punishment, the rack, and the 
 faggot, to force men to violate their own consciences, or compel 
 them to listen to doctrines which they abhor 1 When the state 
 governments shall have yielded to these measures, it will be 
 time enough for congress to declare that the rattling of the 
 mail coaches shall no longer break the silence of this despo- 
 tism. It is a duty of this government to aiford to all — to the 
 Jew or Gentile, Pagan or Christian, the protection and advan- 
 tages of our benignant institutions, on Sunday, as well as 
 every other day of the week. Although this government will 
 not convert itself into an ecclesiastical tribunal, it will practice 
 upon the maxim laid down by the founder of Christianity — 
 that it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. If the 
 Almighty has set apart the first day of the week as time which 
 man is bound to keep holy, and devote exclusively to his 
 worship, would it not be more congenial to the precepts of 
 Christians, to appeal exclusively to the great lawgiver of the 
 universe to aid them in making men better, in correcting their 
 practices by purifying their hearts 1 Government will pro- 
 tect them in their efforts. When they shall have so instruct- 
 ed the public mind, and awakened the consciences of indivi- 
 duals, as to make them believe that it is a violation of God's 
 law to carry the mail, open post offices, or receive letters, on 
 Sunday, the evil of which they complain will cease of itself, 
 without any exertion of the strong arm of civil power. When 
 man undertakes to be God's avenger, he becomes a demon. 
 
APPENDIX. 107 
 
 Driven by the frenzy of a religious zeal, he looses every gentle 
 feeling ; forgets the most sacred precepts of his creed ; and 
 becomes ferocious and unrelenting. 
 
 Our fathers did not wait to be oppressed, when the mother 
 country asserted and exercised an unconstitutional power 
 over them. To have acquiesced in the tax of three pence 
 upon a pound of tea, would have led the way to the most cruel 
 exactions; they took a bold stand against the principle, and 
 liberty and independence were the result. The petitioners 
 have not requested congress to suppress Sunday mails upon 
 the ground of political expediency, but because they violate the 
 sanctity of the first day of the week. 
 
 This being the fact, and the petitioners having indignantly 
 disclaimed even the wish to unite politics and religion, may 
 not the committee reasonably cherish the hope that they will 
 feel reconciled to its decision, in the case ; especially, as it is 
 also a fact, that the counter memorials, equally respectable, 
 oppose the interference of congress, upon the ground that it 
 would be legislating upon a religious subject, and therefore 
 unconstitutional. 
 
 Resolved, That the committee be discharged from the 
 further consideration of the subject. 
 
 
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