.^^ :^. ^^-^ ^^' .^^ .«' v<^ *Y" "^^^' A ^- z^-' v"*' ^-0 ' o ^'^^ 3.0 V- * • c 5 ^ .0^ ,0- •.-■S' \/-^' ^ ^ ■ .v"^. - , • X . -Q ..^°"'^. ^' o >>> .'%' .V -0^ ;. ^ov ■in • * i^ . ^ .1. (V ' ,0-r • . c'^ *," '^O K^' ^ -^-IV'^^* * "^ c" ♦ „/ :'M,k:%^4' '\ .^' ^}K <^ %>ii>^,^ ,y -^0^ :♦ - ^^ ^^^ 4.-^ \ TO TIIR PEOPLK () I VKRMONT MR.'Th'eLPS' rejoinder to MR. SLADE'S "REPLY." ^ ^ _ A pamphlet having appeared under the signature of William Slade, professing to be a reply to my ap- peal to the people of Vermont, in which the attack upon my character, both public and private, has been renewed, I deem it proper to appear again before the public in my own defence. Deeming it due to myself and to my friends to vindicate myself from the aspersions cast upon me, I entered on that duty with'a full knowledge of what I might expect, and with a settled purpose to defend myself to the last. I knew well lo whom I was to attribute the malignant and unprincipled attack made upon nie at Monlpelier in October, 1844 ; and I was too well acquainted with the character of the principal instigator and actor in that transaction to suppose that his malignant passions would be satisfied with what occurred there. Naturally selfish, ambitious, cold-hearted, hypocritical, and revengeful, he has well cultivated these qualities through a life of political controversy 'and political intrigue. For more than thirty years he has enacted the double part of a political gladiator and a political pauper, alternately gasconading and beg- ging—mixing in every paltry quarrello gratify his grovelling love of distinction, and, at the .same time, abjectly soliciting office for bread. He has mounted every hobby to be found on the political arena, called to his aid high-sounding pretensions to philanthropy and religion, and, under the garb of sancti- monious pretension to superior piety, has followed political juggling as a trade. It is not to be wonder- ed at that such a man should stab at the reputation of any one who stands in the way of his promotion, nor that he should keep the community in which he resides, and even the church of Christ to which he is attached, in a perpetual broil. Much less could I expect, while he was smarting under defeat, and exasperated by the prostration of his hopes of obtaining my place through my destruction — hopes which he had long indulged — that cither his habits or his natural vicious propensities would be changed. The part which he acted in the controversy about my election was characteristic of the man. He ap- peared at Montpelier ostensibly as an unwilling witness, impelled by his sen.se of duty to answer to the call of " the committee." It " teas ^^npleasant," but his conscience impelled him to it. His respect for the committee, (who, by the bye, were his own tools,) his duty, forbade his silence. And what was his statement.' Look at his answer to the committee. It consisted of rumors, reports, hearsay from he knew not whom, strung together by such expressions as these : " I was informed, by whom I cannot remember" — " I understood, in the course of the day" — " Mr. C. came to me and said" — "I inquired of the doorkeeper, who informed me" — "Who, I understood, was endeavoring," &c. This was the sort of testimony which his seme of duty compelled him to give. He knew well that no man's property, much less his reputation and his peace, should be sacrificed upon such statements. No candid man, no man who respected himself, would venture upon such a proceeding. Yet this empty pretender to chris- tian chfu-ity and christian rectitude strings together the various rumors and reports which he has been enabled to gather, during four years of espionage upon me, as the testimony of others, " whom he could not discredit," although he knew not where he got it, and presents it as the basis upon which the man who happened to stand in the way of his political aspirations was to be ruined and disgraced. Not content with this, forgetting his ostensible character of a reluctant witness, he turns prosecutor, and ad- dressed letters to Mr.Conrad and Mr. Cranston, in order to obtain something to sustain these charges, under the hypocritical and false pretence that his character was implicated, although I had not then seen his communication, nor, if I recollect right, had it been presented to the convention, nor had they acted upon it. Nay, according to Mr. Conrad's letter, his (Slade 's) communication to him was dated on the 11th of October, /otir days before the cmnmittee icere appoxnted, and Jive btfore his (Slade's) ansieer to the com- mittee ; and, to sustain his statement to Conrad, he says that Mr. Phelps pronounced his statement to be false on the evening before his election. Now, the evening before the election was on the 23d or 24th, and Slade states his letter to Conrad to have been dated on the 18th, and of course hefm-e my denial, as it was, in fact, before I had seen his communication. After the samples I have had of Slade 's veracity, I am inclined to take Conrad's letter as furnishing the true date of Slade's communication to him — and from that it appears that Slade was instrumental in getting up the committee. But let us follow this hypocritical pretender a little further. The greater part of liis statement, as I have already observed, was hearsay. The little and unimportant part which he pretends to have witnessed himself has been proved to be, in every particular, false ; and I shall show it false again before I gel through. Yet, when the convention acquitted me by nominating me, by a most decisive vote, for re- election to the Senate, and when the legislature confirmed that nomination, what has been the course of this man.' He drops the cloak ; he is no longer the reluctant witness, but conies out as prosecutor — publishes a pamphlet, in which he tells the public that he has " nothing to say, in the way of self-vindica- tion, from thechargeof falsehood, "&c., but proceeds, with a zeal which manifests itself in every paragraph, to insist upon the truth of the various reports which he had so carefully laid before the convention. An honoralile man, or a christian, if he had been instrumental in circulating a report injurious to his neigh- bor, would be gratified at finding the report untrue ; and in this case, after the Whig convention and the legislature had" passed upon them, he would express his gratification that they were pronounced un- founded. But to Mr. Slade it is matter of mortification and chagrin. He boldly endorses the reports, and conies out in a pamphlet of thirty-two pages to prove their truth. What possible object can be an || 9wered by this course, except the gratification of personal malignity - That it is not self-vindication he bold 2 iy avows. The honor of Vermont is where it is, aiid where it will be, if my life is spared, for six years to come ; the election caimot be recalled ; his prospects are at an end, for the present, at least. And after all that has occurred, does he imagine tlial he is consulting the honor of the State, or the feeling of its people, by circulating in the Halls of Congress a vile pamphlet, traducing the man whom they have seen fit to place there as their representative in the highest brainii of the National Legislature! If any man ha.s doubted the agency of William Slade in ilie assault upon me at Moutpelier in the fall of 1844, let him read this pamphlet, and he will be .satisfied. The mask is thrown off. The flimsy and hypocritical pretences which he put forth on that oi-casion are boldly thrown behind him, and he stands out the avowed and open defender of the scandalous libels which he, on that occasion, covered under the garb of hearsay. The public will now know what is meant by his sense of duty, and they will be able to appreciate tlie veracity of the man who volunteers, in the spirit and temper exhibited by that pamph- let, to become my tradiicer. The thing itself is full of falsehood, prevarication, perversion, misrepresentation, and pettifoeging, from beginiiinf; to end. My argument is perverted, the testimony of witnesses is misrepresented, and new falsehoods are devised to help out witJi old ones. The book is precisely what 1 .•iice it in my Ap- peal, except in general terms, for the best of reasons : 1st. It was not received by the eoianiittee until after my election, and I w;is not aware that it had ever been made public. 2dly. Mr. .M:ush slates no- thing one way or the other as to the truth of the charges. He merely states that he had heard reports, •but does not state what they were, and refers to gentlemen whose s'tatements were already before the Convention. Besides, I\Ir. Marsh's letters refer "to the session of 1844. Mr. Sladc's to that of 1842. How, then, could the former prove or disprove the latter? And why does Mr. Slade publish it? For the reason already suggested. Two purposes might be answered. It might produce an unfavorable impressitm against me, and it might tempt me to indulge in remarks odensivc to Mr. i\I., and thus lead to a public controvensy Iietween us which no doubt would he gratifying to the peaceful, benevolent, and christian propensities of Mr. Slade. But I have now to deal with Mr. S. and not Mr. M. If it be- come neces.s;u-y for Mr. M. and myself to have any controversy, we can manage it witliout the interfe- rence of Wm. Slade. For myself, I neither expect nor desire his assisUince, and I doubt much whether Mr. M. would consider it cither creditable or expedient to have him for an ally. But Mr. Slade is not content with the publication of Mr. Marsh's letter. He adds a note to that let- ter, in which he charges my present colleague (Mr. Upham) with currying to Mr. Marsh reports, prejudi- cial to me, while he was a fellow-boarder with me. Mr. M. says that he received from the inmates of Judge Phelps' boarding house "such information as led nie to think 1 should best consult my own self-respect and most promote my own quiet and that of my family — who were with me — by avoiding a free inter- course with Judge P.," &c. And further — "I forbear to state particulars, &c., bec^iuse it is but hesu- say, and for tlie better reason, that two of the gentlemen from whom I received it are referred to, in yours of the 16th, as having been written to by you," &c. Mr. Slade adds, in a note, "The gentlemen here referred to are Messrs. Upham and Foot, who made verbal communications to the committee in reply to their circular.'' Now, of what importance was this note to Mr. Slade? It certainly did not tend to prove a syllabl/of his cliargrs. Whv, then. wa« it made? For the double purpose, doubtless, of ere- aline an ujipirasion that my colleague had given currency to these rcijorls, and of brecduie dissenlioE between us. Rut Mr. Slade is rather unfortunate in this particular. 1 have a note from Mr. Upham explicitly denying the fact, and I am authorized by him to say that he has Mr. Marsh's assuremce that he (M.) had no reference to him (Mr. Upham) in the statement given above. As I intend to number the falsehoods in Mr. Slade's different statements in regard to me, I denominate this falsehood No. 1. As to Mr. Foot, I know not whether he is the person alluded to by Mr. Marsh or not. He and Mr. Upham both made verbal statements to the committee, which the committee undertook to reduce to writ- ing; Dut the statement was so grossly perverted, that Mr. F. declared it should not be read to tlig con- vention. Both he and Mr. Upham mane their statements in the convention, as 1 understood ; and it was upon their testimony, in conne.-.tion with tliat of the other gentleman present, that the convention decided. Having published these letter.?, a portion of which could, in no point of view, tend to his vindication, if such haa been his object, and all of which had been successfully refuted at Montpelier, he proceeds with what he calls a general account or synopsis of my appeal, fam not surprised at his garbled, im- perfect, and unfair representation of it. tie has left oiit what was most material, disjointed and pervert- ed what he has noticed, and endeavored to destroy its force by purposely misrepresenting its meaning'. I ceumot go into particulars, for it would become necessary to write the book over again, but must refer to the book its-lf, and apjjeal to the candid judgment of the reader who has seen it to deteiTnine how far his reply represents it fairly. I say I am not surprised, because the mon who can suppress prijited tes- timony and tiien misstate it, and who will persist in statements clearly proved to be false, cannot be ex- pected to do justice to the .irgument of his adversary. But he was writing for " a much larger class, who nave never seen the book, and never will," and therefore expected to escape deu-ction. He charges me with an attempt to evade the issue, with making false issues, &c. Now, let us see who makes the false issue. If the reader will compare my circular letter to the gentlemen of the Senate with Mr. Slade's letter to the celebrated committee, he will find that, in my letter, I have quoted Mr. Slade's very language. (See page 24 of my appeed.) Is this niakinir a false issue — to inquire' of those gentlemen in the very language of the charges.' He says himself (p. 9 of his reply) that, in the circular, Mr. P. "gives the substance of my statement in regard to the occurrences in connection with the tariff vote, excepting that part relating to his ^ acting strangely in the presence of Mr. Cranston, to irhicli he makes no allusion.'' " What was Slade's sUitement.- It was this: "Mr. C. came to me and said that Mr. Phelps was acting strangely, swearing that he would not vote," &c. This statement he doubtless intended, like all his hearsay, as an assertion of the fact, as he now treats himself as responsible for the truth of all these statements derived from others. Turn now to my letter of inquiry, as published, and the reader will find the first paragraph, after giving the other charges, concluding with this expression: "And that dur- ing the day I acted strangely, swiaring that I icould not vote oti the bill." Yet with tliis very letter in print under his nose, imd while pretending to ascertain its import, Mr. Slade ventures the assertion that / make no alhisio^i to actirig strangely, &c. But his declaration was to go to iliose "who had never seen the Senator's book, and never would." Here is no room for mistake. It is a deliberate falsehood. And this I denominate falsehood No. 2. What shall be said of the man who tlms deliberately misrepresents a printed document which lies before him — and what credit can be attached to his statements m other particulars.^ It is a rule of law and of reason, that a witness who is detected in one wilful falsehood in nis testimony is not to be believed in any thing he states. We come now to the answers to my circular; and here I will lake up Mr. Slade's original statement, examine the proof, and reply to his argument. He commencis his charges of neglect o( duty with the following sentence: "I was informed {by tchom I cannot remember) that he had been offended at some supposed slight or want of attention of some Sena- tors, and u.sid tipprobrious language in regard to them, and declared, with oaths, tliat he would not vole on the bill ; and I understood, m the course of the day, that several Senators had made ineffectual efforts to soothe him." Now as to the false issue. Let the reader advert to my letter to tlie gentlemen of Uie Senate, and he will find the inquiry made in the very language of Mr. Slade. What were tlie answer^ to this circular.' The reader will look in vain in Mr. Slade's book for the testimony of those gentle- men. Not a single answer is given. All, without exception, are suppressed. I have taken the testi- mony of every friend of the Uiriff in the Seimte, and of every Whig ui that body, with one solitary ex- ception. I had published that testimony as the basis of my vindication. He aiiempts a rcjily ; and yet, with the excention of the letter of Gov. Crafts, which was not in answer to that circular, and that of Mr. Conrad, which was addressed to him, he omits them all, under tJie pretence of want of room. He might have omitted some of his generid abuse, or, at least, condensed it, and spiuxd altogether comments upon assertions of his disproved by those letters. But he was writing for "those who had never seen Uie Senator's book, and never would,' and for this reason the testimony was suppressed. This is not all. Al- though he says, in introducing Gov. Cralus' letter, that he desires " to omit nothing which Mr. Phelps may deem material to his aise," he yet omits two-thirds at least of lliat letter, and, unfortunately for his Erofessions of fairness, omits the very part which coiUnidicts his statement, as to what he pretends to ave witnessed in the Senate chamber upon the taking the vote. Having suppressed the documents themselves, he proceeds to misrepresent them. The following is his account of them: "Some of them, as those of Mr. Woodbridge, Mr. Wright, Mr. Berrien, and Mr. " Williams, contain general statements with regiu-d to the position of the writers on the question, and " the reason of tlieir votes. Others, like that of Mr. Porter, state the obst;icles which had to be eiicoun- " tered in the {MLssage of the bill. Mr. Mangum refers almost exclusively to Mr. Phelps' j^cneral course " on the tariff questicm, and his services oh the Committee of Indian Affairs, his only allusion to tlie real " qiKsiion in iHsue being in a postscript to his reply. Neorly all the Senators addressed give replies to " the iii((Uiry an Id wliat was Mr. Pliel[)8' course in regard to tlie tariff — in relation to which they use " expressions like this, that he hud * nianilained a deep interest in its favor,' and been its ' fast and steady " supporter, &c.' Mr. Woodbridge is quite stroni^ on the subject, commencing his reply with, 'I am " both surprised nnd g)-ieved to learn that it has been imputed to the Hon. Mr. Phelps that he was hoa- " tile to the principles of the tariff of 1842;' while Mr. Choate closes his reply thus: 'From what I " know of your settled opinions, and had observed of your habitual course in the Senate, I should have " been iirofoundly astonished to have discovered, on such a day or at any time, any such unwillingness.' " With all this, which does not affect the question at issue, except against Mr. Pheijis, as I shall show " hereafter, there are minirlcd such declarations as the following: ' I have no recollection of any declara- " tion or oath by you that you would not vote, nor of your having used opprobrious language.' 'I " have no recollection of your being absent when the bill was put to vote.' ' If any of these circumstan- " ces occurred they were unobserved by me, or have been forgotten.' 'I have no recollection of any " opposition on your part to the tariff act.' 'I do not distinctly recollect all the circumstances and indi- " vidual opinions relative to that measure, but I understood you to be one of its firmest friends.' ' If " any such occurrences took place, and I knew or heard of them, they have escaped my recollection.' " 'Some time has elapsed, and occurrences may have taken place of which I knew nothing, or which I " do not now recollect.' ' I i)aid but little attention to the action of others, (says Mr. Woodbridge,) and " have no knowledge as to where precisely Mr. Phelps might have been when the final question was " taken. The journal, I think, must show.' Such are some of the ways in which a want of recollection " in regard to the matter is expressed in the replies. Some, however, go further than this, and say they " do not think any such thing could have taken place, becjuisc ot'the uniform support that Mr. Phelps " had given to the tariff. One of the Senators, (Mr. Evans,) referring to the fact that he was chairman " of the Committee on Finance, and that it was his duty to ascertain how many votes could be relied on " in favor of the bill, and to Uike care that it should not be pressed to a vote in the absence of any " friendly to it, says: ' If you had been absent from the Senate under circumstiinces indicating that you " did not intend to vote, it i.s scarcely possible that I should have been ignorant of it.' "Some of the replies speak of the protracted debate, and say that some of the Senators, as Messrs. " Wright and Williams for example, went out for relief, from the fatigue of a long sitting, into adjoin- *' ing rooms, within Ccdl, and suggest, that perhaps the absence of Mr. Phelps might have been from *' that cause." I have transcribed the whole of his account of this testimony, in order that the reader may judge of its fairness. Now, let the reader turn to these letters, which are subjoined, and make the comparison, and let him note the difference between the testimony which Mr. Slade has seen fit to suppress, and this garbled, confused, and imperfect representation of it. Take, for example, the letters of Mr. Evans and Mr. Choate, and compare the full, pointed, and explicit testimony of these gentlemen, with the solitary, and comparatively unimportant, sentence which he has seen fit to extract. I will not now stop to com- ment upon the unparalleled meanness of this course, further than to remark, that it is precisely what might be expected from a man who appears in this business, in the outset, professedly as an indifferent and reluctant witness, testifying from a sense of duty, and testifying to hearsay, but who comes out at last as the accuser and prosecutor, endorsing and making himself responsible for all this hearsay, and adding new falsehoods of his own invention to give currency to old ones. But to return to his assertion about my taking offence — using opprobrious language — swearing that I would not vote — and the attempts of several Senators to soothe me. He gives it in the out.set as mere hearsay, and could not tell and can not tell now where he got it. But as the term " several Senators," can apply to none but members of that body, I have taken the testimony of every friend of the tariff then in me body, and that of evei-y polilical friend in it, with the single exception of one who was opposed to the tariff radically and decidedly; and, as the reader will see by adverting to their statements, not one of them has the slightest know Itilffe or recollection of any such transaction. I think I may well ask icho those sev- eral Senators were who cmkavored in rain to soothe me ? Mr. Slade says he took no note of names. I have saved him the trouble of that by appeahng to every man in the Senate, who can be supposed to have taken an interest in persuading me to vote for the bill, and here are their statements. And this, I sup- pose, is what he calls a false issue. But is not this testimony enough to dispose of a mere rumor — a hearsay, from "whom he can not renuTuber'?^' Would not any man of honest and proper feeling, upon the exhibition of this evidence, admit candidly that he had been misinformed, and thus clear me from the imputation .' But what does this empty pretender to godliness and christian charity — this man who makes such parade of his conscience and his reputation, mean? After having gathered up this report which he got, he can't tell where, he lays it before the Legislature of the State as information derived from those "whose assertions he could not discredit," and under the sanction and weight of his authori- ty as Governor of the State, for the purpose of disgracing and destroying a man whose greatest offence was standing in the way of his ambition; and when it is disproved by the unanimous testimony of the friends of the tariff, and of the Whigs of the Senate, boldly endorses the falsehood, reasserts it, and makes himself personally responsible for the truth of that, which, in the outset, he professed no know- ledge of, except rumor, and that from a source which he can not designate. I envy not such a man the consolations of communion with himself If there be a tithe of sincerity in his noisy professions of Christianity, or a spark of conscience remaining in him, he will be disposed to look inwards — upon him- self — upon the rottenness within the whited sepulchre — and when he next tenders his supplications, he will be disposed to drop the haughty tone of the Pharisee and assume that of the humble Publican. As he has seen fit to endorse the rumor, I pronounce it falsehood No. 3. He has been writing about the country for proof of his eissertions. Some of his letters I have seen, and yet not a tittle cf proof has lie obtained. Not an individual can be found who professes to know anything of this part of the charges. Upon llie face of his urijinal staieinent, this Iniiisaclioii, if it occurred al all, must have oc- curred before the convei-sation with Cranston, flis testimony., therefore, will not help him. Indeed, Cranston knows nothing of the " opprobrious lane;:uage," or the " efforts to soothe" me. He (Slade) IS left without a jiartii-le of support in this particular. And how docs he rndcavor to escape? By pretendino^ that he " took no note of names." He was treasuring up these rumoi-s for future use; they were to be used effectually when the proper period arrived, but it was not wortli wliile to take note of names ; that might be dangerous, as it might turn out, a.s it has done in almost every instance where individuals are referred to, that they disclaim the imputation, and the supposed hearsay turns out to be a fabriciition of his Excellency. But "as to attempts to appease him, Ihey may not have been nuiJc by Setuttors, but thai Ihcy trere made by others there can be little dtnibt.'" This dastardly' attempt at escape is characteris- tic of the man. It indicates not only a consciousness that the oriuinal statement i.s false, but that the author of it lacked the manliness to acknowledge the inaccuracy of his information. Nay, he has the assurance to a.s.scrt,in his reply, that the substance of his charge is proved, although he has not the slightest evidence from any hunian being that this part of his statement is true. He knows nothing about it, and the statement itself is contradicted by the unanimous testimony of the Whigs in the Se- nate. Again he is driven to the following jirevarication, as to the " opprobrious language" ; " Does any oiie u?ho knmcs .Vr. Phflps believe that it produced no ' opprobious language' " ? Here is a most extraordmary effort to supply the want of proof. He had asserted certain facts, by way of hearsay, to be sure, but insists that the hearsay was tiiie ; and yet the proof is, when he is called upon for proof, that nobody will doubt who knows Mr. Phelps. It is very true that nobody who knows Mr. P. only through the representa- tions of Wm. Slade and his termagant wife, will doubt much about anything that may be laid to his charge. Whenever the tidsehoods which they have so industriously circulated, have taken root or obtained the least credence, people are doubtless prepared to believe anything they may choose to invent. But, pos- sibly, there are those who know Mr. Phelps tlirough other sources of information, and Mr. P. trusts that there are those who know something of his libellers, and the credit to be attached to their statements. But Mr. Slade endeavors to avoid the testimony of the gentlemen of the Senate by attributing it to the want of recollection. Let the reader recur to the peculiar crisis in which the Senate and the country were placed on the 27th day of August, 1842, the day on which the tariff act was passed. Let him recal to mind the feverish anxiety manifested by all on that occasion — the divided state of the Senate — the un- certainty of the fate of the bill, depending, as it did, upon the vole of the Senator from Michigan, mine being relied on in its tavor — ;uid let him suppose that I had then expressed a determination not to vote for for the bill. Does he imagine that such a declaration would have made no impression, or would have been speedily forger and found Uiat Mr. Phelps was not in *' his seat. I inquired of tJie doorkeeper at the .southern entrance where he was, who informed me that *' he was in a small ante-room, ju.st at uv. entrance, with .Mr. Conrad, of Louisiana, who, 1 utulerstood, was *' endearoring to perawule him to vole. This J leunud from the dnnrkceper, as trell iiv otlurs.^^ Here is false- hood. No. 4. The doorktcper, Mr. Larner, says: ".Vc. Uladr is mlttakeu if ln' supposes that 1 informed him that .Vr. Conrad, of !,nuisiana. iras in the ante-ronm endearorin;; to per.suade you to vote."' Here is another instantr, I supposr, of what Mr. Sladi: would cjdl a f'abt issue. Mr. Slade, in the out.set, did not profess to know anything of this matter, exc(|ii what the doorkeeper told him. His expression, " and others,''^ runs tliroui^h his whole statement, as a sort of slen^otyiH'd phrase, very convenient for tlie purpose of avoiding detection. These " others" app>ear to be very iinporliuU gentlemen in this tran.saciion, as they lire to take all the responsibility in the end. The "somebody^' who endeavored " to soothe'' rae, was probably one of them. As aJI llie informaUon which Mr. Slade then possessed on this point was the supposed infui niation From the doorkeeper, I llioii^ht if sufficient to sltow, by tlie doorkeeper liimself, that lie g-ave Mr. S. no such infornmtioii. ITe, liowever, Ijoldiy realHrms that the (toorkeejier told him so, as if a falsehood was any better for being; repeated. Finding himself contradicted, by a disinterested witness, as to the only information which he profes- sed in the outset to have, he now asserts that the fact was so — that Mr. Com-ad was with me in the ante- room, endeavm-hi^ to pers^iade me to vote. Having ventured the assertion, knowing nothing about it him- self, I expert him to prove it. 1 pronounce it falsehood. No. 5. And I refer, in the first place, to the letter of Mr. Conrad, written in reply to a series of questions by Mr. Slade. Mr. C. is Slade's witness in the matter, and may be supjiosed to have been fully interrogated by him. Now, Mr. C. does not anywhere intimate that he had the slightest knowledge or su.-roof he lias that we were in the ante- room together. It is very .satisfactory to him, and he very solemnly comes lo the conclusion, that "It appears then, from Conrad '.s statement, that he and Mr. Plulps were in Uie ante-room together, and there he endeavored to disstiade " the fugitive Senator from going," Ac. Now, this argument is intended, not only for iho.se who Imve never .seen the Senator's book, but for those who have never seen tlie Senate chamber and its appendages, and never will. It is so framed as to convey the impression that the pas- sage out of the Senate chiuiilier was through the ante-room, and that Mr. Conrad and myself passed into the room at one door and out at another. Mr. Slade is well acquainted with the form of these locidiiies, but is driven to the necessity of giving a fa'se impression, in order to lay tlie foundation of his argument. A short description will ilUistrate this. In j)assiiig out of the Senate chamber, to the south, tJie door of the ante-room is on the left, outside of the cnamber ; a little further on to the right is a door which opens at the head of the staircase, leading to the outside door of the building; and from this is a passage, also, through the rotunda to the hall of the House of Rrpresintativi s, and to the other passages leading out of the Capitol; directly in front of a person pa.ssing out, and t'urther on, is the door of the committee room ap])ro[>riated to the Committee on Claims. Mr. Conrad's .seat was in the front row, on the ex- treme right of the Stnators, and next this passage. Of course, by looking round, he could, from his seat, see through the passage as far as the door of the committee room. This ante-room, as it is called, is a small room about 7 feet wide and from 16 to 20 fiet long. It has but one door and one window ; and whoever possn/ inin it must filher pass out by the door ht enters or jump out of the window, which is at least twenty fret from the ground. The passage into this room is through one of the massive walls of the build- ing, plar«d lh«re to support the arch of the 5y'naip chamber, and this wall i."< about font feet thick; the J^!iSsaa;e into it is so narrow that two persons cannot pass each other in it. And now for thfi " peg,'^ which seems to annoy liis Excellency so mucli. Around tliis room are )ihiced wliat I have denominated nefi;s, to hans; liats and cloaks on, the name of each Senator heing; placed over the one a|ipn)priated to him. The one next the door, placed close to the r^asine;, was appropriated lo Mr. Archer — the next to me. In passin'j out of the Senate rhanihcr it has been my practice iKit to enter the ante-room, but, standing in the door, to reach my lu»nd in and take my hat. In this position no person could pass me to enter the room. Let the reader hear this description in mind, and we will recur to Mr. Conrad's statement. He states that I passed by him, &c., and, seeing: me jjo into the ante-room, he followed. Followed where.' Why, through the passiige leading out of the chamber and punt the (/oor of the ante-room. What next.* "See- ing him take his hat and move towards the door lending oxil of the Capitol.''^ What door? Mr. Conrad was speaking of jiersons passing out of the Senate chamber; and in that position the door at the head of the staircase was the only one leading out of the Capitol. The door of the ante-room led into it, and there was no egress except to return through it. If the direction is reversed, and a person is moving in the opposite direction, none of these doors lead out of the Capitol. Mr. Conrad, therefore, nuist have spoken of the door at the head of the staircase as the one leading out of the Capitol, as distinguished froni the door of the ante-room, which did not lead out of it. If "every door in the inmost recesses of the building leads out of it," it is difficult to perceive what Conrad meant by the designation. Again : Supposing us to have been in the ante-room, the only door of that room opens at right angles to the passage leading out of the Senate chamber. In returning to the chamber we must pass through that door ; and the course back to the chamber is as direct as that out of the Capitol. Mr. C. would not desig- nate this door as leading out of the Capitol, as it leads back to the chamber as directly as it leads out. It is to be borne in mind, that members of the House, in passing to and from the chamber, have no reason to enter the ante-room. But there are other circumstances to be considered. Mr. C.'s seat was about 25 feet from the ante-room. The distance of the room from the main pa.ssage is about 4 feet, the thickness of tlie wall. Now, Mr. C. did not move from his seat, according to his account, till he saw me enter the ante-room, or rather the narrow passage leading to it, for he could not see the door of the ante-room from his seat. I had then to pass not over four feet to reach my hat, standing, as I usually did, in the door, and return to the main passage, while he was rising and approaching me. It is not very likely that he came up with me before I regained the passage; and this explains his meaning when he says that I moved towards the door hading out, itc. The true meaning of Mr. Conrad is, that seeing me take my hat from the ante-room and move towards the door, &c., he endeavored to dissuade me, &c. ; and the inference is, that he did not enter the ante-room at all. Yet Mr. Slade asserts that Conrad says we went into the ante-room together. Mr. C. states no such thing; it is a mere inference, which is without foundation. But, having assumed that such was the case, he then proceeds, very gravely, to ascertam the time that Mr. C. and myself were in the ante-room. This is, to be sure, of little consequence; but his reasoning is worthy of a little attention as a curiosity. But, in order to lay the foundation for it, he finds it neces- sary to coin a new falsehood, (No. 6,) with respect to which he is as unfortunate as usual. He says : ''Mr. Conrad is correct in saying that Mr. Phelps went out when Mr. Calhoun rose to speak, and he is also correct in saying that Mr. C. addressed the Senate at considerable length." Now, Mr. Conrad does not say that Mr. P. went out when Mr. C. rose to speak. He first states that Mr. C. rose and addressed the Senate at considerable length, and then proceeds to say that Mr. P. rose, &c. If we take the transaction in the order in which Mr. C. states it, it was after Mr. Calhoun had ad- dressed the Senate at length that I rose, and he no where intimates the contrary. But Mr. Slade, find- ing that he can pervert Mr. C.'s statement in a manner which a careless reader might not detect, forth- with falls to remembering. His memory is extremely vivid in recalling matter which may gratify his vindictive feelings, but vmluckily his memory generally runs counter to that of men of altogether supe- rior credibility. In addition to the plain inference from Mr. Conrad's statement, let me refer to the state- ment of Mr. Thomas Clayton, who sat near me. He says: 'After a long and tedious discussion, when almost every one had become wearied with the discussion, and when all were anxious for the question, late in the evening, Mr. Woodbridge rose to speak. Soon after several members left their seat.s. Among them I remember Mr. Wright, Mr. Williams, am/ yoursp/f." What, then, are we to think of Mr. Slade's declaration? "This I well rememl)er. He (Mr. Calhoun) was speaking when I entered the chamber, and found that Mr. Phelps was out." Mr. Conrad says nothing of the kind, and Mr. Clayton states directly the reverse. It is agreed, on all hands, that Mr. Woodbridge followed Mr. Calhoun, and was the last speaker. What, then, becomes of Mr. Slade's argument about the length of time I was absent, as ascertained by the duration of Mr. C.'s and Mr. W.'s speeches? He says they spoke from 30 to 40 minutes. Sup- pose they did. I did not leave until after Mr. Calhoun had closed his speech. But as to the duration of Woodl)ridge's speech, I stated in my appeal that it lasted but a very few minutes, and that the report of it occupies but six or seven lines of the ordinary newspaper column. Mr. Slade, however, endeavors to answer this, by .saying that speeches are often concisely noticed, and as samples, cites the notices of Mr. Smith's and Mr. Simmons' speeches on the same day. Why could he not have given the notice of Mr. W.'s speech, which is in the Same paper? It would certainly give a better idea of what that speech was than the notice of another one. Mr. Slade is quite adroit at this species of juggling, and to show the reader the object of the trick, I will give him the report of that speech. It is as follows : " Mr. Woodbridge said, that the bill before the Senate appeared to him to be fully as protective a measure as it did to'the mind of the Senator tVom .SoiUh Carolina. But that was no objection to him. O Oil the contrary, it waus its ^rreatest recommendation. It went far to reconcile him to the sacrifice whicli his party had been roiisiruined to make. He had risen merely to say, in regard lo the vote he should give, that as his friends went so should he ^o." This reader is the wliole speech. It is a report ol'ihe speecli, and profes.ses to give the whole, unlike the notices of the other speeches adverted to by Mr. Slade, where the reporter does not protes-s to give the remarks. How long did the delivery of ilii.s speech occupy the Senate? What says Mr. Wright? He left when Mr. Woodbridje rose, and went into the Secretary's room, and scaled himself at the window. "I had been .seated by the window, as it then appeared and now appears to me, but a very few miiutles when the younger Mr. Bsis.sett, one of the messe gers, came into the room in great haste, and told me mi/ name /iftt/ <*een called.'" In a vei y few minutes the speech had been finished, and Mr. VVriirhi's name, the last but one on the list, had been called. Mr. Woodbridge did not speiik over two minutes, and if three minutes are allowed for calhng the names, wliich call was not finished when I returned, we have but five minutes, which was the extent of my absence. But our ingenious Governor has another very satisfactory and conclusive mode of tv;ccrtaining the time during which Mr. Conrad was " endeavoring to persuade mc to vote." He says that Mr. Cran- ston stJites that an hour intervened between his conversation with me and the final vote, and then goes on to guess liow long Mr. Cranston was engaged in r^u-rying the very ([uaJifyinij intelligence he had obtained to Mr. Slade; and deducting this period from the hour, ho gets the leiiijth of my absence. Now, if Mr. C. had given us the duration of his ab.sencc — the period when he returned — we should have had some data to act upon. The very satisfactory character of this reasoning of the Governor will appear if we slate the question mathematically. If from 60 minutes you subtnxct any number less than 60, you don't know wliat, how many renuiin? But his last, and perhaps in his view the strongest argimient on this point is, that the duration of Mr. P.'s absence may be inferred from " the temper in which he left the chamber, and the work to be per- formed by Mr. Cranston, (he means Conrad) or somebody else during the absence." Tlii.s is most admi- rable logic. v\ helhcr I left earlier or later, when Mr. Callioun rose or Mr. Woodbridge rose, may I easily be detenuined by the temper with which I left I I suppose if Mr. Slade had a thermometer by which lie could ascertain the precise degree of excitement, he could tell by some machemajtical process i the length of my absence lo a second ! But enough of this Itu-fetched and puerile reasoning. It proves nothing but the temper and .state of mind in which Mr. Slade approaches this subject, and shews his settled purp«:)sc to persevere, right or wrong, in traducino^ me, and to call to his aid, not only fabrications of his own, but arguments which to a deliberate and candid mind must appciu- absurd and ridiculous. The absurdity of his pompous conclusion is equalled only by that of his reasoning. Hear him : " It tlms appears that, during the whole lime that Mr. Callioun was endeavoring to show the highly protec- tive character of the bill, &c., and Mr. Woodbridge was giving reasons for disi>ensins willi his .scruples, (fee, Mr. Conrad was engaged in the no less important, and cerUiinly not less difficult tasfc, of making Mr. Phelps much calmer, and sfciiriJig a vote that saved the bill." He adds, as if chuckling at the idea of his own ingenuity in arriving at this grave conclusion, •' From my heart I thank him for liis successful labor, and every man in Vermont ought to thank him." The utter luartlessiuss of this last declaration must be obvious to all Had the bill been lost through my delinquency, this political assassin would have been much more inclined to give thanks, as it might have enabled him to have been more success- ful in his attacks upon me, and in his purpose of taking my place. No man who knows the utter self- ishness of his heart, or has witnessed his unprincipled course in tiiis matter, can doubt that the lariflT bill would have been readily sacrificed lo the attainment of such an object. But his conclusion. I was not out when Mr. Cidhoun wiis speaking. That is a fabrication of his own. it is contradicted by Mr. Conrad's letter, and most emphaiically by Mr. Clayton's. As to Mr. Woodbridge givijig his reasons, I have given his whole speech, and the reader am judge what lime it occupied. And as to Mr. Conrad's task, I refer to his letter, in which he says that he '* never yj>r an instatU imputed his course to any wish to defeat the bill ;" and yet he knew, I knew, and everybody »1>' about the Senate knew, that if I failed lo vote for the bill it would be lost. There is not an expressioi, in his letter indicuiing the slighiesi suspicion that if the vote had been called for bet'ore I let'i the cham- ber, there was the lea.sl danger that my vote would be given ;\gainst the bill or withheld. And yci iSladc persists in the declaration in the face of the testimony of liis own witness i\Ir. Conrad, and in the absence of the .slightest evidence from any quarter, that a word was addressed to me to change such a determination, (unless indeed lie finds it in the statement of Mr. Cranston whom I will attend to soon.) The triitli is, every part and |)arcel of this grave summing up is false and groundless. But Mr. Slade expresses his surprise that I .should .say this with Mr. C's letter before me ; and re- turns again U) the ridiculous charge that my object was " to get away tVom voting." He says that AIi-. ('. has drawn a V( il ovi-r the conversation which, for the honor of Vermont, he does not regret. Heii> is a imui who volunteiTH as my accu.scr, calls upon Mr. Connul as his own witness, ;uid when he finds that witness dues not support him, intimates that this witness has drawn a veil over the matter. But what says this witiies.s as lo the ir.ui.saciioii ? " I caimot ima;;in(ihow it should have become necessary to rel'er to a circuiiistaiii;e so virtf unimportant iis the one you allude lo," Otc. And yet, with the opinion of liis own witness as to the unimportiince of the whole matter, Mr. Slade charges that witness with drawinsi a veil over it. All that appears from Mr. Conrad's slaU'inent is, that fhad beiomc wearied with what 1 considereil an iinnecc'.-s.ary and ill-limed debate; iuid finding that the vole was likely to be deferred still loii;;er, I w. is disposed to ntire from Uieidiainber. .\t hi.s instigation, however, I returned, and the quesiion was ui expectcdiy uiken. I vou^d of course, and the bill was passed. Mr. Slade, however, iroaded on by his |>orsoiial malignity towards nic, and writhiir; unUcr tlic disap- 11 .ipointmeiil of his hopes, emlLiivors to make much ado iiimiit nothing; ami, by -'>«s exaggeration, lo convert what Mr. Conrad pronounces a very uniinportanl oircunistancc nito iv grave and imposnig m-'^lter. , , . , . .1 , tj But Mr. Sladc afiects to consider it unimportant whether we were in the ante-room tngetlieror not. He says, 1 may have it " higher up, or lower down, or out of doors." " After all it was somewlicre ; and notwithstanding his rt«f()i/)ten/era.s(Oji, the question must bo an.swered, was it anywhere.'" . . I will meet Mr. S. on his own irround, and inquire whether it was anywhere r I agree that it is of no importance, in itself considered, whether we were in the ante-room together or not. The substance of the charge is, that I had expressed a determination not to vote for the bill, and that Mr. Conrad was 3xpla dated May 4, 184(5: , ,.„ ^ . , . , . „ . , " You catalnly never (Ud express a delcrminaiion not to vote for the bill. So Jar from it, rfwnng llie vliote of the conversation rcfemd to, (that referred to in his letter to Sladc and pubh.shed by bim,) you expressed great anxielii about its fate, and appeared much incensed at some of Us fiiends and supporters, vho, as you seemed to think, verc cndans;eni}g its pusfcse bii protracting the debute to a very unrvuicnablc length.. ' " 1 do not recoUc.t that a time had been fixed lor taking the vote by any formal resolution of the benate, but mv impression is, that it was generaliv understood among the members on both sides, that the vote should be taken that ni•., arul was rrry poaitire thai you an.ticered at the ftr.sl call of your name." The stjitemeiits of Mr. Clayton and Mr. Machen also prove the siinie thing. They say that my name would not have been called except at my re(|uest, and that there was nothing miusuid when I gave my vote which atiiacted their aiiciiiion. The reader am judge whether 13 il would liavc allracttd liicir altenlion, if I luul risen iii my ]Amc, iiqMistcd my name to be called, niul liad declined to answer. Such an occurrence was never witnessed in the Senate. As to turnme round to Conrad, who stood behind me, and asking liim whether lie had voted, IVlr. C.'s statement puts that subject at rest. Instead of standing behind m'e, he was at the clerk '.■< desk, directly in front, and in llie centre of the semi-circle. The Senators were seated in lliose semi-circular rows, and my .seat was in the middle row. To address liim in that position, would have required as loud a tone as to address the chair, and would have attracted the attention of the whole Senate. Thus we .see that the Governor's positive statement, as to what occurred after I entered the chamber, is contradicted by five different wit- nesses viz: Gov. Crafts, Mr. Hale, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Clayton, and Mr. Machen, the clerk. I ought to remai-k here that this part of Gov. Craft's letter is omitted in Mr. Slade's reply, for what purpose the reader must judije; and although he " desires to omit nothing which Mr. P. may deem material to his case," he yet onnts all of Gov.C.'s letter which contradicts the only portion of his [Slade's] statement, which puijiort-s to be within his personal knowledge. ■ r , I have now done with Governor Slade's statement as to what occurred on the occasion of the pas.sage of the tariff act of J842. I will not stop here to express my anxiety " for the honor of Vermont," nor to extiress the mortification which every citizen of that State must feel at this exposure of a man whom they have been induced by circumsUinces to place in an exalted station. I have no "anxic/y" for the ho- nor of the State, because I am satisfied that the State will take care of its own honor in due season. I have none for niysclf in the matter, because the exposure of Mr. Slade's mendacity, and the manifesta- tion of his fiendi.s'h malio-nity in his reply, will insure him the usual fate of the calumniator, whoso malice usually recoils upon his^own h.cad. My comments, if I have any to make, will be reserved until I have exposed in anotlier matter, which seems to be a favorite topic with him, a series of falsehoods from ■which there is no escape, and for which there can be no apology. But before I take leave of this part of the case, I think it proper to bestow some little attention upon this Mr. Cranstoii, who stands alone as a volunteer aid to Mr. Slade. Although our worthy Governor has been circulating his letters about the country, endeavoring to pick up material for his attack upon me, he has found no man to respond or give him the least aid iti the matter but Mr. Cranston, of Rhode Island. Whether Mr. Cranston ac- quires any laurels in the controversy, remains to be seen. In my judgment, he has placed himself in no enviable position, unless, indeed, he is ambitious of the honor of being the dupe and the cats-paw of Wm. Slade. In my former address to the public, I was disposed to treat him with delicacy and forbear- ance ; for, although I have always regarded him as a weak man, having a vast deal more vanity than brains, yet I was rather disposed to regard him and to treat him as agoodnatured simpleton instead of a knave. His second letter to Mr. Slade, however, has confirmed me in the suspicions whicli I enter- tained from the outset, thai he has condescended to make himself the tool of Mr. Slade, and I think an examination of his letter will satisfy the candid reader that the suspicion was well founded. In his first letter to Mr. Slade, he states that he "was surprised to hear him (Mr. Phelps) declare that he would not vote for the bill, and it would be lost. I did not believe he ivould vote against the bill, or even icithhold his vote. Yet I was alarmed for the fate of the bill," &c. " I immediately called on you at Mrs. Spriggs's, and stated .what had passed between Judge Phelps and myself, and requested you to go to the Senate chamber and see him.'" Now, let me ask what sent Mr. Cranston to Mr. Slade on this oc- casion .' Were there not men in the Senate chamber to whom he might have appealed .' Where was my colleague, Governor Crafts, and other trentlemen, between whom and myself there subsisted the most friemlly feeling.' Could no one be found to interfere but Mr. Slade .' Why was it necessary to go immediately to the bitterest enemy I had, to a man who was notoriously endeavoring to supplant me- who was then known in Vermont to be aspiring to my place — and why was it necessary to carry to such a quarter a declaration which he (Cranston) admits he did not believe hinusclf? If he did not be- lieve it, for what f arthly pui-pose did he communicate it to the man who he knew would catch at any thing out of which a story to my prejudice could be manufactured, and with his usual lying propensi- ties exaggerate and distort it ? He not only did not believe it, but admits that, " on no occasion before or since" that day did he ever see or hear any thing in my conduct that indicated a feeling of hostility or even indiflerence towards that important measure; but on the contrary, on all other occasions, I ap- peared as anxious for its success as any other memlier." And yet under these circumstances, not a word is dropped in the Senate chamber — even the chairman of the Committee of Finance could not be advised of it — no one else was advised of it ; but he starts off, at the hazard of having the vote taken and the bill lost in his absence, (if he believed the declaration which he puts in my mouth,) to carry the gratifying intelligence to Mr. Slade There is but one explanation of all this. It was convenient for Mr. Slade to have some one in my boarding-house to act as a spy upon me, and Cranston was precisely the man to be flattered into such an employment. He has his reward in the drivelling compliment which Mr. Slade pays him in his book, with which he doubtless feels highly gratified. But in order to avoid the effect of this argvmient, he pretends that he first called upon Mr. Everett, who sent him to Slade. If so, he called upon Everett with the same views that he went to Slade, supposing, doubtless, that their feelings harmonized on the subject. But Mr. Everett, whatever might have been his feelings towards me, friendly or unfriendly, had too much self-respect and sense of honor to dabble in such a proceeding; but .sends Cranston to a more fit employer. He certainly knew the relations between Slade ;uid myself, aiul could have sent Cranston to Slade with no other purpose than to intimate to him, that if he desired employment in such dirty work Slade was his man. But let us follow Mr! C. a little further. In his second letter he excuses himself by saying, that " nothing but a sense of what it appeared to me I owed to one who, by my intervention, had unfortunately been made apai-ty to it, (the controversy,) could have induced mo to make any statement or disclosure on the subject whatever." Here is a pretence of duty to Mr. Slade. Let us see how fur it bears him 14 out. Mr. Slade says that Mr. C. told him so and so. Mr. C. admits lie did tell him so. Sladc then is sii.stained in his statement. Whether what C. told him be true or false is not importajit lor Slade's jus- tification, as he did not then vouch for its truth. Sujipose, then, Mr. C. was to admit tliat he mfsappre- liended me, how is Slade's veracity implicated.' The idea of a duty to Sladc is mere pretence. His true meanins^ is, that having volunteered to cater for Slade's virious propensities, and set him upon the pitiful business of traducing me ; having, in short, led him into the scrape, he feels bound to swear him out of it. When Cranston had admitted that he told Sladc what he [S.] states, he had tiiken the whole re- sponsibility upon himself; and so far as Slade's veracity was implicated, he was sustained. Suppose, then, that Cranston had admitted that he misapprehended me, how could Slade be injured? As an ho- norable man and my friend, as he pretends to be, he might have left tiie matter upon the footing that I insisted that he misunderstood me. He might have said — It is true Mr. Slade, 1 told you as you state, and of course must take the responsibility. But Mr. P. says I was mistiiken. Possibly I was. It is no wish of mine to fix charges upon Mr. P., and of course here I leave the matter. Had he taken this course, what ground of conijilaint would Slade have.' And how docs he make out that it was hJfe duty to aid Sladc in fixing his charges upon me.' But having enlisted in the busmess of playing the spy upon me, although a fellow boarder with me in tlie .same house, and of carrying gossip to Slade, he doubtless derived his notions of duty from the de- grading ))Osition he occupied ; and conceived that having once undertaken to play the second fiddle to a political juggler, he was bound to sustain his employer in his unprincipled attiick upon mc. In pursuance of this pur)50se he proceeds to make his statement a little mi»rc particuhu- and more po- sitive. Of the probability of his story, I shall have something to say presently. I am now looking at the strange, and I may add, dishonorable course of Mr. Cranston, as showing the temper and spirit with which he originated all this difficulty. He is, as the reader will perceive, responsible for the whole of it. It was his officiousiicss in nuniing after Mr. Slade and bringing him to the Senate chamber, that set him, Slade, upon the project of conjuring up a siring of charges against me. If his motives were honorable, why did he not appeal to some one in the Senate chamber.' Why was it necessiiry to go for a man who was notoriously hostile to me, and notoriously a amdidate for my place? Nor is this all. When these two worthies returned to the capital, what did they do.' Neither of them showed the least disposition to approach mc, or to take the least measure to change the determination which Mr. C. attribute tome. C. says he "requested S. logo to the Senate chamber and .see /ijni," P., and Sladc says that he learned that I was in the ante-room with one of the Senators. Now, why did not Mr. S. fo into the ante-room, or at least send one of the messoiigers to inlimatx? a wish to sec me .- But he and Ir. Cranston contented themselves with inquiring of the doorkeeper, and watching my luoveinenls, Mr. S. tells Mr. C. what he " learned," and Mr. C. carefully treasures it up for future use. The con duct of these men shows their purpose to be, not to advise or persuade me to my duty, but according to their own account of the matter, they were lurking about as spies, fishing for material to be made use of at Montpelier. The character of Mr. Cranston's testimony shows his subserviency to Slade. How did he know what Mr. Sladc " learned ?" As a lawyer and a man of sense, he knew that as a witness between me and Slade he .should testify to what he knew only. Yet he interlards what Mr. Slade learned and what Slade said, as if Mr. Slade's statements were any the better for being repeated by him. But not content with this, he goes further ; and although he had my )iamphlet belbrc him, and was aware of my complaint that Slade was continually referring to " others'" for the reports which he Wiis propagating, thus placing it out of my power to trace the report, yd Mr. C. introduces this very phraseology : " I learnt from you cnul otiiirs that lie was in the antc-i-oom," &c. A witness who is con- stantly interlarding in his story with what he heard from the party to the controversy, and from others, not naming them, would obtain credit in no court of justice. But this attempt to bolster u]) Mr. Slade in this way is truly ridiculous. Slade says the doorkeeper told him so and so. The doorkeeper says he did not ; but Slade told Cranston tlie story, and this proves it true. Let us illustrate this. C states that B told him that A had stolen sheep, and in his zeal tells every letftr in the alphabet. B is called upon by A, and denies that he told I," any such thinir. No matter, says C, I will prove by every letter in the alphabet that I told them so, and tiiat proves not iinly that B did say .'^o, but tlial the charge is true ; A did steal the sheep! Suppose Slade did tell the story to others, and olhtrs told it to Cranston, Slade refers to the doorkeeper as his authority, and the doorkee|>er denies the statement, and yet the projxigaiion of the falsehood by Slade is evidence of it-s truth! Mr. C. must be lacking in intellect or in honesty to attempt to sustain Mr. Slade, or traduce me, by such mciisurcs. But a word as to the ppibability of this story of Mr. Cnmston. He sjjeaks of the crisis — the importance of the mea.sure to the Whig party and tiic country, and of the "strongest solici- iu<* for its f)as.sagc." It is agreed that the Senate chamber was crowded with nieml)ers er, that at such limes the spei;t;»lors are conirregated in crowds on each side of the clerk's desk. Nobody think of plac- ing themselves in front of that desk — the thing is regjirded as indecorous. Yet he savs that be met me "near the clerk's desk," and then' I told him that " I'd be damned if I'd vote for the l>ill." But this is not all. He says the sentimiiits of all the members of the Senate " had been rigidly canvassed," and it had been " a.sccrtaiiicd to a c.ert;iinty" that if Mr. Woodbridirc voted for the bill it would pa.'^s " hi/ casion, even in an ordinary tone of voice, without iiiing hcjird by many individuals. But let us take the story of Mr. C, with the exagsie- ration and coloring of Mr. Sladc. This giving " vent to his }>ent-up jealousy and wrath" — "this most revolting accompanimeiil of profanity," — this exhibition of " the Senators' wrath," which had risen t" 15 this pitcli o{ '■' Iwrrihif anil tm-ijlcsubiimily,'" is reproseiitfid to have occurred in tlic very centre- of the Senate chamber, on an occasion when tliat chamber was crowded, tlie deepest interest felt, and every occurrence watclied witli the deepest anxiety, and yet nobody Init Mr. Cranston, of Rhode Island, wit- nessed it! Does not Mr. Slade, and Mr. Cranstcm, also, perceive tiiat tlie strona:cr they make the state- ment the s^reater is its iniprobabilily ? Every one in the chamber knew that if I did not vole fur the bill it would be lost. In that period of deep anxiety and solicitude, it i.s pretended that 1 made the declara- tion, which, if carried out, would prostrate the hopes of the Whig party and the country, and yet not one of the friends of that measure knew anything of the matter. I have obtained the testimony of every member of the Senate wiio voted for that bill, and not one of them pretends to the slii,-htest knowledge^ of any such occurrence. Mr. Slade has seen fit to suppress this testimony, under pretence of a want of room, and to o-ive his own garbled representation of it. He affects to believe that such a declaration would have passed unnoticed, but does not the reader perceive that the defection of a member from New En^and at such a crisis, whose vote had been uniformly and confidently relied on, would have produced an excitement in the Senate, and out of it, which would not have readily been forgotten .> Now, I repeat the inquiry, how happened it that such a declaration, made under such circumstances, with all this " violence,' and liorrlhlc and terrijir. subhmity of icr«//i.," in the midst of a crowded chamber, should have esca])ed the notice of everybody but this mousing too! of his Excellennj? Nay, more; why did not Mr. Cranston let the secret out > Why did he not, in his anxiety for this great measure, at least give a hint to its friends in the Senate .=' He knew very well that the disclosure of such a purpose as lie attributes to me, would have drawn upon me an influence from my personal and political friends which no man could i-esist— that the purpose would have been stifled in its conception. But he could do no such thin?. He slips oiTwith the secret to my bitterest enemy — requests him to come and see me ; and yet, when they return to the Senate chamVier, neither of them attempts to communicate with me — Init contentthemselve.s with inquiries of the doorkeeper, and cozily communicating to each other what they had "found'' and " /m?-7if." The reason of all this is to be found in Mr. C.'s first letter. " He did not Ijelieve that I would vole against the bill, or even withhold my vote." In .short, he did not himself believe the charge of delinquency in my duty, and therefore it was unnecessary to say anything of the matter in the Senate chamber ; but it would be " nuts for Slade to crack," and off he posts upon the " praisevortlnf errand of conferring with him on the subject. One would suppose that if Mr. C. had the slightest idea dial I should prove definquent, he would have broken out involuntarily — he was in the midst of the friends of the tariflT and my friends— he was in the very spot to sound the alarm — and yet the pleasing intelligence was reserved for Mr. Slade 's ear alone. But there is another consideration more conclusive. Mr. C. says, that having heard the declaration from me that I would not vote on the bill, he hnmediatdy called on Mr. Slade. Siade would endeavor to make out that they both repaired to the Capitol forthwith ; that he was there some 40 minutes out of the hour which elapsed l)etween the conversation with Cranston and the taking of the vote, while Calhoun and Woodbridge were speaking. Now, where was I in the few minutes while Cranston was absent.' In my seat, anxious for the question, and impatient of what I considered an unnecessary and unseasonable debate. This is proved by the letters of Mr. Porter and Mr. White, who sat on each side of me, and Mr. Conrad. Now, does' Mr. Cranston suppose that he can make any man believe that I had formed and expressed the deliberate purpose of not voting for the bill, and yet was the next moment in my seat anxious for the vote ? But Mr. Slade says I was " seen (o" and tnken cure of. By whom ? Nobody clearly, unless it was Mr. Conrad ; and my interview with him was afterwards. Nay, Mr. Clayton says that I was in my seat until Mr. Woodbridge rose, which was within five minutes of taking the vote, and of course for eleven-twelfths of Mr. Cranston's hour — then left, and Mr. Conrad followed — I returned and voted. The fact then that I was in my place, ready and anxious to vote, and this before any communication with Mr. Conrad, or any one else, is enough of itself to discredit the statement of Mr. Cranston. One more flict in answer to Mr. Cranston. It is agreed on all hands that when the question was put, I voted readily and cheerfully. To be sure Slade states that I declined to answer until my name had been called the third time; but in this he is contradicted by every one who says anything on the subject. How came this, if I had determined not to vote.' Who changed mypurpo.se? There is no human being to whom this task has been assigned but Mr. Conrad, and his letter sliows that he had not the slightest suspicion of any such purpose. There i.s one circumstance connected with the statement of Cranston which I cannot omit to notice. Although he appears perfectly willing to testify to all that Slade told him, and all that Slade " learned,''' to say nothing of what he learnt from those veritable and conspicuous gentlemen called "others," who doubtless can be found anywhere, yet he has not a word to say about Mr. Conrad's " endeavoring to persuade me to vote." He says Mr. Slade " learned" that I was in an ante-room witli one of the Sena- tors, and there le-aves the subject. Now, as these two worthies doubtless held sweet commimion together, and Mr. Cranston w;i.s made the receptacle of Mr. Shade's discoveries, for the purpose of testi- fying to them afterwards, it would seem that as ho communicated nothing of the kind to iVlr. Cranston, the iiivention wa.s an after-thought. Where then did he get this story of Conrad's endeavoring to per- suade me to vote > The doorkeeper denies having told it — Cranston knows nothing of it — Slade, him- self, in relating his discoveries to Cranston, says nothing about it — and there is not now a particle of evidence that any such persuasions were used. As to Conrad, he says in hi.s letter tii Slade that what transpired Ijetween him and me was not made public by him, and Slade received no information from him till after my re-election. The result is, that Slade made the statement at random, and without any authority, and this accounts for ins pertinai-ity in perverting Mr. Conrad's testimony and insisting upon the absurd proposition that my leaving the chamber at that late hour, and when the continuance of tlie debate liid lair to defer the question till the next day, was for the purpose of " netting away frotit votiniT ;" and this in the lace of the declaration of Mr. Conrad as to my readiness and anxiety to vote the moment tiie qufstion was reached. It will be obscrvtd that the only witnes.sfs relied on by Slade to prove his charjreare Mr. Conrad and Mr. Cranston. Hn me, and the means of injuring inc in the eyes of my constituency. If his object was praiseworthy, as he pretends, 1 leave him to explain why he dropped not even a hint in the Senate chamber of the danu:er to the bill, and gave no intimation to any of its friends, who appear, Ijy their own statements, to have been utterly ignorant of any such danger.' — why he left the Senate chamber at the hazard of having the vote taken and the bill lost before Mr. Slade could be brought to the rescue .' — why it did not occur to him to intimate to Mr. Evans, the chairman of the Committee of Finance, the expediency of suspending the vote, lest my iletermination should prove fatal to it .' — why, when he returned to the chamber and found me absent under circum- stances which he would rf-present as suspicious, and an absence which Slade insists was for the purpose of avoiding the vote, he did not then interpose? — and why, at l;ulace, not a word escajies him, not an effort is made liy Slade or himself to save the bill or put its friends on their guard. In short, why it is, if he went for Slade for the praise- worthy i>urpos(^ of getting him to interfere, that neither Slade nor himself made the least effort, either with me or anyhodij ebe — anil why they both stood in the chamber and hejird the question put, and tiie ayes and noes called, without the slii,')itest movement, intimation, or hint designed to arrest the proceed- ing. I leave him further to rX]tlaiii why, as an inditVcrent witness, lie deems it his duly to repeat what Mr. Slade told him as proof of the truth of Siade's statement, and why he refers to nimoi-s "from others," whom he cannot or dare ni>t name, in order to fix the imputation upon me. When he sJiall have answered these questions, but not, I think, before, he may possii)ly convince the public that he did not go to the chamber as the tool of Mr. Slade, to enact the spy and the pander. Mr. C. may be proud ot the distinction of playinu; second fiddle to Wm. Slade in this pitiful business; btit if so, ( can only say I fn\y biin not his laurels. IT Mr. Slade seems ilispost-d to make quite a floiirisli ov.t this Idler of Mr. Cranston, it .seems^ to him to prove every thing. He is half inclined " to lay down ins pen." It would luue Ijcen a pity ifhe had done so, as it would liave deprivfd him of the opportunity of discliari;ing his j^ll ; and he might, as it is said of the rattlesnake, have died of Ids own venom. He is "indignant at the treatment he has •xeecived from Mr. Phelps ; but that feehng is ehangcd by the sight of this letter into a feeling of a very dilfercnt character." What that tVeling is he does not condescend to tell us. Probably it was a feeling of relief at the prosjiecl of a str.iw to catch at, to save him.self from the indignation of the community a.s a downright calumniator and liar. He publishes this letter of Mr. Cranston, but withholds the testimo- ny of more than thirty members of the Senate, which shows the utter improbability of Mr. Cranston'.s •story. Thai 1 should iiave made such a declaration to Mr. Cranston, in such a place, and on such un ocea.sion, and nobody else have heard it, or if they did, that nobody remembered it, is not to be credited. And yet Mr. Sladc-, this pious pretender tf) piety and integrity, suppresses the evidence upf)n which I rely, and after publishing the st;\tement of Mr. C. totho.se "who had never seen my appeal, and never would," and of course wlio had never seen the testimony of these thirty Senators, and never voiM, goes on to comment upon the " astounding fact :" " that a Vermont Senator sicore in Ike Heiiate chaiiiber that he lonuld )iol vote for the tariff net of 184:2." H\it conceding to him' all that can be fairly claimed for the statement of Mr. Cranston, what .shall be said of the rest " of Mr. Slade's story" — of the use of " opprobrious language" on that occasion, of whicli he has nolfurffishcd the slightest ]>roof— of tlie "eil'orUs of several Senators to soothe me." "Who were they? I repeal — what becomes of the declaralion previous to the appearance of Mr. Cranston as an a(;tor hi this mailer, that I "would not vote upon the bill?" But he .says "who will ask me for names?" — "will any body ask ine to show the several steps by which the Senator's wrath rose to Ikisipllek of horrmle and terrific suhiunUii '! Can any body believe that it reached it without finding vent in iic presence of smne- body besides Mr. C ? And does any one who knou's Mr. Phelps believe that it ))roduced no " opprobri- ous language .'" Now this sort of reasoning may satisly Mr. Slade, but the indiM'erent reader will see in it proof of utter infatuation — proof that the man's malignant passions liave overcome his judgment and his discretion. He lias done what others have done before him in their assaults upon me — overcharged his gun — fabricated stories too gross — stories which carry on tiicir face evidence of malice and falsehood. I ask again if this '^horrible and terrific.'''' scene was enacted in the Senate, and the " Senator's wrath was finding vent in declarations to others than Mr. Cranston, that he would not vote," &c., how it happens that no friend of the bill, no member of the Senate knows any thhig about it? Does not Mr. Slade see, eg!' That ' peg' i.s a thing to be remembered ! The rest is forgotten !" Now here is falsehood No. 12. I no where jirofess to rememlier talking my hat from the peg, which seems lo annoy his Excellency so much. My language is, [see Appeal, ]). b,| " i/iiy /)r«(/(cc ii"«.v, when going out, not to enter the ruoni, but to reach my hand in,'' itc. 1 was commenting upon Conrad 'a stalement. that " seeiiii: him luke Ins 3 18 . hat and move towards tlie door leading out," &c., and arg;uinij from my usual custom as to the position in which he saw me, taking his statement as true. This pitiful falsehood is coined with my book before him, for the mere purpose of hanging a quibbling argument upon it. After interposing this falsehood, | he proceeds to infer liial Mr. P. is either guilty of falsehood, or he was in " no condition to remember." 1 do not remember this " horrible and terrific" scene, because, in the first place, it is the creation of the Governor's prolific imagination. If Mr. Crajiston and my.self had any con vcrsittion it was casual, and whatever it may have oeen the reader is by this time satisfied that I formed and expressed no such deliberate purpose as he attributes to me — and although he and Mr. Slade might have their reasons for remembering, yet there was nothing to fix my attention upon it afterwards. As to the interview with Conrad, he lilmself tells us that he considers it a " circum.stance very unimportant." It is a very com- mon thing during such long sittings for members to leave and go home — equally so for them to leave the chamber, and alter remaining for a time in the adjoining rooms, to return to the chamber. That I should not renumljer .«uch a matter, after the lapse of more than two year.'i, is not very strange, espe- cially iis these chaiges were very studiously kept concealed from me until after my arrival at Monl- pelier, in October, 1844. But the Gcvernor endeavors to get rid of the testimony of gentlemen of the Senate upon the ground of their want of recollection, and considers, or affects to consider, their testimony very slight for this reason. Now, the argument is equally applicable to them as to myself, and if wiuit of recollection is proof that they were in no condition to rememlier, then the Governor h;i^ brought u.x to the sage conclusion that on that occasion the whole Senate was drunk. But I will not spend time U|x>n this puerile argument. Tlie next falsehood that I shall notice, is his general and sweeping assertion as to my " habit of j drinking." After asserting that there was no session, unless it might have been the first, when I was lint frequently disgnised with liquor, so as to be observable to all who associated with me. he adds: "This wa.s more apparent, I think, during the long session of the 27th Congress than it had been at any previous time." IN'ow I shall not trouble myself on this point to procure affidavits, but shall con- i tent myself with the testimony furnished by the redoubtable committee, and I will simply oppose to it the testimony of Governor Crafts, as .set forth in his letters, which are appended hereto. It will be per- ceived that Governor Crsfts was with me during that session (the long session of the i27ih Congress) from the 30th of April to the 31sl of August, when Congress adjourned, and also durini: the succeeding session. What says Governor Crafts r " For about seven months of that time I was at Washington, and in daily intercourse with him, [Mr. P.] For a few days after my arrival, I look lodgings at the same boarding-house with Judge P. and occupied the same room with him." Again : " I not only saw him daily in the Senate, but generally every day, either at his quarters or mine." The same intercourse continued during the winter session. " While I was at Washington, I never saw Judge P. drink but one solitary glass of wine, and no distilled spirits at all. / (ift-fr snir him trhen I th, IGth, 18th, and 19th — I was present on the 20th, jus the journal shows. What was his olijrct in including this period, unless it was to produce a great hiatus in my at- tendance upon the Senate, 1 cannot conceive. On the 14tli he admits I waspresenL If, then, my state- ment is erroneous, it must be with respect to the time from t!ie 9th to the 13ih inclusive. Now to show, to begin with, that I was right in my statement, I refer to the following certificate of the Secrct;iry of the Senate : " Office of the Secretary of the Se.vate, March 10, 184G. "Sir : In answer to your inquiry of this morning, I have the honor to inform you that there is evi- dence in this oiHce to show that you attended the Senate on the 9th, 11th, 12tli, 13th, and 14th of July, 1S42. I hare the honor to be, &c., ASBURY DICKENS. " Hon. S. S. Phelps, Senator, &c." The 10th of July was the Sabbath. Tlie result is, that I was present in the Senate on every day " between the 9th, inclusive, and the 20lli, except on the four days when I stated I was absent, and the two Sundays which intervened. The certificate of the Secretary is based on the executive journal, which being a secret journal, he did not feel at liberty to refer to it. I know, however, that he refers to it be- cause I examined that journal with the clerk who made the certificate. But how comes Mr. Sladc to contradict my statement.' I will explain. If the reader will advert to my appeal, he will perceive that I referred on this point to the journals of the Senate, [using the plural number to avoid cavilling,] and to the Congressional Globe. Mr. Slade, having my book before him, must have seen this. He knew also, as well as I did, that there was a legislative and an executive jour- nal of the Senate, which were kept separate. He saw also, when he referred to the legislative journal, that on each of the days mentioned the Senate went into executive session ; and he perceived also, that the ayes and noes were not called in legislative session on either of those days, except the 14th, when I answered to the call. He must have known, then, that I referred to the executive journal, especially as I used the plural number. Yet, by a mere quibble, he substitutes the singular number "journal," and endeavors to make out that my statement was incorrect, presuming that many of his readers would not be aware of the fact of the existence of the separate journals, and knowing that the legislative journal was published and in the hands of members of that Congress, and that the executive journal had never been printed. Although, if by " the journal" he means the legislative journal only, his statement is literally true, yet the object was doubtless to deceive the people of Vermont as to the evidence of my presence in the Senate, and to fix the charge of misrepresenting the journals of the Senate upon me. It IS, in a moral point of view, a falsehood, and may be numbered IG. That his object was to practise 'a deception is obvious from what follows. He says: "This cor- responds, as to the duration of his absence, with the .statement of Governor Crafts." Now, here is false- hood No. 17. Governor Crafts no where stales that I was absent ten or twelve days. He says that, with the exception of ten or twelve days, my health was good, and my attendance on the Senate as regu- lar as that of any other member, &c. Mr. Slade adds again, as if not sali.sfied with one misrepresenta- tion : " Here, then, according to Governor Oafts, were ten or twelve days, instead of four, when he was ' very itnice//,' and nearly a loeek of tluit time under the care of Dr. Sewalt.'" Now I have shov\-n by Sewall's book that it was but three days, including the Salibath, that he was in attendance before I was in my place in the Senate. In spite of all his quibbling and attempts at evasion, the proof returns upon him. The journals and the reports of debates show that I was not absent from the Senate more than one day at a time when that body was in session, with the single exception of the four days in July. The meanness of the attempt to evade this evidence is apparent. Slade knew as well as I did that there was a separate executive journal ; and he must have perceived, when he looked at the legislative journal, that on the very days al!ud"(i to, that journal shows that the session was devoted principally to executive busine.ss. The pertinacity with which he persists in these statements, after they are so tho- roughly disproved, indicates not only the depravity of his heart, but also utter infatuation of mind. Again, I refer to the Congressional Globe, and he speaks of the Intelligencer. Now he well knew that the reports in the Globe are intended for preservation in the libraries of the Capitol, and those of the Intelligencer for their daily paper only. The consequence is, that the former contains all the debates, 20 while the latter contains surh notice of iheni only as is interestin? to ordinary readers. The Globp notices a debate on the 9th, between Mr. Caliif.un and myself, on a private claim, and llie Intelligencer omits it. The ihin^^ is of itself of no im|iortance, as the executive journal shows me present on the 9th, except to exhibit the shnlflin^ of Mr. Slade. But, as if disii listing tlie etfiaiey of his trick in regard to the journals, he endeavors to escape from the difficulty in which he had involved hinv^elf by his suitement about the seva-al tceels'' sickness on the hill, by shifting the time and place. Hear him : "A word of explanation in re^rard to my statement MS to the duration of hi.s .sicknes.*;. J/i/ mlstuhe on^inated in brining two periods of aickiiess together which were separated. The 10 or 1"2 days in July was one of them." Here is a repetition of tiie false- hood. I have siiown what that sickness was. " The other tras in the fore part of May, vhin ht iras at Broirn's taveni, from where lie s;iys he left on the 13th for Vermont." "Neither the Senate journal, nor the daily account of debate.s in the Intelligencer, sliow that he wa.s in his jilace in the Senate from the 30tli uf April to the 12tli of May, except the 3d and 4th of that month." And again he says, "it ajjpears that, fmm hi.s [Gov. C.'s] arri\al on the 30th of Ajtrii, to Mr. Phelps' leaving for Veriii'ont, on the 13th, the latter was in his i)lace iii the Senate but three days." Here are two falsehoods in this .statement, Nos. 19 and 20 — the first the statement of my sickness, and second of my absence from the Senate. Before proceeding to show the utter falsehood of tliis statement, I will examine the authority upon which it IS made. Having had hi.s attention turned to the journals, he finds that in the fore psu-t of May, a period when there is usually very little liusiness done, the journal is very me;igre, and conceiving that he would not be contradicted' by the record, he immediately fastens upon that period as another period of sickness. If I may use a vulgar adage, His Excellency has here jumped out of iht- fn/mg pan into the Jxrt. Let us examine the journal. On the 30lh of April 1 presented the credentials of Governor Crafts. The 1st of May was Sunday — the 2d he says I was absent — let it go so — the 3d and 4th he says I was ]»resent. Well, we have got one day lo.st, [which by-the-bye was not so.! On the 5tli the .Senate met. Mr. Wooodl.ury laid a resolution on the table, and' the Senate adjourned to the following Monday, the 9th. No other business was done, and the journal show.s only two memliers present, Mr. Woodbury and Mr. Mangum. On the Gih, 7th and 8th the Senate was not in session. On the 9Ui, 10th and llth the ayes and noes were not called, and on the 12th they were called, and I was present. From the 4th to the 12th the Senate did not sit but 3 days to do business, and on those days nothing appears to show who w;ls present. The result is, that during this whole period, from the .30th of Aprd to the 13th of May, there is not the slightest evidence to be derived from the journal that I was absent from my ]ilace, unless it be on the 2d, on which day the ayes and noes were called but once. But let us look at the evidence on the otlier side. Governor Crafts says, that with the exception of a kv,- days in July, or August, my health was good, and my attendance on the Senate as regular sls tliat of any other member. It will be remembered that during this jieriod he occupied the same room with me. If I had been sick and confined to my room, it is not very likely that he would have for?otten it. He came to Washington a stranger, to take his seat on the 30th of April, 1842, and occupied the same room with me. Now, if his collea^ie had been sick on that occasion, and he left to make his way into the Senate without the attention which genilemen thus situated exjiect from their colleagues, to intro- duce himself to members of that body, and make himself acquainted with the various pariiculai-s neces- .«ary to be known, it couki not have escaped his recollection. Durine this period was the Ashburton dinner, with respect to which Gov. Crafts was catechized at Montpelier, which must have occurred on the 6th or 7ili. But Mr. Slade says, "that Governor Crafus has '■'■ eiUirdy forgotten Mr. P.'s absence from the Senate the greater part of the first twelve days in May," and " it c^uinot he supposed that he would retain a very distinct recolleeiioii as to his condition during that time." Now, 1 pronounce the story of my absence from the Senate, and the insinuation as to my condilhm, an absolute and unriuiilified fal.se- liood, coined by ^Villi.nn Slade, wiih the wd to e\tri(.at(^ himself from the fal.sehuod he had previously told in r< lation to my sickne: s on the Hill. lie knew well that the first of May was a 21 period ulien little was done in CoiuTess, and seir.ed upon tliis period to esrape dfteoiiou. At the mo- ment when I am writing, (IJOth April,) the desks and seats ot' the nicmljers of the House of Represenla- lives are removed from the Hall, and the carpets lorn up, and the Senate have adjourned to Monday for the same ])urpose, to wit, the cleaning of the chambers. Yet he is contradicted in his statement by no less than four witnesses. . But he adds an insinuation that Governor C. had also forgotten my coiulilion. Governoi C. is a man not only of correct habits, but coirecl senlimenls; and is it to be believed that, if, on iiis arrival at Wasli- in°ton, he had found his colleague in u rondUlon disreputable to himself and the State he represented, the Governor would not have fell and remembered it? But I have not yet done with Atr. Slade on this point. Dr. Sewall's account shows, as the fact was, that he never visited me at Brown's. So far, then, ns respects the ultimate purpose of this statement, to wit, the cause of my sickness, no information could be got from him. It is a little curious that Slade sliould cliarge Governor C. with forgetting. Did not he forget where lie locates the sickness on the Hill, in July? Does he not, afier finding himself contradicted by the J(jurnals, admit that he was juiiffffcen? Is not his statement of the sickness at Brown's an afto-thcuffht? And does he even venture upon it until he has examined the Journal to see whether it is so/'p to remember ? And, last of all, is it not proved by tlie testimony of Gov. Crafts, Mr. Morse, the two Browns, and by Sewall's account, that this new version of the story — this cm'rected recollection — is as gross and vile a fabnca- tion as tlu other ? It is sickening to see a man thus floundering in tlie mire — sinking himself deeper and deeper in infamy by every struggle. But let us follow out the Governor's statement. After saying that I was confined to mv lodgings for several weeks, he goes on to state that lie learnt from Sewall, " of whom he mmle occasional inquiries as ta Mr. Plielps^ condition, that his ill health was the effect of excessive drinking;" and he says, that, al- though he may be " mistaken as to the dnralion of his sickness, he is not as to the cause of it." He says further, that I do not deny the cause of my sickness, but " spend my whole force in attempting to esta- blish the immaterial point that it was not of several weeks duration." Here is falsehood No. 21. Wliat does he mean, when, on the same page with the foregoing, he quotes my language a.s to " one morefalse- Iwod exposed," in reference to tliis very assertion. But he wrote for those who had •' never seen the Sen- ator's book, and never would;" and therefore he represents me as admittins; a statement to which I apply the language, " one mwe falsehood exposed.''^ Again, do I not, in my Apjieal, refer to the testimony of Governor Crafts as clearing me absolutely from this imputation ? What, then, does Mr. Slade mean by saying that I do not deny it? But what is his statement? Why, that during the several weeks sickness be occasionally inquired of Sewall, &c. Now, I have shewn that Dr. Sewall visited me first on Sunday, the 17th, and also on the 18th and TJth. On the 20th, the Journal shews me in my place in the Senate. Now, as we are to sup- pose that a man of Mr. Slade's piety was at his devotions on the Sabbath, instead of mousing about tO' pick up scandal about me, he had only forty-eight hours, from Monday morning to Wednesday, to make his occasional inquiries. How often, during these forty-eight hours, did Mr. Slade make these occasional in<]inries ? Does not the reader perceive that the whole story is of the same manufacture ? That, when he states that I was confined for several iceehs, and during that period he made occasional in- quiries of Dr. Sewall, and it turns out that these occ(L'!ionai inquiries must have been made during forty- eight hours, the whole story is absurd and ridiculous? But he endeavors to make out, in contradiction to his first statement, that a part of this sickness was at " Brown^s tavern.'''' I supjiose this was a part of the time when he made these occasional inquiries of Sewall, and yet it turns out that I was never sick a day at iJroion's, and Sewall never v'lsited me there. Bat let us follow iiim a little further. He applies to Dr. Sewall to sustaiji him in his assertion as to the cause of my sickness. The Dr. refuses to be catechised on the subject, and not content with that furnishes me with his certificate that the statement of Mr. Slade is altogether unauthorized by him. Here is falsehood No. 22. The Doctor denying altogether having authorized the assertion. But Mr. Slade having applied to Dr. Sewall for testimony to sujiport him, and meeting witli a rebuff proceeds at once to ai-gue that, if the Doctor could answer without implicating me, he would have done so. He takes the same course as to Judge Prentiss. Now the simple truth is, that neither Dr. Sewall, nor Judge Prentiss, nor Gov. Mattocks, nor Mr. Everett, would degrade themselves by a response to these inquiries of Gov. Slade. They have an utter contempt for the whole business. Mr. Prentiss threw the letter of the committee into the fire, and never deigned a response in any shape. Gov. Mat- tocks and Mr. Everett did in substance the same thing. If any body wishes to know the sentiments of these gentlemen on the subject, they are referred to tlmm ; and they will probably find that each of tliose gentlemen are at this moment my personal friends and supporters. They have the honor of Vermont as much at heart ns Wm. Slade ; and if they thought that Vermont was dishonored by my course at Wash- ington, they would be as ready to say so. As to Dr. Sewall, he was a man of sufficient discernment to know tliat if he answered such an inquiry in one case, he must in another ; and if he answered in one case and refused in another, the .same infer- ence would be drawn which Mr. Slade has drawn in this case. His professional rule would amount to nothing. If he was intimate with Slade, he had sufficient discernment to know the man, and to under^ stand the object of his inquiry. I know enough of Sewall to know that he would spurn indignantly such an appeal to liim. But as he knew Wm. Slade, and knew well what use he would make of hi3 (Sewall's) refusal to submit to be catechised on such a subject, he took care, before he went to his grave, to furnish me with the written declaration that the statement of Gov. Slade was unmithoriztd by him. This he could do with propriety. And yet this same Wm. Slade, in the face of this declaration by 22 Sewall, insists that the inference tVom Se wall's aversion to dis;5race liiinself by listening to Slade'3 ap- plication is against me. The next assertion is, that «'Gov. Crafts told (me) Slade that lie advised Mr. Phelps to leave Brtnvn'a." Knowing Wrn. Slade well, I understood well that there was an insidious meanin"- in this. In 'his reply hf huldly avows this meaning, and say.s, that " Gov. Crafts told me at the lime that he advised Mr. P. to leave Brown's /or the reason su^^estetl, and added, i/Mj P. reiniin-ed at Brourn^s he wmUd Tuin himself.^' I pronounce this falsehood No. ^3 ; and refer again for proof tii Gov. Crafts' testimony and leave the reader to judge for himself whether Gov. C. oould have made any such statement. But Mr. Slade says that " Gov. C. is mistaken as to the lime when my stateinent rcpre.sents him to i have advised Mr. P. to leave Brown's," &c. " It was not, as his letter supposes, soon after his arrival at Washington, which was on the 30th of April, but it wa.s when Mr. P. actually left Brown's, &.C., : which was, a.s he states, on the ISth of June, twelve days after his return from Vermont." " It wa.i i during these twelve days that matters got into such a stale at Brown's, as to make it proper for the Gov- , ernor to advise Mr. Phelps to remove," &c. Here is falsehood No. '2i. Gov. C. refers to no particu- ; lar period when he advi.sed Mr. P. to leave Brown's, and if he did, his ^fiieral statement, to which I have so ot'ten referred, if believed, gives the lie to this assertion. But as Mr. Slade has .seen lit to again change his ground, and after having changed the jjeriod of sickness from July to May, now fixes it in June, I will call other witnesses than Gov. Crofts 1 returned from Vermont on the 6th of June, and on the 18lh removed to the hill. Now a w )rd as to these " i'j days." On the 7th of June, it appears from the journals that I was in my place to the vt-ry momi>nt of .adjournment. On the Sih, was in my place. On the !)th, I voted twelve times on the call of the ayes and noes, and was present to ihe very moment of adjournment. On the lOih, I voted nine times-, and was present to the time of adjournment. On the 12th and 13th, the next days on which the Senate was in session, I was present, and took pai-t in the discussi.m of the bill for the relief of the representatives of Silas Deane. On the 14th I was present, and voted on the only call made that day. On the 15th I was present, and voted every time the ayes and noes were called. On the Ifiih, I was .ilsj preseit to the close of the session — also, on the 17th. And on the 18ih, the very day on which I left Brown's, I wis present, and on this day engaged in the discussion of the Choctaw tretity, referred to by Mr. .Manguni in his letter. Now, let me contrast the declaration of Mr. Slade, who represents me as ruining myself with the testimony of Mr. Man^uni, then president of the Senate. Speaking of this very debate, and the subject of it, he says: " Ihave long regarded those claims (under the Choctaw treaty) as the most complicated, intricate, aiid difficult, that could be presented, and ;us enveloped and barricaded by the mo.st inofenious, and I may add, stu- pendous frauds that I have witnessed in my public life. The severe labor and eminent ability which Mr. P. brought 10 these questions, and the fearless manner in which he exposed them, enhanceil, I think, greatly his reputation for legal ability and acumen ; and also for a firm and unshrinking moral courage in the di.scharge of his Senatorial duties." Now, let the reader contrast the statement of Gov. Slade, on the one hand, that at the very moment when this debate was going on I was ruining my.self, with the tcsiim my of Gov. Crafts and Air. Man- gum, on the other, and judge for himself as to the anxiety of Mr. Slade for to the " honor of Vermont ' And let him judge, also, of the temper and spirit wliicii could induce Mr. Slade to utter a statement so e.xplicilly contradicted by the testimony of Mr. Mangum. In my apjied I refer to my laljirs on th; several oainittees of t'le Senate as showing that, so far from being disqualified for the duties of my station, I performed more labor during that session than any other member of that body. I advert to it here for t!ie purpj.se of e.vp,)sin2: another willful lalsehood of Mr. SI ide. I stated that 1 had mad'-, beiwce:i the 31 of January and the ild of March, fifty-two reports from various committees, and the truth-telling Governor says that the "printed documents'' show but firty-eight. I was in error so far as this, ihe journal shows but fifty-one. But to show th.e trickery of Mr. Slade, it is necessary to give the following explanation: The reports were not all printed; the Joitnin/ shows fifty-one to have been made; Slade had had that journal ui his hand, but finding that the printed documents did not show them all, he cunnin'j:ly drops the journal and takes up the dvcumtnts, and very gravely asserts what he knew to be false, that " the truth rests entirely in the printed documents, to which Mr. P. professes to refer for evidence, and which he must have had before him." Here are two fidschoods, J^os. 25 and 2G. Mr. Slade knew that the journal of that session shows several reports made by me which were not printed, which journal he had before him, as he repeatedly refers to it ; and the only, reason for his citing the '■'■documeiits" instead of the jouriud is, that he must have discovered the difl'erence. The other falsehood is this : I did not refer to the printed d icuments for evidence, but to the ^^ printed jmirmd and documents." Again: 1 stated that during the session I made about 80 reports, filling over iwo hundred pages of the printed documents. I did not advert to the fact that these reports were noi all |iririied. In a number of cases they were upon bills from the House, when, if the fomiiiillee agree with the House, it is not usual to make a wriiien report. Still the labor of examining the case is to be performed, altho\i2^h the labor of a written report is saved. On t'urther examination of the journal, I find that, instead of eighty re|)Ort.s, as stated before, I made more than that number — eighty- six, if 1 count right — and such a^ were printed occupy two hundred and four pages of the printed docu- ments. The Governor gravely says, thai "it is well enough to have the irutli stated," and insinuates that I have misstated, although I had the " documents" before me. The pitiful juggle of substituting the documents, which show but a part of these reports, for the journal, which shows all, is characteristic of the man, and will enable the public to jud^, not only of the temper euid spirit witli which he preferred the.se charges, but of the credit to be attached to his siatements. After all, it is a little laughable to hear Wm. Slade cavilling on this subject. He was in Congre.ss, I belitve. twelve years; and yet if, during that time, he made a single report from any committee, 1 have yet to leaiii what It was. 1 couinicnd liiiii tn i\ii cxaiiuiiaiioii of ilie journals niid (Icjcuiiiciils of the House 1(1 see if he can find a single re]Uirt iifhi.s while he was a nieniher of that body. Mr. Slude, however, has discovered thai, fmin the 13th A|inl to the ;27ih of July, I made no reports wiialever ; and he asks why my lalmr was suspended durin;;: three j/irn/Zw and a half. He knows as well as I. But as the public may not, I wdl inform tiiem. I'he business wliieli orig.nated in the Senate had been disposed of. (See Mr. Mangum's letter.) In consequence of my being on so many conmiittees, 1 was favored about making reports from the Committees on Claims and Pensions. The committee of whicli I was cliairman had despatdied everything before it before 1 left for Vermont. I was absent till the 6th of June. After my return the business before the other committees was light, until bills came in from the House, towards the latter ]>art of the session, when business pressed, and I was called on again. Af- ter this [ made not merely fifteen reports, as he says, but thirty, as the journal shows, principally from the Committees on Claims and Pensions, by both of which I had been favored as to making reports, during the earlier part of the session, on account of my engagements on other committees. I believe I have now answered all Mr. Slade's assertions, unless it be that to whicli he seems to at- tacli so much importance, the conduct which he imputes to me at the boarding liouses — at Mrs. Pit- man's and Mrs. Smith's. I ''ave, in my Appeal, reasons which, I think, all sensible men will deem sufficient, for not following liim into this system of espionage into my private life. I have other reasons yet to present. To be sure he breaks out into a tirade about my " claim ; that all investigation into my conduct, except what is strictly otTicial, is an unwarrantal)le inriuisition into my private life." This is falsehood No. 27. I made no such claim, and my Appeal show.s it. Again : He says that " the rooms about the Capitol, and even the Setiate chamber, becon e transformed by his presence into the sanctuaries of private life." Here is falsehood No. 28. He knew well that my remarks on this subject had reference only to the pitiful scandal he had put forth in relation to my conduct in the families in which I resided. (Sec my Appeal, page 14.) Does he mean the rooms around the Senate chamber, and that chamber itself, when he speaks of Mrs. Pitman's and Mrs. Smith's boarding houses.' But these charges are only a specification of the general charges of intemperance, which finds its way into every paragraph he writes. I thought it sufficient to meet the charge generally, and to show the utter falsity of such of his statements as could, with decency and propriety, be made a topic of discussion. But as to the general charge of intemperance, he has the impudence to say I do not deny it. "He rather avoids it, by excluding from his Appeal that part of my reply to the committee which contains it." Here are two more falsehoods — 29 and 30. If the reader will turii to page 14 of my Appeal he will find this very charge of Mr. Slade mentioned and commented upon. I even quote his words as to the 2d session of the 27th Congress. Again, on the 16th page, I quote his language about my sickness for sev- eral weeks, under tlie ca^re of Sewall, &c. This is one falsehood. The other is the assertion that I do not deny it ! For what purpose does he suppose I quoted the testimony of Governor Crafts on this .subject? For what purpose did I convict him of absolute falsehood in his statement of my sickness on the Hill, by proof from the journal .' For what purpose did I refer to the certificate given me by Sewall showing the falsehood about Sewall's statement to him .' For what purpose did I advert to the pretence that Governor Crafts had advised me to leave Brown's, and show, by Governor C, that this was a fab- rication? For what purpose did I advert to the mass of labor which I performed that session, and the testimony of Mr. Mangum ? For wha tpurpose was all this, except to disprove the charge ? What, in- deed, did I mean by the expression, " One more falsehood exposed," with whicli 1 introdu<;ed the certi- ficate of Sewall? But Mr. Slade wrote for those " who had never seen the Senator's book, and never would," and therefore felt at liberty to utter this egregious falsehood. Further, for what juirpose does he suppose 1 have now exposed his new falsehoods on this point — his attempt to deceive the jniblic in relation to the journals of the Senate — his new-coined falsehood about my sickness at Brown's, in May, with respect to which he is decidedly contradicted — and the other gratuitous falsehoods about the twelve days in June? Perhaps he will insist, after all this exposure of his recklessness, that 1 do not mean now to deny it. It is true I did not quote what he had to say about Mrs. Pitman's and Mrs. Smith's. I did not intend to go into a discussion of such gossip, because I held it in contempt. No man who respects himself would descend to asking certificates of gentlemen or ladies with whom he boarded on such a subject. There are other reasons why I need not go into it. I have already shown all his statements on this subject to be utterly false ; and having thus thoroughly discredited him, it is unnecessary to go into the family circle for proof. I have shown his story about the several weeks' sickness and confinement to my lodgings to be utterly false by the journals of the Senate, and by Dr. Sewall's account ; I have shown his second story about the sickness at Brown's, in May, to be a sheer fi^brication, by the testimony of Gov. Crafts, Mr. Morse, and Messrs. Brown, and by Sewall's account; I have shown by Gov. Crafts the falsity of the story about his advising me to leave Brown's for the reason suggested ; I have shown by Sewall's wrilfen declaration the utter falsity of the representation iis to what Sewall is said to have told him as to the cause of my sickness ; I have proved by Gov. Crafts that his general declaration as to my habits during the long session of the 27th Congress, is absolutely untrue. Mr. Slade says my in- toxication was "observable by all who associated with" me, and that " this was more apparent during the long session of the 27th Congress." Gov. Crafts .says that he assoeiated with me daily, and he never saw anythins of the kind. Ajain, he asserts that I was under the influence of liquor on tlie even- ing of the passage of the tariff. Gov. C. saw me that evenin?, and if such had been the case, would have discovered it as well as Mr. Slade. The diflference between them is, that the former would manu- facture no such story about me ; the latter had his object in doing so. He affects to rely upon what he calls the exhibition I made of myself before Mr. Craniton Let tiie reader look at the story of Cranston, 34 and see if there be any evidence m that story, if true, to sustain Uie charge. If he relies upon tlic ui- consisteiicy of my declaration to Cranston witli my course on tliat occasion, and my language at the time to others, let me remind him that this very inconsistency rendered the story of Cranston improba- ble. Let the reader advert also to the testimony of the members of the Senate on tliis point. Now, after all this, can it be deemed necessary for rne to collect testimony to disprove mere hearsjiy, which he in his zeal picks up and propagau-s? He talk.s of his statement about my intemperance at Mrs. Pitman's. What is that statement? It was this: ^^ It was often said in my hearins; that he was," &,c. Now, he does not pretend to know anything of the matter, except from hearsay. He does not as- sert the fact from his own knowledge ; and lie knows as well as 1 that mere hearsay is no evidence. As he has gravely put forth this charge under circumstances of peculiar aggravation, it is his business to prove it, and not mine to disprove it. He seems to think that if he can pick up a gossiping story to my prejudice, even if it be manufactured in his own family, that it becomes hallowed by passing through his perverted intellect, and must be taken to be true, unless I disprove it. Where did he get his notions of the rules of evidence.' He very gravely refers me to my ftllow-boarders, and names Judge Prentiss, Messrs. Everett, Mattocks, and Young, who he says are in Vermont, and within my reach. Now 1 happen to know that Judge Prentiss was addressed by the committee, who acted under the worthy Gov- ernor's auspices — threw tlieir letter into the fire, and never deigned to answer it. This sliows his opin- ion of the propriety of such an inquisition. I also know tliat Mr. Slade has addressed Governor MiU- tocks, Mr. Everett, and Mr. Young, to obtain evidence to support his charges, and some of them more than once. If he had got any thiiig from them he would have given it to the public. But he has got nothing. Having invaded the domestic circle to which I belonged, and charged me with conduct there offensive to the females, some of whom he names — having done this upon mere rumor, and having in Tain endeavored to obtain evidence from that circle to sustain him, he then gravely refers me to those gentlemen, iis irilhin my reach, for testimony. Does he expect me to sanction tlie meanness of such a |uo- ceediii"', by resorting to these gentlemen and joining in a commission to take testimony : Is it notenough for ine that he has put forth charges, of the truth of which he knows nothing, and in support of which he cannot obtain the smallest particle of testimony r By what rule of evidence am I required to put my- self upon the defensive, after he has applied to those who may be supposed to know, and hfis failed ut- terly to get a syllable of proof to sustain him .' I cannot admit that I am under obligation to take testimony to refute every floating slander that he may pick up. He has appeared before the public as an accuser and prosecutor ; let him prove his assertions. He is much mistaken if he supposes, after what the public have witnessed of his malice and his false- hoods, that they will take his hearsay for proof. As to what was '" so often said in his heai-ing," in re- ference to Mrs. Pitman's, he does not tell us by whom it was .said. My knowledge of circumstances en- ables me to judge very satisfactorily as to the source from which this inforniation came. Tliere is a very prolific source of such valual)le information very near the Governor's person, and in the peraon of the Governor's nearest earthly connexion. Those who have been olcst with a taste of the waters whicli flow from that source, will readily comprehend that such things are ojten said in his presewe. After what they have witnessed of her etibrts to traduce me, I believe they will agree with me, that if she can be si- lent oil this topic in her hours of retirement, and in the presence of her husband alone, it is the only ))lace on earth where her tongue is at rest. Does he expect me to take aflidavit.s to disprove all she may say .•' He knows, as well as 1 do, that all the scriveners in the country could not keep pace with the unruly tongue of a tennagant woman. "While these slanders are daily concocted under his own roof, and daiiv put forth, obtruded ujion all ears, without regard to time, or place, or circumstance, does he imagine that' I have no better employment than to Imsy myself with mimitc and formal contradiction? Nay, is he not aware that the motive to these ravings is too well understood by the public, an I the source from which theii conic is too con-eclly estimated, torendersuch contradiction necessary ? 1 have now done with the Governor's charges. I believe 1 have proved them utterly groundless and false. The only panicle of testimony which he is alile to produce, af'ter strenuous effort-s for that pur- pose, is the statement of Mr. Cranston. The reader will perceive, if he looks at the testimony of Conrad, of White of Indiana, of Porter of Michigan, and others, that at the very moment when Cranston represents me as swearing that 1 would not vote for the t^iriftbill, I was ex|»ressing an anxiety for its passage, and reprobating the course of ius friends in endangering its pas.sage ity an unscji-sonablc debate ; for it will be borne in mind that Conrad speaks of my coui-se bct'ore leaving the chamber, as well as after ; and it appears from all the evidence that I let't with Mr. Conrad in a very lew minuica after the supposed dialogue with Oansion — Slade says fifteen or twenty- A word as to the attempt of Mr. Slade to rid himself of the imputation of being an interested and partial witness. 1 did represent him as a candidate for my place. With how much truth, those who had read his reply c^ui judire. This, he says, is a misrepresentation, because, he says : " I did not reply trithont infilnnt; up my mind, and dectarins; to several of my friends that tlie rqtly would place me in a position in which I could not crpert to Ur uii^nl as a ciindidate for the Senate.'" And agam : " To all practical purposes I ceased to be a candidate from the very momcntl replied to the committee.''^ It seems, then, that he was a can- es — to foii'i^o a pur|iosc upon which his licart had been lout: set — and tins, as he represents, by llic inaaagciucnl uf my friemls. At ihiii in lucnt, c\a. . I>lf- fiini to present l.iinseh'as a witness. But Ids ''means of defence" — "the evidence presented," by his reply. Wiiat are those means — tliat . > dence? The only rvidencc presented is that of Cranston. As to his'favorite tonic, which exudes in every paragraph, it is left witliout the least attempt at proof. Not a word is to be found in it of evidence of my I "intemperance" in 1842; but he repe:its his charges over and over again, in liie face of the most conclu- sive evidence to the contrary, and very gravely calls it ''evideiue presented. '' To be sure he publishes the .statements of Ezra Mead and Chas. Adorns, one referring to 1841, and the other to 1844, and wliich were alrccidy before the public, but forgets to tell the public that the convention who had the statements before them, a-s well as tlie testimony of several gentlemen, who knew as much aljout the matter as Meach or Adams, atuxched as little credit to their statements as they did to those of Wm. Slade. As to Meach and Adams, I having nothing to add to what I said of tliem in my appeal. For the ben- efit, however, of those "who have never seen the appeal and never will," it may be well to suite, that Ezra Marsh was disposed of by the admitted fact that, notwithstanding wiiat he pretends to have ob- served in 1841, he openly and decidedly advocated my re-election down to the summer of 1844, more than three years afterwards, and was only induced to lend himself to the conspiracy, at the last moment, by a delci^ation from the Burlington clique, who had the adroitness to operate upon his weakness. Charles Adams had not only contradicted his own statements in repeated instances, as is shown by the testimony of Gen. Nash and Mr. Fletcher, but had given the lie to all his slanders by gravely proposing, after all, to make me chief justice of the Sup. Court. As to exposure, the public will judge who is exposed. Whether I am exposed most by the outpouring of Wm. Slade's gall, or he most by the exhibition of his falsehoods, is a question for them. In my judgment his nakedness is exposed, so that all the professions in the w6rld will never cover it. The "mortification," however, is explained, "as Mr. P. is still one qfits Sauitors.''\ No doubt Mr. Slade is mor- tified. In his opinion, too, the people of Vermont would be more honored by having for their represen- tative in the Senate, what is commonly called here, the spil-box. But I think it very doubtful whether they would agree witli him; and, I may be permitted to say, that it will probably be a great rchile beft>re they will do themselves that honor. Of the general tone and character of the Governor's book, I have little to say. It speaks in this res- pect for itself. Its talsehoods and misrepresentations I have already exposed. Of its reasoning, if rea- soning it can be called, I will give one example, which will sulficc for the whole. It will be observed that "the committee" inquire for instances in which Mr. P., "without sufficient causes neglected his appropriate duties." In answer to this, .Mr. Slade and Mr. Hall bring forward th.- charge about the distribution bill in 1841, set forth in Mr. Hall's letter. In mv appeal I adduce the evi- dence of the journal of the Senate, showing that I voted 59 times upon the call of the ayes and noes on that bill, and on every occasion when my vote was important, and that I voted for its tinal passage. I add that the "journals of the Senate give the lie to all pretence of a dereliction of duty,'' &c.. How docs Mr. Slade get along with this? AVhy, in the first place, lie interpolates an invention of his own about mv being "seen to and taken care of,'' and then abandons the charge of dereliction of duty, and flies off with his u.sual rant about a Senator "getting mad," and "drinking liquor," &c., &c. Now, no man who reads my appeal can fliil to see that the journal is cited as shewing that there was no omission of duty. Mr. Slade felt the force of it. He could not answer it, but runs off as usual upon his favorite topic, which I discussed in another part of my book, as if the journal was adduced for a dil- ferent pnrjiose. This, indeed, is the chai-acler of his whole book; whenever he is pressed wiih the evi- dence on any point, he sings out 'intemperance' — 'intemperance' — a topic about which he has told lies enough to discredit him forever. And, then, when he comes to that part of my appeal in which I ex- pose his false statements on that subject, he very gravely asserts, for the benefit of those '-who have never seen the Senator's book and never will," that I do not deny it. Again, he disjoints my argument, applies expressions made with reference to one subject to another, and fhus misrepresents nie through- out. For instance, wlien I endeavored to show, in answer to my supposed dereliction of duty, that no harm was or could be done in reference to the tariff bill, he flies off again in the same caniiiig strain, and very gravely draws this very wise inference that "it seems never to have entered his head that his con- stituents and the country have an interest in his moral character and conduct.'' This is what I call j.ettifog','^- ing — and of the worst stamp — because it involves a falsehood. He knew when he perused that passage that I used the expression in reference, not to his general charjjes against my moral character, but to the specific charge of neglect of duty. The book is full of this sort of trickery, but I will not pursue this topic. I do not deem it necessary to reply to Mr. Slade's invective and general abuse, much less to his com- ments bpon conduct which he imputes to me. Having shewn the statements upon which he founds his re- marks to be a vile and malicious fabrication of his own, I leave him to all the consolation and all tin- credit which lie can derive from his hypocritical commentary. If he imajines that he has gained any thing by his tirade about the f.r/i;/)i/io»i I made of myself in the Senate chamber — " the honor of Ver- m.ini"— " the horrible and terrific sublimity" of the " Senator's wrath," kSrc, &c.— let me remind him that the people of Vermont will look, but look in vain, in the evidence presented to them, for the slightest authority or justification for it ; and if astonishment and disgust be excited, it will be at the reckleJsnesjj and infatuation of the man, who, while holding the hi^'h station to which they had so reluctantly pro- moted him, could be so regardless of his oirn honor aiul their honor, as to exhibit to them and to the world such a specimen of shameless disresjard for all (he dictates of truth and decency. While he is in- rtictmu: upon tluni and upon me his moral lectures, they can not fail to apply his comments to the case of .1 li;ill..u pr. t. mil r lo piriy and superior sanciiiy, who ir» thus ilrK.nd and r\[in-^'d. ^\'\\rn he t.ilks 27 «l" tlic iiiriiience of exixuiplu " upon tlic young, whose principles and diameters are forming: for future life," ihcy will be apt to think of the example of such a " leader in Israel," and its influence upon llie yoiins professor ; and they will be apt to remind him that the efiect of a man's exam])lc is £rciicrally most discernible in his own household ; and after the illustration \vc have had of his pious and tnUhful ex- ample there, they will be prone to advise him to make as fcto comparisom as possible. If Mr. Slade supposes that 1 am disturbed by bis book, or regret its ajipearance, he is gTOS.sly deceived. If any thing were wanting to exhibit to the world the tenii^cr, and spirit, and i)urpose, with winch ins assaults have been made ujion me, this outpouring of his gall will, I think, be satisfactory to all. No man can wade through its pages without perceiving that the man who c;in inflict such a performance upon a sensible community, is utterly incapable of either truth or justice towards mc. Whoever read.s it, will see the origin of tlie famous'invcstigatinn at Montpelicr, and the utter want of all pretension to credibility in the principal witness. The candid and enlightened reader will see in it more to counteract and disarm the vile slander in his communication to the " committee," than in all the comments which I can make, or even in the united testimony of the whole Senate. Those who have not known him as I have, and who are ])rone to judge of men by their jirofessions, may indeed be surprised at the exhibition he has made of himself; but those who have long been aw'are of the rottenness within the whitcd sepul- chre, and who have learnt from observation that Ihe most guarded hypocrisy sometimes overleaps and betrays itself, will find no occasion for wonder. It may seem to some extraordinary, that any man hav- ing pretension to respectability or standing, more especially a candidate for public confidence and favor —an everlasting candid ite for office— should betray to the world the base motives by which he is actua- ted, and the ut^er disreH:ard of decency or truth which marks his course. But let such men consider that long familiarity with devious courses, especially if successful, generates an overweaning and fatal confideifce. The ro2;ue, who has long depredated upon his fellow men without detection, presumes, at last, too much upon his adroitness, and falls a victim to his ov.-n over-confidence ; and the man who has succeeded in deceiving the world by arrogant, bold, and clamorous professions of piety, is prone to de- ceive himself at last; "and, in the end, ra.shly to rend the veil by the attempt to make it cover too much. If such an emanation from any man having pretensions to respectability is calculated to excite .surprise , the consideration that this compound of malignity and falsehood comes from an arrogant pretender to superior sanctity — from one who trumpets from the house-top his professions of cluTstian charity and benevolence — of patience and submission to the ills of life, and of forbearance and forgiveness toward.s enemies, or supposed enemies, is calculated to excite a very difierent feeling. If there be any thing at ■which the human mind and the human heart revolts, it is this disgusting contrast between such practice and such professions. The indulgence of such depraved and grovelling passions, under the garb of chris- tian pretensions, exhibits poor human nature in its most degraded aspect. To see the professing chris- tian, who pretends to be governed by the spirit and precepts of the gospel, fabricating the most malig- nant falsehoods to the injury of his neighbor— falsehoods which have neither proof nor plausibility to sustain them — for which neither apology nor execuse can be found, and no motive can be assigned, but the gratification of the worst and most degrading passions, goes further than anything else to excite a doubt of the genuineness of even Christianity itself. To see this done, moreover, under the impudent pretence of a sense of duty, when the pretender must be conscious that he is following, not the example of his master, but that of the unclean spirit* whose peculiar characteristic is said to be, that he is "a liar from the beginning," is by no means calculated to abate our astonishment or diminish our disgust.. We are led mvoluntarily to inquire how such an incongruity can subsist in the human bosom, and what must be the sensations of such a man when he approaches the throne of mercy with the prayer to be forgiven " as he forgives,'" or when he lurks about the altar with the language of devotion on his lips and the dagger of the assassin in his sleeve. Familiarity, however, will reconcile a man to almost anything^ Judas "himself, probably, partook of the last supper with as much gusto as the true friends of his Lord. And the practice of hypocrisy, from the days of Judas to the present, has tended to harden the heart and' blunt the moial sensibilities, till the hypocritical pretender becomes insensible to enormities front which the man of less arrogant pretensions would shrink with horror. Mr Slade thinks it a pity that I disregard advice. Let me give him mine. He may not like the source from whence it comes, but I believe his truly religious friends will commend it to his attention. Let him, instead of troubling himself with my morals, /wfc u-iassage of any bill without the "distri- bution chiuse," as it was c;Uled. I am unable to say wlunlicr you were one of thai number. But I am quite sure, we had not a mure decided tariff man in the Senate tluui youiself, and I am not aware of any indisposition or lelucUmce on your part to vote for the bill when it cainr fnnu the IIoMse. In sliort, I Imvc no recollection of any thing in your conduct on that occasion, which tends to inii>licatc your cha- racter as a jmblic man, or evince any indisposition on your part to the faithful discharge of your public duly. Very truly, yours. Hon. S. S. PiiELi-V. .N. 1'. TALLMADUli 31 No. 7. — Hon. .7. S. Porter, rf Michigan. Wasiiinctos, Dercmlcr 20, 1?44. Dear Sir: Haviii£: been of the number of Wlii£;;s in the Senate wlio \vere most anxious for the pnss- ao-e of the tarilf l)ill of 184-2, (witliout reference to the land distribution section, against whicli Mr. Tyler had opposed the insuperable barrier of the veto,) I have a very distinct recollection of the obsUicles to be overcome in order to accomplish that object It is certainly matter of surprise to me to learn that you have been suspected in any quarter of a want of fidelity to that measure. The sin2;le and only dans^er that threatened the bill, as is well known screw out of an unwillingness of a portion of the Whigs to yield the land clause. It was to meet and overcome this, that tlie eiforts of the friends of the bifl were di- rected. Nme Whigs were known to l)e;igainst it. Not all of these, however, were so on account of the ab-sence of the " land section." But there were two others, who had indicated a purpose to vote agixinst it for that cause alone. The position of these eleven gentlemen was well known, (as indeed was that of every otiier member,) and it was therefore evident that the measure must be lost unless a portion of them would yield. Those two and those only did yield, and by their votes, together with. those of four members of the opposite partv, we succeeded In carrying it by a majority of one. You were always ac- counted one of the earliest and most reliable friends of the bill. Indeed, I never heard your position .se- riously questioned. I well remember, however, that when the yeas and nays were being Uiken on the question of engrossment, (as they always are in alphabetical order,) you were not in your seat to re- spond. But Talso well recollect, that other members were out when their names were called. This practice is very common, pending a debate that has been long protracted. On such occasions it is not uncommon for nearly liaif the members to be in the adjoining rooms, but always within the call of the messengers of the House. The cause of your absence at the moment, I supposed to be the same which operated on others — an impatience to sit under what was deemed a wanton consumption of time in de- bate, at that late day, in one of ihe longest sessions of Congress ever held. I have no knowledge what- ever of your having uttered a threat, that you would either vote against the bill or withliold your vote ; but as 1 sat next you, I had occasion frequently to notice indications of much irritation on your part from the cause I have mentioned. I do not believe this feeUng was stronger with you than with many others, although your outward manifestations may have been more apparent than theirs. There were many circumstances of a minor character attending the progress of the bill in the Senate, of which I have only'a general recollection, that were well calculated to try the patience of those who from the first were the warmest friends of the protective policy. I know of no one, who seemed to feel the severity of this test more than yourself. Very respectfully, dear sir, your obedient servant, Hon. S. S. Pheli's. A. S. PORTER. No. 8. — Mtssrs. jMilkr mid Dayton, of Xew Jersey. SE>fATE Chamber, .Tamtary 6th, 1845. Dear Sir; In answer to your note of the 19th ult., I have the honor to say, that I have no knowledge of your refusing to vote for, or expressing a purpose of either withholding your vote, or of voting a^nst the tariff bill of 1842. I know you were present at the passage of the" bill, acting in concert with its friends. There were some expressions of dissatisfaction at the prolongation of the debate, and you, with others, niEUiifested impatience for the final vote to be taken; but I discovered no disposition on your part to vote against a measure, of which I know you to be a warm and decided advocate and friend. With much respect and esteem, I remain, yours, &c. J. W. MILLER. Hon. Samuel S. Phelps. I concur in the above. WM. L. DAYTON, No. 9. — Hon. Richurd H. Bayard, of Delaware. Senate Chamber, Janiianj llh, 184.", Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of the 19th ult., I have the honorto sUite, tliat I have no recollection of any opposition on your part to the tariff act of 1842, nor of any expressions of dissatisfaction by you in relation to it. On "the contrary, my impression is, that the measure received your sincere and cordial Yoiirs, truly, • RICHARD H. BAYARD. support Hon. S. S. Phelps, U. S. Senator, IVashington. No. 10. — Hon. Thomas Clayton, of Delaware. Washixgtov, December 27//t, 1844. Dear Sir : Your note is before me reauesting my recollection of the events of the evening on which ilie present tariff act of 1842 was passed, ana you request me to state the relative position of our £eat.s in the Senate. You and I sit at the same line of desks, and there is but one intermediate seat between us. After a long and tedious discussion of the tarilf bill, when almost every one had become wearied with the discussion, and when all were anxious for tlie question, late in the evening Mr. Woodbridge rose to speak. Soon after several members left their seats. Among these I remember Mr. Wright, Mr. Wil- liams, and yourself. ^Ir. Woodbridn:e spoke a much shnrter time than was expected, and as soon as he took his seat the question was put, and the roll was called. Mr. Wrl'_'ht and Mr. SVilliams came in after the roll had been called through, but before the result was announced by the chair, and at their re- quest their names were called, and they voted. When you voted there was nothing in the manner of jivmi; your vol.- which drew mv atiention. ft may be' well to slate the u's.ige which prevails in the 32 Snwvte 111 reference to this matter cf voting. When the roll is called and a member does not answer, after the roll has been gone tlirough the Secretary never calls him again, but at /lis t«r»i request. I have never seen this usaoe departed from, and it is founded on the obvious presumption, that the member not having answered when the roll was called, declines to vote. Hence 1 infer, that when you returned to your place your name must have been called at your own request. During the whole discussion of tiiis bill, I looked upon you as one of its warmest friends. I neither knew, nor heard, anything of your unwillingness to vote for it, nor of any efforts of others to prevail on you to do so. Your absence, when the roll was ordered to be called, is accounted for by me to the fact that Mr. Woodbridge closed his remarks much earlier than was expected, and the question was put much sooner than any one could have hoped for. Very respectfully, T. CLAYTON. Hon. S. S. Phelps. No. II.— //on. ^. S. mile, of Indiana. Washis-gtok, December 25, 1844. Hon. S. S. Phelps. — Dear Sir : I very cheerfuDy comply with your request to state what is my re- collection of your deportment towards the tariff bill (now act) of 1842, during its pendency in the Sen- ate, though only a general impression remains in my mind. My statement might be summed in a single word, to wit : that you were from first to last the interested friend of the bill, as well as its able advocate. Any other manifestation on the part of a Vermont Senator, whose seat adjoins my own in the chamber, must have arrested my attention. Very likely you, who though you more frequently than myself engage in debate, still like me do occasionally grow impatient at that profusion of argument ■which sometimes mars even the wisdom of the Senate, may have yielded to that feeling upon the occa- sion of the final debate on the tariff bill, and tired of watching an ever-receding question, may have momentarily absented yourself from the chamber. But that it was for the purpose of avoiding the vote, or that you required persuasion to induce you finally to vote for the bill, could not, I am sure, have been believed by a single Senator. The tariff of 1842, almost the only trophy the whigs have wrested from a defective administration, is a monument too fini.shed and exquisite to have been carved by trembling or by reluctant hands. Such were not those of either of the Senators whom Vermont, ever true, deputed to do her part of that memorable work. I am, very respectfullv, vour ob't .serv't, A. S. WHITE. No. 12. — Hon. James Buchanan, of Pennsiih-ania. Sekate Chamber, 28//» January, 1845. Dear Sir : I have received your note of this date, referring to a charge which you allege has been made against you relative to your course on the tariff act of 1842, and I can cheerfully state, that to my know- ledge no such occurrence took place as that to w-hich you advert. I never doubted your friendship to that measure, nor heard that it was doubted, until 1 received your note. Yours, very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN. Hon. Samiel S. Phelps. No. 13. — Hon. J. T. Morehead, of Kentucky. Washivgton-, .31st December, 1844. Mv Dear Sir : I take ^rreat pleasure in conforming with your request, to state my impressions of vour conduct and sentiments in ies|>ect to the tariff of 1842. I would remark, in the first place, that I fiave no knowledge of any interposition on the part of the Whigs of the Senate or of the House, the ob- ject of which was to induce you to vote for tiiat bill, nor do I know that you, at any time, declared your purpose to oppose it. I was much in your company during the pendency of the tariff bill of 1842, and so far from regarding you as occupying a doubtful position in regard to it, I believed you had the success of it at heart as nmch as any other member of Congress. I am not disposed to confine myself to that particular bill. I have ever found you devoted to the protective system, in all its details, and especially watchful of the interests of Vermont ; and I avail myself of this occasion to add, that I consider your ♦;ffortH in tiic Senate on that subject, of signal benefit to the cause. With great respect, I am, my dear sir, your friend, J. T. MOREHEAD. Hon. S. S. Phelps. No. 14.— //on. 0. H. SmUh, of Indiana. I.vDiANAPOLis, (Ind ,1 December 21, 1S44. Df.ar Sir : Your letter of the 21st instant has been duly received, in which you inform me, (for the first lime I had heard the report,) that you had acted as a Senator, in the passage of the tariff act of 1842, in a way unsatisfactory to the friends of that measure, and dangerous to the passage of the act, was re- ported by the enemies of your election. I do not distinctly recollect all the circumstances and individual opinions relative to that measure while before the Senau ; but this much 1 can say, that I understood you to be one of the firmest of its friends, though you, like manv of us, regretted to giveun the distribu- tion feature of the first bill. I feel very confident that I never lieard anything Irom you indicating any thing other than an honest desire to see that bill become a law; and I feel also very confident that you were not one of those who came in at the last hour to save the bill, but was one of its constant and firm friends. With rentimenis ofreire of the bill, or to vote acainst it; but, on the contrary, I at all times considered you one of its most zeal- ous advocates and friend;;. ' On the day of tiie final pasr.age of the bill. I have no recollections of having heard you irtirnafeany dirposition to defeat or impede its "passage, either by withholding your vote or by 5 voting against ii ; and had I understood from y any unplca.^int consequences I remain, very .sincerely, your obedient servant, &., t.V:c., C. M. CONRAD. New Orleans, .Norcmicr 30, 1844. Hon. Mk. Siaoe,— Sir: I avail myself of the earliest leisure time 1 have had for some time past, to reply to your letter of the 1 1th ult., which reached this city during my temporary absence. J cannol imneine ho\r it should hare become ntcessanito refer to a circumalanee so very unimportant as the one you alludr to: hut a.s yau s;iy thai it is nere>;<;ary /iic the vindi0ntion of your eharoctcr. that I sliould relate what oc- 35 curred on ihc occasion vdcrred lo, I do not Iccl niyselfat libeity tn decline your rcjucM. Instead of an- Bwerins seriatim the questions you pro])Ourid to me, 1 uill succinctly nanat.; what tnuismred, tnking care that this narrative shall embrace substantially an answer to each of your .lucslions. 1 he tantl t)ill, as vou are well aware, encountered great difficulties in its ixissa-e, and the debate on it in both Houses was long and somewhat tedious. On the day on which the final vole was taken, the discussion 1»"-<1 '^c'''' pro- tracted until a late hour, and the Senate havino- been in uninterrupted session from 10 o'clock A. M., the patience and even the physical powers of many members were nearly exhausted ; Mr Fhelps, in par- ticular, seemed much annoyed at the long continuance of the debate, and manifested ^reat displeasure whenever a member would rise to speak. I had an opportunity of observing this, as Ins seat was near my own. At a late hour, just as it was supposed the question was about being jnit, some rnemhcr (1 think Mr. Calhoun) rose and addressed the Senate at considerable length. Mr. Phelps suddenly rose from his seat, apparently much excited, and passed by me, observing that he " would stay no longer, or words to that effect. He went into the small antc-chambcr, (where the hats of members are deposited,) and I followed him. Seeing him take his liat and move towards the door leading out ot the rapitol, I endeavored to dissuade hinffrom going; but he persisted in going. He proceeded down the stairs, and I followed him, until we reached the open air, outside of the building. There he sto]H. and became mucli calmer • and after some little persuasion on my part he consented to return ; and indeed, from that mo- ment, he seemed as anxious to get back in time to give his vote as I was inysell. When we i-<;^"tered the Senate Chamber, the Secretary was calling the yeas and nays on the final passage ot th<^ hill. My impression is, that both of our names had been called when we entered. I am certain mine had been; but as it precedes that of Mr. Pliclps on the alphabetical list, 1 cannot speak precisely as lo his. _ 1 als" think that he rose at the proper time, and requested the clerk to call his name, and answered to it wlien called. 1 do not think that :Mr. Thclps was called ''jitsl as he entered the Senate Chaml)er; [ on the con- trary, I think, as I have already stated, that our names had both been already called in their regular or- der "tf/urc wo entered, and that his name was not again (tailed until he rose and requested the Clerk to call it, and that he immediately answered in the affirmative. I have no recollection ot his having been ^HiLnce'' called, nor of his asking me "wliether / had voted." It is possible, however, that he may have done so. I walked up very close lo the Clerk's desk, when I asked him to call my name, and it i.i pos- sible, therefore, that both the Secretary and myself s;)oke in a low lone of voioe. Mr. Phelps on the contrary, went, I think, directly to his seat, tuid was therefore at some disUince from me. In the noise and confusion that prevailed (the Senate Chamber being crowded with members of the House of Repre- senUitivcs) it would not be at all surprising that Mr. Phelps should not have heard me when I gave my vote. As to the ''cause of Mr. Phelps taking the course which rendered my nlTorts m regard to him ne- cessary," this is more than I can undertake to say. My intercourse with Mr. Phelps has been very slio-ht indeed— sccii-eely any out of the Senate— and I am therefore not familiar wiih hw deportment, or hil personal peculiarities, if he has any. I have already mentioned iktU he appeared very much pro- voked at the conduct of some members in protracting, as he thought unnecessarily and unseasonably, the debate on the bill. I think it due to him, however, to state, that I never for an insUmt imputed his course to any wish to defeat ihe^ill, (of which he had ever been among the most sUenuous supporters,) but solely to some momentary excitement acting upon a. temperment perhaps naturally irritable. These are the circumstances, as well as I can recollect them, connected with thus occurrence. As it seems, from what you say, that they have been represented (I know not by whom, or for what purpose) in a maimer calculated to prejudice Mr Phelps, I am gratified that I \vas not the channel through which they became public. r'mvR\n I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, C. JM. L-UiNtvAi.>. Hon. Mr. Slade, J\Iontpelier, Vennont. P. S. Thinking it proper that Mr. Phelps should be informed of wlmt I have said in regard to him, I have transmitted to him a copy of this letter. '-• "^^ ^• Extract from Mr. Conrad's letter to Mr. Phdps, dalrd May 4, 184G. "You certainly never did express a determinatioK not to vote for the bill. So far from it, d\ -uig the whole of the conversation referred to, (the same referred to in his former letter,) yon expressed gre(U anxiety about its fate, and appeared muck incensed ct some nf its friends and supporters, who, as you seemed to {kink, were endan- gering its passage by protracting the debate to a venj unreasonable length. I do not recollect tliat a lime had been°ixed for laking the vote by any formal resolution of the Senate, and my impression is that it was gen- erally understood among the members on both sides that tl>€ vole should be taken that night ; ijou ap- peared to think oitierwisc, however, and to suppose that there was n determination on the part of some numbers lo continue the debate for an indefinite period.'' He then .speaks again of our descending the stairs, and proceeds as follows: " After the lapse of fl. few minutes, duri^ig which ice conversed on other matters, I proposed that we should return to the Senate Chamber; to this you assented. When we entered we found, very miicii to my sur- prise, (for I had not expected the debate to be so soon terminated,) the clerk calling llie yeas and nay* on the final passage of the bill," &c. No. 22.— Hon. W. P. Mangum, ofMrth Carolina. I have been requested to state my recollections in regard to the Hon. Mr. Phelp.s' eour.se of action •during the discussion of the tariff question, and at the close of the debate in 1848. I regarded him as I pupposc every friend of the meaauredid, a fast and. -iteady .iupporltr, even to the verge of rxcessivc zeal. of the priucip"les of protc':tioii contained in that lav. J think 1 canict be mi"takrn in supp^sins thai wa« 36 llie universal opuiioii amuiig the whigs of the Senate. In regard to his habit.-* of apphcation to huisiiit; Mr. Phelps, during that long session, performed very great, useful, and extremely lab'^rious and druu ing duties, on the Committee of Revolutionary Clai'ms. 1 think there could have been no diversity "i opinion in regard to the extent and the utility of these labors. My official position brought nie to an in- timate knowledge of them. I said then, and think now, that the Senate and the countrv owed him much for the able, impartial, and satisfactory manner in which he discharged those duties. The most of these labors were closed before the end of the spring. During the summer of 1842, Mr. Phelps performed la- Ijorious and extremely useful duties upon subjects coming from the Committee of Indian Affairs, and es- pecially in regard to the vast interests growing out of the Choctaw claims. I liave long regarded those claims as the most complicated, intricate, and difficult, that could be presented, and a.s enveloj)ed and ; barricaded by the most ingenious, and I may [say,] stupenduous frauds, that I have witnessed in my public \ life. The severe labor and eminent ability which Mr. P. brought to those questions, and the fearless manner in which he successfully exposed them, enhanced, I think, greatly his reputation for legal ability and acumen, and also for a finn, unshrinking moral coursige in the discharge of his senatorial duties. Washington City, February, 1845. WILLIE P. MANGUM. I am rtqucstcd further to state whether at the time of the final vote on the Tariff Bill Mr. Pheljis manifested any disinclination to vote for the bill. If he did, I have no knowledge of it. I knew at the time tlie precise state of the vote before it was given. L'pon the declaration of Governor Woodbridge that he would vote for it (at about I think the time of lighting candles,) I knew it would i)ass by one iuajority, and in tliat estimate the vole of IVIr. Phclp.^, wa.-: included. So far from the idea having oc- curred to me that he was likely to prove delinijuent, I should have supposed it as soon of any other Sen- ator from New En-land. WILLIE P. MAXGUM. Pso. '23. — Hon. ll'm. D. .'tlnrkk, ofJ\Iariilaiul. Skxate Ukited States, January llli, 184;). Mt dear sir: — Your note making certain inquiries as to my recollection of your demeanor on the occasion of the passage by the Senate of the Tariff law of 1S42, has 1 confess occasioned me no little sur- prise, becau.se it is the first intimation I have had that there was supposed to be any thing peculiar or objectionable in your conduct on that occasion. Had there been anyiliing remarkable or peculiar in yoiu- conduct on the orcasion alluded to, it could not well have escaped my notice, both because I took a very lively interest in the proceedings on that important bill, and because your seat in the Senate is in close proximity to my own ; and I have pleasure in saying, in answer to your inquiries, that I saw nothing in your conduct, nor dirt I hear any decku-ations or remarks from you, in the least degree irregu- lar, or inconsistent, with the steady and consistent support it was well understood by all you would and did give to the great measure then passed upon Ijy the Senate. Witli very great respect, I am, dear sir, your obedient servant, AVM. D. MERRICK. No. 24. — Hun. IVm. C. Rh-cs, of Virghxlu. Casti.e IIii.i., ^'Ipr'il 13t/i, 184.'». Mt dear sir: — 1 had the pleasure of receiving a day or two ago your letter dated the tJd instant, and avail myself of the fir.*-l moment of leisure to reply to it. You inform me that on the ocaision of youi- re-election to tlic Senate, in October last, there were several luatters of charge put in circulation, respect- ing the mannrr in which you had jierformed your official duties, and touching more paj-ticularly your conduct on the passai;:e of the tariff act of 1S4'2 — as that, in consequence of some supposed slight on the part of some of your associates, you had used opprobrious language in legard to them, declared with oaths that you would not vote on the bill, that you were absent iVom your seat when the question was put upon the passage of the Ijill, that by being sent for you came in, and then declined to vote until your name had been called three times. You desire me to sUtte whether I have any knowledge or recollection of any of these circumstances, or of there being anything unusual in the manner of giving your vote, or in your course generally on that important measure. I certainly have no knowledge or recollection of any such occurrences as those above mentioned, nor of anything unusual or extraordinary in your manner of voting or acting on the passage of the act of 184'2, for the adjustment of the Tariff. The only thing that is impressed upon my memory, respecting your course upon the Tariff, is the very able speech you made against the repeal of the a<'t of 1842, during the session of Congress befoi-e the last, and that I shall ahvays retain a lively recollection of, as well as of the pleasant and friendly intercourse whicii subsisted between us during the period of tnir association in the public councils. I remain, my dear sir, with great respect and best wishes, truly and fiuthfully yours, Sami'kl S. i'liELrs, Ksd. W. C RI\'ES. No. 2'y.~Ilon. W,n. J. Graham, rfXortk CufoUna. Kai.eioii, N. C, .iprU 16, 184o Dear Sir : Your letter of the Qd instant was sent to my residence nl Hillsborough, and did not re.i' me until to-day. You state that a communication was aiidrcssed to the Whig Convention of \'ermoni, when about to select a candidate for the Senate in October last, charging m substance that when the tar- iff bill of Augu.<5i, 1842, was under consideration in the Senate of the United States, you declared with onths yott ^yould not vote for the bill ; tjiat much effort was used to procure your support to it ; that you wereaosent when Uie question was put on the passage of the bill ; atid that, after being sentfor and calletf in, you refused to vote until yournamenad been three times called; and ark for my re:o!lc.'tif>n as to the truth or 37 falsehood of these .sevei-;il cluugcs. In reply I liuve to .sUUe, thai 1 nmember nothing; .i;'3iiit,' lo suhstaiUiale niiv one oflhciii. I know that niauy Senators, (at least several, who finally voted for the hill, had determined wlien it came from the House not to vote for it, beeause the provision for the distribution of the land pro- ceeds had been abandoned; and that they ultimately yielded their objections and did vote for it. But I have no remembrance of your being one of these. As to liesitation, when called by the Secretary to vote, the only instance reniainins; in my remembrance is that of one of the Senators from Maine, who did not vote tuitil after the call had ceased, (the present;) and who then went up to the Secretary's desk, and, ascertainin;^ by casting up the yeas and nays that his vote was required to pass the bill, voted in its favor. I shall at all times be pleased to hear of your health and prosperity, and am. With tile Icindest remembrances, your friend and servant, W. A. GRAHAM. Hon. S. S. Pheli's, Hcntdnr of U. S. No. 2G. — Hon. Ifin. S. .-Jrchcr, of Virginia. Washington, March 13, 1845. I")K.An Sir : Your letter addressed to several members of the Senate, asking an expression of their re- collection as reirards circumstances of conduct imputed to you in connexion with tiie juissage of the ex- istin"- tarilVlawin the Senate, has been duly considered. I iiave to reply to your inqiiuy, that I have not bcen^able to summon to my mind any recollection of the circumsU-vnces to which you refer, so £is to authorize me either to affirm llicir accuracy or disaffirm it. I can only say, that nothing passed with me, as one of the Senators of the "Whig party," partaking of the character of the occurrences alluded to. 1 am, very rcspeclfiilly, your obedient servant, VV. S. ARCHER. Hon. Mr. Puelps. No. '21- — Hon. John Henderson, of J\Iississippi. Sen'ate Chamber U. S., .lanuary 20, 1845. Dear Sir: I have examined the matters sot forth in the preceding pages. I was present when the taiiff act of 1842 was ]iasscd, and now regret to confess that I felt myself constrained to vote against it. I have no recollection whatever of tlie acts or conversation occurring in respect to yourseif, as before de- tailed by yourself on this sheet. Respectfully, yours, &c., JOHN HENDERSON. Hon. Samiel S. Piieli-s. [Endorsed on my letter lo Hon. George Evans; the same answered by Mr. Evans above.] No. 28. — Hon. .John J\I. Berrien, of Georgia. [This letter of Mr. Berrien is also endorsed upon the same letter with INlr. Henderson.] Senate Cha.mber, .January 20, 1845. Dear Sir : I have no recollection of the facts and circumstances stated on the preceding pages, or any others calculated to shpw your hostility to the tariff of 1842, when on its passage. On the contrary, I ■considered you as one of its most decided advocates. My own position was this: There were certain modifications which I desired to make of its details, wliich had been recommended by the Committee of Finance, of which I was a member, which were rejected in the Senate, not, as I understood, upon their merits, but from a fear that if the bill were amended so as to render it necessary to send it back to the House ■of Representatives, it would fail there. I did not approve this course, and these amendments being thus rejected without regard to their merits, and one of them particularly affecting the interests of my own <-.onstituenls, 1 was compelled to vote against the bill. But before I did so, 1 stated to the two Senators from New Jersey and tosome others, my determination if the bill was lost by my vote, instantly to move its reconsideration, when I hoped lo obtain a more favorable consideration of the amendments which had been rejected. This was rendered unnecessary by a change of determination, avowed very shortly before the vote was taken, by one of ihe Senators of Michigan. My position and the responsibility, wliich in the event that 1 have stated I was about to assume, of moving its reconsideration, made nic a very atten- tive observer of the proceeding. I counted the votes, as I expected them to be given, and as they were in fact given, and always numbered you among its advocates. It is an act of justice lo you lo add, that I considered your argument at the last session as presenting so convincing a view of l!ie propriety of pro- tectino- our domestic industry, that 1 subscribed for a number of copies, and circulated them amonj my constituents. 1 am, respectfully, yours, JOHN MACPHERSON BERRIF:N. Hon. Samuel S. Phelps, U. S. Senator. No. 29. — Hon. J. IT. llantinglon, of Connecticut. Norwich, .Ipril 15, 1845. Dear Sir : 1 have received your letter of the 3d instant. In reply to the inquiry you make, whether I have any recollection of certain ocurrenccs or circum.«tances wliich are specified in your letter, and wliich vou observe are brought as charges a:,^ainsl you, and to wliich I now refer, I answer that I have, no recollection that " on the day of the tinal passage of the tariff bill, August 27, 1842, you liad been of- fended at some supposed slight or want of attention on the part, &c., and used opprobrious language in regard to them, ana declared unth oaths that yon trould not vote for the bill, [i. e. the tariff bill,] and that sev- eral Senator-, had made ineffectual efforts to soothe you.''' Nor have I any recollection " that you were absent from y"ur scat when the quertion v.ns put, waL- jent for, and, coming in. refused to vote unii! your name 39 had been called t)irce tiiiies." Nor do 1 recollect thai I was iniorMicd that Air. Conrad, of Loui.simis "tfart of April, 1842, to the close of the t27th Congress, I wa -associated with Judge Phelps in the Senate of the United States, and for about seven months of thi time I was at Washington, and in daily intercour.^e with him. For a few days, on my first arrival ; Washington, I took lodgings at tiic .«;ame boarding-house with Judge Phelps, and occupied the sam room with him. This boarding-house was situated in Pennsylvania avenue, and preferring a more air location during the summer months, aficr tarrying there some eight or ten days, I removed my lodgings 1 Capitol Hill ; and within two or three weeks thereafter Judge Phelps also removed his lodgings to th vicinity of mine, and continued there through the .•tumnier. 1 not only saw him daily in the Senate, bi generally every day, either at his quarters or at mine. The same intercourse continued also through th ■winter session'. I have been thus particular to show what were my opportunities to become acquainte ■with his general conduct, &c. Excepting about ten or twelve days in the latter part of July, or bcgi ning of August, 1842, his health was good, and his attendance in the Senate, and on the committees, wt as regular as that of any other member whatever. During the ten or twelve days above excepted, Judc' Phelps was very unwell — was confined to his bed six or seven days of that time, and under the care ( Dr. Sewall. He was not only very unwell, but very low-spirited. During this sickness I saw hii every day. It was during this lime that the present tariff bill v.-as under discussion in the Senate, an Judge Phelps had been unable to resume his seat in the Senate Inii a day or two before the question wt taken on that bill, and even then but a short time each day. Jud<;c Phelps had assured me that he woul endeavor to be present and vote on the passage of the said bill ; lor it was understood that without h vote the bill could not pass the Senate. As Judge Phelps did not appear for some little time after th Senate had called up the said bill, some of the members came to me and wished me to go for him, an persuade him to take his seat. 1 informed them that he had promised to be there, and if lie did not a| pear betbre the vote was called, I would go for him. But he soon after appeared and voted for llie bill I state this transaction more ])articular!y, as I have heard that it has been represented that Judge Phcli liad been disposed to withhold his vote, and it was only by the extraordinary exertions of some of ll other Senators that he did attend. While I was at Washington, I never saw Judge Phelps drink but one solitary glass of wine, and r distilled spirits at all. I never saw him when I supposed he had been using any; nor do I believe 1 was in the habit of using .spirits privately, during the time I was at Washington. That his intercour. ^vilh the Senators was civil and courteous ; and that to my knowledge he had many firm friends in tl Senate. I am, gentlemen, very respccifully, yours, SAMUEL C. CRAFl'S No. 31. — flon. Samuel C. Crnfla, of J'lrmo^xl. CRAFTs^iiRY, December ^3, l^!4. Hon. Sami'EL S. P«elps, — Dr;ir Sir : Your favor of the 9lh inst^mt has been duly received, and I lal •great pleasure in complying with your request. I fortunately kept a copy of my communication to tl .committee of the Senate, .and of course am enabled to give you the particulars of that statement, a cop of which is enclosed. Upon its delivery 1 requested the committee, when they had read it, to return .lo me ; this, however, was never done. When I attended the Whig Convention, I did it at the reque ■of a member who al.-^o introduced me to the coiiveiilion. I was requested to inform the meeiing what had observed in relation to your general conduct while I was at Wasliingion. I replied, that havii given a statement in writing, which I presumed had been laid before the convcntioD, I would prefer ' -iinswer such intpiiries ns any gentleman )>resent might be disposed lo make. I was then a.'jke whether you answered lo the tirst call of your name on the passage of the tariff bill. I gave it as ir impre.ssion that you did ; that I saw you when vou came into the Senate, and that you were in your sc when you answered. 1 was then informed that Governor Sladc had said that l»c was present w hen tl • Gov. Crafts has ooiifimndfil tlie billwliicli pa«sp(l on ilio 5Ih of An^Hst. commonly cnlletl thr <• little tarilT," willi tl prescnl law, which was pu^8llri onthn'JTth. What hi' KtMet^ lirrr orrurrofl on thi' ,"lh. whfn 1 'Was nnwcll.and not on tl .'Tlh, when it appears from all the Instlmonyllial I was present rliinnj tlif -ibli' th •iiov. Cratts lihuuld ha\>c t>ecn ignorant of them. 39 |i vote of the Senate was tuken, and wlien your nanip was called ; und iliat your nninc had been callrd * three times before you answered. I replied, that if Governor Slade was in the Senate ("hamber at tlie time, and was positive that such was the case, it might have been so ; but it was my impression that you answered the first time your name was called after you had taken your seat. I slated inat, to my know- ledge, you had nianilcsted as sincere a desire for the passage of an eHcctivc protective tariff as any other 1 member of our delegation. That during the discussion of the tariff in the House of Representatives, jwe had frequent meetings for the purpose of securing adequate protection on wool, and that you were 1 present at all our meetings, and that our exertions were effectual so far as very materially to increase the * amount of protection contained in the bill as reported. I was then asked whether I could see you dis- ! tinctly from my seat. I then explained the location of our seats in the Senate Chamber, and showing ! that there was nothing to prevent my seeing and hearing you distinctly. IVIr. Hale afterwards stated to I the meeting, that he was in the gallery at the time the vote was taken — saw you and IVIr. Conrad come j into the Senate, and was very positive you answered at the first call of your name. I was asked why I had solicited you to leave Brown's, and seek other quarters. 1 informed them that, on my arrival at Washington, I found you temporarily boarding there — that it was not your intention to tarry tliere dur- ing the hot weather — tliat we had together examined several boarding-houses on Capitol Hill, but found none where we could both be accommodated to our minds at the same liouse, or we should have imme- I diately left the Avenue. It was not that I saw anything to create a suspicion that you frequented the i bar, for I saw nothing; but that I thought the Hill, being more airy, would be more healthy than the ' Avenue during the summer montlis. I was then asked whether I had any knowledge of your using ' wine or spiritous liquors freely- I answered that I had never, except on one occasion, seen you drink either wine or spirits, and that was on a visit to the steam-frigate Missouri. After having been shown I the ship, the captain invited us to the cabin, and asked us to take a glass of wine with him ; that you took one glass, and I believe no more. I also stated that, soon after my arrival at Washington, you were ! invited to dine with Lord Ashburton, where, to my knowledge, (having dined there afterwards,) wine I was drank very freely. That you returned in good season, free from any apparent excitement, and gave me a particular account of the company, the dinner, and the topics of conversation. I informed the con- I vention, as there had been many different statements made, I was perfectly willing, if requested, to re- I peat these same statements under oath. I do not recollect all the questions proposed ; but the above con- tains the substance of them. I remain, very sincerely, your friend, &c., SAMUEL C. CRAFTS. t ISo. 32. — Michael J.arner, doorkeeper of the Senate. Washingtov, Febrttary ], 1845. Sir : In answer to your communication of this date, in which you desire me to state, " whether I wa.s doorkeeper at the time of the passage of the tariff act of 1842, and to state what my recollection of that transaction is," I liave to .say, I did'keep the door at the south entrance to the Senate Chamber at the time alluded to, and recollect distinctly that you were in your place in the Senate during the greater part of the day. During the evening you passed out the south entran<;e two or three times, observing that it was so warm m the Chamber that you wished to go out into the air. On coming into the Cliamber on one occasion, it was thought the vote was about to be taken on the final passage of the bill ; but it was I not, and the discussion was continued. You then came out of the Chamber, and remarked, that " you were tired of the discussion, and would go." Immediately after you left the Chamber, the Hon. Mr. I Woodbridge rose to address the Senate, and after he concluded his speech, the question was called for, t and the yeas and nays demanded. Mr. Slade, of the House of Representatives, came to the door where 1 was standing, and asked me if I had seen Mr. Phelps pass out. I told him that he (Mr. Phelps) had passed out a few minutes before. Mr. Conrad came to the door immediately after, and asked where Mr. . Phelps was. I made the same reply to him that I made to Mr. Slade. He immediately passed out the door, and in about five minutes Mr. Conrad and yourself returned to the Chamber, and gave your votes for the passage of the bill. Mr. Slade is mistaken if he supposes that I informed him that Mr. Conrad, of Louisiana, was in an ante-room endeavoring to persuade you to vole. Mr. Slade is also mistaken when he says that I informed him that Mr. Conrad and Mr. Phelps had left the ante-room and gone to another i part of the Capitol, and that he sent me in puisuit of tliem — tliai I found them, and they returned. I did I not go in pursuit of you ; it was Mr. Conrad who went for you, as I have before observed. The above is a true statement of what occurred on the night of the passage of the tariff act of 1842,. as far as you were concerned. Respectfully, yours, Hon. S. S. Phelps. MICHAEL LARNER. No. 33.—/.. //. Machen, Clerk of the Senate. Office of the Secretary of the Sexate, February 6th, 1845. Sir: In reply to your note, requesting me to state the circumstances, to the best of my recollection, attending the calling the yeas and nays on the passage of the tariff act of 1342, and especially as to an alleged liesitation or refusal to answer to your name when called, I have to state — 1st. That although I find, upon a reference to the original list of ayes and noes, taken on an engrossing •he amendments to the tariff bill, the 27th of August, 1S42, that they were called and recorded by me, \ have no recollection of any unusual circimistance whatever attending the transaction. 2d. That in the pertbrmance of my official duties, as a clerk in the office of the Secretary of the Senate, I have Ijcen in the nabit for several years past of taking minutes of the proceedings of the Senate in tlieir Jegislaiivr caparity, making fuU lin? journal l-1 tiic Si .-, ■ k.: ihc rt-vi.sion oi ilie i-M'--!f:;a;y, and railing iiainrs olllie S'tnulois, wli<;never llie voles have br.en taken in a Irgislaiive session, by ayes and n ihai 1 know of no member of the Senate who lias an.swcred with more promptness t)r distinctness to call when made, than yourself; and that your position on the lloor is nearly in front of ilie Secreta table; I have no diftiiulty whatever in hearing add recordin;^ your vote. 3d. That in calling the names of Senators, I have considered it proper, when no response h?s 1 made, or heard, to rail the second time, except in cases of kn<'wn Eickness or absence, when the nan called but once. After the call is over, the state of the vote is ascerU'Jned, and the list is handed to presiding; officer of the Senate, who announces the result. Should any Senator, desire to vote aftci name ha.s been once pa-ssed, he rise.s in his place, addresses the President of the Senate, or requests Secretary to call his lame. But it has not been the practice in the Senate for the Secretary or any acting in his stead to repeat the call of any Senator, al'ter tiie names have been pa.osed over in alphabe order, unless the Senator himself should so request. The duty of the Secretary ends when the call been made, the votes counted, and the list handed to the presiding officer, and it would be regards presume, as an official impropriety if he endeavored by repeated calls to increase the aggregate vo either the one side or the other; and this impropriety would be the more reprehensible anj glarin proportion to the importance of the subject, and as the affirmative luid negative votes approaches equal division. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, Hon. S.VMIEL S. Phei-ps. ' L. H. MACHEI No. 34. — Mr. Cranston (o Governor Slmle. NFwponT, Oclober 23, ISA Dear Sir : I have yours of the 18th instant, requesting me to state my recollection of calling on yt relation to the vijti; of Senator Plieljis on the tariff question. I very well recollect that on the day of the fmal passage of the tarilTact of 1842, in the Senate, I b -N n'' <^r.n— * Tuppan, Walker, Woodbury, Young — 23. nmiooiHl' t Whig? 89 w lO r^ ..^^ *>t O ,*^'... 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